Richard might be watching Mina eat someone.
For as dumb as Nikki was, her devotion to the little boy at home was almost admirable, if it didn't get in the way of her motivation to make the extra cash she claimed to want. She was a popular stripper from one of Detroit's clubs, and Richard was a bouncer. They didn't have a relationship, but they were willing to film a movie provided Griggs pay them up front, which he did. It was the last bit of cash he had saved up, but if the video got off the ground, it might be enough to re-launch his studio.
"How long is this going to take?" Nikki asked.
"Depends on how good you are," Griggs replied. "I need to know how we should work on your technique. I don't want to waste time practicing a lot of routines while we're filming with Richard. He's in his room watching a movie I gave him so he can learn all the camera angles I like to use. I'm good at what I do, Nikki. My films are bestsellers because I have a vision." He could feel himself about to begin one of his speeches, because his excitement always got the best of him, even though a simpleton like Nikki couldn't understand his artistic vision.
"You have no idea what kind of opportunity we have in front of us," he began. "Modern Fantasy Films doesn't just make sex films. We make sexy movies. As long as you follow the script I've written, it will get our audience steamed-up. With this riot going on, I have a plan that could make you and Richard both famous. You can give your son… what's his name…?"
"Danny."
"Danny. Right. You can give him whatever you want. You might be able to quit your waitressing job and just work the night job. You and Richard will make movies for me, or maybe the bigger studios will notice you. You have the body for it; I just need to make sure you have the skill."
"I want to make sure Danny's okay. I don't want him to be scared."
"Jesus fucking Christ. How old is he? You're making a momma's boy out of him. Let him grow up a little. Listen to what I'm telling you: the riot won't reach Roseville. It just won't happen! I paid you, so now you'll fulfill your end of the bargain."
He opened his door and grabbed his video equipment. Nikki opened her own door and slid out of the truck, much to his relief.
A fiery glow scarred the evening sky, but the riot was hardly his concern. He paid for two rooms, and there was business to attend to. Richard was in one room, and in a moment, Nikki was going to show him what her talents were. Of course, he had his own selfish interests at heart.
"If Danny calls, I might have to leave," Nikki explained.
He was already tired of her worries. It reminded him of his own kids and how much he contributed to their ability to loathe him.
His ex-wife never understood why he chose to retreat into the world of imagined sex scenarios with exploited women who were doomed to become lost souls. His entire world revolved around violence and blood, and the other spectrum of debauchery allowed him to escape from the dead bodies of murdered children and jilted lovers. Their mother had raised his sons, who were now teenagers, to hate him, because he was rarely around. They were equally disgusted with his pornography obsession.
When he and Nikki stepped into their room, a pair of jets roared across the sky, rattling the picture window, causing the lamp to flicker after Griggs turned it on.
"Oh, my God," Nikki said, touching her thick, red bottom lip with her equally red fingernail. "I have to get home. Can you drive me back to the club?"
He gritted his teeth. "They have Detroit under quarantine, by now. You won't be able to get back home. If I take you back to your car, you'll be stuck here, anyway. I'm sure there's a curfew, too. We're lucky to have made it to the motel without running into any shit. We're staying here, unless you want to walk."
Instead of arguing with him further, she planted her purse on the nightstand and rummaged through it. While Griggs turned on the camera and set up the tripod, Nikki stared at a picture of her bright-eyed son.
"Clothes," Griggs said. He could feel his temper rising, but he wasn't about to let her ruin this for him. He had the 9mm holstered beneath his sport jacket, just in case. He couldn't allow her to compromise his business, not when he might actually be able to turn his life around.
The camera itself was well-traveled, purchased during a time in his life when he was still married to a woman who learned she couldn't forgive his addiction to porn; the camera appeared in his life just as his superiors in the Detroit Police Department began to grow tired of his eccentricities.
It was his luck to stumble upon a lawyer who was just desperate enough to help him sue the state for his right to show the Mina videos again. Mina was a superstar now, despite the fact that she was locked up in a nuthouse. There wasn't a girl out there who understood him as well as Mina did, nor was there a woman who enthusiastically put every ounce of effort into the videos she made. Mina was almost solely responsible for the success of Modern Fantasy Films, before her little accident.
Nikki squirmed out of her clothes and carefully laid them on the floor. She had a starlet's body, with graceful curves, a pierced belly-button, a butterfly tattoo on the small of her back, and large, plastic breasts that refused to bounce. The scar beneath her left breast was a little too noticeable for Patrick's taste. When they made enough money, he would buy her a new pair, a set that would actually jiggle while she was being screwed.
He thought of Mina again. He remembered the first time she took her clothes off for him. She had stood there with her red hair running down the length of her torso, her hands planted against her thighs. Her white flesh and the red fur between her legs made her look the part of a primal, sex-craved savage who had only recently been stolen from a tribe of cave dwellers and brought into the sprawling city against her will.
Nikki was nothing like Mina. Not a single millimeter of hair appeared along her tanned body. Not for the first time, Patrick was sure that Nikki would be boring, and he would have to do a lot to train her.
"Well?" Nikki spread her hands out impatiently. "Are we going to do this? I don't have all night."
Griggs hesitated. He wasn't as prepared as he should be. Nikki did nothing to provoke his need. Mina had been so willing, so ready to please. Nikki was truly a paid actor, nothing more. He thought he would still have fun with Nikki, considering how her body fit the prototypical mold for a porn star. All the women in the videos he loved so much were always willing to please.
Mina used to throw her hair back and squeal with delight because she knew he liked it.
He unbuckled his belt because he was thinking of Mina, and it seemed to be enough to prompt a desirable response. How many lonely nights did he think of Mina, now that she was gone? Even in the end, she didn't blame him for what happened. She loved him more than ever.
"On your knees," Griggs said. "Do a good job, and don't waste my time. It needs to go all the way to the back of your throat, and you need to make noise. Your eyes need to be big and wide when they look up at the camera. You have to keep it slick. Spit on it occasionally and use your hands on it. Be friends with it. Pretend like the two of you are dating."
She got down on her knees in front of him, and Griggs turned on the camera.
Right away, he realized she was nothing like Mina.
He never needed to be sarcastic with Mina. He found himself wanting to be genuine with her, even though it was so easy to take advantage of her willingness to please. He told her things he never told his ex, and he found himself wanting to make love to her without the camera.
Mina would tell him about the wild nightmares which gave her a taste for human flesh. Griggs hardly believed her, but she refused to sleep unless he gave her raw meat. He knew her mind was damaged from countless travesties her father had visited upon her, but he never fully understood that she really did dream of the living dead. He couldn't soothe her, no matter how many times he told her they were just nightmares. Her affection couldn't be bought with trinkets or clothing. She didn't eat anything besides raw, uncooked meat. Only one thing could drive the dreams away from her tro
ubled mind, and Griggs thought that maybe he could help her. He wanted to make her happy, and he would do anything to see her smile.
He used to think that if he listened to her describe the nightmares, maybe she would feel better. No matter how many times she described the pain that she felt when the corpses ripped her limbs from her body and chewed vigorously on her flesh, Griggs shuddered. Her nightmares were vivid and disturbing enough to make him nearly believe her.
The camera would run until the there was no more memory left on the memory stick. Long after they finished their scene, they would lie awake in the dark, and Mina would tell him about the horror she endured whenever she closed her eyes. He promised he would protect her; he would love her and never let anything happen to her so long as she worked for him. She would eat the raw meat he brought home, though she said the meat only made the nightmares more bearable.
Later, he would use editing software and cut those private scenes out of the film. He deleted all of them. Even then, he knew it was only a matter of time before everything fell apart. His life was too good to be true.
While Nikki moaned and worked, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, and he could hear Mina's voice from somewhere out of the terrifying past.
***
"You promised you would never hurt me," Mina licked her bloody lips. Her tongue darted over her gore-stained fingers.
"You recorded the whole thing," was all Griggs could say.
Mina slid her slender, nude body from the sheets in which puddles of blood collected within the folds as if chili had been spilled all over the bed. The nude corpse in the sheets seemed to be floating on a red sea.
Griggs had seen his share of corpses, but for the first time in his life, entire body froze while his mind screamed. No, no, no. He couldn't believe his eyes. It wasn't right. It wasn't real.
"There's nothing more powerful than my devotion to you," Mina spoke, though her voice always seemed to be a recording of another woman's voice being played at a slower speed. She crawled over the bed like a savage cat. "You haven't been feeding me. I can't help it. I might eat you, one day. You didn't believe me."
"I gave you the raw meat, and I knew… I only came back because I don't want another man to have you. This is my fault… you killed him. You… ate him."
She stood in front of him with blood up to her elbows. "You have so many great ideas, Patrick. You've been so nice to me, but I can't be alone with anyone else. I didn't think I was actually going to eat him, but I was awfully hungry. I can sleep tonight, and I won't dream."
"I'm sure he tasted like chicken," Griggs tried to maintain his grip on sanity. He took a step back while she took a step forward.
"You can't watch the video," Mina said. "Please don't watch it. I felt something I never felt before; something behind the camera lens, or maybe in the air. Something terrible."
"It's called murder," Griggs explained. He wished he were wearing his 9mm. He had to tell himself that if it came to it, he would defend himself against her.
Mina swept her tongue over her bloody upper lip again. "I like it. It really is tasty; better than chicken. Promise you won't watch the video. Destroy it."
"This is my fault," he repeated.
"Do I look pretty? I always wondered if I would look pretty after I eat somebody."
Her eyes shone with the luminescence of emeralds.
"You're beautiful," he whispered.
When she touched the side of his face, tracing blood across his jaw line, he didn't move. He allowed her to brush her hands through his hair, and she could smell her warm, coppery breath.
"I'll always want you," Mina said. "Even though you think there's something wrong with me. I wanted you inside me, and you always made me feel good. I've never felt anything but sadness and pain my whole life, only I didn't know it until I met you. I'm numb to anything bad that can happen. I don't know the world like you know it. I don't know if I should ask you to forgive me."
His breath escaped through his mouth raggedly, and his muscles locked his body in place.
"You're afraid, but you shouldn't be. Don't say anything else. Let this end. Stand here with me and let it all end."
The Detroit Police Department swarmed into the room.
Her last words to him were:
"Destroy the video. Please."
***
Over the past hour, the sound of sirens had been unceasing, but Nikki managed to stay in character while Griggs worked on her. Now, he buckled on his belt while Nikki rolled her stockings back up the length of her long legs.
"You weren't supposed to do that," Nikki said for the second time.
"I can do whatever the hell I want," he said. "I paid for it. Besides, you're on the pill, right? Accidents happen. Richard said he can hold his load, but how do we know?"
"I hope Danny's alright," Nikki played with her cell phone again.
Speaking of Richard, the guy had a whole hour to watch the movies and rub one out while he learned a few tricks. Sure, the bouncer had watched his share of porn before, but he wanted Richard to understand some of his camera angles and techniques before they filmed the first scene.
"Still no signal," Nikki slammed her phone down on the bed while her bottom lip assumed its pouty position. "I can't call home, and anything can happen. You got off and you got it on video. We don't need Richard for anything."
"What're you talking about?" Griggs turned to her. "We have a deal. You signed a contract, and you're legally bound to it. We're going to turn that pretty face of yours into a frosted cake, and you're going to smile right into the camera for all your adoring fans."
The window rattled once again as jets roared over the sky outside. The lights flickered, and Griggs impatiently tapped away at his own phone. He still didn't have a signal, either. What the hell was going on? Were all the networks jammed up from simultaneous calls?
He opened the door with all of his equipment once again packed up and in the bag. When he saw how close the fires were, he instinctively clicked off the safety on his gun. Several buildings across the street from the motel were on fire, and the only two cars left in the motel parking lot were his truck and Richard's Mustang. In the glow of the flames, he could see several people stumbling across the street in a daze.
"This is scary," Nikki whistled. "I really want to go home. Danny needs me."
"You haven't said that ten million times already," Griggs said and led her toward the room. When he stopped in front of the door, the first thing he noticed was that none of the lights were on inside.
He knocked. Thunder shook the night, though when he looked up at the stars and didn't see a cloud in the sky, he realized it wasn't thunder at all, but an explosion.
With her arms crossed over her chest, Nikki glanced around repeatedly. "There's a lot of people hanging around in the street, like they got nowhere to go."
"Good for them," Griggs pounded on the door. "Hey Richard! Wake up, buddy!"
Enough was enough. He tried the door handle and found it unlocked. The door squeaked open, and he pushed it all the way open into the dark room.
The TV was on, but the picture was blank; Richard must have fallen asleep while watching the video. Once again, Griggs hoped he gave his actor the right movie. Although he never watched Mina's forbidden film himself, he didn't want anyone else watching it until the lawyer could figure out how it might be useful. He had done all he could to hide it from the courts, and now, it was going to help him win a court case against the state.
However, Mina's last words still left him shaken.
A gust of cold air escaped through the door as Griggs positioned himself on the threshold. He waited a moment as the glow of firelight entered the room with him. A shadowed figure, silhouetted against the wall by the orange light, swayed back and forth.
"Richard, you said you wouldn't have to get stoned to perform," Griggs said. "I hope you kept your word. I need you tonight, big guy. Nikki's a lot to handle." The last part was a lie, but he needed to get s
ome kind of response from him.
The strip club bouncer was a big man, and his large shadow lumbered forward into the firelight. He was easy prey for the job, considering that he had problems with the wife at home and needed the extra money that Griggs could pay him for performing in a skin flick.
"Glad to see you too," Griggs said. "We're ready to start, so…"
Richard stepped awkwardly into the light as if he was unsure how to manage his own weight. His arms hung limply and the dark outline of his head was completely bent against his left shoulder as if they were attached.
Griggs straightened his shoulders and parted his sport jacket slightly in case he needed the gun. Cool moisture within his armpits and on the back of his neck made him aware of his surroundings, as he glanced back to find Nikki behind him, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. Air escaped from between her teeth, and she seemed to be trying to speak.
He turned back to Richard, and for a moment, he thought it wasn't Richard at all, because the actor he hired to perform wasn't a black man. He put his hand up to stop the hired performer from coming toward him, and he meant to say something, but he felt removed completely from his body, and he watched Richard's burnt, mottled body step into the light completely.
Nikki chuckled. "Damn you, Richard. You piece of shit, stop screwing around. I don't have time for one of your jokes. I need to get home to Danny, and I've wasted most of my night, already. Come on!"
She approached Richard and shoved him, but he barely moved.
Griggs wanted to tell her not to do anything, to step away from Richard, but he couldn't find the words. He knew something was wrong. He could smell Richard; he knew what smoked beef smelled like. He wanted to take a step back, but his body failed to respond. He wanted his hands to grasp the gun and draw it, but his fingers were frozen stiff.
Zombie Ascension (Book 1): Necropolis Now Page 8