Bender

by M. Stratton

  “The only dying that’s going to happen today is you.”

  Mick’s brain quickly processed who was talking to him, Bender. He had no idea how they had been found so quickly. “I’m supposed to be scared by an old man and a washed up thug? Please.” He knew out of the two Bender was going to be the most dangerous, the quickest.

  The old man’s hand went out to hold Bender back. “Now son, you don’t want to do this, put the gun down and we can talk about this.”

  “I’m not your son and how do you know I don’t want to do this? You don’t know me at all. I’ve spent my life keeping myself under extreme control, if not, well, there’d be no stopping me. See, I’m not like my good friend here Nutter, he kills and then he’s sedated for a bit. I’ve always known, if I took the last beating drop of someone’s blood it would never be enough. The two of you, well, I don’t think either one of you could live with yourselves if you were the direct cause of me going over the edge and killing every single person I come in contact with. But wouldn’t that be fun?” Mick wanted to clap his hands together at the thought. “Let’s see, if I could somehow, not kill you, but make you watch and listen as I killed person, after person, starting with beautiful Stormy here. Nutter here knew, he knew she’d taste divine and he’s never wrong. If it makes you feel any better we’ll only use her meat for special occasions. No quick work week meals for her, no, her meat is too precious. So please, by all means, let’s start the killing spree, shall we?”

  Mick miscalculated, he thought Bender was the bigger threat and he pointed the gun towards him and pulled the trigger, but another shot rang out. He felt it explode in his chest and it took a moment for the pain to register. Looking down, he saw his own blood flow down his body and mix with Stormy’s.

  Feeling like everything was moving in slow motion, he fell backward, his head landing on Stormy’s breast. He could hear Nutter screaming, but couldn’t make out the words. All too quickly his vision was narrowing and becoming fuzzy. He needed to see him one last time. Using everything he had, he turned his head and locked eyes with Nutter. They’d been together for so long, and now it was ending. They were two halves of the whole. Could one live without the other? And if one did live, what would he become?

  He was quickly losing the battle, he didn’t know how to say good-bye. “Sometimes . . . it’s too much, Nutter . . . sometimes you have to . . . let it go.”

  Just as quickly as it started, it was over, the light dimmed, and he died.

  Bender didn’t take his eyes off the two men, even when he heard Murdoch hit the floor. He needed to get a better angle on Nutter. Mick was dead, he needed Nutter to focus on him and not automatically seek revenge by killing Stormy. He knew it was time when Nutter’s red-rimmed eyes turned toward him and his lip snarled.

  From his research Bender knew he should be able to easily push Nutter over the edge and give him the shot he needed. “One psycho down, one to go,” he taunted.

  “I am an artist. Look around you. I’m surrounded by my masterpieces. And this one,” he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked the blood off. “Will be my most famous work. She will be the one I’m known for, the Mona Lisa will be nothing compared to her.”

  “The only thing you’re going to be is someone’s little bitch in prison.”

  Nutter clucked his tongue at him. “You’re so crude, I should expect that from someone like you.” He glanced to the side and saw Mick laying there dead on her breasts. “There’s something so sad and beautiful there. His skin is already losing its warmth.” His eyes slid back to Bender. “You must pay for killing him.”

  “What about all the people you killed? Don’t you think you should pay for killing them?”

  “All of the people I killed was in the name of art. You. You, I will kill. I will kill slowly, bleeding you dry. I will discover new ways to push your body to its limits of pain. I will have you begging me to end your life. I will slowly shove hot forks in your eyes and twist them popping them out of your skull. I will slice your tongue to ribbons. I will pull your teeth out. I will use my own teeth to bite your fingers off. I will shove ice picks in your ears. I will rip your dick from your body. Then, and only then, will I pull your entrails out of your body through your mouth. I will make it, so in the next life you will be in absolute blindness and silence. Alone with your thoughts of what I did to Stormy.”

  He ran his hand over her body, cupping her, shoving his fingers inside her, and lifting her off the bed before letting her fall back down. “I’ll make sure you don’t miss one single thing of what I do to her.” He pulled his fingers out and licked them. “Over and over again, I’ll make her mine. I’ll take her so many times and please her like she’s never had before. She’ll be begging for more from me. She’ll want me and only me. Once I’ve broken her, and she’s mine, I will kill her. You’ll have a front row seat for all of this, and all of eternity to remember you couldn’t save her.”

  “See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Bender replied. “To my way of thinking, to live with knowing what you did, would be worse than dying, and that’s what I’m going to make sure happens to you. You’ll rot, locked up in prison, thinking of all the people you killed, and you’ll never get a chance to do it again. You’ll think about Mick dying in front of you, and there was nothing you could do.”

  Nutter screamed and sat up. Taking the gun from Mick’s dead hand, he pointed it toward Bender while his other hand swung his knife down toward Stormy’s chest.

  Two shots rang out.

  For the second time in ten minutes, Stormy had a man fall on her and bleed all over her. There was nothing she could do. Nutter’s knife was digging into her side. She knew she was losing more blood. Since she woke up in the back of Nutter’s car, she’d told herself repeatedly how all she wanted was to go back to reading her books. Adventure in real life wasn’t as exciting as she thought it would be. By focusing on the same words repeatedly, she’d blocked out, for the most part, what was happening to her. She went to her happy place, which was her books, her favorite stories.

  Her breath hissed as Nutter was pulled off her and the pressure on the knife in her side was released. Turning her head, she saw Bender check for a pulse, and then put cuffs on Nutter. He then reached over, grabbed the rope which was laying on the floor next to the bed, and tied him up. She was thankful he was going to extra measures to make sure Nutter didn’t get away. If there were anyone who’d be a horror movie monster and get out of his restraints in order to kill you, it would be Nutter.

  Quickly Bender cut the ropes holding her in place, moved her as carefully as possible off the bed and away from the Mick and Nutter. He grabbed a towel, held it to her side, and wrapped his jacket around her, all the time talking softly and gently to her. She really couldn’t make out his words. She figured it had something to do with the shock and blood loss. She was so cold and every time she shivered, it hurt. She wanted her book. She wanted to read until she fell asleep.

  Gently, Bender lay her down next to Murdoch. She blinked trying to focus on what was going on. He lay on the floor bleeding and his breathing was rapid and uneven. This kind, gentle man, who’d helped so many people over the years including the man who held her heart, who still grieved the loss of his wife years after she died, was dying himself. The tears she wouldn’t allow to fall for herself now flowed down her checks for the man who’d become so important to her in such a short time.

  “Hang on, you old coot. Help should be here any minute.” He paused. “You hear that? That’s the sirens. They’ll be here to help you.”

  “No . . . too late.”

  “You’d never let me give up. You don’t give up now.”

  Bender grabbed his hand and Stormy held his other.

  “This isn’t about me giving up,” he panted. “This is about my time to go, and your time to live. With Stormy.”

  “You can’t.”

  “Son, I have no . . . choice. If it wasn’t today, it was going to be next week, or t
he week after . . . The cancer was too far gone when they found it . . . I’m lucky I made it this long . . . Just trying to get my last boy settled before I died . . .”

  “No. There has to be something. I have all this money I never used. We could have sent you to the best specialist, anywhere in the world.”

  “It was too late. You’ve got to let me go.”

  The internal struggle raging in him flowed from him in waves. His body was so tense it rippled as he tried to control himself. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed his free one. For a brief moment, they made a living, breathing circle before Murdoch started to slip away.

  The sirens were very loud now coming up the street, but quickly cut off. Stormy and Bender could hear people running through the building and up the stairs. They were pulled away from Murdoch as the paramedics tried to work on him. He’d been an institution in the neighborhood. Everyone knew him. Everyone respected him. Orders were shouted and people worked in a controlled frenzy trying to save him so the cancer could take him sooner rather than later.

  Stormy felt gentle hands try to get her attention. She looked over to the kind eyes of a female EMT who was helping her move to a stretcher. She was happy to be on something clean. Bender moved with her, his hand still held onto her tightly. She knew how he felt. She didn’t want to let go of him either. They were each other’s lifeline in all the madness.

  Nutter had been sitting where Bender left him silently staring at Mick. He was so quiet she’d forgotten about him. When someone walked over and started to move Mick off the bed, it was as if Nutter woke up. He started screaming, ranting, and raving about revenge, what he was going to do to everyone in the room.

  She watched as Bender called someone over and told him to make sure he kept a close eye on Nutter. Looking around at the cops you could almost see the relief in all their eyes. The dark hand, which controlled them like puppets, had been cut off. They were free to go back to their normal lives again. They knew what Nutter was capable of, and they’d make sure he never got out. They didn’t want him coming after them and their families.

  In the silence that remained after they took Murdoch to the hospital and Nutter was in the back of a squad car, Stormy looked at Bender. She hated to see him so lost. Pulling his hand up, she kissed the back of it. He blinked and looked at her. He grabbed her gently and held her.

  “I’m so sorry, lady.”

  She shook her head, “No, it’s me who is sorry.”

  “Let’s get you to the hospital. I know you’ve lost a lot of blood. I need to make sure you are going to be okay.”

  “Please, please don’t leave me.”

  He gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand. “Never, lady, you’re in my heart. I don’t let go of what’s in my heart.”

  As they took her down the stairs and out of the building, Bender walked beside her, making sure she wasn’t bumped too much. When they were outside, she was surprised to see the sun was still shining. She felt like the whole ordeal had taken days to play out, when it actuality had only been a few hours. A few hours that had changed everything. Three people were dead, and one was captured. She was going to miss her neighbor and Murdoch. She couldn’t feel any sadness for the fate of Mick and Nutter. She just prayed she’d never have to see Nutter again.

  The ride to the hospital was uneventful. With Bender’s contacts, everything Stormy could ever need for treatment and to be kept safe was done. While she should have stayed overnight, she didn’t want to. Nutter had already been flown to a secure facility for treatment, but she didn’t want to be there, and she couldn’t go home, not with the missing wall and all.

  She was in and out of it as Bender drove them to wherever they were staying for the night. When he parked, she was surprised it was in front of the hotel from the other night. The nice one with the great view.

  “I thought you could use some pampering. I didn’t want to take you somewhere plain.”

  “Thank you, Bender. This is wonderful.”

  He was so gentle getting her upstairs and settled on the couch. She noticed he’d rearranged the furniture so she’d be able to watch the fire and look out the windows at the lake. When he handed her the book he’d given her, she wanted to weep. She felt as though she’d been strong through everything, but having such kindness after all of the horror was her undoing. She gave in and wept.

  In each other’s arms, they grieved, each in their own way, for everything that had transpired. It didn’t take long before she was emotionally spent and pulled away from him.

  “I’m so sorry,” Bender said. “I feel like this is all my fault.”

  “No, none of it is. I was on their radar before I even met you. Murdoch had cancer long before you showed back up. You are the reason I was wearing that bracelet. You were the one who came for me. You protected me, and kept me safe this whole time. If it weren’t for you and Murdoch, I wouldn’t be alive right now.”

  “I could have done something more.”

  “Hindsight is twenty-twenty. Do you think I would have done anything different when Donnie asked me for help, even knowing what I know now? No, because that child does need help. He needs to know someone is going to be there for him. I wouldn’t let him down, even knowing what would happen to me.”

  “He hates what he did.” Bender brushed her hair back from her face.

  “Of course he does. He’s a good kid. He doesn’t deserve what has happened to him. Nutter knew everything Donnie went through and he used that in order to get to me. What Nutter couldn’t understand is how I’d forgive Donnie for what he did. He’s only a child who was threatened with horrible things being done to him if he didn’t do exactly as he was told. How can you blame the child?”

  “You are such a good woman.”

  Stormy framed Bender’s face with both of her hands, forcing him to look at her. “And you, Bender, are a good man. No, don’t,” she said as he tried to look away. “You are. You aren’t your past. You are your today and what you want to be your tomorrow. You’ve taken the bad; now take the good. Be the good that is in you. Don’t be afraid to let people know that Big Bad Bender is actually a really, really, really good man.”

  He brought his forehead down to rest on hers. “I love you, Stormy.”

  “I know.”

  A quick laugh escaped him. “Aren’t you going to say it back?”

  “Bender, I love you.”

  “Ahhh, there’s my lady.”

  Jake,

  I know you feel I’ve abandoned you, and I know you. You’re pissed at the world. But what you need to do is hold onto Stormy; she’s yours. Protect her, cherish her, and build a life with her. That’s what you were meant to do. You’ve spent your adult life giving back to the worst neighborhoods around the country. Making them safe again. Now you’ve cleaned up hers, stay with her, stay here where you grew up, where she has put down roots.

  I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You’re not your father, you never have been. You got as far away as you could. Now it’s time for you to stay home. The ghosts that haunt you are just that. Your old man has been dead for a long time; leave him there, and start living your life. You don’t have to worry about becoming him. You’re ten times the man he ever was.

  Now, put this letter away, grab that woman, and start living.

  Murdoch

  Bender looked up and saw Stormy swinging back and forth in the back yard, her nose in a book while their son was asleep on her shoulder. He couldn’t believe his luck. All the shit he’d been through growing up, then undercover, all led to her, to this time and place. He could have sworn old Murdoch knew what was going to happen. It was as if he’d orchestrated the whole thing, getting him here with Stormy.

  They had been able to adopt Donnie who was running around the yard playing superhero. Nutter had known exactly what to say to push the kid’s buttons to get him to do what he wanted, which was Stormy. You couldn’t blame the kid. He’d been abused so much over the years; all he wanted was some p
eace. Nutter had promised him that, knowing full well, he’d never deliver. The kid had felt bad enough someone Bender and Stormy had cared about had died he’d spiraled downward for a while. They had worked hard, getting the courts to put him in their care, and then with Donnie, himself, to bring him into their world where he didn’t have to worry about fists, or worse, hitting him repeatedly.

  For his crimes, Nutter had been moved to a mental facility across the country. They were working on rehabilitating him, but based on everything they found, he’d never be up for release. The number of people he’d killed over the years was shocking and hard to wrap your mind around. Of course, he pled insanity, and insane he was. Bender knew, however, he was fully aware of every single crime he had committed. The sick bastard was off the charts smart and Bender had already put in place systems to keep track of every little thing he did. Just because he said he was remorseful for what he’d done, didn’t mean he actually was. He didn’t trust him and would make sure he stayed where he was until he died and rotted in a padded cell.

  Sporto and his family moved away. Too many memories, too many missteps they wanted to forget. Bender had to admit, he was happy they were gone. For a brief time in his life, he’d cared about both of them, cared more than they had cared about him. As an adult, he could look back; and while he thought he had all the answers, he didn’t know shit, and he couldn’t blame them for the selfish things they did. Teenagers are typically all selfish. He sure as hell was. Besides, all of the information he’d given Bender had checked out, and they were able to use the information to put a lot of people away for a long time. Debt repaid in Bender’s book.