Kobe by Christopher S McLoughlin Read Free Book Online

his bloody hand. She can only imagine how the razor blades dug into four of his digits.
                  "Hello, mommy," Skaggs says with an eerie innocence.
                  "You, um." She tightens her discolored towel. "You need to get your stuff packed up and leave." The fear in Tina's voice cages the anger she had only moments before.
                  "You don't want me to live here anymore?" Skaggs tilts his head sideways and smiles wider.
                  "I think it would be best if you..."
                  "What's wrong, mommy? You don't like my new manicure?" He wiggles his fingers. "I did it just for you, I thought you would finally be proud of me." His smile fades, the music disappears, all that's left is the subtle drip of blood from rusty razor blades.

             Chapter VI

    Lady of the Lake
    1981
     
     
                  Every town has a legend, a bit of history that sparks up conversation around campfires and barstools. Back in the eighties, before the birth of the internet or the cell phone, one of those tales was created in Kobe.
                  Judd was just coming into his own back then, a pudgy pubescent kid with husky jeans and wet dreams.
                  Hunter, Judd's best friend, was a tall lanky teenager, awkward but still athletic.
                  The two traveled the town together, but they hung out in the woods mostly. The Kobe forest has always held secrets in its midst, whispers of the past seamlessly drift through the walnut trees.
                  Rumors floated around that a devil worshippers would summon demons using candles and wigi boards at a large boulder called Devil's Rock. It was covered in red wax and pentagrams.
                  Devil's Rock was known for lots of things but it was mainly a spot for make out sessions. It was the same boulder where Hunter experienced his first kiss. Kelly, his gorgeous next door neighbor, snuck out with him during the Fourth of July Festival. Her mouth tasted like cotton candy and fried fair food. Judd was still waiting to get his tongue in anything besides a piece of pie. He had virgin lips.
                  However, neither of the boys thought about tasting tongues when they saw a headless dog on the famous rock.
                  The smell of cotton candy would have been wonderful, instead it was rotting German Shepherd meat. Their pubescent minds filled with fear, but they hid it with jokes. Sometimes humor is the best anxiety medicine.
                  "I ain't the coroner," Hunter did his best detective impression. "But I'd say this pooch died of natural causes."
                  "Maybe it was a bad diet, or too much stress at the office," Judd continued.
                  "It's a dog eat dog world." Hunter could barely say the words without laughing hysterically."Dare ya to touch it."
                  "Double dog dare me?" The two cackled like only thirteen year old boys can.
                  Judd picked up a long hickory branch, and poked the German Shepherd in the belly. A dark cloud of flies zooted through the air.
                  Judd smiled wickedly before he whacked the belly of the beast with full force. They jumped back to avoid shit, guts, and stink spraying from every orifice.
                  When the laughter stopped, they opted to go to their sacred spot. Void of adults, where they could smoke cigarettes and tell dirty jokes.
                  Hunter and Judd hiked through a shallow creek into Playboy Tunnel, named after the porn magazine men claimed to just read for the articles.
                  On the tunnel wall was a crude caricature of a girl sucking an enormous cock, with the receiver giving a thumbs up from the performance. A speech bubble enclosed the sentence 'Thanks for