Phobias

by Ryan Horvath

  “What happened to you?” Walt replied and studied Chad.

  “What the fuck do you mean?” Chad said crossly.

  “He means what happened to you to turn you into a phobic drunk,” Terry said bluntly without turning around to look at them.

  There was silence thick enough to cut with a knife before Chad broke it by saying, “A really bad fucking day on the job.”

  Walt was about to question more when they heard the approaching clack of women’s shoes on the tiled floor. A few seconds later Holly appeared.

  “Thanks for coming back so quickly,” Holly said.

  “It’s not like we had a lot of choice,” Chad muttered.

  “I came in for my shift a little early because I got a text message saying these results were back. I expected nothing,” Holly said.

  “But you obviously got something,” Terry said.

  “You bet I did,” Holly said. Then she noticed Walt. “Uh… maybe we should talk out of earshot of the young man.”

  “This is Walton Bailer,” Terry said. “Walt for short. Walt? This is Holly. She’s the assistant medical examiner. Walt’s helping me with… a case. This case too maybe. And he’s old enough.”

  “Very well,” Holly said after she shook Walt’s hand. “C’mon back to my office.”

  They followed Holly until they were in her office. The three grown men stood around the space while Holly rested her buttocks on the front edge of her desk. A deadly spider quivered centimeters away in its web on the other side of the wood.

  Holly pulled a file off the surface of the desk and opened it. It trembled in her hands.

  “So what did you find in my wife’s test results?” Chad asked.

  Holly extracted a graph from the file and held it up for them. There were a number of things labeled on the graph that the trio of men in the room could recognize: caffeine, aspirin, cocaine, THC, nicotine, alcohol. And there were other words on the graph that none of the men would have been able to give a definition to but that had to be names of various prescription drugs, food additives, and/or plant extracts. Then there were the pair of glaring words “UNKNOWN” stamped on the graph and side-by-side. They were glaring because the spikes on the graph for these two UNKNOWN items were the highest.

  “Your wife had some alcohol in her system at time of death,” Holly said.

  “No surprise there,” Chad mumbled.

  “And these,” she pointed to some of the complex words, “Are usually found in processed foods so she probably hadn’t eaten very well the day she… passed.”

  “But she had high concentrations of these two ‘unknown’ substances in her,” Walt summed and pointed at the high peaks on the graph.

  “That’s right,” Holly said. “Are you… into forensics?”

  Walt looked away and shrugged. “In this day and age, it’s hard not to have some interest, I guess.” He paused and returned his eyes to the chart. “So how does the unknown get known in this case?”

  “When I got these results, I, of course, sent some of the blood through the mass spectrometer. This substance…” She pointed at the shorter of the two large spikes. “…resembles adrenaline. Although it’s not from any human adrenal gland that’s for sure.”

  “And the other?” Terry said.

  “At first I thought it was LSD. Then I got a closer look because LSD shows up here on the tox screen and, as you can see, reads negative,” Holly answered showing them where LSD is positioned on the graph. “But after the closer look, I have to say it’s something new. New and very potent. It made me think of LSD and PCP having a kid together and raising it on meth and steroids.”

  “Holy fucking shit,” Walt gasped.

  Holly nodded. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  “Check it against this,” Terry said, and produced something from his pocket. His hand shook as he handed it toward Holly. Terry had no problem dealing with drunk people and pot heads, but the four illicit substances Holly had just mentioned were vile enough individually and could push and cause people to do over-the-top crazy bullshit that he didn’t want to think about. “So someone combined those four fucking things?” he asked as she accepted the small evidence bag from him.

  “Not combined,” Holly responded. “Manufactured. Someone used the root formulas for that nasty quartet and came up with something entirely unseen before.” She looked at the item in the evidence bag; a small ampule with a sharp injection tip and a small amount of green liquid in it. It was the item they found in the alley behind Walt’s garage after Calvin disappeared. “What’s this?” she asked Terry.

  “Just run the green shit through the mass spectro thing and see what it is,” Terry directed.

  “Who could do something like that?” Walt asked. “Could make something like that?”

  “Someone really smart,” Holly said. “And with access to a myriad of chemicals. A doctor of some kind for sure… maybe a pharmacological scientist.”

  “A pharmacist?” Walt said eyeing Holly.

  “A pharmacological scientist is quite a bit more advanced in education than your typical pharmacist,” Holly said moving to the mass spectrometer and setting the lethal spider in the kneehole of her desk into another shaking frenzy. “But I suppose it’s possible.”

  “Or it could be more than one,” Terry pondered out loud. “Like when it comes to meth. It takes someone or ones to cook the shit and someone or ones to market and sell the shit.”

  “Well, by pharmacist, I was thinking about the tryptophyl thing,” Walt said and cupped his chin in one of his palms.

  “You mean tryptophol? The anti-psychotic?” Holly asked.

  “No. Tryptophyl. Two Ys,” Walt replied.

  “There’s no such drug,” Holly said, looking confused.

  “Tell us about it,” Terry said sarcastically thinking about how Walt was unable to recover any pill bottles from Calvin Vale’s house. “How long will it take for the mass to do its job?”

  “Not long. I’ve just gotten one of the newest models and it’s faster than anything has been in the past. A few minutes,” Holly supplied.

  Chad, who’d been silent a while said, “Why would someone want to do this to my wife? She never hurt anyone.”

  Aside from the hum of Holly’s mass spectrometer, this was met with silence.

  “Maybe that’s just it,” Walt said. “Maybe they didn’t do it to hurt her. Maybe they’re doing it to hurt you.” He pointed at Chad dead center in the chest.

  The comment sent all thoughts of running away for an alcoholic beverage out of Chad’s mind; at least for the time being. It hadn’t occurred to him that Marcia may have been a pawn to get to him.

  They stayed silent for a while, each sorting his own thoughts.

  A short time later, the mass spectrometer signaled it had completed its analysis and a new graph popped up. As this was a sample undiluted by blood, only two compounds showed up.

  One of the spikes was the same as what had come from Marcia Dean’s blood. The new super combo drug was present in this sample.

  “But this is different. Isn’t it?” Chad questioned, cocking his head and referring to the spike that had registered as something akin to adrenaline in his wife.

  “It is different,” Holly confirmed. “But like the pseudo-adrenaline and the other thing, this has also been manufactured. And it looks like a sleep hormone.”

  “So this shit can be used to keep someone asleep and give them hallucinogenic dreams?” Walt said.

  Holly thought for a moment then nodded slightly. “Where did this come from?” she asked waving a hand at the screen.

  “Walt’s best friend went missing tonight,” Terry said.

  “Not missing,” Walt half shouted. “Kidnapped, for sure. He’s gonna end up like this guy’s wife!”

  “What am I missing?” Holly said.

  “Phobic! Phobic! Phobic!” Walt bellowed making his voice echo off the walls. He pointed to Chad, the graph with Marcia Dean’s tox re
sults on it and the monitor with the green stuff from the scene of Calvin’s disappearance. “All three of them are phobics. One’s already dead at some sick fuck’s hand and one’s missing. For sure in the hands of the same sick fuck!”

  “Calm down, Walt,” Terry said. “That won’t help anything.”

  “Sorry, Detective. I just feel like we’re walking targets with Chad around,” Walt said.

  “Well, I’m a phobic too,” Holly said. “And you don’t see me worrying.”

  Walt eyed her. “Maybe it’s time you started,” he softly said.

  At that exact second, Terry felt his phone vibrate indicating a text message, which wasn’t the least bit weird. The weird thing was that, in turn, Chad’s, Walt’s, and Holly’s phones also buzzed, chirped, and chimed.

  They each opened up phones and stared at the screens. They’d received a video file. Each of them began to watch.

  “Oh! Oh, Cal,” Walt said with a heavy heart. “No, man. No…”

  By the time the video was over, Holly was vomiting in her wastebasket; Chad went white as a sheet and craved a drink like never before; tears streamed down Walt’s face and landed on his shirt. Terry silently vowed justice would reign down swiftly on the person or persons who sent them that video.

  ~~13~~

  Calvin had had enough. He gave one last desperate push away from the fiendish monster that was clutching him and trying to force him into its hungry maw of razor-sharp-looking teeth. He knew this monster wasn’t real. It was just a concoction of his phobic mind but that didn’t make it feel any less threatening. His struggle was finally fruitful and Calvin broke free. In his dream, he moved a safe distance away from the beast and tried to calm himself. He started to count, a tactic he’d been taught by the psychiatrist he saw.

  And soon, he felt himself lifting up and out of his dream. Seconds later he was waking up.

  He didn’t realize he was waking up because a very controlled dosage of a new potent designer drug was leaving his system. He didn’t realize that any more than he knew he was waking up into a worse nightmare.

  But he would quickly find out.

  ~*~0~0~*~

  Calvin blinked his eyes in the dimly-lit space. His head throbbed along the invisible line between his temples. But he was glad to be awake and not in the dark. As he smacked his lips around dry teeth, he realized he was not alone. He should have taken comfort in that, but the way the human figure nearby kept him or herself hidden in the shadows made him fairly certain that this type of company was far from what he would receive from his mom, Julie, Walt, or any of the football players.

  “Ah,” he heard from the direction of the shrouded figure. “There you are. I must say… Even my own genius continues to amaze me. You came out of your slumber exactly when I predicted you would based on the dosage I gave you.”

  “D… D… Dosage?” Calvin rasped. His throat was extremely dry. He suddenly became aware he was naked, and when he attempted to move his hands, he found them securely bound.

  “That’s right,” the voice said.

  “What did you give me?” Calvin said with dread. He suddenly had a feeling that the team coach would give him a drug test, find some fucked up drug in his system, and kick him off the team. He dismissed the idea as ridiculous. He wouldn’t have been kidnapped, stripped, and bound if he had a prayer of making it out of here.

  “In due time,” the voice replied. “Do you remember anything? Remember who came to collect you?”

  Calvin’s eyes went up and to the left as he tried to access his memory. He saw the Bailer garage, the neighbor sitting on her dark porch across the alley and then a face came into view. It was a face he’d seen often.

  “D… Dr. Andrews?” Calvin questioned. He didn’t need to wait for an answer. As soon as the words left his lips, he confirmed the voice he was listening to belonged to the psychiatrist he’d been seeing since his father’s demise.

  Gentle applause came from the shadows and Dr. Andrews, who preferred to think of himself as Miedo when he was in this realm, stepped out of the shadows. The man was shy of forty, had a full head of professionally cut blonde hair, and had piercing eyes that fluctuated from green to hazel depending on the light they were in.

  “That’s right, Calvin,” Miedo confirmed. He stepped to the table Calvin was bound to, leaned over, and looked into his eyes with genuine concern. “And how are you feeling today? What would you like to talk about?” He waited two beats and then burst out laughing. When he settled, Miedo said. “I couldn’t give two shits about how you’re feeling. I never did.”

  “Why am I here?” Calvin asked. He felt pretty sure he didn’t want to know the answer.

  “I’m thrilled you asked, Mr. Football Player,” Miedo responded. He squatted down a bit and fiddled with something under the table.

  Calvin felt and heard a soft vibration as the surface to which he was attached began to raise him from a horizontal position to a position just shy of vertical. As he was elevated, in the distance, under some type of spot light, he saw a young woman hanging from the ceiling and struggling. Calvin couldn’t be sure but she looked like she had headphones wrapped around her ears.

  “You’re here because of your fears,” Miedo said. He pointed to the young woman across the way. “Just like she is.” He stepped closer to Calvin and gently took hold of the younger man’s genitals. “And you’re also here because of this.”

  “Hey!” Calvin fired and tried unsuccessfully to move away from the violation. He had no issues with gay people and had even done some experimenting with some other guys but there was nothing pleasurable or innocuous about this touch.”

  “High school kids love to blabber and spread rumors,” Miedo said without releasing his hold on Calvin’s private parts. “It didn’t take long for my… accomplice… to learn that all your peers thought you sported the biggest cock in school.”

  “What the fuck does that have to do with anything?” Calvin fumed. His anger welled as his shrink continued to fondle him.

  “That girl there,” Miedo said pointing to the suspended woman with his free hand. “Well, as her phobias were born, she damaged my accomplice. Broke him, really. He wants to break her in reciprocity.”

  Calvin looked at the suspended woman and then down between his legs. Slowly he said, “Again… what the fuck does my dick have to do with anything?”

  “That girl there is afraid of a man’s erection. Can you believe that?” Miedo scoffed. “We’re going to subject her to yours. Repeatedly. My accomplice wants to see her wrecked by your tool.”

  “What?!” Calvin said scrunching his brow. “I’m not gonna do that!”

  Miedo finally released Calvin’s manhood. He swayed his upper body and smiled a grin at Calvin that was laced with happiness. “Wonderful!” Miedo said. “It will be a challenge then and it sounds like you’ve accepted.”

  “You’re crazy, you fuck,” Calvin spat. “I didn’t agree to any challenge.”

  “Your intransigence was your agreement,” Miedo replied with pleasure.

  Calvin wanted to spit on the man to whom his mother paid so much money in an attempt to make him feel somewhat whole again, but his mouth was still too dry.

  Miedo stepped to face Calvin, momentarily blocking out the young woman who quaked in the distance. He thrust his hands into his pants’ pockets. “The girl over there… her name is Heather. She’s your age and the age of your precious Julie. But this is a big metropolis. She does not attend the same school you do so you’ve never met her.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that I’m still not gonna rape her, you asshole,” Calvin said with venom on his voice.

  Miedo snickered. His upper body swayed from side to side in obvious excitement. “I guess we shall see.” He moved away from Calvin and disappeared behind him where he began gathering some things. As he gathered, he continued to talk. “She can’t hear us right now,” Miedo said. “You see, Heather is quite afraid of loud sounds. Another phobia she developed
at the hands of my… accomplice…”

  Calvin noticed that Dr. Andrews probably had an issue or two with his accomplice.

  “… So I have a nice and pleasant MegaDeath playlist playing for her through the headphones,” Miedo continued.

  Not alone, not in the dark, and not asleep, Calvin was not in the clutches of his fears. “You’re a monster,” he said softly.

  Miedo ignored the insult and continued to do what he was doing. He walked a trio of digital cameras from one area over to where Heather hung and placed them around her on tripods of different heights. He fiddled with each until he was sure he had the right angles. He adjusted the lighting around her. When he was satisfied, he returned to Calvin. His hands slipped back into his pockets and this time he took hold on an item in each hand. He extracted the items and showed them to Calvin. Each was a medicine vial and each held a clear liquid. “My accomplice is quite a gifted pharmacological scientist, even if he doesn’t use that to his full potential. Anyway, he’s been quite good at procuring things for me that have helped me reach my full potential. These are two of those… wonderful creations!” he exclaimed and his eyes sparkled. He swayed in anticipation again. “This one…” He shook the first vial. “Well, for an hour, maybe seventy minutes, it’s going to give you an unstoppable boner. I crafted it from that little blue pill so many men like but, of course, I jacked it up.” He selected a syringe from a nearby table and drew a small amount of the liquid into the ampule. He quickly stepped to Calvin and plunged the needle into his shoulder, pressed the plunger, and emptied the contents of the syringe into Calvin’s bloodstream.”

  “OW! You miserable fuck!” Calvin shouted. He struggled against his restraints but they held strong. “I’m going to fucking kill you,” he supplemented.

  “I think not,” Miedo returned and chuckled. He was filling the syringe again with the second liquid. “Now this one… this one… I really can’t wait to try! This is going to make you quite… Well, I don’t want to say docile… how about… pliable? Your body, anyway. You mind will be quite aware of everything that’s about to transpire but your body is just… how shall I put it? It’s just going to go along with the flow.”