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Out Are the Lights

Page 17

by Richard Laymon


  'Somebody's figured it out.'

  'Huh?'

  'Somebody knows we did it.'

  'Who?'

  'Three guesses.'

  He shakes his head and unwraps the rope at his feet. He rubs his ankles. 'Just tell me, okay?'

  'Your adorable fiancee.'

  'You're kidding.'

  'Think about it. She saw us. She put it all together.'

  He scowls and shakes his head. 'I guess… maybe so. What do you think she's gonna do?'

  'I don't know, but we'd better get out of here.' She helps him to his feet. They stand by the coffin, each silently scanning the cellar.

  Behind them, the coffin lid is flung off. They whirl around. Inside the coffin, a hooded figure sits up. The hood belongs to a warm-up jacket worn backwards. Ragged holes have been cut for eyes and mouth.

  As the figure stands up, the man and woman back away. It steps out of the coffin, bare feet crushing the bones on the cellar's dirt floor.

  'It's her,' the woman says.

  The man shakes his head. He is pale and trembling.

  'What do you want?'

  The figure doesn't answer.

  'Let's take her,' mutters the woman. 'Now!' She attacks.

  Alone.

  The hooded one grabs her arms, pivots, slams her to the floor, and steps past her.

  'It is you,' the man says, moving backwards. 'You think I…' He shrieks as a kick smashes his left knee. He drops sideways, screaming. Before he hits the floor, a second kick shatters his right knee.

  The hooded one pivots and shoots knuckles into the face of the attacking woman. The blow slams her backwards. The nape of her neck hits the coffins' edge. Her head snaps back.

  She jerks and trembles as if a thousand volts are ripping through her body. Then she slumps.

  Slender figures press her neck as if seeking a pulse. Then the hooded one straddles her body, grips her beneath the arms, and wrestles her into the coffin.

  The man is still on the floor, whimpering.

  The hooded one drags him to the coffin.

  'No!' he cries. 'No, please! I'll do anything! Whatever you say!'

  'Confess.'

  'Okay! I did it. We both did it. There!'

  'Get in the coffin.'

  'No!'

  Screaming, he fights as the hooded one struggles to lift him. His hands jerk open the jacket. He pounds the bare back, claws furrows in the skin. He rips at the blonde hair behind the hood. Then he falls into the coffin on top of the woman. Grabbing its edges, he pulls himself up. A fist smashes his nose, and he drops away.

  The hooded one places the lid on the coffin.

  Muffled screams rage inside the coffin as the lid is nailed down.

  THE END

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

 

 

 


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