Johnny Gruesome

by Gregory Lamberson

  Gary stood over Johnny, the chain hanging in his right hand. Johnny lay on his back, staring up at them with upturned eyes, his chest still. Gary’s breath came in ragged gasps, vapor streaming from his mouth and nostrils like cigarette smoke.

  Karen sank to her knees. “Oh, God …”

  Eric looked at Gary, who wiped his nose on the back of his left hand. Gazing at Johnny’s discolored features, he stepped forward, crouched, and felt for a pulse. Snowflakes landed in Johnny’s eyes, melted, and ran down his cheeks like tears. Eric looked up, panic in his eyes as he shook his head.

  Karen’s sobs grew into a single wail.

  Chapter 5

  Pitch-black darkness.

  No pain. No cold. No feeling.

  Nothing.

  Am I dead?

  FUCK!

  Gary swung the chain over his head, faster and faster, until it whistled over their heads. He released it, and they watched it soar into the darkness over the creek. A moment later, they heard the loud cracking followed by a small splash.

  “You asshole.” Eric rose without realizing it. “You fucking asshole!” He charged at Gary and swung at him, but his fist missed its mark.

  Gary wrapped an arm around him and pivoted on one heel, forcing Eric against the railing. As pain shot through Eric’s back, he recalled Johnny using a similar move on Todd that morning. Gary pressed his right forearm against Eric’s throat. Eric’s head hung over the railing, and his legs spread apart in the snow. He shoved Gary’s forearm with both hands.

  “Cool it,” Gary said through clenched teeth, maintaining his choke hold.

  Grunting, Eric continued to struggle.

  “Cool it.” Gary applied more pressure, cutting off Eric’s oxygen.

  He’s going to kill me, too! Eric relented and Gary removed his arm and stepped back. Massaging his throat, Eric gasped for air. He’s insane! Grabbing the railing with one hand, Eric turned and gazed at Willow Creek below. Snow covered the muddy embankment, and pine trees waved in the wind. The sound of water rushing beneath the ice rose to meet him. Bile climbed his throat, and he covered his mouth.

  Gary jerked him around by his collar. “Don’t you dare get sick! We can’t leave any evidence behind—not even your barf.”

  Eric stared at Gary, aghast. “What are you talking about?”

  “We have to make this look like an accident.”

  “We?” Eric struggled in Gary’s grasp. “No way. You did it. You killed him!”

  Light splits the darkness.

  I see again, but not with my eyes. The light intensifies, showering me. It’s no tunnel of light, though; more like warm sunshine on closed eyelids.

  Silhouettes appear, moving toward me like dancers … or stampeding animals.

  Angels—?

  Maybe.

  Guess I wasn’t such a bad dude after all.

  “Yeah, I killed him,” Gary said. “But only because he was going to kill all of us.”

  Eric’s mind raced, his thoughts in disarray. “No! He wasn’t serious … He wouldn’t have … It was you …”

  “Bullshit. He steered straight for this railing. He was going to kill himself and take us with him. He was out of his freaking mind.”

  “No.” Eric shoved Gary back. “He was just trying to scare us. You’re so wired you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t.” Gary turned to Karen. “You tell him.”

  She wiped tears from her eyes. “He’s right, Eric. Look at the car.” Eric’s eyes darted to the Death Mobile. The front bumper filled the gap between the barriers, the front wheels less than two feet from the edge.

  “If I hadn’t pulled the emergency brake, we’d all be dead now.”

  The silhouettes embrace me, shadows of golden warmth.

  Is this what it feels like to get high on heroin or trip on acid?

  I hear thousands of voices at the same time, all of them urging me to join them.

  One rises above the others and I feel—

  Love?

  A mother’s love.

  My mother!

  Touching my soul, she guides me into the light.

  For the first time in seven years, I feel safe.

  At peace.

  “Karen saved our asses,” Gary said. “So did I.” He gestured at the railing. “If I hadn’t stopped Johnny, we’d be down there right now.”

  Karen stood, her jeans wet from the knees down. “Johnny lost control, Eric. You heard him. He was pissed off at the whole world.”

  Eric jabbed the air before Gary. “You didn’t have to kill him!”

  “I didn’t mean to. But what do you think would have happened if I’d let him go? I had to protect myself, had to protect us.”

  “Oh, Jesus …”

  Gary stepped forward. “Why didn’t you stop me?”

  Eric froze. “I tried—”

  “Really?”

  “Everything happened so fast …”

  “You mean you were too scared to do anything.”

  Eric faced Karen. The accusation in her eyes told him she agreed with Gary. With his thoughts tumbling like laundry in a dryer, he turned back. “Maybe you’re right. Everything got crazy. If it was self-defense, the cops will understand.”

  “Are you nuts? They’ll hang me out to dry, and you two with me. How much beer did you drink? Karen had a few and smoked some weed. My system’s totally polluted. Think of the publicity. The newspapers will call us drug addicts and murderers and devil worshipers, like those poor kids in Memphis. You still hoping to go to college? Our lives will be ruined. Ourparents’ lives will be ruined.”

  NO—!

  “Johnny …”

  THEY KILLED ME!

  “Let it go …”

  I’M GOING TO KILL THEM!

  “Come with me.”

  KILL THEM ALL!

  “Forget your anger.”

  KILL THEM!

  “You’ll damn your soul …”

  KILL!

  “… for eternity …”

  Moving backward, the silhouettes retreat.

  FUCK OFF, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

  They disappear.

  And the white light turns deep red.

  Eric ran one hand through his hair, his head throbbing. His parents. College. His whole future. “I need to think.”

  Gary lowered his hands. “Take your time, okay? It’s not like we’re in an uncompromising position or anything. Anyone drives by and sees us, we’ll just act cool and hope they don’t notice Johnny lying tits up in the snow.”

  Eric took in the tableau. His breathing slowed. Karen and Gary grew smaller, staring at him. He no longer felt cold. Shock?

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Gary said.

  Stopping in his tracks, Eric realized he had backed away from them.

  Silence.

  He moved forward. “We can’t do this. We have to go to the police.”

  Gary closed the distance between them. “Johnny’s dead and nothing can bring him back. What’s done is done. We can still have our lives, though.”

  “There’s no way we’ll get away with it. We’re just high school students, not criminal masterminds.”

  “Who do you think’s going to investigate this, the cast of CSI? This isn’t TV, it’s Red Hill. Chief Crane’s just a small town cop who hands out speeding tickets. This situation doesn’t require Lex Luthor.”

  “Either you’re crazy or you’re still high, or both. No matter what we do, there will still be some evidence, something we miss.”

  “It’s snowing. Look at our tracks—they’re already filling in. There’s no blood, no sign of a struggle. Nobody will know what happened here but us.”

  Eric looked at Karen, sniffling and rubbing tears from her eyes.

  She locked her hands together to keep them from shaking. “Do what he says.”

  Swallowing, Eric looked at Johnny, then faced Gary. He shivered. “What do we do first?”

  The red light parts like curtains before a movie sc
reen.

  I see them on the bridge, staring at my corpse. I see every star and snowflake in the sky; I see a snail frozen on a tree limb; pinecones littering the woods; a doe and her fawn crossing a frozen brook.

  Is this what it feels like to be God?

  KILL!

  Diving straight at Gary, I penetrate flesh and blood and bone and find myself staring at Karen.

  NO! I passed right through him!

  So I pounce on her instead—with identical results.

  GODDAMN IT!

  Jingling the car keys, Gary stepped over Johnny’s body and opened the car door. The dome light cast harsh shadows over Johnny’s face. Gary sat behind the wheel, closed the door, and ignited the engine. He rolled down the window to see Johnny. Eric and Karen watched him back the Death Mobile off the bridge, twenty feet from the railing. Killing the engine, he got out and rejoined them.

  “Help me get him into the car.”

  Eric glanced from Johnny’s corpse to the Death Mobile and back again. Stepping forward, he stopped at Johnny’s feet while Gary moved to Johnny’s head. Crouching, they looked each other in the eye. Eric’s right hand hovered above Johnny’s left knee, then touched it with tentative fingers. He looked at Johnny’s face again, half-expecting his friend to flinch or awaken.

  Nothing happened.

  Eric raised Johnny’s knees and Gary lifted his torso upright. Johnny’s head pitched forward, his long hair hanging before his face.

  “We should have taken him to the hospital,” Eric said. “We didn’t even try giving him mouth-to-mouth …”

  Gary shook Johnny so his head rolled on his neck and his features became visible. “You want to blow into his mouth with his tongue sticking out like that? Go right ahead.”

  A cold wind rose and Eric shook his head. “Then let’s get busy.”

  They stood, struggling with Johnny’s body. Eric grimaced as they carried it across the bridge, with Karen following at a distance.

  I’m nothing but unharnessed energy.

  Scattered atoms.

  Have to focus my anger.

  Eric …

  Go Linda Blair on his ass. Use his body to kill Gary and fuck Karen.

  Penetrating his body …

  I skirt his cerebral cortex and make myself at home in his brain. Synapses trigger and flare around me, and his emotions bombard: anger, fear, guilt.

  It’s overwhelming.

  I don’t care!

  Seeing the world through his eyes, I want to strangle Gary.

  KILL HIM!

  I will his hands to grab Gary’s throat.

  Nothing. Nada. Zip.

  Not even a muscle spasm.

  I can’t control his mind or his body.

  SHIT! Possession must be “for demons only.”

  Is this what I stuck around for?

  To watch them go on with their lives while my body rots?

  Not happening.

  In an instant, I’m back in my own body.

  It’s nothing but a shell now, but—

  Home is where the heart is.

  A flatulent sound split the silence, and Eric stared at Gary with disgust.

  “It wasn’t me,” Gary said, looking at Johnny. “It was him. It’s just escaping gas.” He turned to Karen. “Get the door!”

  Hurrying ahead of them, Karen opened the driver’s side door. Gary guided Johnny headfirst into the car, then he and Eric pushed the corpse across the seat until Johnny’s ass rested where it belonged. Gary ran around the car and opened the passenger door. Eric turned to Karen, hoping she would protest their actions, but she just passed a sleeve beneath her runny nose.

  Gary hopped in beside Johnny with a determined look on his face, then grabbed the corpse by its shoulders and propped it upright. Johnny fell face-first into the steering wheel. Gary held him up with his left hand, then fastened the seat belt and shoulder strap and slid out of the car. He closed the door and Johnny slumped forward.

  Joining Eric, Gary spotted something glinting in the pale light. Leaning across Johnny, he retrieved Eric’s unopened beer. He pulled the tab, triggering a soft explosion of foam. Eric flinched and wiped suds from his face. Gary took a single sip from the can, then poured beer over Johnny’s head, drenching his hair and leather jacket.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Toast to the dead,” Gary said. “Sign of respect.” He tossed the can onto the passenger seat.

  “If you say so. Now what?”

  Gary slammed the door and the dome light went out. “We give our man here a burial at sea.”

  I don’t care how long it takes: their asses are mine.

  Chapter 6

  They walked back along Willow Road, with only an occasional streetlight for guidance, their feet kicking snow. Gary clenched his hands into fists as Karen sobbed. Sobered by the cold, Eric put one arm around her shoulders. It felt strange, comforting Johnny’s girl. She leaned against him, making him feel needed.

  We’re never going to get away with this, he thought.

  When they had gotten a quarter of a mile away from the bridge, headlights appeared in the distance.

  “Get down!” Gary said.

  They ran along a ditch, searching for a spot to hide, but snow had filled it. Leaping across it, Gary jogged to a nearby fence. Eric made the jump as well. Grabbing a wooden post for balance, Gary threw one leg over barbed wire and slid through the barrier.

  Karen’s right leg disappeared into the ditch and she cried out. The headlights grew closer, the coughing sounds of an old engine louder. Eric grabbed her outstretched hands and pulled her out. They ran to the fence and Gary helped her climb between the wire strands.

  “Hurry up!” Gary said.

  Eric climbed through the same way he’d seen Gary do it, and the three of them huddled behind the post, their breathing labored. The truck turned left before reaching them and traveled a desolate dirt road with no streetlights. Within seconds, darkness and snowfall devoured it.

  “Shit,” Gary said.

  Karen covered her eyes with one hand. “That was close.”

  Eric said nothing. What had he gotten himself into?

  Murder, he thought.My best friend’s murder.

  The light from passing cars splashed the dark windows of Johnny’s house.

  “Nobody’s home,” Gary said.

  “It’s nine thirty,” Eric said. “Charlie went downtown an hour ago.”

  “Poor Charlie,” Karen said.

  “Let’s go,” Gary said.

  Emerging from the grape vineyard, the trio approached Gary’s truck, parked at the far end of the driveway. Gary climbed in and started the engine. Karen got in beside him; Eric slid beside her and closed the door. Gary allowed the truck to idle, its heater warming them.

  “Let’s go over it one more time,” he said. “I don’t want any mistakes after we split up.”

  Karen withdrew a Marlboro Light from the pack in her purse and stuck it between her lips. Her shaking hand could not strike a match. Gary held her wrist steady, allowing her to light the cigarette, and Eric unrolled his window a crack.

  “Sorry,” Karen said, exhaling.

  They ran through their story again.

  “Remember,” Gary said. “We’re all in this together. If one of us sinks, we all drown.”

  Eric and Karen nodded, and Gary shifted the truck into gear.

  The truck prowled Main Street, deserted except for a few cars parked outside the bars. Listening to the steady sound of the windshield wipers, Eric gazed out the window at the gazebo in the town square and saw his reflection staring back. It took only nine minutes to reach his house, but it felt like forever. Passing the driveway, Gary pulled over to the side of the street, behind a dormant apple tree.

  Eric studied his home, an uneasy feeling in his gut. His mother had left the outside light on for him. He pictured the Death Mobile idling in the driveway just that morning, when Johnny had picked him up.

  “You waiting for an
invitation?” Gary said. “You don’t need one.”

  Karen looked at him, her lips trembling. “Take care of yourself, Eric.”

  “You, too.” Eric got out and closed the door. Crossing the driveway, he heard the truck recede behind him. As he unlocked the front door, he scanned the neighborhood. Snow-covered rooftops reflected moonlight at the falling snow. He entered the foyer and closed the door as quietly as possible. His mother had also left on the upstairs hallway light. He hung his coat in the front closet, then crept upstairs. Tiptoeing to his room, he anticipated his mother’s voice even before he heard it.

  “Eric?”

  His heart skipped a beat. “Yes?”

  “Did you turn off the front light?”

  He didn’t remember. “Yes.”

  “Good night.”

  “Good night.”

  In his room, he peeled off his sweater, then went into the bathroom. A pale, haggard countenance stared back at him in the mirror over the sink, and he brushed his teeth so hard his gums bled. He spat a mixture of blood and toothpaste, then ran water over it.

  Water, rushing …

  He shut off the tap, cut the light, and returned to his room, where he undressed in darkness. The streetlight cast a silver rectangle onto the ceiling as he crawled beneath the covers and buried his face in his pillow. A car passed outside, and the Death Mobile drove through his mind.

  Johnny …

  His chest convulsed and he choked up; tears burned his eyes and mucus clogged his nose. He pounded his pillow, and the bed squeaked as he sobbed.

  Johnny!

  Karen felt queasy staring at the dark windows of her house as Gary pulled into the driveway. “My mother won’t be home until after midnight.”

  “You want me to come in and wait with you?”

  She blinked. Was Gary trying to hit on her after everything that had just happened? “No.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t think you should be alone right now.”

  He seemed sincere. “No, thanks. My mom would freak. I’ll see you tomorrow.”