by Jon Athan
As the light turned green, Charlotte sniffled and asked, “What really happened to you, Cindy? Hmm? How is this even possible?”
“I have no idea. I took 'miracle' capsules. I didn't know what was in them, I just knew they burned fat. And, they worked. They worked so damn well. I know you couldn't believe it when you saw me at your wedding reception. Those capsules burned over a hundred pounds and.... and that made me feel better about myself. I finally felt like a... a person.”
Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat, burying her sorrow deep in her soul. She asked, “If the doctors can't identify these capsules or their ingredients, how do we stop them? How do we stop these side-effects? How do we stop you from... from melting or whatever the hell is happening?”
“I spoke to the man who sold them to me. His name is Deki – Hideki. He's a very handsome man. Very kind, too. I thought he was one of those 'player' assholes, but he was actually very sweet. I would... I would really like to date him in the future. Yeah, that would be nice...”
Cindy stared at the ceiling of the car as she deliriously giggled. Her head swayed on the seat, spinning as if she were dazed by a boxer's punch. Charlotte glanced over her shoulder, baffled by the peculiar laughter. Losing her grip on reality, her friend was entering a frenzied state.
Charlotte honked the horn, then she said, “Snap out of it, Cindy. How do we stop it? How do we save you?”
Cindy breathed throatily as she explained, “I have to eat. That's all the advice I got. 'Eat or be eaten.' If I don't eat... Well, I think you get the idea.”
“Damn it, Cindy. Why the hell would you take pills like that? Huh? Why would you take something that could potentially kill you? Why?”
Why? Why do people do anything?–Cindy pondered Charlotte's questions. She could form a million excuses, but she only needed one response: I'm insecure. It wasn't a secret in Cindy's circle of friends, but she had trouble admitting it to her beautiful best friend. To Cindy, it was like admitting she was inferior and she had reached her dead-end.
Cindy said, “They weren't supposed to be deadly. I just didn't eat enough. I was supposed to be stuffing my face while I took the capsules, but... I didn't. I didn't follow the instructions. This was my fault and I can't blame anyone else. I know that.” The deteriorating woman tilted her head as she vacantly stared at the windshield. She said, “If the hospital thing doesn't work out, maybe we should visit Deki. He could help, right? I remember he said he made the capsules, so he should know how to stop this, right?”
Keeping her eyes on the road, Charlotte responded, “I guess it could work. Hell, maybe he even has some sort of antidote. Knowing these type of scumbag 'entrepreneurs,' he'll probably try to sell it to you. But, still, it could work.”
Cindy nodded in agreement, hopeful of her future. She was frightened of her uncertain path, but she could see a glimmer of hope in the abyss. She thought about Deki, her knight in shining armor. Stony-faced, she stopped nodding as a terrifying thought crossed her mind. A different knight galloped across her mind – a bigger one.
Cindy groaned as she sat up in her seat. She tapped Charlotte's shoulder and said, “Stop the car, Charlotte.”
“Why? What's wrong? You going to barf or–”
“Stop the car and give me your phone. We have to go to Joseph's house. I have to call him, I have to warn him.”
“Warn him? What the hell are you talking about, Cindy? What's going on?”
Tears streaming across her cheeks, Cindy said, “I gave him some capsules. I gave him the capsules and I didn't tell him about the diet. I didn't warn him about any of this. Shit, I haven't seen him in weeks. He... He could be dead. I need to call him! I need to check up on him! Please give me your phone!”
“You've got to be kidding me,” Charlotte muttered as she took a sharp right turn. She passed her cell phone to Cindy and said, “We better hurry. For your sake and his...”
Chapter Thirteen
The Melting Man
The city was silent, ominous and eerie. The obnoxious teenagers had already retreated into their homes. Hardworking parents were knocked unconscious by the sweet allure of sleep. The calm before the storm was evident. The black sedan slowly rolled to a stop in front of a townhouse – Joseph's home.
With bloodshot eyes, Cindy leaned on the window and stared at the single-story townhouse. She glanced at each window on the front of the structure, searching for a sign of life. Unfortunately, the lights were off and the neighborhood was quiet. Silence at night was not out of the ordinary, obviously, but it did paint a dark picture in a pessimistic mind.
Cindy whispered, “I'm sorry, Joseph. I'm so sorry for everything. I should have never done this. I'm so stupid...”
Charlotte snapped her fingers, waking Cindy from her guilt-induced trance. She said, “Calm down, sweetie. Don't over-think it, okay? He probably didn't even take the pills. You know how he is about that sort of stuff. He's probably just sleeping.”
“I called him five times, Charlotte. He's like a bear, but even he couldn't sleep through that. Why wouldn't he just answer? Huh? He's probably hurt because of the capsules. He's hurt because of me. It's my fault. I caused this because I'm so damn stupid.”
Like a scolding mother, Charlotte wagged her index finger at Cindy and said, “Stop it. Don't talk like that. Let's stop thinking about it and let's start moving. Come on. Let's go check up on him.”
Charlotte helped Cindy climb out of the car. She grabbed Cindy's waist and helped her walk. As she limped, Cindy covered her head with the hood of the coat. If Joseph did not take the capsules, she didn't want him to see her in her current condition. The pair knocked on the door – three loud thuds. There was no response. Charlotte knocked again.
After fifteen seconds of silence, she glanced at Cindy and said, “You know, he's probably not even home. I think he's been entertaining family for the past few weeks. His younger brother is in town again. Maybe they're out getting drinks.”
Cindy shook her head and said, “I have to be sure.”
“What are you doing? Wait, Cindy, let me do–”
Charlotte frowned and stepped in reverse as she watched her friend. Cindy staggered to her knees in front of the neighboring window. She whimpered as she dug into the moist dirt beside the stoop. Her vision was blurred by her tears, but she persevered through the pain. Her eyes widened upon spotting the extra key.
Cindy handed Charlotte the key and said, “Unlock the door.” Charlotte stood in silence, astonished by Cindy's strength and determination. Cindy said, “Please, help me up.”
Of course, Charlotte was happy to oblige. Tossing her arm over her shoulder, she lifted Cindy from the ground and helped her reach the front door. She grimaced as she stared down at Cindy's feet. The skin on her leg was becoming thinner as it drooped and accumulated towards her ankles. The skin was black and coarse, like if her ankles were burnt to a crisp.
Charlotte shook her head in disappointment. She turned the door knob, then she softly kicked the door open. The hinges squealed, echoing through the empty streets. The women simultaneously pinched their noses and grimaced as a putrid stench blew through the doorway. The stench was repulsive, like rotten eggs blended with raw sewage.
Charlotte asked, “What the hell is that smell?”
Cindy waved and said, “It doesn't matter. Let's find Joseph.” As the couple entered the home, Cindy shouted, “Joseph! Joseph, it's Cindy! Please, answer me! Talk to me, sweetheart! Tell me something, tell me anything...”
The home remained silent and dark. From the front door, the couple found themselves in the living room. The kitchen was seamlessly connected to the living room, only defined by the change from hardwood to linoleum flooring. Bags of chips and beer cans sat atop the coffee table in the living room, but there was no sign of Joseph or his brother.
Cindy pointed towards the hallway to the left and said, “His room is over here. He has to be sleeping or... or...”
Charlotte said, “We'll find o
ut soon enough, so relax.” She inhaled deeply as she lifted Cindy's body, stopping her friend from tumbling to the floor. Holding her breath, she said, “Come on. Work with me, Cin. I can't do this on my own.”
Wheezing and groaning, as if the couple were partaking in a marathon, the pair hobbled down the hallway. Cindy glanced at the first door to the right and shook her head. She didn't expect her boyfriend to be hiding in a puny storage closet. She tugged on Charlotte's shoulder and nodded at the second door to the right.
Dozing in-and-out of consciousness, Cindy said, “Maybe... Maybe he's in the bathroom.” She weakly chuckled, then she said, “He spends a lot of time in there.”
Charlotte inhaled deeply, then she said, “Okay, well, let's check.” She helped her friend lean on the wall beside the door, then she sighed in relief. She knocked on the door and asked, “Joseph, are you in there? It's Charlotte and Cindy. Hello?”
Cindy shook her head and said, “We don't have time for that.”
“Just wait a second, Cin. Show some respect for–”
Disregarding Charlotte's suggestion, Cindy barged into the bathroom. She gasped and leaned on the doorway, shocked by her discovery. Charlotte held her hands to her mouth and gasped as she stepped in reverse. The picture frames clinging to the wall in the hallway bounced as she collided with the wall. The couple were shocked by the revelation.
The toilet to the right was filled to the brim with indistinguishable chunks – vomit or feces, most likely. The sink to the left fared no better. The mirror and medicine cabinet were broken, too. The tile flooring and the blue walls were spattered with blood. Blood continued to drip from the side of the bathtub, too, plopping on the floor with each drop.
There was a blob of human flesh – a body without a skeletal frame – stuffed inside of the bathtub. Layers upon layers of fat and flesh brimmed over the tub, soft and pliable. Feet, fingers, and bushy black hair protruded from the blob, pointing every which way. A face, however, could not be spotted in the grotesque mass of flesh.
Lightheaded from the discovery, Cindy teetered left-and-right as she entered the room. She whispered, “No, no, no. Joseph... Joseph, I'm sorry. I didn't want it to end like this. I didn't mean to hurt you. I... I just wanted us to be perfect. I wanted us to be like everyone else. Please, forgive me...”
Charlotte stood at the doorway, weeping and trembling as she watched her friend. She was rendered speechless by the disgusting sight. She could not comprehend the situation. She could not believe a person could melt in such a manner. What are these capsules?–she thought.
Cindy trembled as she examined the blob. Fat folded over fat, she had trouble identifying each individual body parts. The arms and legs, bloodied and bruised, were obvious, though. However, the limbs did not match a normal body. One arm protruded from the foot of the bathtub, another extended from the other side.
She could see a man's flabby breast, too. Blood appeared to be leaking from his nipple like milk from a mother's teat. A detached eyeball floated in a puddle of blood in a crevice on the blob. Her eyes stopped at an arm near the top of the tub, above a bush of hair. She could not say how the arm ended up above the person's head, but the limb revealed his identity.
She glanced over at Charlotte and said, “This isn't Joseph.”
Charlotte swallowed loudly, trying to choke her vomit down. She stuttered, “How–How do you know?”
“Joseph doesn't have any tattoos. No, this has to be his brother...”
Cindy sighed in relief, finding some hope in the disturbing situation. She stared at a tattoo of a skull on the person's bicep. She recognized the tattoo from the last time she met Joseph's family. Her rationale seemed to fit her theory, too. Obesity plagued her boyfriend's brothers, running in his family like siblings' hair color.
He gave his brother some capsules, she thought, hopefully he gave them all to him.
Cindy limped towards Charlotte and said, “Let's go to Joseph's room. He has to be there.”
***
As the couple stood in front of the last door in the hall, Charlotte asked, “Are you ready for this?”
Cindy clenched her jaw as she stared at the door. She could taste the blood gushing from her gums, but the pungent taste did not bother her. She could only think about her boyfriend and her careless actions. Eyes brimming with tears, she nodded – go ahead.
Charlotte inhaled deeply, then she pushed the door open. The pair hobbled towards the doorway, then they peered into the master bedroom.
Across from the door, there was a queen-sized bed under a window. There was a closet with rolling doors to the right. The doors were smeared with dark blood. To the left, there was a dresser with a large flat-screen television on top. The television was tuned into a muted news broadcast. The light from the TV illuminated most of the room.
As she stared at the bed, Charlotte covered her mouth and whispered, “Oh, no... This... This can't be happening.”
Shocked, Cindy could not utter a single word as she stared at the bed – eyelids flickering and mouth quivering.
Joseph sat on his bed, only wearing a pair of soiled boxers. He was melting at an accelerated rate, faster than his beloved girlfriend. His bruised and reddened skin was draped over his skeleton like a blanket, loose and flabby. A blob of flesh, he covered the entire width of the large mattress. Bits of his sagging flesh even dangled off the side of the bed.
Joseph's deterioration differed compared to Cindy's condition. Due to his improper diet while consuming the capsules, his transformation was different. Particularly, his stomach was bubbling and popping like boiling stew in a witch's cauldron. He was literally melting, miraculously liquefying. His bones were weakened by the capsules, so he could barely move.
Joseph narrowed his eyes as he stared at the doorway and asked, “Cin–Cindy, is... is that you?” Cindy sniffled and grunted as she struggled to respond. Joseph smiled and said, “Damn, it's... it's been a while, babe. How... How have you been? Hmm? You still look great. I'm... I'm so proud of you.”
Cindy wept as she gazed into her boyfriend's hollow eyes. The skin on his forehead drooped over his eyes, partially obscuring his vision. His smile was indistinct due to his sinking cheeks. His beard – a prized possession he groomed for years – was thinning. She spent years with Joseph, but she could barely recognize the blob on the bed.
Only his tender voice, romantic words, and gentle aura remained as a remnant of the past.
Cindy nervously smiled as she staggered into the room. She would fall to her knees and cry to the sky, but she feared her body would crumble from such a melodramatic action. She bottled her emotions, siphoning the sorrow for another day. In the face of adversity, however, suicide seemed like a decent option. Maybe if I fail, she thought, maybe if you go with me.
Cindy leaned on the closet door and said, “Don't worry about me, sweetie. You... You don't look so good. What happened?”
Joseph squirmed on the bed, then he said, “I took the capsules. I took two or... three a week and it...” He chuckled and coughed, then he continued, “Well, it didn't work out for me. I didn't see the results and I wanted to give up. I thought I was doing it right, I thought I would end up like you – slim and beautiful. So, I gave a few to my... my brother and we started to work together. You know, to get motivated, right? We didn't eat junk food, we went to the gym, we took the capsules, but it... it just made us worse.”
“I'm sorry... I'm so sorry about everything, Joseph. I should have given you all of the instructions. I should have... No. No, that doesn't matter. I shouldn't have done this at all. This is all my fault. I fucked up. I hope you can forgive me.”
Joseph shook his head as he stared at Cindy with despondent eyes. He could feel her regret and depression. Even in his deformed, decaying condition, he could not blame his girlfriend. He didn't want her to feel more pain. Despite Cindy's inconsistent love, Joseph's passion remained pure.
Teary-eyed, Joseph said, “Don't blame yourself. I decided to take th
e capsules. That was my choice, not yours. Besides, I think... I think I've found the problem. You have to eat or... or this will happen to you.”
Cindy nodded and said, “I know, I know. We can probably still make it to the hospital. We can get a feeding tube or something. I think it'll keep us alive. We might have to call an ambulance for you, but we–”
Before Cindy could utter another word, Joseph stuck his thick fingers into his bubbling stomach. He grabbed a handful of his fat in each hand, then he pulled his fat in opposite directions. Like hot cheese on a fresh pizza, the skin was stretched thin. The sound of shredding skin, like paper being torn in a classroom, echoed through the apartment. Blood gushed from the self-inflicted disembowelment.
Shocked, Cindy stuttered, “Wha–What are you doing, Joe?”
Charlotte, expecting the worst, entered the room and tugged on Cindy's shoulder. She said, “We have to go. Come on. We have to get help.”
Disregarding his visitors, Joseph stuck his right hand into the gaping hole on his stomach. He grimaced from the pain, drooling and coughing blood. He pulled part of his small intestine from the hole, dragging the organ across his lap. His eyelids flickered and his head swayed as he fought to stay conscious. Death was calling his name, offering to relieve him from his pain.
Weak, Joseph glanced at the women and said, “You have to eat or you'll... you'll die. You have to eat, Cindy. I know... I know you don't like to eat, but you have to–to be strong, sweetie. If you want to survive, you have to...”
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Charlotte covered Cindy's eyes and said, “You're already dead, Joseph. Don't do this. Just... Just let it be. Wait for the ambulance and pray you get better.”
Staring at his bloody intestine, Joseph whispered, “We have to eat...”
Joseph inhaled deeply, then he chomped into his intestine. He bit into the chewy organ, then he frantically shook his head – like a dog playing with a chew toy. He tore a chunk off of his intestine and quickly chewed the bloodied flesh. A single tear plummeted from his eye as he swallowed a piece of himself.