She pulled out four very long, very sharp, hooks and smiled. The most evil smile Jesse had ever seen.
Thirteen
Jesse struggled against his restraints, but he knew escape was impossible. His eyelids were pulled to their maximum opening. The Fool and The Magician held the hooks in place, making sure that Jesse couldn’t close his eyes or look away from the large screen in front of him. His eyes were dry and he was sure they would pop out of their heads. Veronica the skeleton was sitting on Jesse’s lap, eating popcorn and running her fingers through his hair. The popcorn fell through her body and got stuck to Jesse’s already stained clothes. Every once in a while she would force the overly salted and buttered popcorn into his mouth.
As Jesse watched the images on the screen he grew more and more enraged. The images embedded themselves into his mind. He watched as Nazis mercilessly slaughtered hundreds of innocent Jews. He watched them being led to the ovens. Being beaten. Attacked by dogs.
He saw Hitler himself brainwashing hundreds of thousands of Germans. Telling them that the Jews were the cause of all the problems of the world.
Jesse could feel the fear of the residents of Hiroshima as the bomb dropped. He felt the heat and wind of the bomb. Felt his skin being ripped from his bones. The burning as the radiation crippled him for life.
He was on the plane that crashed into The World Trade Center. He felt fear, knowing he would die. He felt anger at anyone who was Middle Eastern, wanting to get revenge even if they were innocent of the crimes.
He felt the anger America felt as he watched the assassination of Kennedy, Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr.
He saw the face of Charles Manson as he brainwashed all of his followers. He was with them the night they killed Sharon Tate and her friends.
The images kept repeating, growing faster and faster driving Jesse crazy. They moved faster until they were a blur, but through it all he could see the enemy: Chase Slater. He heard Hitler telling him that Chase was the enemy. The weakest link. The cause of all his problems. If he eliminated Chase all his problems would go away.
It was Chase who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and caused Jesse to become disfigured.
Chase was the one who drove the plane into the twin towers. Chase was behind the assassinations. Chase was the brains behind Helter Skelter and had forced Manson to do it. Everything that went wrong in the world, in Jesse’s life, was Chase’s fault. It had been Chase’s idea to go to the carnival. If Chase hadn’t suggested that, Jesse wouldn’t be in this mess.
As he watched, he saw Chase hit Angie when she said she wanted to leave him because she was really in love with him. He pushed her down the stairs. Called her a bitch. A slut. Said that she was his and no one else could have her. He saw Chase rip her clothes off and rape his best friend. He heard Angie’s screams and pleas for Chase to stop as he stole her virginity. Finally, it all became clear. That was why Angie was with him. Why she wouldn’t leave him. She was scared. She needed Jesse to save her and be her knight in shining armor.
Jesse’s shoulders rose and fell with the rage that threatened to erupt from him like Mount Vesuvius. He knew what he had to do to make the world a better place. Chase Slater was the enemy. He was the cause of the world’s problems. Madam Theodora had helped him see the light. Chase’s death was for the greater good. The world, Angie, and Jesse would be better off without him.
Fourteen
Jesse slowly opened the door to Chase’s apartment. It hadn’t been that hard to get in, Madam Theodora had supplied him with a skeleton key that could open any door in the world. The apartment was dark except for a small orange glow that came from Chase’s bedroom. Jesse stripped off his clothes, he wanted this to be primal and wild, plus he didn’t want to get blood on his designer clothes.
Slowly Jesse stalked toward the bedroom, hand grasping the dagger tightly. Stopping at the door, he looked inside and was filled with a rage that no human had ever felt before.
Angie was lying naked on the bed. Chase, also nude and hard, was kissing her. His fingers were buried in her vagina tickling her clit and making her feet flex and unflex.
“Tomorrow we go to California,” Angie smiled up at him, caressing his cheek.
“We’ll be husband and wife. Forever. And soon we’ll be parents.”
“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you,” she promised kissing him softly.
“Me too, baby.”
“Make love to me, Chase Slater …” Her voice was a whisper on the wind as she pulled his fingers out of her and sucked her juices off them before kissing his shoulders and running her fingers through his hair.
Gently Chase spread Angie’s legs and tenderly lowered himself on top of her. Jesse’s shoulders rose and fell painfully as he watched Chase grasp his ugly, dirty penis and violate Angie’s pure beautiful vagina. Angie moaned and wrapped her arms around Chase’s back. Jesse’s breathing became audible as he watched Chase start to fuck Angie. Her hands caressed his back and kissed his shoulders as she moaned in pleasure.
Jesse couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t stand by and watch Chase violate her anymore. Jesse would be damned if he allowed Chase to pollute Angie’s womb with his cum one more time.
Raising the knife, Jesse walked into the room. He looked down at Chase’s muscular back rising and falling as he found his rhythm. Their moans were hateful in Jesse’s ears.
Chase’s blood spattered Jesse’s body, getting mixed with the vomit and dog piss, when he brought the knife down as hard as he could. Chase let out a grunt of pain. His back arched and his arms shot straight out. His head snapped back. Jesse could hear Chase’s spine break. Jesse continued to stab him. Angie was screaming, not totally aware of what was happening to the love of her life. Her screams increased as Chase’s blood stained Angie’s delicate creamy flesh. Jesse didn’t stop the assault until Chase was still. Just for good measure, Jesse grabbed Chase by the hair and pulled as hard as he could. With one good swipe he slit his throat. Angie screamed as Chase’s blood rained down upon her, staining her face.
Looking up, Angie saw The Devil. Jesse stood over the bed, face, hair and body stained with blood. He was smiling like a little kid who had just learned to tie his shoes. The knife was raised high above his head. Chase’s blood dripped from the tip.
Angie screamed for help and pushed against Chase’s body with all her might. She cried as she looked into his eyes, glassy and staring.
Springing from the bed she ran toward the door but Jesse grabbed her arm. Angie screamed and hit Jesse as hard as she could but his grip was too tight. Angie’s mouth was open but the only sound that came out was little squeaks, minute as a mouse.
“I’m sorry, Ang. This is for your own good.”
Taking out the Jelly Beans Madam Theodora had given him, he forced them into her mouth. They were bitter and made Angie gag. She tried to spit them out but Jesse held her mouth shut.
“Swallow them you little slut. This is for your own good. Swallow them bitch,” Jesse screamed, eyes blazing with a rage Angie didn’t know existed.
Tears welled up in Angie’s eyes as the bitter beans dissolved in her mouth and slid down her throat.
“You’ll thank me for this,” Jesse promised. “And now,” Jesse continued in a voice too calm, “I’m finally going to take what’s mine.”
“Jesse please,” Angie begged.
“Shhhhh …” Jesse soothed. “Don’t be scared Angie. You’ll like it. I promise.”
Holding her head in place he kissed her. Angie blanched as his tongue parted her lips and flicked against hers. Forcing her onto her back Jesse mounted her and shoved his penis in. Angie screamed and beat at him with her fists. Jesse grunted and panted like a wild animal in heat. Finally he came inside her with a satisfied grunt. Tears were running down Angie’s cheeks. She couldn’t believe that Jesse, her best friend, was capable of this. This had to be some kind of horrible dream.
Getting off her, Angie prayed it was over but it was
only just beginning. Clutching her arm tightly, Jesse dragged Angie to her feet.
“Now it’s time to get that demon out of you,” he stated.
Angie struggled. Her eyes grew large as she watched Jesse slowly bring the knife to her stomach and begin to cut with the preciseness of a doctor. Pain shot through her stomach and body as Jesse cut deeper and deeper. A rush of adrenaline overtook Angie and she kicked Jesse in his penis. Jesse let go of Angie’s arm and doubled over in pain, clutching his penis.
Angie ran out of the room and tripped over a pile of clothes. She fell hitting the ground hard. A second wave of pain rushed over her and she felt something moist trickle down her legs. Looking down, she screamed when she saw the blood gushing out of her vagina and trickling down her legs in a little crimson river.
“Oh God!” she screamed, “Chase! Help me! I think I’m losing the baby!”
Trying to get to her feet, she clutched her stomach in pain and fell to the ground. Crawling as fast as she could, she crawled into the bathroom and locked the door. She looked around for an escape but the only person that could fit out the window was a Munchkin. Angie looked around for a weapon. Out of desperation she plugged in her curling iron and turned it to its hottest setting.
Her legs gave out on her and fell to the ground. The pain was strong as ever in her stomach. She was still bleeding.
“I’m sorry, Chase,” she cried, “I’m sorry I lost the baby.”
Her body convulsed when Jesse banged against the door. He hit the door with such force the door rattled, nearly breaking free from its hinges. She screamed when Jesse’s fist broke through the door. Dark burnt cinnamon colored splinters rained down on her. Jesse’s hand searched blindly for the doorknob. Picking up her curling iron, Angie pressed it into Jesse’s hand with all her might. Jesse cried out in pain but he didn’t pull away. He grabbed the curling iron, burning all the skin off his palm, and slammed it against the door with all his might until he broke it down.
Angie crawled backwards until she hit the radiator. Jesse stood in the doorway, still holding the curling iron. Angie could smell the burnt skin. She watched horrified as skin and tendons, burned black, fell to the ground. She heard the sizzle as the curling iron made contact with Jesse’s blood.
Dropping the curling iron, Jesse slowly walked toward her. He grabbed her, pulled her to her feet and raised the dagger high. Angie watched in fear, not wanting to believe that this was real. She kept praying this was a bad dream and that she would wake up at any moment next to Chase but deep down she knew that was not true.
He brought the knife down hard. Angie doubled over when the knife bit her flesh. Jesse pressed the knife into her vagina. She screamed as the knife’s poison tip dissolved her flesh. She had never felt that kind of pain before. He kept pushing and pushing until the handle and his wrist disappeared inside her body. Angie could only stand there helpless as she felt her organs and bones being ripped apart. She opened her mouth to scream but her lungs were filled with blood. She began to cough and choke as her own life liquid drowned her.
She felt her legs buckle and began to fall. She clutched Jesse’s shoulders for support, never taking her eyes form his as she fell to the ground where she was still.
Jesse pulled the knife out of her. Attached to the end, was a tiny half formed blob. Angie and Chase’s baby. Jesse looked at the aborted fetus stuck to the knife then down at Angie’s body. She was still. Unmoving. Jesse looked back at the knife. The blob was gone.
“Angie?” he asked cautiously, “Angie?”
Nothing. Shaking, Jesse dropped the knife and fell next to Angie’s body. He touched her. No heartbeat. No pulse.
“Oh God,” his voice quivered. She was dead. He had killed her. His best friend. The girl of his dreams. “I’m sorry, Ang. Forgive me. This wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to die. Only Chase and the baby.”
Looking around, validating that there was no witnesses, Jesse did the first thing that came into his head. He fled.
Fifteen
Jesse’s heart was pounding in his ears. His breathing was heavy. His throat was raw and dry as the desert. His lips were cracked and bleeding. His legs felt like rubber. There was a pain in his side but he didn’t stop. He had to get away. He didn’t know where he was going but he wasn’t going to stop until he was far away from Madam Theodora and her friends.
He was running through the woods. It was dark. Dense. Silent except for the occasional owl and rustle of leaves. Every sound made Jesse jump. He was sure it was the police looking for him. Or worse.
Rounding a corner, he ran right into the massive bosom of Madam Theodora. Her body was hard as steel. Jesse fell back. The wind was knocked out of his lungs. He gasped, unable to breathe.
“You fucking fool,” Madam Theodora’s voice was too calm and too even.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why she died. I didn’t mean to kill her,” Jesse pleaded, body shaking with fear.
“You’re sorry? Well sorry isn’t going to undo it, is it?”
“Why did she die?”
“Because you stabbed her. You were only supposed to feed her the beans. Not stab her like that. And when she fell to the ground she miscarried. Didn’t you realize that’s why she was bleeding? Can’t you do anything right.”
“I’m sorry,” Jesse repeated.
“Quit saying that. That is not going to appease me or undo the damage you’ve done. Bring him back to the tent,” she spoke to the forest.
Jesse heard rustling and was immediately seized by The Fool. Jesse tried to fight, kicking his legs and wriggling like a fish but The Fool was too strong.
“Please don’t!” Jesse begged, “What are you going to do to me?”
“A punishment fit for a fool like you,” Madam Theodora promised.
Epilogue:
Twenty Years Later
The friends giggled as they watched Madam Theodora shuffle through her cards. She smiled as she laid down a card. The friends looked down, staring at the young boy dressed as a clown. A small black dog nipped at his ankles. A skeleton, dressed in a white wedding dress, was next to him, her arm slipped through his. The image of two people joined in an embrace was over him. The most distinguishing thing about the young clown was his Beetles like haircut.
“The Fool,” Madam Theodora looked up, smiling at the young friends …
About the Author
Joe Filippone is currently a fulltime actor and writer living in Hollywood California whose short stories have appeared in close to forty anthologies including Thirsty Are The Damned, The Undead That Saved Christmas, Baconology and Letters From The Dead. He was also the co-editor of the anthology The Undead That Saved Christmas: Vampire Edition. Joe is also the author of the novels Real Boys Kiss Boys (CAPA award nomination for YA novel) and The Christmas Cottage.
In the Tarot Page 8