Fishing in Brains for an Eye with Teeth (Thirteen Tales of Terror) (11 page)

Lenny’s heart skipped a beat.

After a moment, the contract became partially opaque.  A message appeared on top of it.

When this contract is finalized, you will be giving up your immortal soul.  You cannot be tricked into doing this.  You must enter into this contract willingly. 

Do you understand?

Click Y to indicate yes.

He looked at what he wrote in the contract.  He tried to imagine how radically Esther would change.  He found it almost as impossible to imagine as the idea of being consigned to hellfire.

One thing he
could
imagine . . . life going on exactly as today.  He could imagine loneliness, envy, terrible humiliation, and impotent rage.

His decision made, Lenny hit the Y key.

Fire burned away the words on the screen, replacing them with blood red text, reading,

Place your finger on the spot indicated on the screen so that your blood may be taken in lieu of your signature.

For the first time tonight, Lenny was frightened.  He suddenly found it hard to breathe.  On the computer screen a red circle appeared: the spot to place his finger.  Beside the circle was the icon of a stick-pin—a long black needle with a tiny human skull for a head.

Sweating, suddenly feeling like he was about to spontaneously combust, Lenny jumped up from his desk, tearing at his clothes, taking off his suit jacket and shirt.  He went to the bathroom for a towel and wiped sweat off his head.

The thought that pierced his fright and drove it away was,  
I’ll need to take a shower before Esther comes over
.

Unhappy that he no longer felt drunk (and surprised he didn’t have a raging headache), Lenny stubbornly poured himself some more Jack Daniels and guzzled it down before returning to his desk.

While he was away from the keyboard, the screen changed.  It now showed the final instructions.

Your finger will be pricked.  Your blood will be taken.  By willfully giving up your blood, you will be signifying your acceptance of the contract.  At that moment, this transaction will be FINAL and may never be revoked.

The red circle where he was supposed to place his finger began to blink.

The decision is yours, Mister Langstrom
.

For all of six seconds, he hesitated.  Then Lenny tentatively extended his index finger.  Picturing Esther in his mind, he thought,
Come to me
.

He placed his finger against the computer screen in the indicated circle.

The screen was as cold as ice,
painfully
cold.  His fingertip was first frozen and then stabbed.  The icon of the pin flew to his touch, pricking him.  The pain was sharp and potent.

“Ow!”   He withdrew his finger and looked at it, seeing the droplet of red there.  He looked at the computer screen and saw the red stain of his life liquid.

Blood flowed.

Without warning, the computer screen, the lights in his house, the synapses in his
mind
— everything flashed bright red.  Lenny saw the red circle become a purple pentagram.  His blood on the screen was
absorbed
by the screen, sinking into the monitor.

Demonic laughter chased Lenny’s consciousness away.  His index finger tingling as if shocked, Lenny put his head on top of his keyboard and passed out.

***666***

He awoke to the sound of bells.

His mind was fuzzy; he thought he was dreaming; and he settled back to sleep.

When the doorbell rang again, Lenny sat up.

For a moment, he was completely disoriented.  He didn’t understand why he was asleep at his computer.  Then a flash of fire blazed across his mind’s eye, and he remembered.

He jumped out of his seat, immediately excited.  Was it Esther ringing his bell?

But who
else
could it be?

His heart was too big for his chest.  His palms were slick with sweat.  Shouting, “Coming,” he hurried to the entry hall.  Lenny flicked on his porch light, unlocked the front door, and opened it.

The sight of Esther took his breath away.  Despite the fact it was a muggy night, she was dressed in a long tan overcoat.  She was wearing make-up: mascara and blue eyeliner and bright red lipstick.  When they made eye contact, her lids fluttered.  She looked down, smiling nervously.

Lenny opened the storm door and told her to, “Come in.”

Esther hesitated, looking up at him, frowning slightly.  Then she flew at him, wrapping her arms around his head, kissing him passionately as she pushed him back inside. 

Thrilled beyond imagining, Lenny held her tight and returned her kisses.

They were both soon breathless with desire.

Finally, panting, Esther pushed him back.  Without saying a word, she began to slowly unbutton her coat.

Lenny was already completely aroused, even before he saw her naked cleavage.

Ester shed her only garment, letting it drop to the floor.  Stepping out of the sandals she was wearing, she reached for him. He pushed her back, astonished that he was finally seeing her nude body.  “Let me look at you,” he rasped.

Perfectly obedient, Esther complied.

Tears broke free of his eyes.  He wept silently at the sight of her— the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

Within moments, however, his lust conquered his awe.

Lenny took Esther by the hand and led her to his bedroom.

***666***

The next day was Friday and both Lenny and Esther called off work.

They stayed in bed together most of the weekend, having marathon sex.  By Monday, they were both so sore they could barely move and again called off work.

Finally, under great pressure from his boss, Lenny returned to the office.  But they agreed Esther could no longer work under him.  She quit, effective immediately.

While Lenny worked (and regenerated his fluids), Esther moved out of her apartment, into Lenny’s house.

The next few weeks were the most erotic of Lenny’s life.

One night after they’d made love, as Esther slumbered quietly beside him, Lenny stared into the dark and thought about the deal he made.  On the one hand, he couldn’t be happier and had no regrets.  On the other hand, he
knew
he was truly
damned
and thoughts about what his afterlife would entail terrified him.

He couldn’t imagine there was any comfort in Hell but if there was, his would be memories of these glorious days with Esther.

            ***666***

He proposed to her on their three-month anniversary of being together. 

It troubled Lenny that Esther hesitated before answering.

He commanded her to, “Say ‘yes,’ honey.  You
know
you want to.”

Breaking eye contact with him, she obediently responded, “Yes.”

Esther was raised Catholic and, as a gesture of love, Lenny agreed to a Catholic wedding.  But when he went with Esther to meet her family priest, he discovered an uncomfortable truth about the damned: holy places made them ill.

Less than five minutes after entering the church, Lenny was vomiting up his lunch.  The nausea lasted as long as he was on sanctified ground and dissipated after he’d left.

They got married at a Justice of the Peace.  Esther didn’t seem particularly upset at not having a church wedding.

And Lenny had never been happier in his life.

He was utterly clueless that his bride considered their wedding day the worst day of
her
life.

***666***

In the months after they were married, Esther spent a lot of time with her friends— too much time, in Lenny’s opinion.  He ordered her to spend more time at home and she did.

Then without his knowledge, Esther maxed out their new joint credit card.  When Lenny saw the credit card bill, he chastised her and demanded she stop.  She did.

The sex was fantastic.  Her lust for him was insatiable.  They never had troubles in bed.

One evening, three months after they were married, they were having dinner at a fancy restaurant and Lenny didn’t like the way Esther looked at their handsome young waiter.  On the drive home, he told her, “Don’t you ever fool around on me, Esther.  Don’t even
think
about it.”

Meekly, she said, “I won’t.”

Lenny knew she wouldn’t.

Three months after that, Lenny realized they didn’t talk much.  He and Esther had very little in common.

Lenny was a huge sports enthusiast.  He loved baseball, basketball, and (most especially) football.  He instructed Esther to study up on his favorite teams, so they would have more to talk about.

Obediently, Esther complied.

Then one night, he came home to discover Esther was drunk and crying.  The moment she saw him, she threw a bottle of vodka at him, shrieking, “I hate you!”

Barely avoiding being struck by Smirnoff, Lenny ordered her to, “Stop it!”

Esther slumped to the floor.

His heart broke for her.  He
loved
her, with all his soul!  He didn’t want her to
hate
him.  She should
love
him by now!

Choking up, he told her, “You don’t hate me, darlin’.  You’re just having a bad day.  You
love
me.  You need to be happy.”  He commanded it, “Be
happy
.”

She fought back her tears and produced a wan smile.

“That’s better,” said Lenny. 

Always knowing exactly what this lusty woman needed, he stripped her naked, before shedding his own clothes and taking her to the bedroom.

After that, Lenny experienced no more problems with his wife.  She seemed not just content but truly happy.

He was thrilled to be married to her.

Oblivious to Esther’s secret pain, Lenny lived his dream, certain he’d have another forty-five years of this bliss.

***666***

Esther Gray Langstrom sat home alone with a bottle of vodka, contemplating her miserable life.  Lenny was gone for the week, off to Atlanta for a company meeting.  She sincerely wished he would never come back.  If his plane were to crash, she’d celebrate.

She passionately loathed her husband.

Over the course of the last year, Esther’s identity had been shattered.  She was a stranger to herself.

She was raised as a Christian but she’d lost her faith in Jesus.  Tonight, she was so filled with black despair, she was contemplating suicide.  She no longer believed it was a mortal sin because she no longer believed in God.  And she didn’t want to go on living this way.

She remembered the day this nightmare began, almost a year ago.  She’d written to the DJ at the local radio station about her situation and Kylie McKinney aired her story as the Daily Dilemma.  After listening to the advice of the good citizens of her city, Esther decided she was going over Lenny’s head, to his boss, in an attempt to get him fired.

Then, something inexplicable happened.

It was like she was hypnotized, or mind controlled, or bewitched.  She’d never been attracted to Lenny before.  He was dumpy, balding, and extremely hairy.  Esther liked athletic men, smooth men (particularly Italian men).  She’d always found excessive body hair to be a turn-off.

But suddenly, out of the blue, she
changed
. 

Eventually, her arousal got the better of her.  It made her bold.  She went to him that same night and they had sex for hours.  But even as she was screaming with desire, somewhere deep in her mind, she was shrieking with horror.

As unfathomable as it was that she was physically attracted to him, even more unbelievable was the way she always obeyed him.  She’d tried over and over to defy him and she just
couldn’t
.  Her body always complied with his wishes, even when her heart wouldn’t.  When he told her to Be Happy, she didn’t
feel
happiness but she faked it.

She couldn’t even find satisfaction by cheating on him because he’d ordered her to remain faithful and she had to dutifully obey.

Esther wanted to die.  Either that or she wanted
him
to die.  Sitting at her desk in her study, staring unfocused at the solitaire game on her computer screen, she moaned, “I’d do anything if he’d just
die
!”

Ester was startled when her computer said, “You’ve Got Mail!”

When she ignored the summons, her computer insisted again, “You’ve Got Mail!”

“Alright already,” she muttered.  When she went to her mailbox online and clicked on her email, she saw the title of the newest message was:
Fulfill Your Dreams TONIGHT!

***666***

Five minutes later, having read the instructions on how to sell her immortal soul at Hell’s Consignment House, Esther wrote that her greatest desire was for, “Lenny to suffer a slow, painful, debilitating death.”

When she sent her request, however, she received back immediate word that Hell was unable to comply.  She was informed...

Lenny Langstrom may not be killed by disease, old age, or any type of natural injury.

Esther frowned.  She started to type,
why not?,
but then her eyes fell on the last prewritten paragraph in her petition.

As a further stipulation to my damnation, I will be granted another 75 years of life (three times my current age of 25), free of any threat from disease, infirmities associated with old age, and all natural calamities.

The epiphany took her breath away.

The great mystery was solved!

She
knew
how Lenny brainwashed her.

“He sold his soul,” she exclaimed.  “Goddamn him!”  Then, realizing the irony in what she just said, she brayed hysterical laughter.

When she sobered up, she was chilled to think,
That’s how he changed me
.

Her head spun with the implications of this.  Her hatred for Lenny ballooned to new extremes. 

She considered her revenge. 
He
brainwashed her.  She should brainwash
him
.