Page 53 of Dark Visions

“N-no, it will…”

“I’m just kidding, Michael, geez! Is this how you’re going to be all night? I mean, I’ve been waiting for you for days. I need this, baby, and you know, I think this might actually be the couple that’s responsible for your wife and son.”

Christopher’s eyes widened, and he sat back as if she had slapped him. She convinced his brother that she could find his family’s killers. That’s how Michael had been lured into this sick world.

“What? What are you talking about?” he asked, shocked.

“Your wife and son? You do remember them, don’t you? That’s why you’re doing this, right? I think I found them, baby. I think this couple were responsible for their deaths. Can’t you just think of all the wonderful ways to torture them? Make them pay?”

Christopher thought he would vomit right there at the table. She still held his hand against her pussy, the wetness increasing with every word she spoke. This woman was truly psychotic.

Take a break, Christopher. You’re doing great. Don’t let her know…

He swallowed hard, his body filling with both disgust and anger. He jammed his fingers hard inside her, needing to cause this woman discomfort and pain for the angst she caused his brother.

“Oh! Oh yes, baby. You know how I like it,” she smiled. Deborah squirmed against his hand, and he immediately pulled his hand away, wiping her juices on his napkin. “Baby, that’s not fair. You’re gonna make me wait?”

“Yes. I’m going to make you wait until I say so,” he said, suddenly calm and focused.

Her long red fingernails walked up his thigh to the traitorous bulge in his pants. She squeezed his cock hard, rubbing her knuckles roughly against his balls. Christopher closed his eyes, smothering a groan.

“You’ll do what I say,” she whispered. He opened his eyes and leaned forward, kissing her softly on the cheek.

“Excuse me a moment. I need to make sure the hospital is okay without me again tonight. I’ll be right back, and then we can leave.”

She looked at him suspiciously and then nodded. Walking to the back of the restaurant, he ducked inside the men’s room and took several deep breaths. Leaning over the sink, he splashed cold water on his face and looked in the mirror, jumping at the sight of Flip standing behind him.

“It’s okay, Doc. You’re doing great.”

“I can’t do this,” he said, shaking his head. “She’s crazy. She’s fucking crazy, and Michael, oh God, Michael was with that woman because…”

“Doc, it’s okay,” he said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “She’s a manipulator. You’re doing the right thing. Everyone is in place. Let’s just get her to take you to the couple, and then we’ll be done with this business.”

Christopher nodded his head and took another long breath. Straightening his tie, he headed back to the table.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Aislinn tossed back and forth on the sofa. The dream was coming on heavily now. Except it wasn’t like the others, not exactly. It was filled with grief and sadness and death but not murder. She saw his face, Michael Krauss sobbing hysterically. No, no, it wasn’t Michael. It was Christopher. Somehow, she knew it wasn’t Michael. It was Christopher, and there was a woman standing behind him.

But it wasn’t the woman behind him that he was focused on. It was the woman lying in front of him. Her long blonde hair was covered in blood, her face marred as if she had fallen against the concrete, the skin scraped off, revealing raw red burns. She was barely breathing, barely awake, but she was reaching for something, for someone. A hand, a small hand. The hand of a little boy.

“I’m so sorry,” he cried, “I didn’t see you, Ellie. I didn’t see you or Tommy. Ellie, hold on. Please hold on…”

“I-I can’t. Take care of… take care of Michael. He needs you…”

“No! No, Ellie, no, please, don’t go!” he cried.

“It’s okay. I forgive… I…” the last gasps of breath left her body, and he hugged her close, blood soaking his shirt. The boy was gone, dead from the impact of the vehicle.

He turned to see the woman behind him, her face drunk from alcohol and sex. He successfully hid his lustful cravings and tendencies from his family. Tonight, the woman behind him insisted on drugs to increase their appetite, and he had gone along with it, his senses dulled to the pain. The pain is what he enjoyed. The whippings, the slaps, the cock rings, the piercings. No one knew. Not even his twin. His twin, whose wife and son were now dead at his feet.

He didn’t see them. They were walking across the quiet residential street as he turned the corner. He didn’t recognize the street, so addled by the drugs, he didn’t even know it was his brother’s neighborhood.

“What do we do?” asked the woman drowsily.

“Get in the car,” he said.

“But…”