by Jim Ody
Now he was the monster that the parents staying at the camp feared. The lesson told in harsh terms, and a strong voice to children staying by the lake. There was even a rhyme that consisted of the lines:
Don’t go missing, you’ll come to harm,
From Daniel Ishing who’ll cut off your arms!
But that was then, and this was now.
Keith looked up and saw the girls from earlier. The one who had wanted the towel and had promised him a dance. He smiled at them.
“Hey,” he said when they didn’t acknowledge him. “You want a drink?”
Their smiles were forced, and they glanced at each other with a mix of surprise.
Maybe they couldn’t believe their luck! Keith thought.
“Sure,” the taller of the two said. “Our friends will be here later.”
“Thanks,” the towel-girl from earlier added.
Keith clicked his fingers. His arm erect in an exaggerated jester. The girls smiled at that. The girl behind the bar nodded as the girls shouted their orders. Her look then lingered on Keith a bit too long afterwards. She didn’t seem best pleased with him flirting with the girls. She must be jealous, he concluded. It was a shame, the bargirl was okay to look at, but there was something off with her features. Her nose was hooked, and her cheeks looked chubby. Then when he’d glanced at her getting the drinks, he noticed that despite her slender top half, she had these huge saddlebag thighs and an arse that was massive. She was no Kardashian that’s for sure.
“You, like, run this place?” the tall one said, grabbing the drink.
“Own it, actually,” Keith corrected. “I’m Keith.”
“Cool,” Towel-girl added but it seemed more by way of something to say. “I’m Courtney, and this is Tish.” Tish wiggled her fingers in a wave.
“Hey,” Keith then said, clicking his fingers like he’d just thought of the greatest thing. “How about I show you some of the places no one else gets to see?”
The girls exchanged glances.
“I dunno,” Courtney said. “Our friends will be here soon.”
Tish nodded. Her perfect straight black hair remaining almost still. “They wanna dance and drink.”
Keith nodded. “Of course. Why don’t you have fun with them, and then later come on my tour. Just the two of you?” He winked.
Tish nodded again, and her smile was warm enough. “Sure, sounds great.”
Courtney looked at her like they couldn’t believe their luck. And then they noticed their friends.
“Okay, thanks for the drinks!” Courtney said.
“Yeah, see you later,” Tish grinned and then they were off. Their backs turned and they wiggled their butts at him as they met up with their friends.
“And off they go,” the bargirl said, and if Keith didn’t know better, he’d think she was being sarcastic.
“They’ll be back,” he nodded slowly and held up his empty glass to her.
“You want another, Romeo?” He winked and slid the glass along the counter. He then surveyed the room to see if any woman was looking at him.
They weren’t. They probably knew he was about to glance up, so had looked away so as not to get caught.
Tonight was going to be a good night.
A really good night.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 24 – Will
W ill tried not to laugh. Did the guy not realise what a dick he looked like? He was probably in his mid-twenties, but he looked like a geek, and he was trying to show off in front of the teenage girls. It was tragic, and creepy all at the same time.
The girls had looked awkward throughout but had got their free drinks and disappeared. He couldn’t blame them.
Now the guy was looking around the room like he was Bundy, searching out a victim. There was something about his eyes. They were bug-like. All beady and looking around in a reptilian fashion.
The meal had been wonderful, but now they’d had a couple of cocktails and were on to shots. They were acting like teenagers―and it was great!
Fiona pawed at him. She did that when she was drunk. They were an affectionate couple as it was, but the alcohol completely loosened her up.
“He’s a fuckin’ weirdo,” she said over gesturing over towards the guy again with a nod of her head.
“He’s looking at you. He wants to have mad sex with you,” Will teased.
“Urgh!”
“When you’re dead!”
She slapped his arm. “Shut up!” She grinned and knocked back another vodka.
“He’s probably got a wall with your pictures all over it!”
Fiona screwed up her face. “Maybe he likes the look of you,” she grinned.
“Doubt it. You saw him with those girls.”
Still holding the empty shot glass like it might magically refill again, she moved her hand with her finger pointing out towards him. “Nah, nah, nah, not necessarily! What if it’s a cover? He scans the room for hunky men, and then coerces them back to his cabin.”
“Nah, he hasn’t got a cabin, for a start. He’s got a large house, or as he calls it, his lair! It has a cellar full of chains… and…” his imagination was working overtime, and Fiona was lapping it all up. “There are bones all over the floor, and an old blind lady in the corner―”
“―What?” Fiona snorted. “Why’s there an old lady?”
“She’s a witch! She said if he brought thirteen girls down to her, then she would mix up their souls in order to make one perfect specimen!”
“Ooh yeah!” Fiona joined in. “She’d create the perfect woman, like some Frankenslut who would obey him and attend his every needs!”
“Every need?”
She winked. “Every!” They both laughed, and glanced over, but the guy had suddenly disappeared.
“He’s gone,” Will commented. “Already in hot pursuit of his next victim.”
Fiona shrugged. “Let’s get another drink.”
“One more,” he agreed. “Then we have to curb it, or else you’ll be in no condition to do anything when we get back!”
They order drinks, and Fiona whispered in his ear. “It’s unlikely. I have to just lie back… it’s you that needs to stop!”
He nodded and smiled, but the memory of the one time he’d had problems down there were still raw.
They grabbed the shot glasses and linked their arms before both knocking them back. Cash and drink, like Nicholas Cage, were gone in 60 seconds.
“I’m really having a good time,” Fiona said, being serious for a second.
“I am too. This was such a great idea.”
They stopped and for a second were lost in each other’s eyes.
And then from the speakers came Black Eyed Peas boasting how tonight was going to be a good night. And that was it. Fiona grabbed Will, and they joined a number of people who had also felt the music call out to them.
Will swung side to side to start with, a little self-conscious that people were watching him but also that suddenly he’d fallen into the basic dance steps of a dad. Fiona, however, was swinging her arms around and singing to every word.
Others joined them too. Groups of friends, and a few couples.
“To-night’s-the-night!” Fiona shouted bouncing up and down in the same way a group of girls next to her were. Fists pumping, head back and enjoying the beat.
The empty ghostly house awaiting them couldn’t have been further from their minds.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 25 – Marshall
H e was at a loose end. He was also burning with rage. The worst thing was he didn’t know where to channel it. He was angry at so many people.
He was mostly angry with himself.
This was the trouble with life. It wasn’t as predictable as people claimed. He knew all about how great historians talked about the future, then boringly intelligent men boasted about predicting the future. But it was all a sham.
You could give a vague guess of large predictions. A gener
alisation of the path that various things of our lives would point to. Technological and medical breakthroughs based upon current research, statistics and theories. There was an inevitability that life would continue to evolve for the better, whilst it was left to the environmentalists to worry about putting right all that we were doing wrong to the planet, and ultimately ourselves.
Okay, he got that. He’d sat through lectures upon lectures on it. The three hours of boredom where he’d tried to stay awake whilst a sixty-year-old bighead with a monotone voice and a two-decade out-of-date dress-sense gesticulated with a wicker cane. All he wanted to be doing was drinking cheap wine and having sex.
So back home, trying to relieve the boredom, he had all of these bright ideas. The sort that seem amazing after a line of coke, some weed and a couple of beers. But to predict how things would turn out was not a success. He’d missed the mark by a long shot.
In an ideal world where he was the star of an arty movie, he’d be the brooding teen. The quiet guy that snuck in to a scene, blended into the background for the most part, but suddenly exuded charisma when the time came. His well delivered lines would impress those around him. Guys would high five him and nod, whilst the girls fell over each other for a date. Then, into another scene, he’d get back at his dad. Uncover him as the cheating prick he was; but stride off with the pretty girl on his arm.
And what happened, Marshall? How did that play out for you, buddy? He questioned himself.
The girl and her friend thought he was a loser. His dad was a cheat, but his whore was gorgeous, and where did that leave him? Walking towards a lake he wanted to drown himself in. But even that, he had to accept, was actually hard to do, and so another thing he’d messed up.
Even with stones in your pockets and stinking drunk, the body has a way of not wanting to die, even if the person inside thinks they do.
He sat on the bench next to the jetty. Out of his pocket he slipped a small silver flask. At first, he just turned it over in his hands. A-should I?-shouldn’t I?-moment.
He looked around. There was a sprinkling of people but they weren’t even close enough to be clearly seen. They would definitely not recognise him.
He wanted someone to come running to him. Tell him how much they wanted him. He wanted a father who would take him down the pub, not run off to have sex with gorgeous women.
He pulled out his phone, clicked the call button, and his finger hovered over the number to his mum. He was about to hit it when reality kicked in. What was he doing? He was sitting alone feeling sorry for himself, and his answer? The big manly thing that would have the audience thinking of him as a hero?
Phone his mum. He was pathetic.
The lump in his throat slipped away and was replaced by anger. All of it was channelled towards his dad.
With gritted teeth, he thrust the bottle back into his pocket, got up and stormed off.
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 26 – Jenny
T hey stood looking at the empty glasses on the table where their friend was. One glass was laid on it’s side and another was smashed on the floor.
“Shit, where is she, Nat?” Jenny was panicking already.
Nat tried her best to look calm, but Jenny could tell she was worried too. “Check your phone,” she said, already clutching her own and swiping at the screen.
Jenny shook her head, as she saw no calls or messages. “Nothing.”
“What cabin were they in?” Nat said.
“I can’t remember.”
Suddenly they were stood still, back to back and staring out at all angles. It seemed almost worse that nobody else realised.
Nat grabbed Jenny’s hand. “Let’s check inside first, yeah?”
Jenny nodded, and they walked at a fast pace towards the inside of the bar.
Inside was a sea of people mingling near the bar, or sitting around tables. Then, as if to mock them, The Black Eyed Peas started and more people joined the dancefloor.
“There they are!” Nat suddenly squealed, and Jenny was overcome with relief as she saw her friend and the boys. Nat was suddenly pushing past people to get to them. Jenny thought it weird that she was happy to leave Adam before, and now she was hugging him like they were long-term lovers who’d been parted for weeks.
“There you are!” Meg grinned as she jiggled to the music. She looked like she’d had a couple more drinks since they’d been gone.
“Here we are!” Nat said and winked to Jenny. Jenny did her best to smile but inside she was still full of disappointment. She knew fantasies were just that, but for some reason she thought this might be different. She felt she was ready to be intimate with someone and had thought he looked kind and gentle. Then to find out it was Marshall just made it worse. He was the one who she’d said those things to! The intimate details. The picture of her in her bra. She was glad she’d refused to show anything else!
“What’s up with Jenny-Wren?” Meg shouted louder than she needed to. The alcohol monster had taken her over.
“She’s fine,” Nat quickly said. “She wasn’t feeling too good so we popped back to the cabin.”
“You seen Loverboy?” Meg said to Jenny directly. Again, in a very loud voice.
“I’m not interested in him,” Jenny said and quickly changed the subject.
The music changed to Beyonce, and suddenly everyone was shaking their bodies like they were having some medical episode. Max was bent over twerking, as Brett stood behind pretending to spank him.
“Aren’t they hilarious!” Meg laughed, but when she turned Nat and Adam were joined by their tongues. Jenny tried to dance on her own, her head down so as her hair hung and she could no longer see the competition going on to see who could be more embarrassing.
She then looked up and saw the weird guy from the reception booth. He spotted her and waved.
Jenny couldn’t believe she could feel even more embarrassed.
The guy was now pretending to lasso her! Then, like some poor-man’s mime, he began to pretend he was pulling on the rope as he got nearer.
Seriously, this can’t be happening, she thought.
“Howdy, partner!” he said as he got close. He was now taking the whole cowboy scenario a little too far.
“Hi,” she replied through politeness. Inside she sighed. Meg would tell the guy to go and get lost, but she could never do that. She knew she was too polite.
“I’m Keith,” he said proudly. “This here rodeo is mine!” he also spoke loudly, and in an accent that mixed up a handful of US states. He clearly assumed all American accents sounded the same, but ultimately finished with a southern twang, even if they came from New York and passed over to California first.
“Okay. Er, well done.” Jenny looked around at her friends for help. Nat and Adam had stopped kissing but were embraced; Meg was showing Brett and Max how to twerk properly, and they were looking at her like she was the last woman on earth.
Keith wasn’t getting the hint. In fact, somehow in his mind she assumed he saw the fact that she’d not run off as proof she may be interested.
“Yep, I have access to areas nobody else gets to see!”
“Really.” Jenny looked around again. A couple in their thirties were having a great time together. That’s exactly what she wanted when she was their age, to be married and still deeply in love.
“Want me to show you?”
“Huh?” Keith was still talking. She wished he’d just get the hint and get lost. There were so many other people he could be harassing, and it was just her luck he’d chosen her.
“The places no one else sees? You’d be amazed at what’s hidden away, out of site!”
“Um, I need the loo,” she said, and leaving him standing there walked away.
She quickened her pace and pushed past a couple of people. She received a couple of frowns but she suddenly didn’t care.
She pushed the door open, walked in and marched to the furthest cubicle. Closing the door behind her, she locked it, pulle
d the toilet lid down, sat on it and buried her head in her hands. She stifled the sobs as best she could but it was all too much.
I guess this was growing up, she thought.
Surely things would get better from here?
Little Miss Evil
Chapter 27 – Marshall
H e wasn’t thinking straight. It was like an animal inside of him had taken over him. It was dormant most of the time; sleeping and subdued. Marshall was just the host to the evil beast within.
Sometimes he couldn’t control it. And that was the problem.
The reason why his ex-girlfriend was no longer here. Alive.
They had been an item for a few months. It was still new but Marshall was completely head-over-heels in love with her. He was a rom-com sap, enjoying the soppiness of teen romance, and so almost unrecognisable when looking in the mirror.
He glowed. And smiled. In fact, even if outwardly he wasn’t showing off his pearly-whites, inside he felt like a giggling girl. Love chemicals diluted the melancholy he’d grown up with and his whole inner-chemical make up changed. He distanced himself from his dark buddy and his metal music. He was now listening to ballads and thinking of weddings. He’d turned into a girl.
But the movie came to an end. Or at least it came to that middle-section. The injection of drama that disrupts the smooth road to romance. His nemesis’s name was Felix. A tall guy born in England, but with German parents. He was an older student who dressed like he was from the Gestapo. Marshall had taken an instant dislike to him. Well, in truth, he was non-committal until he saw his ex-leaving his dorm a little after 3am.
Marshall had been caught in two minds. A conundrum of where to lay blame. Felix was a dark and mysterious guy, but was he to blame? Marshall was unsure. Perhaps deep down, the long leather trench coat, coupled with the constant smoke of cigarettes, scared him. Marshall was quick to point the finger of blame directly at the hands of Mary. His girlfriend.
She had appeared with hair that had felt the fingers of another man running through it. Lips that were sore from kissing lips that were not his own. Her clothes were creased and quickly righted. But worse than all of that was the small playful smile upon her face. She was happy with her whoring ways. A debauched night that wasn’t about commerce, but a joyful event. One she was remembering fondly.
