“Franky’s never coming to get that tape, Davey.”
“Well, then that’s one other problem solved.”
“No, you don’t understand.” Richard breathed out heavily. Frustrated and not hiding it well. Then he started shouting. “Paulie wants his fuckin’ tape. Is that clear? Franky or no Franky. He wants his fuckin’ tape. End of story. And your middle of the night calls don’t have me worried or fooled, you miserable prick. They’re just pissing me off more. You either tell me where we can meet and pick it up, or you’ve got seven hours, tops, before we send some mean Guatemalan mother fuckers to come see you. Guys who won’t understand what you’re saying when you beg for your lives. Guys who wouldn’t give a shit, even if they could. And if you’re not there waiting for us, your neighbours will pay dearly. I promised you, you little fuckin’ rat. Unlike you, I make good on my promises.”
As Richard’s voice boomed from the receiver, David’s head started to clear. He remembered what Richard had said he’d do to their new neighbours if they ran. He remembered what he’d said they’d do to him and Juno if they stayed put and didn’t bring the tape to some remote meeting place. And, though it should have been, his blood wasn’t running cold.
“Look. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t been calling you and... Give me seven minutes. Call me back. I need to talk to Junie.”
David hung up the phone, as Richard continued to make his case at top volume, and walked back into the bedroom to get dressed .
Richard stared at the receiver on Paul’s desk phone as he heard the dial tone kick in. “Do you believe this shit?” he asked all the muscle in the room, and no one.
He hung up the phone, picked it back up, and dialled Paul.
“Yeah,” Paul said. “Good news, Ricky?”
“I don’t know. I think Davey just woke up. He’s talking like a fuckin’ Quaker. All concerned about his place not being ready for company.”
“What the fuck has that got to do with the tape?”
“Nothing, Paulie. He’s either not taking this seriously or he’s losing it out there in the sticks. He hung up on me once for talking down about his precious Junie.”
“Well then knock that shit off. Once we get the tape, you can say and do whatever you want to that disgusting little slag. They’re both dead anyway. You can’t keep it in your pants until then?”
Richard sighed. “Yeah, no. That’s fine. Okay... Then he hung up on me again. Saying he needed to talk to Junie. About what? Who knows? He’s acting crazy. Not bouncing off the walls, but there’s something different.”
“Maybe you’re losing it a bit too, no? He’s playing you to buy time, like he always does, you dumb fuck,” Paul said, as Richard winced. “You should be getting Junie on the fuckin’ phone, anyway. She’d roll on that rat fuck to save her own ass, guaranteed. You know that. Just. Fuck. Forget arranging the meet. Throw the muscle gas money and send three of them out there to finish those junkie pukes. Make sure they know to get the tape. And I want trophies. I want proof they’re fuckin’ dead. Not hurt. Dead. You understand?”
“I can’t even talk to these trigger-happy lunatics,” Richard said. “All they do is giggle. No matter what I say. They don’t understand a fuckin’ word.”
“Jesus Christ. All right. I’ll put in the order. And if you want. If it makes you feel better, you can call Davey and tell him it’s time to run or get ready to die.” He paused, taking in a breath. “And you start learning some God damned Spanish. I shouldn’t have to order this shit personally, Ricky. It’s time you learnt to talk to the help. You hear?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry—”
Paul’s end of the line went dead, as Richard’s face reddened even more. Who wasn’t just hanging up on him today?
He picked up the phone and called David back.
“Hello?” David asked, still yawning.
“Hey, Davey, it’s Ricky. Don’t hang up on me now. I just want to know how we’re doing with our decision.”
“Okay, I guess. What the fuck did you want again?”
Richard’s free hand pounded on the desk as he yelled. “That’s it. Your choice. Stick around and save your neighbours or start running, because we’re coming to see you. I’m going to fix your ass for good. You little rat mother fucker. You hear me? You’re fuckin’ dead. You and that disease-ridden little piece of—”
David’s end of the line clicked off.
Richard stood and threw the phone at the wall as he raged at the heavens. He sat down in Paul’s chair, fuming, and decided to try and take a nap to keep himself from getting even angrier.
The Guatemalan muscle in the room didn’t giggle, for once.
David hung up the kitchen phone and slid off the counter. Feeling a little wobbly. Opening the refrigerator to grab eggs and fix himself breakfast before he remembered they only had fruit. Still drained from the previous night’s ferocious lovemaking. Feeling deeply conflicted about it. He tried to remember what else happened, as he fought to reconcile his blithe attitude toward the imminent threat on his and Juno’s lives with the gravity he instinctively knew the situation called for. But, for the life of him, all he could remember about the previous evening at the Strange household was meeting six or seven other neighbours, eating a damned tasty burger and talking to Brent. Everything else was a blur. Coming back in fragments. He remembered something about Cadence. About a question he’d been asked. Or a proposition he’d been made. He recalled he’d said yes to whatever it was.
Bringing his hands to his nose, he smelt the backs of them. Not sure why, or what he expected to happen when he did. He just smelt like himself. And after a few moments of sniffing, he just felt silly. Maybe the country air was making him tired. Maybe he hadn’t known a decent night’s sleep in years and this was what it was supposed to feel like when a man got actual rest. With no lights, noise, pollution and all the other distractions of the city to screw around with his sleep cycle.
Then he heard Juno scream. Loud and hysterical. Panicked and desperate.
He ran back into their bedroom and found her lying naked on the floor, covering her eyes and curled up in a ball.
“I have to leave.” Her voice lowered in volume, but the fear was still there. “I have to go. Now.”
But she wasn’t moving. Her entire body was shaking like she was kicking the dope again. She peeked out through her fingers. The look in her eyes was one of pure horror.
“Can’t you see it?” She began to cry. “I have to go. This place is evil. It’s bad.”
He looked at the ceiling, to where she was desperately trying to avoid throwing her gaze. As he watched, the glistening white of the paint appeared to thin. Within moments, parts of it began to turn red. As he continued to watch, the colour kept changing more dramatically. Soon, as he looked around the room, he felt like he actually was in a kill house. In the place Brent had mentioned the previous night, as he recounted the rumours about their new home. Blood, in various states of decay and oxidation, stained the walls. Splatter patterns becoming more visible with every passing second. Soon, not just covering the ceiling, but moving down the walls. Draping themselves over the bed and the closets and drawers. Soaking the carpet beneath his feet.
“What the fuck is going on?” David asked.
Juno scrambled back and forth on her knees as she saw the blood rising from the carpeted floor. Still shrieking and crying. Utterly terrified. He collected her clothes and dressed her as he held her shaking body. When she was fully clothed, she jumped into his arms and he held her as she sobbed into his shirt.
“Please, Davey,” she begged. “Make it stop. What’s happening to me?”
He didn’t reply as he walked her out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. All the blinds were still closed. Which was a better thing that morning than it had ever been before because, as they moved out through the kitchen and into the front living room, the house began staining with even more blood. Every inch covered in horrifying jagged swaths of pin
k, red and dark purple. The longer they watched, the more full the blood stains became. Oozing out from the paint. Dripping down the walls and falling like a gentle rain from the ceiling.
“Get me out of here. Please?” She looked into his eyes. “I’m so scared, baby. Please. Why is this happening to me?”
“I don’t know.” His own body began to shake as he dropped to his knees and placed her on the floor in front of him.
She grabbed his wrist. “I have to run. I have to run or I’m going to die.” She looked around at the walls. Running red like waterfalls. No end to the bleeding. The carpet at their feet moist and heavy with it. “I don’t understand this. I don’t know how this can be happening, but I’ve got to go. It’s a sign, Davey.” She hesitated for a moment, lost in thought. “But I have to take Brent and Cadence with me. This could be their blood. And it’s on my hands. I have to warn them.”
As she spoke her last words, a knock came on the front door. Hard and fast. They looked to each other for direction, but neither of them knew what to do next.
Though David didn’t remember how long it took Franklin to drive them there from the city, Paul’s people couldn’t have made it to their doorstep already. It had only been twenty-four minutes since he’d spoken to Richard on the phone. And they were still hoping not to have to come all the way out to this isolated town to do their dirty work.
A voice called from the other side of the door. Masculine. Strong. Concerned. “Davey? Junie? Is everything okay?”
Juno crawled back into the kitchen quickly, ducking behind the counters and motioning for David to check the peep hole. He watched as the carpet she’d cleaned with her knees, while sliding around, filled back up with blood. He also noticed her jeans were staining with it.
Looking out through the fish-eye lens and trying to interpret the funhouse-mirror view, he saw Brent, dressed in his standard blue jeans and tee shirt. Cadence appeared to be hovering off to the side of him, trying to peek through the window blinds, wrapped in a shawl. Brent was wrestling her away from the window as she struggled to get a good look. Appearing to swat her on the back of the head and grumbling something that sounded uncharacteristically mean as he may or may not have twisted her arm to pull her to his side.
“It’s...” David whispered, pointing to their new neighbours house.
Juno shook her head as she fought to keep from screaming. The blood on her jeans was beginning to drip on the floor. Then she looked back and nodded. Her eyes still full of sheer terror.
David opened the door slowly, trying to appear casual and control the shakes. As he did, Brent’s hand flailed forward, knocking but no longer looking at the door. Begging Cadence to quit trying to peek in through the blinds.
Brent stumbled onto the carpet. He looked into David’s eyes and then over to the kitchen, where Juno’s head popped out from behind the counters. “Hey. Is everything all right? We heard super loud screaming.”
David looked behind him, at the walls leaking blood through the porous paint, and at the floor beneath his feet that was starting to look like a very disturbing kiddie pool. “I know what this looks like,” he said, not sure what it looked like at all. “But it’s not.”
“What are you talking about?” Brent asked. He tilted his head a little, and David gestured it was okay to come in the house. “Everything seems fine.” He looked down, embarrassed. “You two aren’t...? This isn’t a domestic problem, is it?” David looked back at him, unable to answer. “I don’t understand. You both... Well, you didn’t seem like the type. Maybe I was wrong about you. Maybe Cadence was...”
Cadence walked in behind him, wrapping her light purple shawl tightly around her body. Smoothing out the right sleeve that was stretched to the point of tearing. Covering herself from neck to ankles. Her hair hanging loose. Bristling, as if being blown by a light breeze, as her eyes went wide. Not blinking at all.
David watched Cadence’s expression go blank as Juno ran out from behind the counters and hid herself behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Still shivering like she’d never felt colder.
“It’s coming,” Cadence said. No emotion in her voice. But awe in her expression as she took in more and more of the view.
“What?” Brent asked. “What are you talking about?” He motioned for her to come back outside as he turned to exit. “Whatever’s happening here doesn’t concern us. We should go. Come on, you.” He looked into David’s eyes, probing. Wondering why Juno had been screaming, and why she was hiding from the world now. All David’s eyes could say in reply was that he had no idea.
“It’s been so very long.” Cadence looked at the ceiling and then turned back to face Brent. Tears ran from her eyes. “Did they say yes?”
“What?” Juno tugged at David.
“It’s...” David began, trying to remember what he’d said yes to the night before. Remembering Brent had said it was a good thing. And everything he’d agreed to had sounded good. Just not remembering what those good things were.
Brent paused for a moment, looking up. “Davey did. He said he’d talk about it with Junie.” He switched his gaze to David. “Did she say yes?”
“What?” Juno’s tone betrayed her panic. “Did I say yes to what? Davey?”
David put his hand over Juno’s and pulled her to his side. He looked her in the eyes. Deeply. Asking her to trust. “Say yes.”
“I don’t understand,” Juno said.
“Please say yes?” David asked. “I know it doesn’t make sense to you. It doesn’t make sense to me. It didn’t last night after we came home, and it doesn’t now. But I remember it was a good thing. Something about keeping us safe here, somehow. I was going to talk to you about it before we...”
David’s face flushed. Juno let out a pained giggle.
“Please?” Cadence asked.
“Okay, yes?” Juno asked. Not understanding either.
“You have to say it. Not ask it,” Brent said.
Juno looked over at Brent then. Not understanding why, but feeling like she was being welcomed into a fold. “Yes.”
Cadence grabbed Juno’s wrist, pulling her gently out from behind David. Juno stepped as lightly as possible through the swelling pool of blood on the floor. Trying not to get any on their surprise visitors.
When Juno let go of David, Cadence took her hand and moved her to the middle of the living room, beside the table. She ran her hands over Juno’s face, closing her eyes, faced away from the men and opened her shawl. She pressed Juno’s head into her chest and closed the shawl around them both. Asking Juno to, please, shut her filthy mouth. Becoming oddly aggressive, though no one—not even Juno—noticed. Then Cadence began to slowly and heavily blow cool breaths across Juno’s eyes, soothing Juno’s body as she held her tight inside the wool-knit cocoon she’d made for them. Calling her a common slut, in a soft voice, and instructing her to keep her wandering hands off her men. Nobody seemed to hear Cadence speak those words either.
Juno’s eyes remained shut, as she felt all the terror, all the fear, release itself from her body. She continued to shake, but each shiver brought more intense relief. Within moments, she felt as safe and secure as a baby at the breast.
Cadence opened her shawl again and pulled Juno away from her, closing her shawl once more and moving her hand to Juno’s forehead, easing her eyes open.
“Holy fucking shit.” Juno spoke a bit more loudly than she’d meant to and her face turned red with embarrassment. “I’m...” She looked around at Brent, David and Cadence. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to swear. It’s just... I don’t know what to...”
Juno’s voice trailed off. David marvelled at her, watching her skipping around in the blood. Carefree and joyful.
“Where did it all go?” Juno looked over at David. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” She ran to him, splashing blood everywhere, and hugged him with all her might. “I must have been having a nightmare. Did I sleepwalk? Did you...?” She pointed at Brent and Cadence. “Did you come ov
er because of the screaming?”
Cadence remained facing away from everyone, gazing at the floor. Shaking in time with the blood-rain that fed the deepening pool on the floor. Each drop growing louder and more irritating. Like a leaking faucet in an echo chamber.
Brent smirked. “Yeah, Junie. You were making some noise. I thought...” Brent’s face blushed with shame. “I thought you two had gotten in a fight.” He looked over at David, apologising with his eyes. “I feel like a fool. When I came over, I thought you were hitting Junie. Jesus. I wasn’t being a very good neighbour. Assuming that. Maybe it’s this place.”
“It’s okay.” Juno smiled. “It’s good to know I have neighbours who care.” She meant what she said. Brent believed her. Something in Juno’s eyes was betraying her memories of the city from which they’d come. A cesspool in which David could have tortured and beaten her to death over the course of days, her screaming and crying all the while, and no one would have lifted a finger to come to her aid. If anyone did call the police, it would only be to complain about the noise. “Don’t feel bad. I’m a terrifying screamer. Ask Davey.”
David looked over at Brent, laughing weakly, and nodded.
“I apologise to both of you,” Brent said. “Especially you, Davey.”
“Not at all. Like Junie said, it’s nice to know we’re living somewhere the neighbours care enough to get involved. Really, it’s no big deal.” But for David, it was still a big deal. Everyone was standing around. Conversing. Apologising. Waiting. Acting as if things were okay. But nothing was okay at all. As he watched Brent and Juno begin small talk about something or the other, he wondered at how they could be so oblivious to the river of blood that now reached to their ankles. The crimson rain that fell from the ceiling, drenching them all. Staining their clothes and smearing on their skin.
Then David heard Cadence’s voice, softly whispering to him, as if her words were drifting on air.
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