Dark Ends: A Horror Collection

by Sara Bourgeois

  “We don’t take charity,” she said before slapping him. “Maybe your lazy ass should get a job.”

  “I’m thirteen, Mom. Nobody will hire me. I can’t even get a work permit until I turn fourteen, and the school guidance counselor has to sign off on it.”

  “Then maybe you should hustle. Jimmy on Fourteenth Street is looking for runners. Maybe when your lazy ass gets hungry enough, you’ll learn how to work.”

  At thirteen, Chris knew that he was old enough to go into the adult prison system. His guidance counselor, Mr. Buris, had told him as much when he’d been caught stealing a box of cereal from the school cafeteria. Mr. Buris had paid for the cereal and Chris didn’t even get detention. Since it was a Monday, it was the first time he’d eaten in three days.

  Sometimes Chris wished he could ask Mr. Buris for a dollar so he could get a milk and some fruit, but there were a lot of hungry kids at school. Chris knew there was no way that the teachers or staff could afford to feed them all out of their own pockets.

  His mom and her new pimp must have been on some heavy shit because he managed to get past them and into the kitchen. The old pimp had been sent to prison a few weeks ago for trafficking girls. That was one of the reasons Chris’s mom hated him so much. She couldn’t sell him like she could a girl. Even the pervos who liked boys wouldn’t go near him. He was too tall and thin. Chris looked almost alien, so he was worthless to the kind of people his mother hung with.

  Chris opened the pantry and found a pack of stale Pop-Tarts and a can of tuna. There was a package of crackers that had been open for god knows how long, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. He had to shake it to get the roach out of the plastic, but just the same, it went into his school bag.

  He hoped that one of the lunch ladies would open his can of tuna. They were usually pretty nice to him, but after Gladys had been fired for giving away a lunch to a kid who didn’t have any money, they were more reluctant to help. Most of them had kids to feed too.

  There was orange juice in the fridge, but Chris didn’t dare touch it. That was for his mom and her friends to mix with vodka. He’d be beaten for stealing if she caught him drinking it. He’d just have to drink some water from the fountain when he got to school.

  Chris finished the Pop-Tarts before he got to the school bus. He had to or someone bigger and hungrier than him would take them. He knew he’d have to pretend to have lunch detention that day. It would be too embarrassing to eat his tuna and old crackers in front of Evan and Lyle.

  He didn’t really like the two boys, but they were the only people who paid any attention to him. Chris had learned to ignore the shitty things they did because he needed to belong somewhere.

  Sometimes he thought about telling them how bad things were at his house or how hungry he was, but it wasn’t worth the risk. If they turned on him, not only would he lose the only friends he had, but Evan would probably hurt him too. He’d make Lyle help.

  Then, there was the camping trip. It was so close that Chris could taste it. He was going to get a whole weekend away from his life, and he got excited thinking about eating three meals a day.

  After all the years of constant, tormenting hunger, Chris knew he’d do just about anything for a full belly.

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m here to rent the cabin. Why don’t you take my money, we’ll sign the lease, and let’s handle this as business,” I said.

  “I’m going to take a lot more than your money,” Floyd said with a laugh. “And don’t worry, I’ll take you to the cabin. That’s where I take all of my bitches. You’re quite a bit older than what I usually like to keep, but you look young enough. You’ll do until I can get another retard to fall for my little ad.”

  There was no way for me to pick up the knife without alerting him to what I was doing. I’d have to knock over several beer cans to get to the weapon, and Floyd had already begun to eye me suspiciously.

  “I’m giving you one last chance. Just get out of my way. I’ll find another cabin,” I said.

  No, you won’t.

  “Listen here, little bitch. I’m giving you one last chance to take off those jeans and let me fuck you nice. I’ll do it sweet the first time to break you in. Otherwise, I break you in rough.”

  My mind spun, and I finally felt something violent stirring in my belly. How many young guys had this pig done this to? What did he do with them after he was done with them at the cabin?

  You see now. You finally understand.

  The sound of the cans falling to the floor distracted Floyd. He watched them fall, and by the time he looked up, I was on him.

  The violence that had stirred in my belly erupted. I felt it all the way down to my toes. It was white-hot, and yet oddly calming. With a precision that had to have been a gift from Kevin, I plunged the knife into the back of Floyd’s neck and severed his spinal cord in one strike. He fell to the floor in an unceremonious flop.

  “Check the back bedroom,” Kevin said.

  It startled me and I must have jumped half out of my skin. He’d materialized next to me. “Why?”

  But then I heard it. A pitiful whine from the back of the trailer. It didn’t sound human, but I kept the knife in my hand anyway. I left a trail of Floyd’s blood in the hallway carpet as I made my way to the opposite side of the trailer.

  As I got closer to the door, the whine was accompanied by a strange rattling sound. Before I’d even opened the door, I had it figured out.

  Locked in a cage and covered in its own waste was a sad and emaciated-looking dog. It whined again and pawed at the door. Any fear that I’d had the dog would attack me for killing its owner disappeared. I figured that given its current situation, the poor thing was glad I’d offed its abuser.

  You should take it with you.

  That was where Kevin and I agreed. He’d vanished again, but that was most likely so he wouldn’t scare the dog. I let the sad-looking German Shepherd out of the cage and took it outside.

  After finding a hose, I cleaned her up as well as I could and filled a bowl with water. It took me a while to find where Floyd had kept the bag of cheap dog food, but I let her have her fill.

  “I’ll buy a bag of something better. I swear,” I promised the dog as I dried her off.

  I’d wanted a dog my whole life, but Mother had made that impossible. Since the shepherd was a girl, I decided to name her Trixie.

  The keys are in the Florida coffee mug at the top of the cabinet to the left of the stove.

  “I have to go back in for a minute,” I said to Trixie. She laid down on the rickety front deck. Trixie was never going back inside of that trailer again.

  Chapter Eleven

  Olivia

  Dr. Olivia Jacobs needed a weekend away. She’d take her notes to the cabin with her, but the haggard doctor needed at least one day away from the lab.

  She’d been working around the clock since the CDC had announced the impending outbreak. Her mind had dulled with fatigue and overstimulation, and she was no longer doing anyone any good.

  In the past, when she’d been stuck, a trip to the cabin had been the perfect remedy. There was no television, no cell phones, and no internet. For the trip she’d been planning that time around, Olivia would have to take the satellite phone in case her office or the CDC needed to reach her.

  “Whatever you need to do,” her boss had said. “We need you fresh. You’re so close, and I’m honestly not sure what we’re going to do if you don’t have a breakthrough.”

  “I’ll be back on Monday at the latest. Most likely, you’ll find me here on Sunday,” Olivia said. “Thank you, Maurice.”

  “Hey, we’re counting on you to save the world, Liv. If you need a day or two off, then take it.”

  Olivia checked her samples one more time before she left. She’d been hoping for a Hail Mary, but that wasn’t meant to be. All of her tests were still negative. Part of her knew that she was going to the cabin to say goodbye, too. If they’d reached the end of the line an
d eighty percent of the world’s population was going to die, Olivia didn’t want to spend every day of the rest of her life locked up in the lab.

  “Fuck,” she said. “Just one positive test. I can do something with that.”

  “You’re leaving?” Kyle had walked up behind her.

  “Yes, I’m going to the cabin for a day or so to clear my head. I’m tired and I can’t think cooped up in here anymore.”

  “You sure that’s all this is about?” Kyle asked.

  “Kyle, please. All this is about? We’re talking about the end of the world as we know it. I need a solution; this is not about us. “

  She’d kissed him goodbye when she left. Olivia knew that she and Kyle might never get the chance to work things out, and that sucked. But it wasn’t the end of the world.

  Liv chuckled at that thought. It was a good sign. She was only halfway to her car, and already the tension of being locked up in the high-risk lab melted away.

  She checked the backseat of her car. Her overnight bag and sketch pad were still there. The cabin was a three-hour drive away. It sat on a small lake at the foot of the mountains. There was only one other cabin, and it was located across the lake. Because of work, Olivia didn’t have much time to visit her cabin so she’d never met the people who owned the other one.

  Olivia also assumed there was a campground somewhere nearby because she’d run into groups of campers a few times over the years. It couldn’t have been too close though, because the groups were usually almost all kids. And she never heard them at night.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jacksonville was the last town before I arrived at the cabin. I stopped there to get something to eat, buy groceries, and get supplies for Trixie. I pulled into a strip mall that had a Walmart on one end. In the middle of the line of stores was a pet store. I’d decided to get professional help with selecting stuff for Trixie.

  Since I’d never owned a dog, I wanted to make sure she had everything she could need or want. Her life had been complete shit up to that point, and I was determined to make up for it. I had plenty of cash since I hadn’t had to pay the deposit on the cabin.

  What I was going to do after my current situation was over, I had no idea. I had vacation time saved up at work thanks to the fact that I’d been there for ten years, but company policy required that we put in for vacation time in advance. It had to be approved. When I called in and told them I was taking time off without notice, I feared that I could be fired.

  Then there was the alternative. Kevin had pushed me into the mission through coercion. He’d made me no promises that I’d avoid arrest for what was most certainly going to appear as a heinous crime.

  Whether I got fired from my job or not meant nothing if I spent life in prison. Going to prison meant that I’d have to give up Trixie. That thought choked me up a bit.

  “Is there any way that I can do this and not end up in prison?” I asked the empty but Kevin-drenched air.

  No answer.

  I went into the Walmart to grab a few days’ worth of food. I hurried as fast as I could. It wasn’t hot outside, but I still didn’t like the idea of leaving Trixie in the car for too long. I wished I hadn’t had to leave her at all.

  Ten minutes later, I was back outside. Trixie slept peacefully in the backseat, and I figured the car was a paradise compared to the cage I’d liberated her from in the trailer. The next stop was the pet store, and that was better because I could take Trixie in with me.

  “Sir, you have to have your dog on a leash,” a lady in a purple polo shirt said after we’d walked in. Her name tag said her name was Sheila.

  “I’m sorry. I just rescued her. I’d love to buy a leash.”

  It was a risk because I knew that Sheila would remember me, but she did ensure that I got everything I needed for my new friend. A half hour and two hundred dollars later, Trixie had everything she needed. That included expensive vitamins that Sheila said would help Trixie recover from the malnutrition she’d suffered.

  Trixie and I went through the drive-through at McDonalds. I knew that neither of us should be eating there, but I figured it was a treat. We both got a McRib sandwich. I didn’t have any fries because I’d heard somewhere that dogs couldn’t have potatoes. I might have been on my way to murder three middle-school-aged boys, but that didn’t mean I had to eat fries in front of the dog.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The cabin was in far better shape than I imagined. It was small, but it was right on the water. There was another cabin across the lake, but when I arrived, the other place looked empty.

  I looked around and found that the house in the woods, that would most likely be my last home as a free man, was two rooms. One larger room served as a kitchen, dining area, and living room. The back room was a tiny bedroom that was only a little larger than a closet. It held a twin bed and a narrow nightstand. On the bed table sat an old kerosene lamp. I hoped that there was fuel for it somewhere in the cabin because I hadn’t purchased any.

  Just about the time I’d resigned myself to having to do my business in the woods, I opened a door in the kitchen that I’d assumed was a pantry. It turned out to be a claustrophobic bathroom. Even thought I could literally shower while I was on the toilet, it was better than having to bath in the lake and shit in the woods.

  Floyd had said that he’d kept people locked up there, and I was expecting a house of horrors. I’d convinced myself that he lied until I found the metal door in the ground while I played ball with Trixie.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Camping in the Woods

  “Get your ass in the truck before I have to tan it for you,” Evan’s father barked at him from the bottom of the stairs.

  Lyle looked a little shocked and Chris blushed at the rebuke, but Evan just shrugged. “Guess it’s time to go, guys.”

  “I think I might go home,” Chris said. He’d had enough of that kind of talk. At least at home, hungry as he would’ve been, he could hide in his room.

  “Aw, come on, ya pussy,” Evan said. “He doesn’t mean it. My pops just gets grumpy when he thinks he’s running late.”

  Evan didn’t give a shit if Chris went or not, except that he thought he might need a third set of hands if the opportunity he’d hoped for presented itself.

  They arrived at the campground in the middle of the afternoon. Evan was in a hurry to get out on the hiking trails, so he dutifully helped his father set up the tents. He knew there was no way that they were going to be allowed to go anywhere until all of the work was done.

  Once the campsite was ready, Evan made his move. “Can we go look around? We’ll stay on the trails.”

  Evan’s father looked as though he might say no, but his eyes dragged themselves to the big blue cooler that contained his beer. “I want you back here before dark. We’re having hot dogs for dinner.”

  And that was that. Evan led the way and the other two boys followed. That was the way it always was, and being in the woods wasn’t going to change anything. Lyle and Chris knew nothing of their ringleader’s plans, but that wouldn’t matter. Neither of them would dare tell him no. Especially not out in the forest. There were just too many accidents that could happen.

  The sun got low, and Evan got frustrated. His face turned a ruddy shade and he began to kick trees and plants like a toddler who hadn’t gotten a lollipop.

  Chris didn’t want any trouble. He was so close to all-you-could-eat hotdogs that he hoped Evan wouldn’t do anything to ruin the evening. He’d been sent to bed without dinner almost every night for the slightest infraction. Chris knew that his mother was just making things up so that she didn’t have to fix him any food, but that wasn’t going to happen that night.

  “What’s wrong, Evan?” Chris asked in his most placating voice.

  “Nothing, faggot. God damn, don’t be such a queer,” Evan said menacingly.

  “Hey, look over there,” Lyle shouted.

  Evan whipped around and a wicked smile spread across his face. H
e felt his heartbeat rise at the site. Not much made him feel anything, but there was something bordering on excitement brewing in his gut.

  A few hundred feet down a side trail was a cabin, and across the lake was another one. Across the lake, someone played with a dog. Evan was sad to see that it was probably a man, but the cabin closest to them held potential.

  It appeared to be empty, but Evan had a feeling. It was far nicer than the cabin across the lake. He imagined that a family used it. All they had to do was come to the cabin for the weekend. A family meant women and little girls.

  Evan found himself smiling so hard that his face hurt. He wasn’t accustomed to that level of happiness. It had become increasingly difficult to feel anything, so this was a revelation. Evan Little had found his life’s calling.

  Chapter Fifteen

  I didn’t want to open the door in the ground. I’m not sure how long I stood their staring at it, but when I finally emerged from my stupor, Trixie was sitting next to me with her red ball held tightly in her jaws. She still wanted to play but sat their patiently like a little lady. I couldn’t believe that someone had ever treated her with anything less than complete kindness. Faced with what lay beyond the door, I knew that Trixie was a better soul than most humans.

  My breathing was quick and shallow, and my stomach began to tie itself in knots. I had to consciously slow myself down. I kept expecting to hear Kevin’s voice chastising me for being scared or pushing me to open the door, but I was alone. Ever since I’d spied the door, his presence had been absent.

  Trixie walked over to the door and scratched it. She whined a little and then laid down next to the metal patch on the forest floor. I still didn’t want to open it, but then a worse thought wormed its way into my brain.

  What if I’d killed Floyd before he’d had a chance to dispatch his most recent victim? There could be a boy or young man down in that hole right at that moment. Then, the thoughts got worse.