by Steven Swaks
“Don’t worry, I’m on the other side. There’s no mingling.”
“But… you shouldn’t be able to talk to me.”
She shrugged. “Why not? It’s not that I’m going to try to jump off and invade your Heaven. This side is much too cool anyway. You should see the non-believers, they’re the best. They come in here screaming that they were good, but they roast anyway. You know, I’ve never believed in those salvation fairy tales. With all the suffering on Earth, I couldn’t see how anybody could believe. But here we are, you and me, in this wonderful Heaven and Hell. So I guess it was true after all.” She looked around her. “I have to say, you got yourself a nice place.”
Jessica’s eyes followed Gina’s every move. “But–”
“But, but… but what? Oh yeah, I can’t be here talking to you. Well, technically, I shouldn’t. I should be roasting in the fiery lake. But, you see, there’s none of that we-love-each-other nonsense in Hell. It’s more of a self-enterprise, which is working fairly well for me, I have to say. You should meet Lucifer. He’s not a bad guy after all. That’s as long as he needs you. After that,” she pretended to slash her own throat with the edge of her hand.
“But… you’re already–”
“Dead? Yeah, I know, but they have a few levels over here. If they need somebody, they give them the penthouse over the fiery lake, which is kind of fun to see all those jerks roasting down below. The screaming bothered me for a while, but I got used to it. But I digress, what was your question? Oh, yes, I can’t be here. Well, since the big guy–mine, not yours–needs me, I get some perks–that’s on top of having the penthouse. So, yes, I shouldn’t be here, but I have a back stage access, if you want to call it that way. I can roam around where ever I want on my side of this wonderful afterlife.”
“Why does the devil need you?”
“See, Lucifer sounds better. The devil sounds too… devilish.” She shivered in a mocking way. “But that’s a good question. He loved my work in Stone Falls.”
“Your work?” Jessica frowned.
“Yeah, all those Earthlings killing each other, hanging themselves for no apparent reason… you didn’t think they did it out of their own wits? I was there to help,” Gina said with a satisfied grin. “Of course, some of them were more reluctant to my suggestions, so I had to do the job myself. That detective for example, boy, the man put up a fight! I didn’t even manage to kill him! I will have to finish the job later on. It should be easy. I’ll mess with some medication dosage in the hospital, and voilà, minus one cop.”
Jessica was staring at Gina, unable to speak.
“Take that young cop, Aaron Boyle. That one was easy. I only suggested him to drive faster, and boom, he flew down the street! The other car was a bonus. I didn’t even know they were there. Talk about icing on the cake, three for the price of one!”
“You’re evil…” Jessica muttered.
“Well, thank you. You see, sweet Jessica, for the first time of my life–well, afterlife–I feel free. I feel accepted.”
“Why are you coming here? Why are you coming to see me?”
“We are curious, aren’t we?” She put her hand on her knee to emphasize the explanation to come, “we have a special bond, you and me. I should thank you for that.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“I have been hearing about you and your love for this dumpy town. Frankly, I don’t see how you can stand that place. I personally despise it.”
“It’s not about where you live. It’s about your relationship with people.”
“How sweet, slightly cliché, but sweet. You know, what I do in Stone Falls shouldn’t be your problem. Can you believe that even here there’s gossiping going on? Who knew?”
“John told you what I was feeling?”
“John? No, John is an angel, quite literally.” She chuckled. “But we can see a lot of things from our perspective, like beggars living in a slum a block away from a king’s palace.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re here.”
“We’re thick, aren’t we? Let me spell it out for you. You’re in Heaven. You are supposed to be happy. But because you’re so damned sensitive and in touch with the big guy upstairs, you’re still catching on what’s going in Stone Falls, and you might attract some unwanted attention. Comprende?” She lost her smile. “So, little twerp, you are going to calm down, be happy happy in that little Heaven of yours and leave us alone, or we’re going to have a major problem. You got that? Is that clear enough for your thick skull?”
“So you want me to keep quiet and watch you kill people?”
Gina relaxed. “You are not exactly watching, you might see some of them once in a while. The believers at least…”
“And the others?”
“Well, you know…” she sneered, “cooking time!”
“I can’t let you kill innocent people!”
Gina’s eyebrows lifted. “Innocent people? Hardly, do you think Larry Cherlin was innocent? Please, mister businessman deserved to hang himself on his deck. He slept with his secretary. He embezzled money, and treated his employees like slaves. I bet you they’re all relieved by now.”
“What about that police officer? He worked to help people!”
“That cop? Seriously? I enjoyed watching him burn to a crisp. Well done,” she pretended pushing on a service bell, “ding! That little bastard invaded my home. He violated my sanctuary. He deserved it! People aren’t going to cry over a cop, trust me. Besides, I didn’t directly do it. I only suggested to him to drive faster, that was it, and my little friends finished the job. I was just there to watch.”
“Your little friends? What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s see who was on that one–that was a team effort you know–Egresohr was there, Tregimach, and Kosuluhn.
Jessica whitened. “Demons?”
“I really can’t hide anything from you.”
“What did they do to him?”
“To him? Nothing. But they like to play with things, you know. Brake pedals, accelerators, the difference is so confusing sometimes…”
Jessica was disgusted. “And those grandparents in the car accident?”
“Hardly collateral damage. That cop had to crash into something. It was pure luck that he smacked into people. Oh, I still shiver when I see how hard they hit.” She shook an instant.
“What about your mother? You killed your own mother!”
“You should have seen the way she treated me.” She nodded in self-approval. “She deserved it!”
Jessica stayed silent for an instant. “Did you?”
“What?”
Her voice quivered. “Did you kill Todd?”
“Oh… poor angel… you loved him. Yes, I did take care of him. He was too young with too much of a future. It made me sick. Phew! And your love was disgusting to watch. Too bad he died so quickly. I wanted him to suffer for a while before the big plunge. You haven’t seen him, have you? That’s your God for you. He pretends to be all mighty and good, but he likes to toy with people. At least, Lucifer is straightforward. There’s none of that mumbo jumbo with him.”
Jessica didn’t know what to say. She was disgusted and bitter. She didn’t know how to react to such hatred.
“And that accident wasn’t the best. Oh, and you should have seen those two medics’ faces when I went to visit them. It was great, an instant classic. I screamed at their faces, it’s a conspiracy! Those two idiots bought it.”
“What about me?”
“What about you? Your murder?”
Jessica nodded, in tears.
“I was completely out of that one. Your killer was a one-man show. Honestly, we need more people like him.”
“What do you mean… in Hell?”
“Hell has such a bad connotation. Look around you, honey, it’s boring, birds singing, trees, river, bla bla bla.” She jerked her head side to side, “Just you wait ‘til you go into town. It gets worse, golden streets, diamond g
ates, angels… boring! My side’s more exciting! We have rocks, mountains, lava, fire…”
“And you trust the devil is going to take care of you?”
“Of course! I’m his little protégé! As long as I continue my work, nothing is going to happen to me.”
“That’s until he gets tired of you.”
“He won’t, Honey.”
“Do you think it’s wise to trust the devil?”
“That’s my problem. Just stay out of my way. Enjoy your eternity, and we’ll be fine.” Her eyes darkened. “But don’t cross me. If you do, I will rip out your family’s souls and feed it to the demons.” She relaxed and glanced at the woods behind Jessica. “Nice woods you got there, but it would burn in no time in my hood with all that timber.” She stood. “You’re a smart girl. You will make the wise move.” She winked at the frightened girl and vanished inside the tunnel.
Divine Wind
Jim Mackenzie, the sole owner of Jim’s Repair & Body Work, stood by the window in his glorified lounge. Business was painfully slow. It was the economy or the liberals in the White House and the crisis in the Middle East. People didn’t drive anymore. At almost four bucks a gallon, the car was a damn luxury. Then, there were those tree huggers killing the industry. They wanted to go hybrid, or even better, electric, what a joke. Either way, he didn’t know squat about onboard computers and all that technical garbage. He was becoming obsolete, and he knew it. He grew up in an era when a Chevy was straight forward. Heck, back in the days, he had been able to change a carburetor before he’d kissed a girl. There was no electronic junk and computers back then.
An older Honda entered his lot.
Damn people, can’t even buy American, he thought. He walked out of his lounge and spat his chew on the ground.
Tracy and Brad stepped out of her Civic.
“What’s wrong with that fine car?” Jim asked with his best forced demeanor.
“It runs rough at idle,” Tracy said.
“They buy Japanese and they wonder why the stinking car doesn’t work,” Jim muttered. The man eyeballed Tracy’s Goth outfit. Kids these days couldn’t even dress like human beings. Girls used to look like girls, with long dresses and cute shoes. That girl looked like a boy with her black boots, black pantyhose–or whatever they were–black skirt, and black everything else. Jim rubbed his beard stub. “I’ll check that out. Do you have the keys?”
“They’re in the ignition.”
“You two can wait in the lounge. Shouldn’t be long.” Jim walked at a slow and heavy pace to the car, his feet dragging on the concrete.
In disgust, Tracy shook her head.
“Your new boyfriend?” Brad asked.
Her hand came crashing into his stomach. “That would be a step up from the last one.”
“You know you miss me.”
“Sure…” She was the first one to enter the waiting area and looked at the few dirty chairs. “What a dump,” she muttered.
Jim Mackenzie backed up the Civic into the bay. He opened the driver’s door, unlatched the hood, and shuffled his feet to the front of the car. He slid his fingers by the latch, found it, and lifted the hood.
“You wanted to come here,” Brad said.
“I don’t want to wait two hours at the other places.”
“I don’t even know why you didn’t want me to check your car out.”
She turned to him, “Because after I would owe you something.”
“Is that so bad?”
“Yep, it’s bad. I don’t even know why you insisted to come with me. I can deal with that stupid mechanic by myself.” She looked straight at him for a reply.
“I just wanted to hang out, that’s it.”
“We’re not getting back together, Brad.”
“I know. It’s not because I take a look at your car that I want to make out.” His eyes were fixed on her.
She softened and looked at him. “But you wouldn’t mind…”
“I just want to hang out…” he repeated without conviction.
“Really?”
“I just like to be with you, that’s it.”
Tracy smiled, “You play tough guy, but you’re a softy.”
“I’m not.”
Her eyes met his. She was doomed. She knew it. She loved it. She leaned toward him and closed her eyes.
Their lips met.
Hands buried under the hood, the mechanic was revving up the engine.
“Talk about romantic,” Tracy said.
“It matches us.”
“That bad?”
“Maybe not,” Brad kissed her one more time. He couldn’t get enough of her. Beyond her tough appearance, Tracy was a nice girl. She was his girl. They both knew it.
A sheer scream of terror rose from the bay.
Brad pulled away from Tracy and stood up. “What the heck?” He looked at her to ask for something she didn’t know.
She shook her head, almost afraid to say a word.
Brad turned around and strode to the glass door going into the bay. Through the window pane, he couldn’t see anything but a few overfilled storage shelves with small boxes, car parts, and greasy tools littering the garage, but he couldn’t see the mechanic, not that he was looking forward to find out what had just happened.
His stomach writhed in dread to enter. Brad opened the glass door into the shop. The Civic’s hood was up, engine idling in the otherwise quiet room.
“Mister Mackenzie?”
A tapping sound responded from the other side of the car.
Brad walked down the two steps into the bay and circled around the front of the small sedan.
The scene was worse than he had envisioned. He had hoped for a slip and fall, a broken ankle, or even a broken leg. He was grossly off. Jim Mackenzie was lying on the ground, hands clutched around his neck, blood spewing on his blue overhauls and splattering in small red dots on the gray floor.
Brad froze for an instant.
The mechanic hardly gurgled, red blood foaming out of his mouth.
The young man kneeled next to him. “God, what happened? Show me. Show me, I need to see! Move your hands!” Brad said, anxiety carving his face. “Tracy! Trace! Call 911!” He screamed, hardly looking above his shoulder.
“What happened?” She said standing in the doorway, unable to move closer.
“Just call an ambulance! Now, Tracy! Call!”
Jim’s bloodied hand grabbed on Brad’s shoulder. He gathered his strength for an instant and hardly mumbled, “I don’t want to die, help me. I don’t want to die…”
“You’re not going to die. My friend’s calling an ambulance. You’re going to be fine. They’ll take care of you.”
Brad looked closer. A jagged fan blade was nudged in the mechanic’s neck.
“Oh, God,” Brad muttered. The blood continued squirting out with each heartbeat. He had no idea how to stop the bleeding. Was he supposed to leave the blade in place? Remove it? Distant memories of first aid resurfaced. Brad applied a pressure point beneath the wound. The heavy squirting ceased, but the bleeding continued. The mechanic’s face turned pale, his lips becoming a ghastly blue-gray.
“I don’t, please… I don’t… want…” his words were becoming distorted in a rising agony and bubbling blood. His body relaxed as the bleeding stopped. His eyes turned glassy, enlarged pupils staring at the dirty ceiling above Brad.
“No, no, no, no, don’t, don’t,” Brad pushed harder on the pressure point. “Trace! Where’re they?” He called looking above his shoulder.
She was back at the door. “I called them. They’re on their way!” She went to the window. They were still not here. She came back to the door. “How is he?”
“I think he’s dead, Trace.”
Dark Shadow
Police Chief Frank Burns rapped on the hospital room door.
“Come in,” a frail but deep voice commanded.
Chief Burns walked in and spread open a privacy curtain.
Detective De
lano was lying on a hospital bed, his bandaged right hand resting on the railing and his back reclining at an angle to watch a small television hung on the opposite wall.
The chief looked at his best detective. “The gown suits you well, Jack.”
“Thanks, I might wear it at the station…”
“You would be popular…”
“I would.”
“How bad is it?”
“Nothing critical, my right hand is broken,” he pointed at the specific areas as he spoke, “broken nose, few broken ribs, right arm’s broken too,” he lifted his arm to show the cast, “and bruises in places I didn’t know I had. Other than that, nothing much.”
“How long before you can walk out of here?”
“I should be out tomorrow. I might take a vacation after that.”
“Hawaii?”
Delano’s mouth parted in a grin, “Yeah, Hawaii sounds good.”
“That was quite a beating. What happened in there, Jack?”
Delano shook his head, “It went so fast. I was skimming through a dossier. I went to pick up something in my desk,” the detective looked down to recall the exact chain of events, “the drawer closed on my hand.”
“How?”
“By itself,” Delano admitted like a child caught stealing his best friend’s miniature car.
“By itself?” Burns repeated, dubiously.
“Yes, Frank, by itself.”
“And?”
“I went to the door, no, wait, before that, my armchair smashed me against the desk.”
“And there was nobody behind you?”
“No, there was nobody,” his voice grew frustrated.
“What after?” Chief Burns was becoming detached.
“After I went to the door and got the living crap beat out of me. And no, I never saw an assailant. What do you want me to tell you, Frank? That I’m losing it? If I was the only one I would go check myself in the psych ward, but I’m not. Half the cops, firefighters, and ambulance guys have seen things. That’s without talking about all the good citizens who suddenly decide to smack their wives with a hammer or hang themselves.”
Burns didn’t say anything for a minute. “Detective Meyers is going to take over the Miller case until you can resume your investigation. I would appreciate it if you could fill him in.”