The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair

EXHIBIT C By David McAfee

Ah, good. Right on time, sweetheart. I’m gettin’ pretty good at measurin’ doses; I had your timin’ down perfect. Of course, it helped that I knew your weight, even if you tried to keep that shit secret. But I knew it. I always knew it, even when you’d lie and say a different number. I knew you were lyin’, I just didn’t care. I…

Oh, shit. Hold on. Let me get the tape recorder goin’…

There. Now we can start. So, didja miss me?

Damn! If you arch your back any harder you’re gonna break your spine, hon. Sorry, I shoulda told you about my little friend, there. His name is Merle, after Merle Haggard. He’s just a plain ol’ rat. Like him?

Right, right. Of course you don’t. You were always scared of rats. Pretty silly, if you ask me. The things are mostly harmless. That’s why I stuck Merle in there with you, so you could see he’s just a cute little furball. You guys are gonna get along fine.

Don’t bother strugglin’. Those cuffs held that cop for half a day before I finally did him a favor and broke his shins. They’ll hold you just fine. But, since I remembered how much you like kinky shit, I had ’em padded just for you. Whaddya think? Just like old times, right? Ha! Okay, maybe not so much. Still, you’re cuffed, and I’m standing next to you. That’s gotta bring back a few memories, don’t it? I know this ain’t the same as bein’ cuffed to the bed, but it’ll do. The bed is still upstairs, but I needed somethin’ different for the basement. Somethin’ stronger. Somethin’ that wouldn’t absorb the blood like a mattress.

That’s why you’re layin’ in a big marble box. Took me a while to make it, especially since I had to scrounge the marble from foreclosed houses and the like. I couldn’t just walk into Home Depot and ask for pieces to make a marble box three feet deep and six feet long. That woulda looked kinda funny, don’t you think? Woulda given the cops too much info, too. Took fuckin’ forever to cut the slabs and secure ‘em together, too. You wouldn’t believe how heavy that shit is. But it had to be marble. I know how much you like marble, plus blood just washes right off that shit. A little water, a little bleach, and presto! Clean as a freshly-wiped baby’s ass.

Oh, looks like Merle found your toe. Come on, now. It’s just a little nibble. No need for such a fuss.

You know, hon, you really should see your face right now. I’m tempted to take a picture so you can check out your expression, but that’s probably not a good idea. I dunno much about that shit, and I’d probably send the fuckin’ pic somewhere by accident, and that’d be the end of me. We don’t want that, do we? Of course not.

Anyhoo, I bet you’re surprised to see me again, ain’tcha? After all, it’s been six years since you met Brian and took off. What have you been up to? Oh, right. The gag. Sorry. I’m working on a new place that will let me stop using those things, but for now I can’t have you screamin’. The neighbors might hear. So far this setup has worked pretty good, at least it suited for the last few people. It should work just fine for you, too.

Don’t matter anyway. I know what you’ve been up to. It took me a long time to find you again, but once I tracked you down it was easy enough to see what you’ve been doin’ the last six years. For example, you taught my son that Brian is his father, and then you went and gave him a little brother. Still sittin’ on your ass at home, too. No job for you. Poor Brian. How many hours a week is that sap workin’ to keep you happy? 60? 70? What a dipshit. I might have to pay him a visit next. Nah, that’s probably a bad idea. It’s bad enough I grabbed you, but if he disappeared too, it’d point the cops right at me. They’re already lookin’ harder since I put that detective up on that cross. Did you see the news reports? I especially loved the shot from that one photographer; the one that showed the big metal cross stickin’ up outta the dirt with the detective’s body hangin’ from it. That shit was cool. It was a bitch gettin’ that damn cross out of the basement and planting it in the park like that, but it was worth it. They showed that picture on every TV news show from California to New York. I’m famous now.

And you always said I was a bum who’d never make anything of myself. Guess I showed you.

Merle sure seems to like your toe. No matter how many times you kick him away, he just keeps comin’ back. My fault. I forgot to feed him the last couple of days. Sorry, Merle.

It’s their own fault, really. That detective was a joke. Them givin’ my case to him was a slap in the face. Told me they didn’t take me serious. Made me realize I had to do somethin’ big to get their attention. It worked. But now that I got it, I gotta be extra careful. That’s why I have the saw, but we’ll get to that in a minute. First we’re gonna have a little fun.

Ha! You should see your eyes! I swear they are the size of apples! Relax, hon. Not that kind of fun. If I wanted to fuck you I’d have already done it. You ain’t exactly in a position to resist, y’know. I won’t lie, I thought about it. After all, you fucked me pretty hard when you left. Divorce papers served in absentia. The fuck was that about? Still, I’m over it.

No, really. I am. That shit’s got nothin’ to do with why you‘re here, although I can’t say I’m not glad it’s you strapped to that piece of rock. Kinda like a bonus. No, see, the thing is, the cops are looking extra hard for me. I thought if I took someone from another state it might confuse ‘em. And it just so happened that the P.I. I hired to find you got back to me just as I started lookin’. It felt right, y’know. It just clicked. This was perfect. No online trail to track because I didn’t have to use the ‘net to find my next person—amazin’ how those forensic computer guys can find just about anythin’, ain’t it?—and now that the P.I. is toast, no human trail, either. No trace of who or what I been doin’. Even Merle, there, is a wild-caught rat. No pet stores are gonna know my face when the cops come lookin’.

Oh, I know what you’re thinkin’. You’re thinkin’ I’m linked to the P.I., ain’t you? Well, I paid the guy in cash, so there’s no record, and I hired him for his reputation for discretion, so I doubt he made any notes. But I went through his office, just to be safe. The cool thing about that is I managed to get a shitload of dirt on a lot of people. That’s going to make things even more fun when they catch me. Do you know what the governor of this state has been doing on our tax dollars? Shocking shit.

Oh, crap. I went off track, didn’t I? That still hasn’t changed. You used to say I had adult ADD, remember? I guess you mighta been right. I can never stay focused on one thing for very long. That’s why I brought all these toys. See? I got at least two dozen of ’em, and they are all a blast. I use one for a minute, then switch to a new one when I get bored. It’s a perfect system, really. Plenty of new things to try. I ain’t gotten bored yet.

Tears? Why you cryin’, sweetheart? I ain’t gonna use any of ’em on you. No, really. I promise. None of these shiny, bladed doohickeys are for you. Not one.

Ha! Merle must think he’s your man, now. The way he’s nibblin’ on your ear is almost tender. He sure is friendly, isn’t he? That’s gotta sting a bit, though. Y’know, I read somewhere that everywhere a male rat walks, he leaves a trail of urine ’cause his dong drags along the ground all the time. I wonder if that’s true. I hope not, or you have about a dozen trails all over your body. That’s kinda disgustin’. But at least you won’t have to put up with it for too long.

The only real bitch about this is I can’t send this tape to the cops like I did with the last two. I’ve said you’re my ex-wife on here a few times already, and I even said Brian’s name. That would make it too easy for those bastards. But that’s okay. I’ll take this tape out and put another in just before we start. This part of the conversation is always more for me, anyway. The part I want the cops to hear is what comes next.

So, you ready?

More tears? Shakin’ your head? Come on now, hon. This is no time for that. We got work to do. What are you lookin’ at, anyway?

Oh, right. The saws. Don’t worry. Those are for later. I gotta take a few steps to hide your identity from the police. Gonna be hard for ’em to figure out who you are without fingerprints and shit. By the way, you still got that tattoo on your ass? Never mind, I’ll find out myself after it’s over. As a bonus, Brian and the boys won’t know what happened to you. You’ll have just disappeared one day and never come back. I like that idea. That’s what happened, after all. You left this house one day and just never came back.

But like I said, I’m over it. Mostly.

It’s time to get started. Let me change over the tape real fast.

Okay. Done.

This is the tape I’m gonna give the cops.

Hi cops! Ha ha ha. It’s me again.

That reminds me of that Ray Stevens song, “It’s Me Again, Margaret.” Funny shit. You ever heard it? Crap. You can’t talk. I keep forgetting about the gag. Just nod or shake your head.

No? Don’t wanna? Fair enough. I guess I can’t blame you, what with Merle takin’ chunks outta your cheek like that. Anyway, it’s been nice catchin’ up, but I think we need to speed this along, don’t you?

Oh, so now you can shake your head. You got a nice, wide stubborn streak, don’tcha?

Anyway, as you can imagine, it’s gonna take Merle an awful long time to finish the job. I ain’t got that kinda time. That’s why I brought a few of his friends over. Check this out.

Oooof! This box is fuckin’ heavy.

There. Got the top off. Here you go, honey. Here are some more friends to play with. Three dozen of ’em, to be exact. Took me forever to catch all of ‘em. I made sure they were all males, too. Call me old fashioned, but havin’ females in there would just feel weird, y’know? I guess that means you gotta put up with the urine trails. Sorry about that.

But don’t worry, I’ll stay here with you until it’s over. And since you got that gag, you can scream as loud as you want. That should help a little.

Wow. You’re gonna break your spine doin’ that.

David McAfee is the author of many books, including 33 A.D., 61 A.D., The Dead Woman (The Dead Man #4), and Saying Goodbye to the Sun. His stories have appeared in numerous anthologies, including his own collections The Lake and 17 Other Stories and Devil Music and 18 Other Stories. David lives a currently nomadic existence with his loving wife and two wonderful children. To read more about his ideas, works, and general musings, visit http://mcafeeland.wordpress.com.