Like Tonya. His scalp crawled. Please let her be all right. Richard was sure that nothing had happened to her. That damned Clay Ray, putting these crazy thoughts in his head; he should be shot for it. He smiled at that. He hoped he might be the triggerman.
“Richieeeee?” Sharon called from upstairs, a needy whine in her voice.
She wanted him, desired for him to be upstairs right now. He liked it when she became pouty like that. Clingy. Meant she would unleash herself once he got up there. Hope she doesn’t leave many bruises like last time. That had been rough. She’d gotten way out of hand, and hurt him, a lot. It was tough trying to explain them to people that happened to see them, which was why it had been so long since he’d allowed her to tie him up. He figured this time would be twice as bad. It had been so long since she’d been able to let loose like this, and even though neither of them suspected anything bad had happened, the possibility that Tonya was in danger was still crossing both of their minds. So, she’d be extremely aggressive and agonizingly slow with her punishment just to keep her mind off of where her daughter might be.
Or, the shape she might be in.
He stood up from the table, took his mug to the sink, and placed it inside. She called out for him again, this time it sounded much more pitiful. I’m really going to get it this time. Although he enjoyed the torture, enjoyed letting her do whatever she could conjure up to him, he still needed to groom himself for her wrath. It was fun in the moment, but when it was done, she usually left him sore and drained, with the aftermath vividly displayed on his body.
Just don’t let her make me bleed too much.
A little blood was fine as long as he wasn’t gushing.
He headed for the stairs.
Always those gorgeous eyes…
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
(I)
As the sun began to climb, showering the black sky in orange and yellow, the perpetual night for Joel and Pillowface was finally ending.
They traveled in silence, and by this point Joel could hardly lift his feet. He’d overestimated where they should have exited. His plan was to come out right behind the house, but when they stepped out of the trees, he realized they were much farther up, and in this neighborhood, that meant they had quite a hike back.
“I messed up,” he said, eyes narrowed from fatigue, the lids felt heavy and itchy. “We came down the wrong side of the hill. Shit.” He was angry with himself. Walking back through the woods would add an extra fifteen minutes to their journey, and Haley might wake up and find that he wasn’t home. Maybe she’d believe I went for a walk? He glanced down at his filthy clothes and knew right away that wouldn’t work. She’d believe he went pig wrestling before taking a walk. Looking up and down Marble Lane, all appeared deserted. No joggers, cars, no one walking their dogs.
Where the sun was now positioned it smeared the sky with a purple aura and sheet of red, but to Joel it looked as if the sky was bleeding. He looked back the way they’d come, and shrugged. I’m going to guess it’s about five in the morning. We should be safe if we just keep going.
“Come on,” he said. He waved Pillowface forward and began walking. Hope like hell no one sees us.
The neighborhood at this hour, so different than it was during the night, yet so similar, seemed to be observing them with accusatory resolve as they traveled back to the house.
(II)
When the alarm clock buzzed Haley’s first thought was she was running late. She sat up disoriented, whipping her head around the room. With the alarm pulsing behind her, she allowed her mind time to assess the situation.
In my bed…alone…that’s right, because Alan is at the bookstore. No, wait, that’s not it, he’s at home? That’s where he should be, it’s morning. It is morning, right? She looked at her window and saw the early, gentle sparks of daylight. Then she faced the nightstand beside her. 7:30 am. She wasn’t late at all, and actually was up earlier than normal. Since she hadn’t slapped the snooze button three times, she had plenty of time. She reached over and whacked her hand down on the clock. Now with that annoying beep gone, she could hear the constant clamoring of her cell phone’s alarm, too. She reached behind her, found it on the pillow, and shut it off.
Her sore and stiff muscles informed her she wouldn’t be jogging this morning. She felt uncomfortable at the thought, like she was letting her body down by skipping one lousy morning of exercise. I really should at least jog up the road and back one time. But, even that felt unfeasible, so she decided against it.
Should just lie back down, sleep another hour, then call Jonesey and tell him I’m not coming in, and then sleep some more. She liked that idea, especially after the night she’d had. But, by doing that, it would appear as if she were hiding from him—she is—and that could make things even worse for her at work. Plus it might entice Jonesey to visit her at home to see how she was doing. “Haley, I brought you some coffee. Let’s make a toast. To us.”
She shuddered.
Why don’t I just quit that place?
That was twice she’d considered it in twenty-four hours.
Seriously though, why hadn’t she quit? Was it because a part of her liked having someone, even as ghoulish as Jonesey, being infatuated with her? Shadowing her, following her around like a little troll, always needing to sniff the air she’d wafted through? Jonesey was a stalker, nothing more, plain and simple as it may be. Mostly just at work pestering, but that all changed last night when he’d brought his game to the store.
Haley threw the sheets back, exposing her naked body to the cool air blowing up from the vents. On warm mornings such as this one, it normally felt great opening herself up in such a way, but not this time. She felt gross and sticky, and even though she didn’t smell anything, figured she stunk of sweat and old sex. Her groin felt sore and flaky: a regular feeling after a night of good sex. And, it had been good, for her, but not so great for Alan. Poor guy wasn’t even granted an orgasm. She’d broken down into a ruin of tears before he’d gotten the chance.
This made her feel pretty crummy.
She checked her cell phone to see if he’d called. He hadn’t. As much as she’d like to hear from him, she assumed her chances with Alan had been shot. Might be for the better. After all I did last night; he probably takes me for a nut job. She wondered if he were right.
At least there’s not any missed phone calls from the creeper.
She sighed. What a life she led. A stalker at work, another weirdo calling her and pleasuring himself for her to hear, and the guy she actually cared about had probably been scared off. She was a wreck.
Haley climbed out of bed, and marched to her closet to pick out her day’s wardrobe. Feeling as lousy as she did, she decided she would keep it basic and plain: a short sleeved purple shirt and gray pants. She thought about wearing heels, but chose sandals instead. Not flip-flops, these were open-toed, but buckled in the back. The outfit could almost pass as professional, so no one should say anything.
She tossed them on the bed. Then went to the dresser and dug through her panty drawer. Do I own anything other than thongs? At the bottom, tucked far away from the rest, she finally discovered a couple pairs of full panties, wide in the back, and since she didn’t want to be attractive today, these were perfect. In the other drawer, she grabbed a thick white, cotton bra, so the notion of having breasts would be hidden from any suspecting on-lookers.
Not today boys, sorry. She didn’t want any part of her to seem as if it were welcoming a comment or stare from Jonesey, or from anyone at all.
With her clothes in hand, she headed for the bathroom.
****
After the room had been empty for a few minutes, something stirred from within the closet. The slabs of clothes suspended from hangers parted, and from behind them Pillowface emerged. After he and Joel had returned from the night’s voyage, he’d given the boy ten minutes to get in bed and fall asleep before sneaking back into the house, and into Haley’s room.
He hadn
’t been able to stop thinking about her and wanted so desperately to see her, so he’d peeled back her blankets and watched her sleeping for a while, the slow rise and fall of her bare chest. Lying on her back, her full breasts receded against her body like mounds. Her mouth was slightly parted, and she snored with a faint steady purr that he’d found adorable. He’d wanted nothing more than to climb into bed with her and cuddle, to pull her to him, and hold her. It’d been such a long time since he’d felt a woman sleeping beside him, the warmness of their breath on the back of his neck, the gentle squeeze of their arm if he happened to squirm against them.
Not since Amanda, and when she’d died from a sudden blood clot in her heart, he hadn’t wanted to be with another woman, but when he became cognizant of Haley’s existence that had all quickly changed.
Now he stood beside her bed. He took her pillow and raised it to the burlap sack where his stub of a nose was, then took a whiff. Even through the mask he could still smell her pleasant fragrance, clean as if she’d just came from the shower.
He heard the pipes groaning from inside the walls, water rushing through them. The shower. He pictured her under the spray, enveloped in suds and bubbles, her skin shiny and slippery. Blonde hair plastered against her scalp and down the curve of her back; torrents of soapy water trickling over her hips, down between her buttocks, making her moan from the sheer pleasure that only an early morning shower could bring.
His chest felt heavy with a yearning that pulled the air from his lungs. Was it love? He didn’t want to jeopardize it by putting a name to it. He was happy with just feeling something other than hate.
With Haley in the shower, and Joel sleeping, he figured it was safe to go back down to the basement. He was nearly finished constructing the device and wanted to finish. All that was left to do was attach the saw blade. He wasn’t sure where the idea had stemmed from, but he liked it, and hoped one day he’d be able to use it.
He fled the room like a ghost, then the house, and returned to his dwelling below like a dragon protecting the lovely princess up above.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
(I)
The water shut off.
Haley stood in the tub, dripping, her hair clutched in her hands. She stared blankly at the wall, slowly ringing her hands through her soaked mane. Her mind had been everywhere except with her in the bathroom. The shower hadn’t been relaxing or rejuvenating, it had barely been anything more than just something to pass the time while she dreaded going into work. Just call in! As much as she wanted to, she knew that she wouldn’t, and really had no reason as to why.
Finally, she grabbed the shower curtain and whisked it back in one quick motion, and gasped when she saw Joel standing there. “Whaaaa?!” She leaped back against the wall, her hand drastically feeling for the curtain to throw it shut, but she couldn’t reach it. She heard Joel yelp, followed by the quick padding of his footfalls through the hallway.
In the corner of the tub, Haley clung to the wall with her arm draped across her breasts. She could feel the vigorous drumming of her heartbeat against her arm. Her drenched hair hung in front of her face like a curtain. Why hadn’t he knocked? He had to have known I was in here. Her breathing was out of control as she tried to calm herself, tried to think. She flicked her neck, throwing her hair out of her face. She looked around the bathroom. The door was still open, and she couldn’t close it without exposing herself. The towel awaited her on the toilet seat, neatly folded where she’d left it. Haley couldn’t reach it from where she was.
Her skin burned with embarrassment.
She carefully leaned up, stretching her neck to see out the door. The hallway looked deserted. She eased a foot over the edge of the tub and sat it down on the carpeted mat below. The rug’s whiskers tickled the bottom of her foot. She leaned over, balancing herself and reached. The tips of her fingers swept across the door, nudging it farther away from her, but not closing it. Shit! Pushing against the front of her toes, she mimicked the best of the ballerinas with her position. A thrust of her elbow, she knocked the edge of the door. It pushed against the frame, but didn’t latch.
It was good enough.
Haley stepped out of the tub and eased the door all the way shut. She scurried to the commode, taking the towel, and began drying herself. She dressed in a hurry. Then, ignoring the awkward situation, she began her morning routine, which shouldn’t take long this morning since she’d decided while showering she wouldn’t be wearing any makeup today.
Haley’s guide-book to Repulsion 101: Homely is the key to warding off unwanted flirtation from the appearance-obsessed ghouls.
By the time Haley had finished getting ready for work, she still had plenty of time to kill, so she had the idea to assemble breakfast for her and Joel to share.
While the coffee brewed, she dug through the fridge for a pack of bacon that she knew was in there. For whatever reason, she wanted to fry it up, join it with some eggs over easy, maybe even some toast if she was feeling frisky.
The eggs were easy to find. She checked the date. They still had a week before needing to be tossed. With the breakfast materials held against her chest, she walked to the stove and sat them down. She returned to the fridge, snatching the loaf of bread from the top. She couldn’t wait to see the look of surprise that would surely be on Joel’s face when he saw what she had done.
So began the measures for the feast.
(II)
When the scent of bacon drifted into his room Joel pulled his head out from under his pillow. After seeing Haley…indisposed, he’d run back to his room, and buried his head.
He’d remained there until now.
She’s cooking breakfast? He couldn’t believe it. If she’s downstairs cooking, then she’s not mad.
He hoped that meant she wouldn’t say anything about the bathroom incident. But, if she did bring it up, he wouldn’t be able to tell her the real reason he’d gone in there. Haley usually went jogging in the mornings. So, when he’d awakened to the sound of the shower, he wanted to check and make sure it wasn’t Pillowface. He’d dreamed that he’d snuck into the house and attacked Haley. It had been a horrible nightmare. She was on the bed, kicking and screaming, while he slashed at her with the machete. Joel wanted to help, but his legs wouldn’t move. It was as if his feet had been glued to the floor.
The only way to know for sure was by checking it out. Granted, he could have just tapped on the door and hollered to see if it was Haley, but at the time, he didn’t think about it. He just needed to know whether or not Pillowface was breaking his promise and coming in the house while Haley was home.
He hadn’t expected the shower curtain to whip open, nor to see his sister naked and screaming. He didn’t stare, but he’d seen enough. He felt heat in his crotch and hated himself for it. Don’t think about her like that, she’s your sister. But, he knew it wasn’t because she was his sister that was causing that reaction. It was having seen his third naked woman over the course of a couple days, but the first that wasn’t dead. He was twelve years old and any kind of female nudity could get him aroused.
I’m a kid for christsake.
Endless numbers of nights he’d stayed up in his room watching adult movies on the after dark channel, keeping the volume down so low it was practically muted, with his chair scooted right up to the television so he could hear the sounds they made. That was his sex education. Sure, they taught it in school, but the teachers seemed uncomfortable explaining things to a group of kids that were watching them with wide eyes and snickering each time they said the words penis and vagina. Joel was one of those kids. So, what they’d learned in school wasn’t worth trying to remember, but what he saw on those movies at two in the morning on Friday nights would stay with him for a lifetime. He’d never forget seeing Marilyn Chambers being molested by her dentist while high on gas, only to come out of the haze and pull him on top of her. The way his hips were thrusting deep into her and she, though acting really high or drunk, moaned and tore her sh
irt open to play with her nipples.
That was real education. The kind his parents were too intimidated to discuss with him and the kind the school never wanted the students to know existed. Although, they’d been forced to read a book about oral sex during the course, Joel had never finished it. What that book accomplished was making him want to go out and find a girl that was willing to give him a good night kiss like the ones the book claimed were out there.
His friends at school swore by it.
Without any of them having consented to it, a silent race to see who would go the furthest and the quickest had commenced. I won, thought Joel, sitting up. I haven’t touched a naked body, but I’ve seen them. They were dead girls, but he didn’t care. They still counted to him, but Haley did not; she was disqualified and he hoped to never think of what he saw again.
“Joel? Breakfast!” She shouted from downstairs.
He wondered if Haley could read his mind.
Joel suddenly felt nervous. Could he look at her the same? Groaning, he got out of bed, dreading the meal that smelled so delicious.
Downstairs, Haley had already set the table. Two plates were on each end, decorated with bacon, eggs, and toast. She was pouring Joel a glass of orange juice when he came in.
“Good morning,” she said.
He studied her. She didn’t seem upset and that lifted a colossal load off his chest. He could suddenly breathe better, and his appetite was much stronger. “Good morning,” he said back. His stomach growled in anticipation.
“Does this count for an astonishing breakfast?” She held her hands over the table, gently turning them like a model on The Price is Right. “It’s not Pop Tarts, but what could compete, right?”
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