Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner

by Joshua Scribner

  Doctor Says that Flu is not Serious

  A Summer flu appears to be sweeping across the state. Doctor Lyle Tate, local practitioner, stated that people who notice small red-spots on their skin and feel feverish should report to their doctor’s office immediately. Dr. Tate noted that he doubts that the flu could have any serious repercussions if it is detected and treated quickly.

  Laurie Havlacheck, B. S. N.

  The moment he was done with this article, the newspaper page disappeared, and Jacob was left staring through the space between his two clinched fists. From there he could see that the other two pages were also gone. After a few seconds of astonishment, Jacob heard the sound of the lock clicking. He looked over and saw the back door swing open.

  He dropped his fists to his side and waited to see who was home. But a few more seconds passed and no one entered. The anticipation began to rise again.

  “I should have known.”

  Slowly, Jacob moved toward the door. From the first threshold, he saw nothing out of place. It was just the interior back porch, no different then it had ever been. But Jacob was struck by the sudden lack of odor. The dusty smell of the back porch and the usual country smells blowing in from outside were gone.

  It was when Jacob moved outside, that more than the odor changed.

  #

  Jacob knows where he is. It’s downtown Nescata. Behind him is Ledbetter Bar, where he had dropped Sonnie off a few hours ago. Across the street are the bank, the library, and the post office. Down the street, on the corner, stands the mechanics’ shop that has been there ever since Jacob can remember. Off in the distance, are the familiar grain elevators and the town park. These things are the same as they always were.

  Two things are not the same, the cars and the death.

  There are a few cars that Jacob recognizes, like the red 1997 Mustang convertible parked across the street. Jacob remembers how he had coveted one of these. But he does not like this one at all. This one’s paint is cracked in places and faded all over. There is little tread left on any of the tires and the dual exhaust is brown with rust.

  Most of the rest look like they came straight from a futuristic car show. The carnage is massive. Corpses of various small animals line the streets. Jacob is glad he has been spared the odor.

  As far as he can tell, none of it is human. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any people—dead or alive—around at all.

  Across the street, there is something posted on the post office door. Jacob starts to cross, carefully watching where he steps, not wanting to feel the corpse of a dead animal crumble beneath his feet. He makes it about halfway before everything begins to fade out. He stops in his tracks and waits for the scene to come back. It doesn’t. He is left standing in the driveway at his parents’ house.

  “Not now, huh.”

  He walked back inside, gathered up the newspapers, and put them away.

  #

  Jacob arrived at Ledbetter Bar right at 2AM. The parking lot was empty and the lights out. Sonnie came out a door adjacent to the bar entrance. She was dressed in a long nightshirt and her hair fell down, straight and clean, all about her. Jacob’s imagination went wild.

  “Do you always dress like this for work?”

  “No. Sometimes I wear panties.”

  “Oh. I guess that could be good.”

  Sonnie laughed giddily. “Come on up.”

  She let him lead her through the door and up some stairs. They went into an apartment that was surprisingly nice, considering the look of the outside.

  “Wow!” Jacob said. “I didn’t even know this place existed.”

  “It’s a little known secret.”

  “I see.”

  “Have a seat and I’ll make us a drink.”

  Jacob sat down in the living room and waited. After a little while, Sonnie came back with two glasses filled with a murky liquid.

  “What are we drinking?”

  “A little something I’ve been tinkering with. It’s not too different from a Long Island Tea.”

  “Long Island Tea. Sonnie, are you trying to get me drunk?”

  “Maybe.”

  Jacob downed half of the glass, thinking of how it tasted all too good. “Thanks. I needed that.”

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  “And it’s really good. You can hardly taste the tea at all.”

  Sonnie laughed and took a large gulp of her own.

  “I think you should call it Sonnie Tea.”

  This time, Sonnie only smiled. She lay back on the opposite side of the couch. She lifted a petite foot up to his cheek, revealing what was underneath that nightshirt. Jacob could only stare and feel himself burn down low. Sonnie threw her head back and giggled.

  “Well, Sonnie. I do believe you’re just a bit drunk already.”

  She giggled again and slowly lowered her foot into his crotch. Then she began caressing him. “Oh no. Not me. Never.”

  Jacob shook his head.

  “It must be hard to tend bar and drink at the same time.”

  “Didn’t have to. Closed the bar early.”

  “Is that legal?”

  Sonnie popped up and was on his lap. She took his chin in her hand. “I am the bar queen. I can do anything.”

  “Oh really?”

  She nodded slowly and heavily, mimicking his usual seriousness. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself into him. Her breasts rubbed against his chest, and she began to slide her midsection firmly against him.

  Jacob nudged her and she slipped to his side. While kissing her, he took the lower rim of her shirt in his hand and thought about what he wanted to do. After pulling the shirt over her trim dark hairs, he started down on her. He kissed the top of her goosebumped thighs. She moaned sweetly. He suddenly felt guilty. He stopped and covered her with the shirt.

  “Sonnie?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t think we should.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’re drunk.”

  “So?”

  “So, not the first time back, okay.”

  There was a pause. Then she began to caress his face. “You know I made up my mind before I got drunk, don’t you?”

  “That’s not why.”

  “Then why?”

  Jacob looked for the answer and found that he was more confused than he originally thought he was.

  “Jacob. I’m sorry. I’m pushing you. You don’t have to explain.”

  He kissed her.

  “You’re so funny, Jacob.”

  She kissed him on the neck. “Will you still stay the night?”

  “I don’t think I could make myself leave.”

  Sonnie laughed gently. “You know what, Jacob?”

  “Hm.”

  “Dad’s giving me the bar.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. He’s going to retire this year and give it to me. And I get this place too.”

  “Sonnie, that’s great. I mean, isn’t it?”

  She looked at him with tired eyes. “I guess. But I think I’ll change the name.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah. I think I’ll call it Sonnie’s Place,” she said with just a hint of sarcasm. She laughed with exasperation and then rested her head on his shoulder.

  Jacob pretended not to know what she meant. He closed his eyes and waited. After about ten minutes, he was satisfied that she was asleep. He carried her to bed. He lay down beside her.

  #

  There is only the sweet scent of the woman in his arms and the strange illogic that comes with half sleep. The scent fades away and Jacob awakes completely. He cannot feel her, but he can see that she is resting on his chest. He slides through her. He looks back at the bed and sees that his body is still with her. With the form that is left, Jacob moves forward in the odorless room.

  Air is coming in through the open front door. Jacob walks, scantily dressed, into the stair corridor. The air is much stronger here. It's cold, but
it does not chill him. He's invigorated.

  Outside is the futuristic downtown Nescata. Jacob spots the sign still posted on the front door of the post office. He crosses the street, hearing the sounds the corpses of dead creatures make as his feet move over them. The death that is everywhere is mostly insects and other small creatures. There are a few dogs and cats and what seems like hundreds of birds. The animals are mostly in the late stages of the decaying process.

  From the post office steps, Jacob spots the first human corpse. It’s off in the distance, inclined in the driver’s seat of a car that had pulled up on the library steps. He spots a second, half buried under the corpse of a large dog, on the post office lawn. He realizes that he had walked within a few feet of it only moments earlier.

  He shakes his head in an attempt to rid himself of these images. He turns and reads the sign.

  This and all other Government institutions are temporarily closed. Your local authorities wish to remind you to stay inside of your home until further notice. Any person who approaches a law enforcement official or sanitation worker WILL BE EXECUTED. Thank you for your cooperation.

  Jacob thinks of the article written by the nurse. He tries to remember what the doctor said? Something about a flu that could not have serious repercussions if it was detected early.

  Suddenly, the wind whistles and the door across the street flaps. He thinks that, maybe if he walks back through that door, he will end up back inside Sonnie’s apartment. He takes off slowly at first. Then it all begins to get to him. He’s alone and afraid. He sees another human corpse under a car. It is small and covered with what looks like the remains of a Sunday dress. Its bare skull almost seems to stare at him.

  Again, he hears and feels the dead creatures break beneath his feet. But he hears something else as well. He thinks it may be the wind. But he also thinks it could be the sound of a distant engine. Whatever it is, it’s moving closer.

  Jacob works his way up to a dead sprint. He climbs the steps and flies through the door. For an instant, the inside of Sonnie’s living room is there. Then the door shuts behind him and there is nothing but black.

  #

  Black everywhere. But there is noise. It’s barely audible, but it’s there. It sounds like a voice. Jacob cannot make out what the voice is saying, but he can hear it from time to time, and in between the times he hears the voice, there is a low humming sound.

  Jacob slowly drops down to his hands and knees so he can have more balance and peace of mind. The surface is smooth but curved, hard and cold. Once again, there is no odor. He moves forward slowly, in the direction from which he thinks the humming sound emanates. He clears about ten feet before he touches something. He leans back, startled by the contact. For about half a minute he waits and then slowly pushes his right hand forward again. What’s in front of him is soft and fibrous. Fur. He presses down harder and feels what he is sure is the stiff outer surface of a dead animal. He rubs his hand to the left, moving his body with it about five feet over until he can feel the contours of its head.

  A bear. Too big to be anything else.

  He keeps to his left until he’s around it. After about thirty feet, he feels something again, but this is hard, like the floor. A wall. There is no way to know for sure, but he thinks that, since he has already moved to the left several feet, the odds are better that he will find the end of the wall faster if he continues moving left.

  The air is cold and it does affect him now. When he had left Sonnie’s, he only had boxers on. It’s his shoes he misses the most.

  Jacob makes his way further to the left, along the wall. It curves out after about twenty-five feet. He moves with the wall, back a little ways, and then he feels it start to curve back the other way again. After moving a few feet back toward the noise, he feels the ground turn into nothing. Lying flat on his stomach, Jacob leans over the edge until there is nothing underneath him from his belly button on up. Reaching out with his hand, he tries to see if he can feel what is on the other side of the gap. Nothing.

  Sitting back up on his rump, Jacob notices the numbness setting in. “I can’t kill anybody for you if I freeze to death!” he yells.

  “I can’t kill anybody for you if I freeze to death!” the cave echoes back and fades off. “I can’t kill any . . .”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Fuck . . .”

  After a few moments’ rest, he begins to feel his way back to the right. After a while, the wall curves in the direction from which Jacob thinks the sounds are coming. It continues to slope until it levels off directly in the direction of the sound.

  Jacob keeps moving, straightforward now. It is about fifty steps before he comes to yet another wall. This one slopes inward, though. Jacob follows it until it straightens out again. Just as the path straightens out, Jacob brushes another creature with his right hand. This one is much smaller than the first. And it has a bushy tail.

  “Rreeeeee. “Rrrreee.”

  Jacob jumps back and lands hard on his rump.

  “Rreeeeee.” This time it isn’t as loud. And the creature is not moving away. “Rreeee.”

  It’s sick.

  Jacob stands up. He hates the sickened sound. He wants it to stop. He decides to kill the creature the rest of the way.

  “Rreee.”

  Jacob kicks it, low and forward, like a field goal kicker trying to hit a fifty-yarder.

  It comes back.

  He feels it brush against his body. Flailing backwards, he knocks it away. Then he shakes with disgust. He walks forward about eight feet until feels the wall that sent the rodent back toward him.

  “Damn,” he whispers. This one does not curve in. “I’m in a fucking maze.”

  He moves to his right, along the new wall. “It has to give. The noise is closer now.” He fears that he could be wrong, though. And he wonders how much more he can take.

  Finally, he comes to the wall’s end in that direction. He feels around and forward. The wall is smooth and straight in the direction of the noise. He steps around to the inside. Then, his right knee buckles. His body turns as he falls off to his right. There is the sensation of his head crashing against rock, but he has not hit the floor yet. A fraction of a second later, his shoulder crashes into the rock floor.

  Jacob feels three things at once. He feels dizzy from the blow to his head. He feels the electric numbness in the rest of his body. And, most of all, there is the sense of realization. He realizes that, if he had been in contact with one wall on his left and then fell into another wall on his right, then he has probably reached the side of the cave and is now in some kind of corridor, a corridor that might lead him to the source of the noise he is hearing. For a while, he rests.

  #

  Jacob walks, because he has to now. He is afraid to try and bend his injured knee to get down on all fours. With this injury, comes the thought that the future is not like the past. In the past, he only observes. But in the future, he can be injured and feel pain.

  Jacob does not limp very far before he feels the metal. It’s tall and wide, and the noise is coming from the other side of it. Tired but somewhat relieved, Jacob searches around on the metal for some kind of handle. Eventually, he finds plastic. By the contours, he can tell that it’s a keypad. There are nine rows and six columns of buttons.

  “All right divine spirit or whatever the hell you are, I need some light now. And, oh yeah, it’s going to be really hard to get in there without the fucking code!”

  Suddenly, something falls over Jacob. The electric numbness is quickly gone. There is not cold, nor or is there warm. It’s the same insensitivity to temperature that he has felt before. His whole sense of his body changes. First, it’s the sense of his arms and legs that he loses. Then it moves inside, taking away his organs and bones, working its way out to his skin. His usual senses leave him. What is left is just a sense of being.

  Then it all changes again. Sight com
es back, but not his eyes, and hearing comes back, but not his ears. And now he is hard, like a part of the steel he touched earlier. He becomes aware that he is part of the door.

  He is on the inside looking down. He cannot shift his vision at all. The whole thing is like watching a movie screen with a paralyzed neck. Jacob can only be the unmoving steel door and take in the sights and sounds before him.

  Down below, at an angle, there is a crowd. Because he cannot look straight down and see its end, Jacob cannot tell its size. The main focus of what he sees is a stage. On the stage, a man stands behind a microphone. To the man’s right, two other men sit in chairs. One is a small man with a goatee and short brown hair. Jacob does not recognize this man. The other sitting man looks all too familiar. The man has long dark hair with gray streaks. But it’s the way he’s slumped over in his chair, like his narrow shoulders cannot handle the weight of his head, that helps Jacob distinguish him.

  “Now to the business at hand,” the man behind the microphone says. “We come here today to pay credit where credit is due. When we started this endeavor, I knew we needed someone who could act as a middle man, someone who could make moves for us, someone to use stealth and find out the things we needed to know, someone who could, as this man is so fond of saying, understand the three D’s: dealing, dealing and of course, dealing.”

  The crowd roars with cheers and laughter. The man who Jacob is now sure is an older version of the same Shane Tantenmore who burnt to death just outside of Oklahoma City stands up and shouts something as he throws his fists into the air. At the sight of this, the crowd increases in volume. Jacob can feel his steel frame shake as molecules of air bounce off him.

  “Brothers and Sisters of the Gray Society,” the microphone man shouts, “without further adieu, I give you the man once known as Shane Tantenmore. I give you the man you know as The Dealer.”

  Jacob had hoped the crowd would relent soon. But it only grows louder, and he shakes faster. The shaking doesn’t hurt, nor does it make him dizzy. These senses are gone. There are now three senses: the familiar senses of sight and hearing, and a new sense of total being. The new sensation invigorates him, but it’s also a distraction. The more his molecules move, the more his attention goes to them. He has to fight with himself to hear and see what is happening. The molecules bouncing off each other is all Jacob knows when the crowd reaches the apex of its applause. And then it is suddenly gone.