Tenants

by Christopher Motz

  "We take care of our own at the Blackridge."

  "We take care of our own."

  "KILL ME!" Christian bellowed. "Just kill me, you twisted, sadist fucks!"

  "Sadist?" Al said. "Interesting choice of words."

  "We're not going to kill you," Audrey added. "What kind of people do you think we are?"

  "The queen on the other hand... well, there's no telling what she has in store."

  Al bent, clutched a thick tuft of Christian's hair, and dragged him forward. He carried him like a heavy suitcase into the dark and dropped him in front of a massive, bronze gate. Christian no longer cared what happened next. They'd turned him into a human bowling ball. Death would be a blessing.

  But the road to that end would be long and winding.

  "Thank you, our queen, for accepting our offer," Al and Audrey said in unison.

  The gate opened and Christian was carried away screaming.

  Chapter 14

  Linda sat up and coughed out a gout of cool, soapy water. She'd heard stories of people falling asleep in the tub and drowning, but never thought she'd nearly do it herself. She'd been out long enough for the water to grow chilly; her fingers and toes had pruned like raisins. She carefully stepped out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel. It was almost completely dark even though she remembered turning on the overhead light before getting undressed. She went to the wall, found the switch, and flicked it up and down several times to no avail.

  "Perfect," she said.

  She dropped the wet towel on the floor and grabbed her robe from the hook on the back of the bathroom door before creeping into the hall. The refrigerator's comforting hum was absent. The power was out in the entire apartment.

  "This is getting old."

  Her voice sounded strange, distant. As she walked into the living room, she noticed a thin layer of mist had settled just above the floor. She couldn't see anything through the apartment's windows. She crept closer to peek outside and stopped with a gasp. The windows had been covered by thick plywood that had been nailed directly into the frames. She knocked on it reluctantly, expecting it to be answered.

  "You're dreaming again, Lin," she said. "Wake up!" She pinched her thigh, but the dream remained.

  She went to the front door and saw it too was barricaded.

  She heard voices.

  "Hello? Is someone there?"

  The voices were muffled but clear enough to hear various segments of loud conversation.

  "...she's going to know something is going on..."

  "...in Abruzzi's. They dropped the ball this time."

  "...walked right into my apartment like she owned the place..."

  "...saw the way the store looked..."

  "...there will always be another problem to sort out."

  There were short bursts of laughter, cheers, the clinking of glassware, singing.

  It sounded like it was right through the wall in Audrey's apartment.

  She tiptoed into the pantry and put her ear to the door that was said to lead nowhere, but it sure sounded like there was something on the other side. The old chipped paint seemed to thrum beneath her fingers as she placed her hands on the door and pushed.

  It squealed open without any hesitation.

  In nothing but her robe, she stepped over the threshold into a musty hallway that smelled of smoke from the dozen candles lining the wall. The corridor ran twenty feet from end to end, with another door on the other side. As she watched, the door opened, and warm light spilled into the hall. Audrey stood in the doorway as the light silhouetted her body beneath the thin fabric of a white sundress. Linda couldn't look away and suddenly felt dirty for seeing the round contours of Audrey's breasts. The woman waved and beckoned Linda closer.

  "You don't have to be afraid," Audrey said. "You're one of us now."

  I remember her saying those exact words... but when?

  "I'm dreaming. I know this isn't real."

  "No, of course not. So why not enjoy yourself? What are dreams but our minds crying out for a little excitement?"

  Linda didn't want excitement. She wanted her life to go back to the way it used to be: before Christian, before Lenny, before Theresa's hateful voice mail, before she moved to this fucking building and was surrounded by empty spaces and blackout nightmares.

  Linda had no control over her body. She floated forward as if being held aloft by invisible hands. Her robe had come open at the waist, exposing parts of her body that even her lovers hadn't seen in bright light.

  "Join the party," Audrey said to loud cheers. "Everyone's waiting."

  "For me?"

  "Of course, for you. You're the guest of honor."

  "But... I should change... I should..."

  "You should do nothing of the sort. You're already wearing too much if you ask me." This was followed by good-natured laughter from both men and women alike. Audrey reached out, took Linda's hand in her own, and pulled her inside, where at least thirty other people stood holding drinks in expensive looking stemware.

  "What are we celebrating?" Linda asked.

  "The dawn of a new age!"

  More cheering and laughter followed.

  "I don't understand."

  "No, I suppose you wouldn't, but don't worry about that. This is a party!"

  Linda stood motionless as Audrey closed the door behind her. The room was stifling. She slowly turned her head, looking at everyone who had gathered and wondering where the hell they had been this entire time. In seconds, she had gone from feeling completely alone in the Blackridge to feeling claustrophobic and confined in the sea of warm bodies.

  One woman was naked from the waist up, exposing a small pair of breasts and sipping red wine. A man wearing a white t-shirt and nothing more sat between two gorgeous blonds vying for his attention by playfully grabbing at his erect penis. A group of women in white nightgowns chatted in the corner, giggling and sneaking glances at the newcomer in her bathrobe.

  "Don't worry about them," Audrey said. "They're only beautiful once a month and they tend to get snooty."

  "None of this makes sense."

  "It'll make perfect sense, Linda. Trust me. For now, make yourself comfortable, have a drink, enjoy yourself."

  "No, I can't... I really should get back..."

  "Nonsense," Audrey said. "The party is just getting started."

  Linda wanted to protest but didn't like the tone in Audrey's voice. It wasn't an invitation to stay, it was an order. For a split second, Linda saw something in the woman's eyes she couldn't explain. A change. A shift in the very color and shape of her irises. A man passed and placed a drink in Linda's hand before returning to his conversation in another part of the room.

  Linda sniffed the rim of her wine glass and sipped the dark red liquid, rolling it over her tongue. Audrey smiled and nodded, seemingly pleased.

  "Are you ready to meet some of the tenants?" she asked.

  "I guess so, sure."

  Audrey led her across the room as groups of standing revelers parted and watched them pass. Linda felt like an animal at the zoo, being inspected by curious onlookers. She looked down to make sure her robe was closed, afraid that she was offering a free show to drunken strangers. She'd love to know what Freud would make of this.

  "These are the twins," Audrey said with an extended arm. "Amy and Anna from 304."

  "Pleased to meet you," Anna said. Amy said nothing as she offered a brief wave and bobbed her head in the man's lap sitting next to her. Linda looked away and finished her drink in a single swallow.

  "Don't be shy," Audrey said. "Everyone is very close at the Blackridge. We don't follow the expected rules of a society who has become so hindered by their own fears and inhibitions. Life is too short for closed minds."

  The same man who'd given Linda her drink returned with a bottle and refilled her glass.

  "This is Hector. He lives on the sixth floor and fancies himself somewhat of a sommelier."

  "That's a fancy way of callin
g me a wine snob," Hector said.

  As soon as he finished filling her glass, Linda tipped it up and emptied half at once.

  "She obviously likes my choice," Hector said.

  "It's wonderful," Linda said. "What it is?"

  "Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru, 1990."

  "I've never heard of it."

  "This bottle cost a little over seven thousand dollars. Not something you'd find at the local Wine & Spirits store."

  Linda nearly choked on a two-hundred dollar mouthful before swallowing and waiting for the punchline.

  "What did I tell you?" Audrey asked. Hector walked away with the bottle and disappeared into another room.

  "He's serious?" Linda asked.

  "Oh, absolutely. Hector would never joke about a bottle of wine."

  Audrey led her on a circuit of the apartment, introducing her to those gathered there: Javier, Melanie, Anders, Tiffany, Roberta, Jack... too many names to match with too many faces. Linda's head was spinning, and not just from the wine. Many of those she was introduced to were barely paying attention, wrapped up in various sex acts that were quickly turning the party into a full-blown orgy. When she looked at her glass, she realized that Hector the wine ninja had struck again. She sipped her drink slowly, giving the full flavor the attention it deserved.

  "Don't worry about remembering everyone," Audrey said. "There will be time for that."

  "They found a dead guy in my store," Linda blurted. "Then it burned down."

  "You don't say. How unfortunate."

  "Nothing makes sense anymore." Linda didn't know why she was telling Audrey any of this, but she needed to tell someone and she was drastically short on friends these days.

  "You worry too much. Why don't you put all of that out of your mind and just relax? There's nothing to be done if it has already happened."

  "Am I really dreaming all this?"

  "Are you? Who am I to know what goes on in your head?"

  "It feels so real. These people, this wine, the sense that something important is happening and I'm too blind to notice."

  Andrey put her hand on the side of Linda's face. "You're a beautiful young woman who's going to make herself old before her time. Why do you fret over things you can't change?"

  "I can't help it. I get so worried about the most mundane shit. What if my car breaks down? Are my parents okay? Can I afford to pay my electric bill? Do I drink too much? It swirls around in my head like storm clouds until I feel like I'm going to break under the pressure."

  "Drinking isn't your problem, thinking is your problem. Allow yourself to have fun once in a while. Tell yourself everything is fine and that the universe will take care of you in its own way. You're surrounded by people who only want the best for you. What more can you ask for?"

  "A good night's sleep would be nice."

  "Sleep when you're dead, Linda."

  Audrey took the wine glass from Linda's hand and placed it on the end table next to a leather couch where a chubby redhead in high heels was being mounted by a man twice her age.

  "Are these people swingers?" she asked.

  "They're whatever you make them. It's your dream, after all."

  As she looked around the room, she felt Audrey slip her hands beneath her robe and slide it from her shoulders. It fell to the floor, leaving Linda completely exposed. Several people clapped nearby before going back to their conversations.

  "Doesn't that feel better? Isn't this the person you really want to be? Unfettered? Carefree?"

  "Yes, I mean no... not like this. I don't know any of these people. It doesn't feel right."

  Audrey undressed and dropped her clothes on top of Linda's robe. "See? You're not alone. You'll never be alone again."

  "I don't want this."

  "You don't know what you want. Your mind is full of locked doors and I'm here - we're here - to help you open them."

  The redhead's high heels had fallen from her feet as the man lifted her legs above her head and continued thrusting into her.

  "What is this place, Audrey? Where am I?"

  "On the threshold of immortality."

  Audrey grabbed Linda by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall, raising her arms above her head and pinning them there. Linda felt Audrey's nipples pressing firmly into her own. The soft hair between their legs mingled and tickled. Linda wanted to run but felt trapped by Audrey's stare. The kiss that followed was long and passionate, the kind she expected from a lover but had never gotten. Not like this. Never like this.

  The pressure was released from her hands as Audrey backed away, only to be replaced by someone else. Linda's eyes remained closed as arms wrapped around her and rubbed her back and shoulders. There was a pressure in her groin as a man pushed himself against her and breathed heavily into her ear. He didn't enter, he simply teased.

  She knew who it was without having to open her eyes, and once she knew, she kept them closed.

  "Is this what you want, Linda?" he asked. The faint smell of cologne, the familiar accent, the heady musk of what lie between them.

  "I don't know," she said.

  Al Sterling used his fingers to entice the correct reply.

  "Why don't you know? You have nothing to lose and so much to gain."

  Say no! Run! Get the fuck out of here as fast as you can and never look back.

  "What are you going to do to me?"

  "Anything you want... everything you've ever dreamed of and more."

  It's a trick. You're falling into a trap.

  "Yes," Linda said. "Whatever you want."

  No! Take it back. Tell him no and get out of here while you still can!

  "You've made the right decision, Linda. Now, you'll become more than yourself."

  "I don't... I don't know what you're talking about."

  RUN! RUN, GODDAMMIT!

  "Open your eyes. Look at me."

  "No. No, I can't."

  "Open your eyes."

  "No, please, I've changed my mind. I want to wake up now. I want to wake up and go home."

  "This is your home," Al said, "and we are your family."

  "What's going to happen to me?"

  "You'll find your true purpose. You'll be reborn."

  Al's fingers moved quicker, filling her with warmth from the waist down. Her knees trembled.

  Linda put her head on his shoulder, preparing for the release that was to come.

  "That's right," he whispered. "Let yourself go."

  Linda knew her time to escape had run out, but as Al brought her to orgasm, all thoughts of leaving vanished. She moaned loudly into his ear as he held her tightly and kept her from sliding to the floor. Her toes had gone numb. She could feel every hair on her body standing on end.

  "Open your eyes."

  Linda did as she was told. Al Sterling smiled and removed his hand from between her legs, but by then, Linda only wanted more. Nothing mattered now. Not the group of people watching, not Audrey's satisfied grin, not even the fact that the room had changed. It had grown dark. She could no longer see the walls on either side, just a circle of light with a plain white bed at its center. The tenants stood around it, wringing their hands in anticipation as Al lifted Linda into his arms and carried her forward.

  "That gate," she said. "What is that gate?"

  A bed stood before the bronze bars, dwarfed by its size and illuminated by the glow of the overhead bulbs.

  "A window into the glorious realm of our queen."

  "You're a devil, aren't you?" Linda asked.

  "There is no Devil, and there is no God. Those things aren't real, you see? They're constructs made by the minds of men, used to control and strike fear into the weak-minded."

  Linda nodded, as if what Al said made perfect sense.

  He lowered her to the bed.

  "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" Linda asked.

  "Of course not," Al replied, but his answer felt insincere.

  The crowd stepped closer and surrounded them.
<
br />   Why are they watching? What are they waiting for?

  When Al joined her on the bed and positioned himself between her legs, the crowd cheered like contestants on a game show. Linda wasn't cheering; she was absolutely terrified.

  Why didn't you run when you had the chance?

  She cried out as Al thrust into her, wasting no time on foreplay or whispering sweet nothings in her ear. It hurt more than she expected, and as she reached up to ease him off, Audrey came to the top of the bed and pinned Linda's arms to the mattress.

  "Stop it," Linda muttered. "Let me go."

  "You can't back out now, sweetheart," Audrey said. "You've made your choice."

  "I changed my mind..."

  "Relax," Al panted. "It'll be over before you know it."

  "No. Stop! This isn't right. This isn't what I want."

  An eerie glow had begun shining between the bars of the giant gate behind the bed. She arched her back and bent her head back as far as it would go, trying to see why the room had suddenly gone silent. Al quickened his pace.

  "That light," Linda said. "What is that light?"

  No one answered.

  "Al, please. Stop."

  He reached out and smacked Linda across the face with a hand that felt like stone. Stars floated in her vision. The pressure in her groin had become a stinging, painful heat.

  "You don't have to struggle, Linda," Audrey said. "Relax. Take it all in."

  Someone giggled at the intended pun.

  "Get off me! GET OFF!"

  Al grabbed her head between his hands and forced her to look directly into his eyes. What she saw there took her breath away.

  He was no longer the handsome gentleman she'd daydreamed about, in fact, he was no longer human at all. His head had become a malformed blob of flesh covered in thick, gray scales; his eyes were those of a reptile; his teeth erupted from bloated gums and formed a semi-circle of razor-sharp needles.

  Linda screamed, but her voice was buried beneath the guttural shriek of the Al-monster's orgasm. Whatever he had put inside her burned and bubbled like battery acid. Thick saliva dribbled from his mouth and rained down on Linda's upturned face.

  Taloned fingers reached between the bars of the gate and scratched at the concrete floor near the top of the bed. The light from the other side grew brighter, giving a brief glimpse of a gigantic, twisted silhouette. Linda could only scream silently; her voice no longer had sound.