Preta's Realm (24 page)

“Sorry, man. Ten. She’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Drew turned his scowl from Brian and looked back into the mirror. Gaki was gone. “I don’t want you getting out of the Jeep.”

“You want me to wait while you talk to Molly?” asked Brian, shaking his head.

“Well, I don’t see any need for you to be in the middle of marital affairs. It’s not like you have a relationship with her.”

Brian smiled through the fear. “Okay. Makes sense. Don’t you think she’s going to think something is going on when I pull up and you get out?”

Drew ignored Brian and looked at the traffic light turning red. “Don’t run it,” he growled at Brian.

The brakes of the Jeep squeaked as the pads gripped the rotors on all four wheels.

“You don’t have to do this,” Brian said.

“Do what?”

“C’mon,” said Brian. He huffed and tapped his fingers on the wheel. “You’re not right in the head and I’m afraid you’re going to do something you’ll really regret.”

Drew’s eyes lit from within. He reached across and pulled the seat belt up on Brian. The edge of the nylon covered Brian’s throat and Drew pinned the edge to the seat. He pushed as hard as he could towards the headrest until Brian’s hands came off the wheel and grabbed instinctively for his neck.

“Don’t fucking tell me what I have to do. You’ve been fucking her. If you want to cut the shit, let’s cut the shit. You were in my house, in bed with my wife when I came home. The Jeep was on the curb, asshole. You didn’t even have the brains to park on the next block.”

Brian wheezed and slapped at Drew’s hands. Drew released the seat belt, sending Brian’s head down to his chest in a rattle of coughing and wheezing. He peered up at Drew through his bangs and shook his head.

“You’ve lost it, bro.”

Drew snarled again, turning to face Brian. Horns raged behind them as the lane to the left moved through the green light. Brian shook and began a low, ragged whimper. He fumbled for the wheel and got the Jeep moving. Drew looked at the light and then at the traffic moving through, motioning Brian to drive through the intersection and towards the park.

“I’ll deal with you after her.”

Brian coughed, gasping and rubbing his neck with one hand. He caught a glimpse of the flashing red and blue lights in the rear view mirror a split second before Drew did. He laughed and stroked the seat belt that had almost choked him to death minutes before and was thankful that it was still securing his body.

“Ain’t gonna happen, Drew.”

Brian’s hand came across the seat with the nail file in his palm. It struck Drew in the chest and the tip snapped like a dry twig. Drew laughed and hurled a fist into the side of Brian’s head. The blow knocked his jaw askew and the impact shattered the window. Brian shook the pebbles of safety glass from his hair. He sat with both hands on the wheel. Drew looked down at the middle console to see a gray tube of flesh oozing forward. It slithered down towards the floor on the driver’s side and a split second later the Jeep launched forward and through the intersection.

Drew screamed like a child on a roller coaster. The Wrangler squeezed through two openings, a wall of horns and angry drivers on each side. Brian looked down, stomping his foot on the floor.

“What the fuck? The brakes aren’t working!” he yelled.

Drew snickered and threw both hands in the air, waving and shouting with glee.

The vehicle careened off a line of parked cars, throwing a shower of sparks into the air, covering the passenger side of the Jeep with a golden blanket. The sirens that had been silent on slow approach now blared as they pursued the suspect and his hostage. A sedan trying to parallel park backed out and clipped the Jeep in the rear quarter panel on the passenger side. The Wrangler spun clockwise while careening across the lanes and smashing into the cars parked at meters facing the opposite direction.

“You thought you had me, eh?” Drew asked.

Brian moaned as the vehicle slid to a stop. The driver’s side of the Jeep kissed a parked vehicle, sealing the door shut on that side.

Drew looked over a shoulder and saw the patrol cars only a block behind and approaching fast. Another joined them, turning out of an alley.

“They can’t take me yet,” Drew said to Brian. He reached over and turned the ignition. The engine that had stalled during the collision came back to life with a throaty roar. Brian’s eyes glassed over and a thin line of blood crept from beneath his shaggy hair and crawled down the side of his face.

“If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself,” said Drew. He unbuckled Brian’s seatbelt and grabbed the man by his shoulders. Two slender, gray hands slid underneath Brian’s arms and the man shot through the opening between the two seats until he lay across the backseat.

“Go,” said Gaki.

Drew hopped over the gear shift and landed in the bucket seat of the driver side. With a glance in the rearview, he thrust the Jeep into first, dropped the clutch to the floor, and pounded the gas pedal until the tires squealed. The Jeep exploded from the tangle of parked cars and vaulted across traffic to make a right turn into an alley on the opposite side of the street.

The patrol cars passed the entrance to the alley. The drivers slammed on the brakes, threw the cars into reverse, and then turned in pursuit. Drew shifted into second gear, the front grill bursting through boxes and bags of garbage left in the alley for collection. A brick wall faced the Jeep at the end of it. Ten feet before impact, Drew whipped the wheel to the right and burst through a chain-link gate and into the back of a parking lot. He heard the sound of Brian’s body bouncing off the seat, along with the groans of his injury. Drew downshifted to first gear as he maneuvered through the rows of tightly parked cars. He reached the exit, accelerating as much as he could before slamming through the gate. The attendant in the booth leapt from the door as he saw the patrol cars coming through the other end of the lot.

As Drew hopped the Jeep over the curb and turned left to double back towards the park, he heard a voice from the backseat.

“He must die,” said Gaki.

Suddenly, Drew no longer sat in the driver seat of his best friend’s Jeep, being pursued by the police as he raced to a park to murder his wife. He was now in a cave, deep and dark. Drew felt the damp wind as it whistled through, punctuated by the occasional muffled thump. Gaki stood against the wall next to a pair of shackles. Brian lay on the floor, his wrists and ankles bound.

“Not part of our deal,” said Drew.

“He fucked your wife,” replied Gaki.

“Her for my children, that was the arrangement.”

“I have created time for you to deliver justice to the man who fucked your wife,” replied Gaki.

Drew screamed and pounded a fist against the slimy wall of the cave. He mumbled to himself and looked at Gaki through teary eyes. “He looks dead already.”

Gaki lifted a tubular arm. He waved his hand back and forth with a spindly index finger extended. “Let the jealousy consume you. Feast on the violence.”

Drew shook his head back and forth. He collapsed to the ground with his knees drawn up. Drew rested his elbows on his knees and cradled his own head, squeezing the temples to keep them from exploding.

“A reminder, perhaps?” asked Gaki.

When Drew lifted his head, he was no longer in the cave. He sat on a chair in the corner of his own bedroom. The gray light of a winter morning streamed through the blinds. He saw 10:37 displayed on the bedside clock. Drew saw that the door was shut, but movement on the bed caught his attention.

He looked up and saw the blankets and comforters torn from the bed. The tangle of flesh forced him to pause, then dry heave into his sweaty palms. Drew saw the dark, hairy legs of a man. Protruding from underneath those were the white, smooth legs of a woman. He recognized Molly’s groan, the one she uttered as the first hint of orgasm came to her. She was face down and spread eagle on the bed, her hands grasping handfuls of sheet at its corners. Molly’s dark hair lay splayed across her back and cascading over her breasts, pushing out from her sides. Brian increased the thrusting, his hands grasping her shoulders. Drew closed his eyes and reopened them, hoping to dispel the image Gaki gave him, but it did not disappear. Brian moved faster and Molly’s groans morphed into cries of pleasure.

“Enough,” Drew said.

Gaki laughed and pointed at Brian shackled on the floor of the cave. Drew blinked the last wisp of the late-morning bedroom from his eyes before they readjusted.

“I can’t believe you did that, Bri,” Drew said through an uncontrollable wall of tears. “I can’t believe you fucked Molly while I was at work. We were best friends.”

Brian lifted his head. His left eye had swelled shut and the bloodshot one on the right could barely keep focus on the sound of the voice. He moaned and shook his head.

“I have to. That son of a bitch is making me and then I have to keep our deal to save my kids. You wouldn’t understand, you greedy fuck. All you ever cared about was getting your dick wet. You wouldn’t know what it’s like to live for someone else, to be willing to die for them, to love them so much you’d sacrifice yourself for them. It’s probably better this way. No more daughters getting used by you, no more broken homes and wrecked families.”

Brian’s whimpering increased. He moved his mouth but no words came forth. Gaki barked and spat. He dropped Brian’s pants to his ankles, anticipating a feast of feces expelled at the moment of death.

Drew walked forward and stood above his friend. He kicked Brian in the groin and then in the ribs. “This hurts me more than you can imagine, bro. I trusted you with everything and you betrayed me. You’ve got to pay, and Gaki’s gotta eat.”

The smile on Drew’s face brought Brian to tears. He thrashed in his shackles and managed to moan “no” repeatedly through the haze of a broken jaw and concussion.

Gaki danced back and forth and hissed with anticipation. “Do it. Take your vengeance from this worthless wretch.”

Drew knelt down and looked one last time into the broken face of his best friend. He caressed Brian’s cheek and wiped a final tear from his face.

Gaki squealed through his thin mouth and danced amongst the dark walls of the cave. He raised his arms in the air and looked at Drew.

Drew placed both hands around Brian’s neck and saw the blood drain from his face as he increased the pressure on his throat. He squeezed, feeling the spongy flesh in his hands, dispelling the last vestiges of life. Brian gasped. He moved his mouth in a vain attempt to capture a hint of oxygen. His eyes bulged from their sockets and the skin on his face turned blue. Drew’s entire body shook. The convulsions rippled through his arms and legs and he was unsure if he could finish the gruesome task. As the grip of his hands loosened, he saw Gaki’s hands on top of his. He felt the power of the thin fingers bear down on Brian’s neck, choking the last breath from his lungs. Brian’s movements ceased. His mouth remained open.

“Have at it,” Drew said to Gaki. The creature scuttled to Brian’s waste, where it began consuming the final remains.

Drew flopped backwards, the back of his head striking the wall of the cave with a powerful thump. He lifted forward and then drove it backwards again. Several more attempts made him drowsy, but he was unable to knock himself out. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his head between his knees in an attempt to block out Gaki’s feast.

“Enough,” he said. “We need to get to the park so I can fulfill my responsibility and free my children.”

Gaki snarled.

“Now!” Drew shouted. He walked towards the creature until Gaki stood to face him. “I let you have Brian. Finish what you must and get me to the park.”

“You are in no position to make demands.”

“I’ll do what I want,” replied Drew.

Gaki kicked at Brian’s leg, rattling the shackles. Drew looked at the pile of flesh that used to be his best friend and forced the bile from his throat.

“I am finished,” said Gaki.

Drew blinked. When his eyes opened he was back in the driver’s seat of Brian’s Jeep. He heard sirens but they sounded distant, moving in the opposite direction. He did not recognize the street they were on and saw no evidence of the reckless chase interrupted by Gaki’s morbid feast.

“Where are we?” he asked, looking in the rearview mirror into Gaki’s face. The swirling mixture of blood and feces masked the creature’s gray complexion. It’s thin, serpent tongue shot out to lick its lips. Drew heaved but managed to keep from vomiting.

“Other side of park. Hide the vehicle. We have only minutes before we are discovered.”

Drew slid the Jeep into gear and moved forward. The residential street wound through turn-of-the-century houses. Ornate ironwork bordered the front doors with high-peaked eaves. The street was void of pedestrians and other traffic.

“Where is everyone?” he asked. Gaki did not reply.