A Gray Life: a novel (10 page)

October 6
th
Post-power outage

{Generator on}

(Via personal security camera)

{
Peter comes into view and motions for Louise to follow Him. When he heads for the kill room, Michael sighs}

{Young boy and Michael wait until door closes to bring out two bundles of writing utensils bound together by rubber bands}

{Crouched down, the boy turns to window and listens}

Michael: What?

{Boy waits, then relaxes}

Young boy: Thought I heard something.

(Pinpoint Room 1 camera)

{
Louise is spread out on the bed, naked from the waist up. Peter hovers above her, alternating between pinching her nipples and smacking her across the face}

Brian:
Time to {SMACK} get on your knees. {Approximately thirty seconds of hard blows to the face}

{Louise
gets down}

Peter
: No teeth, or we’ll end this session with the hanger.

{
Moaning}

{
Peter seizes up, rips Louise’s mouth from his body}

Peter
: Fucking bitch!

{Louise is against the side of the bed with a bright stain around her mouth}

Peter: {moving towards the door} Stupid
bruha
! Bleeding. {words slur} Show her. Make Michael watch. {Opens the door and shuffles out}

{Louise reaches for something off screen}

(Pinpoint security camera in main room)

{Room 1 door opens, and Michael and th
e boy move closer to it. They have weapons above their heads}

Marc: No, what are you doing? {
he blocks their way to the door}

Michael: Move outta the way, ya damn fool.

{Bleeding from his groin, Peter comes out from Room 1 muttering threats. Marc scrambles to get out of his way}

{
Peter falls to the floor. Standing in his place is Louise. She is breathing heavily, bat in hand. Her shirt is back on}

{
Peter is not moving. Louise swings the bat round, and thrashes it on his body. Once, twice, third time’s the charm…

Fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh time’s the charm?
}

Michael: Jesus, stop now. He’s dead.

Louise {catching her breath} I know. {Tosses the bat back into Room 1. As she walks over Peter’s body, she stops. Louise kicks his head then walks away}

Michael: {tosses make-shift weapon aside} Guess we didn’t need these.

Young boy: {comes back from top of the stairs} Door’s locked.

Michael: Well, hot damn.

Marc: Was this part of your plan? Get us locked down here until we starve to death?

Louise: We couldn’t stay here forever. It was either try to escape or be killed by him. {
she nods at Peter’s body}

Marc: Escape to what? Everything Out there is ruined, and who knows what kind of monsters are running around? I’d rather be down here!

Michael: You mean you’d rather die down here.

Marc: {looks uncomfortable} No, I’d rather not die at all.

Michael: Then help us get out.

Gabriella: Marc, we can’t stay. They’re right.

Marc: {crosses his arms over his chest, shakes his head} There’s no fuckin’ way I’m goin’ Outside.

Gabriella: {to Michael}
How can I help?

Marc: There’s no helping! Don’t you get it!

Michael: {speaking above Marc} We need to look for a key.

{Gabriella nods}

Marc: Once you get Outside, you’re all dead, stupid fucks!

Louise: {stares Marc down}
If you’re not going to contribute, then shut your mouth.

{Marc smacks Louise}

Gabriella: Marc, why did you do that?

Marc: She's a bitch, that's why!

Michael: {while shredding strips of an old t-shirt} You asked for this, man.

Marc: Asked for what?

Michael: {punches Marc in the face. After Marc collapses, Michael ties up his hands and feet} Now, let's find that key.

* * * *

Juniper wished she had gotten on the plane. Walking through the familiar layout of the “Variety Playhouse”, Juniper wished for nothing else. Well, maybe she had one other wish, but it was as impossible as he
r getting on the plane would’ve been. He had made his choice, and it had not been her.

Her eyes scanned the young crowd in the s
mall concert theater. She didn’t see Bethany. With purple hair, Bethany was hard to miss. Perhaps she was in the bathroom, or laughing backstage with the roadies. Juniper was willing to wait, even if the hardcore metal group on stage gave her a headache. The actual song was okay; the way the singer had to scream the lyrics was
not
okay. When choosing a song, Juniper liked to know what the singer was going on about. For the length of two excruciating songs, Juniper continued to wait for her friend. If Bethany didn’t make an appearance soon, Juniper would be thumbin’ it home.

That’s what happens
when a man convinces you to sell your car and apartment. You end up being fucked
, she thought.

After years of being fucked, Juniper found what she disliked most was being fucked
over
by her own husband. Sometimes she still thought about his proposal, and how she had naively accepted…

(
some months before)

Brrring
. Juniper fumbled for her telephone in the dark.”Hello?”

“Hi there, June.”

“Christopher?” It was a dumb question as no one else called her by that nickname. “Don’t call me June. What do you want at three-fucking-a.m.?”

Her crankiness did little to dispel his chipper voice. “Oh, so you’re the only one allowed to ask for post-midnight favors?”

She relented, because he had helped her more than once, and usually without asking why or expecting anything in return. If he needed help, Juniper would be ready to give it.

“
Christ, what is it?”

“Marry me.”

Don’t you love him too
, Ashley had asked her.

It was not help Christopher was looking for, but Juniper wanted to be sure.

“What?”             

“You heard me.”

It was time to sit up and wake up. “I can’t believe you’re proposing to me over the telephone.”

“I’ve asked you face to face plenty of times. Over the phone, I figured I’d be able to handle the rejection better.”

Christopher always knew what to say to make her smile. Funny as he was, she couldn’t marry him, and he knew it. She reminded him why:

“If I put my name on a document like a marriage license, they’ll find me in two seconds.”

“With my special skills, we don’t have to worry about that. I could print you out a new life just like that.” Over the ear piece, she heard Christopher snap his fingers.

The
conversation had gone further than any other they’d had about marriage. The first few times, Christopher had made his proposal sound casual, like a joke. When his proposals had gotten intense, Juniper still told him
no
without an explanation. This time, she had given her excuse and he had struck it down. She had nothing else to counter with.

Christopher seized on her hesitation to add
, “Please, June. I know you love me, too. And with this world crumbling, we should be with each other for as long as we can.”

He didn’t have to tell her. Plenty of her working-class acquaintances had gone missing recently, and she was lucky not to be one of them. And she did love him. What was stopping her?
Pride? Shame? She felt that she could let it all go. The world was going, and she would go along with it. Christopher was willing to accept her, checkered past and all.

“Okay.”

“Really?” His tone was disbelieving.

“Yes, damnit, really.
I’ll marry you.”

“God, I love you.” His voice
was thick with tears. “Can I come over?”

“Yes!”

They hung up. Juniper sat up in bed listening for his knock at the door. There hadn’t been a time when she had been so excited to see someone. Hope was blooming inside of her like never before.

Is this really happening? Everything’s going to be alright, everything’s going to be okay, everything’s…

Fucked. Absolutely smashed. Bethany was good and drunk. The little pixie was staggering over to Juniper quite comically.

“Hello, sweetie.”
Bethany greeted her. For a drunk woman, her friend spoke clearly.

“Hi, Bethany.”

“I assume you’re not here for the music.”Bethany gave a curt nod to the stage.

The lead singer’s screaming had reached a fever-pitch. He was marching around on the stage as if possessed.
Every word he sang sounded like a crazy man’s ravings to Juniper. She shook her head at Bethany’s question.

“Not tonight.”

“It’s a shame about your clients.” Or lack thereof, was Bethany’s implication.

“Yes, I’m sure none of them wanted to end up on the city’s ever-growing list of missing or assumed dead.”

“Good thing there’s me then.” Bethany said.

“My impromptu pimp.”
Both women smiled. “What have you got for me?”

Noise from the crowd stole the focus from their conversation. They looked
around to see that the mosh pit had gotten out of control. Instead of shoving, pushing, and pulling one another, the people in the pit were starting to throw punches. Bloody mosh pits were not the standard, but they happened on occasion. A girl in the middle of the pit was lifted up on her back to crowd surf. She opened her arms and legs wide, obviously far more intoxicated than Bethany was.

Bethany said of the girl, “That’s dangerous.”

“How so?”

“Because men are disgusting.”
Bethany mimicked her shirt being torn. “When a girl crowd surfs, that’s the first thing they grab for. That, or some sickos punch.” She held up her index and middle finger to represent the girl’s open legs. Then, she used her other index finger to jab in between them.

“Ow, what they hell do they wanna do that for?”

“The same reason they go into the pit. This music, it’s got a primal sound to it. It brings out the animals in some. The right person hears it, and they can’t help but wanna punch somebody.”

“That’s sick.”
Juniper said.

She glanced once more at the mosh pit and the energy of it was
palpable. Animals. Yes, that’s what they seemed like.

“Hell, I’d be in that pit right now if I wasn’t here
talkin’ to you.” Bethany confessed.

“Go ‘head. First though, help me out
with that thing.”

“Right, that thing.”
Bethany pointed and swayed with the motion of it. “That man over there. He’s in need.”

The needy man looked about
thirty-five, which helped set him apart from the teen crowd dancing near and around him. In his own way, he was trying to fit in. Though, his youthful attire was not fitting, and his dance moves were stiff. Using her ability, Juniper could feel the lust coming off of him. It spiked whenever he looked at any girl, the younger ones in particular.

“Oh, what a treat.”
Juniper said.

“Makin’ money’s never easy.” Bethany replied. “You go have fun now, ‘
cause I’m sure gonna.”

Her head of purple hair bobbed along the crowd until she reached the pit at the front of the stage. Then
she became a blur as she was shoved around by strangers. To Juniper, the mosh pit looked dodgy. Her feeling was confirmed when Bethany was punched in the mouth, then smacked in the face. She almost jumped in to pull her friend out, but stopped when she saw Bethany laughing, bleeding gums and all. In the next second, Bethany was pushing and hitting as savagely as the rest of them.

Why did hurting each other look like fun? Juniper wanted to understand it, and she let herself feel what the pit was feeling. When she gave her power full reign, it took her outside of herself. Since Bethany was the person she knew, it wa
s like seeing through her eyes.

Sweat and blood was thick in the circle of the pit. Either the blood or light from the stage
cast a red film over the crowd, but Juniper thought it was mostly from the blood. She could hear the music, and it was like hearing the beat of tribal drums. The music did make her feel like hurting, like
being
hurt.

From
Bethany’s viewpoint, Juniper punched the boy next to her. Not only did she enjoy how her fist connected with his temple, but it made her even more gratified to shove him into someone else’s fist.

It
was enough. The fun of the mosh pit had left Juniper feeling sick. She glanced at the pit and saw a red haze around the circle of people. The ground was shimmering. Juniper was reminded of a story she had read in college simply called
N.
In it, the main character N. had discovered Ackerman’s Field. Ackerman’s Field was a place where reality was thin. Otherworldly demons were trying to break through that thin element of reality present at Ackerman’s Field in order to enter the human dimension. There, in the pit, was that same element of worn-out reality.

N. had believed there could be other
places in the world like Ackerman’s Field, where reality was a blurred line. To Juniper, it seemed as if the senseless violence of the pit was altering the perception of reality, all concentrated in one spot. The red glow around the pit glowed brighter. Everyone taking part in the violence had a smile on their face, Cheshire cat smiles. A few of the faces changed to resemble dog-like creatures. They were going to break outside of the circle. Juniper felt their need to hurt.

Just then, the song ended. The crowd s
topped dancing, clapping their approval. No more red haze or mutated faces.

Juniper jumped when someone patted her on the back.

“Whoa there.” Bethany said. “Thought you might wanna go catch your guy before he’s gone.”

Mr. Needy was walking past the bar to the exit of the concert hall.

“Damnit. See ya later, Bethany. Thanks!” Juniper hurried to catch her potential customer.

“
Later!” Bethany shouted back.

****