by Tristan Vick
Rachael brushed her silky-smooth black hair out of her face and put the car in park. Looking out her window she saw Hector waiting for her on the steps of the school, with Mrs. Jensen sitting right there beside him. Rachael waved, and then leaned over and opened the passenger door for Hector to climb in.
Mrs. Jensen brought Hector over and held the door as he climbed in.
“Thank you for taking care of him,” Rachael said as she rubbed Hector’s head, messing up his hair. Without saying anything, Hector instantly started flattening it back down, trying to fix it just as it was before.
“It was my pleasure,” replied Mrs. Jensen, smiling warmly. “It seems he’s come down with a slight fever, but Ms. Carlyle said a bowl of homemade chicken soup would clear it right up.”
“Oh, baby,” Rachael said, placing her hand on his back. “Do you feel sick?”
“I’m alright,” Hector answered. “Just thirsty, is all.”
“Be good to your mom now, you hear?”
“Yes, Mrs. Jensen,” Hector said, blushing a little.
“Promise?”
“Promise,” Hector answered.
“Good,” Mrs. Jensen said. With that, she shut the car door, waved goodbye to them both, and then went back inside the school.
“Buckle up, kiddo,” Rachael told Hector, but like any over protective mother, she found herself leaning over the seat and reaching for Hector’s seat belt for him.
“Ahhh, mom!” Hector protested. “I can do it myself.”
Hector grabbed the seat belt and defiantly fastened himself in. His mother just looked at him with a big grin that only showed a small fraction of how proud she was. Not only to be his mother, but to be lucky enough to have him in her life.
“Sure you can,” Rachael said with a warm laugh.
“I’m not a little kid anymore, Mom.”
“But you’ll always be my little prince,” Rachael retorted.
She started up the V8 engine and the car roared to life. Hector finished fastening his seatbelt and stared out the window at an empty school lot. It looked eerie somehow.
“Sorry I’m so late. Things ran long with a client,” Rachael said apologetically as they drove off.
“Don’t worry, mom,” Hector said, trying to scratch under the cuff of his bandage. “I wasn’t worried.”
“Well, aren’t you the brave one?” Rachael smiled and continued to tell Hector about her day, but before she knew it he’d fallen fast asleep. As she pulled into the gated parking area of Hillside Parks Condominiums, she added, “Sorry, your mom is so boring. Bored you right to sleep.”
Arriving safely at home, Rachael smiled at the doorman, who politely tipped his hat and ushered them inside as she carried her sleeping boy, curled up in her arms, into the lobby of their building and to the elevator. As she waited for the elevator, she looked down at her sleeping prince’s beautiful face and thought to herself that his complexion looked much paler than usual. He really was coming down with something.
Entering the elevator, Rachael leaned against the guard railing and reached down with one arm to mash the button with her elbow. Then balancing Hector on her shoulder, she slipped off her high heels. Pinching the straps of her shoes between her thumb and finger, she waited for the lift doors to close and then take them to the sixteenth floor.
Rachael shifted Hector to her other shoulder and then the elevator jerked to a halt. Stepping out into the hall, Rachael hooked a right and walked down the hallway to the suite at the end. She pressed her thumb down on the biometrics scanner next to the door, barely holding onto her heels as she fumbled to keep everything balanced. It lit up with a green laser, scanned her thumb like a barcode, and the deadbolt automatically slid back. Once inside, Rachael kicked the door shut with the heel of her foot. Home sweet home, she thought to herself.
Taking Hector to his room, she gently laid him onto his bed, took his shoes off, and pulled his Spider-Man comforter over him, tucking him in.
Admiring Hector’s boyish face, she brushed his dark hair out of his eyes so she could take a mental picture of her handsome prince. He was growing up so fast. As her hand brushed his forehead, she noticed that he was burning up with a horrendous fever.
Rachael fetched a cool wet washcloth and gently laid it across her son’s forehead to help bring down his fever. Next she poured out a glass of water and set it on the nightstand by his bed, just in case he needed it later.
“Meow!” a small voice called out. Their cat Trixie, a silky gray Russian Blue, leapt onto the end of the bed, circled about a few times, then curled up next to Hector’s feet. It was her favorite spot in the entire house.
Rachael scratched behind Trixie’s ear and affectionately rubbed her hand down the cat’s soft back. Trixie immediately began purring softly as she licked her paws and bathed herself. After a few minutes of self-grooming she closed her eyes and dozed off.
Rachael felt Trixie had the right idea. Even though it wasn’t even dark out yet, she felt exhausted from a day’s hard work. Rachael wrapped her arms around her sleeping son and curled up on the bed next to him, the cat dozing comfortably at their feet. Rachael smiled, kissed Hector’s sleeping head, and pulled the shades shut to dim the daylight. “I love you, my little prince,” she whispered into his ear, and then closed her eyes and fell asleep on the bed beside him.
5
Disturbia
The hairs prickled on the back of Alyssa’s neck from fright as she turned around to find a massive Rottweiler Labrador mix eyeing her with a predatory gaze. The rabid dog had somehow escaped his cage.
Peeling back its lips, the animal bared its teeth at her and growled. It was the unnerving kind of growl that rattled deep down in its throat. Alyssa jumped in fright as it suddenly let out an angry bark. Sensing her fear, the dog came at her. But Alyssa knew attempting to outrun it would end badly for her. She couldn’t get away fast enough on her injured leg, so she pulled out the flare gun she had tucked in the back of her pants. It was all she had on her.
Practically upon her, the snarling beast got ready to leap and attack. Grimacing, Alyssa looked away and quickly pulled the trigger. The gun shot out a hot orange flare. She meant it to be a warning shot but it pelted the dog straight in its side and then ricocheted off. The dog crashed to the ground with a whimper and passed out.
“Shit!” exclaimed Alyssa. “That did not go as planned.”
Orange flames licked the walls and climbed up to the ceiling as fire slowly consumed the clinic. Alyssa cursed again. “Shit, shit, shit.”
She turned and hobbled to the rear exit, slammed her hip into the crash-bar of the door, and hastily escaped out the back of the burning building. As the clinic’s door slammed shut behind her, she contemplated going back in to save the other animals, but she had no way to contain them once they were free. She couldn’t just let a dozen rabies-infested animals run wild.
Alyssa felt terrible. It was a horrible way to die, getting burned alive, but in her condition there wasn’t much she could do. There was no way she could save them in time.
Standing outside, Alyssa looked around for help, for a passing car, or an afternoon jogger, but there wasn’t anybody in sight. The suburbs were usually relatively empty compared to the city, but not this empty. She stumbled down the steps down to the back parking lot and looked for her car. She hobbled up to the sky blue Toyota Prius and then reached into her empty pocket. “Shit, shit, shit!”
Like a dolt, she had left the keys back inside. Turning around, she watched the flames pick up. Dark smoke streamed out of the window cracks. It dawned on her that there was no sound of fire engines wailing. No sounds of emergency vehicles of any kind coming to put out the fire. Surely someone would have seen the smoke and called it in by now. But beyond the crackling of flames, it was dead silence. Not even the chirp of birds. Alyssa didn’t like it. Not one little bit. She worried the nightmare was only just beginning.
Sweat glistened on Alyssa’s sternum as she tugged on the tank t
op she wore under her lab coat to let cool air lap at her skin. Although it was only 6 pm and the air was cool, the heat from the burning animal clinic washed over her in waves. She had barely made it out alive, and even though her shock was finally beginning to wear off, her mind struggled to grapple with the terrible events of the awful day. The mad animals. The crazed doctor. She wondered what the hell was going on.
To make matters worse, Alyssa knew that it would be too difficult to walk all the way back into town, given the condition she was in. It was over an eight-mile hike, but her leg wound was already starting to throb. She’d have to call a taxi to come pick her up. Pulling out her cell phone to call a cab, she watched the last tick of the battery warn her that there was less than two percent remaining. “No, no, no,” she pleaded. “Don’t do this to me. Not now!”
But her bad luck streak continued. The screen went black and she sighed. She had no choice now.
Shambling down the street, she made her way toward the 7-Eleven down by the junction. It was no more than a mile away, and she felt that she could tough it until she got there and was able to use their payphone.
6
Entanglement
The office doors rattled violently, causing Jennifer Hurley to jump in fright. Entering into the waiting room of Callahan & Salinger law firm was what appeared to Hurley to be a goddamn fine specimen of a copyboy. The sweetest eye candy she’d seen in a long while. He was a fantastically well built, well groomed, dark haired man of Italian descent. Oh my dayum, she thought to herself.
Pushing a cart over to the secretary’s desk, he pulled out some mail and set it down. Hurley couldn’t help but eye his tight buttocks before he turned back around and came her way. As he approached she made sure to cross her long legs, which were accentuated by her black miniskirt that hugged her feminine form tighter than a condom hugged a raunchy sailor, and flashed him a flirtatious glance. Instantly, she regretted having worn panties today.
“Is everything alright, miss?”
“Oh, it’s nothing to pressing. I just remembered something I wanted to run by my lawyer, Ms. Ramirez, and came back upstairs to check with her. But the secretary said I had just missed her. She thought she might be able to catch her before she left the building and ran to fetch her for me. I’m just waiting to hear back from somebody.”
The young man smiled and answered, “Well, you’re lucky to get Ms. Ramirez as your lawyer. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but most of the male lawyers are usually at the club golfing, taking overly long vacations, and fucking their secretaries.”
“I see,” Jennifer replied, but all this was old news, of course. But perhaps the real reason she had picked Ramirez as her attorney was the fact that she had a corner office. Anyone with a corner office was a closer. Hurley knew this woman could get her whatever she asked for, even if she asked for her ex-husband’s testicles bronzed and on her mantle.
She went back to staring out the tall windows which lined one side of the waiting room, and as she gazed out at the whitewashed sky, she wondered where Rachael was. Growing impatient, she began tapping her nails on the glass counter.
The copyboy leaned up against the desk and smiled at her. “The guy you’re leaving must be a fool.”
“I beg your pardon?” Hurley asked, sending him a curt glance. It was a rather intrusive question.
“I’m just saying, nobody leaves someone as beautiful as you unless they’re a complete moron, which means you’re leaving him. What, did he cheat on you or something?”
“Or something,” Hurley replied, intentionally being vague. It’s not like Levi ever cheated. He was too much of a workaholic to even find the time, let alone find any women that might be interested. He certainly wasn’t getting any, not unless his secretary was going down on him, which she highly doubted. Levi’s secretary was a man and, well, if she was being entirely honest she’d admit that she had gone down on his secretary a few times while waiting for him to hurry up and finish in a meeting. The truth was, she was leaving him because he was so goddamn boring. The only reason she had stuck around for as long as she did was because he was loaded and let her use his black Centurion Card whenever she pleased. But now he’d put an end to that and not much else was keeping her tied to him. Certainly not love.
“You have any kids with Mr. Wrong?”
More with the personal questions. She shot hot copyboy a stern look to let him know that his intrusiveness was bordering on rude, but he didn’t seem to catch the hint. “If I was with you,” he said, brushing his dark hair back, “I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off of you. And that’s the God’s honest truth.”
Jennifer raised her eyebrow. “Is that an invitation?” she asked, flirting back.
“Do you want it to be?”
“Well, what did you have in mind?” she asked, biting her finger between her perfect white teeth and giving him her most seductive gaze.
Looking around the office, he turned back to her and said, “Well, it looks like we’re the only two here at the moment.”
“Is that so? The only two, huh?” Hurley raised an eyebrow and smiled at the young man. They shared a long gaze and then laughed nervously as they each brushed the idea aside. The very notion of hooking up with a complete stranger in the office space was undeniably impulsive, hotheaded, and probably not recommended.
Jennifer Hurley shifted in her chair, pulled her skirt down to its rightful place, and then turned to gaze back out the window. But, before too long, she found her eyes drifting back toward his.
Before the copyboy even knew what had happened, Hurley had his hot little ass in the back copy room right where she wanted him—his hands tearing off her panties and his tongue down her throat. Clearly her doe-eyes with the extra thick mascara lining had their intended effect, for hot copy boy's mouth was busy kissing her neck and she was pressed up against the copy machine undoing his belt buckle as fast as her fingers would allow.
“The name’s Jesse Zanato, by the way,” the young man said, panting.
“Don’t care. Just fuck me already,” Jennifer demanded.
“My pleasure,” Jesse replied.
“It will be,” Hurley replied with a crooked little smile that hinted at her licentious intentions.
Soon enough his pants were down around his ankles, her skirt was pulled up to her navel and he was inside her. Wrapping her arms around Jesse’s neck, legs secured around his hips, Hurley let out a pleasure-filled moan as he relentlessly pounded her.
Spinning her around, Jesse grabbed her by the hips and mounted her from behind. Slipping inside her with ease, his abs clenched tight, he began working his pelvis like a mother-fucking jackhammer. As he did, Jennifer Hurley leaned forward, squeezed her breasts together, moaned pleasurably, and pushed out her ass to better accommodate him. As she bent lower her 40 G-sized tits, pulled out over her open top, pressed down onto the glass of the open copy machine. Without intending to, one of them accidentally hit the copy button and copies of Hurley’s tits began to fill the tray.
Before Jesse could finish, the door flew open and the building’s security guard burst in. Scrambling to get their clothes back on, Jesse screeched, “What the hell, man?!” as he tucked himself back into his pants. Likewise, Hurley had already tucked her girls back into her shirt and gave her skirt a tug as she pulled it back into place. Although the moment was spoiled, it seemed the guard was more concerned with securing the door than anything they might have been doing.
Sweat patches grew around the guard’s chest and armpits, as if he’d just run the Boston marathon, and saturated his standard-issue blue uniform. His bald, brown, head glistened with moisture under the florescent lights of the copy room, and his closely trimmed black goatee gave him that prim and proper look expected in a security guard. In a panic, he yelled at them, “Get back!” Suddenly he tugged the copy machine away from the wall and wedged it up against the door he had just come through.
“Totally not cool, dude,” Jesse said as he hastily fas
tened his belt. “Did it ever occur to you to, you know, maybe knock first?”
Before any further complaints could be made, something slammed into the door with such a horrific force that Jennifer thought the door would tear off from its hinges. Jennifer screamed, then, composing herself, asked, “What the hell was that?”
Out of breath, the guard huffed, “We gotta get the hell out of here.” Before he could explain any further, there was another loud thud. The door buckled, but it held—just barely. Somebody wanted into the room badly. Whoever it was, they were certainly intent on breaking the damn door down.
Jennifer stared at the fat security guard with a probing look. “What’s going on here?”
“I’m being chased,” the guard answered.
Thud! With the third impact the door latch gave out, and the door tore open. The copier rattled back as it absorbed the brunt of the impact. Throwing the whole of his body weight against the unlatched door, the security guard slammed it back shut.
“You two have to get out of here…now!”
“What are you talking about?” Zanato replied, not giving two figs about the oddity of the situation they found themselves in. “We were here first. Why don’t you just take your crazy-ass shit somewhere else?”
Jennifer grabbed Jesse’s arm and, with an agitated look, stated, “Leave him be. I don’t want to get caught up in his mess. Let’s just get out of here. We’ll take the rear exit.”
“Fine by me,” Zanato affirmed. But before they could turn to leave, the door came crashing in and the security guard crashed to the floor.
The guard drew his gun out and aimed it at the open entrance. His arms shook with equal parts adrenaline and fear, which made holding the gun steady a more difficult task than it should be. He was trained, but not for this. Not this.