Fiery Pen

Previously on… Father Death (5)

1996

1

Billy slumped on Stu’s couch as he massaged his chin, feeling the sharp edge of the stubble forcing its way through his flesh. His eyes lost focus on the television screen, yet he stared beyond it, stared into the past. The night with Maureen grew fainter with each passing day. Its sedative effect on his rage waned, and the itching, uncomfortable pressure in his chest returned. Stu chattered beside him, provoking the irritation into Billy’s clenched jaw.

“Ah! As if!” Alicia Silverstone screeched from the screen.

A geyser of anger shot into Billy’s head. He slapped his hands to his knees and shot to his feet to avoid screaming.

“How do you watch this shit?” he growled.

Stu looked up with his sandwich hovering in front of his face. The lettuce quivered in his breath as his mouth turned down in surprise.

“Because Alicia is hot,” Stu said plainly. The smile crept up his cheeks.

Billy winced. “She looks like Tatum.”

Stu shifted his eyes to the screen and tipped his head then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess she does. No wonder I like it.” He released a cartoonish laugh.

Billy bristled. “The entire movie is full of nothing but human fodder.”

“This whole town is human fodder,” Stu dismissed before chomping into his sandwich, sending mayonnaise squeezing from the sides.

Billy dropped back to the cushion. He laced his fingers behind his head and allowed his eyes to wander to the ceiling. His stare narrowed as he breathed slow. Stu chewed and watched the rise and fall of Billy’s chest.

“What’s up, Billy?” Stu finally said.

“It’s time.” Billy sliced his eyes to Stu.

“Time for what?” Stu’s mouth drooped in a tight arch.

“We pulled it off with Maureen.” Billy sat up as he spoke. Her name in his mouth brought her fearful eyes into his mind and calmed him. “Cotton is getting the gas chamber. But that was just the prequel. That was just setting the stage for the real story.”

Stu watched Billy’s face, the way the words changed him. Billy’s tone deepened; his voice slickened. Stu glimpsed something mesmerizing behind his eyes. Stu wanted to say whatever would capture that glint and call it back to Billy’s surface.

“They’ll never see it coming.” Stu gleamed, searching Billy’s eyes. “We’ll show them, just like you said, Billy.”

The twinkle did return to Billy’s eye as a rare smile spread across his lips. As convincing as Billy’s many liar’s grins were, Stu could recognize the genuine expression on Billy’s face, the expression Stu always strove to conjure in his friend.

“I know where we’re going in the last reel, the splatter showdown, the final body count.” Stu spoke to avoid staring at Billy too long. “Who are our opening scene deaths?”

Alicia Silverstone squealed from the television. Billy’s levity dissolved, replaced by his familiar scowl. He squinted at the screen.

“What about an annoying blonde?” Billy growled.

Stu slumped over on his hand, his mouth hanging open as he regarded Alicia. “Maybe I have a thing for blondes. Casey was a blonde too.”

Billy’s face elongated thoughtfully. “Casey Becker.”

“Yeah, I can’t even watch A Nightmare on Elm Street without thinking about her perky little tits.”

“She dumped you for that prick, Steve.”

Stu went rigid and pointed at Billy. “Don’t tell Tatum that. As far as she is concerned, I dumped Casey for her.”

A cruel grin slithered across Billy’s cheeks. “Tatum will never find out if we kill them both.”

Stu stuck his tongue out with a delighted laugh. “Oh! Oh!” Stu shouted, his eyes going wild. “I forgot to show you.”

Billy leaned away as Stu shot to his feet and darted from the room. He wrinkled his nose at Clueless again as he waited for Stu’s return. Stu came stomping back in, his long feet slapping the hardwood. He thrust a plastic package at Billy.

“Check it out, man,” Stu said, his words riding his excitement.

Billy regarded the bag, tipping it in his grip. The masked figure loomed ghastly in the picture, suggesting the costume contained within. The long white face seemed to stare back into him.

“Father Death,” Billy read from the packaging.

“I saw it down at K-Mart. Just had to pick it up.”

“Full body coverage, gloves….”

“I wouldn’t want to run into the mask in a dark alley.”

“It’s no human skin, but it is definitely more effective than a hockey mask and more menacing than the stretched-out Myers face. This looks like it could be the face of death.”

“It looks like a scream,” Stu cackled.

“We’ll pick up a few. From a couple different stores.”

The conversation fell momentarily quiet. Billy set Father Death beside him on the couch. Stu shifted uncomfortable on the couch, looking between Billy and the television.

“So, man, I know you kind of let me pick Maureen…”

Billy snatched the chuckle before it climbed his throat. He kept his face slack. Sure, I did. “Yeah?”

“Um.” Stu wrung his long fingers together. “What does that mean for Sidney, man?”

Billy licked his lips calmly and turned to Stu. “They all go, Stu. They all die. And Sidney… Sidney is at the center.”

“Won’t that draw a lot of attention to you?”

“It would. If I wasn’t also a victim.” A sinister leer consumed Billy’s face. “And if you weren’t also a victim. But if we are just lucky survivors, they won’t suspect us.”

“Genius, man. So, who is our killer?”

Billy’s grin managed to spread farther. “Sidney’s father.”

“What?” Stu released a squealing laugh and nearly launched from the couch cushion.

“Poetic, isn’t it?” Billy leaned forward on his knees.

“I mean, you did say Sid was the center, but that makes her the epicenter.”

“The way I figure, Sid’s father snaps. Maureen’s anniversary sets him off.”

“So, he goes on a rampage, killing everyone.” Stu’s eyes twinkled as he nodded.

“Including Sidney.”

“Oh! Oh!” Stu bounced on his cushion. “You know how he should end it? You know how he should end it?”

“How?” Billy tilted his head slow.

“After he kills Sid, he should shoot himself.” Stu raised his eyebrows, awaiting his reaction.

“Perfect ending.”

Stu’s face exploded in a grin. “It’s genius, man. Genius.” Stu stroked his chin. “How do we get left for dead? How do we pass for survivors?”

The vicious grin surfaced on Billy’s cheeks again. “We’re going to have to bleed a little.”

Stu furrowed his brow. “Like fake blood?”

“Fake blood wouldn’t convince even our moron cops. We’re going to have to actually get stabbed.”

Stu grimaced and recoiled from Billy a degree.

“Don’t worry,” Billy said. “We’ll stick to the side, avoid any vital organs, and we won’t go too deep. It will look like a good attempted murder.”

Stu swallowed hard and nodded.

“But to convince the other victims we’re not the killers, we’re going to fake it too,” Billy continued.

Stu lifted his head. “You’ve thought of everything, Billy.”

Billy’s lips turned up, and he planted his hands on his knees. “Did you get those things I told you to?”

“Yeah, man. I got everything on the list. What’s it all for?”

“Fake blood.”

Billy stood from the couch and moved toward the kitchen without waiting for Stu. Stu followed, taking one last glimpse over his shoulder at Alicia Silverstone before leaving her babbling to the empty couches. Billy rounded the kitchen island and placed his hands on the counter in wait. Stu hurried to the closet and retrieved the grocery bag.

“This all makes way more sense now, man. It seemed like a very random list,” Stu laughed.

But Stu had gotten the items as instructed, without question. He had followed orders, just as Billy needed him to.

Stu presented the bag to Billy, raising his eyebrows and awaiting approval. Billy offered a fixed stare. His hands remained stuck to the counter. Stu animated and unloaded the ingredients.

“Corn syrup.” Stu placed the bottle on the counter in front of Billy. “Corn starch. Red, yellow, and blue food coloring.”

Billy surveyed the ingredients before finally letting an approving smirk hint on his lips. “Everything you need to make pig’s blood. Or, in this case, our blood.” The smirk branched into a malicious grin. “Chocolate syrup would have been easier, but we couldn’t risk that someone would smell it. Plus, that shit is so sticky.”

Billy placed his hands on the corn syrup and turned his eyes to Stu. Stu stared back at him for a moment before startling.

“Oh.” Stu dove into a cabinet and retrieved a large, yellow plastic bowl. Then he snatched a couple spoons from a drawer.

“You get the water balloons and the funnel?”

“Shit. Yeah, man. They’re in the other bag.” Stu whirled around and returned to the closet.

Billy poured the corn syrup into the bowl then began sprinkling in the corn starch. He stirred briskly to mix the two together. Stu leaned in close to watch over his shoulder. Billy dripped red food coloring in the first. The splatters spread in the liquid, drawing bizarre patterns. He blended them in until the mixture turned red.

“Too red,” Billy mumbled.

“Yeah, don’t want it looking Giallo.”

Billy traded the red for the yellow and green, squeezing in a couple drops of each. He tilted his head as he stirred it all together as the red mixture deepened in the bowl.

“Getting closer.” Billy dipped his finger in and sucked it clean. He pursed his lips and bobbed his head. “Not terrible. Chocolate would have tasted better. In Friday the 13^th, they used photo developer, but that shit is so poisonous.”

“And not just at the general store,” Stu laughed.

“Right.” Billy loosed a couple more drips and stirred before nodding at his efforts. Billy dipped another finger and smeared it along Stu’s face then nodded firmer. “Balloons.”

“Okay.” Stu tore open the plastic bag and fished out a red balloon. “So, remind me. Is this my blood or your blood?”

“Ideally, mine. I want you to kill me in front of Sidney. Break her heart before I put a knife in it.” Billy stared straight into Stu until Stu’s eyes wavered away. “But we’ll fill a few balloons and see how things play out. People can be… unpredictable.”

Stu stuffed the funnel into the balloon, and Billy poured the blood in until it blossomed. Once the bulb of fake blood trembled, Billy slipped it from the funnel and tied it off. He squeezed the balloon, feeling the blood resist the pressure. Then Billy cradled the balloon in front of him.

“So, I come at you like this.” Stu pantomimed a knife, stabbing it into the blood balloon.

“The balloon bursts. Blood everywhere.”

“Sidney or anyone else will be too scared to scrutinize.”

“I fall dead, and you go kill them. Then I reemerge for the final act.”

“They’ll never see it coming!” Stu lifted the balloon from Billy’s grasp and lifted it in front of his face.

“That’s because it’s never been done before.”

Continued on… Father Death (7)

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

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• Horror Anthologies