by Tim Miller
“Once or twice. She doesn’t want to. She’s about to quit it all together. Told me she’d rather die than go through that again.”
“Fuck. How’s the cancer?”
“Won’t know until after the last round. I’m afraid it may have moved into her liver already.”
Maria reached across and took her hand.
“It hasn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I’m just trying to be positive, bitch!”
Sable cracked a smile as Maria laughed and stood.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. Maybe you need a real job. Playing with perverts all day and then dead people all night has to be affecting your mood.”
“I’m sure it is.”
“Why don’t you come to the group tonight? They’re all excited to meet you.”
“You told them about me?”
“Fuck yeah, I did!”
“God! Why? I told you what I do, people I work with. You gotta keep a lid on that shit.”
“Sable, it’s a group of witches. Trust me, they aren’t saying shit to anyone. They’re fascinated. Just come meet them. Please? You don’t even have to stay.”
Sable rolled her eyes as she thought about it.
“Fine. Can I stop and see mom first? Then you can come pick me up.”
“Hey! That’d be perfect!”
Maria dropped Sable off at her mom's and left to get ready. Sable walked into the tiny house. The nurse’s aide was putting something in the trash as Sable stepped inside.
“Hey, Sable!”
“Hey, Clara. How is she?”
“She’s good. Really tired. I just got her cleaned up and was going to head out for the day.”
“That’s fine. Thank you.”
Clara cleaned up for a bit and then headed out. Sable had hired her not long after her mom grew weak. Insurance didn’t cover a home health nurse, so Sable paid it out of pocket. It was expensive but she didn’t mind it. She had just picked up a few big shot clients, and they alone helped cover most of it. Her second job paid more per gig but was much spottier in demand. She didn’t mind. She had plenty of money socked away. Even though she lived within modest means, she was planning ahead for a better life one day.
She walked into the back room, and there was her mom lying in bed. Even though it was her own room, the place smelled like a hospital. Freshly cleaned and sanitized with a barf bucket next to her mother’s bed.
“Hey, mom. I just got off work.”
“Hey Sable, so happy to see you. How was the restaurant? You get a lot of good tips?” Her mom asked. She’d told her she was waiting tables. Not the best job in the world for a thirty-five-year-old but better than her mom knowing her current jobs.
“Yeah, I did. Got some really good ones. Made good money.”
“That’s so good.” She stopped to cough. Her mom was sixty-two years old but looked almost eighty. Cancer and its treatments had really taken their toll on her. The nurse often had to give her protein shakes just so she’d have some kind of nutrition.
Sable sat down next to her and held her hand.
“Thanks, mom. How are you feeling? Any better today?”
“A little bit. Still really weak. Clara helped me to the bathroom today, and I made it. So that’s a good start I guess.”
“That’s great!”
“I’m just dreading going back next time. Please don’t make me go.”
“Mom. We talked about this. This is your best chance to beat it.”
“What if I don’t want to beat it? I’m tired, and this is kicking my ass. Hell, even if I do beat it, what good am I?”
“Come on, mom, don’t say that.”
“Well? I’ll be so frail. The doctor said my bones might be even more brittle when it’s all over. I won’t even be seventy and already getting broken hips and God knows what else.”
“You’re just tired. I don’t blame you.”
“You’re right. How’s Maria? Is she going to come and visit?”
“I keep telling her to. We’re going out tonight. She wants me to meet some friends of hers.”
“Friends? Oh, that’s nice. I always told you that you need to get out more.”
“Yes. I know. I’m trying.”
“Maybe you’ll find a nice man. I get worried about you being alone all the time. No telling what kind of sick perverts are out there.”
Oh, mom, you have no idea.
“I know. I’ll be careful. Maybe I’ll meet someone tonight.”
“Well make sure you bring your new friends to visit!”
“I’ll try, mom.”
Her mom’s eyes fluttered as she tried to say something else.
“It’s ok, why don’t you get some sleep.”
“That sounds good.”
“I’ll tuck you in. Carla will be back in a few hours to check on you.”
Her mom rolled to her side as Sable pulled the covers up over her and got her tucked in. She kissed her on the forehead before heading out. She called Maria who said she’d be by in ten minutes. Sable stood outside waiting and looked down at her jeans and hoodie. She hoped this wasn’t a formal event, whatever it was. After a few minutes, Maria pulled up and rolled down the window. She had on something black and low cut. Like really low cut. She could swear her friend was having a nip slip.
“What are you wearing?” Sable asked.
“Oh, you’re so innocent now? Get in, bitch! We’re gonna do some magic!”
Chapter 4
They arrived at the house twenty minutes later. It was on the north side of San Antonio in a gated community. They drove through the gate after Maria checked them in. They called ahead to the house where they got the ok. Maria pulled around to the end of a cul de sac where another gated home waited. She pulled up and pushed the intercom.
“It’s Maria, plus one!” she said, and the gate slid open. They pulled inside and up a winding drive. Sable wondered what kind of place this was. Maria told her it was a coven of witches. Were they rich witches? She wasn’t even sure how a coven worked. Since discovering her own gift, she’d never bothered to join any coven. Then again, she hated most people. Other than Maria and her mom, she really had no one else. Maria parked in the huge driveway where ten other cars were parked. Sable looked around and nudged Maria.
“Fuck, this many cars outside one house in my neighborhood and the cops would think it was a crack house,” Sable said.
“Funny. Try to be nice, please?”
“Hey, you dragged me here so I can watch them do card tricks and play with a Ouija board.”
“See? Try to have an open mind! I mean, Jesus, you shove dildos up guys’ asses and then go rifle through dead people’s guts.”
“Yeah, but they all pay me really well.”
“Whatever, bitch. Try to fit in. At least you dressed up.”
“Fuck you.”
They reached the door and rang the doorbell. The door swung open and a tall white haired man stood there. He was wearing a black turtleneck and a big smile.
“Maria! So glad to see you! How are you, love?”
“I’m fine. This is my friend Sable I told you about.”
“Well hello!” he reached out, took her hand, and shook it gently. “Sable is such a beautiful name. I’m Eugene.”
“Thanks, I guess,” she said.
“Please, come on in. The others are waiting.”
They walked in and looked around. In the living room, there was a large carpet shaped like a pentagram with six or seven others sitting around in a circle. Sable looked at them, then at Eugene.
“So you guys like a cult or something?”
“Coven! Sable. Fuck!” Maria said. “I’m sorry. She can be a bit crass at times.”
“I’m not crass. I just don’t get it.”
“It’s fine. You’re our special guest today.”
“Does that mean you’re going to sacrifice me?”
“Oh no!” Eugene laughed. “You’re such a funny lady. No. No. We
would just like to get to know you and learn about your special gift.”
She sat down with them in the circle. It was about half and half guys to girls. The guys all wore black turtlenecks and the girls their skimpy open dresses with their tits almost falling out, pretty much like Maria’s. Then there was Sable in her hoodie. She looked around as everyone sat smiling at her.
“So Sable, this gift of yours. What can you tell us about it?”
She’d had no idea she’d be put on the spot like that right out of the gate. She looked at Maria who shrugged.
“Can you really talk to dead people?” one girl asked.
“And how do you do that? Isn’t that like black magic? Isn’t that forbidden? I mean are you like an evil witch?”
“Hang on a second. I’m not a fucking witch for one. I know Maria is, and I don’t question it or whatever. But this is something I can just do. Not something I learned.”
“No one taught you?”
“No! I just kind of figured it out.”
“How? How does it work?”
“You really want to know? It’s gross as fuck.”
“Yes. We’d love to know.”
“Ok. Fine. It’s pretty simple. I cut open a dead body. As long as their intestines are still intact, I just pull them out and start squeezing them. Something about when I touch them wakes them up.”
“Are you fucking serious?” One guy asked.
“Yes. I’m fucking serious. You all asked me.”
“No one means any offense, Sable,” Eugene said. “Please continue.”
“Well, then they wake up and stay awake as long as I’m holding their intestines. I can talk to them, they can talk to me. If I need information from them…”
“Like what kind of information?”
“Like any kind. I don’t know. Why the fuck else would I be playing with a dead guy’s guts? Anyway, I can make them tell me what I need to know by squeezing, pulling, and so forth, on their guts. It hurts them like a lot. They hate it. If I rip their intestine apart, they go back to death but it sends them straight to hell.”
“Really?” another asked. “How do you know?”
“Well, I don’t really. One of them told me that. He called me a Necromancer and said I had the power to send him to hell and begged me not to rip his intestines out.”
“So, did you?”
“Well, yeah. I wanted to see if he was lying. He died and I couldn’t wake him back up. So if that part was true, I guess he’s in hell too.”
She looked around and saw everyone was visibly horrified.
“What?”
“Jesus Christ, Sable,” Maria said as she leaned over.
“They’re like good witches,” she whispered. “You just described doing some dark ass shit. You’re freaking them the fuck out.”
Even Eugene appeared to be at a loss.
“Hey, I don’t even know if there really is a hell. Some of them talk about crossing over. They all see a bright light and all that. Though one guy who died after getting shot by police while shooting up a convenience store said he felt hot flames around him before I woke him up.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I ripped his fucking guts right out.”
“Umm…” one of them began. “Just how many times have you done this, and where do you get the dead bodies? Do police have you talk to murder victims to solve crimes?”
“That sounds like a TV show.”
“Wasn’t Medium like that?” one girl said.
“I think so, but she didn’t play with their guts.”
“How about the Ghost Whisperer? I used to love that show.”
“Guys, please!” Eugene interrupted. “Sable, how did you discover this gift? You said you just had it.”
“It was kind of by accident. Me and Maria were on a trip a few years ago. Was ten years ago maybe, and we got in a bad wreck. Another car went to pass on a solid yellow line and hit us head on.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Not real bad. More shaken up. Maria had some bruises. We were driving her dad’s Yukon, so even though it was head on, the front of the car was bashed up, but we weren’t hurt badly. Just banged up. So I get out and see the driver of the other car got thrown and bounced off the road. His car was totally demolished. He’s lying in the middle of the road almost a hundred feet away.”
“I walked up and touched the guy to see if he was ok. Blood was all over. I mean everywhere. I was sure he was dead, but I rolled him over and his stomach was all torn up. I thought, what if he’s still alive? So I put my hand on his stomach to do direct pressure, but his guts were partway hanging out. I was just trying to stop or slow the bleeding.”
“As soon as I touched him, his eyes shot open and he gasped. He asked me who I was. I told him my name then he freaked out. Said he was about to move toward the light but I stopped him. Why did I stop him? He kept asking. I was like, I’m just trying to stop you from bleeding to death and he said ‘I already am dead’. I took my hands off him and he went back out. Maria was standing behind me and saw the whole thing. I touched him again just out of curiosity and he woke up again, but this time I took my hand off for good.”
She looked around, and this time, everyone was leaning forward listening.
“That is really amazing,” Eugene said.
“I guess. Scared the hell out of me at first.”
“So do you help people talk to their loved ones who have passed? To give them closure or speak to a lost family member?” one girl asked.
Sable was somewhat surprised at her question. It actually seemed like something a normal person would do. Yet, for some reason, helping people in such away had never occurred to her. She’d immediately found ways to profit from it and continued to do so. Part of it was out of fear. If word got out about what she could do, there was no telling who or what she’d attract. Charging her exorbitant fee, she insisted on complete discretion from her employers.
“No. I guess not. Nothing that noble.”
“Then what do you use it for? For what purpose?”
“What purpose? Survival.”
Chapter 5
Santiago walked around the warehouse and looked at one of his men, Gustavo. Gustavo acted as his right-hand man and enforcer, when needed. Which was rather often.
“Who the fuck did this?”
The goon looked around and up at his boss.
“I don’t know, sir,” the man said.
He knelt down next to Spider’s body and looked him up and down. Spider’s head was lying next to the body but there was little blood.
“Look at this shit. Bleeding out his ears, eyes, and nose. No wounds. No gunshot. No stab wounds. Nothing.”
“Well, they cut his head off,” Gustavo said.
“Yeah. After he was dead. It would be a lot messier otherwise. What the fuck kind of sick animal did this shit?
He rolled Spider’s head around examining it.
“Jesus Christ. Not even a fucking head wound. And what did they use to cut off his head? A butter knife? Jesus. Sloppy as fuck.”
“You think it was poison?” the other man said. “Like someone slipped them something, or poison gas maybe?”
“It’s possible. Bag them up and bring the van. I’ll call Sable.”
“Sir, you think that is a good idea?” Gustavo asked.
“Of course it’s a good fucking idea. Spider came here to drop off a bunch of dope. He and my guys are all dead and my fucking dope is gone. I’m not going to try to explain to the bosses that their merchandise was stolen. That reflects on me! So yes. Send a car to pick up Sable and make her get her fucking ass to the safe house.”
“Yes, sir,” he said as he stepped over the bodies and took out his phone. After a few minutes, Gustavo returned and nodded to Santiago. “Car is on the way.”
“Did you talk to Sable?”
“I left a message. It went straight to voice mail.”
“Fuck. That bitch better be home.”
>
“Not like she knew you’d need her tonight,” Gustavo said. Santiago glared at him and shook his head.
“Yeah, I know. You know who Spider was meeting tonight?”
“That pawn shop guy, I think.”
“Fuck. You’re right. Let’s stop by there.”
They got in the car and headed to Pick N’ Pawn. It was a nasty name but Henry J. Thomas was a nasty person. The guy had used the money from his mom’s life insurance to open his shop. That in itself wasn’t a terrible thing. The terrible part was the fact that Henry often withheld his mom’s heart medications until she finally keeled over. He collected the insurance and was off and running. They pulled out and walked up to the front door. The clerk was already pulling the gate closed, as it was getting late. Gustavo ran up and yelled at the man.
“Hey! You’re not closing up just yet,” he said.
“But I gotta close up.”
Gustavo lifted his shirt enough the man could see his gun.
“You’re staying open a bit longer.”
Santiago walked up and the man stepped aside, letting them both in. They walked in and looked around at the various junk hanging around the store. Hubcaps, stereo equipment, there was a cabinet of guns and a whole case filled with cheap jewelry. Santiago looked around and at the employee.
“Where’s your boss?”
“He’s in the back office.”
The two men walked behind the counter and into the office. Just as they pushed the door open another door slammed just behind them. Gustavo ran toward the door to see someone had just run out the fire exit. He ran outside to see Henry climbing into his car and peeling out. Gustavo lifted his gun to fire, but Henry had turned the corner too quickly.
“Fuck!” he yelled as Santiago came outside.
“I guess that’s our answer,” Santiago said.
“But how? This guy is a pussy. I’ve run into him before. No way he killed those guys.”
“I bet he has our shit. Why else would he run? Maybe he brought a crew with him.”
“What crew? I’ve seen his guys. They’re all a bunch methed up gringos. Most of them can’t even shoot straight. I think one shot himself in the leg trying to pull his gun out. How’s he suddenly got a crew who can take guys out like that? Something weird is up. He’s working with someone else.”
