horrors2

Livestock.Destiny_Ca.tex

  1\chapauth{Livestock}
  2\chapter[Destiny Calls]{Destiny Calls: A Luke Bavarius Mystery}
  3
  4
  5Luke Bavarius was on edge. For months he'd been receiving
  6terrifying phone calls from a mad man. The telephone would ring,
  7Bavarius would pick up, and that horrible voice would speak.
  8
  9
 10
 11``You're dead, Luke Bavarius. {\em Deeaaaadddd{\ldots}}''
 12
 13
 14
 15``Who is this?'' Luke would respond. ``I'll get you! I'm a cop, you
 16idiot!''
 17
 18
 19
 20``It doesn't matter, Luke. The law cannot stop me.''
 21
 22
 23
 24Luke wondered what the calls meant. They happened every night at
 25midnight. Luke knew that midnight held special significance to
 26satanic cults and the criminal element. In his work as a gritty New
 27York City detective he had made many enemies. He could scarcely
 28keep track of all the men he put behind bars, let alone which ones
 29still harbored a grudge.
 30
 31
 32
 33Luke could barely sleep. In his dreams he was chased by shadows.
 34Glimpses of dark alleyways and shattered mirrors haunted his
 35slumber. Luke was near his breaking point. What did it all
 36mean?
 37
 38
 39
 40{\em Ring!} The telephone rang. It was midnight again. Heavy beads
 41of sweat started oozing from Luke's forehead like anchors dropping
 42from ships at port.
 43
 44
 45
 46``Who is it?'' Luke answered angrily.
 47
 48
 49
 50``Now, now, Luke. Don't be so angry. It's just your old
 51friend.''
 52
 53
 54
 55``You're no friend.''
 56
 57
 58
 59``And you're dead, Luke Bavarius. {\em Deeaaaadddd{\ldots}}''
 60
 61
 62
 63Luke slammed the phone down. His heart was racing like Big Brown in
 64the Kentucky Derby: fast and determined. Luke took a swig from his
 65flask. He knew he had to do something. How long could this go on?
 66Not much longer, Luke thought.
 67
 68
 69
 70It was time to involve his friends at the station. Luke called in a
 71favor from Jim Centauri, an expert at tracing phone calls. Jim
 72hooked his equipment up to Luke's phones, and the two waited until
 73midnight. Nothing happened.
 74
 75
 76
 77``Damnit!'' Luke yelled. ``He calls every night. {\em Every
 78night!}''
 79
 80
 81
 82``It's probably just a prankster, Luke. Don't let it get you down.
 83Anyway, maybe he got tired of calling you.''
 84
 85
 86
 87Jim packed up his equipment and headed home. Luke thanked him, but
 88felt disappointed he had no answers. Then it happened. The thing
 89Luke was least prepared for.
 90
 91
 92
 93{\em Ring!}
 94
 95
 96
 97``Not again!'' Luke yelled, staring at the ringing telephone. He
 98debated answering, or letting it sing its horrible, shrill song.
 99Finally, Luke could wait no more. He reached his left hand out and
100clutched the phone, squeezing so tight it would die if it were
101alive.
102
103
104
105``Nice try, Luke. But you'll have to figure out who I am on your
106own.''
107
108
109
110``Who are you?'' Luke demanded, his voice surging with anger.
111
112
113
114``Don't you know, Luke. Don't you know who I am?''
115
116
117
118``It's only a matter of time before I find out.''
119
120
121
122``Sooner than that, Luke. Don't you recognize my voice?''
123
124
125
126Suddenly a horrible realization came over Luke. ``No. No! No!!!'' he
127cried out. He looked to his right, and he was holding a second
128telephone.
129
130
131
132``All this time, Luke. It was you. It was me. It was
133{\em us}!''
134
135
136
137Luke heard a click. He looked to his left. The telephone in his
138left hand was gone. Now it was a cocked Beretta pointed at his
139skull. Suddenly he gulped. {\em Click.} 
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