Selected Stories

by Nate Southard

  Maybe Shelly can see my thoughts tumbling around, because she pulls me close to her and plants a hard kiss on my mouth.

  “You ain’t paying me a thing, baby. This is just you and me.”

  My heart accelerates, and I can feel it start to scrape.

  The days and nights blur, twist, and combine. Shelly burns everything down and builds it back up again. Her skin becomes my home, her touch the electric spark that keeps my pulse racing. Our time together is spent in a world of teeth and lips and sweat. Whiskey and cigarettes. Our eyes lock as our bodies buck against each other, only slipping shut when our passion explodes.

  If it ain’t love, it’s the purest lust I’ve ever experienced.

  Months pass blissfully, and then this guy, this total asshole, appears. Walks right into the club like he owns the joint. Maybe he does. Not like I know things like that. I just come to see Shelly, and I can feel her bristle the second he enters the place.

  “You okay?”

  “Fine,” she says, but her voice is flat, far away.

  I fix my eyes on the guy and try to burn holes through him. He wears a leather jacket that shines in the dim light. Long, black hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and the only thing distracting from his deep, shadowed eyes is a scar that travels a jagged path from his hairline to his chin. When he jabs a cigar into his teeth and lights it, I see fire dance off a collection of silver rings. The musky smoke from his cigar fills the club, and it smells like money. The kind of cash that comes with a whole lot of power.

  I feel Shelly’s hands tighten around my arm as I watch the man sit. A drink appears at his hand the instant his ass hits leather, a nervous-looking waitress giving him her best smile. He waves her off with two fingers and then knocks back the entire drink in a single swallow. The smile his eyes give me over the rim of the glass makes me want to crush his throat. One by one, my muscles harden.

  “Don’t,” Shelly whispers in my ear, and for the first time I can remember, she sounds scared. “He’s dangerous.”

  “Who is he?”

  “His name’s Michael.”

  “Who is he?”

  “I’m not sure. Deals art or something. I just know he’s dangerous.”

  “So am I, babe.”

  “Not like he is.”

  I shoot Shelly a glance, and I see her watching Michael, her eyes narrow and worried. Another blister rises, and I know I hate this man. This man I don’t even know, I despise him with everything I have.

  A waitress I know as Liz approaches. She looks scared, like a child afraid to tell her parents about the awful thing she’s done. Shelly’s hands ratchet tighter on my arm.

  “Michael wants to see you, Ivy,” Liz says.

  “I’m with somebody,” Shelly replies.

  “He wants to see you now.”

  “She doesn’t want to see him,” I say, standing before I even realize I’m doing it. Shelly pulls at my arm, dragging me back to my seat.

  “Don’t.” There’s a begging note in her voice, and one of the blisters deep inside my chest pops.

  “Who the hell is that guy? He bad news? Has he hurt you or something?”

  She shakes her head. “Just go home. I’ll call you later.”

  I stare at her for what feels like forever. Really? Like I can’t handle it? I know what she does here. My brain twists and tumbles, and I try to sort out what the hell’s going on, but eventually all I can say is, “I’m staying. Do what you have to.”

  “Baby…”

  “Just do what you need,” I say, making sure to phrase it in a way that hurts. Petty, but I don’t really care. My leaking heart wants me to be a child for a moment.

  “Okay.” Shelly nods, and the look on her face is more than a shiv. It’s a Christmas tree, a jagged, barbed hunk of metal that rips out your guts when a con yanks it out of you. Without another word, she kisses me on the cheek and then leaves, the sex absent from her walk. She looks defeated, lost. Looking past her, I catch Michael smiling at me.

  “Let me grab you a beer,” Liz says. Then, she’s gone, and I’m left to sit there and stew.

  Michael kisses Shelly’s hand when she greets him, and I see the shiver run through her body. She’s sad and terrified, and he doesn’t even care. Another wave of his fingers, and a fresh drink appears at the table, along with a flute of champagne. Michael lets Shelly take a single, faltering sip, and then he makes a great show of reaching down and unzipping his pants.

  Shelly shoots another look my way, an apology. I don’t give any sign that I’ve noticed. Instead, as Liz places a cold bottle on my table, I tell myself this is all part of the game. I’ve seen Shelly tug on men before. This is just another Joe, another dollar. He’s an asshole, but he doesn’t mean a damn thing to her. She loves me.

  Then, Shelly’s head disappears under the table, and Michael leans his head back and gives me the biggest grin I’ve ever seen.

  Rage flares inside me like a black fire. It surrounds my heart, helping it to blister faster, and I pour beer down my throat as though it might douse the flames.

  Michael sees this, and somehow his grin widens. I want to walk over there and rip his face off with my nails, but the sight of Shelly’s head cresting the plane of the table and diving back down again reminds me I’m not the only person involved.

  My eyes flick back to Michael’s face, to that grin. It’s still spreading, and I wonder if the guy’s face is made out of rubber. But then the skin splits at the corners of his mouth. It cracks and peels away like old leather or something, blood trickling past exposed teeth. His eyes don’t leave mine, and I sense a terrible glee in them, and still the guy’s mug is splitting in half, the bleeding ruptures in his skin almost back to his ears, the tendons of his jaw now visible. The club’s lights flicker. No, they vibrate, everything feeling like an earthquake for a few seconds. I can’t tell if anybody else notices. Shelly doesn’t stop, so maybe it’s just me. Right now, I’m not sure I care if anybody else feels it. Michael has my attention. Blood trickles from his ears; a tear of red leaves his eye and traces his scar down to the rip in his face.

  Then, the world blinks, and he’s just Michael again. Sitting there. Smiling at me. My woman’s head in his lap.

  Liz appears. “You okay?”

  “You see any of that?”

  “Any of what?”

  “That shit with Michael.”

  “No…No, I didn’t.” Her voice is thick with terror.

  “Somebody needs to shut that guy down.”

  Her hand touches my shoulder. “You should go.”

  The words finally pull my eyes away from Michael. “What? Like hell.”

  “You’ll make things worse for her if you stay. He likes to make examples.”

  No shit.

  “I’ll make sure she calls as soon as she can.”

  “Fine.” I climb out of my seat and start walking, but I keep my eyes on Michael’s, letting him know I’m not backing down. I’ve told more obvious lies. Hell, I even believe this one right up until I hear the man’s laughter chase me out of the club.

  Shelly doesn’t call. Instead, she comes by late, just after I put the sixth hole through my wall. Her eyes are red and wet, and she breaks into sobs when she sees the blood on my knuckles.

  I wrap her in my arms and tell her it will be all right, even as I hope she can’t feel the hate inside me. As she weeps against my chest, I imagine my hands around Michael’s neck. I wonder if he’d smile as his face turned from red to purple.

  “I’m so sorry,” she says.

  “It’s okay.” I press my lips to hers and taste mouthwash alongside cigarettes. It makes me feel a little sick. Then she kisses me with more force, with a desperate hunger, and I’m hooked again. I want her and need her. She’s everything in the world to this big idiot.

  Before I realize it, my own hunger’s kicked in, hard. My arms tighten around her, my hands roaming. Shelly moans. I slide my kisses down to her neck, and soon my fingers pull at her clothes.
>
  Her moans stop. Her hands grab at mine. “No.”

  “What?”

  “Just…not now. Not for a few days.”

  I stare at her for a moment, and shame clouds her eyes.

  “What did he do?” I ask.

  Instead of answering, she turns away, her hands rubbing at her arms.

  “Michael, right? What did he do to you?”

  “Leave it.”

  “Tell me!”

  She sobs again, and my heart scrapes hard against my ribs. Shelly doesn’t say anything, but instead peels off her clothes.

  My breath catches in my throat like a cork in a dusty bottle.

  Bruises cover her body, a canvas of browns and blues and blacks. Red welts serve as accents. I know who the artist is, and I can tell he’s a master. Looking at the damage, I’m amazed Shelly can even walk, let alone act like she’s okay. As she returns to my arms, however, she pulls the curtain aside and shows how much she’s hurting.

  I realize I’m going to kill Michael.

  “Does he always do this?” I ask.

  “When he wants.”

  “And the club allows it.”

  “He throws enough money their way, it doesn’t matter.”

  I take a deep breath, wondering if I’m willing to go back inside for this. Yeah, I am.

  “Have you been to his house?”

  I don’t know who Michael is, and Shelly doesn’t have much of an idea past him being rich, powerful, and mean to the core, but his house looks like it belongs to somebody important. Parked down the street from this thing that can only be called a mansion, I ask Shelly about security. I hate that she can tell me she’s never seen any. She speaks with the confidence of somebody who’s visited more than once or twice.

  My fingers tighten around the tire iron in my lap. I picture my plans, how I plan to use the tool, and my body burns cold. Shelly must feel it, because she shivers behind the wheel.

  “I’ll be back soon.”

  “I have to come with you,” she says.

  “No you don’t. You stay here, and I’ll be back when it’s over.”

  Her eyes shift to razor focus. “I’m not helpless.”

  “I know, babe.”

  “And you don’t have to do this. Please. Michael’s dangerous. He’s scary.”

  “I can be scary, too.”

  And I climb out of the Mercury.

  Getting over the fence ain’t so hard. I’ve pulled off tougher jobs, and getting across the prick’s giant, lit-up yard and finding an unlocked window is almost a walk in the goddamn park. Did a six-year stretch on a B and E once, but that was just one screw-up compared to dozens of successful jobs. I know how to get into a house.

  I ease the window open slowly, listening for dogs. Michael strikes me as the breed of rich bastard to keep a few dogs around. He has to feel so secure for some reason, and I haven’t spotted so much as a lick of security.

  What I hear drifting from the window sure as hell ain’t dogs, though. Not unless Michael taught a pack to moan like a gaggle of pros. My teeth grind as I think about Shelly sitting in the car, bruised and marked, while this bastard entertains himself with even more women. I take a deep breath, steeling the last of my nerves, and then I climb through the window.

  Something’s wrong. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that much.

  I find myself in a study, thick books lining shelves made of dark wood. A leather sofa sits in the middle of the floor, facing two arm chairs. It looks so normal, but the light’s all wrong. It vibrates, just like it did in the club. A new sound has sprung up to match the women. It’s a low, threatening moan. Somebody singing deep and full at the end of a long tunnel. Everything rushes right to my skull and throbs. Dizziness grabs me and almost sends me to my knees. The iron feels slick in my hand, and I realize I’m sweating tin pails.

  Everything dims. I shove my fingers into my mouth and bite down, hard. Pain races up my arm to my brain, and suddenly I’m awake again. The light’s still weird, and that moan is still there, but they’ve backed off a little. I can function.

  I leave the room cautiously, fingers on the door’s edge, feet heel-toeing it when I walk. As I leave the study, I take in the bastard’s impressive home. Everything’s marble, polished and white. If the lights would stop their fluttering, it would be perfect.

  No. Nothing will ever be perfect here.

  That low, moaning sound is more of a rumble now. It lies underneath everything, threatening to break loose. I have to search to find which direction all that pleasure’s coming from, but it doesn’t take long. Michael really has the women with him singing. I wonder what he’s doing to them, and if Shelly had to make those noises when he was beating her five different shades of awful.

  By the time I find the door I want, the one with all the moaning and screaming on the other side, the tire iron is almost a part of my hand. My fingers burn against the cool metal. My knuckles shine white.

  I close my eyes and picture Michael’s smile. I see Shelly’s head bobbing up and down. Before Michael’s face begins to split, I open my eyes again. I’m ready for blood.

  I kick open the door. Wood splinters and women scream. As I step into the room, iron cocked and ready to swing, I see naked flesh scatter. Half a dozen women run in half a dozen different directions. Some are bruised already. A redhead has a quartet of bleeding gashes in her neck.

  There’s more white marble in here, only this is laced with blood. Red splatters draw my eyes downward. I spot more red at the back of the room and raise my eyes to see a curtain. Elsewhere, I see immaculate lounges and rotting wooden racks. Nothing matches, here. Everything is chaos.

  Michael stands in the middle, an epicenter in black pants and nothing else. His hair is a wild tangle. A whip occupies one hand, and a bottle of whiskey fills the other. That grin sits just how I expected it, and I can already see myself knocking it in with the iron.

  “White Knight?” Michael asks. His voice is silky, that kind of smooth that has a layer of pure rot underneath.

  The tire iron shakes in my fist. I want to say something, but my throat is full of anger. The lights are vibrating more, that rumble is starting to shake the floor. What on earth…?

  “Not exactly, huh?” He tosses the whip to the floor and takes a long pull of the bottle. His confidence is a living thing. He doesn’t even care that I’m here.

  “Shelly said she had a fella. Told her I didn’t give a damn. She tell you to stay away?” As if putting a period on the end, his skin ripples, a quick wave that could almost be imagination.

  I answer by taking a step forward. Can’t be scary just standing there.

  “She never told you? Maybe she doesn’t know. Here.”

  His flesh moves again as walks away from me. I want to rush him, want to crack his skull wide open, but my feet refuse to move. As Michael reaches for a golden rope, I can only watch.

  He pulls, and the curtain glides open.

  I look at a storm in a large glass jar. A roiling mass of pure black fills the glass that’s almost waist high. Fire twists with the black clouds. Lightning traces patterns along its outer shape. Together, the three—I don’t know, are they elements?—move like a living thing. I try to think of another time I might have seen something so amazing, and all I can think of is Michael’s face-splitting grin.

  “Pretty, ain’t it?” Michael asks. “That’s Hell for ya. Looks great until it busts loose. Lucky for you and Shelly and everybody else on this rock, I’m here.”

  He steps to the jar and traces a finger along it. Lightning and fire follow his touch.

  “See, White Knight? I keep Hell right where it belongs. It’s not easy work, but I have my appetites to keep me sane.”

  One of the girls whimpers. I’d almost forgotten about them.

  “Sane?” Not the first word I’d planned on speaking.

  “More or less.” His grin starts to split along the edges again. He walks back to the curtain, reaches behind it. My body tenses.<
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  “How about you stop moving?”

  He pulls off the bottle. There’s a shrug, so casual I barely notice it, and then his other arm appears, the snubnose tight in his fist.

  I rush him. You run at a guy with a gun, he panics. His reaction time drops to nothing, and any shots will be wild ones.

  Michael fires twice, but only the first misses. The second punches right into my belly. Everything becomes fire, but I keep moving. A growl scratches out of my throat as I reach Michael and swing.

  The first strike drops him. I feel the crunch of his skull all the way up my arm. He doesn’t make a sound, just collapses to the marble floor. I hear more screams, followed by the sound of one of the women running for her life.

  I raise the tire iron and bring it down again. It smashes through Michael’s face. Something tears in my gut, and the pain is almost blinding.

  The rumbling becomes a roar. The lights strobe faster and faster.

  I grab the snubnose and press it to Michael’s chest. Somehow, it continues to rise and fall. Not much, but enough that I have to be sure. When I jab the barrel against his sternum, something pushes back. Black veins travel across his flesh and then disappear.

  I hold my breath and pull the trigger.

  His body bucks hard beneath the blast and then lies still. I stagger backward, trying to figure my next move. Five women stare at me. This many witnesses can’t be good; I know that. Before I can make a decision, however, I hear glass cracking.

  My eyes flash to the jar, to the fracture making its way from top to bottom. Tendrils of flame and blackness snake out from the crack, testing the air.

  I drop the tire iron and push the hand to my bleeding gut. Women scream and scream, and I back toward the door, wanting to tell them to run, but unable to do a damn thing but hiss through bared teeth.

  I make four stumbling steps toward the door before the jar shatters. Black clouds veined with fire and lightning roll forward, growing. The redhead with the gashes shrieks and hits her knees, and as I reach the door I can only watch as the cloud rears back like a snake and then strikes her, a tendril of black and red wrapping around her skull.