The door knocker clangs three times, and the man shoves her toward it, “Go see who’s at the fucking door,” he tells her, marching to the fridge.
As soon as his despondent wife rounds the corner away from him, I silently let myself in the back door leading into the dining area. He has his whole upper body bent into the fridge, seemingly searching for something. As he grabs his prize and slams the door shut, his eyes finally land on me.
I wiggle my giant clawed fingers in a wave, letting the smoke rise from my hands and arms. Sam drops the beer in his hand, and before it even hits the floor, I have my hand wrapped around his face, palm covering his mouth, and the tips of my claws digging into his head for grip. I don’t want to kill him yet, but I want him to know exactly what manner of treatment he’s going to receive from me.
I overhear Fritz explaining to the woman that he’s part of the neighborhood watch and thought he saw an animal of some kind in the backyard.You should probably call animal control,he tells her,It looked to be some kind of deer.I laugh at that, and he proceeds withIt’s probably harmless, but better safe than sorry.
She thanks Fritz and promises to make the call right now. She’s probably relieved to know what is in her yard and have an excuse to escape her husband’s disgustingaffections. As she begins the journey through the house back toward us, I pull him towards me as I waltz backward out the back door. I’m dragging him by the tiny holes I’ve created in his head, his blood dripping down my arm and onto the floor. Oops.
I gently close the door behind him so as to not startle his wife or wake their children, and I’m positively thrumming with energy at the prospect of what to do with him when the smell of urine hits my nose.
Fritz whistles a tune as he walks around the corner and stops dead, looking at us, “Holy shit, dude, you made him piss his pants already?” he laughs.
I shake the asshole’s head like a rag doll, answering, “I haven’t even done anything yet. He’s just a fucking coward,” I look down at the trembling man, making a decision, “I will give you one chance to run. Just one,” I hold up a finger of my free hand.
I release his face, watching the rivulets run down the sides of his head, one on his right side, four down the right from my claws. He seems discombobulated, but that’s no concern of mine. He nods, blinking rapidly to clear his head, and I explain further, “I will give you a ten-second head start to run into those woods there,” I point behind him. These assholes, with their little personal forests, so unaware of the trouble it invites. “If I catch you, I’ll… well, don’t let me catch you,” I grin, showing my teeth.
He doesn’t even hesitate, just tumbles himself into a sprint toward the woods. I look at Fritz, “Ready?” I ask, anticipation building with every beat of my heart.
He scrunches his nose in distaste and shakes his head slightly, “The hunt is your kink, not mine. You catch him, then drag him around the corner there,” he points with his chin, “It looks like there’s a foreclosure. That’s where I’ll be.” With a quick glance at his watch, he adds, “Three, two, one. Go fetch.”
* * *
After chasing my prey for a few minutes, I realize the only exercise he’s done in years has been in the form of tormenting others. I’m sauntering slowly toward him, and he’s barely moving any faster than me. This is not a chase; it’s the saddest Gods damned thing I’ve ever done.
Rolling my eyes, I give up on the whole charade. Fritz mentioned thisforeclosurea few houses down, which I guess is just a home no one is living in. That seems silly, having an empty home when there are clearly so many in need of one, but I digress.
I stalk up, muttering to myself about how fucking pathetic this sad excuse of a man is before I grab him by the back of the neck and start dragging him toward our destination. He tries to shake me off, pleading for mercy already, and it’s so pitiful it almost makes me feel bad for him.Almost.
Fritz is waiting on the back porch, sitting on a large swing, singing softly to himself, “She held Wanda’s hand and they worked out a plan-” Then, upon seeing me hauling this sack of shit with me, “Oh, hey! There you two are! I was wondering where you got off to.”
“Please, man. I don’t know what’s happening! This guy is a fuckingmonster!That shit’s not supposed to be real,” he starts blubbering to Fritz, seemingly believing him to be my mortal puppet master. After a few minutes, he ends his nonsensical rant with, “I got money. You want money?”
“No. Shut your mouth,” I order, “Is anyone in that house?” I nod towards it, asking Fritz.
He shakes his head, looking over our guest, “He sure doesn’t seem so tough when there’s not someone smaller than him around, does he? Seems like a little bitch boy to me.”
Finally, the man has a backbone for half a moment, his fury overpowering his fear, screaming, “I’ll fucking kill you! You think I’m scared of two fucking freaks?” He lunges toward Fritz but stops instantly as I grip him by the hair and yank him back, ripping out a handful of the greasy, thin strands. He looses a pained groan, falling to the ground, clutching his head in pain.
Fritz’s eyes glitter with malice as he looks to me, “Come on, let’s get inside before the real Neighborhood Watch catches us.” He opens the door into the dark house, holding it open for me to pull the soon-to-be-dead fucker across the threshold.
I find a chair from the nearly empty kitchen and place him on it before crouching down to his level, “Now, listen here, friend,” I say as I drag a claw not so gently down his cheek. “I have two days to play with you before I must return home, and I can’t have you dying until I’m done with my fun,” I explain.
He starts crying and begging, and I hold up a hand, standing, “I wasn’tfinished,Sam.” I hear Fritz tsk outno mannersbehind me, “As I was saying, I need you to tell me if you have any medical conditions that could cause this little game to end too quickly.”
“Oh, god. No, don’t kill me. Please. I’ll do anything. I’ll pay you. I’ll give you whatever you want. Insider trading? I have all the inside scoops. Ummm-” I look at Fritz, who is wearing a similarly unimpressed expression.
“What’s insider trading?” I ask Fritz, ignoring the babbling man for the moment.
“It’s just like… rich assholes having knowledge they shouldn’t have and using it to make more money,” he explains.Huh.I shrug, folding my arms over my chest and staring down at our victim.
“Okay, buddy. I’ll tell you what I want,” I tell him jovially, “I want… every fucking drop of your blood to paint this home red. I want you to be severed so thoroughly that no one will be able to recognize your body as human. I want the police and coroners to weep at the desecration and defilement of you they find.”
“Do you have a will?” Fritz asks suddenly, and the man nods, “Who’s in it?”
“My- my kids, they get everything when they turn 18.”
“Nothing for the mother of your children?” Fritz pries, the derision in his voice palpable.
