Photo by Bernd đŸ“· Dittrich on Unsplash
The single-lane road stretched far ahead in the distance. A sombre lullaby reverberated throughout the settlement at the very end of it.
As the arcane whispers picked up the pace, the high winds whistled through the uprooted belt of trees on the left side of the narrow road.
I peered through the rear-view mirror. Steve Kaplan. New York Times bestselling author aka. Piece of Shit. I blasted the stereo. That good-for-nothing screamed his head off in the backseat.
Shit! The blood was going to splatter all over the place at this rate. I just renewed the covers, you son of—”Emergency alert! This programme is disrupted by the FBI. Attention! All roads blocked—”
“Fuck!” I hit reverse as the police sirens blared. Those pieces of shit sure keep each other’s back, huh!? I smirked as I noticed how quiet it became all of a sudden and stopped the car.
“You think this is it, Stevie? That they’ve come to save your ass?”
I looked over my shoulder.
“Stevie… What? You’re crying like a little girl? How cute. Did you cry like that too when you—” I broke off and looked at the outside mirror. “Look, your friends are here! Hey, why don’t we take a photo to honour this moment? I’ll call it: ‘Crying bastard’. The folder? Let’s call it: ‘What makes me horny 101’. Oh, you don’t like that? You’d rather call it ‘What makes me horny, 0-1’? Nah? That doesn’t do it for ya? You like your girls in the womb, huh? Is that—”
“GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAR! RIGHT NOW!”
I ducked as a bullet almost smashed my brain into the moulded carpet. When the shooting came to a halt, I started the engine and drove into the cornfield to my right.
“Hey, you know that list? The one with your name on it? It wasn’t me. Fuck! You think I wouldn’t admit to it if I had leaked it!? I’d put my name all over it, Stevie! But it wasn’t me, okay?
“Seems like I’m not the only one who thinks you’re a sick bastard. Oh, come on! Still crying, are we? You enjoyed yourself for this long, Stevie, uninterrupted – uninterrupted – for 30 fucking years! 30 years! You should’ve seen this coming, man!”
“STOP THE CAR—”
I put the car in reverse, flooring it as I sped back in the same direction I came, before continuing down the road towards my destination.
“Who- who are you? Where are you taking me? If it’s money you want, I’ll pay it, whatever you want – anything you want!”
I looked through the rear-view mirror. When did that piece of shit spit out the napkins? Huh? A grin curled up on my lips as I noticed he had swallowed them.
“Nothing’s disgusting when you’re the epitome of it, huh?”
“Where- where are you taking me? Please, I have a family—”
“Stevie, my man. Look outside! You know this place.”
With his hands tied behind him, he managed to take a glimpse out of the car window.
“You like what you see? Come on, I know you do, Stevie. Now, you tell me, where are we?”
“This- this is—how do you know? Who- who sent you?”
“Who? More like what.”
“W- what?”
I stopped the car. The human garbage lurched forward and rolled down from the backseat. With the sombre lullaby beating to the cadence of my heartbeat, I stepped out of the car and then yanked Steve out.
As I dragged his bloodied face on the hard ground, the sirens finally caught up to us. His breathing became irregular – shallow. On the verge of life and death.
I broke off as the door locked behind us. Trying to leave already you piece of shit? Not so fast. I smashed his brain out on the concrete floor before the grand finale.
“Look at you, so much better. You should try this look sometime.”
“What… what…”
“Folder 2, video 1: ‘Lucy’s final breath’.”
“Huh…?”
“You wrote about it in your book, Goddamnit! Wait, what did you call it, again? You know, the time that woman interviewed—oh, okay, here it goes: ‘It just came to me one day. Imagine what kind of life I lived for something like that to just… come to me.’ Does that ring a bell, bastard?”
“On… only fiction, I…”
“Come on. It’s just the two of us here. Tell the truth.”
“It’s… it’s not… I’m…”
I smirked, “You fucking shit… Still trying to protect your image, huh? The good ol’ family guy, the successful author with a goddamn conscience. But you’re not fooling me, Stevie. ‘Cause I know, man. You know I do.”
“No… no, I—”
I smashed his head on the concrete.
“Listen carefully, fucker. I don’t like games. And shit like you? I like you less. You get on my nerves, I’ll slit you until you come.”
A smile crept on his lips even before I finished my sentence. Smiling, are we? I pulled out a knife and stabbed his cheek, slashing it from the middle to the corner of his mouth.
“My- my cheek—you psychopath! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to fucking kill you!”
I stood up and watched as he tried to crawl towards me. Pathetic bastard. I’m not the one who did all those things, was it?
I shifted my gaze to the front door as a loud bang reverberated through the dilapidated building. Steve came to a standstill, his eyes wide with hope as crawled towards the door with all his might this time.
His bloody smile was pretty, even hopeful, from this angle. Wait, should I just let him have his moment?
“You can do it, Stevie! Come on! Show them who’s the psychopath!”
The banging stopped. I peered out from the window as the police gathered in the front garden. It didn’t take long before the FBI showed up, too. A line of bastards…
“I’mma give you one more chance, Stevie. You gotta listen to me this time, man. It’s pretty easy if you just do what I say.”
“W- what do you want?”
I crouched, “Now we’re talking.”
“What- what do you want from me?”
“Leak it.”
“W- what—”
“I’m talking ‘bout the video, ‘Lucy’s final breath’. Leak it. On your website and social media.”
“No. No, I- I can’t—”
“In return, I’ll spare you. Your face isn’t even in it, is it? We’ll catch the big fish. The public will celebrate you as a hero. Don’t you want that? And all that talk about your name on the list, it’ll die down.”
“And- and what do you… do you get out of this?”
“What do I get out of this? Nothing.”
“Then… then why?”
I stood up, “On the count of three. 1… 2… Stevie, make the right call now… 3—”
“I’ll do—”
He fell backwards, a gunshot right through his skull. A perfect shot. I put away the handgun as the commotion outside reached new heights.
“Too late, man. Better luck next time. Now, smile. *click* You’re gonna be famous.”
The End.
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