PillowFace

by Kristopher Rufty

  “Seriously, drop me, man.” Pillowface stopped marching and tilted his head to the side to look at him. Their faces were close. Joel could feel gusts of warm breath on his cheek, and smell the aroma of decaying teeth and stale food. “I don’t like being up like this. I didn’t do anything to you. Just helped you, that’s all. Why are you doing this?” Joel’s eyes flooded with tears. His voice became unsteady. He tried to sound tough, but failed.

  Pillowface slanted his shoulder, allowing Joel’s weight to shift. He slid off. But, before striking the ground, he felt two meaty arms wrap around his stomach and chest, and flip him over, placing him on his feet. His legs wobbled, knees clamoring together. Joel felt dizzy. Around him, the trees looked as if they were swaying this way and that. The ground seemed to be doing the same.

  Slowly, his eyesight began to clear. As it did, he noticed he was alone in the woods. All he saw were trees, and all he heard was the chirping of birds and buzzing of pesky insects.

  Pillowface was gone. Vanished.

  “Hey?!! Where’d you go?” He spun around. Looking from side to side, he found no trace of Pillowface.

  Probably ran off because of how I was acting.

  But, what did he expect? Carrying him like that…what was he supposed to think?

  Joel sighed, mortified over how he’d reacted.

  Like a baby.

  It seemed more logical that he was only hauling him because he’d been too dumb to understand what Pillowface was trying to tell him. He’d given up and was going to show him. Joel wanted to catch up to him, so he decided to continue heading in the direction that Pillowface had been carrying him in.

  It wasn’t long before he found him. He hesitated calling out for him, not because of his embarrassment, but because of what he was carrying.

  Draped over his shoulder was a body. A woman. Nude. There was a large gash across her throat and various others spread over her body, short and long. Her back was bent at his shoulder, and her face directed toward Joel. Her lifeless eyes seemed to be staring straight through him. He shivered, feeling as if someone was squeezing his stomach with icy hands. At one time, he figured she had probably been very pretty. But, her hair was mussed with solid red clumps, and her face was swollen and bruised. Her mouth slacked open, yawning gawkily off to the side.

  He’d never seen an actual corpse before. Other than Rusky, she was the first. He chose not to witness what was left of his parents lying in their coffins, so she’d been the one to pop his corpse cherry. Sure, he’d seen them in horror movies, but this was different. Real. As disgusting as they appeared on film, there was no comparison to how disturbing this woman looked.

  What was he going to do with her?

  Joel felt a quiver of excitement when he recalled she was naked. He wondered if he could get close enough to see her tits, possibly between her legs. Just as with the corpses, he’d seen naked women in the movies, but never in reality. Well… there was that one time with Tonya, and then another time, but he was so far away it was hard to tell what they looked like, so he never counted that.

  But, he’d never seen an actual…pussy. And, he’d always been curious. Even at a younger age he was fascinated with women. The way they looked, smelled, and felt. What would it feel like to touch her? Squeeze her? Finger her? He’d heard the guys at school talk about doing those kinds of things with their girlfriends, or various other girls all year long. For the most part, he was pretty certain they were all lying. None of them had probably even kissed a girl, let alone done sexual things with them. But, if given the chance to do some of those things with this woman he could go back to school and tell the guys what it was really like.

  She’s dead, he reminded himself. That’s gross. What’s wrong with you? Getting hard over a dead body?

  He wasn’t having any trouble ignoring the reality it was a dead body. Knowing she was open and vulnerable for his eyes to see and his hands to explore caused him to ache. His penis began to grow, becoming hard and stiff. He adjusted his shorts so it could have the room it needed to expand.

  Pillowface gave Joel a quick glance before moving on, the dead woman’s upper torso dangling behind him like a cape.

  (II)

  Joel kept a short distance behind Pillowface while they walked. After several minutes he stopped near a stream snaking through the woods. The current was heavy for the gulley’s size. Spirit Creek. Joel had heard stories of people being sucked into it and dragged downstream to the waterfalls, and then they were never heard from again. He figured that was bullshit, but the fear it might happen was always there.

  Approaching the hurried water, Pillowface pulled the cadaver off his shoulder and chucked her in without wavering and ending Joel’s perverted fantasies of getting to fondle her. His heart broke as she disappeared in the rivulet farther up the course. He briefly considered tracking the stream to find her, but knew it was pointless to try.

  Then he noticed Pillowface was looking directly at him.

  He didn’t seem pleased.

  With his arms folded across his chest, he titled his head, questioning him with his eyes. Did he have an idea of what he’d been thinking, or what he wanted to do with the woman?

  Why had he wanted to do that so badly? Now that she was gone, so were those urges that had consumed him just minutes ago. In their place were deep feelings of guilt and shame.

  Pillowface approached him, taking long strides with his steps. He was dark with the needle-like rays of sunlight backing him.

  It would be a cool camera angle.

  “Hey,” said Joel.

  Pillowface answered with a heavy exhale.

  “I was just…curious…to see what you were doing.”

  Pillowface glanced behind him, then turned back to Joel.

  “I saw her.” Joel looked down, kicking at a broken stick. “I mean, I won’t say anything. It didn’t scare me.” He was lying; it had terrified him, and even worse had been his own sadistic thoughts. “I’ve seen them before.” In movies. “So, I can handle it.”

  He truly doubted he could handle much more.

  Pillowface placed a meaty hand on his shoulder, and lightly squeezed, assuring him everything would be fine. Then he turned and began walking. Keeping to the left, Joel trotted behind him like a puppy nipping at his heels.

  “What are we doing now?”

  Joel followed him through the woods. Though, he’d practically grown up having adventures out here, it all looked and felt different. They appeared to be darker, more mysterious, and maybe even more evil, as if something sinister lurked out here. It was a feeling he’d never experienced before, an overwhelming understanding that things weren’t as innocent as people had led him to believe. After his parents’ death, he’d begun having suspicions, but now, trudging through the forest on a mission to God knew where, he was certain the bright armor he’d been promised was a happy life was actually a rusted illusion, cracked and littered with ill will and pain.

  Pillowface halted ahead of Joel, squatted, and began feeling around the leaf-covered ground. After a quick search he retrieved an object from the debris.

  A machete: thick, long, and massive.

  The blade was blemished brown from what Joel figured was old blood since there were also splashes of a fresher red spattered across it. Joel cringed when Pillowface offered him the blade that had undoubtedly killed that pretty woman. At first, he didn’t accept it, but Pillowface was persistent in nudging him.

  So, he took the machete. It was heavy like a sword. Joel tried holding it with both hands, but just couldn’t manage it. He let the tip drop to the ground. It stabbed two inches in.

  Pillowface went back to sifting the ground. Joel looked around the ground and surrounding forestry, noting all the areas swashed in red. There was a lot more blood than he ever imagined could have come from one person, especially one the size of that girl.

  He wondered what her name was.

  “Is all of this that woman’s blood?” Pillowface shook his he
ad. “Is this your blood?” Nodded. “On the blade? This is what cut you up like that?” Pillowface found the sheath and stood up. Joel struggled to give him back the machete. After he took it, Joel’s arms felt sore and useless.

  It was funny to Joel how he was becoming more capable of understanding Pillowface. Even without words, he seemed to speak clearer than most people he knew. Joel liked him, and no matter how heavy things got, he had no plans of ditching him.

  Pillowface led them deeper into the woods. After a while, Joel sat on a tree stump, allowing Pillowface to go on without him. He was exhausted, and his shins were screaming. Ten minutes passed before he finally returned, carrying the largest chainsaw Joel had ever seen. With all of Pillowface’s toys gathered, it was time for them to return to the house.

  (III)

  The kid looked parched and sore by the time they made it back to his house. Walking alongside him, Pillowface carried the chainsaw in one hand, and the machete in the other.

  “Are you thirsty? I am. Want to get some water or something?”

  Joel took the lead, marching to the side of the house where there was a water spigot with an attached hose. He turned it on, leaned over, and slurped the water as it dispensed. He stopped when the sudden blaring of rock music erupted from the other side of the wooden fence.

  The chainsaw and machete clattered when they slapped the ground. Pillowface left them there on his way to the fence.

  “Wait,” Joel whispered, trying to shout without raising his voice. “Don’t go over there, they might see you.”

  Pillowface ignored him, and marched straight to the wooden barrier anyway.

  Joel trotted after him, catching up as Pillowface pressed his bulk against the fence to peer over the top. What he found on the other side was a young woman with dirty blonde hair, no older than eighteen, sunbathing. She sat on a towel with her legs extended in front of her, massaging glistening oil onto her skin, causing it to shine as if she’d been swimming in wax. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses. A thin, two-piece white bikini was tied around her hips with noodle-like straps. The top was nothing more than small triangles over her nipples that laced around her neck. Her breasts were nearly falling out of it.

  He licked his lips, practically able to taste her.

  Then he felt that familiar hatred rising from deep within. His hands trembled with pumping adrenaline. He wanted her. Not to hold her, or to caress, but to crush and disfigure. How could she be so beautiful? How was it allowable that his beauty could be so callously stolen yet this insipid girl could be so effortlessly beautiful?

  She would laugh at him if he took the mask off. If she could see his face, she’d make fun of him, laugh at his scars.

  They all would.

  “That’s Tonya,” said Joel.

  Pillowface jumped at the sound of his voice. Looking down, he saw his little buddy peeking through a small knot in the wood. If Joel had noticed his reaction, he gave no indication to it.

  “She’s the neighborhood hottie, and the neighborhood slut.” Joel snickered. “She let me look at her tits before. I swear it. One time after my parents died, she let me play with them. It was her way of trying to make me feel better. It worked. But, she made me swear not to tell anyone. So, you can’t say anything. Promise?”

  Even if he wanted to, he had no one to tell, and if he did, he wouldn’t dare to anyway. In some way he was honored Joel had shared that, and wouldn’t betray him.

  “Look,” he said. “She’s taking her top off. Shit, that’s two sets in one day.”

  Tonya’s hands were behind her back, tugging at the knot. The top came off easily; her perky breasts slumped, but only slightly. Perfectly round in shape, the nipples were the size of raisins. She began lathering them in oil, cupping them in her hands, fondling them with the glaze. Her breasts looked wet and slippery under the yellow spread of sunlight.

  “Aren’t they huge? They felt so soft though…”

  Pillowface felt warmth in his pants, but willed it to remain limp.

  Joel groaned. “She has a jerk boyfriend named Clay Ray. He’s an asshole. Always picks on me. Makes fun of me….”

  Tonya lay back, aiming her chest at the sky.

  “You like her, huh?” Joel whispered.

  He didn’t know what it was about her that had him so interested, but he wouldn’t say he liked her. Actually, he felt a strapping effect of loathing towards her.

  “I think she’s hot. I’ve always wanted to do it with her, you know? You should see her Mom. She’s hot too.”

  Pillowface wondered how she was able to lay outside topless without her parents doing something about it. They must not be at home, which was the only rational explanation.

  “Come on; let’s get back in the basement. My sister will be home soon. We can get some water and I’ll sneak you some snacks down.”

  He turned his back on Tonya’s exposed flesh and followed Joel to the side of the house. Before entering the basement, Joel turned to him and said, “I still have to clean up all your bloody footprints.”

  Pillowface hoped Joel could handle it without his help. He felt beyond tired; almost sickly he was so exhausted. The air mattress beckoned him. It would be the most comfortable bed he’d had in a long time.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  (I)

  Haley took her time cruising along Marble Lane, passing houses while neighbors she’d never met walked their dogs, or finished up yard duties before it got dark. Kids were playing, relishing the cooler temperatures of evening. Houses were spread out through the trees, scattered and secluded. She knew none of their owners by name. Sure, they would acknowledge each other with waves and smiles, but other than Joel’s friend Ethan, she didn’t really know anyone on this side of Marble Lane, including Ethan’s family.

  And she was just fine with it remaining that way.

  As she neared her driveway on the other side of Marble Lane, she spotted her next door neighbors’ daughter Tonya, and about the only family she was friendly with, checking the mail. She wore cut-off jeans, the straps of her bikini bottoms curved above the waist band and over her hips. Instead of a shirt, a thin bikini top that was basically just nipple patches barely covered her breasts.

  Haley felt embarrassed just looking at her.

  Tonya waved, her hand stacked with mail. Haley was tempted to pretend she was messing with the radio and hadn’t seen her. But, as much as she wanted to avoid her, she couldn’t even be rude to someone as obnoxious as Tonya.

  She was already in the road before Haley had stopped the car.

  Smiling, she rolled the window down and said, “Hey Tonya, what’s up girl?”

  Tonya leaned into the car, propping her elbows on the door. Her breasts squished against her forearms. Their pliant mounds were right in her face. The scent of coconut oil began seeping into the car. Tonya’s lotion smelled good. It made Haley think of the beach. “Not much of anything. You just getting home from work?”

  “Yeah, it was a rough day.”

  “Aw, that sucks. Maybe we should go hang out or something, help take your mind off of it all.”

  “I can’t tonight.”

  “I can’t either, maybe another night this week?”

  Not that Tonya was bad company, she just felt awkward going out with her in public. Haley was five years older than her, and Tonya had only been a high school graduate for the length of a weekend. When it came to opinions of a fun night, their tastes clashed heavily.

  “Sounded like you had Joel doing some yard work today.”

  Haley couldn’t stop her surprised reaction. “Really? He actually did it?”

  Laughing, Tonya said, “Yeah, sounded like a massacre was going on over there with all the machines going.”

  “Are you sure he wasn’t just watching one of his movies?”

  They both laughed.

  “Could’ve been,” said Tonya. “But, I didn’t hear any screams.”

  Haley laughed. “How are things going with Mr.
Clay Ray?”

  “Not bad. He’s actually pretty damn sweet when no one’s around.”

  “Nah, he just wants in your panties. That’s all that is.”

  “Probably. He’s been kissing my ass pretty hardcore, so I’m eating it up while it lasts, making him wait for it.”

  “Good girl. All the stuff I’ve heard about him, making him wait sounds like the best plan.”

  “Yeah, I want him to realize there’s more to me than these tits.”

  Haley doubted there was much more than her busty mounds. She sighed. She felt exhausted. Drained. Her body was achy. All she wanted was to go to bed, cover up with a blanket, and hide. That sounded fantastic. But, unfortunately it would have to wait. “Well, I better get home and see what Joel’s getting into.”

  “I hear that. Call me later, if you get a chance.”

  “I’ll try.” She wasn’t going to call. Again, not because Tonya was a terrible person, but they had nothing in common, and it had been excruciatingly painful trying to keep even this conversation going.

  Tonya pulled away from the window, her breasts clouting the door as she stood up. Haley wondered if there would be streaks left behind from the heavy oil residue varnishing her skin. Tonya wandered idly away. Haley could see the bottom cambers of her buttocks nudging out from the unraveled shorts and remembered when she used to dress the same way. She was thankful it hadn’t taken her long to grow out of it, but she doubted Tonya would ever let it go. She’d probably dress like that for the rest of her life.

  She put the car in drive and drove up one more driveway, and on to home.

  Haley thumbed the button on the garage door remote. As she waited for it to rise, she took a moment to examine the front yard. Just from her initial glance, it appeared as if a lawn squad had completed an overhaul. It hardly resembled the same place she’d left earlier that morning.