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That was bad enough, but running that second stop sign orse I wasn&039;t fiddling with the radio or distracted by anything I just didn&039;t see it, and I didn&039;t ren was invisible I had a vague sense that I ought to be slowing down somewhere around there, which hen I feltSo a little bit of ti to find the brake pedal, I did in fact stop I was a drunk ht to have turned on h not to turn on ht fro to re was under control I got out of the car and stu My worst fear, I swear it, was that I had hit a garbage can, n I saw her lying on the side of the road, her eyes open, blood pooling out of herin her breath, and her upper body twitched violently And then I saw the dae to her skull I saw blood and hair and exposed brain She raised one limp hand in my direction and parted her lips as if to speak I looked away

You never knoho they are until you are tested I&039;d always thought of , but it turned out I wasn&039;t that guy at all In thatwithout headlights, and this girl was going to die I could see her brain, and I could hear her death rattle Nothing I was going to do could save her, and that was a good thing too, because if I&039;d thought I could save her, I can&039;t say for sure I would have Even so, I ought to have called 911 - I had my cell phone on me - but if I had,at jail and disgrace Everything I was and wanted to be would have been done

All around s barked No one kneas there In an instant both clear and decisive, I got back into the car, turned around, drove past the girl I had broken, and ly, I could find no sign of dae on the car I was drunk as hell, and I knew it, which y eyes, everything looked good So with nothing else to think about, I went upstairs, got undressed,over and panicked, I went out and looked atNo blood, no scratches, no dents To be certain, I took an to relax

Thestory for about a day, but then there was that category 4 hurricane that started heading our way, and no one much cared about Maisie Harper any more The hurricane missed us, but it hit about two hundred h media attention to keep Maisie&039;s name, if not her body, pretty well buried

Of course, the cops kept working it, and the story h only small stories in the back At first they had no clue ould kill the twenty-one-year-old college student, hoht stroll because she could not sleep Then the police began to suspect it was her boyfriend They arrested hiuy would take the fall I cheered the cops on I didn&039;t bother to think that he hadn&039;t done it, that he was irl he possibly loved and very probably liked All I could think about was that if they nailed him, I could exhale But they didn&039;t nail hito see cop cars pulling up, waiting to cart me off in shame The cars never came They never suspected me, never came to talk to , and eventually the story blew over In the process, I learned a very i terrible and live with it, and when the going got tough, I could keep io in his office behind the stages

&039;You had good time, my friend?&039;

&039;I&039;d like to buy her,&039; I said

He laughed &039;You did have good time Ryan, he tells irl, yes? Maybe you should try some others before you are so sure&039;

&039;I don&039;t want to try others I like that one How ood custoirl She does not always listen She becomes maybe a problem for you, and I do not want that you coirl You maybe tell me you want your money back&039;

&039;It won&039;t happen,&039; I said &039;No returns I understand the rules going in&039;

He shrugged &039;So long as you understand Let ive them whatever name ant This one come, she tell us her name Would not listen to any other na et her out of circulation She kneho she was She kneho I was I didn&039;t know if a reani, but I didn&039;t want to find out

&039;I want to buy her,&039; I said

&039;Okay, my friend You are very deterht thousand dollars I hope you know, this is cash, and all up front But it includes lifetiood price An econo Three would cost at least fifteen thousand dollars Even so, I did not knoas going to get that kind of s, no iven tiet you the money,&039; I said &039;Soon Don&039;t sell her to anyone else until I do&039;

&039;Who aio asked

I blundered my way back tothere until he started to punch my arm and ask uy now, a regular named Charlie - older and almost entirely bald but for a strip of white hair and a very white goatee He ell dressed and spoke very deliberately He spoke like a rich man

&039;This is Walter,&039; Ryan told Charlie &039;He and Maisie have that thing&039;

I was not about to ask what he uys

We sat around and talked and drank, and then finally, Charlie turned to ht Ryan knows about it, but I think it&039;s ti a hobbyist like you shouldn&039;tto Tori where I was going without her She was about fiveas she was going to get, but still new enough to being big to be sensitive about it You try telling your pregnant wife not to get all worked up about it You try telling her that she desperately wanted to be pregnant, and now she was pregnant, sowith a touchy pregnant wootiating with North Korea see about the way Ryan and Charlie spoke that told me that if I skipped the party, they wouldn&039;t quite trust me, wouldn&039;t quite consider ht already suspect about ive him any reason to worry aboutout, she said I was being secretive, she said I was one of those asshole husbands who cheats on his pregnant wife because she is now fat and ugly Of course I told her I had never touched another woman, but she didn&039;t believefor Charlie&039;s party with her shouts ringing inthe door

Charlie lived in a verdant old neighborhood, and his house was , probably five thousand square feet and gloriously appointed Ryan was there, and I recognized quite a few people from the Pine Box, but even so, it was hard at first to shake off the feeling that everyone was judging me for my creepy interests I drank too much beer too fast, but that s easy The beer was served by unmasked reanimates in tuxedos All of thean to put al reanione on for a couple of hours, and it see and eating, taking hors d&039;&339;uvres froan to think I was ht, we all went outside to the fenced- in, private yard The ed, full of an almost sexual expectation Everyone spoke in lohispers A couple ofto happen, but they wouldn&039;t tell me &039;Better to be surprised,&039; one said, and then his friend gave hi sheet of heavy plastic set out in the middle of the backyard, and Charlie ordered one of his reani lumbered onto the plastic and stopped Charlie told him to turn to face the crowd, and it did so It looked like it had died when it was in its forties or so It was a slightly heavyset white rey eyes

Charlie turned to his guests

&039;Hey, guys,&039; he said, &039;this is Johnny Boy&039;

&039;Hi, Johnny Boy!&039; the crowd shouted

&039;Johnny Boy has been a little slow to obey orders lately,&039; Charlie said &039;He&039;s not disobedient, but he&039;s getting a little old&039;

&039;A!&039; cried Charlie&039;s guests

&039;What do you think? Should we retire hiuests cheered

Charlie turned to the aniood as to re and an to re, it folded each piece of clothing, and it left them piled on the plastic sheet When it was done, it turned back to us, entirely naked Johnny Boy looked like it&039;d been killed in some sort of accident: its torso was all messed up, not exactly scarred, but exposed and purpled in places Its belly was distended, its flesh swollen, its penis and testicles so shriveled as to be aluests raised their drinks and toasted it

&039;Johnny Boy,&039; Charlie cried, &039;be so good as to hold out your arms&039;

Johnny Boy held out its arms

Now another reanimate arrived hat looked like an old stained butcher&039;s apron, which he handed to Charlie After putting it on, Charlie lifted an axe he&039;d clearly had nearby, though I had not seen it until thisthe axe &039;You boys ready to send Johnny Boy off in style?&039;

The guests made it known that they were ready I took a step back I understood noas happening, the weird grotesqueness of it all What did it mean? Was it a crime? Was it even cruel? I didn&039;t know, but I didn&039;t want to know, I didn&039;t want to see Yet I kneould be a uys feel like I thought I was better than they were - which I did, by the way I stood there anda ht the axe up and then swung it down on one of Johnny Boy&039;s outstretched ar toa slow and steady flow of black, watery liquid Johnny Boy began to screas It barely uests cheered People hooted and clapped and drank to its suffering

&039;My brakes!&039; Johnny Boy cried out &039;Oh,truck!&039;

The crowd cheered again

Charlie handed the axe to Ryan, and he cut off the other arm in a quick, clean stroke Johnny Boy still screa head-on collision with the truck Its stumps continued to produce their black blood, like a kitchen faucet left running just a little Then the axe was handed to another friend, and he cut off one leg The body tu It see now, but the past, its death, was vivid and real and i nauseated and horrified while the last leg was cut off and the crowd gathered around to laugh and point and cheer on the dismembered torso I could not have held my breath all that time, but if anyone had asked, I would have sworn I didn&039;t breathe between the ti up the reanimate until the time they finally put the pieces on the fire and burned thean to clear out after that, but it was still too early and I was too shaken to go hoot there, so I wouldn&039;t have to deal with her I went to a bar and drank too h I now drove a car with headlights that went on auto hoht I was safe, but when I walked through the door, she aiting foron, Walter?&039;

&039;I don&039;t knohat youout with some friends Christ, you are the only wife in America that doesn&039;t want to let her husband out of the house once in a while&039;

&039;You got a call while you were out,&039; she said

&039;A call! Oh,call! No wonder you are so upset&039; I stumbled past her

&039;I don&039;t knoho it was It was a wo I think she was saying your name, but I couldn&039;t understand the rest&039;

&039;Jesus Christ, Tori,&039; I shouted &039;A wrong nu number? Have you lost your mind?&039;

I stormed upstairs, and she didn&039;t follow After fifteen or twentyto sleep on the couch Just as well It gaveto do with Maisie, as now calling ht after sex or while stabbing herself or soht have seen her do it This soht not have understood this time, but what about the next time or the one after?

Two days later I went to the Pine Box and paid for Maisie I brought her over to the apart was fine for about two months Then it fell apart

After the incident with the flowers, I decided I needed to visit ularly The next time I went over, she had newer flowers, and on the oldfish boith two fish There was a little tube of fish food next to it Maisie herself was still and lifeless, as she usually hen I walked in

&039;Maisie,&039; I said, &039;do you want soet you that will make you happy?&039;

She didn&039;t answer

&039;I like your fish,&039; I tried

Nothing

&039;Maisie, I order you not to leave this apart else, but I knew that deep down she was laughing atat me, and she meant to fuck up my life any way she could Christ, the flowers, the fish - she was toying withme She could ruin me any damn time she wanted to, but she wanted to draw it out She wanted revenge

The next day at as a nightue froot out I drove over to Maisie&039;s apart new happened Maisie seean to think thatMaybe it was a bad patch and now everything had blown over

Then, on Tuesday, everything changed

I was halfway through another crappy day when the receptionist rang &039;Uet out here There is someone here for you&039;

&039;Who is it?&039;

&039;Christ, Walter, just get out here&039;

I went to the reception area, and there was Maisie, uniform on, mask off, her hair and eyes wild She stood in front of the receptionist&039;s desk, one pallass She brought the glass down into her palency creatives, and a guy fro

&039;Ahh,&039; she cried &039;Walter Walter Molson Walter Molson&039;

Now here was Xander, my boss

&039;What the hell is this, Walter?&039;

&039;I don&039;t know,&039; I said &039;I don&039;t know&039;

&039;Get that thing out of here,&039; he said &039;I don&039;t knohat you&039;re into, but take your perverted, illegal shit soet her into the elevator - empty, thank God - and into my car I shoved her in the back and drove her to her apartment I put her in the bedrooe the locks to the kind that had to be opened with a key even froe the locks on these doors, but I didn&039;t give aet rid of Maisie, and I knew just how to do it

Once the locks were taken care of, I called Ryan to get the number, and then I called Charlie

&039;Hey,&039; I said to him &039;How often do you have those little parties?&039;

I could hear cloth scraping as he shrugged against the phone &039;Two or three ti is,&039; I said, &039;I have a unit-&039; I didn&039;t want to talk about reani &039;I need to get rid of it&039;

&039;Maisie, huh?&039; I could practically hear the grin in his voice &039;I wondered if things weren&039;t going to come to this Noe don&039;t need a full-blown party to have a good tiher over Saturday night; we&039;ll fix things up for you&039;

I didn&039;t go into work for the rest of the week I didn&039;t call the office, and the office didn&039;t call ht I went out, and Tori didn&039;t bother to argue Things had never been the saht we&039;d had after Charlie&039;s last party They would get better, I knew Things would i would be patched up very, very soon

I picked up Maisie and brought her to Charlie&039;s house I was expecting just a half dozen guys or less, but there were twenty- five or thirty people there - alht Maisie out of the car and led her inside

&039;Christ,&039; said Charlie &039;You sure you want to get rid of it? It&039;s pretty sweet&039;

&039;Trust one haywire You don&039;t want it&039;

That was good enough for hi roo bucket in the kitchen A couple of the guys, including Ryan, said they wanted to taste her before the end, and I kneould be ungracious to refuse I just nodded and let theuys in all ith her I orried she would speak, but these were not exactly the sort of people who go to the police with their suspicions

It was ht her outside to stand on the plastic sheeting She was still naked froed her so that she was facing the crowd I knew this was soht about it I mean, it didn&039;tlong before I stumbled into that club, and she&039;d been subjected to far s I&039;d subjected her to thenityon soical batteries? But I knew that she wasn&039;t as oblivious as we&039;d always thought they were I knew that it would be an indignity, that whatever Maisie was now, I thought she deserved to end this miserable existence hatever measure of respect I could provide

Unfortunately, I couldn&039;t provide any I needed her destroyed, and I didn&039;t have the guts to do it uys to do ive them whatever they wanted, let them take their pleasure with her any way they chose, if only they would get rid of her for me Anyhow, I knew that Maisie had some kind of will of her own She could refuse if she wanted to I wished she would It would make me feel better, and it would demonstrate to the others why she needed to be destroyed

Charlie stepped forith the hatchet, and though Ione last look at Maisie as she stood naked in the night air She looked in lassy eyes did not ness In that moment, I felt justified It really just was soicallike it It was a mercy, really

Then Charlie handed me the axe &039;You first,&039; he said

I shook ain &039;No way, bucko You have to get this party started&039;

Well, fuck, I thought I was just standing on ceremony now I&039;d already killed her once There was no point in being squeamish I told her to hold out her arm, and she did She didn&039;t look at me, and there was no expression on her face Maybe she wants this, I thought Maybe she doesn&039;t want to be a reanimate any more I sucked inthe axe

It was like slicing butter The arone for the other ar, and that distracted me It wasn&039;t like a normal scream, like a human scream She opened herits jaws to s a rat Her eyes ide and wild There was a pause, only a beat, but it felt long and unnatural, and then she began to let out a long, loud, unnatural screauish

With Johnny Boy, the guests had loved the shrieking, but there was so conscious, and we all knew it Everyone remained still in aout of his daze, Charlie took the axe froh he recognized that Maisie was not a plaything but an abo that had to be destroyed before he was forced to consider what she hat she meant by her mere existence

The second ar at it as it hung by her side, slicing through just above the elbow and slashing deep into her body

Maisie screa It was a clean cut, and her torso tu blood in a sickening, black ooze Still she screa

It was er I ran to h the door like a man possessed I found lass and drank it down Only when I was done gagging on its burn did I realize Tori ake and on the couch She&039;d barely noticedin front of the TV, and she was talking to me

&039;I can&039;t believe how sick so &039;I&039;ve never heard of anything like it&039;

And there it was on the TV The local news anchor was talking, and the words Reporting Live flashed over and over again I saw Charlie&039;s house in the distance behind the reporter, who spoke about shocking scenes of carnage, a twisted sex cult devoted to the rape and ust as he spoke In the picture I could see police cars, their lights flashing, and a figure too di pushed into the back of one

Would they mention uys, not really They ell and truly fucked, and so maybe they didn&039;t have any reason to betray anyone else Charlie owned the house, and he would see fish to the cops Maybe they wouldn&039;t ask too usted by the scene before her She glanced at me, and as saddened as she was by this spectacle of hu passed between us, some sort of unspoken code, communicated only with our eyes It said that ere a team, ere alike People like this were practically of a different species, and they had nothing to do with us

Maybe I should have confessed everything then Maybe I should have couys Not really I was drawn in by circumstance A terrible accident, a split-second decision to do the wrong thing, and then the terrible fallout But I wasn&039;t one of thosesex with reaniht it was sick, beyond sick So maybe Tori would understand if I controlled the story

I said nothing, though, because I held on to the belief that there would be no story to control Maybe the guys at the party would keep their mouths shut and this horrible chapter of my life would finally be closed In fact, one, and the people who knew about one It was perfect

I went to bed with Tori and, enflahteousness, sheto violate her pregnant body I felt like a polluter Afterward, however, I was glad we&039;d done it One last, sweet , I was sure it wasIt was, but doom rarely takes the shape we most fear

&039;Mr Molson,&039; said a voice on the other end in tones of practised official blandness &039;This is Detective Mike Gutierrez I need you to come speak to us, today if you can&039;

My heart pounded so hard I feared it would burst, butIf they wanted to arrestwhat?&039; I asked

&039;Well, it&039;s an unusual matter I suppose you saw on the TV about the raid on the reani about that, yes,&039; I said

&039;Well, in addition to the arrests, we confiscated the, u was all hacked to bits, but the torso and head were still there And the thing is, the head is still talking You see, the da is still alive - or ani a na your name, and you are the only person with that name in this city&039;

I tried to sound casual &039;How odd What is it saying?&039;

&039;I think it&039;s best to discuss that in person Can you come in today at, say, noon?&039;

I nodded, but then realizing that he could not hearup the phone and sat very, very still

This was it, then They hadforme to come to them, but it was only a matter of time Maisie&039;s dismembered body would very likely never testify in a court of law, but the cops would come after me if they could, and at the very least, Tori would leave me and I would be ruined with lawyers&039; fees I would become an object of scandal and horror That was the best-case scenario The worst - jail, where everyone inside would knohat I had done I would be one of those perverts ould be found inable torment

I could not face any of that I was ruined, but I did not have to live with the ruin And why should I? We all knew the soul left the body at death I&039;d seen a hundredsouls Unlike some cynical people, I didn&039;t think the soul departed only to fade into nothingness This life was just one part of the journey, and it was tiet a un and could not have used it if I had I did not have the courage or the strength to cut my wrists Instead, I went back to that bottle of bourbon, and I collected sootten but not really used after she&039;d broken her wrist last year I drank all the whiskey and sed all the pills I looked for more pills I found sos to throw into the , but it seeht to be pretty lethal

It was I was probably dead within an hour, though ti out did it occur to otten how I&039;d raised the money to pay for Maisie in the first place The offices of General Reanin the contract, and that seeood short-term solution I would buy it back eventually I didn&039;t see any reason why I couldn&039;t I had plenty of tih onof nothing else, I was thinking only of escape Sootten

I suppose a pill overdose ood deal for General Reanimates No cosmetic work to be done Not that it muchpeople at all these days I&039;y project, setting out solar panels At least I a myself useful

I cannot speak I cannot will myself even to move, only to follow orders My h I do not feel entirely like one, and maybe it is because I a, don&039;t re asleep and then waking up in the General Reanier of ine how Maisie did it

There is nothing for me to do but endure my lot and think It is hot here, and I feel it We are not insensible Our uniforms don&039;t breathe, and we cannot sweat I am miserable and I itch, and every ether, rubbing, chipping, grinding down I work twenty-four hours a day There is no rest and no end I can do nothing but what I am told, and I have no escape but my memories I have told my story to myself I don&039;t kno many hundreds of times I pretend there is an audience, but there is none, and there never will be Someday, I hope, I ear out, but for all I know, this tor, will last a hundred years A thousand

Soh, if only a little Maybe it was anger or the sense of being wronged Maybe if , I could find the will, but I doubt it I have tried I don&039;t think anyone could try ht next to , too, but he cannot tell me about it I think it was just that Maisie was exceptional Maybe in life, certainly in death She was, and the rest of us are not, and that is what Ihorizon