Flypaper Cast: Dark Psychological Thriller - Book 3 Read online

  Nick sniffed the air. “Corpse?”

  “Yeah, Broheem?”

  “Are you getting high right now?”

  She sniffed. “Maybe. Helps me think.”

  Meredith chimed in as she emerged from Nick’s room. “High? Sweetie, drugs will end you.” She found Nick’s shoulder and handed him his crutch.

  Nick took it and lifted himself off the ground. He ignored the shooting pains in his leg. “We have bigger problems than any of this. Corpse, stay functional. Mom, priorities. Now, I lost power in an ice storm a couple of years ago. Lived in the Dark Ages for three days. After that, I stocked up. There are battery-operated lamps in the hall closet, next to the bathroom. Couple of those big mothers.”

  He limped along the hallway wall until he found the closet’s doorknob. He opened it and stood back. “Can one of you guys pull them out of the bottom of the closet here? My leg is killing me.”

  His mother fumbled through the closet floor. “Nickie, are you okay?”

  “Not really, but I can’t do anything about it right now.” He took a light from her and flicked it on. The massive light lit up the entire hallway. “Corpse, put this in the living room?”

  Defcon’s voice echoed through the house. “Looks like you were ready for this, Nick. Admit it, you knew the chickens would come home to roost one day.”

  Nick took another light from his mother and flicked it on. “Fuck me, I wish this guy would shut up.”

  Defcon wasn’t into granting wishes. “Someone did alright with these bars, Nick. I mean, we could probably get through them if we had all night, but I’m guessing we don’t. Even with the roads in the state they’re in, I’ll bet your Forest Down cop friends are en route as we speak. Am I right? So if we can’t get in, we’ll have to get you to come out.”

  Corpse grabbed the second light from Nick. Her pale skin was positively iridescent in its glow. “I don’t like the sound of that. Imma go check it out.”

  Nick’s crutch thumped against the hardwood as he moved into the living room. “I won’t argue, but keep low. Quickdraw McGraw out there doesn’t need to get inside to shoot you.”

  “Roger roger.” Corpse dropped to the floor, her joint still hanging from her mouth. She left the other light behind and disappeared into the dark foyer. Nick would worry about her ashing all over his floor later. At the moment, his priority was the survival of everyone in his home.

  He lowered himself onto the floor and leaned against the living room wall, glad to be off his foot again. “Some night, huh Mom?”

  She sat along the wall next to him. “I don’t understand why anyone would go to so much trouble to hurt you.”

  Nick’s eyebrows raised in amusement. “I don’t know what to say. Crazy people be crazy? Not everyone is so nice as to try to harm me in such a loving way as yourself.”

  Meredith’s voice was drenched in hurt feelings. “How long are you going to hold that over me?”

  “Seriously?”

  Corpse whispered at them from the dark. “Psst. Nick. You’ll wanna come see this.”

  He sighed. Moving quietly would mean dragging his leg along the hallway floor again. He promised himself if they made it through the night he’d take better care of his mending limb. “We’ll continue this later, Mom.”

  He pushed himself along the floor and whispered to Corpse, “Do you have any idea how much this hurts?”

  She shushed him. “They’re right outside the door.”

  “Doing what?” He slid into the front room. The cold air from the broken window gave relief to the sweat he’d worked up dragging his cast all over the house.

  Corpse didn’t answer, but tapped him on the shoulder and pointed out the window. He leaned up into the window and peered out.

  The three men were huddled on the porch, whispering amongst themselves and fiddling with…what? Nick couldn’t see.

  Corpse’s hot breath filled his ear. “I think they’re starting a fire.”

  Nick leaned into her ear, or what he hoped was her ear. “What makes you think that?”

  She pulled a large drag on the joint in her mouth, held it, and let it out. “It’s what I would do.”

  Nick leaned back and studied her face behind the burning paper hanging from her lips. She was dead serious—good enough for him.

  He pushed himself away from the window and back into the foyer. She followed. “There’s a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. In case you’re right.”

  “In case nothing.”

  Nick noticed her little joint threw off an awful lot of light. He followed her eyes. It wasn’t her at all. An orange glow bled through the cracks around his front door. Corpse got up and ran into the kitchen.

  Meredith crawled down the hallway from the living room. “What’s happening now?”

  Nick watched the front door. “Fire. We think they’re trying to burn us out.”

  Corpse slid out of the kitchen and shoved the fire extinguisher into Meredith’s arms. “Here.” She turned and vanished into the rest of the house.

  Nick whispered after her at the highest volume possible. “What are you doing?”

  Meredith looked over the extinguisher. She squinted at it in the dim glow that emanated from outside. “I don’t know if I know how to work one of these.”

  Corpse returned with her bat and pointed at the extinguisher. “Point with this, press this. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

  Nick sat against the wall, just out of reach of the door. “What are you doing?”

  Corpse clutched her bat like a major leaguer with homicidal tendencies. “Running interference. Nick, on my mark, you open the door, word?”

  Nick reached up and put his hand on the knob. “Word.”

  “Bro Mama…” She lowered her voice for emphasis on how quiet this part should go down. “…Very quietly, unlock the door.” Smoke drifted into the foyer. “But also quickly.”

  Meredith stood next to the door with the extinguisher in one hand, and unlocked the first of the locks with the other. Corpse stood back, her bat at the ready.

  Nick held his breath as his mother unlocked the second of the locks, despite the full knowledge that it would not make the clack of the metal sliding into place any quieter.

  The third lock was a chain. Meredith pulled it out of place and let it drop. It hit the door as it came to rest. All three people in the hallway froze and waited to see if anyone outside would notice.

  As Meredith turned the fourth lock, smoke fought its way into Nick’s lungs. He suppressed a cough, as well as the urge to light up a cigarette himself. His nerves were on fire. But it wasn’t the time, nor the place. God willing, he’d have time to kill himself slowly later.

  With the fifth lock, the cough built itself up in Nick’s chest. Five more seconds and he could hack his brains out.

  His mother put her hand on the sixth and final lock. It caught. The fucking thing always caught. There was a trick to it. Push up then turn. Nick pushed himself off the floor with his good leg and nudged her hand away from the mechanism. He didn’t have time for her to figure it out, his lungs verged on exploding. He gingerly manipulated the lock as he had a hundred times before, and fell back onto his ass. He covered his mouth with a fist, and twirled the finger of his other hand in the air to signal the others. Get on with it.

  Meredith and Corpse stood back, each with their own invaluable tool in their hands.

  Corpse whispered. “And… mark.”

  Nick flung open the door and damn near choked to death as he hacked and coughed on the haze that filled the hallway. Fire snaked itself up the outside of the front door. The heat of it seared Nick’s arm. He wondered if it would ever not be sensitive to heat.

  Corpse ran into the snowy night and swung her bat at the first person she could find. Nick wasn’t positive, but he thought it was Defcon, based on the shine of his dome.

  Meredith fumbled with the extinguisher for a split second and then unloaded on the flames. White foam smothered the fire, extinguishin
g the only real light at the front end of the house. A faint light from the lamps in the living room trickled down the hallway, but it wasn’t enough to give Nick a view of the front lawn.

  Corpse grunted. He heard the aluminum bat strike something with a thud. Another groan.

  “Mom, Corpse…”

  Meredith stood there, frozen in place. Her fear was evident, but Nick wasn’t in a condition to charge out into the night. “Baby?”

  He slammed his fist into the floor. It was the first time in a while he felt something ache more than his leg. “Mom, please.”

  Meredith steeled herself and then ran into the black outdoors with the extinguisher in her hands. Snow drifted into the house through the open door. Nick looked for anything at all to defend himself with if need be, but found nothing within reach. He’d never make it back to his crutch in time.

  He pushed himself to the front door and looked for any sign of movement.

  Meredith came running out of the void and tripped on Nick’s cast. She crashed hard into the floor. Nick screamed in surprise and pain. Mostly pain.

  He composed himself and saw his mother scramble to her feet. She grimaced and rubbed her knee. “Mom, where’s Corpse?”

  “Coming through, close the door, please.” Corpse, bat in hand, launched herself through the door and over Nick. Meredith slammed the door behind her and threw the locks back into place one by one. Someone on the other side flung their entire weight against it.

  Nick pushed himself away from the door. “You both okay? What happened out there?”

  Corpse stood between Nick and the door that rattled with every thrust against it. “Your Mom seriously just saved my shit out there, that’s what.”

  Meredith stumbled backwards down the hall, clutched her knee and breathed through her teeth. “No problem, sweetie.”

  The three backed into the living room. The pounding on the front door stopped. Nick glanced back at his mother. “Mom, you took on three dudes yourself? Holy shit.”

  His mother caught her breath and shook her head in the glow of the giant light in the living room floor. “Not three guys… only saw the one.”

  Cold air draped itself across Nick’s back. He looked for its source. Behind him stood Meredith, and behind her, Longpig. At the far end of the living room, Squamata climbed up through the sliding glass door that once led to Nick’s balcony.

  Longpig wrapped his arm around Meredith’s neck. “Well, well, well. Look who’s come for dinner.”

  Chapter 18

  Nick’s crutch met his fingertips. He wrapped them around it.

  Longpig, his forearm across Meredith’s neck, shook his head. “Ah, let’s leave that right there. Hand away from your walking stick. There we go.”

  Putting lights in the living room no longer seemed like a hot idea. Corpse had said it herself. The upshot of being in the dark was that the Maggots couldn’t see anything either.

  Longpig gestured at Corpse. “Put the bat down.” He tightened his grip on Meredith. “Down.”

  Squamata towered behind Longpig. Nick looked into his eyes. Nobody looked back. The lights were on, but the previous tenant was long dead.

  Corpse spoke through closed teeth. “Nick, there is no way I’m dropping this bat.”

  He could have guessed she’d say that. Truth was, he didn’t want her to anyway. Longpig had his mother, but Corpse was likely the only thing keeping them all in one piece. If she dropped the bat, she dropped the one advantage they had.

  Corpse stepped over Nick and approached Longpig. “Let go of the nice lady, or I’ll crack your skull so hard you’ll shit brains.”

  Longpig called her on her threat by squeezing Meredith so hard her feet lifted off the floor. “Drop the bat or I’ll wrench her head right off her neck.”

  Meredith tried to speak, but gurgled instead.

  Corpse pulled her bat back. If she’d swing, she’d swing for the fences. “Captain Brohab?”

  Longpig didn’t wait for Nick to answer. He had a plan B. “Big man, take the girl’s bat.”

  Squamata brushed past Longpig, his humungous boots tracking snow and slush behind him. Corpse swung the bat into his ribs with a blow that had to be bone-cracking, but Nick winced harder than Squamata did. If it was anything more than an annoyance, he didn’t let on.

  The brute grabbed the bat and kicked Corpse on the inside of her leg. She fell to the floor, her hand still on the bat’s handle. He jerked it away from her and tossed it out the open balcony door. Corpse lunged to her feet and clawed at Squamata’s eyes. He put his massive mitt around her face and held her at arm’s length.

  Longpig threw Meredith to the floor and picked up Nick’s crutch. He whipped it around and into Corpse’s back. “Holy shit, down girl.” He looked at Squamata. “Contain her, will you? I’m letting what’s his name in.”

  Squamata pushed Corpse against the wall and held her there. She kicked and scratched and screamed nonstop.

  Nick feared she’d hurt herself, or worse, give the monsters in their midst a reason to hurt her. “Corpse.”

  Her eyes met his and she relented.

  Longpig opened the front door, Nick’s crutch over his shoulder. “What can I say, worked like a charm. You have a knack for strategy.”

  Defcon walked in like he owned the place. “I’m a little surprised, myself. I’d thought Dawkins to be too clever by half.” He walked up to Nick. “Are you really so stupid as to go for such an obvious distraction? Or are you playing me right now?”

  Nick would have loved for that to have been the case. It wasn’t, but he’d never openly admit it. “I’m playing you, dipshit, I have you right where I want you.”

  Defcon put the freezing barrel of his gun to Nick’s forehead.

  Meredith reached for Nick, but found the end of Longpig’s shoe instead. She crumpled to the floor.

  “Really?” Defcon said. “Right where you want me?” He thumbed the hammer back on the gun. “A twitch of the finger and boom, everything that is and ever will be Nick Dawkins disappears in a cloud of gore. That’s your upper hand.”

  Nick pressed his head into the barrel of the gun. “Do it and find out.” He played it cold and prayed Defcon wouldn’t notice he was on the verge of shitting his pants. On second thought, he did have Defcon where he wanted him to some degree; his attention focused squarely on him. Not Corpse. Not his mother. Just him. At the very least, if Defcon took him out, maybe they’d lose interest in the others. Maybe not, but the number of ways in which this scenario ended with a silver lining were few and far between. He’d take what he could get.

  Longpig elbowed Defcon. “Please don’t. I really do want his brain intact.”

  Defcon pulled the gun away from Nick’s head. “You’ve got a helluva poker face, Nick. And no Longpig, I haven’t forgotten the deal. You need to satisfy your culinary urges. Squamata needs him a brand new Nick Dawkins suit. Oh, and of course…” Defcon pulled a phone out of his pocket. “I almost forgot. Someone else wanted something out of this, too. One second.”

  Defcon pressed his phone’s screen and held it to his ear. “It’s ringing.”

  Longpig moved closer to Nick and leaned in. He studied him the way someone might a ham at the grocery store. Nick spit in his face. “How’s that taste?” Longpig turned to Defcon with a look of are you going to do something about this? Defcon ignored him.

  Whoever it was on the other end of the phone picked up. Nick didn’t need two guesses to know who it was… just wondered if the voice was a him or her. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re in. You’ll never believe this. His mom’s here too.”

  Nick glanced at his mother. She was petrified. He couldn’t blame her. As far as he knew, this was her first experience with real-life psychotics. Then again, he had no idea who she may have encountered in jail. If they got out of this, he’d have to ask.

  “The girl, too. The big man’s got her neutralized. The big man.” Defcon rolled his eyes. “Squamata. Yeah, the guy’s like seven feet and change. I know
. Anyway. You said you wanted a chance to say good-bye. This is it. Here.”

  Defcon held both his phone and his gun to Nick’s head. “Someone wants to talk to you.”

  Nick couldn’t give two shits, but he played along. “Yeah.”

  Wormwood’s tinny voice scratched across the line. “We got disconnected earlier, Nick.”

  “No we didn’t, Asswood. I hung up on you.” Nick smiled to himself. Go down swinging.

  “Okay, Nick, have your fun. I just wanted my voice to be one of the last things you heard. My voice telling you I won. I beat you.” Wormwood giggled. “And the fact that both your mother and your little friend are there with you? Unexpected, but very welcome. This is going to work out very nicely. Now…” Wormwood paused, and lowered his voice. “…say, ‘good-bye Wormwood’.”

  Nick sneered. “Eat me, Wormwood.”

  Defcon pulled the phone away and spoke into it again. “All done? Yeah. Right.” He looked at Nick’s mother, and then at Corpse. “Both of them?”

  Nick didn’t like the sound of that. Whatever Wormwood had planned, he wanted Corpse and his mother left out of it.

  “Alright. Consider it done.” Defcon hung up the phone. He addressed Longpig and Squamata. “Our friend Wormwood brought up an excellent point.” He scratched his forehead with the barrel of his gun. “He says, and I agree, that it would be a shame to miss the opportunity to get something from Nick before he shuffles loose this mortal coil.” Nick counted on his continued antagonization of Defcon to keep his attention off of Corpse and his mother. “Dude, I am not giving you all blowjobs.”

  The paranoid with the gun sidestepped the bait and sat on the arm of Nick’s couch. “I’m talking, of course, about justice.”

  Nick pressed again. The longer the nutbar’s focus stayed on him, the better. “I’m going on record now as saying Blowjobs for Justice is a terrible name for a cause.”