Jason DeGroot's Blog, page 66

chapter 25: flagrant

The gentle rocking of the train had guided Kibosh into a peaceful slumber, but the snoring of the man seated next to him jolted him awake.  Kibosh studied the man disdainfully.  He was fat; how he'd crammed himself into the narrow Amtrak seat was anybody's guess, and he was the caricature of the traveling salesman, with a rumpled plaid suit and a battered faux-leather briefcase resting awkwardly on his limited lap.  The man had eased off his cheap shoes, which explained the smell, and his...

chapter 24: intrepid

"Hey, honey, where you goin'?  Night's young."

Melora looked up from her purse at the sound of the man's slurred come-on, and her heart immediately began to beat faster.  She was standing at her hotel room door, hotel keycard forgotten, and now she wondered if she still had that bottle of pepper spray in there.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

He was tall, six-five at least, and his frame took up most of the hotel corridor.  He was wearing an unbuttoned black suit over a white shirt that...

chapter 23: tiding

When Seth got to Manny's, the place was already bumping.  Cars were parked all the way down the block, plus several parked right up on the lawn and in the driveway.  Men and women, most of whom Seth had never seen before in his life, were standing outside drinking beer out of plastic cups, and people were streaming in and out of the house, and the loud thumping music that Seth had heard three blocks away was now almost deafening.

"Christ on a crutch," Seth muttered, keeping his head down and h...

chapter 22: dulcet

"EXTERMINATE!"

David Bleu opened his eyes.  Or, rather, eye, for he seemed to be looking through a long, myopic tube that only showed everything around him in black and white.  Around him were strange contraptions, dome-shaped, with long tubes coming out of their. . .heads?  They looked to have metal skirts with metal bubbles welded in rows all around them, and each of them had two protuberances in their mid-section, one that looked like a. . .ray gun?  And the other that looked like. . .a...

chapter 21: perquisite

Kibosh sat down next to where he'd set his hat and jacket down and wiped the sweat off his forehead.  Dismemberment and burial was hard work.Rummaging in the pocket of his jacket, he found the apple and tuna sandwich he'd brought along with him, along with a bottle of Aquafina.  He took a big swig of water, unwrapped his sandwich, and wolfed it down in three bites, chewing maybe four times.  He took another swig of water and belched."My goodness, excuse me," he said to no one.Kibosh leaned...

chapter 20: echelon

"Shot through the heart, and you're to blame, darlin' you give love a bad name!"  Jill sang along (really screamed along) as Bon Jovi belted out another awesome song.  All around her, the crowd was going wild, and Jill was going wild with them.  Next to her, her friend Katherine was pumping her hand in the air, and Katherine's friend Nancy was next to her doing the same.  Jill closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her, a joyous smile on her face.  She rocked her head to the music, her...

chapter 19: wreak

The first thing Melora noticed after the cab deposited her in front of her house in Long Island was that the big tree in front of the house had fallen over.  The second thing she noticed was the hole in her roof.  After standing and staring at the destruction for a good five minutes, the third thing she noticed was that her front door was unlocked.  For a second, she thought of calling the police, but she was exhausted from the flight, the security company hadn't called her to alert her to a ...

chapter 18: subterfuge

White dust filled the room outside the office, and as Nestor shut the door, some of it swirled inside.

"Hurry your fat ass up!" El Jefe  screamed.

Nestor took the seat next to his brother Claudio.  His chair groaned under his girth, much as Claudio's had when he'd sat down.  They wore their usual attire, black shirts, black pants, and black leather trench coats.  Both of them had their sunglasses sitting on top of their bald heads.  If there was one thing El Jefe hated, it was sunglasses.

"Never...

chapter 17: ethereal

Dylan Mulroney awoke with a gasp.  The last thing he remembered was pain and fear and death.  But now, now he felt peace and coolness and lightness.  In fact, he felt like he was floating.  And when he looked down, that's exactly what he was doing.  He was naked, but his body was indistinct, the blue light of his surroundings passing through him.

He could hear the sounds of a choir of men singing the most beautiful song he'd ever heard in a language that he knew immediately was not of...

chapter 16: kegler

Seth had taken the bus and ended up getting to 10 Pin Alley a half hour ahead of everyone else.  The place was practically deserted.  He'd been coming here every Wednesday with Manny, Black Jack, and Jack's friend Clifford for almost three years now.  They weren't in any leagues, it was just a way for them to blow off some steam and shoot the shit, which is something he definitely needed right now.

The place looked and smelled brand new.  10 Pin had recently undergone a remodel and the lanes g...