by Perry Prete
Will's mind raced with more questions than he had answers for. Regardless of how he tried to rationalize things, everything was spiraling out of control. He could feel the tension rise inside; his stomach knotted up, his chest felt tight. He finished the glass of water, refilled it and drank that with some pain meds. To clear his mind, Will went downstairs, pulled two frozen chunks of meat from the freezer. They had once been part of some girl's thigh. He couldn't remember which girl but that was something long passed, and it didn't matter anymore. In the kitchen, he pulled each piece from the protective plastic bag, felt the burn of the frozen meat on his bare hands then walked out to the backyard. The dogs came bounding up to the house, happy to see him, running around in circles as he approached.
"Zitten," he yelled with a stern voice, the Dutch word for sit. Both dogs dropped and sat for their master mid-stride. Both tails continue to wag uncontrollably as he approached. He loved both dogs, they loved him and seeing them made his worries seem less important.
Will stood before them, holding the meat, the dogs trained not to move until given the order. With all his strength, he tossed the meat into the backyard over the dogs heads. The dogs turned, watched the chunks of flesh land and roll in the grass then turned their attention back to Will.
"Eten."
The dogs turned, ran, found their prize in the tall grass and went their separate ways to gnaw on the frozen chunks of human flesh.
Will went back inside, turned on the taps and washed his hands thoroughly, careful of the open wound. He patted his hands dry using the tea towel, placing it back over the stove handle, went to the fridge and pulled out the egg carton and laid it on the counter. Standing silently at the sink, he began to slowly inhale and exhale methodically to calm the tension. He held each breath in for the count of five then exhaled for the count of five. When he felt more at ease, he picked up the carton of eggs, walked to the basement and entered his freezer.
He stared at the body on the table, almost complete, almost ready. She was nearing completion, and he promised himself he would refrain until that time, but he had to vent, he had to quell the feelings inside that were tearing him apart.
Will pushed some of the instruments aside on the wheeled table, placed the egg carton upon it, opened the lid, picked one up, turned and with all his might, threw it at the frozen body on the table.
"You fucking bitch." He yelled. The egg missed the body and hit the wall on the far side of the room, shattering against the frozen wall. The shell exploded, sending its yellow and white contents out in a haphazard pattern. The room was so cold; it took only seconds for the yolk mixture to freeze in place.
Mist rose from his mouth with each breath and spit spewed forth as he screamed. "You cheating cock sucking whore." Will picked up another egg and threw it at her again, this time hitting her in the face, the shell and yolk burst open, covering her face in a sticky mixture. It too froze quickly. The frozen body lay still, helpless, no way to protect itself from the onslaught of degradation.
He threw another egg, then another, some hitting their mark, others hitting the wall behind her. He didn't aim, he just picked up each egg and threw it with every ounce of built up anger inside him. With each hit, the eggshell would shatter sending shards flying and goo dripping slowing down until it froze somewhere on the body. Will continued to yell and demean the body on the table until he was out of ammunition. He wanted to continue hurling eggs at the body, but the carton was empty. He picked that up and threw it. The floppy, compressed paper carton floundered in the air and landed on the opposite side of the table. Panting, he fell back against the wall and slid to the floor. He continued to breath heavy, the cold taking more out of him then he thought.
Will could feel the cold against his back and buttocks as he sat on the floor. He stood, still angry, still wanting to insult the body with something but fought against the urge. Instead, he locked the door behind him as he went back upstairs.
*****
"One more time Carl. Tell us how you ended up helping the doctor suture up the suspect." Paul was firm and direct.
"One more time, one more time. Come on, guys. Seriously. How many times are you gonna say "One more time?" Carl asked. "I tell you the same story, and you keep asking me to tell you the same story over again. Trying to see if I slip up? Am I a suspect?"
"One more time will last as long as it takes until we are convinced you told us the whole story. And everyone is a suspect."
Carl laughed, "Guys. We can be here all day. I told you everything. I was there to look into the sexual assault that I knew wasn't an assault."
"And how did you know it wasn't a sexual assault?" This time Dan broke in.
"I suspected. OK? Maybe I'm better at my job than you guys are at yours."
Dan continued, "Yeah, I'm sure it takes a lot of intelligence to become a second-rate reporter at a rag paper. We have you dead to rights on impersonating a hospital worker, practicing medicine without a license, obstruction of an official police investigation,..."
Carl started to laugh out loud, "Impersonating a hospital worker? Since when is that a crime? I was hauled in to that room by a doctor to assist; she did the work, I helped. I did nothing. And as far as obstruction, you guys better go back to Law 101. I'm a reporter; I was following my leads, our paths crossed, I did nothing to hinder your investigation. You wanna charge me, go ahead and charge me."
Nora walked into the police department with the air and authority of someone who knew their station in life. Once through security, she made her way to the room where they were interviewing Carl. She found the door, chose not to knock and burst in. In the small interview room, Carl was sitting on one side of the table, Paul and Dan on the other.
Nora propped the door open, "Carl. Out now. You haven't said anything?"
"I kept the words simple and limited them to one or two syllables, so they could understand." He stood up, grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair, "Thanks, guys, it's been fun. We really should do this again over beer and wings." Under his breath, he whispered, "Fucking cops." He left the room.
"I assume since you let him leave, he isn't under arrest?" Nora said defiantly.
Both Dan and Paul remained silent.
"Good. I would think that you guys would know better than to trample on the rights of the press." Nora was visibly upset.
"We were only attempting to get all the facts on what happened at the hospital," Paul admitted.
"Find another way."
As Nora was about to leave, Paul spoke out, "He is a bit of a dick you know."
"Yeah, well leave him alone, he's my dick."
"Really? He's your dick?" questioned Paul laughing.
Embarrassed, Nora stormed out of the room slamming the door behind her.
*****
Katy called Will several times without success. She sent him text after text and received no reply. She sat alone in her apartment wondering why he hadn't taken her call. She pulled her jacket from the hanger in the closet, her keys from the hall table and decided to drive to Will's place.
*****
Carl sat at his desk, tapping his pen to his notepad. The constant tapping created tiny indentations in the paper. He stared into space, not seeing what his compulsive habit was doing to the notepad. His mind was full of the scattered events that occurred at the hospital, but each time he wanted to write something down, something new jumped to the forefront, pushing all else aside. He opened a drawer, tossed the notepad inside and slammed it shut. Pulling the typewriter forward and squaring it before him, he fed a sheet of paper into the roller and turned the knob to advance it. The sound it made stirred something inside, and he was now ready to write his story.
He placed his fingers on the home row of keys; one key struck the roller, then two, then a flurry of keys being pressed and the sound of the typewriter creating a story filled the newsroom.
Nora was on the phone with her lawyer discussing Carl's interrogation when she heard the unique
sound of Carl's typing. She stood, walked to her door and looked out into the newsroom. There were phones ringing, people talking but the sound that stood out was the one coming from Carl's desk. It was the sound of a real newsroom, the sound of a writer creating a story.
*****
Nicole drove home after leaving the police station. She called Simone from her car asking if she could stop by after work. She suggested Simone bring a bottle of wine, maybe two. It was a good time to get drunk. Simone said she would see about leaving work early and would bring a pizza as well. Nicole parked her car, locked it and entered her apartment. She went straight to the shower, drew a bath, dropped in a bath bomb and let the suds fill the tub. She tested the water and stripped, letting her clothes fall to the bathroom floor in a heap and stepped in. She slid under the water until her chin touched the water. She left her phone on the edge of the sink, music playing from the favorites list. It was still light out but the seizure she experienced in the cafeteria exhausted her.
She thought it was time to take Simone's suggestion and get a CT scan or MRI to see if there was something wrong with her. What started as seeing pictures move had developed into so much more. Nicole wondered if she had a tumour, a lesion, some type of an aneurysm, something that was causing her ability to become so much stronger than she ever anticipated. The thought that there could be something wrong scared her; she would give it up in a moment if she could. The only good thing that had come of it was meeting the slightly overweight detective who wore running shoes with his suits. Nicole smiled thinking of his running shoes. He was a kind man, caring, she liked him and wondered if there could be something more.
She thought that maybe a future with Paul was possible then thought about her ability and began to cry. Was this something that was slowly killing her? Now that she had finally found someone she could have feelings for, dare she think it, fall in love with. The thought that someone could love her frightened her more than the possibility that she could have a tumor. With a bubble covered hand, she wiped away the tears, "Grow up," she thought. "This isn't something worth crying over."
The tears stopped, she wiped her nose with the back of her hand "My new ability is making me sentimental," she said aloud to herself. Nicole closed her eyes, let her mind go blank and felt sleep take over. Her head bobbed, her mind cleared itself, and she slowly drifted to sleep.
Nicole snapped her head upright. The sound of her door creaking open broke her sleep. She slowly lifted herself from the tub, strained to reach for a towel on the far side of the bathroom as the bathroom door opened.
Simone walked in, seeing her friend standing in the tub covered in bubbles. "You do realize those bubbles don't cover all that much. If that tub were a little bigger, I'd be tempted to join you." She raised and lowered her eyebrows quickly.
"You know sweetie, I believe you." Nicole slowly lowered herself back into the water. "Maybe I should just invite you in and see if you have the guts to follow through with your threats."
"Promises, promises. I'll get the glasses and the pizza." Simone left the bathroom and went to retrieve dinner.
Nicole let a little water out of the tub then ran more hot water. Simone returned, placed a full glass of red on the edge of the tub and handed her a slice of pizza then sat on the toilet. Nicole shook the bubbles from her hand, accepted the slice and took a big bite.
"Wanna tell me about it?" Simone had a mouth full of thick crust pizza with pineapple and bacon.
"You know my little party trick?" Nicole twirled a finger around her head. Simone nodded in agreement, her mouth too full to speak. "It's weird; I don't understand what's going on with it."
Simone took another bite, remained silent, waiting for Nicole to continue. "It's, I don't know, getting stronger, I'm seeing more and more and different things now too." She sipped the wine, her hand covered in bubbles, her clean hand held the pizza. She took a small bite, with a mouth half full, she continued, "I'm connected to the guy. It's like he has the same power I think. We're, I don't know, like conjoined twins. I feel when he's close."
Simone had already finished her first piece and reached for another. "Connected? You get inside this guy's head and read his thoughts?"
Nicole shifted in the tub, "No, not that much but I can sense him, and it's scary. I mean scary. This feeling just takes hold of me, and I feel this rush of pure evil course through me and makes me wanna puke. In fact, it did. I puked up a ton. Is this making any sense?" She downed the last of her glass. "Honey, none of what you do makes sense. I mean you can see things that no one else can. How or why is a mystery." She took a bite, then a sip of wine.
"I just hope you aren't burning out your brain or something."
"I saw him today you know. I saw his face." Nicole held her glass out for a refill.
"You bumped into him?" Simone shrieked.
Nicole tapped her head, "In here. I saw him. Paul took me down to the station, and I had to help some tech create a sketch of the guy. Paul was busy, so I left. It was so nerve-wracking to see his face."
"What does he look like?" Simone leaned in close.
"Like an average kid. I mean we would pass him on the street and never give him a second look. Normal, thin, good-looking, sweet looking. I almost feel sorry for him."
Simone sat up straight on the toilet, "Sorry? Are you fucking kidding me? You saw what he did. He cuts up girls. He could've killed someone we know."
"I mean I always figured bad guys look like bad guys, mean with skull tattoos and guns. He looks like a nice young kid. Just a young kid. For some reason, some stupid reason," Nicole began to cry, "I see him, and feel him, and I feel his rage or the evil inside him that goes through me. It scares me, and I don't like it." She began to sob openly and put her hands up to cover her face, knocking the glass of wine off the edge of the tub, spilling its contents on the floor. "I'm scared this thing, this thing inside my head, is going to kill me." The tears continued to stream down her face, "I don't want to die."
Simone stood, stepped into the tub behind her friend forcing Nicole to the middle of the tub. Simone sat in the water then wrapped her arms around Nicole. She continued to cry, placing her head on Simone's shoulder. They stayed that way until there were no more tears to cry.
*****
Katy sat naked on the edge of the bed, panting, holding Will's hand, "Well, that was fun."
Will wasn't sure how to respond, he felt embarrassed, "Sarcasm doesn't make me feel better."
She was still looking away, unsure she could face Will with what she was about to ask, "Can I ask you a question?" Her question was met with silence. She asked anyway, "Are you a virgin?"
Embarrassed, he laughed loudly, "No, but you're only the second." Relieved, Katy let out a small sigh. "If you're willing to learn, let me teach you?"
"I am."
"K then, rule one, don't be so God damned rough. Not every woman likes that. Some want to be treated like a woman."
"Speaking of treating someone like a woman, what was that comment you made about that large girl working at the coffee shop?"
Katy kept looking away from him, surprised he had to ask, "She was no woman. She was a fucking cow. Did you not see that fucking cunt, cut her up, and she would feed a family of four for a month."
Her comment was followed by an awkward silence that lasted longer than either one of them was comfortable with. Inside, Will was laughing at the irony of the situation and put the matter aside and decided the conversation needed to take a different direction.
Will rubbed her back, "Let's get back to my problem. I'm not that experienced but tell me exactly what to do and how to do it. I can take direction, just let me know exactly what you like and how you like it," he laughed.
Katy spun around on the bed, "I know what I like and who I like." She leaned in close and kissed Will hard. "I got my breath back. Wanna go again? This time, I'll give you some pointers, some ideas of what to do and see where your imagination takes you. I hope you have an open mind be
cause I have some freaky kinks."
Katy crawled on top of Will then shimmied her body back and forth, "I can't wait to find out," he whispered.
*****
Paul inserted the key into the door handle, wiggled it, attempted to get the key to fit then realized it was the wrong key. He fumbled with the key ring, found the correct key, unlocked the door and sauntered into the kitchen. His head hurt, a tired headache after working a seventeen-hour shift with only two meals and too much coffee. He flipped his running shoes off, dropped his trousers on the floor as he left the kitchen, his suit jacket fell to the floor in the hall, as he was about to enter the bedroom, he heard his cell phone ring.
His head dropped, thinking of ignoring the phone, he continued to the bedroom, changed his mind, found his pants, pulled the cell phone from the pocket, swiped to answer without looking at the caller ID. "What?" he didn't hide his anger.
The voice on the other end was quiet and taken aback by Paul's tone, "Hey."
He recognized the voice immediately, "Nic. I'm sorry. I'm just getting home. It's late. Everything OK with you?"
"Bad day. Can I come over?" Nicole's voice was stressed.
"Sure. What's going on?"
"I'll tell you when I get there." The line went dead.
Paul picked his pants up from the floor, went for the jacket when he heard a soft knock at the kitchen door. He knew exactly who it was. He opened the door to see Nicole, disheveled, eyes red from crying, still wearing a bathrobe.
"I was in your driveway when I called," her voice barely audible. "Wanna talk?"
"Can I sleep first?"
He reached forward, put his arm around her and guided Nicole to the bedroom. He removed her bathrobe and shoes and laid her down, then sat in the corner of the room, saying nothing and let her drift off. He used her robe as a blanket, bundled it up high under his chin. It wasn't long before he too was fast asleep.