PillowFace (27 page)

“What is this?” he asked through the sobs.
He realized he was crying, and as sad as it was, he didn’t feel the least bit ashamed by it.  He’d had a horrible day.  Of course it would end like this. 

The one called Buddy pushed his mask to the top of his head.  “I’m asking the questions…”

“Oh God, just let me go…All I did was play with her panties!!  That’s all!”

Carp laughed, clapped his hands.  “Man after my own heart.” 

“What do you want from me?  Money?  I can pay you, just please let me go.” 

Buddy rolled his eyes. “This will go a lot quicker if you’d just answer my questions.” 

“O-O….”  He took a couple deep breaths.  “Okay…”

“I take it you don’t live there?”

“At Haley’s house?  No-no, I don’t live there…”

“If you don’t live there, why were you there?”

The man called Carp cleared his throat.  “I believe it was to play with some panties…”

Geoff’s tears turned to bawling, and he choked on his own slobber. 

“Oh sweet Jesus,” said Buddy.  “This is getting us nowhere. Carp kill him.”

Geoff Jones grabbed Buddy’s arm.  “No, no please…Don’t kill me.”

Jerking his arm away, he said, “Then stop your goddamn crying!”

“Yes…yessir.”

Carp laughed.  “He called you sir.  That’s hilarious.”

“You could learn something from that,” said Buddy.

“Please.  I call you sir.”

“Yeah, but he meant it.”  Buddy returned his wild-eyed stare to Geoff.  “Do you know the people that live there?”

“Yes…” 

“How many are there?”

Geoff took a deep breath, trying to calm down.  “Just two.  Haley works for me…and she has a little brother…”

“How old is Haley?”

“Early twenties…Twenty-two or twenty-three I think.”

“Okay…And the brother…he’s what?  Twelve?”

“I don’t…know…”  He felt as if he was about to burst into uncontrollable sobs again, but fought with all he had to keep them back.  Then he remembered the monster that had chased him out the window.  “But…there’s…I don’t know how to describe him…”

Carp did it for him.  “A huge beast of a man?”

“Exactly.  Huge!  His arms were like…”  He tried to show them the size by holding his hand several inches above his own bicep.

“He’s the one we’re looking for,” said Buddy.  He glanced at Carp who shrugged, then looked back to Geoff.  “Here’s the deal I’m offering you and I want you to seriously consider it before you answer.”

“Anything.”

Buddy sighed.  “You haven’t even heard my offer yet.  I could have said I’m either going to have Carp here slit your throat or cut off your balls and you would have just agreed that either one would have been all right.”

“Please don’t…”

Buddy put his hand on Geoff’s lips, then pinched them together.  “Don’t say another fucking word until I finish saying what I have to say.  Got me?”

“Better do what he says,” added Carp.

Geoff couldn’t talk with his lips smeared together so he nodded. 

Buddy kept his hold as he started to talk.  “The kid snuck out to the woods about twenty minutes ago and I need you to go out there and bring him back to the house.  If you do this for us I will let you live.  I know you won’t say anything to anyone because you weren’t supposed to be there either, but if I send you out there and you don’t come back…” 

He nodded towards Carp who raised his hand, showing Geoff that something was gripped between his fingers and thumb.  It was square, made of leather, and looked very familiar. 

My wallet? 

It
was
his wallet.  That Carp guy had picked his pocket. 

Geoff’s fear started to succumb to anger, but it quickly retreated when Carp removed his license from the pouch, then he almost cried again when Carp recited his address back to him.  He was tempted to lie and say he’d moved and hadn’t updated the card yet, but figured it wasn’t worth it. 

Buddy continued. “So, if you don’t come back on your own and decide to make a break for your house…We’ll be there shortly after and slaughter everyone inside and if you think you can pack them up and go hide for awhile, we’ll just make ourselves comfortable until you get back.” 

With a grimace, Buddy removed his hand, and wiped his slobber covered fingers on Geoff’s expensive jacket.

“I-I-I don’t know if I
can
get the kid…My knee…”

“You better think of a way, because if you say no, we’ll kill you right here.”

“The neighbors would see.”

Carp laughed, then pointed at the house behind them.  “Who them?  We already took care of them.  They won’t see nothing.”

He was stuck going after this damn kid.  “Why do you want me to go get him…can’t one of you?”

Buddy grabbed the lapels of Geoff’s jacket and jerked him close.  “Do you need an explanation other than we’ll fucking kill you if you don’t?”

Carp pointed his knife at Geoff.  “Just let me kill him.”

“No,” said Buddy.  “I guess it’s fair that he knows why, I mean we’re asking him to do a lot but not saying why.”

“I liked your first reason,” said Carp.

“Basically, Carp and I have to handle what’s going on in Haley’s house and we don’t need the kid sneaking back without us realizing it.  What would happen if he were to come home and stumble upon something?  Now, him being twelve or whatever the hell age he is, I doubt he’d try to be a hero, but I
bet
he’d run off to one of these other houses and get one of them to call the police.  It’s true that we could go from house to house and kill everyone living in them…”

“We have before,” added Carp.

“But, we just don’t have the
time
to do that.  We really need to get moving.”

Geoff felt as if he might pass out.  His legs felt as flimsy as dental floss. 

“Do you think you could help us out by getting the kid?”

Geoff slowly nodded.

“That’s great to know,” said Buddy. 

“What do I do when I get him back here?”

“Just get him inside, then you can go, and we’ll handle the rest.”

(V)

Pillowface used liquid weld to fuse the saw blade to the back support on the weight-belt. He held it there, giving it time to dry. While he waited, he sat on the floor in the basement, enjoying his moment alone.  Constructing odd weapons such as this had become as therapeutic to him as building birdhouses might to a normal person. It relaxed him, helped take his mind off current frustrations, and was also very, very fun. 

He was allowing himself to slip into one of those rare moments of serenity when he thought he heard the approach of a car.  A car that sounded like Haley’s, and not only that, she was about an hour early, and Joel hadn’t gotten back yet. 

Nervousness fizzed in his stomach. He set down the weight belt, and got to his feet. Listening. If it was Haley…he might get to sneak back upstairs and watch her again. 

With Joel not being back from the woods…He just might attempt more.  Not much, just a swipe of his finger on her skin.  He imagined it would feel like fine silk. 

And, maybe…he could do more.

(I)

Haley pulled into the garage and killed the engine. Even from just sitting in her car, she could feel the house’s silence, and not the peaceful kind that she enjoyed.  Morgue silence.  She never wanted to experience that awful hush again like she had when she went down into the morgue to identify her father.  It was like a frozen stillness, one that wasn’t welcomed. 

The garage door hit the concrete, rattling; its sudden noise startled her. 

Alan slowly exhaled from the passenger seat. They looked at each other.  Alan seemed anxious, worried.

“Nervous?” she said.

“Yeah, actually. I don’t want your brother to hate me.”

“Why would he hate you?  He’s always liked you.”

“That was when I was getting scary books for him at the store.  Now, I’m in his house, on his turf.”

Haley laughed. “His turf? Are you two in rival gangs?”

“Might be after he finds out I’m crashing on his couch.”

Hardly his couch. My bed. 

“It’ll be fine.”

“Famous last words.”

(II)

“This is a
really
nice place you got here,” said Alan, looking around, impressed.

Blushing, Haley smiled. “Thanks, my parents thought so, too.” 

“Did you grow up here?” 

“For the most part, I was really young when we moved here, like four or something.  But, Joel did.” She pursed her bottom lip.  “Speaking of, where is he? I figured he’d be sprawled out on the couch watching Texas Hammer Massacre or something.” 

They walked into the living room. The TV was on, but no one was there to watch it.  Haley was really confused, now. 

Alan pointed at the TV, “Someone’s been watching.” 

“Yeah…”  She glanced up to the ceiling.  “Joel?  You up there?”  They waited a moment in silence.  There was an audible clucking in Haley’s throat as she listened for a response that never came.  “I guess he’s not here.”

Alan nodded. They stared at each other another moment before simultaneously moving toward each other and embracing. Their lips pressed together, tongues flapping and sliding across the tender, plushy mounds. 

“This time,” Haley said between their kisses, “let’s go to my bed.”

“Sounds great…” 

They continued to kiss as Haley walked backwards, guiding him toward the stairs. She pulled back, and anxiously climbed them, pulling him along by his hand. He followed her, just as eager. 

At the top of the stairs, they embraced again, their mouths finding each other, their tongues darting through their lips as they smacked with heavy breaths.  The sound was thunderous in the quiet hall, reverberating off the walls around them. 

“Where’s your room?” he managed to ask.

Haley pulled away from him, bending at the waist and walking backwards.  She motioned for him to follow her.  “Right this way…” 

Alan smiled.  Haley took a moment to treasure it.  She hadn’t seen him so happy all day.  Her rump bumped against her door, and flung it open.  She kept moving into her room. 

Alan jogged to catch up. 

And without slowing down, he lifted her off the floor and held her up as his lips folded on her neck.  She felt his teeth lightly nibbling.  A current sizzled through her body.  Putting her feet back on the floor, Alan moved his lips back to hers.  As they kissed, Haley found his pants, unbuttoned them, and began pushing them down his legs while Alan worked at kicking off his shoes.  They seemed to be giving him some trouble, but eventually he conquered them. 

Haley’s shoes were much easier and all she had to do was step out of them.  She felt Alan’s hands roaming her back, working their way down to her buttocks.  When they reached the top of her pants, his fingers slid under them, and found her panties. 

They froze.

“Wha…” Alan pulled his head back, a confused look on his face.  Obviously he’d felt something he wasn’t intending to find.

At first, Haley didn’t understand what the problem was, but then she remembered her choice of panties for the day.  She felt the heat of a blush warming her cheeks. “Whoops…I forgot I put on big girl panties…Didn’t feel like being pretty today.”

Alan shook his head.  “Well, you failed.” 

She sucked in her bottom lip, flushing even darker as he leaned forward.  They began kissing again.  Alan’s hands pulled out of her pants, found the waistline, then proceeded to slide them and her panties down in one swoop. She assisted him. Alan finished the work on his own pants, getting them to the floor, and kicked them out of the way.  At the front of his boxers was a tent from his jutting erection. 

Haley grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it off, then reached behind her back, finding the clasps of her bra. She had it off and with her other discarded clothing before a full second had passed. 

Then she pressed her naked body against Alan, writhing against him.  She felt the hardness between his legs poking against her belly.  Haley tried to help him down to her bed, but he quickly twirled her around, and helped her instead.  She sat down on the edge, then pushed with her hands, wiggling her way backward.  Before she’d gotten too far, Alan grabbed her by the ankles and scooted her back down to the bed’s edge. 

She watched him, nervous and anxious, while he pulled his shirt over his head.  She took her time studying his chest, his lined abdomen.  But, it dropped out of her view when he got on his knees. 

Her breathing intensified as he slid his arms under her thighs and angled her toward him.  His mouth was only inches from her.  She could feel the pant of his breath puffing against her moist, swollen lips.  She knew what he was about to do and wanted him to so badly that she began to tremor. 

Finally, he gave her what she wanted, snuggling his face between her thighs.  Before he’d even introduced his tongue, she was moaning.  When she felt the narrow tip flicking her, she screamed.  Her release was already imminent, but she fought it, not wanting to give in just yet. 

And, thankfully, Alan didn’t spend much more time down there or she would have.  He stood up, using his thumbs to push his boxers down his legs.  When she caught site of his penis, she gasped as loudly as she had the night before.  Although she remembered its size, it still shocked her to see it again. 

He approached her, putting his hands on each side of her.  Now she could wiggle backwards to her pillows, and she did so with Alan crawling above her, matching each move.  When they were at the top of the bed, he planted his elbows on each side of her head, angled his hips, and slowly eased himself inside of her. 

Tears trickled down her eyes as he went all the way in, expanding her, making room for himself.  He’d been invited, so it wasn’t hard for her to oblige his arrival.  He lowered his head as she leaned hers up and connected their lips once again.  As they kissed with an intense hunger for one another, he began to thrust, pounding her deep, and Haley loved every second of it. 

“When I…Well…”  He stopped, taking a moment before trying again.  “Where do you want me to…you know…”

She understood right away what he was asking.  “I’m…on the pill…” she whispered, her voice having been blown already from the screams. 

With her permission to just let himself go, he began to pump faster, his need to reach orgasm consuming him.  She began thrusting with him, matching his tempo, so that each time he delved, she was coming up to accept him. 

A few moments later, Alan began to tense up, his thrusts becoming heavy jabs, then she felt him spurting inside of her, filling her up with his warmth.  It triggered her own release, shaking her all over as he drained himself dry. 

When they were both spent, Alan collapsed on top of her. 

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his hips, holding him there so he couldn’t pull out.    

(III)

Ethan was sprawled face down in the dirt, and didn’t look to be breathing.  Joel stood frozen, holding his own breath, trying to see if Ethan’s back was rising and falling. 

It wasn’t. 

He’s dead. 

Ethan’s skin, usually a dusky shade, was abnormally pasty, the color of school glue with a hint of indigo.  The ground around his body was sodden, not quite muddy, but wet and dark. A murky liquid had been spilled into the dirt. 

Joel walked slow and stilted to the opening, stopping just shy of Ethan’s head.  The mushy effect on the ground had been caused by a dark liquid all right. 
Blood. 
A slow pool had spread from under Ethan’s chin.  Joel took in a shaky breath.  His bowels felt like hollow ice.  Slowly, he squatted next to his friend.  He set the shovel down, avoiding the soppy spot.  Reaching out, his hands hovered just above Ethan’s shoulders. 

The woods held its breath in anticipation.  Finally, Joel forced himself to grab Ethan’s shoulders.  He felt a chilliness seeping through his friend’s shirt.  Rolling him over, he was greeted with a blank stare from vacant eyes.  Ethan’s mouth was stationed in a sideways smirk.  There was a deep ditch in the center of his throat.  He saw tendons, brown and red and gooey.  Joel looked away and heaved.  Other than phlegm, nothing spewed out, but that didn’t stop his stomach from trying.  After four attempts, it finally gave up.  His eyes stung with hot tears.  Loud shrieks and clamors hammered his ears.  As it all began to fade back to normal, the habitat of the woods slowly came to life again. 
Just a dead boy,
they seemed to be saying and going about their business. 

Giving his head some time
to clear, Joel began wondering things.  Such as: 
Who did this?  When did it happen?  Where’s Paul? 
That seemed to be the logical direction he should take this. He could sit here feeling guilt and sorrow all day, but it’d get him nowhere.  So, he stood up.  The trees were bending and flexing this way and that.  He could feel cold runnels of sweat on his searing skin.  He’d felt like this before when he’d had the flu, but this was something totally different. This was his body trying to succumb to shock, and his mind struggling to resist it. 

He did a quick and sloppy search of the nearby area.  When he didn’t find Paul anywhere, he came back and flopped down on his butt.  He took slow, deep breaths and rested his head against a tree.  It was rough against the back of his skull.  He could smell the souring stench of rot intensifying around him, but didn’t care.  Was he getting used to those smells? 

Is this where I should give up and call the police?  Or Haley?

In a way, Joel found it odd that he wasn’t reacting more harshly to the sight of his friend’s demise.  It was as if over the past couple of days he’d become desensitized to dead bodies and bloodshed.  Sure he felt bad, but he wasn’t as deeply affected as he should have been.  He also knew that he wouldn’t call the police or let Haley know what was going on.  This was his mess; he’d deal with it. 

He pushed himself up, walked back to where he’d left the shovel and grabbed it. His hand was sweaty, making the top of the handle slippery and moist. He looked down in the hole.  Tonya looked as if she was simply lying in a bath of dirt.  Ants had already made their way up her thighs, burrowing themselves into her groin.  Grimacing, he turned away, but was met by Ethan.  The sight there wasn’t any better.  He groaned, shook his head.  Was he really going to do this? 
Yes. 
Was he really going to add his best friend to the body pit? 
Yes, again. 
Was he going to cover it up and go about as if nothing had happened? 
Yes times three. 
He ran a hand through his dripping hair and wiped the sweat on his shirt sleeve.

His mind drifted again to thoughts of who could have done this. 
Pillowface?  No way.  He’s been at the house with me.  Could he have snuck back? 
Joel tried imagining that in his head, but couldn’t.  There was no way he could have gotten back here and back to the house without Joel noticing him being gone. 

Paul? 

His mind absorbed that one for a moment.  It seemed highly doubtful, but at the same time, utterly possible.  Paul had been acting weird
.  And, the way he seemed to be enjoying what was happening. 
Joel couldn’t hold that against him, though, because he’d felt the same joy deep down as well. 
Yeah, but I wasn’t giddy and excited.  Paul looked as if he wanted to do it again. 
Is that what happened?  Did Paul kill Ethan?  Was he coming after Joel next? 
No way.  And even if he tried, he’d have to get through Pillowface, first.  Like to see him try and do that.

Then he remembered Pillowface wasn’t out here.  Joel was alone in the woods, so if Paul came at him now, he’d have to fight him solo.  After a quick scan around, he convinced himself that Paul wasn’t lurking nearby and got to work.
 

He pressed the shovel against Ethan and gently nudged him.  His body seemed happy where it was, and didn’t move.  Joel pushed down, digging the shovel under Ethan’s back.  Then, poking his tongue through the side of his lips, he placed his foot on the spade, heaving with everything he had.  Ethan rolled into the hole, settling on top of Tonya.  His waist nestled between her legs, his face down in the dirt.  It looked as if Joel had wandered upon them doing something dirty in the woods.