Dark Corners - Twelve Tales of Terror (14 page)

“
Hey,
you’re the one who just disappeared off the face of the earth
with this new man of yours. Think about that before you judge me.”

People were looking at them now, casting disapproving
looks at the two women who were spoiling their quiet, mid-afternoon
lunches.

“
So
that’s it—you’re jealous. Well fine, you keep Paul.
I don’t care. Just don’t come running to me when he gets
loose with those fists of his.”

“
He
would never hit me.”

“
I
thought that once too.”

“
Yeah,
but I’m not as...” Lexi trailed off.

“
Go
ahead, Lexi, say it:
you
aren’t as weak as I am
.
Is that what you were about to say?”

There was a tense silence between them. Lexi shuffled
awkwardly and continued.

“
Look,
that’s not the real issue here. That man Monde…He hurt
Paul.”

Tina
leaned forward to listen, now interested.

“
We
were fooling around at his place, when there was a knock at the door.
We had ordered in pizza so we assumed that’s what it was. Paul
was drunk, or at least well on his way, so I opened the door—and
there he was, your man Monde.”

Tina searched her friends face for a lie, hoping
desperately to find one. She was horrified to see nothing but truth,
and suddenly felt sick.

“
Go
on,” she said, with a voice that didn’t even sound like
her own.

“
So
I asked him what he wanted. I mean, why would he be there, right? He
didn’t get mad or anything, he just calmly asked to speak to
Paul, who by that time had heard the commotion and come to the door.
Well, you know how he is when he’s drunk.”

She most certainly did.

“
So
Paul starts getting in Monde’s face, or more his chest because
he’s so big. I mean holy fuck
,
is he tall. Anyway, Paul was ranting and raving and Monde just stood
there—stood there with a crazy look in his eye and an amused
smile on his face. Now, I’m trying to calm things down, because
I figure these two are about to get into it right there on the
doorstep. So I’m in the middle, and then he…”

Lexi swallowed and Tina noticed that she could no longer
look her in the eye.

“
He—he
moved so fast that I didn’t really
see
him move, you know? One minute Paul was pointing and shouting, and
the next he was on the floor holding his face, and there was blood,
good God there was so much blood.”

Lexi had grown pale and Tina thought she had aged at
least ten years in the last few minutes.

“
I
wasn’t really sure what had happened until after, but Monde
kneeled down and whispered something to Paul when he was on the
floor. And I heard him, I swear I heard him as clear as day.”

“
What
did he say?” Tina asked, trying to ignore her somersaulting
stomach.

“
He
said ‘she’s mine now.’ And he was calm, so calm,
even though he had it in his hand and it was still moving….”

“
What
happened, Lexi? TELL ME!” Tina demanded.

Tears began to roll down Lexi’s cheeks, but there
was no accompanying sobbing or wailing, just a lost and neutral look
on her face. Tina wondered if something in Lexi’s mind had
broken.

“
He
pulled out Paul’s tongue... I don’t know how he did it,
or how he could move so fast, but… he yanked it out with one
fucking hand. Oh God, he looked at me and his eyes were black…
I swear they were black as night.”

Tina was repulsed, but also felt a sense of pride that
both surprised and emboldened her. Nobody had ever gone to such
extremes on her behalf before.

“
And
the thing I will never forget, the thing I can’t get out of my
mind, is that Paul’s tongue was still moving. Like it was still
trying to talk or something... Now you see why you have to leave him.
Leave and get as far away as you can.”

Lexi was borderline hysterical, but Tina wasn’t
listening. She was imagining Monde deep inside her, both of them
covered in fresh, hot blood. She saw it vividly in her mind; her tied
naked to the bed, Monde licking her breasts and her belly, moving
down, down, down—not using his own mouth, but Paul’s
severed tongue, which he held in his right hand like some bizarre
phallus, still twisting and writhing. She found herself becoming
aroused and wished she were with him now. Lexi was looking at her
pleadingly, openly crying, but Tina could only think of that severed
tongue exploring her. She smiled.

Lexi’s face screwed up into an expression of
disgust and anger.

“
Why
are you smiling? What’s wrong with you?!” she wailed, the
pair now had the full attention of the neighbouring patrons.

“
Did
you tell him to do it?”

Tina blinked in shock, and her depraved thoughts were
gone from her mind in an instant.

“
Of
course I didn’t! I didn’t know anything about it! How can
you even ask me that?”

“
Then
leave him. Get away from him, whilst you still can. You aren’t
safe with him.”

“
He
looks after me, Lexi. You don’t have the right to try and wreck
things for me!”

“
I’m
trying to help you, Tina!”

“
No,
that’s not it. You want him for yourself, don’t you?! You
want Monde!”

“
Of
course not, what the hell are you talking about?!”

“
Poor
little depressed Tina finally gets a man. Well it’s no joke
now, is it? Now that I’m doing well, you’re just
jealous!”

“
He’s
changed you! You aren’t yourself!”

“
And
how would you know? You were never there when I was crying myself to
sleep at night, when that animal you’ve been sleeping with was
fucking
raping
me! Monde is the only one who cares about me! I love him and none of
your lies will change a fucking thing!” Tina was shaking now
and gripping the edges of the table so hard that her knuckles had
turned white. Lexi shook her head slowly, wiping her hand across her
nose in a childlike gesture.

“
He’s
brainwashed you, Tina. Why can’t you see it?”

“
Look,”
Tina said as she stood quickly, tipping her chair backwards onto the
floor. Even the staff were looking now and had joined the rest of the
customers in watching the show. Tina pointed at Lexi and spoke
through gritted teeth.

“
You
and I are through. Don’t contact me again. I love Monde and
that’s all there is to it. He’s no monster. You keep away
from me and you keep away from him, or I swear to God, I’ll
kill you!”

Not one to back down, Lexi also stood and put on her
leather jacket, which had been hanging off the back of her chair.

“
You
know what, that’s fine. I tried to warn you, but you don’t
want to listen, and that’s fine. But if our friendship ever
meant anything to you, Tina, then think about what I said. How much
do you really know this guy?”

“
Enough
to know he’s no monster.”

Lexi smiled and Tina went cold. It looked oddly false,
and reminded her of the grinning rictus of a Halloween mask.

“
Try
rearranging the letters of his name. Then you’ll see what I
think he is.”

Tina gave Lexi a disgusted sneer and left, sweeping out
of the coffee shop and away from the judgemental eyes of the
customers.

Six

Rhodes looked up at Tina, but couldn’t get a fix
on her expression. He returned to his notepad, running his eyes over
the scrawled arrangements of Monde’s name.

Do men.

Mod en.

Em don.

Demon.

Rhodes snorted an uneasy bark of laughter, then turned
back to Tina. “Demon? Lexi thought Monde was a Demon?”

He was anxious to hear Tina's response, but she simply
sat and watched him with half a smile on her face. Rhodes’ mind
buzzed with the bounty of information he had taken in.

“
Tina,
are you still with me?”

“
Yes.
I’m just resting my voice. I’m tired of talking now.”

“
I
understand, but we have to continue. Would you like another drink?”

“
You
got any Vodka?” she asked with a teasing smile. He felt a
quiver in his groin at the flirtatious way in which she had said it,
and he wondered if she was deliberately trying to tease him. He
pushed aside the images of being with her that had begun to form in
his mind, and continued with his questions.

“
What
happened to Paul?”

“
He
couldn’t handle what had happened to him. I guess he didn’t
like being on the receiving end for a change.”

“
What
do you mean?” Rhodes pressed.

“
He’s
dead. Suicide apparently. I only heard the rumours, same as everyone
else. But by all accounts, Paul went and bought himself a big old
dirt sandwich. And good riddance too, if you ask me.”

She was so nonchalant, so matter of fact that it made
goosebumps pop up on Rhodes’ arms.

“
What
happened?”

“
What
do you mean
what
happened
? He died,”
she said with a chuckle.

“
Come
on, Tina. You know what I mean.”

“
Sorry,
Tom. Just messing with you. I don’t know exactly. I heard that
he filled a bath, took a bunch of sleeping pills, tied a plastic bag
over his head with duct tape, and then slit his wrists.”

“
Jesus...”

“
He
clearly wasn’t fucking around. Not a cry for help, if you catch
my drift.”

She was still smiling at him, and began to pick away at
the edge of her polystyrene cup. Rhodes took a deep breath and tried
to get things back on track.

“
I’d
like to hear more about Monde.” Rhodes chose his next words
carefully, knowing that Tina’s reaction could spell the end of
their conversation.

“
Tina…Do
you think Monde was a demon?”

She laughed again and shook her head.

“
I’m
not crazy, Detective Rhodes.”

“
You
still haven’t answered the question.”

She considered for a moment, flicking her top lip with
her tongue, which didn’t help Rhodes’ efforts to suppress
his attraction towards her. He looked at her neckline, and sure
enough, he could see the ghosts of finger-shaped bruises. At last,
she responded.

“
I
think it’s best if you save questions like that until the end.”

“
That’s
fair enough, but I’m almost out of paper here. How much more is
there to tell?”

“
Not
much. We’re nearing the end of the road now.”

The way she said it sent a chill through him.

“
Then
please, continue.”

She
smiled at him, and again there was a seductive element to the way she
looked across the table.
Baby’s
growing up
, he
thought to himself, although he had no idea where the quote came
from, or why it came to him at all.

“
You
don’t quite know what to make of me, do you Tom?”

It was becoming more and more difficult for him to
ignore his physical attraction to her. It was the way she kept
calling him by his first name, the way she kept looking at him, even
the seductive secrecy of her smile. There was an innocence to her,
but it only served to magnify the explosive sexuality simmering
beneath. To his horror, he felt himself stiffening under the table.
Stabs of images flashed through his mind; of her coming close, those
full, red-painted lips slightly open as she repeated his name.

Tom, I know what you want to do to me…. so
just do it.

He forced the thoughts out of his head and collected
himself. Her question was a good one—did he really know what to
make of her?

“
Honestly?
No. I don’t. But that’s why we’re here, isn’t
it?”

It was his turn to smile now, and he was pleased with
how well he’d managed to hide his growing uneasiness. She
faltered, just a slight frown, but nonetheless a chink in the armour.
He decided to press on.