horrors2

Swanky.Gold_Ribbo.tex

  1\chapauth{Swanky}
  2\chapter{Gold Ribbon}
  3
  4
  5
  6``Those things will kill you, ya know'', Percival
  7growled, spitting up blood onto his rope-bound hands.
  8
  9``Don't worry; they're filtered'', Bavarious
 10coyly said as he blew smoke into Percival's battered
 11face.
 12
 13Luke Bavarious wiped his hands of blood, as he had spent the better
 14part of the past six hours trying to coax the safe combo out of
 15this man. The night before Bavarious received a clean manilla
 16envelope on his doorstep. Inside that envelope was a picture of a
 17boy, inside a large safe, a bandana in his mouth with the words
 18``Wednesday, 8 PM 50,000 in a duffle bag at 1st and 1st or he
 19runs out of oxygen''.
 20
 21
 22
 23Bavarious knew he was a go-to guy, but nothing got his gib like an
 24innocent kid whose life lie in his hands. Especially little Johnny
 25Powell, a doe-eyed kid he knew through a local Big Brother's,
 26Big Sister's program he used to participate in. Johnny loved
 27to talk, and just ramble on about science and school. He was one
 28bright kid. He might as well have been his own brother. Or even his
 29own son. Percival didn't have the money, and he knew that if
 30he went to the police that kid would be as good as dead. This kid
 31wanted to be a scientist when he grew up. Not a ball player or
 32astronaut, but a guy who does experiments. He was just a kid, after
 33all.
 34
 35
 36
 37He recognized the handwriting of the note, and the brown shag
 38carpeting on the bottom of the picture clenched it. It was Percival
 39Johnson's house. Timmy Johnson's father. A good man, a
 40family man, but who knows what was going on in his head. Could have
 41been just money problems or even something worse. But that
 42doesn't matter. What's important is that he knows the
 43guy behind that picture. And where he lives.
 44
 45
 46
 47Shortly after receiving that picture, Luke got in his black,
 48tinted-window sedan and scoped out Percival's house. The plan
 49was to camp out near Percival's home, then when Percival was
 50coming home from work, catch him while he's getting
 51undressed. Luke had his trusty sidearm and no regrets, save for
 52what poor Timmy might see. Scarring one life is better than ending
 53another, he repeated to himself.
 54
 55
 56
 57Once he made his break into the house, everything was a blur.
 58Percival was shocked, but gave up a curiously easy fight.
 59Bavarious' heart was beating out of his chest as he dragged
 60the man, having been pistol-whipped and dazed, towards his basement
 61and that unmistakable brown shag carpet. Sure enough, as he threw
 62Percival down the stairs, he could see the safe out of the corner
 63of his eye. He just hoped poor Johnny was still alive.
 64
 65
 66
 67He dragged Percival's laughing and oddly limp body over to
 68the safe, bound his hands and started a routine of inquiry as to
 69the combo of the safe.
 70
 71
 72
 73He put the cigarette out on the shag carpet.
 74
 75
 76
 77``I'm running out of patience, and soon my knife will
 78begin to ask questions. And he makes me look like a
 79gentleman.''
 80
 81Percival began to come to a bit out of whatever stupor he seemed to
 82be in.
 83
 84``Wait, what? Where{\ldots}where am I?''
 85
 86``You're a few minutes away from losing your life unless
 87you give me your safe combo, pal.''
 88
 89``But I'm{\ldots}oh, god, I'm so
 90sorry{\ldots}okay, 35{\ldots}35, 29, 53''
 91
 92
 93
 94Luke looked at Percival like a lost kitten covered in flour, but he
 95had no time to ask why this man suddenly came-to. He propped up
 96Percival against the wall, but wondered if there was something even
 97more fishy than he originally thought. He positioned himself near
 98the safe expecting his journey to be nearly over.
 99
100
101
102He tapped on the safe like a father-to-be gently tapping on the
103pregnant belly of his wife.
104
105``Don't worry buddy, I'll get you out soon''.
106He heard nothing.
107
108``35{\ldots}29{\ldots}53''.
109
110Click.
111
112He turned the handle and opened the safe. Just as he was about to
113look inside, expecting a sense of relief unlike anything he had
114heard before, something happened.
115
116Thud.
117
118
119
120Luke slowly came back to consciousness, he found himself sitting
121next to Percival, his hands, legs, thighs all bound very tightly
122with wire. His head was pounding to hard to try to move, but he
123knew he knew small, nimble fingers tied those knots. As he
124struggled to raise his head to see the two figures coming towards
125the lit part of the basement, he noticed it was little Tommy
126holding a clip-board and, perfectly healthy, holding a wrench, was
127little Johnny.
128
129
130
131``Johnny{\ldots}what is this?'' Luke whispered, his eyes
132begin to tear with his inevitable realization.
133
134``Tommy and I are doing our science fair project, remember? He
135was testing the effects of his mother's pills on Mr.\ Johnson.
136We ground it up in his orange juice.''
137
138``But{\ldots}what{\ldots}about{\ldots}''
139
140``Part of my experiment was testing the effects of fear on
141head injury''
142
143``{\em Part}?'', Percival asked, his tone ever more
144hopeless.
145
146The unmistakable sound of a dentist drill could be heard in the
147background.
148
149``Yes, Mr.\ Bavarious. Part.''
150
151Bavarious wept uncontrollably. 
152 
153
154
155
156
157