Dark Corners - Twelve Tales of Terror by Michael Bray Read Free Book Online

from A to B.
    “ I
was on my one-hour break. They still called it a lunch hour, but at
one o’clock in the morning, it was hardly lunchtime. It was one
of those hot and sticky nights where you could still feel the
residual heat of the day rising up off the pavement. I had walked
half a block down to grab a sandwich when I saw her, and I knew she
was the one. She was tall and slim and had long blonde hair, which
seemed to shimmer with a life of its own. She looked to be around the
same age as I was, but I didn’t think of her sexually. I never
really had those feeling; didn’t do anything for me. Anyway,
she was just leaning there against a wall, crying. She wasn’t
making any sound, but I could tell she was upset. I didn’t care
of course, but Monde whispered that special word in my ear, and my
heart began to beat a little bit faster.
    Opportunity.
    My
mind began to race about how I could get her somewhere quiet. I
approached casually, and almost backed out when she pretty much
handed herself over to me.
    ‘ Officer,
please help me,’ she sobbed as she looked at me pleadingly.
    She’d
seen my security guard uniform and assumed I was a police officer.
How I managed to suppress the smile I felt welling up within me, I’ll
never know. I offered her the most reassuring voice that I could
muster, flashed my pearly whites and said, ‘Officer Monde. How
can I help?’
    It
was easy.
    She
was new to the city, had become separated from her friends, and was
now lost. I nodded in all the right places and wore an expression of
concern that was no more than a mask. I was thinking, you see;
thinking about how delicious it would be to kill her— to cut
her up. I had a bizarre and completely random flashback to a day
back at the vineyard when I was a boy. My mother was removing the
legs from a chicken she was preparing for our evening meal. I
remembered the gristle like crunch as the knife went through the bone
and separated the joint. My stomach quivered. I wondered how it would
feel to do it to this girl.
    I
listened politely and confidently with Monde guiding me, helping me
when I struggled for something to say. I loved that about Monde. He
always knew what to say and how to make it sound convincing. I let
him operate my mouth. He told her we would give her a ride back to
her apartment and that it was no trouble. She thanked us profusely,
and Monde told her that a young girl could never be too careful, that
there were a lot of bad people out there. It was all I could do not
to burst out laughing. She came willingly enough. It was easy to
reassure her, despite her questions.
    ‘ How
far is your patrol car?’
    ‘ It’s
just down here.’
    ‘ I
really appreciate your help, Officer.’
    ‘ No
problem, ma’am. It’s our duty to protect.’
    ‘ It’s
dark down here.’
    ‘ Don’t
worry, miss. Nobody will harm you whilst you are with a police
officer.’
    ‘ Wait,
what are you doing? No!’ ”

    Roberts
smiled wistfully.

    “ Her
neck felt tiny in my hands… Even though the alleyway was dark
and smelled wet and rotten—kind of like Alessio’s Well—I
enjoyed every second of it. I tried to cut off her head, but my small
pocketknife was dull, and try as I might, I couldn’t hack
through the gristle and tendons, so I had to stop. It was much more
satisfying than offing the hobos though. I looked into her eyes as
she died, and I swear I saw the life leave her. It was exhilarating.
That’s when I knew that all I wanted to do with the rest of my
life was kill.”
    Elgin
looked up and Roberts was surprised at the look in his eye. He had
expected revulsion, or disgust. But what he saw was admiration.
    “ This
is fascinating. What happened next?”
    Roberts
shrugged. “I started to kill. As often as I could. I was smart
about it though. They found the girl’s body the following day.
It turned out she was only sixteen, but she looked a lot older to me.
I still didn’t feel guilty... I was desperate to kill again,
but to