What Doesn't Kill You (A Suspense Collection) (10 page)

“It was me,” Stanley whispered, standing up. “It was
me.”

It had been his dream all along. He loved being awake.
Reality was beautiful.

God HD
, Stanley thought as he looked
around. Everything was stunningly clear and sharp. It was as if someone had
washed the windshield with super strength glass cleaner. No, it was as if
someone had removed the glass altogether.

He could see, sense, hear, feel, taste things at a
whole new level of awareness. Stanley attempted to find a word to describe what
he was experiencing, but
God HD
was all he was coming up with. 

“What did you say, Dad?”

Stanley fixed his eyes on his son, who was sitting on
the bed, with a computer tablet in his hands. Derek was wearing grey sweatpants
and a white T-shirt. He appeared a little tired. It was a hospital room, which
meant that Derek, his pride and joy, the smartest and the most handsome
nineteen-year-old boy on the planet, could be very sick. Stanley was relieved
to see that there was no intravenous drip system or heart monitor in sight. He
realized he couldn’t draw any far-reaching conclusions based on this fact, but
he was happy nonetheless.

Stanley walked over to the bed and sat down on its
edge, facing his son.

“How did you get here, Dad? Didn’t we—” Derek stopped
halfway through the sentence.

For some reason, the surprised look his son gave him
made Stanley uneasy.

“Where’s mom?”

“She left an hour ago. Do you want me to call her? How
long are you going to stay?”

“I’ll call her myself.” Stanley placed his hand on
Derek’s forearm and squeezed it lightly just to make sure it was there and he
was not imagining it. 

“What happened to you?” he asked. “Why are you in the
hospital?”

“I got into an accident. It was my fault. Everything is
fine now.”

“Were you in a coma?” Stanley didn’t know why, but he
had to ask this question.

“Yes.” Derek nodded.

“How long were you out?”

“About two months. But I’m okay now, Dad. I’m fine,
don’t worry. They’re releasing me in two days.”

“When did you wake up?” Stanley squeezed Derek’s hand
gently. The hand was warm; he didn’t want to let it go.

“Five days ago.” Derek smiled. “I’m so glad to see you,
Dad.”

“I’m very glad to see you, too.” Stanley leaned forward
and kissed his son on the forehead.

When his son’s face began to fade, Stanley suddenly
remembered that he had seen Derek’s photo in the living room of Richard’s
house. It had sat on the fireplace mantel along with a couple of other framed
pictures. For some reason he hadn’t realized back then that it was Derek on
that photograph.

17.

The good news was he was alive. He
had survived a fifteen-story fall. Moreover, there was not a scratch on his
body.

Stanley started rubbing his temples. He had an odd
nagging feeling in his head, which he suspected wasn’t going to leave on its
own. Something was amiss, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. A minute later it
finally dawned upon on him. There had been a mirror in that hospital room, and
he’d glanced at it at some point. He’d caught a glimpse of his reflection
without consciously processing the image. Only now did he recognize that it
wasn’t his face he’d seen in the mirror; it was Richard’s face. This, of
course, made no sense, but then again it had been a dream, hadn’t it?

Stanley shut his eyes, and when he opened them seconds
later, he was sitting in a chair in his office.

“Welcome back.” Richard waved at him.

Stanley gave him a slight nod and looked around. A warm
wave of memories—
real world
memories?—was washing over him. “Did you do
that?” he asked.

“What?”

“I just saw your son.” Stanley took a gulp of water
from the glass. “I think I’ve been to the real world.” He drank the rest of the
water.

“How do you know it was the real world?” Richard leaned
forward and drew his brows together.

“I… It was different. It was… spectacular.” He paused.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before. And for a moment, I thought
it was
my
dream.” Stanley glared at Richard. “Did you do it on purpose?”

“No, Doc, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Of course you did. You were probably trying to show me
who the boss is.”

“I told you that I don’t control every little thing
here. At least not consciously.”

“Well, I’m not into holding grudges, so let’s move on.”

“Tell me what you saw there.”

“I saw your son. He’s out of a coma now. He’s
recovering.”

Richard frowned, lowered his eyes, and then, staring
blankly into space, said, “Why are you telling me this? Why do you think my son
has ever been in a coma? Why do you think I even have a son?”

“You told me your son had been run over by a car.”

“Maybe I lied.”

“I doubt that you lied. I believe your son was hit by a
car and fell into a coma.”

Richard let out a sigh, put an elbow on his knee, and
propped his head with his hand. “Suppose you’re right. How do you know that the
person you saw was my son?”

“I saw his picture in your house. And—” Stanley stood
up, walked to his desk, picked up one of the framed photographs that were
there, and returned to his chair. “Is this your son?” He handed the picture to Richard.

After quickly scanning the photo, Richard nodded. “Yes,
it’s him. Why do you have his picture on your desk?”

“You created this desk and everything on it, remember?
I’ve always thought it was my son Derek’s photo. But of course, I was
programmed to think so by you.”

Gazing at the photograph, Richard ran his finger along
the bottom section of the frame. Stanley thought he saw a tear glint in his
eye.

“Can you prove that you saw him?” Richard asked. “That
he’s getting better?”

Stanley shook his head. “I can’t. I doubt there’s even
a way to do it. I can’t bring you a souvenir from the real world, can I?”

“No, you can’t.”

“One more thing. I don’t know how it happened, but I
believe that your son saw me, too. He saw you in that hospital room.”

“What do you mean? He saw both of us?”

“No, he saw you. I had your face when I met him.”

“This is so…” Richard creased his forehead. “I don’t
understand.”

“You created me. I’m a character in your dream. I guess
there’s part of you in me, in all of us populating your dream. That’s how I see
it.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m not sure if I should tell you this.” Stanley let
out a quiet sigh. “When your son saw me, he looked as if he saw a ghost. You do
know what it means, don’t you?”

An artificial smile surfaced on Richard’s face. “It
must mean I’m dead,” he said. “And I’m okay with that. There’s nothing I can do
about it, is there?” He cracked his neck from side to side. “I told you it is
an afterlife dream.” Richard got up and walked up to the window. “So you’re
saying he actually saw me?”

“Yes.” Stanley nodded. “By the way, I forgot how long
you said you’ve been dead. What’s your most conservative estimate?”

“At least a year.”

“Your son said that he’d been in a coma for two months.
How did you know that he’d been hit by a car, if you were dead when it
happened?”

There was a short pause, and then Richard replied,
“Somebody told me.”

“Another character like me?”

“Yes. His name was Luke.” Richard opened the blinds a
crack and peeked outside.

“So it’s been done before. Someone crossed into the
real world before I did.”

“Yes, Sir.” Richard turned around to face Stanley.
“Maybe someday I’ll be able to do it, too.”

“You know, you’re a good man, Richard.” Stanley lowered
his eyes to the floor. “Remember you said that an almighty god wouldn’t allow
war and diseases? I just realized that there are no wars in our world.”

“Yes, only in a dream, Doc. Only in a dream.”

“And I’m pretty sure that cancer hasn’t been eradicated
in the real world yet. And neither has flu.” Stanley rose from the chair and
sat down on the edge of his desk.

“You are a very perceptive man.”

“What do we do now?”

“I have an idea.” Richard raised his hand. “We were on
a week-long Caribbean cruise when I was alive. We had a blast there. Lots of
great memories. Do you want to go? I’m pretty sure my version is as good as the
original, if not better.”

“I vote yes.”

“Excellent.” Then Richard snapped his fingers.

THE END

 
Scorned

An eighteen-year-old girl exacts vengeance on her
cheating boyfriend with the help of a mysterious woman.

Heaven has no rage like love to hatred
turned,
Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned.

William Congreve, 
The Mourning
Bride

1.

Being eighteen and in love—what could be more joyful
than this? Especially when the one you love loves you back.

Heather was the happiest girl in the world. Then she
met Loretta, and her life changed forever.

The encounter took place at the coffee shop one block
down from Heather’s apartment building. It was one of her favorite spots to
kill time when she didn’t feel like going home and dealing with parental
pressure. Heather was sitting at a table in the patio, enjoying the gorgeous
weather. As she read a text message from her boyfriend, Daniel, she heard a
woman’s voice: “Hey, Heather, how are you doing today?”

“I’m fine. Do I know you?” She lifted her eyes and saw
a slim good-looking woman who was probably in her thirties.

“Not yet.” The woman sat down opposite Heather. “My
name’s Loretta. Do you have a minute?”

“Well, I’m a little busy here.” Heather waved her cellphone.
“Are you selling something?”

“No, I’m not. I want to offer you an opportunity that
you, I believe, would like very much.” 

“What is it?”

“By the way, you’re texting your boyfriend, am I
right?” Loretta nodded at Heather’s cellphone.

“Yeah. My boyfriend.”

“His name’s Daniel Bartlett, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Do you know him?”

“I know of him, but I’ve never met him personally. The
opportunity I just mentioned concerns Daniel.”

“Okay. So what is it?” Heather looked at the cellphone
screen to read the new message from Daniel. The message read: ‘I miss you,
baby. Do you miss me?’

“What would you do if you found out that Daniel was
cheating on you?”

“If he was cheating on me?” Heather’s fingers, which
were about to type ‘I miss you too, sweetie,’ froze an inch away from the
cellphone. She lifted her face and gave Loretta a curious look. “I’d probably
rip his balls off.” She cracked a mischievous smile.

“What if I told you that he indeed is cheating on you?”
Loretta made a short pause and, before Heather had a chance to reply,
continued, “How long have you and Daniel been going out?”

“Eight months.” Heather closed the text message app. It
looked like Loretta had succeeded in getting her attention. “What did you say
about Daniel cheating on me?”

“I was going to tell you that he’s been cheating on you
this whole time.”

“How do you know?” Heather had an unpleasant prickly
feeling in her chest. She realized there was no objective reason for her to be
anxious, but she simply couldn’t help it.

Heather wasn’t a jealous type—at least she didn’t
consider herself one—but being interested in information about Daniel’s
unfaithfulness had nothing to do with jealousy.

Why was she feeling disquieted? Well, maybe she was a
jealous type to a certain degree.

“There’s a girl named Christine Dunsmore in your
school. She’s a senior. Do you know her?” Loretta asked.

“I think I do. She’s in my Economics class.”

“She’s cute, isn’t she?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Does she sleep with Daniel?”
Heather noticed that her breath rate had increased.

“Yes. And she’s not the only girl Daniel has on the
side. Have you met Amy Markowski? She also goes to your school.”

“I know her. She’s in my Health class. So he fucks Amy,
too?”

Loretta nodded.

“How do you know all this?”

“Let me show you something.” Loretta opened her bag,
took out a computer tablet, and turned it on. “Look at the text messages
Christine and Daniel exchanged last night.” She tapped an icon on the tablet
screen, expanding an application window to full size.

“What is it?” Heather began scanning the lines of text
displayed on the screen. They indeed appeared to be cellphone messages. She
quickly recognized Daniel’s cellphone number, from which roughly half of the
texts had been sent. According to the time stamps, the conversation had taken
place last night, just as Loretta said. “Where did you get this?”

Heather cringed as she read ‘
I miss ur cock, honey
.’
This message had been sent in response to Daniel’s ‘
I love u, baby
.’ It
was obvious that Daniel had been communicating with a girl. Since Heather
didn’t know Christine’s cellphone number, she couldn’t tell whether or not
Christine was that girl.    

“We installed a text-spying app on Daniel’s cellphone.”

“Who are ‘we’?”

“My friends.”

Heather let out an angry sigh when she saw Daniel’s
text that read ‘
Do u wanna fuck? I can be at ur place in 20.’

“Are they cops or something?” Heather took a deep
breath and tried to calm down. Her hopes of keeping cool went out the window
when she read the girl’s reply: ‘
But we already fucked today.’

“No, they’re not cops. They’re just very resourceful.
Let me show you something else.” Loretta minimized the window with text
messages, opened a media player, and clicked the Play button.

It took Heather about a minute to figure out what she
was watching, and when she did, her heart stopped. It was a sex tape featuring
Daniel and Christine. Right now Heather was looking at them kissing each other
on Daniel’s bed. Both were stark-naked. Judging by the angle the video was shot
from, the camera was located near the television set, which stood opposite the
bed. Seeing Daniel’s room on the screen of a stranger’s computer tablet was
surreal.

“Who taped this?” Heather asked in a hoarse voice.
“Daniel?”

She felt her lunch backing up into her throat as
Daniel’s head bobbed between Christine’s thighs. Yeah, he did love eating
pussy.

“No. One of my friends put a spy camera in Daniel’s
room.”

“You’ve got more of these?”

“We have one with Amy. Would you like to watch it,
too?”

“No.” Heather swallowed the sour taste of stomach acid.
Her brain began pulsating, she felt the ground slipping away from under her. 
“This is enough.” She tapped the Stop button and shifted her eyes to Loretta,
clenching her fists, her scalp sweating profusely with fury. “Tell me more
about the opportunity you want to offer me.”

“To put it simply—revenge. I’m offering you a chance to
punish Daniel for cheating on you.”

“How? Are you going to beat him up?”

Heather began to wish she had a strong roughneck
brother, who could straighten Daniel out in a dark alley.

“No. We’re going to let you do it yourself. You’ll have
four—five days to abuse Daniel any way you please. He’ll be tied and won’t be
able to resist. There will be no witnesses. You’ll have complete freedom to do
whatever you want to him.” Loretta paused to allow Heather to digest her words.
“So how does my offer sound?”

Heather knitted her eyebrows. “Did he text her today?”

“Christine or Amy?”

“Either one.”

“He and Amy have been texting each other for the last
hour.”

“Oh, I see. Did he fuck Amy or Christine today?”

“It appears that he didn’t.”

Heather dialed Daniel’s number and, when he answered,
said, “Hey, baby, I just wanted to hear your voice. What are you doing?”

“Watching TV at home. And you?”

“I’m at McDonald’s, killing time. Do you love me?”

“Of course, baby. I love you more than anything else in
the world.”

“And you’ll never leave me?”

“Never, sweetie. I only want to be with you.”

“Me too. Bye-bye, baby. I love you.” Heather hung up.
Then she turned her face to Loretta and said, “Okay. I’m in.”

“Very good.”

“What do you want in return? You’re not doing it for
free, are you?”

“Yes, we do expect to receive something from you,
Heather.”

It suddenly occurred to Heather that Loretta could be a
lesbian looking for young pussy.

“Is it money? I don’t have a lot of it, just so you
know.”

“No, it’s not money?”

“Is it sex?”

Loretta shook her head. “It’s not sex either. I promise
that you’ll find my services quite affordable.”

After Loretta explained what they wanted from her,
Heather asked, “When are we going to do it?”

“As soon as you have what we need. How long will it
take you to get it?”

Heather shrugged. “No more than a week.”

“Sounds good. Here’s my email.” Loretta handed Heather
a card with an email address typed on it. “One more thing. In order to preserve
the element of surprise, please do not tell Daniel that you know about his
cheating. Can you do that for me? I realize that the temptation will be very
strong, but you have to resist it, okay?”

“Sure. I’ll keep my mouth shut. A week is not such a
long time.”

“And it goes without saying that you cannot tell anyone
about our arrangement.”

“I understand that.”

Loretta patted Heather on the hand. “I’ve been in your
shoes, Heather. And I kicked this guy’s ass hard. It was the sweetest feeling
in the world. Almost as good as sex.”

“Did this guy cheat on you again?”

“Not until after I dumped him.” Loretta paused. “You
won’t feel the same after this experience, Heather. You’re going to feel
empowered. Your confidence will shoot through the roof.”

2.

Things went as planned. Exactly one week after the
fateful meeting at the coffee shop, Heather emailed Loretta that she had done
her part.

Loretta called her half an hour later. “How do you plan
to explain your absence to your parents?” she asked.

“It’s spring break. I’ll tell them my friend invited me
to her family’s summer house.”

“Tell them the house is in Canaan Valley so you’ll have
a reason why there’s no cell phone connection.”

“You want me to turn off my cell?”

“It will be safer if I have it while you are in that
cabin with Daniel. We want to keep phones as far from your boyfriend as
possible.”

“Will I be able to call my Mom from a regular phone? I
know her. She’ll start panicking if I don’t call her at least once a day.”

“I’ll arrange that. And it will look as if you’re
calling from Canaan Valley.”

Heather had to admit that it was a neat detail: her
parents might get suspicious if she called them from a hidden number.

“So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Heather said.

“Tomorrow. Please be ready.”

3.

Loretta came to pick her
up at nine in the morning. She arrived in a massive GMC Yukon, which surprised
Heather, who expected her to ride in an elegant European car. Loretta’s driver
was a tanned man in his thirties with a crew haircut; he was what they called
‘ruggedly handsome;’ he didn’t utter a word during the whole trip.

Since Heather had been blindfolded as soon as she’d
gotten in the car, she had absolutely no idea where they were when the drive
was over. If she had to guess, she’d say they’d brought her to West Virginia.
It took them two and a half hours to get to the cabin, but it didn’t mean that
the place was two and half hours away from her house. For all she knew, they
might have driven in circles around the area for an hour. One thing was clear
to her: they were in the woods and the nearest neighbor was probably a mile
away. As Heather walked towards the porch, she noticed elegant iron grilles on
the windows, which she found to be a useful feature; she wouldn’t want Daniel
to escape through a window.

“Are you planning to show Daniel your face?” Loretta
asked while unlocking the front door.

“Is there a way to avoid that?”

“There’s a Darth Vader mask with a voice changer in
your room. Do you want to try it?”

After thinking for a few moments, Heather shook her
head. “I want Dan to see who’s doing it to him.”

“Okay.”

It had just come to Heather’s attention that Loretta
was wearing gloves. Did she need the gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints or
did she simply think they looked good on her? Frankly, Heather didn’t care.

Then she saw Daniel.

Her boyfriend was lying on his back on the large metal
sleigh bed that sat in the middle of the living room. He was wearing nothing
but black boxer trunks, his arms and legs were chained to the bedposts. The
chains were too short for Daniel to be able to bend his limbs. The bed appeared
sturdy; Daniel had no chance of breaking it. Heather was pleased that Loretta’s
helpers hadn’t half-assed their job.