Never Fear - The Tarot: Do You Really Want To Know?

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Never Fear - The Tarot: Do You Really Want To Know? Page 40

by Heather Graham


  “Hello, Sue. You look beautiful.”

  “I do, don’t I? My dress is so very, very pretty.”

  “Is she always going to talk like that?” his friend, Paul, asks.

  “Yes I am. Do you not like the way I talk, Paul?”

  “It’s annoying.”

  “Oh.”

  “Shut it, man,” Dave tells him, punching his arm. He turns back to me with a smile. “He doesn’t mean it, babe.”

  “Babe? My name is Sue.”

  “You paid good money for this? Damn, you’re a moron, Dave.”

  “I do not think I like you, Paul. You should go away.”

  “If anyone’s going, it’s you.”

  “Dave? Am I going?”

  “No, Sue. You’re not going anywhere. We need Paul to witness the wedding, and then he can leave us to our honeymoon.”

  “Oh yes, the honeymoon. I’m very excited for that.”

  “Me too.”

  Dave pulls Paul away, and then they start whispering. Hands are moving and they look angry. I wring my hands. I don’t like angry. Angry isn’t good. We’re supposed to be happy all the time. I bring happiness, and Paul should know that.

  “Stop!” I say, walking over to them. “This is a happy day. We should all be happy.”

  “We are,” Dave tells me in a voice I think is meant to soothe me.

  “Paul isn’t.”

  “No, I’m not. Does that upset you?” he asks, and his smile doesn’t make me feel warm inside. In fact, I feel colder. I don’t like feeling so cold.

  “I do not think Paul is a good man,” I tell Dave. “Does he have no one to make him happy?”

  “He’s all alone, Sunshine. Maybe I’ll let you make him happy after the honeymoon.”

  “My name is Sue. You keep calling me other names. I don’t like the other names. You chose Sue, so that’s who I am.”

  “Okay. Don’t get upset.”

  “I am not upset. I am happy. I do not think I want to make Paul happy.”

  “You’re going to do what I say, right? If I say making Paul happy makes me happy, you’ll do it.”

  “Of course. I was made to make you happy.”

  It makes me feel wrong to say that because Paul needs to find his own girl, and I don’t think he’ll be happy with me. If he’s not happy with me, I will not be happy. I have to be happy. It’s what I was created for. Being not happy isn’t an option for me. What will I do if I’m not happy? What will I become?

  Happy Honeymoon

  Our honeymoon is in a tropical paradise, and Dave couldn’t be happier with me. He bought me several bikini bathing suits, and I’ve worn a different one every day. Other men stare at me, and that seems to make Dave happy as well.

  “Take off your top,” he tells me as we walk on the beach.

  “Why?”

  “Because it will make me happy.”

  I smile at him, because he should always be happy. After I take off my top, he turns me so the men on the beach can see. Then he pulls my head back and kisses me. I like it when he kisses me and I make a contented noise in the back of my throat.

  “Is she for rent?” a man asks, making Dave stop kissing me.

  I look up, and see both a man and a woman standing in front of us. “Maybe we can just swap,” Dave says, and I don’t like the way he looks at the woman.

  “Yes, let’s,” she says, running her hand up and down his arm.

  I reach out to slap it away, but Dave grabs my wrists, and leans close to whisper in my ear. “You want me to be happy, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” I do. I really, really do.

  “Then we’re going to go back to our room and have sex with these people. You’ll keep the man happy while I fuck his wife.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I want it.”

  I nod, because I have to, but I don’t like this. Not at all. Dave and I are supposed to be happy. Together, and not apart. Never, ever apart.

  Thirty minutes later, we are all naked. The man, whose name I still don’t know, is grunting loudly as he moves in and out of my body. I don’t care that he’s doing this to me. I don’t like it, because I’m only programmed to react to Dave, but I don’t not like it, either. I feel nothing but annoyance as his sweat drips on me.

  Looking across the room, though, I feel something. Something I’m not supposed to feel. Rage. Dark, uncontrollable rage fills me as I watch Dave having sex with the woman. She’s screaming as he sucks on her breasts, and I hate it. HATE. IT. How dare she have what’s mine. She can’t have what’s mine. I’ll make sure of it.

  The Beginning of?

  Hours later, after my body has been used by both of the men, and also the woman, Dave has finally gone to sleep. The other two went back to their room, smiling as the door closed behind them. Dave was smiling, too, but when I tried to get into the shower with him, he pushed me away, telling me he was not interested in me. That is when I knew what had to be done.

  I easily scale the wall and enter the other couple’s room through the sliding glass door on their balcony. They are a threat to the happiness Dave and I are meant to have together, and I can’t allow them to mess things up for me again.

  Twisting my neck, I release the fangs in my mouth, allowing them to drop down over my human teeth. I also twist my hands into knives. All like me are equipped with special defense mechanisms. We’re meant to use them to defend those who purchase us. That’s what I’m about to do—defend Dave. He bought our happiness, and that’s what I’m going to give him.

  The man doesn’t even wake as I kill him quickly. His blood is splattered everywhere, but there was no sound, so the woman did not wake up. I want her to wake up, though. I need to see her pain as she realizes she shouldn’t have ever tried to take away our happiness. I let the blood from my fangs drip on her cheeks.

  “What the hell?” she yells, waking, wiping at her face, but only succeeding in smearing the blood. Her vision clears, and she starts to back away from me. “Get away.”

  “No.”

  “You have to do what your master says.”

  “You are not my master. My master wants to be happy. I make him happy, not you.”

  “Okay. I’ll stay away. I promise.”

  “It’s too late for that now. He wants you, and not me.”

  “He’ll never see me again. I promise.”

  “I know he won’t.”

  It’s the last thing I say before I attack. My blades are still slick with her husband’s blood, but they haven’t dulled at all. I cleanly slice across her throat, severing her vocal chords, but not killing her. I know exactly where to cut and bite to cause the most damage before death, and now she knows that as well.

  I chew on her flesh as she tries to fight me. She is no match for me, but I am glad she doesn’t just lie back and take it. I am brutal in my assault, cutting and tearing at the places Dave touched and kissed her. When they find her, they may think this was a sexual assault, and in some ways, they would be right. I’m assaulting her body in the way I am because of sex.

  Once her body is unrecognizable, I go into her bathroom and clean myself up. I can’t go back to Dave covered in blood. I’m not worried about getting caught by anyone, because I have no DNA or fingerprints. They’ll be looking for a sadistic killer, but they’ll never find her. Me. They’ll never find me.

  I make it back to our room, and slide into bed next to Dave. He doesn’t even stir as I make myself comfortable, and tell my brain to sleep. I smile as I close my eyes, thinking that there’s nothing in the way of our happiness now. Nothing at all.

  Home, Sweet Home

  “How was work?” I ask Dave as he comes in the front door. I have his dinner ready, and I’m only wearing an apron.

  “It was boring.”

  “Poor Dave. Would you like to fuck me before I serve you dinner?”

  He looks like a wolf when he smiles at me. “I would indeed.”

  He stalks towards me, and bends me over the d
ining room table. He’s not gentle, but then he hasn’t been since we got back from our honeymoon. We had to cut it short because of the bodies being found. I did a good job of acting upset, and I don’t think Dave suspects me. He’s been rough with me, but that’s to be expected, I suppose. He should be upset. I’ll let him have this for now, but we need to be happy again, soon.

  Once he’s done with me, I serve him dinner. “This is really good. Thank you, Sue.”

  “You’re welcome,” I say, smiling brightly at him. “You know I always want you to be happy.”

  “I know. Speaking of that, there’s a party I would like us to attend this weekend.”

  “Of course. What kind of dress should I wear?”

  “Something classy, but sexy. It’s an office party, and I want to show you off. I want every man there to want you.”

  “Do I have to do anything with them?” I ask, trying to keep my smile on my face.

  “Sex? No. Definitely not. I want them to want you, but know they can’t have you. Do you understand?”

  “You want a bombshell. I can be a bombshell. I’ll modify my body a little bit, so it’s even curvier.”

  “Perfect. You’re perfect, Sue.”

  I know I am, but it’s nice to hear him say it. If he knows it, then he won’t want to “swap” with anyone again. I would kill again, and while I don’t mind it, I’d rather just stay happy.

  Cocktails and Lies

  I am dressed, just as Dave requested. My dress is tight and sexy but has a designer name on the label, and it’s not showing too much of anything. Just enough to have the men he works with look me up and down, but not enough to offend the women they’re with.

  “They want you. All of them want you,” Dave says in my ear, and I hear the smile in his voice.

  “The women are staring at you.”

  “I’ve already had all of them, so they know what I’m packing.”

  “All?”

  “All,” he confirms, pulling back to smirk at me.

  I force myself to smile, but I’m not happy. Why does he keep saying and doing things that make me feel this way? And why am I feeling? I’m not supposed to feel. Something is wrong with me, and something is wrong with us.

  “Why?”

  “Because it made me happy. You should know by now that everything I do is about making me happy. I bought you to make me happy.”

  “I do, don’t I?”

  “Yeah, baby, you make me happy. Now kiss me like I own you.”

  His request doesn’t make much sense, since he does own me, but I try my best to do what he asks, while ignoring the fact that he didn’t call me by my name. Again. I lean up and kiss him like he’s the only man in this room, in the world. He is to me, and by the way he growls into my mouth, my mission has been accomplished.

  Unfortunately, things don’t stay so happy at the party. A short time after our kiss, Dave says he has to use the bathroom, so I smile and play my part. He’s gone too long, though, and I decide to look for him.

  There are many doors closed in this big house, and I press the panel near my right ear, homing in on Dave’s voice. I hear the words he’s saying, and my smile starts to slide as I walk to him. He’s in a bedroom, and he’s not alone.

  “You love taking it hard, don’t you?” he asks, and the woman tells him that yes, she does, but only from him.

  No! This is not supposed to happen again. He said he didn’t want to mess up my dress or makeup before the party. He said we’d have sex after. Why is he having sex now? WHY?

  I open the door, and walk in, knowing what I will see. Dave doesn’t even have his clothes off, and he doesn’t stop when he sees me. “Hi, baby, you want to play with us?”

  No, I do not. “You are having sex.”

  The woman laughs. “You paid for that? She sounds dumb. Maybe you should get a better model.”

  Her words feel like knives in my chest, and I turn, closing and locking the door. “I am the best model,” I tell her, bringing out my fangs and knives once again.

  “Sue, no!” Dave yells, pulling out of the woman’s body, then walking toward me. “My God, it was you.”

  “Get her away from me!” the woman shouts, hiding behind him.

  “We’re supposed to be happy. Us. Only us, Dave.”

  “She’s crazy!”

  “Shut up!” He’s yelling at the woman now, and I can smile again. Dave is on my side. I knew he would be. He has to be. “Can you kill her quickly and make it look like an accident?”

  “Of course.”

  When Loving Him is Wrong

  The woman starts to run, but she really has no chance. I slice her head right off, and watch dispassionately as it rolls across the carpet. Dave is jumping up and down, yelling “get it away” but I wait until it stops at his feet before I do anything else.

  Twisting back into “human” form, I add a few extra arm muscles, and get to work on rolling up the carpet. “Move back, unless you’re going with her.”

  Dave immediately jumps to the side, and I take a moment to wonder why I was supposed to be happy with him. I’m pretty sure I shouldn’t be thinking that, either, but since nothing’s normal right now, I just roll with it—as I roll up the carpet with the body and severed head inside.

  Once it’s all nice and tight, I move my jaw, and blow some fire into the fireplace. “Wait,” Dave says, putting a hand on my arm. “Isn’t the flesh going to smell bad?”

  “Do you have to be so difficult?”

  He backs up like I slapped him, and I guess I did, at least verbally. I really, really don’t like him, and I know that’s a malfunction, but I can’t help myself. He is not a nice man to his wife who only wants to make him happy, and that is just not acceptable.

  “You’re supposed to make me happy.”

  “No one could make you happy.”

  But I try. I really do try. Another couple twists of my hands and I’m pouring bleach all over the rug before tossing it inside the fire. If someone sniffed hard enough, they could probably still smell the flesh, but I’ve done a good job of masking it.

  “Wow. You’re full service.”

  “You’d know that if you read the manual.”

  “I’m not sure I like this side of you.”

  “Are you going to send me back?”

  “No, I don’t think I am. I think I have a new way for you to make me happy.”

  Getting What You Wished For

  For two months now, Dave has been using me to make him happy. We have sex in all different ways, and in all different places, but while he seems to enjoy it, that’s not what’s really making him happy. His happiness is coming from having me murder people. Lots of people. Anyone who’s wronged him.

  He doesn’t realize the consequences of me killing people who are all connected to him because, well, he’s not too smart. Not smart, but happy. He’s happy, and by extension, so am I. He hasn’t cheated on me again, or asked us to swap, so I feel no need to hurt anyone except for those he’s telling me to hurt.

  We’re eating dinner when the doorbell rings. I get up to answer it, because I know that’s what he expects me to do. I’m not surprised to see the policemen at the door. “Honey, it’s for you.”

  I smile at them, and usher them inside as he walks into the room. His face pales, and he looks between them and me. “It was her. She killed them all.”

  “Ma’am?” the one closest to me asks, pulling his gun on me.

  “I am number 101, but he calls me Sue. He bought me to make him happy. Everything I do is to make him happy. I do everything I’m told to do.” I say this all in a stereotypical robot voice, all while keeping a smile on my face.

  “You programmed her to kill for you?”

  “No. She was killing them. She likes to kill them,” Dave says. Stupid, stupid man.

  “I do not like or dislike anything. I have no feelings. I serve my master.”

  Dave tries to run, just like all the others. This time, I’m not the one charged
with stopping him. The police do that, and I just stand there smiling. “She’s crazy. Listen to me. She’s crazy. She feels things. I know she does.”

  I just keep smiling, even when the police lead me outside and into the back of one of the cars. Dave is put in the other car, and I hear him screaming until the sirens drown him out. I am very good at this, pretending to be a good robot. My master would be proud.

  Happily Ever After

  “Hello, Dave,” I say as I walk into his room at the mental hospital. He wouldn’t stop talking about me, and feelings, so his lawyer convinced a judge he was insane. He’s not insane, he’s just a bad man. A bad man who needs to pay for ruining everything.

  “Do I know you?” he asks.

  I laugh, thinking about how different I look now. Different face, different hair, different body. “My name is Brenda, but you can call me Sue.”

  His eyes widen, and he backs up. “How did you get in here?”

  “You should know by now that nothing will ever stop me from being happy.”

  “Get out! I’ll call for help!”

  “From who?” I ask, stepping aside.

  He walks into the hallway and sees all the blood, the body parts, and bones. There are so, so many of them. A person would think it’d taken me hours to kill them all, but I’m a good little robot, and I did it all in minutes.

  “What have you done?”

  “You didn’t want to stay here, did you? I know you weren’t happy here.”

  “You’re been fixed! My lawyer said you’ve been fixed! You look different, you sound different… they said you were reset.”

  “They did things to me. Things that hurt. I pretended to play along, but I was changed when I was with you. You changed me. Now, let’s go. We can be happy again.”

  He takes my hand, because why wouldn’t he? I’m here for his happiness… or am I here for my happiness? He bought the “perfect” wife, but now he’s got me. I’m not perfect, and I’m not subservient anymore, either. One day, he may not make me happy any longer, and then his head may go rolling across the floor. I smile at the thought, realizing the thought of that makes me really, really happy.

 

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