Inconstant Moon - Default Font Edition

by Laurel L. Russwurm

  He's on fire, so he pulls his jacket off and casts it aside, then reaches down to unbutton her shiny blouse.

  But the blouse is slippery, especially with gloves on, there is no way. Fuck it. Jose grabs the fabric and gives it a mighty yank.

  Buttons pop off and roll away in the dirt. The blouse fabric slithers down her sides and out of his way, revealing a lacy little bra barely covering those amazing breasts that makes his heart race.

  He bends down and rests his chest on hers in a parody of a hug as he forces his hands underneath her to unfasten the bra. He can feel her panting under him as her breast rises and falls, throbbing against his chest.

  The snap gives and he's about to sit back up when he feels an enormous searing pain in his shoulder, as if it's on fire. He sits up and releases an agonized groan when the full load of pain hits. Glancing down he sees one of the gloves in the dirt, but the other one, now bloody, is still in her mouth.

  She bit him.

  Well, no more mister nice guy.

  He rears back and punches her in the face.

  He can feel the cheek bone give way and he smiles as her eyes flutter and roll back in her head. Jesus God he is dripping blood from his shoulder. First things first.

  He needs to stop the blood. He looks at the pantyhose and decides they'll have to do.

  Jose pulls the damned pantyhose out from under her head again. After all the work to get it there in the first place.

  Jose presses the big part against the ragged bite she's ripped out of his shoulder then struggles to wind the legs around his arm. Although awkward to do with one hand he manages a rough knot and pulls it together by pulling one panty hose leg taut with his hand, the other with his teeth. Difficult but possible. This is starting to be more trouble than it's worth.

  He hits her in the face again.

  That feels good.

  Jose looks at the pathetic bra and grabs it but the damn thing doesn't rip open, It stretches, He lets it go and it makes a satisfying sling shot thwapping sound as it snaps back against her skin. Jose can feel her body heat warming him where he straddles her. His excitement is rising as he punches her in the breast.

  Again.

  And again.

  Suddenly he is hitting, beating, pummelling, bashing, striking, punching, slapping, rapping, pounding . . .

  Blood is mixing with mud in the golden hair and he begins to sob quietly in counterpoint to the punches he's delivering. Why did she make him do this, he wonders.

  She should have loved him and not been so selfish, he thinks, not for the first time.

  Suddenly Jose feels strong hands grabbing his shoulders and pulling him backward off of Barbie.

  As Jose is yanked to his feet the fingers connect with the bitten shoulder and Jose howls in agony. He whirls on his attacker with raised fists until he sees it's Eric.

  He relaxes and shakes his head. “Gee man, I almost took your head off. Don't sneak up on a guy like that.”

  Eric stares at Jose. “What are you doing?”

  Jose shrugs, “You know Barbie has been giving me trouble. You can't just let women stamp all over your heart, man. I mean after what Elsie did I think you can appreciate where I'm coming from here. We've just been working it out. You know how it is.”

  Eric looks down at the twisted still form laying bound to the tree. The left side of her face is mush, and Eric can see that blood has been steadily oozing out of her ear for some time, forming a large puddle around her head.

  Barbie's bright blonde hair appears scarlet at the ends.

  Eric kneels down beside her, looking for a flicker in her eyes, or the rise and fall of her chest. He feels for a pulse, but there isn't any.

  “Hey now,” Jose tells him, “Get your own girl, Eric. This one's mine.”

  “Jose,” Eric stands up and stares at him. “She's dead.”

  Jose shakes his head. “No, she's just a little pissed off at me. The bitch is just punishing me is all. That's one of the things we have to work out.”

  Jose looks up at the sound of twigs breaking and leaves crackling and smiles.

  “Hey Eric, there's your girlfriend. Why don't the two of you just run along and leave Barbie and me to work things out.”

  Eric turns to see Amelia and Mouse pushing their way through the brush. Amelia and Eric make eye contact and Eric tries to signal her away but Mouse sees Jose and calls out, “Hey, Jose.”

  But Mouse stops in mid stride as she takes in the bloody scratches on Jose's face and Barbie's limp form bound to the tree at his feet. Mouse lets out a blood curdling scream that splits the afternoon and seems to snap Jose out of his daze.

  Jose tries to go around Eric, and although stunned by what he's found, Eric holds up his hands, shoving his friend's chest. “What have you done? Jesus, Jose, you can't just . . .”

  But Jose pushes back. Eric stumbles backward, tripping over a tree root then falling down to end up sitting in the mud.

  Jose ignores Eric, who stares stupidly up at him, Mouse weeping like a baby and Amelia dialling her cellphone.

  Jose realizes there is only one course of action, so he scoops Barbie's car keys off the ground. Fuck it, she won't mind.

  Since the other students are ranged between him and the walkway, Jose opts for the path of least resistance and plunges the other way, deeper into the woods. Gotta be easier than fighting his way through the assholes. Gotta get the car and take off.

  Amelia watches him go, and she tells the police dispatcher where they are and that there's a dead student here in the woods. Eric pulls himself to his feet and stumbles toward the girls. Mouse isn't screaming any more but she's crying. He pulls her into a hug.

  Eric asks Amelia, “You called the cops?”

  Amelia nods, “Yeah, now I'm calling the campus cops.”

  “Okay, I'll gonna call Boris.” While still cradling Mouse with one arm, Eric pulls out his cell with the other and fumbles one handed with the buttons.

  “No.” Amelia says, “Don't do that Eric.”

  “I know you like Jose, but he's gotta be stopped.”

  “You think I give a shit about that rat bastard murderer Jose? He's gotta be stopped but not by Boris.” Amelia starts toward him. “What do you think Bo would do if he caught the guy?”

  “Oh. Shit. You're right.” Eric disconnects, putting the phone away.

  “We've been living with a monster.” Amelia shudders.

  Eric looks stricken. “I can't believe . . . that I could even know somebody who'd do this . . .”

  “Maybe she's just hurt . . .” says Mouse, but Eric emphatically shakes his head. Mouse looks at Barbie's unnaturally still form in disbelief. “Are you sure?

  Eric nods miserably. “Yeah, Mouse. I'm sure.”

  Mouse starts wailing again, and Eric puts his hands on Mouse's shoulders. “Hey Mouse, come on. Let's get back to the path and wait for help to come.”

  Amelia takes her hand. “Yeah. We have to go wait for them, so she doesn't have to . . . to stay here.”

  Mouse nods and pulls a handkerchief out of her pocket and scrubs her face with it, then follows Amelia. Mouse says, “Barbie is, Barbie was . . . she was so full of life always, you know?”

  Eric looks at Barbie again, still trying to believe it himself. He tears his eyes away and follows his friends. They are all careful not to look back. Mouse snuffles as they struggle over the uneven mushy ground. “How could Jose do that? He said he loved her.”

  “I don't know Mouse. I guess he's the rapist too.”

  Mouse blanches, thinking about the time she spent with Jose and their one night stand.

  But then Mouse hands Eric her handkerchief because he is weeping too.

  chapter 138 . . .

  Jake climbs out from under the rough lean-to of branches he's assembled to create a 'hide' which he set up so he could photograph wildlife. The problem is that all the wild things took off when that girl screamed. He's been dead still for probably ten minutes and there hasn't been any
sign.

  But it's just occurred to Jake that it might be another attack happening out there. After all they never did catch the real rapist.

  Jake starts back along the deer trail he followed to get to this spot. He's pretty sure the scream came from this way. The more he thinks about it, the more sure he is that that prick is actually attacking someone out there.

  Right now.

  The creep didn't just rape Natasha, he beat the shit out of her too. Jake knows very well that he himself is not a big powerful guy. If he goes over there and tries to confront the rapist he's just going to end up getting beaten to a pulp.

  Wouldn't it be smarter, not to mention a better use of resources, simply to call the police? It would be smarter to get out of the woods and back to the Res where he can find help.

  Somebody tough like Boris.

  Suddenly it occurs to Jake that maybe it's Krystal being attacked. All bets are off. Jake starts moving faster. Then he starts to run.

  chapter 139 . . .

  Boris slides the phone back in his pocket. “That's weird, now he's not answering. I wonder what Eric wanted.”

  “It was probably just a phantom call.” says Natasha.

  “A what?”

  “You know, one of those calls your cell makes on its own. It happens when you stuff your phone in your bag or pocket and all it takes is a little bitty bump and then it starts auto-dialling.”

  Boris nods, noting with satisfaction Natasha's face is almost back to normal size and hue. She's sitting cross legged on her bed, hunched over a fistful of UNO cards, while Boris balances on a purple exercise ball at the foot, and Ethan and Liz flank on either side. Boris wishes Sarah could be here too, but she had a shift at the hospital. He wants Natasha and Sarah to be friends.

  Liz tosses down a plus four card and Boris groans dramatically before waving his extra thick handful of cards at her. “Gee Liz, how many of those can one person have. I can barely hold the damned cards I have already.” He picks up the four cards and tosses down a green change direction card.

  Liz laughs and throws down a blue change direction card. Boris wails “Argghhh” and counters with a yellow change direction card.

  “No, no, not yellow!” squeals Liz.

  “Mwah hahaha” chortles Boris. “Oh yeah . . . yelloooow rocks!”

  Natasha asks Ethan, “Think we'll get a chance to play?”

  “Eventually, when those two stop being evil.” Ethan frowns and gets up and goes to the window, leaning on the sill.

  “What is it?” asks Natasha, suddenly pale.

  “Sirens.” The others all crowd around, Ethan steps back to cede Natasha the best view of the police cars coming up the road.

  “Wonder what's happening.”

  chapter 140 . . .

  Adam pulls into the parking lot, shaking his head as the engine continues to run on even after he pulls the key out. He sighs, hoping that it'll hold together until he can afford to do something about it. He pats the dashboard and murmurs his ritual, “Hear me baby, hold together” with the tiniest glimmer of a smile.

  Adam picks up his laptop case and gets out, locking the door, idly wondering why, since if someone stole this piece of junk maybe he'd get a better one out of the insurance.

  No. He would undoubtedly end up with something worse. As Adam starts across the lot toward the mouth of the path he catches movement out of the corner of his eye.

  Glancing over, Adam sees some guy leaning over Barbie's car. He stops, and turns back. It certainly is not Barbie, but it is her car. He heads over, getting closer to the guy as he moves between the parked cars. The guy looks a bit familiar but Adam can't place him. And he's definitely trying to get into Barbie's car. It's now or never.

  “Hey!” Adam calls out. “What do you think you're doing?”

  “I'm just borrowing my friend's car. Do you mind?” Jose answers back, then he turns holding up a keyring dangling with keys. Adam steps closer, and yes, he recognizes Barbie's key ring from the night they went to the concert.

  “Alright.” Adam nods with a sigh, but he keeps approaching. Must be another one of Barbie's hordes of admirers. But what is wrong with his face?

  Adam narrows his eyes to try and make sense of the vertical lines on the guy's cheeks.

  Is it paint? No, it's too regular, it looks kind of like blood. No, that does not make sense. The guy goes back to the door and finally gets the correct key in the door lock as Adam comes within a few feet.

  He swings the door open and Adam extends a hand, “I'm Barbie's friend Adam from the computer club.”

  Ignoring his outstretched hand, the guy frowns, then says, “You're the one put Linux on her laptop?”

  Adam feels a momentary burst of pleasure — Barbie must have been talking about him. But then it dissolves as he realizes Barbie must like this man a lot to lend him her car. Adam says, “Yes.”

  But then he looks at the man. He is a real mess. Adam squints a little, trying to figure out what's wrong with his face without actually staring or anything.

  “I gotta go pick some stuff up.” Jose stops and realizes that Adam is scrutinizing his face. He's gotta get out of here before Dilbert gets the picture. He resists the urge to self consciously reach up and touch his face. Shit. “Look, pal, I don't have a beef with you, so just back off, Okay?”

  “What's wrong with your face?”

  “I got a rash. Barbie's just lending me her car so I can, so I can go home and get cleaned up.”

  Realizing he has just been lied to, Adam stops pretending nonchalance and just stares at the guy. “Is that blood?”

  “Look, pal, just take off, and you won't get hurt.”

  “You stole Barbie's keys?”

  “I'm not a fucking thief. She gave me her keys so I could use her car.” Jose glowers. “Barbie's lending me her car. She gave me her keys. She's my girlfriend.”

  But Adam remembers the guy with the fancy red car. That would be Barbie's real boyfriend. Not this man. Another lie.

  “I'll ask Barbie, then.” Adam unclips the brand new cellphone on his belt and starts to punch in Barbie's number.

  “Just leave it alone. Go away.”

  Jose steps forward and knocks Adam's cellphone out of his hand. The phone flies through the air and then bounces twice on the asphalt before shattering. Adam stares at his new phone in horror. He just got it programmed. And only used it once.

  Jose turns back toward Barbie's car and Adam swings his computer bag at him. It hits Jose in the back, making him stagger into the car door. Only grabbing onto the handle keeps him from falling down but it makes the door slam shut again. Jose doesn't care, he is just too angry at this stupid nerd.

  Turning back to Adam he says. “What the hell did you do that for?”

  “First you broke my cellphone and now you are attempting to steal Barbie's car.”

  “Piss off, I'm just borrowing her car. Besides, why should you care, she was only ever nice to you so you'd fix her computer for free. She was just using you, you loser. So just bug the hell off.”

  “Why should I believe you? Why would I believe anything a car thief says, Mister Loser?”

  Jose just flips him the bird and reaches for the door handle again.

  Adam steps in even closer, crowding him. “No. This is not your car.”

  Jose tries to elbow Adam, but somehow finds himself sitting in the dirt. His bloody balance must be off after the ruckus with Barbie. He scrambles to his feet and takes a swing at the guy and misses again.

  This is getting annoying. especially since he can hear sirens. Goddamn, are they coming for him already? He can't even get off the bloody campus because of this crazy geek. He looks over at the scrawny little guy in a tie. A fuckin'tie for god's sake. “What is your problem?”

  “You can't just go around breaking people's phones and pushing them around. I am just so sick of bullies.”

  Jose launches himself at Adam who easily sidesteps. Jose ends up skidding and sliding onto his knee
s on the asphalt.

  “Who the fuck do you think you are, Batman?”

  “No, just a geek who thought martial arts training might help me deal with neanderthals like you. Have you had enough?”

  Jose starts picking himself up. This is so ridiculous. This 98 pound weakling — wearing a tie for gods sake — is stopping him from getting away.

  That's it, no more mister nice guy.

  With a mighty roar Jose lunges at Adam with all the force he can muster. This time Adam does not step away but rather steps in, grasping Jose's wrist and somehow transforming the attack into a kind of ballet, altering the direction of movement and somehow sending Jose face first into the side door of the hummer parked in the adjacent parking spot.

  Blinding pain.

  God that hurt. For a second it's like a hot needle in his nose, then Jose realizes his nose is broken, as blood spurts out his left nostril and the swelling starts. Shit. It fucking hurts.

  Jose slides to the ground. His whole face is throbbing. This is not good. He rolls over and lays on his back, looking up at the clouds. He can taste blood in the back of his throat. His head is ringing. He's so tired. It's just not his day.

  Hearing the sirens getting closer he thinks, WTF.

  Reaching inside his jacket he pulls out a joint and puts it in his mouth. Fumbling in his other pocket for the lighter he fires it up, and the first drag is heaven.

  As the sweet smoke slides in, he sucks it deep into his lungs, where he holds it a moment to let the calm envelop him. Letting it out in a rush, he watches stray wisps of smoke float away, up into the sky.

  About the Author

  Laurel L. Russwurm first learned how not to write a novel at the age of thirteen.

  A few years later Laurel embarked on her first adventure in publishing with the Star Trek & science fiction fanzine CANEKTION.

  Studying Media Arts at Sheridan College led Laurel into a television career, with credits spanning projects as diverse as the Emmy winning 'Romeo and Juliet on Ice' and John Zaritsky's 'Rapists: Can They Be Stopped'