Hatched

by Jason Davis

  But as he neared the back, he had spotted the old woman who lived next door. She was small, pale, and frail. If he had to guess, she was also nearly blind, but he hadn’t wanted to take that chance. She was walking away from him and toward her garden that was filled with large sunflowers. When he had seen her, he quickly dashed behind the parked car in the driveway, then shuffled to the bush. From there, he could watch her. He waited until she was back near her sunflowers before he quickly dashed around the bush.

  From there, he ran up the couple wooden steps that led him up to the back door. With it being early in the morning, he doubted she would have locked the door. The little girl wouldn’t have been able to get back in if it was, unless she had a key. It was a small town so he doubted that she would.

  He didn’t even have to worry. The back door was open, the screen closed to keep out the wandering insects. He quickly pulled it open and went into the kitchen.

  He was assaulted with some awful pop music. It was the crap he had been telling her for as long as he could remember that was nothing but jungle music. Some chick whined, someone else spoke into a microphone because he thought it was singing. Who the hell let that shit on the radio?

  He felt himself getting angry with the throbbing of the beat as it shook him. The vibrations pulsated at him, throbbing his head until he sensed a migraine starting. His chest burned, but he barely felt it as the music thumped in his temples and created a pain that made all the other sensations in his body nothing by comparison.

  He knew why, too. It wasn’t just because of how loud the music played or how much he hated it. He knew it was because she was playing it. She was playing it because she had known he was out there and she played the music to taunt him. She had always taunted him. She had always made him beat her because she wouldn't listen, wouldn’t follow his rules. Why couldn’t she have just been a good little woman and did what he told her?

  He looked around the kitchen, trying to push away the pain now vibrating in the base of his teeth. He knew he was grinding them, making it worse, but he tried to ignore it. The kitchen was small, the wall on the right covered in cabinets and drawers. It was a cheap, fake wood, which fit in with the cheap paneling on the walls. The room itself barely had enough space for the small, round table in the center and the fridge that was immediately to his left.

  When he had come into the room, he hadn’t really thought about looking for a weapon, but now that he knew she was trying to goad him into fighting with her, he thought maybe he should. He walked across the room to the drawers near the sink. Most people kept their silverware by the sink. In the second drawer he opened, he found what he was looking for. The large knife shined up at him, nearly blinding him because of the sun shining through the window.

  He grabbed it and pulled it up to inspect it. His knuckles turned white as he held it. His anger seethed, and he just wanted to squeeze it as hard as he could.

  No, he didn’t want to squeeze the knife. He wanted to grab something else and squeeze it. He wanted to feel the life course out of her. He wanted to wrap his large hands around that tiny throat of hers, cutting off her screams, and feel her struggle against him. He wanted to take away all her noise. That damn whiny voice of hers that had nagged at him. She just never shut up. Her voice and that damn music, that ever-fucking music that seemed like it was the same damn song over and over again. He was going to silence her, and he knew that it was going to feel good. He smiled and set down the knife.

  In the other room, he heard the roar of a vacuum. It was just vaguely louder than the music, but he was glad to hear it. It was something other than the pounding rhythm. It also meant he knew where to find her now.

  He turned away from the sink and walked around the table, staying as close to the wall as he could. He didn’t know how much could be seen through the doorway, but he didn’t want to run the risk of her seeing him before he was ready. He had the element of surprise. Not that he had to worry about her fighting back. She was so tiny compared to him that it was not going to be much of a fight, but he knew that he would enjoy it more if he could catch her while her back was turned.

  He made it to the doorway and peered into the other room. He had expected a hallway, but the house wasn’t designed that way. Off the kitchen, there seemed to be a game room with a pool table at its center. From there, there was a large doorway leading into what he guessed was the front room, where he could hear her. Directly to his right was a door, and on the left side of the room were two more doors. They were all closed, and he assumed they must have been bedrooms.

  He saw her just through the doorway. She had her back to him and was vacuuming near the large picture window, working around the couch that was pushed up against the wall. He eased into the game room and quickly went to the right near the closed door.

  She was out of his sight, but he let the sound guide him. The quieter sound of the vacuum meant that she was reaching out with the hose. Then he would hear the deeper growl of the machine as she pulled the hose back to her. He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like she was working her way to the far side of the room. If so, then her back should stay to him for at least another few seconds.

  Just go and grab her. Do it! Do it now!

  He felt like a fool for playing a game of cat and mouse with the bitch. He should have just walked right in there, grabbed her, and started to have his fun. It didn’t make any sense to draw this out and get caught by her, ruining his surprise.

  He stopped. If he went into the front room to grab her, he would be in full view of the picture window. Anyone outside would be able to see him. While he hoped that anyone catching the show would grab some popcorn and enjoy it, he knew that many people wouldn't understand.

  They wouldn’t understand how the bitch had left and betrayed him. They wouldn’t understand the agony and embarrassment she put him through. Someone might actually call the police, then he would be screwed.

  But would anyone see him? He stood across the street scoping out the place for a long time. He had barely seen anyone come down the street. The people in the houses at the other end of the block typically turned the other way. This house was near the end. Sure, the road turned back toward town and looped around, but almost no one came this way. He was safe. There wouldn’t be anyone to worry about. Except for the little girl, but she was gone and he doubted she would come back so soon.

  He wasn’t going to put it off any longer. He turned the corner and saw her. She was facing away from him in the far corner of the room, pushing the metal pipe of the vacuum into the corner between the couch and its matching loveseat. He quickly crossed the distance of the room. When he stood right behind her, he reached out and grasped her shoulder, quickly pulling her around to face him.

  Her face went white, her eyes wide in fear. Her mouth was open just a little, and her body rigid

  “Vince!” she gasped.

  He smiled at her. Now it was time for his fun to begin. The little bitch was going to get what she deserved.

  Chapter 12

  Why in the fucking world did all the idiots have to come in and bother him? Even when he was supposed to be in the back not having to deal with their ignorant shit, he still had to go out there and answer stupid questions.

  When Aaron had come into the receiving area and had asked Billy to go out to the sales floor to help him, he already had a feeling it was going to be another one of those neurotic customers who had a million questions and didn’t care that Billy was just a minimum wage employee who couldn’t care two shits and who had no desire to look up the answers. Especially when it meant going to the internet, the same damn way the customer could. Why the fuck did the world have to be so ignorant?

  He swung at one of the boxes of file cabinets that lined the back wall of the receiving area. His hand went through the thin cardboard of the box and the sound of his fist hitting metal rang through the large back room.

  Shit.

  He quickly pulled his han
d back from the box and looked over his shoulder. He had just turned the corner in receiving that was lined by high walls of white shelving filled with large brown boxes of unassembled chairs. From where he stood, he knew no one could see him.

  He smiled and looked back at the damaged file cabinet. In the dim light of the back area, he saw a small dent on the metal. His smile widened. Good, another piece of damage he could provide for the store. Not that it had been his fucking fault. That damn customer had just irritated the living shit out of him.

  As Aaron had walked him out to the sales floor, he had already been dreading the direction Aaron was headed. They had immediately turned right, and Billy knew only one thing was in that direction—file cabinets.

  People thought talking about and selling file cabinets was an easy thing, and Billy was sure that if a person was an expert on the subject, it may have been.

  However, if you didn’t know much about them, things could get pretty difficult. Especially with some of the amazingly mundane and senseless questions that were often asked. After all, how the hell was he supposed to know the difference between the different cherry colors? Wasn’t “cherry” red, so shouldn’t the color just be red? How was he supposed to know if it would match and coordinate with the rest of the furniture in your office? The woman he had just helped was like so many of the damn others. Not that he should have expected any different, but it was still like fingernails on a chalkboard.

  The whole damn world was the same. Ignorant motherfuckers who should all just fucking go to hell, die today, and get the fuck out of his way.

  “Is this made out of real wood?” Billy mimicked.

  He had wanted to tell her, “Yeah, they just chopped it up into particleboard and compressed the pieces before they boxed them and shipped them to the store.”

  With it being his last day, he had been on the verge of saying just that. However, something always kept him from saying what he truly wanted to. Instead, the honest, nice answer had come out of him. At least he had said it to her in a deadpan, emotionless voice to express his boredom. That had to have counted for some act of rebellion, right?

  It had taken him four more attempts at explaining to the old coot what particleboard was and how it was coated with something to look like real wood.

  All the time he was talking to her, he couldn’t help but watch a spider crawling along the white shelving just above the file cabinets. He had been leaning against the white shelf, but when he saw the spider, he had quickly jerked away. It hadn’t seemed to bother her, though. She didn't even seem to notice it. At first, it had just been moving along. As she asked him another question, it went straight toward the woman. Then when she opened one of the drawers of the cabinet, the spider dropped onto her arm.

  Billy watched in amazement. He had always thought spiders were supposed to be afraid of people. When a person approached one, they always scurried away. However, this one actually went after the woman.

  Billy had to stifle a laugh, then realized she had asked a question and he had not been paying attention.

  “What was that?”

  She was clearly annoyed at him for not paying attention as she started to repeat her question. He tried to listen, but he couldn’t help but watch as the spider climbed the length of her arm. As it moved, Billy felt goose bumps all along his arm, as though he had spiders running along his skin, as well. His arm twitched, and he looked at it, the long sleeves of his shirt seeming to shift. He imagined fifty to a hundred little spiders crawling along under the fabric, dancing along his skin as he stood there. The hairs along his arm prickled. A sensation gnawed at the base of his neck because he imagined he was feeling them. Their little legs scampering all along his arm.

  He had to itch at it to know nothing was there. His spine felt like it had started to seize up and tighten on him in fear as he stood there. As soon as his hand touched his arm, the motion under the fabric seemed to stop, the sensations vanishing.

  Relieved, he looked back at the woman, who was now looking at him. She wasn’t unattractive. She looked like she was in her mid-to-late forties, but she was hot for her age. It didn’t surprise Billy because she was dressed in a casual, but wealthy fashion that helped to enhance beauty.

  He suddenly felt transfixed by her, and he now had a strong, sudden impulse to kiss her. He didn’t understand why, but it was like a pull inside him. Like something deep within him was trying to push him toward her dark red-colored lips.

  Spread, spoke a voice somewhere in the back of his mind.

  He didn’t have time to contemplate the voice as he realized the woman was talking to him again. More harshly this time, her brow pinched deeply in what he guessed was frustration.

  “Are you stoned?” she repeated

  Billy watched as the little spider that had been crawling up her arm disappeared under her sleeve and was out of sight. He was still amazed she hadn’t seen or felt it. A chill ran down his spine.

  “No, ma'am. Just not feeling too well. What were you asking me?” he weakly asked.

  “Never mind. I’m going to find your manager.”

  Fucking bitch, he thought to himself. All customers were the same. She stormed off toward the front of the store. Relieved, Billy had turned toward the back again, glad to get away from all the damn people.

  Spread, said the voice again. A sudden sensation flashed through him to stay out there on the sales floor so he could talk to more customers.

  Screw that, he thought, continuing toward the back.

  He glanced at the woman storming to the front of the store. She suddenly stopped and stood there. He watched as a small shiver ran through her and she reached for the place he had last seen the spider. She stood there for a second, just holding the spot on her arm. Then she continued walking.

  ****

  Bill was glad to be back by his surprise. Being away from it for so long had his chest tight with worry that someone might have found it or something might have happened to it. He knew nobody found it. Otherwise, someone would have made some kind of commotion. But the feeling wouldn’t go away. He knew it wouldn’t until his surprise was back in his hands.

  He moved the ladder back to where he could climb up to get back to his stash. Taking the rungs nearly two at a time, he climbed up to the top, the ladder shaking back and forth, the metal clanging harshly against the cement as he rushed. He knew he was making a lot of noise, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to make sure everything was safe and his surprise was still there.

  He let out a breath when he saw it. The cold steel soothed him as he reached out and touched it. The metal was smooth. He traced his fingers along its edge just to get the feeling of power that it possessed. He couldn’t stop the smile that touched his lips.

  “William?!” someone yelled from the other side of receiving.

  Billy didn’t know why, but he tucked his surprise into the waistband of his pants, smoothing his uniform shirt over it so it wouldn't be noticed.

  “Yeah?” Billy called out as he turned and started to walk back down the ladder.

  Aaron came around the corner just as Billy stepped onto the floor.

  “Tim’s in. He’s up at the service desk talking to that customer. He wants you up there.”

  Billy grinned. Time to get the party started, he thought as he walked past Aaron.

  “You know, he’s probably going to be pissed that you didn’t finish this back here.”

  “Yeah, but you know what? Fuck him,” Billy said, knowing Aaron was probably confused at his attitude. Oh well, it didn’t matter. It was all going to be over soon enough. Billy almost felt like whistling as he walked.

  Chapter 13

  Rob felt the sweat. It seemed like it poured out of everywhere. His shirt was drenched. He had unbuttoned it and rolled up the sleeves long ago. His white undershirt was soaked.

  It was just his luck to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere on what seemed like it was about to be one o
f the hottest days of summer. He would have sat in the car and turned on the air conditioner, but it hadn’t been blowing too cool, and when he checked his coolant, he found it was low. He tried to remember the last time he had ever really checked over the car and done any maintenance on it, realizing it was probably last fall.

  Making it to the courthouse before the case was called didn’t look possible. This did not make him happy.

  To get away from the stifling heat of the interior of the car, he sat on the trunk, his legs resting on the bumper. Beside him sat the handheld CB. He knew it didn’t have much range, and if he got caught with it, he could get into a lot of trouble. However, he was technically off duty, so having it wasn’t against any regulation as far as he knew.

  “Breaker 1-9, four wheeler in need of assistance. Is there anyone out there? Come back,” he said into the radio.

  He made a shout out over the airways roughly every half-hour. He had yet to hear anything back. He made sure not to mention that he was an officer, as he knew most drivers would never pull over for one unless, well…unless they were being pulled over by an officer. He hoped what he said would get someone out there to help him out. If they heard him. He didn’t like having to hold out and pray for luck.

  He slid off the trunk of the car and walked out to the center of the highway. The sun seemed like it bore down on him harder when he neared the yellow dotted line of the hot Midwestern asphalt, but he ignored it as he looked both directions.

  Nothing. He couldn’t see a house, cell tower, farm equipment, or any cars.

  He had never felt so helpless. It was like he had slipped into the twilight zone and was the last man on earth. He hadn’t even realized there were still places in the United States that were so far away from everything. Every time he had driven through here, he never slowed down and taken notice of just how little there was.