Forgotten Fears (5 page)

“Okay, sir,” He said. “I’ll go check things out and see if I can get you back up and running.”

He did not refer to the other thing he had said, and Billy was beginning to wonder if he had perhaps misheard, or even imagined it. He had after all, been shocked out of his sleep and what had been a very vivid, and disturbing dream. His brain could simply be confused. Still, as he watched the hulking engineer duck his head under the door frame and descend into the basement, he couldn’t think of anything else he could have actually said.

I sniffed a cunts bicycle seat

It was pretty cut and dry, and that greasy rolling in his stomach returned. He crossed the kitchen and filled the kettle, placing it on the hob of the cooker, and lit the gas with a match. They had invested in an old-fashioned steel kettle after the first couple of power outages, which had been a semi-regular occurrence. It was one of those which whistled when the water was boiled, and although Angeline laughed every time he said it, Billy truly believed his drinks tasted better when made in this more traditional way. He flicked his eyes towards the open cellar door, which resembled a gaping mouth, and endured another roll of the stomach.

“Hey, uh, can I get you a drink or anything?” Billy called into the dark. He half expected some kind of twisted reply, perhaps a repeat of what had been said when he offered his torch, but the response that came back was perfectly normal.

“I would love a coffee if that’s okay sir?”

“No problem,” Billy replied, feeling stupid at his own paranoia. The man was perfectly safe, and maybe the only reason for Billy’s discomfort was just his unusual size. That combined with the dream and the infidelity of his wife had made him paranoid. As for what he thought he had heard, he was willing to dismiss it as a mistake on his part. He heard the heavy boots ascending the steps, and turned towards the door.

He had intended to ask the man if he wanted milk or sugar with his drink and froze, watching in sheer disbelief at the sight in front of him.

The man from Trans Energy was naked. He was still wearing his boots and tool belt, but that was all. It was akin to brain freeze, because Billy couldn’t move, or think or do anything. The man strode across the room, unconscious of his exposed body, and sat at the kitchen table, the wooden chair groaning in protest.

“I can’t fix it from here,” He said pleasantly, flashing a broad smile. “I’ll need to go pick up some parts and repair it at the generator. Is it out back there?”

Billy nodded, still unable to speak. The man either had no idea, or didn’t care he was naked, and either option not only disgusted Billy, it frightened him. He would have stood there forever, frozen by fear and repulsion were it not for the whistle of the kettle.

“Uh, I think that’s done sir.” The man said.

“Yeah, yeah of course,” Billy replied. His tongue felt too big for his throat, the words seeming to take an age to form. Thankfully, he went into some kind of autopilot, preparing the drinks as his naked house guest waited. Billy set the cup in front of the man, along with the milk and sugar without dropping anything, even though his hands were shaking. All the while, his guest waited obliviously and in complete disregard for his nakedness. Billy sat on the seat opposite, his eyes flicking to the door and escape.

“Thanks for the drink, friend.” The man said as he began spooning sugar into his cup. Billy watched as he tipped spoonful after spoonful into his coffee. He counted thirteen before the man eventually stopped stirring and took a slurping sip.

“Ahh, that’s good. Thanks.”

Billy wanted to demand the man leave. There was obviously something wrong with him mentally, and he didn’t want to trigger any kind of reaction.

“How is it looking down there?” Billy said, forcing himself to look his house guest in the eye and ignore his hairy, fleshy body.

“I can fix it. I need to kill some sluts and Gibberbombs and get a couple of new components for the generator. It’s a straightforward fix.”

Billy felt the hairs on his arms stand up on end. This time, there was no mistake, no chance he had misheard. The man he had let into his house was obviously mentally ill, and potentially dangerous. They sipped their drinks in silence.

The man slurped down the rest of his drink, set his cup on the table, and wiped his chin with the back of his forearm.

“That hit the spot. Thanks, buddy.”

“No problem.” A numb Billy replied.

“This is a nice place. Seems quiet way out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Yeah, we like it.”

“I bet those Squeakers and Moonglobbers don’t bother you out here do they?”

Billy shook his head, having no idea what Squeakers or Moonglobbers were. All he knew was that he wanted to get as far away from this horrible man as he could. Until then, he would play the game.

“Looks like it’s almost over.” The man said with an ugly grin, interrupting Billy’s thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Billy said, gripping the arms of the chair as panic surged through him.

“The rain, it’s just about done.” The man replied as he pointed a grubby finger towards the window.

Billy followed his gaze to see the rain had indeed slowed to a gentle drizzle and dusk was coming. The thought of being alone in the house under any circumstances with this deranged man was enough. To think about it after dark was something else entirely.

The naked man broke wind.

The sound was sharp and disgustingly loud against the bare wood of the seat. He didn’t acknowledge it at all, and it took all of Billy’s will to fight off his repulsion and keep a neutral expression as the awful stench reached him.

“It’s getting dark,” Billy said, choosing his words carefully. “Will the power be on before then?”

“Oh, it will all be over by then, don’t you worry.”

There was nothing sinister in the way he said it, but Billy was horrified by the predatory way in which he smiled as the words left his mouth. There was silence as they stared at each other, which was broken by the vibration of Billy’s phone on the kitchen table. He looked at it, then at the man.

“Mind if I get that?”

“It’s your phone and your house chief. I’m just the repair guy.” He replied, standing up and giving Billy a view which would have made him bring up his breakfast if he had eaten any.

“I’ll grab my stuff and get right to work.” he added, then headed back into the basement.

Billy answered the phone, the motion of doing so left him feeling lethargic and detached.

“Hey buddy, what’s going on?” The voice on the other end of the line said.

He had expected it to be Angeline telling him she had arrived safely. Instead, it was his friend Alex. They had known each other for seven years, and it was actually Alex who had suggested to Billy about making a move out to the country to start afresh.

Billy hadn’t taken much convincing the change in scenery was exactly what the two of them had needed in order to try to fix their splintered marriage, and as it was a problem he had the power to fix, he had made moving his sole obsession.

“Hey man, you there?” Alex repeated, pulling Billy’s attention back to the present.

“Yeah... yeah, sorry, I’m here.”

Alex started to talk, just shooting the shit, completely oblivious to what was going on. Billy interjected with the occasional response. A yes. A no. A murmur of agreement. All the while, he kept his eyes on the open basement door.

As soon as he leaves, call the police.

Billy didn’t often agree with his inner voice, however on this occasion, they were both on the same page. No matter how he tried to justify it, the strange man in his cellar clearly had issues, and Billy certainly had no intention of confronting him. That, after all, was a job for the local law enforcement. He conceded, however, having someone like Alex around couldn’t harm. He half tuned back into what his friend was saying, then drifted off again when he heard it was some small talk about a fishing trip he and his brother had recently been on. Billy instead watched the basement door and waited for his unwanted guest to emerge and leave, so he could alert the authorities and get his home back. Already it felt tainted and violated, and he had decided no matter what happened, he would throw the chair the man’s naked body had been in contact with away long before Angeline and Tyler came back home.

“Hey, man.” Billy interrupted, realising it was the first thing he had said during the entire conversation.

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you could come over? I could use your help with something here.”

“Uh, I guess, what do you need?”

“I think I have a problem here that I could use your help with.”

“What kind of problem?” Alex asked, sensing the tension in Billy’s voice.

“I can’t talk about it on the phone. Can you come over?”

“I’ll be there in twenty. I’m on the bike, though, the damn car blew a gasket.”

“Yeah, no problem just put it around the side of the house when you get here.”

“What’s going on over there pal?”

Billy was about to give him the short version of what had happened so far when the man from Trans Energy re-emerged from the basement. He was thankfully dressed, and could almost be a normal, if oversized person. Billy, of course, knew different. He had witnessed it for himself. The man hovered, waiting patiently to get Billy’s attention.

“Just a second buddy,” Billy said, covering the receiver with his palm and looking at the hulking man by the cellar door.  Now he was dressed, he immediately seemed less frightening and intimidating, and Billy was beginning to feel stupid that the man had spooked him so much.

“I need to head out and get those parts to fix the generator,” He said as he took the chewed up pencil out of the breast pocket of his overalls and slipped it into the corner of his mouth. “I shouldn’t be too long.”

“No problem, thanks again.” Billy heard himself say, still struggling to deal with the situation. “I’ll show you out,” He added, trying not to sound too keen or eager.

“Oh, that’s okay sir. I’ll show myself out. You go ahead and finish your call.”

Billy nodded, noting even despite the nakedness and speaking gibberish, ‘Grant’ from Trans Energy had impeccable manners.

Billy exhaled as the man walked down the hallway, his boots echoing through the empty house. His relief didn’t last for long, as he heard the man turn and walk back towards the kitchen. He popped his head around the corner of the door and smiled.

“Oh, also sir, before I forget, just to let you know if you leave or call the police whilst I’m gone, I'll gut that wife and kid of yours.”

Billy’s arms fell to his sides and his legs buckled. Somehow he remained upright but was powerless to do anything but stare and endure the tight feeling in his stomach, which was now doing dizzy somersaults rather than just rolling with unease. The man was waiting for something, his eyebrows raised and questioning.

He wanted confirmation that Billy understood.

Somehow, he managed to nod his head.

The man’s piggy eyes shifted to the phone clutched in Billy’s hand, and again, without a word, he knew what was expected of him. He ended the call, barely hearing his friend asking if he was still there. He tossed the phone on the table and sat down hard. The man from Trans Energy seemed satisfied and turned back towards the hallway. He started to whistle, a tune that was maddeningly familiar, but one Billy could not quite place. The sound of his boots grew quiet, the door opened and closed and Billy was left alone.

CHAPTER THREE

~I~

He wasn’t sure how long he had been sitting there at the kitchen table. His brain felt as if it was overfilled, stuffed with hundreds of thousands of thoughts, emotions and ideas trying to fight for his attention. The only thing he could concentrate on were those words, uttered with such calm and pleasant indifference.

If you leave or call the police whilst I’m gone, I'll gut that wife and kid of yours.

He looked at his phone sitting on the table, and although he desperately wanted to call Angeline, he knew he couldn’t. If he did, he was certain the man from Trans Energy would know. The rain had started to tap at the windows again, and as Billy glanced outside, he noted the best of the day was long gone, giving the house a shadowy murkiness which only added to his unease.

Whenever he had watched movies or read books in the past, he always used to imagine himself as the hero, the go-to guy when shit hit the fan. He was finding when real life presented such a horrifying situation as the one he was currently in, he was in no way cut from the hero cloth. In truth, he could barely function on a basic level, and felt as if he was slowly coming apart at the seams.  Talk of Oglebonkers, Squeakers and Moonglobbers made no sense to him. Whatever they were, they seemed important to the man who had invaded his home. The ball in his stomach cavity clenched a little bit more, and he found himself, once again, looking again at the mobile phone lying face down on the table.

He was seriously considering trying to call the police. Surely, there was no way the man could know if he did, as he had been gone for some time.