Parasite: Chapter One

Chapter 1

As he walked along the gravel roadbed of the abandoned railroad tracks he was silently congratulating himself on successfully avoiding any confrontation with Randy when from the shaded forest on his left came a voice that sent ice water through his veins.

“Anthony,” Randy called to him and Anthony’s heart climbed into his throat. They had never followed him before.

He stopped, and turned to face his tormentors. Randy, with Dave at his side, stood atop a small rise just inside the tree line.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Anthony said.

“You don’t seem to have a choice,” Randy said as he slammed his fist into his open palm and walked towards him. Anthony glanced to his right. The railroad tracks vanished into the heat waves in the distance. He so wished he could vanish like they did. Maybe then everyone would feel bad for the misery they had brought to his short life. But he doubted that. Most likely they would just forget him.

The thought stirred something deep within his psyche and he discovered a rage that flashed white-hot as it swelled within him. He let his backpack fall to the ground and quickly closed the distance between them.

Randy was taken back by this sudden turn of events and put up his hands as Anthony closed on him. “So the pussy wants to fight,” he said.

Neither of them were trained fighters, and though Randy outweighed him by a full fifty pounds, Anthony’s rage gave him exactly the edge he needed. He wasn’t out to torment as Randy was. He was defending himself, and as he closed with Randy he unleashed a barrage of hits that would have made any prizefighter proud.

Randy crumpled under the attack, his nose bloodied, his lip split, and he cried out as he backed away from Anthony’s assault.

Without hesitation Randy turned and ran across the railroad tracks, plunging into the dense brush that bordered the forest. Anthony looked at Dave, who held up his hands as he backed away.

“I don’t want any part of this,” Dave said.

He could have let it go right there and been done with it, but the years of torment fed his rage and Anthony turned to pursue Randy.

***

Randy jumped over the narrow ditch running parallel to the tracks, and plunged headlong into the thick underbrush, crashing through the forest as Anthony chased him down the hillside.

He ran through the trees, his feet kicking up the carpet of dead leaves that blanketed the floor as the ground became steeper beneath his feet. With a shout of surprise, his feet slipped out from under him and he slid through the trees on the carpet of leaves.

Tree trunks whizzed by him, narrowly missing his head, as he tried everything he could to grab one of the passing trunks. He snagged a sapling and was brought to a halt. Below him lay an opening in the trees that revealed the tops of trees much lower. Above him Anthony moved down through the forest towards him.

“I’m sorry,” Randy said as Anthony silently maneuvered through the trees towards him, his face a grim mask of determination

Randy let go of the tree and slid another twenty yards down the hill. The tree line below him was closer and he saw an outcropping of stone. He had no idea where he was, as he’d never come this way before, so he was unaware of the seventy-foot drop that waited just beyond the edge of the outcropping. He glanced behind him and saw that Anthony was less than twenty yards away, picking his way down the hill.

Randy released his grip and slid towards the edge of the outcropping. At the last moment, as his feet shot out over the edge, he grabbed a small tree and brought himself to a stop. His feet stuck out over the edge as he struggled to pull himself away from the cliff.

“Help me,” Randy pleaded, glancing over his shoulder at the sheer drop that awaited him.

Anthony’s face revealed little emotion as he slid the last few feet, and used the tree Randy was holding onto as a footrest. He ground his foot into Randy’s hand.

Randy cried out in pain. His hand slipped and he dropped another foot towards the waiting emptiness below. He kicked out with his feet, searching for any kind of footing, his legs pedaling in thin air.

“Don’t,” he begged, “I’ll do anything you want, anything, but please don’t hurt me.”

Anthony stomped on Randy’s hand.

“No,” Randy screamed, terrified. He found another handhold and Anthony shifted his attack to his other hand. He clung for life as Anthony savagely stomped on his fingers, the tread of his sneakers tearing at Randy’s knuckles.

Then Randy was falling. His foot hit the sheer wall and he spun crazily, the approaching ground and the sky trading places in a swirl of images.

He slammed into the ground, the wind rushing out of him as the sickening sound of bones crunching in his back came from under him. He struggled to catch his breath as the shock of his fall enveloped him in a numbing embrace. His consciousness dimmed and as the emptiness reached up to envelope him he heard whispering voices coming to him as if from a great distance away.

Chapter 2

 

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White Walker: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Teddy sat on the edge of his seat as he waited for Marie, the general manager, to return to her sparsely furnished office. Aside from a desk whose surface was neat and tidy the only other piece of furniture was a narrow bookcase beneath several framed diplomas occupying the wall to his right. The bookcase contained, from what he could see without being too obvious, several first editions of some well known classics. A reader himself his curiosity as to their authenticity was stirred. But that wasn’t why he was here. In his various dealings with Marie she had never struck him as someone willing to strike up a conversation over anything outside of work.

Behind the desk was a window and his eyes were drawn to the storm outside as the sound of the wind battering itself against the wall filled the office with a low roar. He felt a chill as an errant breeze wafted through the office. He’d rather be at home with his feet up, safely encased in his apartment, yet his responsibilities had forced him to be here.

 
Early in life he had learned there were times when you did what you had to, not what you wanted. A job was a responsibility, a promise, not only to your employer, but to your family. You exchanged a portion of your life for the means to provide for your loved ones. To give them a sense of  security. But sometimes the line between your job and your life became blurred, as it had for his mother and father. A pair of workaholics whose greatest contribution to the world was their eagerness to put aside promises made to family to fulfill the needs of their employer.

His childhood had been one of constant disappointment. Family vacations promised yet never taken. His daily needs entrusted to a parade of strangers as both of his parents worked towards their own success. Never once considering that to Teddy their presence in his life would mean more than all the toys in the world.

He never lacked for anything, and always had the latest and the best toys, making his friends jealous. But they had something he would never know. The loving touch of a father’s hand. The comforting caress of a mother’s lips upon his cheek. The feel of her cool hand upon his fevered brow. His parents were always at work when he woke up in the morning, and still away when he went to bed.

When he was twelve the two strangers that were his parents died in an accident and the money they had given up their lives to put back for his future was siphoned off by a succession of semi-relatives who crawled out of the woodwork after their death. From the so-called aunt in Arlington Texas who insisted that he come live with her, to his father’s half brother who didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was pulling one over on Teddy’s dead parents. Each in their turn fed at the trough of a trust fund that was supposed to protect the money. The relative of a friend of a friend who didn’t really know what he was doing had put it together, and the price was right.

That was his parents biggest flaw. When it came to Teddy himself they spared no expense, but in every other aspect of their lives they always went with the lowest bidder.

At Eighteen, broke and alone, he promised himself he would not be like his parents. That he would cherish those closest to him. From this desire he’d developed a simple plan. Spend the first ten years of his working life dedicated to only the job. No personal life, no emotional attachments outside of work, nothing but a worker drone programmed to serve. Save every penny he could with an eye towards an early retirement that would give him the means to build a real family.

As the saying went, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Judy had proven to be the proverbial monkey wrench thrown into his works. They had been together for a little more than a year now, and even though they did everything they could to keep their relationship under wraps, word had leaked to their team mates.

“Sorry about that Ted,” Marie said as she swung open her door and lumbered into her office. He pushed himself to his feet. She was a big woman, nearly six foot tall, thick, big boned, what many would have referred to as farm bred. The sheer weight of her responsibility was etched in the severe lines that creased her face. She handed him a slip of paper that contained fifteen names.

“We need contact information updated today for the people on that list.”

“If anyone else shows up do you want me to send them home?” Teddy said.

“I’ve thought about that, but if they’re already here we might as well get some work out of them. In the future though I’d rather not open the center for such a small group. Just the cost of having the lights on can’t be offset by anything they accomplish. Not to mention the need to reroute a steady flow of work from our other centers.” That was Marie, all business.

“Will you be staying?”

“I’ve got a few reports to finish then I’m going home. My husband will be here to pick me up shortly.”

Teddy was surprised to learn Marie had a husband. There had been speculation as to her sexual preference when she first arrived and she had done little to dispel any of the rumors that had a tendency to  circulate in such a situation.

“Then I’ll get with whoever is here to set up for the night.” Teddy said as he turned to leave.

“Not so fast, there’s one final matter we need to discuss.” Marie pulled out her chair and sat down, the chair creaking in protest.

Teddy’s heart sank. He knew what was coming and had been trying to avoid this topic for several days now. But he also knew they’d eventually catch up with him.

“What would that be?” he asked, purposefully playing dumb.

Marie shook her head with a slight smile that seemed so out of place on her face. “Before I took my position here I supervised a team at the Dallas center. Just like you I worked my way up through the ranks and when I first assumed my duties as a supervisor, my boyfriend at the time worked on the same team that I was taking over. I was in the same position you find yourself in right now. It’s no secret you and Judy are an item. But I’m sure you are familiar with the company’s policy on fraternization. It used to be we could transfer her to a different team and it wouldn’t be a problem, but corporate has been cracking down lately and to be perfectly honest I am not going to jeopardize my own career for anyone else.”

“I’ll talk to her today.”

“When I return to work I expect either yours, or her resignation, on my desk. I like you Ted, I feel you’re going to make a great supervisor, but I will replace you with the next in line if you can’t do what needs to be done.”

Until this moment no one he had spoken to, or interviewed with, had been quite this blunt about what needed to be done. Everyone knew about him and Judy, and even though they had tried to keep their relationship under wraps, it had never been a real secret they were together. Even with all that in mind his anger was stirred by Marie’s frank statement.

Of course I understood what has to be done. But would it hurt to give her more of a notice? His response remained unspoken. A part of him wanted to stand up right then and hand that cold bitch the keys to the building and walk out. Instead he nodded his understanding and pushed himself to his feet. Sometimes you did what you had to, instead of what you wanted.

“I know how you feel Ted. I had to go through the same thing.”

Ted simply nodded thinking to himself that she couldn’t possibly know what he was going through right now.

“Will there be anything else?”

“That about covers it.” Marie said, dismissing Teddy by opening the file folder on her desk. He stood over her for a moment more, unacknowledged by Marie who focused on the papers lying in front of her, and then he spun around on his heel and left her office.

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