Patrick Posted June 11, 2005 Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 There is a certain feeling of menace in the air. Menace directed at me. I had not only surprised them by what I had said earlier, but I had also unnerved them. They disliked me. They were a pretty strange bunch. Starting with the lesbian-oriented woman, the little child, who seemed to be lost in her own world, and all the others, including that suicide-inducing man. Duncan eyed me suspiciously. He seemed not to like me. I flashed a cunning smile at him and then eyed the woman, who seemed to be wanting to show off her body. Might as well enjoy this group therapy. - I thought to myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincunx Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 (edited) (Lissa Tuttle, 18:00, day room) That does it! “So you’re all superior to everyone else, hm?! Well, there’s seven of you here claiming to be the best, and I am amused that none of you regret that. You’re all not good enough, smart enough, powerful enough to live free, and I am astonished that none of you regret that. Only one of you has been powerful enough to kill since you went to prison, and I cannot believe that none of you regret THAT!” I stormed out of there and locked myself into our. . .no. . .my quarters. Jon, I’m so sorry. . .I didn’t have time to dig a grave yet, but the freezer isn’t forever. . . (Holly Lin, 19:30, day room) Dr. Ligeia left some time ago but she has not brought dinner in to us. Duncan has fixed upon Thomas as the nearest thing to an authority figure; it’s a comedy duet, wise aleck and straight man. (20:30) Has she forgotten us? (21:00) Tabatha has curled up and gone to sleep under one of the tables. I believe we should have been put in our cells by now. I wish I were away from this crowd! (Lissa Tuttle, 21:00) I swallowed those sleeping pills ninety minutes ago and they are finally starting to take effect. . . . Edited June 11, 2005 by Quincunx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincunx Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 (Holly Lin, 21:30) “I didn’t get the cancellation notice for ‘once a cop, always a cop’,” I heard Duncan say. He’d been talking for hours and the human herd had stopped taking notice, so I had also. Even Thomas had disengaged his brain and only nodded at the comments. “You didn’t get that notice either? Still a cop?” Even Tabatha felt that. She woke up in a hurry, crawled out from under the desk, and stared at Thomas, along with the rest of the herd. I looked at other people. Duncan is not looking at me. Jason is not looking at me. Audrey is not looking at me. Brenda might be looking at me. . .no, she is not. Thomas is not part of this herd any longer! “I am a cop,” he said to Duncan. Thomas walked over and told Jason, “I am also a family man. I love my wife.” He moved to Audrey and Jason followed him. “I have a son—” “I’d love to have him too! I’ll even share,” she screeched, and tried to rub up against him. Thomas stepped back; she stepped forward. He pivoted and spoke to me. I didn’t hear him. He was trying to pull me into his herd! I stepped back, back, back until I touched the wall, and then sat down, to show how much I would not join him. He unfolded a paper from his pocket and showed it to Brenda, then spoke to her. She shook her head, sat down; he looked at the picture, frowned. Duncan put his chin on his hand, grinned, and drawled out a rude phrase. Thomas turned away from me and the others crowded around his back; I slipped under Dr. Ligeia’s desk while their backs were turned. Thomas pointed at Duncan, spoke words, and seemed to grow. No. He did grow. He grew fur, claws, muscles. Duncan stopped grinning and vaulted over the back of the couch, ducking down. The—thing—tore through the couch after him, flinging stuffing, springs, and steel tubing behind it. Audrey grabbed a bent length of pipe and flung herself through the rip, shouting, while Tabatha knelt down and sorted through the springs. Brenda ran out of the ring of couches, tried to force her way into my hiding place, but I kept her out of it. I don’t know how. Brenda dripped blood back to her own hiding place. Tabatha stepped on one end of a spring, then stood up and pulled on the other. Jason crept along the edge of the carpet, closer to her. Wait—she just straightened that spring. No child has that kind of strength! She waited in the middle of the room and didn’t move: not when Duncan ran past her in a panic, not when Audrey swung at Duncan’s head, not even when the—thing—leaped and Duncan slipped and fell. All she did was reach out with the straightened length of spring and touch it to what used to be Thomas. (Thomas McKinston, 21:35) Wolf kills all prey! Little prey fights back! Dark angel swings sword? Dark angel talks loud. “I stop you.” (Holly Lin, 21:35) The thing—Tabatha touched it with the spring and it shrunk away. Thomas is lying there again, panting, whole, in a pool of hair and flesh, near Duncan who’s either unconscious or dead. Now she’s tilting her head to the side and reaching out the spring to touch him again. No. She’s going to stab him. Right eye. Left eye. Right shoulder. Left shoulder. Right hip. Left hip. His arm is twitching but I think she’s completely disabled him. She leans over, puts her ear next to his mouth. Audrey grabs Jason by the handle and starts dragging him over to Thomas. Jason tries to snatch Tabatha as she stands and raises the spring again, but she steps back and watches them instead. I do not think I will watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincunx Posted June 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2005 (Duncan Clarke, 00:15) I could have opened that lock hours ago, if everyone would have just gone to sleep like good little murderers. Playing dead is quite boring. Still, they were fun, and I think I’ll leave them a parting gift. Now, how to get that window sheeting to fall inwards, so it doesn’t make noise? . . . (Brenda a.k.a. the Black Widow, 01:30) What a dear boy! He’s unlocked my room, and the doctor’s, and everyone’s! I knew the doctor couldn’t naturally sleep through all that, so I gave her an extra pill or two. Rubbed her throat like a cat, and down they went! All of us deserve a good night’s sleep after this terrible evening. (Brenda a.k.a. the Black Widow, 02:00) I’m certain the doctor won’t mind if I take a spare uniform with me. I do mind that Duncan took most of the non-perishable food, but he was kind enough to leave the can opener for me. I had to swallow my aspirin dry. My poor nose, I think Holly broke it! (Dispatcher, 15:45, two days later) “If you are calling for an ambulance, press one. If you are calling for a fire truck, press two. If you are calling for a police cruiser, press three. If you require immediate assistance, please stay on the line. Hello.” “Why haven’t the newspapers reported the Black Widow’s parole! I just saw her walking down the street, brazen as day and making eyes at my Rupert!!!!” “I’m sure the message was just lost in transit, ma’am. Let me check. . . .Oh my. When was this exactly?” “It’s happening right now!!! Get someone over here and make her stop!” “We’ll trace your address and send police over right away. Please stay on the line. –click- Dispatch two cars to the address on line one, and four to the Sand Harbor Rehabilitation Facility IMMEDIATELY.” (Duncan Clarke, 17:30) ”Breaking news. Eight bodies have been found at the old Starshine Motor Inn. Preliminary reports indicate all died of an overdose of sleeping pills—” “—possibly part of a suicide pact,” I grinned back at the television screen stuck in the corner of the bus terminal. It’s a crock and a cover-up, but it counts—I started it, after all. Puts me over the fifty mark, no matter how it’s counted. I wonder if the Guinness Book of World Records takes anonymous submissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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