Life Rage

by L. L. Soares

  see the apprehension in her eyes, and then see her relax. “Someone was supposed to meet me, but they never showed up. And this suitcase is pretty heavy.”

  “Well there’s no reason why I can’t give you a ride where you’re going. Why don’t you get in? Put your bag in the back seat.”

  He opened the back door for her. She put her suitcase on the backseat and closed the door. Then she got in on the passenger side. She was a pretty blonde.

  “Lucky thing you happened to come along,” she told him. “I don’t think I ever would have made it otherwise.”

  “I saw you were having trouble,” Sam said, with a smile. “I couldn’t just pass you by. So where are you headed?”

  “The center of town is fine,” she told him. “I can find a friend of mine there.”

  “Sure.”

  The road was lined with trees on either side. Then the trees got fewer. He smiled at her.

  “It sure would have been a long walk for you. I don’t know how you could have done it in the dark.”

  “God, I had no idea.”

  He suddenly struck her in the side of the head. It was hard and fast, and she slumped over against the passenger side door.

  He took a side street, away from the main road. He knew a quiet place. The sun was already starting to go down.

  After he parked, he leaned over her, and hit her again. Then he opened his car door and got out. He went around and opened the back door, pulled her suitcase out, and put it in the trunk. Then he opened her door, got her out, and put her in back.

  She didn’t move as he stretched her out on the backseat.

  He straddled her, looking down at her face. She was young. Probably on college break. His receptionist Carla was maybe a year or two older. It was funny, him thinking of her at a time like this.

  She had some bruising on the side of her face already. And there appeared to be a tear in her left eye. He hadn’t even had time to find out her name.

  He sat there, his crotch against hers, and started to unbutton her blouse. Then he stopped, looking down at her.

  What the fuck am I doing? he wondered. But he was already starting to drift into a haze, into another mindset. Even though he asked the question of himself, it was already too late to really ponder it. To really consider the consequences of his actions. He was already outside of himself, an observer.

  He undid the last button. She was wearing a white bra.

  “Bitch!”

  He rammed his fist into her head.

  “Cunt!”

  He hit her again. His balled up fist ramming her skull. There was bruising, blood.

  “Whore!”

  She made soft sounds, strangled sounds, like she was struggling with all her might not to regain consciousness.

  He just kept hitting her, and about the fifth time, he heard a crunching sound, the cracking of bone. Part of her face was collapsed, the cheekbone shattered. But he still kept pounding.

  He wasn’t happy until her head was a bloody mess, devoid of features. It wasn’t a human face at all anymore.

  The rhythm of his punches overtook him, became the entire focus of his existence. He wasn’t Sam anymore. Sam had long since left.

  Sam was no longer in the car.

  When her face was so much pulp, he finished tearing away her clothes, and fucked her still-warm corpse.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  They were in another motel room. Viv was sure she’d been here once, a year or so ago. She tried not to repeat herself too much, but it was bound to happen sometimes. Motel rooms offered a neutral ground, so people didn’t have to die in their homes. When Viv came to places like this, she was almost always left alone. She tried to remember details about the last time she had been here. Who she’d been with. She tried to remember the room number back then. Was it the same room? There was something very déjà vu about this place.

  Had someone else died in this same room, because of her?

  No, it wasn’t her fault. The desire was within them. She just brought it to fruition.

  She and Maggie had gone drinking, Viv trying to postpone the inevitable. Then, when they came here, they made love. Viv had made sure it lasted awhile. She didn’t want to rush this. But the ache inside her was getting worse.

  Maggie was stretched out on the bed, now. Viv watched her drift in and out of sleep.

  “What are you looking at?” Maggie asked sleepily, and smiled.

  “Nothing,” Viv said.

  “Come back to me,” Maggie said.

  For someone who had never been with another woman before, Maggie was certainly very eager to learn. She had a lot of passion and it wasn’t like Viv had to lead her by the hand every step of the way.

  Although hands were involved.

  At one point, when Maggie was in the midst of an orgasm, Viv had almost reached out to her mind, tried to find that lock only she could open. But she resisted it with all her willpower. It was still too soon.

  Viv was greedy and wanted a little more time with her, before the end.

  “What are you looking at, sweetie?” Maggie asked again.

  “Just you, angel.” Viv would never have allowed herself to use such a silly word before. But it seemed fitting here.

  Maggie smiled wider. “Come back to me.”

  There was a tear in one of Maggie’s eyes, and it was then that Viv knew there was no turning back. No matter how painful this would be, she had to go through with it.

  “Okay.”

  Viv crawled across the bed and snuggled up beside Maggie.

  I could get used to this, Viv thought. I could even see myself falling for this one.

  But she knew that was a mistake. Her hunger came first. Just like any job, she had made a promise to herself long ago not to get emotionally involved. But there were bound to be times like this, when that promise became so very difficult to keep.

  Viv kissed her, then ran a finger along her brow. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” she whispered.

  “Yeah.”

  Viv looked right into Maggie’s eyes and they felt like magnets, holding her gaze.

  “Do you know where the bottle is?” Maggie asked, suddenly breaking their staring contest to look around on the bed, on the floor.

  The booze. Well, if nothing else, it would make things easier. The alcohol made Maggie seem more pathetic, and maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much to take her life. Yeah, Viv thought. Who am I kidding?

  “One minute,” Viv said and pulled away to look for the bottle. There were actually two of them. One was empty and had rolled out of sight. Another one was half empty and near the foot of the bed. Viv snatched it up off the floor and brought it to Maggie’s waiting hands.

  “Thank you,” she said, perking up, and unscrewed the cap. She brought the bottle to her lips and took a long drink.

  Might as well let her enjoy it, Viv thought. It’ll be her last.

  Viv watched her drink, then took the bottle away and put it on the floor. She kissed Maggie again.

  “Enough of that,” Viv said. “I’m starting to get jealous of that bottle.”

  “What do you think Sam is doing right now?” Maggie asked her. “Right this minute? He must be home by now. Do you think he’s going nuts wondering where I am?”

  “I thought you didn’t care about him anymore.”

  “I don’t. I was just wondering. Do you think he misses me at all? That I ever was important to him? I don’t care, but I wish I could see for myself.”

  Viv put a finger to her lips. “Sssh. You’re with me now.”

  Viv kissed her deeper, and let her fingers go exploring. They shifted on the bed.

  This time, while they were in the midst of exploring each other with their tongues, Viv zeroed in on the part of Maggie’s psyche that wanted to die. The sad part of her soul.

  “Oh, Viv,” Maggie moaned softly beneath her.

  Viv turned the key that unlocked Maggie’s soul, slowly. She didn’t want it to happen
too fast. Maggie started to thrash beneath her.

  “Oh, my God,” Maggie said, louder now. “Oh, Viv!”

  Viv was getting caught up in the passion, too, and wanted to enjoy it as much as she could before Maggie was gone to her.

  “Oh Viv, that feels so fucking good!”

  Viv slid up her body, so that she could see Maggie’s face. She let her fingers continue what her mouth had been doing. She looked Maggie right in the eyes.

  Maggie’s eyes were half-closed as she looked up at Viv. She had stopped thrashing about.

  “Oh, that’s so good,” Maggie said, softer again. “I can feel myself fading.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m dying. That’s right, isn’t it, Viv?”

  “That’s right,” Viv said.

  “It feels so good,” Maggie said again. But her voice was getting fainter.

  Maggie smiled, and then she was dead.

  In those last moments, inside Maggie’s head, Viv could feel the waves of love emanating from her. The overwhelming emotions.

  And, as Maggie died, Viv found herself in the throes of ecstasy. She rolled over onto her back and surrendered to the sensations. Letting them move her like a puppet.

  When it was over, Viv could not be sure what had actually fed her. She took it for granted that it was Maggie’s soul, but she could never be certain about such things. Even after all these years of feeding, it was still a mystery to her in many ways.

  “I’m sorry, Maggie.”

  Viv got up and went to the bathroom to shower. When she was done, she got dressed and cleaned the room as best she could.

  She left Maggie there, on the bed. At least she didn’t have to say good-bye.

  * * *

  “What was that?” Colleen asked, sitting up in bed.

  “It’s just Viv come back,” Jeremy said.

  She lay back down. “Sorry, I forgot we’re not here alone.”

  “I probably should go out and talk to her,” Jeremy said. “I haven’t talked to her in a while. She does live here, too, after all.”

  “Are you ever going to tell me why you two never did it?” Colleen asked playfully. “It’s not like you’re not good in bed.”

  Jeremy blushed. “I guess a thank you would be in order.”

  “Thank you,” Colleen said, grinning.

  “I meant me,” he said. “It’s been a long time. I had a lot of time to make up for. It’s not like I’m the stud I once was.” He laughed at that one.

  “Well, you were. I saw you in the papers. Always with a different model. Or an actress. Talk about variety. And to think I’m sharing your bed. How many famous women were right where I am, right now?”

  “Enough,” he said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy myself back then.”

  Jeremy slid out of bed. “I’ll be right back.” He grabbed his robe off the floor.

  “Well, at least I know Viv isn’t competition,” Colleen said. “At least I hope not. You haven’t been lying to me about her, have you?”

  “Of course not,” Jeremy said, putting on his robe. “But we’re still friends, after all. I want to see how she’s been doing.”

  Despite the fact that Colleen was in the midst of her period, they’d been unable to control themselves and had been making love most of the night. Which was something odd for Jeremy. In the past, he’d mostly dated women who were very self-conscious about those kinds of things. But Colleen wasn’t concerned in the least. All she suggested was he put a towel under her during sex, to protect the sheets.

  She put her panties back on and got back in bed. Jeremy looked down at her.

  God, she’s beautiful, Jeremy thought. Like a downpour after a drought.

  Colleen returned his gaze, and blew him a kiss.

  Jeremy smiled and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  Colleen stared at the door, and used her fingers to bring herself to orgasm. Something Jeremy had just barely failed to do. Not that she’d let him know that. She faked an orgasm perfectly for him. His self-satisfied air told her that. But Colleen was not about to give up after getting so close.

  As she touched herself, she tried to keep from thinking about the scars on his body. She had never seen anyone before with so many. He had been so self-conscious about them; it had been kind of touching how vulnerable they made him. But now, unable to keep her mind off them, she almost found them exciting in some weird way.

  She gasped, staring at the closed door.

  ***

  “Hi,” Jeremy said, entering the kitchen. Viv was eating some cold lasagna and drinking a beer.

  “Hello stranger,” Viv said. “Where’s the kid?”

  “Hey, she’s over twenty-one,” Jeremy said. “Barely.”

  They both laughed.

  “It’s good to hear you laugh,” Viv said.

  “So where have you been lately? I haven’t seen you in ages.”

  “I know,” Viv said. “A lot of shit’s been happening lately.”

  “You’re still feeding then?”

  “You know I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

  “I’m surprised nobody ever caught on,” Jeremy said. “I mean, I’m thankful. But after all the people you must have sent to the great beyond…”

  “Do we really need to talk about this?” Viv said, and shoveled a big spoonful of pasta into her mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “Sure you did,” Viv said. “You’re afraid I’ll get busted at some point, and I’ll bring some trouble back here. Don’t worry about it. I cover my tracks. Besides, they can’t prove anything. They die of natural causes. It’s not murder.”

  “How can you be so sure the coroners will decide that way?”

  “Because I know,” Viv said. “There’s no proof of foul play at all. I’ve been doing this a long time.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Don’t worry so much.”

  “Are you okay? You seem kind of down.”

  “A rough one today. I actually had feelings for her. That’s bad when you do what I do.”

  “Which is why you never did it to me, even when I begged you to?”

  “I couldn’t do it to you. It would be painful. Shit, it was painful enough doing this one, and I only knew her a few days. She was pretty special, though. Kind of like you.”

  “You know, you could have saved me a lot of suffering.”

  “I am not going to have this conversation again,” Viv said. “Besides, if I’d done that, you wouldn’t be enjoying your new girlfriend right now.”

  “True enough,” Jeremy agreed. “I guess time does make it easier.”

  “I told you so.”

  “Pretty ironic coming from you. The mercy killer.”

  “Not now, Jeremy.”

  “I’m sorry. That was crossing the line, wasn’t it?”

  “What if she were to hear you. You haven’t told her, have you?”

  “No,” Jeremy said.

  “But you will.”

  “Not if you don’t want me to.”

  “You’ll slip in a moment of passion. You’ll tell her whatever she wants to know. Just make sure you can trust her first. Or at least warn me, so I can move on.”

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  “What you want doesn’t matter, Jeremy,” Viv told him. “My survival means that I leave when things get unsafe here. You spill the beans, and she blabs, I’m gone.”

  “I won’t say anything.”

  “I know you, Jeremy. When you fall for her, it will be hard.”

  “It’s been so long since I was involved with anyone, Viv. You know that.”

  “Exactly what I meant; you’re vulnerable. There is something endearing about her, though, I’ll give her that. But there’s something about her I don’t trust. Maybe that will change as I get to know her, but for now, I’m going to be very careful.”

  “You don’t have to worry about her.”

 
; “I hope you’re right.”

  “Oh, I almost forgot. She told me that when she first met you, she saw some kind of vision for a moment. Some kind of pattern. Remember how she kind of zoned out? Staring at you? That’s why.”

  “That’s weird. What does she think it means?”

  “She doesn’t know exactly. But guess what? You’re not the first one. She saw somebody else like you.”

  “What?”

  “Well, not exactly like you. Someone murdered her friend right in front of her. She saw a vision around him, too.”

  “Another one?”

  “Sure sounds that way, although she did say his was a lot different than yours. It was kind of threatening, which would make sense. I don’t think she found yours threatening.”

  “Who, where?”

  “Back in the city, where she used to live,” Jeremy said. “Like I said, someone who killed her friend right in front of her. It sounded bizarre, the way she described him. His face bright red. Able to tear a man apart with his bare hands.”

  “Really?”

  “A relative of yours, perhaps.”

  “I don’t do anything like that.”

  “You just feed on their souls. That’s how you described it to me.”

  “Do we really need to talk about that now?” she asked. “Do you think she’s afraid of me?”

  “Not really. I think you freaked her out for a moment when she first met you, the whole vision thing. But she doesn’t seem particularly disturbed by you now. In fact, she’s really embarrassed about the way she reacted to you.”

  “Well, I certainly don’t want to disturb anyone. You don’t think I should move out?”

  “Not at all,” Jeremy said. “I told you, she’s cool. So do you think you and that other guy are linked at all?”

  “Well, it’s not Grif, I know that much for sure. But I want to know more about this guy. Do you think she’d tell me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You could get her to.”

  “Maybe, at some point, but it’s still painful for her to remember.”

  “Well, if there is a link, and there’s somebody else like me running around, I want to know more about it. ”