A short time later, over a plate full of girlsteak and biscuits, Jeremiah went through her purse. He still had to skin and joint the rest of the body to fit in his freezer, but that job would keep until he'd filled his belly.
Mary Anne McCullough, her license read. McCullough. Where had he heard that name?
"...I'm so late ..."
No.
The radio began its news cycle again.
"Tonight ... dinner ... recognizing the hard work ... lowest murder rate in years ... Police Chief McCullough..."
No. No!
The voice of reason spoke up again, as clear as it had ever been, but this time all it had to say were variations on "I told you so."
Jeremiah considered his options, and found no way out; he would be caught, and he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
It was almost enough to ruin his appetite.
Cupboard Full of Knives
Richard Godwin
They found it in the kitchen sink. Just a little bit of head jutting up over the thick layer of grease that lay on top of the filthy water they served guests when they weren’t alone.
Harry stood there looking down at it as Jocelyn scratched her ass through her nightie.
‘What the fuck is it?’ she said.
‘Don’t know.’
He grabbed a skewer and jabbed it.
‘Hear that squeal? Sounds like a fucking pig.’
‘How the fuck would a pig get in our sink Harry?’
‘Think it’s food Jos?’
‘Get rid of it.’
Harry turned to look at Jocelyn as she stood by the open door, the light wind outside rippling her nighty and the sun passing through it. His eyes wandered down to the blur at her crotch and he said, ‘Let’s go upstairs.’
‘You wanna fuck me get rid of that thing.’
‘Why?’
‘It might come upstairs and rape me.’
Harry considered the proposition, running his oil stained hand ponderously across his chin.
‘I love to hear your bristles crackle in the horny afternoon,’ Jocelyn said.
‘Well I ain’t shaved yet.’
‘You never shave Harry.’
‘So the deal is despatch this beast and I get your peach.’
Jocelyn nodded.
‘The neighbours never know what we got going here, and they’re too afraid to ask.’
Harry opened a cupboard which had knives attached with leather straps to the inside of the door. He removed a large bag which he placed on the floor and unzipped. He pulled a long knife from it and inspected it. It glistened. All Harry’s knives were clean. He always cleaned them afterwards. Jocelyn liked to watch. She also liked to hear them scream. She said Harry had the cleanest cutting action she’d ever encountered and she’d encountered a few of them, as the scars on her breasts clearly showed.
‘I think this’ll do the job,’ Harry said.
He walked over to the sink where its head was rising from the filthy water.
It had black eyes with long lashes like a girl, and its bloated head looked as though someone had kicked it and it was swelling up with bruising.
‘I can’t see a body,’ Harry said, peering down at it.
Jocelyn walked over to the sink.
‘Maybe it don’t have one.’
It was looking at them, its eyes darting from Harry to Jocelyn and back again as Harry jabbed it with the knife.
It screamed and Harry pulled away a section of grey flesh that dangled like rubber from the end of his knife.
He walked to the back door and flicked it off, watching the flesh land in the cadaverous yard.
He walked back in and inspected the sink.
It was trying to climb out. It had one limp foot perched on the edge of the sink and was scraping a long curved nail against the side, coughing spittle from its crimson mouth as it jabbered in a strange tongue.
‘What the fuck is this?’ Harry said. ‘It’s got a foot like a duck billed platypus.’
‘Kill it.’
So Harry started stabbing it, puncturing it repeatedly with his knife until it was red and dripping.
He stood back and waited to see if it was dead.
Jocelyn looked at Harry and felt a surge of arousal. He had his knife by his side and it was dripping blood onto the soiled linoleum floor.
‘You know how many times we come on this floor?’ she said. ‘I want you to fuck me with that knife when you’re done.’
Just then it started shrieking again.
It jumped up and stood on the edge of the sink and pulled its cock from its fur and stood there masturbating at Jocelyn.
Harry stabbed it again, this time lodging the knife deep in its fur.
He waved it around on the end of his knife and it flew off the end and landed by the door.
It stood there jabbering and then ran at Jocelyn and sprayed her with yellow come.
She wiped the strands of glutinous ejaculation from her yellow cheek and kicked it. It flew against the wall where it started barking at them.
‘What the fuck is it?’ Harry said.
He went over to the cupboard and got out his flame thrower.
‘Pass me the paraffin Jos,’ he said.
It was making obscene noises at them, a strange cacophony of high pitched whistles and groans that sounded sexual in nature. Then it ran at Jocelyn waving its cock at her as Harry doused it in paraffin and set it alight.
They stood there watching it ignite like a Roman Candle and run outside into the yard, spraying piss all over the walls.
‘We’s lovers ain’t we?’ Harry said, laying an arm around Jocelyn’s shoulder.
She reached down and felt his crotch.
‘Sure nuff,’ she said.
They walked upstairs past the heads stuck to the wall, past the hides and pelts that lay on the floor, past the blood stains on the light switch, and into the bedroom where several claws lay on the faded carpet.
Jocelyn pulled off her nightie as Harry walked over and ran his hand across her nipples.
‘They look like buckshot baby,’ he said.
‘Nothing like a little frying to make me wet. Come and feel me Harry, run your knife hand deep inside me.’