by Heath, Joel
Brittany, Halley and Mr. Monroe got up and started walking toward Jessie. They walked uneasy. First Brittany fell and exploded like a balloon filled with water, there was no blood, no gore or bones, just a skin filled with a clear liquid. Halley collapsed next popping in a similar manner, but Jessie’s father reached his daughter, and pointed at Spencer.
“Do not fear, my daughter, and do not let Satan deceive you.”
At those words Spencer grew mad, and addressed Jessie’s father.
“DON’T CALL ME THAT.”
The jig was up. Spencer looked at Jessie, and then smiled as Spencer melted away and Lucifer took his place.
“It appears I cannot best you this way.”
“What the hell are you doing?” Jessie demanded.
Lucifer smiled.
“You’ll find out, in due time.”
Vince panted, exposing his warm breath to the chill night air as he raced through the moonlit night. He ran along the foot of a steep hill into a field blanketed by a thin veil of fog that clung to the ground. A variety of objects poked out of the mist, some were trees, others, Vince was too scared to stop and look at. Vince continued running through the seemingly open landscape and tripped over something hidden in the mist. Falling to the ground Vince went face first in to an unkempt blanket of grass that was growing wildly out of control.
Vince pulled his face from the damp grass to inspect what he had tripped over, it was a grave marker, the grave was old, the marker indicated that its occupant was buried in 1694; he was in a graveyard, an old expansive cemetery. Vince scrambled to his feet, adrenaline was now coursing through his body, anxiety was building. Vince’s head swung wildly looking around, he knew that there was somebody else there, he could feel it in the heavy air, but he just couldn’t see them.
Vince ran across an open section of the graveyard to a mausoleum that had big heavy looking doors. Then turned to look to his right, he could have sworn he saw something move, after he saw nothing he turned his attention to his seemingly aimless wandering.
Vince heard a deep, dark laugh echo creepily through the cold night air, then the sound of Vince’s heartbeat replaced the sound of leaves rustling but not the sound of the footsteps approaching from everywhere and nowhere. Then a hand landed on his shoulder, fear turned to dread as Vince whipped his head around and what he saw caused his heart to stop, it was a face, or part of a face. Only a pair or eyes and a mouth twisted in an evil smirk were visible.
Vince screamed as he turned to run from the face. Vince made it thirty feet before a heavily muffled ‘thud’ broke the silence, then another and another, the sounds were coming from the ground, and they were all around him. Two dozen grave markers surrounded him. As the sounds continued a hand emerged from the mist, and then another. The hands were severely decayed, some were missing fingers, and more kept rising. Finally a head joined the hands, the dead were rising from the grave and Vince would be caught in the middle if he didn’t move immediately.
Vince spotted a break in the rising corpses and made a mad dash for it, clearing the zombies he kept running.
Vince didn’t noticed another hand rising from a grave directly in his path, the hand reached for Vince’s leg and Vince went face first into the grass.
Rolling over he looked up to see the face that he only saw in his worst nightmares, the eyes and the mouth. The eyes started to glow red and fangs replaced some of the teeth in the mouth. The face came close to Vince like a Lion ready to pounce before it lunged. Vince raised his arms to defend himself, several seconds passed before Vince realized the face did not attack.
Vince looked to find himself in a medieval style chamber. Vince heard the sound of a woman screaming, she was being tortured, Vince managed to calm himself down enough to look around to see where the screams were coming from and all he could tell was that he was in a cylindrical room about thirty feet tall, eight feet across. There was a cot along the wall, a drain, which measured four inches, sat in the middle of the floor and a vent of identical size in the ceiling. There were no doors, no windows, no way out. How he got in was of utmost concern, because that’s how he was to get out and save Jessie.
“VINCE, HELP ME!” the voice pled as it echoed.
Instantly Vince knew the voice.
“JESSIE!” Vince called.
Vince went to the wall that was closest to where Jessie screamed, where Jessie was being held and tortured and started yelling, but after four hours, his voice began to waiver. Tears began to take the place of his screams to see his captors.
It was another three hours before a gate opened in the middle of the room and a voice beckoned him to enter the portal.
Vince climbed to his feet and slowly walked to the portal before entering and finding himself in a medieval style torture chamber complete with rack, Iron Maiden and a guillotine. There were items in the room that were not typical of feudal Europe: voodoo doll of Jessie, a small, yet smooth, black bead that had a hole on either side, a small cage for snakes, there was also a blacksmith’s forge near the middle of the room, and a table next to a bubbling cauldron.
Jessie lay, strapped to the table, there were burns on her clothing and her skin, the voodoo doll that was made in her likeness had seven pins in it, each one looked more like a knife, one in the back, one in the stomach, one in each limb and one in the face.
“JESSIE!” Vince called as he approached her.
“Who did this to you?” Vince asked infuriated.
Jessie tried to say something, but it came out as a mumble. Jessie tried to point at the voodoo doll and then to her own mouth.
Vince reached for the doll, understanding that Jessie wanted him to do something with the doll; Vince pulled the pin from the dolls face.
“Vince,” Jessie finally wept. “What took you so long?” Jessie demanded.
“Come on,” Vince said as he started pulling the pins out of the doll, “I have to get you out of here before he comes back.” Vince said just as before, seconds later a heavy set of footsteps echoed in from a darkened doorway, it was a man who wore gaudy looking robes, his face obscured by a hood.
“She’s suffering, you know.” The man said lowering the hood of his robe.
The man looked familiar.
It was Spencer, he had been torturing Jessie.
“How can I help her?” Vince asked.
“End her suffering, she will die, the only question is will she suffer or will you ease her passing?” Spencer asked soullessly.
“No, I can’t kill her.” Vince defended.
“Why not?” Spencer asked, “Why do you wish her to suffer?”
“I don’t want her to suffer, but I.” Vince paused.
“You love her, and yet you let her suffer needlessly.” Spencer reminded then walked over to a table and retrieved a jewel encrusted knife, one that looked familiar, one he had seen before, but where had he seen it?
Vince unconsciously accepted the knife and as he held it he proceeded over to Jessie. She started to weep, “Vince, what are you doing?” Jessie asked.
“I’m sorry Jessie. I love you, and can’t bare the sight of you suffering.” Vince said, but inside he screamed against what he was about to do. Vince raised the knife and placed a hand on Jessie’s shoulder before plunging the knife into Jessie’s chest. She screamed as Vince stabbed her again and again until eight stab wounds leaked blood and Jessie stopped moving and her dying breath slipped from her mouth.
It took a few seconds for Vince to realize that he had just murdered Jessie.
“No, what did I just do?” Vince wondered in disgust before tossing the knife into the far corner of the torture chamber then leaned over and began to vomit.
“JESSIE!” Vince shouted as he rolled out of bed onto the stone floor. Vince woke up and realized he was in the tall cylindrical room.
“VINCE, HELP ME!” Jessie screamed.
“NO!” Vince cried, it was playing out just like before, was it real or was it a horrible nightmare?
“Come on,” Vince said as he started pulling the pins out of the doll, “I have to get you out of here before he comes back.” Vince said just as before, seconds later a heavy set of footsteps echoed in from a darkened doorway, it was a man who wore gaudy looking robes, his face obscured by a hood.
“She’s suffering, you know.” The man said lowering the hood of his robe.
The man looked familiar.
It was Spencer, he had been torturing Jessie.
“How can I help her?” Vince asked.
“End her suffering, she will die, the only question is will she suffer or will you ease her passing?” Spencer asked soullessly.
Vince backed away, looking from Jessie to Spencer.
“No, I can’t kill her.” Vince defended, shaking his head.
“Why can’t you do it?” Spencer asked, “Why do you wish her to suffer?”
“I don’t want her to suffer, but I.” Vince paused, Spencer realized Vince’s dilemma, and smiled wickedly.
“You love her,” Spencer said.
Vince nodded, lowering his gaze to the floor in shame.
“You love her and yet you let her suffer needlessly.” Spencer reminded.
Vince shot a glance at Spencer.
“What if it was Gretchen?” Vince asked. Spencer then pointed to a table covered by a sheet.
“I did the only humane thing, I did what I had to do and ended her suffering.” Spencer calmly said, it was very unnerving. Vince’s gaze fell on Jessie, and he approached Spencer who then reached toward a table and retrieved a jewelencrusted knife, the knife looked familiar, it was one Vince had seen before, but where or when had he seen it?
Spencer handed the knife to Vince. Reluctantly, Vince took the knife and looked at Jessie.
“I will not be the one to kill her after you spent four hours torturing her. I know that she is suffering, but I would rather die than do her any more harm.”
“What are you doing?” Spencer
demanded. Vince plunged the knife into his own stomach, but he felt no pain.
Vince looked down at the knife and found the knife was gone; he looked up at Spencer, who was smiling a wicked smile.
“So, you refuse to kill her. Let’s see how long your love for her lasts when she is trying to kill you.” Spencer said.
Vince heard the sound of various animals and other jungle creatures behind him so he turned around; he was no longer in the torture chamber. He was in the jungle, standing in a clearing.
Moments later Jessie entered the clearing a very large gun in her hand, it was an M-249 machine gun.
“Jessie?” Vince asked.
“Yes, Vince?” Jessie replied, her voice was filled with hatred, it was clear to Vince that Jessie was there to kill.
Jessie raised her weapon and fired off several dozen rounds, Vince ducked into the foliage as the bullets started whizzing past and tried to clear the area as fast as he could move. Finally the shooting stopped. Vince looked back and vaguely saw Jessie discard her machine gun; it must have run out of ammunition.
“Vince?” Jessie called trying to see if Vince had survived her attack.
A twig snapped, Jessie smiled wickedly and proceeded into the underbrush after Vince drawing a meat cleaver.
Vince heard the foliage being disturbed and looked back to find Jessie, she was coming toward him, so Vince quickly got to his feet, and took off running.
“You’re not going to get away from me.” Jessie screamed as she took off in pursuit, swinging the meat cleaver wildly.
Vince noticed a weapon stockpile and headed for it, maybe he could get Jessie to stop and talk so he could understand why she was trying to kill him.
Vince reached the weapons cache and grabbed for a weapon, a desert eagle. Vince removed the clip to see if it was loaded, then he reinserted the clip and racked the weapon and fired a shot into the dirt. Jessie was undeterred, Vince fired a second shot into the dirt, this time at her feet and Jessie kept drawing closer, she was now in range so she threw the meat cleaver and it struck Vince in the shoulder. Vince fired another shot, this time not of his own volition and right at Jessie.
“NO, JESSIE.” Vince shouted as he dropped the weapon and pulled the meat cleaver from his shoulder before running to Jessie.
Vince cradled Jessie’s head in his arms as she lay dying.
“Why were you trying to kill me?” Vince asked.
“I don’t love you any more.” Jessie weakly replied as her life slipped away.
Her voice was off … Vince stepped away.
Vince noticed a glowing crack spreading across several trees; he was finally able to put it all together. Something, or someone moved in the foliage.
“WHERE ARE YOU?” Vince shouted, looking around for someone he guessed would be close.
Finally, a voice called from behind.
“I hear you.” Lucifer called causing Vince to turn around.
“You!” Vince asked with disdain. Lucifer looked down and saw Jessie’s lifeless body.
“Why am I here?” Vince demanded.
“Why should I tell you?” Lucifer asked.
“Did you make me shoot her?” Vince asked.
Lucifer scoffed.
“You think I have that kind of power?” Lucifer asked, “You picked up the gun, I just planted the idea, you killed her.”
“Why would I kill someone I care about?” Vince asked.
Lucifer shrugged his shoulders.
“It doesn’t matter, after forcing you to live your personal hell, I have learned what I need to get the upper hand, I’ll release you now. Where you go is up to you, but if you choose to come after me, you can’t win, nobody ever has before.” Lucifer offered with a devilish grin before wandering back into the foliage.
Spencer found himself wandering into a crowded thoroughfare, it was near sundown as he walked down the street. Spencer took the hand of a woman at his right, and looked lovingly into the eyes of Gretchen who stood at his side. Gretchen was pushing a stroller as they came to a street crossing where several dozen people waited to cross.
“Honey, remind me to change the baby’s diaper when we get to the restaurant.” Gretchen requested. “By the way, where are we eating tonight?”
“There was a new pizza place that opened up down just off Times Square.” Spencer admitted.
“Didn’t we have pizza last week with your friend, Eric?” Gretchen asked. “No, that was two months ago, right after the baby was born. He wanted to treat us because I got him that job on the new office building in the financial districts.” Spencer corrected.
“Oh, I didn’t realize so much time had gone by.” Gretchen said sheepishly.
“Don’t worry about it, dear.” Spencer said as he did he heard a bell jingle as someone entered a bistro, the bell sounded distorted, as though Spencer were hearing it from under water. Spencer leaned over to kiss Gretchen, but she wasn’t there, there was no stroller. Spencer looked around for Gretchen and his gaze was met by an older man, the older man was sitting outside the bistro drinking coffee.
“Did you see where the woman with the baby stroller went?” Spencer asked.
The man shook his head.
“I didn’t see a woman with you.” The man admitted.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. She was right here, I was holding her hand.” Spencer said then thought to look at his hand to find a pair of leather gloves wrapped in his fingers.
“Gretchen?” Spencer asked, hoping the man just missed Gretchen and the baby slipping away, Spencer recalled the bell jingle and headed into the bistro where two dozen people sat enjoying a bagel or a latte. They didn’t notice Sp
encer at first, but as he looked around for Gretchen he could feel every single eye in the room burning a hole right through him.
“Hey!” A voice called from behind the counter in the back, “What do you want?”
“Did any of you see a woman with a stroller come in here a minute ago?” Spencer asked, Spencer anticipated someone directing him to the bathroom, or to tell him that they didn’t see a woman, but instead each person went back to their food without so much as a word.
“Did anybody see her?” Spencer inquired, growing more and more panicked with each passing second, and still nobody uttered a word.
Spencer gave up his futile attempt the solicit information from the crowd and proceeded toward a sign reading bathroom, but he was blocked by a large burly man in a white t-shirt and a white apron that was stained with food.
“Hold on, buddy, the restroom is for paying customers only.” The man said, and pushed Spencer toward the front of the bistro.
“I’m just trying to find somebody.” Spencer urged.
“The bathrooms are empty, now get lost.” The man demanded before pushing Spencer out the front door to a strangely vacant city.
Spencer turned back to the bistro to try and appeal to the man’s better nature, but found that the windows had been boarded up, the words ‘out of business’ was scrawled on the outside sheets of plywood.
“What the hell is going on here?” Spencer wondered aloud.
Spencer tried to pry the wood off the door and get back in, but after twenty minutes he was no closer, and rubbing his fingers raw so he headed to an ally two doors down, the ally was dark and riddled with water filled pot holes and various debris, but Spencer proceeded in and found a door sitting an inch ajar, the sign read ‘Guido’s Pizza’ the restaurant he had just been kicked out of, Spencer pulled the door open all the way and headed into the darkness, the only light was from a few exit signs that hung from the ceiling and a gap in the boards on the window. A breeze wafted through the abandoned bistro, and Spencer noticed that the glass on one of the windows had been shattered, thousands of crystalline fragments littered the ground.
The restroom sign still hung on the wall, sheer curiosity drove Spencer toward the women’s restroom, the door opened, inside there was nothing but a baby stroller, the one Gretchen was pushing.
