She hopped out of the car. Immediately, she saw the dark figure of the waitress looming inside the burger joint, as if ready to pounce should she dare to enter. Disheartened, Jesse wanted to just get back in the car and drive off. As if she could read Jesse's mind, Linda, the waitress, hurried outside.
"Hey, young lady!" she called.
"Hi," said Jesse in a very timid voice.
"Aren't ya coming in? More of that cherry pie you like so much? A big scoop of vanilla ice cream with whipped cream on top, sprinkled with cinnamon?"
Jesse stopped, listening.
Linda was right in front of her now. Jesse could see her fake eyelashes and how her lipstick had been swallowed and licked off since morning.
"What's it with you, honey?" Linda asked, pushing herself into Jesse's face.
"Just passing through?"
"Well, you've been here awhile, haven't you?"
"I'm sorry about what happened to Nick."
"Well, what happened to him?"
Jesse shrugged.
"I thought he passed away."
She bit her lip. Other customers were walking towards their cars and watching them.
"He disappeared. He ran off. We don't know where he is."
"Oh."
"Why did you think he died?"
"It's what I heard on Lover's Peak," Jesse lied.
"Goodness, those darn teen bum junkies!" Linda said and howled with laughter.
Jesse said nothing, just stared at Linda.
"Okay, so you have a new manager? Can I come in and have some pie after all?"
"I got promoted. I'm filling in, well, at least until Nick comes back."
"I see."
"I don't like your attitude."
"Okay, so no pie."
Linda shook her head and waved her hands in the air.
"Oh, go fuck yourself!"
Jesse giggled and followed her inside the diner. Chad Donovan, the police officer, was seated at the corner table sipping coffee. Linda raised her eyebrows twice, giving him a sign. He nodded once.
Jesse rushed to the spic and span counter, eying the pastries and pies on display greedily.
"You want us to fry up some cheeseburgers for your sweetheart? Do you now?"
"Not necessary, I cooked for him."
"Aha. What was his name?"
"Will."
"And the two of you work for Tom."
"Do I remember you? Did we go to school together, too?"
"I don't think so, honey. I'm a bit older than you are."
"I was just thinking maybe you've been in Tom's house on Halloween?"
"Halloween? I do remember his Aunt Sophie. She was something else!"
"Why?"
"Oh, the red hair and the personality. Very strong personality. Spitfire. And, of course, she liked to spend money. She was good that way. Got people to do whatever she wanted."
"Give me a piece of that pumpkin pie."
"Sure."
"Mind if I join you?" asked Chad.
Jesse flinched at the sight of his uniform. Chad smiled.
"No."
"How is Tom?"
"He's better."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Why is that?"
"He has someone looking after him now."
"You?"
"I can cook and clean and take care of people ?"
Linda gave her a stern look. Chad nodded.
"Mind if I come over and ask a few questions?"
"What reason would you have to do that?"
"People have been disappearing."
"Suit yourself. Come on over. Ring the doorbell."
"I will."
Jesse started to pick at her piece of pumpkin pie.
"Would you like some coffee to go with that, sweetie?" Linda asked.
"Mmh ? yes."
"Coming right up."
Chad got ready to leave and smiled at Jesse, winking. She attempted to smile, but averted her gaze.
"Ma'am, I'll be seeing you."
"Sure. Have a nice day, officer."
Jesse smirked as he came too close. He touched her back briefly, nodded at Linda and was out the door.
Chapter 32
Jesse drove back to the large old Victorian house she now called her home, but not before detouring briefly to Lover's Peak for a refill of her favorite candy. When she got back to Tom's house, she could find Willy nowhere. She called and looked everywhere. Tom was in a construction of a cage in the cellar, chain-shackled by his foot to the wall. Rickerson had been thrown into the cage with him, as Willy said, so he had time 'to sober up and think'.
She ran up the stairs to the Gallery; the mummies were all seated, still and stoic, with the mother mummy having her eyes open. Jesse thought she detected a weak smile on her lips, but perhaps, it was only the way the light slanted into the room and fell on her.
Jesse finally found Willy behind the shed, throwing around clutter, old boxes, and planks that had turned rotten while left out in the rain. He was sweating; his T-shirt clung to his body. Jesse stared awhile, admiring how his muscles worked.
Eventually, he felt watched and noticed.
"How long have you been there ogling me?"
Jesse laughed.
"I love you."
"Oh, hey!"
He threw down a plank and wiped his hands on an old rag. He eyed her curiously.
"Where ya been?"
"The diner ?"
"Brought me some cheeseburgers?"
"Thought you might not like them, they might get stuck in your throat."
"You should know me by now, Jesse, I've got a great stomach, and I can eat right after a kill."
"Like a bear," Jesse added and giggled.
"We are hunters."
He stood before her, one hand on the shed, and his face came closer. She offered her mouth for a kiss.
"I also know a thing or two about dogs," he said.
"Growing up on a farm ?"
"That's right, Jesse, I grew up on a farm with a big ole dog."
"Lucky you. I was made to go from place to place."
"Didn't feel so lucky. Only real friend was the dog. So as much as I was annoyed with Heather, I did understand her relationship with her dog."
"You find it yet?"
"No, still digging. So much clutter, so much junk."
"He's wrapped in a tarp."
"Bet Tom hid him real good," Jesse remarked.
"Yeah, Tom's good in many areas ?" Willy said and they laughed.
Willy did kiss her then. She leaned into his body, clutching him tight.
"I'm glad we're friends again," he cooed, grabbing her ass.
Jesse kissed back, with her eyes closed, passionately.
A sudden wind, very cold and very intense, nearly knocked them off their feet. Willy, when he had regained his balance, rubbed his nose against Jesse's.
"I need to work."
"Okay."
"What about you?"
"I'd like to find 'Balm-Cam'."
"Bet you have to pay a fortune to get in that club."
"What do you think?" added Jesse thoughtfully, patting an imaginary dog.
Further away, a whining was to be heard. Then a bark, and another one.
"Are we going to be buried in the yard or the shed, or do we get to sit in the Gallery?"
"You get the Gallery, for sure."
"I get to stay on a while as the gravedigger," Willy added. "But at any time, he'd kick me into the grave just with 'em from behind."
"Tom was ? different once."
"Growin' up in this mess, how's he supposed to be normal?"
"There is no normal," she said, still stroking an imaginary dog.
"Come on, Puppy," she said.
"Let's go visit with Aunt Sophie ?"
"No!" wailed Willy, grasping at his heart.
"That one has a fuckin' crush on me."
"Maybe we'll be buried on her land. We might as well beco
me acquainted."
Willy frowned, as Jesse walked back into the house. In a window on the third floor, Willy saw a white figure. He stood, transfixed, as claws appeared out of thin air and scratched at his arm. He clutched at the marks which were deep and painful. He thought he saw a white figure moving around up in the Gallery behind the curtains. If only a bit. A waving of a white hand, maybe. Willy could have sworn it was Heather.
Chapter 33
I am shackled in a cage in the cellar like a dog. I have no words to describe my anger and frustration. I am beyond humiliated. Rickerson is here with me. In this cellar, there are no ghosts. And now I find myself missing them, the spirits, and most of all, the mummies ?
No one whispers 'bury me, bury me'. I am left with the living. And the living are a disgrace. At least the ones I must deal with. Damn ? if only I had hit them on the head with my trusty shovel that very first night when they had the nerve to trespass. A swift kill - is what works best. I am not good with the living. I am not good.
Tom grinned at Rickerson, who cowered in a corner on the floor.
"At least you aren't chained to the wall."
"Small comfort."
"Are they listening in on what we're saying? Are they that smart?"
"They'd just go ahead and kill."
Tom nodded. He looked down at his dirty hands, his torn shirt. He hadn't had fresh clothes for a week. Rickerson had not shaved, either. Rickerson held his head in his hands.
"They might let you out ?"
"My boys be coming for me," Rickerson said solemnly.
"Your boys."
"The men who work for me."
"You hope."
"And I talked to Chad Donovan."
"The cop."
"Yeah."
"Hell, he'll be buried with Aunt Sophie."
Above their heads, a door squeaked open. Amber light flooded into the cellar. The various computer screens popped on.
"You had a place like this, Tom, and you didn't realize I was runnin' 'Balm-Cam'?"
"Why would anyone care about mummies? There aren't that many jack-offs."
"Oh, but they move ?" Rickerson whispered as Jesse and Willy slowly descended the stairs, bottles of cold beer in their hands.
"Hello!" yelled Willy, visibly drunk.
"Hello," said Jesse.
They stood outside the cage peering in. Rickerson shifted uncomfortably.
Jesse ran her bottle along the cage, making clunking sounds. Willy slumped into a chair. Tom glared at them. One computer screen popped on, revealing the mother mummy, seated at the head of the Gallery serenely.
"Hey, Mom," whispered Tom.
"You will always be her baby, you creep," babbled Willy and burped.
On other screens the Gallery popped up as well, showing all the members. When the camera zeroed in on Heather, Rickerson gasped.
"I don't buy that," said Jesse.
"I don't think you cared that much for your daughter."
"Did you find the dog?" asked Rickerson.
Jesse said nothing. Tom closed his eyes. Willy was obviously asleep.
"Do you dig them up and post those videos to my Facebook wall?" Tom asked Rickerson.
"What do you mean?"
"There's another 'Gallery', and it can only be you."
Rickerson stared straight ahead. Jesse gulped down her beer and watched him.
"Answer Tom, is there another Gallery?"
"Not that I know of."
"Oh fuck, he wouldn't be telling the truth," Jesse said swiveled in her chair.
"What's the matter?" Rickerson asked.
"Was Willy-fart too tired to fuck?"
"Shut up."
"The people I kill and bury outside, someone digs them up and seats them down, twelve at first, more later on, in chairs. Makes a video of it and posts it to my Facebook wall."
"Well, disable that. Make it so no one can post anything to your page." Rickerson sneered.
"Simple as that, huh?" laughed Tom.
"Simple as that."
Tom hit himself on the head.
"Fuck, why didn't I think of that?"
Jesse laughed. She offered Tom a sip of her cold beer through the bars. He went for it immediately.
"Because it's ? fascinating. I have to watch it," Tom said.
Rickerson nodded. He licked his lips.
"Tell me more about the other Gallery."
Tom drank greedily, slurping up all of the beer up as Jesse tilted the bottle. He looked at her through the cage with large angry, but beautiful eyes.
"You get some, too ? later. If you behave," Jesse said and glared at Rickerson.
"Who knows how many other 'Galleries' there are by now ?" Rickerson said and grinned.
"Jesse told me you knew how to fix Mom's face?" asked Tom.
Rickerson watched Jesse closely. Willy had started to snore.
"Go on, tell him what you told me. How you learned from Aunt Sophie when you were a kid."
"That's a lie!" Tom spat out in disgust.
"He was never around then. He moved here only a few years ago."
"So he's been watching you on the cam."
"He's behind all of it. He betrayed me!"
"So ?," Rickerson sneered, "I betrayed a monster."
Tom tried to lunge at Rickerson; he was, however, chained to the wall. He went as far as the chain would let him. He hissed at Rickerson like a snake.
"How much do you earn, you son-of-a-bitch?"
"Oh, I can't complain."
"And what do the dead think of this ? betrayal?" asked Jesse thoughtfully.
"What's it to you, you're a homeless whore."
Jesse sighed. She sat down listlessly in the swivel chair and stared at the computer screen. She was fairly certain, the mummy she had been watching, was in a different position now.
"You can fastforward and actually see them move."
"I ? I've seen it," muttered Jesse.
"Let me out and I will show you."
"Nice try," said Jesse and chuckled.
"Tom?" she asked.
"What?"
"Is there something special in the embalming fluid to make them look so beautiful, so alive, after so many years ?"
"Like I need to tell you ? But yeah, there is."
"It sells well," added Rickerson.
"You took that, too, and made money off of it?"
"Heather did. She took it. Brought it home to Daddy."
"When? How?"
"Man, you were usually hiding in your cave."
"Tom, he has a point. You do not believe in locking your back door."
"I thought with Aunt Sophie around ?"
"That just adds to the thrill," laughed Rickerson, with an earnest face.
"And the corpses smell great, too."
Tom's eyes were wide, they burned with passionate emotion.
"So, the Gallery ? the secret embalming serum ? you've made that all accessible to ? what ? millions of people?" he asked, not bothering to turn and look at Rickerson, who was standing next to him, hands in pockets.
"There were positive e-mails, people telling me they had lost their loved ones, but they were still with them ? it was a first step in conquering death as we know it altogether. Works beautifully on pets. That brings in the most money. Kids love it when they can move a little. At least a little."
"Aw, how sweet," said Tom sarcastically.
"Tom!" Jesse said.
"Your mother is still here. You know that."
"Okay. I had a little bit of mother left. Good point." He waved a hand in the air.
"One of them hasn't moved in years ?"
"I wouldn't want Willy to leave me."
Jesse played with the empty beer bottle. She clicked on Tom's Facebook page.
"I don't have anyone else in this world."
On the computer screen, a dirty face appeared, badly beaten, attached to the half-decomposed torso of Nick Edwards, the man who had sold Jesse cherry pie.<
br />
Then all the lights in the cellar went dark.
Chapter 34
The mother mummy was standing on her own two feet, holding her chair with one hand. She presided over the others; they risked a glance in her direction when they found the strength to do so.
"The sad one moved last night," a mummy said with her internal voice, very timidly.
"He hasn't moved in many years," remarked the mother mummy.
"Why ? why ? is that?" the younger female mummy said.
"Do we just ? fall asleep?" she continued, obviously stressed out.
"No, no ?" the mother mummy comforted her, as others barked and moaned.
"The one that never moves is not a family member. He was taken when no one claimed him. He was the first dead man they tried the new special formula on."
The others gasped.
"What they did to him was not right."
"I think that is why he does not move," she added, a small tear rolling down her porcelain cheek.
"There is no family around from whom he can draw strength."
"Well, if he moved, that would mean ?"
"It could mean one of the old country relatives is close by," the mother mummy said thoughtfully, "but I have my problems believing it. He had no family, he was laid to rest in an unmarked grave."
"Poor people," one distant cousin remarked.
"Yes, perhaps they were poor, very poor. It doesn't mean they have no love ? "
The mummies were silent. Someone was coming up the stairs. They did not recognize the man dressed in black with a gun who came rudely crashing into the Gallery. His face was hidden behind a black ski mask, with only his eyes showing. Where the hole for his mouth should have been, the wool was sewn shut. He marched aggressively towards the mother mummy, inspecting her carefully; he came very close to her face. He looked into her eyes, trying to find evidence of fakery. He pinched her cheek, probing, feeling the skin. He stood back, admiring the work done.
The other mummies were whimpering with their mind voices, worried the strange man would become violent towards the mother mummy. Striding with wicked elegance, the masked man rushed towards the windows and looked down over the yard. Just then the first stone flew at the house. The house was then bombarded with stones, large, heavy stones. One of the mummies let out a high shriek. The masked man pretended not to notice. A lone stone flew at the window where he was standing, dropping off the pane limply. The man gave the henchmen down in the yard hand signals to stop throwing up that far.
When he tried to leave the Gallery, he was met with a snarl.
'Oh, thank you, Heavenly Father, for sending Aunt Sophie."
'I don't think Heavenly Father sends that one ?' chuckled the mother mummy.