Blue Macabre Page 5

  “Sometimes frills become necessities. Think of Andy.”

  An attractive woman of indeterminate age was alone in the shop. She took immediate interest in them with one look at Chris and offered, “Good afternoon. How may I help you?” Her fingers toyed with the string of pearls at her throat.

  Jenny looked at her brother. Chris replied, “Good afternoon to you also. I’d like to see about getting an assortment of things for my sister – it’s been too long since she was spoiled and I intend to fix that.”

  The shop owner smiled at Jenny. “And aren’t we lucky? We have some lovely things that have just arrived.” She looked Chris up and down. “What sort of items would you like to see, my dear?”

  Chris interrupted as Jenny opened her mouth. “I’d like to see her have some light – you know, lacy things that will make her feel wonderful and special.” Both women looked at him with surprise. He added, “Select things that fit well and also play up her hair color and sweet complexion – and make sure her breasts are properly supported.”

  Jenny’s mouth dropped open, and the shop owner’s eyes widened. She took Jenny’s arm gently and led her away. “Well, he certainly seems to have, shall we say, definite ideas. Come this way, dear, and have a look.”

  She led her to the rear of the shop and a small sitting area, furnished with velvet-covered chairs and a low, wide marble table on which she could display samples. Chris trailed behind. As he sat in one of the chairs the women gathered a dozen differing garments; lacy brassieres in shades of aqua, lavender, black; matching wisps of panties; silky short gowns in peach, red, and blue; garter belts with provocative hosiery. The colors were delectable, the styles enticing. “Do you see anything you like?”

  Jenny twisted a strand of her hair. “Maybe you’d better measure me – it’s been so long since I shopped for anything like this. I’m not even sure what size I need anymore.” The woman led Jenny to a dressing room as she continued to steal glances at Chris. Unaware, he remained totally absorbed by a fabulous bustier modeled on a voluptuous mannequin.

  After she shut the cubicle door, Chris picked up each one of the items on the table and examined them. He fingered the cups and straps of the bras; rubbed the panties between his hands and held them up to the light. He caressed the soft satin of the gowns and held one next to his cheek; paid special consideration to the garter belts, especially the black and its hosiery. He finally chose as his favorites the black set, and settled back in a chair, holding them in his hands. He closed his eyes.

  put this on for daddy baby

  i cant its too small

  no I want to see you in this Donna

  no chris

  come here

  no please it hurts

  see how nice you look

  no it hurts squeezing me

  come to me baby I love you

  take this off let me go

  not yet

  Inside the dressing room, Jenny looked around uncertainly. The owner asked, “Are you all right?”

  “I – I guess so. It must just be the excitement of getting to do some really serious shopping for the first time in several years.”

  They came out of the dressing room to find Chris comfortably seated, staring at them.

  When they returned home, Chris helped her carry in the packages. She was delighted by laying out the new purchases across her bed, removing price tags, reveling in having something new and frivolous. Chris ventured to the kitchen and returned with a large glass of wine for each of them. “Here, I brought us a small libation to celebrate. After all, it’s not every day you get this much money spent on you.”

  She smiled. “Thanks, dear and thoughtful brother.”

  He took the overstuffed chair by the only window in the room. “Yeah, isn’t money great. Buys you almost anything.”

  “Do I detect sarcasm?”

  “I don’t know . . . when I get in a mood like this I get very reflective. It’s been a bad habit lately.”

  “I understand.”

  He shut his eyes, relaxed into the chair. “I’m just meandering. Don’t pay any attention to the man behind the curtain. It was worth it to see you happy.” He sat silently, eyes closed, and listened to drawers being pulled open and shut, hangers being removed and replaced in the closet. He drained the rest of his glass and rose. “I’m still kind of tired. Mind if I take a short nap?”

  “Good idea. I’m just going to finish up here and then do a few things around the house. I’ll try to not wake you – although, if you’re not up and around by the time the charcoal needs starting, I’ll bang something around.” She laughed a short laugh. “Karin should be home a little after five and Andy here by six.”

  “Cool.” He stretched and yawned. “This wine’s taken the edge off. Come get me if you need me.” He walked to where she stood and gave her a hug. “I love you, you know.”

  While she regarded his handsome face, affection tempered with concern spread across her own. “I love you too. Go take your nap,” she said as if he were still five years old.

  He retired to his room. The afternoon sun still shone through the half-open window and the cool mountain air was refreshing. He lay down and closed his eyes, slightly troubled. Something had been nibbling the rear fringes of his mind for what seemed to him quite a while. Fresh air, alcohol, and physical taxation gradually overcame him and he fell into a sound sleep. Breeze whispered through the window, blending freshness with abandon.

  He’d been asleep for half an hour when the computer hummed to life. Quietly the components activated themselves and the meter outside began to dance. The screen declared with blue intensity

  [ADAPT]Donna

  And tiny rays of blue light projected themselves to a height of six inches above the keyboard. Subsequently, a more tangible beam of blue light materialized at the mouth of the desktop, hanging uncertainly and then finding its direction, drifting toward and then curling around the stone urn. Fragmented shimmers were sucked into the joint of the urn and lid. The beam then turned back toward the keyboard; directly above the keys the rays of light and the beam intertwined, melding into a single strand of blue luminosity. As the computer’s hum increased slightly, the strand of blue began to snake through the air toward Chris. It caressed the edge of the bed, then delicately lifted itself to just clear the surface of the bedspread, continuing to move toward him. Seeking and searching with sensitive blue strands, it touched Chris just above his left hip. It slithered along the left side of his back and gently tapped its way to the base of his skull. Connecting with its target the strand unwound into a thousand gossamer threads that in turn laced themselves through the curls of his hair. He shifted uneasily in his sleep, but the particles of light mirrored every movement. As he settled back into slumber they attached themselves more fully, each tiny thread winding down a hair shaft until they reached his scalp and then passed through the follicles and skin. Secure, they began to glow vibrant electric blue.

  Letters on the screen faded briefly and then strengthened.

  [ADAPT]Chris

  Became sharply focused.

  The desktop droned steadily. The message on the screen increased in size exponentially until only fragments of letters were recognizable. The meter gave off several wisps of smoke as the photograph glass developed a web of fine cracks.

  The white spot grew.

  In his dream Chris entered a room. The walls of the room were obscure and the room dark, but in the center of the room he saw a glistening four-poster bed, shimmering and sparkling as if it were made of precious crystal, softly lit with blue iridescence. The bed was hung with gossamer draperies pulled together all around, yet luminously transparent. A figure lay in repose on the bed, and he stepped nearer to see. His skin was warm to him, and shiny as if he perspired. As he reached to draw back one of the fabric panels he realized he was naked. A breath of chill whispered around his feet and encircled his body. He looked down at himself and marveled in his dream that he could be so fully erect an
d yet feel as though his balls were withdrawing beyond reach. He grasped his dick with his left hand and with his right he pulled back the drape.

  He smiled as he recognized the shape on the bed was Donna. He stood at the foot of the bed looking down upon her. She lay naked beneath sheets covering her of the same gossamer fabric. She stirred and began to rise. Her belly was beautifully swollen, her birth imminent. He smile with pride, his desire stone hard, his ache to possess her wrenching.

  He moved to lie beside her and she smiled at him tenderly. No words were exchanged. Her eyes sparkled as they did when they were first in love. He reached out and touched her face; she kissed the palm of his hand. He lay on the bed, on his back. She rose and kneeled beside him and then straddled him, the warmth of her body covering his own. He closed his eyes in his dream.

  He heard only one word.

  Never

  He opened his eyes to see her raising a hideous knife high above her distended belly.

  Chapter Five

  Sometime after five o’clock, Chris pushed himself up to a sitting position. He ran his tongue across his teeth, grimacing. Possibly the worst taste he’d ever experienced in his entire life had pasted itself to his mouth. As he stood, he felt the pain of an overfull bladder. He walked stiffly to the bathroom, relieved that no one was in it. Assuming the position, as he undid his jeans and peed the relief was nearly as wonderful as an orgasm. He stuffed himself back in, zipped, and flushed. He washed his hands and then retrieved the mouthwash bottle from beneath the sink, and as he swished he looked in the mirror. He spit into the basin and fussed with his hair. The eyes looking back at him were deep, vibrant blue. He briefly questioned the depth of their color but soon dismissed it as late afternoon light simply casting odd shadows.

  He sneaked to the kitchen. Jenny was slicing and dicing salad ingredients as he slipped up behind her with “Hi!”

  She jumped. “As I’ve said before and will say again, you’re still a five year old who happened to grow to six-foot-four. Get away from me and go start the charcoal!” She smiled so that he couldn’t see.

  “Yes, Mommie Dearest.” She kicked at him but missed.

  He relaxed on the deck, his vacant gaze alternately mesmerized between the glow of the briquettes and the vista of the mountain. His trance was summarily disrupted by footfalls as Andy arrived. “Evenin’.” He bore in hand a fifth of bourbon and a bouquet for his hostess.

  Chris snapped from his trance. He rose from the chair and said, “How’s it going, man. You look a little more rested than at breakfast.”

  “Slept like a rock all day. Helped a lot.”

  Jenny came out of the house and blushed becomingly when Andy presented her the flowers. “You look beautiful this evening.”

  She kissed him tenderly on the cheek; in return he held her and kissed her with a little additional vigor. “I’ll go make us some drinks,” she said, disappearing into the house with the offerings.

  Andy sat in a deck chair as Chris grinned his crooked half-smile. “I think tonight will be really good for all of us. Wait till you see the main course.” The crunch of gravel underneath tires in the driveway interrupted their chat. “And that would be Karin.”

  Jenny reappeared with three glasses wedged in her hands; Andy took the outermost from her carefully and then served her brother. “Cheers,” Chris toasted. “To new friends, new lives, new dreams.”

  “And to the past – from which we learn – and survive,” added Jenny.

  They heard the back door open, and Karin called, “Starting without me – I might have known!”

  “Yeah, well, grab another glass, there’s plenty!” Jenny called back.

  Chris rose and surveyed the coals. “Not far off, Jen. Could you bring out the steaks?” He poked the embers with the barbecue fork. Tiny remnants of former meals sizzled on the smoking grates.

  Jenny set an inviting table, and her efforts set the stage for a fun evening. She’d prepared a salad, baked potatoes, and crisp garlic bread; the grilling steaks were going to be the finishing touch. With their second round of drinks the four sat laughing and enjoying themselves, the scent of the grilling tantalizing. Suddenly, Chris jumped up and cried, “Hey! You almost let me forget my steak sauce!” He thrust the fork at Jenny and sprinted for the kitchen.

  He groped in the drawer under the range for a small saucepan, then went to the fridge for margarine. As he opened the door, he glimpsed his sister flirting and laughing with Andy, sitting on his lap with her arms around his neck. Karin was leaning against the railing next to them, laughing, her curves barely contained by her jeans and sweater. The glimpse initiated a small, instant chain reaction of emotions. He felt jealous, ridiculous, amazed, surprised – in addition to becoming aroused. He flippantly dismissed the mental attitude, but the erection refused to depart. He tugged the front of his jeans and tried to rearrange himself. Effects of excellent bourbon and heightened sexuality made him a little more careless in the kitchen than he normally would have been, but he managed to combine Worcestershire sauce, margarine, and garlic salt together in the saucepan. He reached to turn on the small burner at the front of the stove and was surprised to see (through a somewhat fuzzy reality) that the element was already red hot. He peered at the stove control knob and adjusted it from high to medium low, shaking his head as he did so. He backed away from the range and stood looking at it for a moment. Rubbing his chin, he returned to the deck to check the progress of the beef and the women.

  Sally was complaining to Cook about having to work a second shift when Jim Beisner burst through the front door of the restaurant. The Village had emptied of most of its dinner patrons. He stomped to a seat at the counter and bellowed, “Sally? YOU IN THERE?”

  Cook looked through the window between the grill and service area. “Crap, Sally. I thought you’d given that asshole the boot for good.” She peered over his shoulder. “Get out there and get rid of him. He’s bad for business and sure as hell not any good for you either.” He mumbled obscenities as he resumed scraping his grill with a polishing stone.

  She drifted toward the biker. “What d’ya want?”

  Beisner frowned. He rubbed his grimy neck with the back of his hand, tattoos on his knuckles writhing. “You know why I’m here, sugar. I’ve thought a lot about what you said the other day.” He paused for a moment and then waved his hand in front of her face. “I’ve decided you didn’t really mean it.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I DID mean what I said.”

  He glowered, his breathing coarse and labored, bitter with the reek of cigarettes. “C’mere,” he motioned. She bent toward him across the counter. “Babe, I’m gonna tell you this, and I’m just gonna say it once. If I can’t have you, then no other mother fucker will either. You’re mine, and you better not forget it. You can just BLOW off all that CRAP you said about not seeing me anymore, ‘cause you’re gonna, and gonna whenever and wherever I fucking well feel like it.” He picked up a nearby sugar shaker and threw it at her. It fell to the floor at her feet and shattered as he spun around and stormed out.

  Cook heard the crash and stomped from the kitchen. “What the hell!”

  They watched Beisner mount his bike and roar from the parking lot with a spray of gravel. Sally went to get a broom and dustpan.

  Andy smacked his lips as their meal drew to a close. “Mmmm – I’d have to honestly say this was the BEST steak I ever ate.” He pointed at Chris. “You ought to be bottling that steak sauce.” Jenny clutched his pointing finger and held it, giggling.

  “It’s really very simple,” said Chris. “Thanks, though. I do enjoy cooking, especially outdoors. It just adds so much. In fact, several different things are better outside.” He glanced at Karin, her cheeks rosy with an alcohol glow.

  “Well, let’s get this stuff inside while we can all still stand.” Andy and Chris ferried dishes while Karin put away the leftovers and Jenny loaded the dishwasher. All of them kidded one another with coarse remarks and laughter; they made anothe
r round of drinks and the girls teased the guys while they attempted to build a fire in the fireplace. The four settled back for the evening – Chris took the recliner, Karin the floor near his feet, and Jenny leaned against Andy on the sofa.

  Talk began to fade. The warmth of the fire melded with the glow of the alcohol. During the fifth round of drinks, Andy and Jenny began displaying signs of desiring privacy. Chris really felt abandoned once he realized Karin had passed out on the cushions. Pretending to go down the hall to the bathroom, he instead went to his room and lay on the bed. Immediately his world began to spin around. He knew he could easily vomit and groggily sat back up. He felt unsatisfied, unfulfilled, despite a full stomach; the abundance of booze left him unwilling to pack it in for the night. He weaved his way back to the kitchen, and peeked around the corner to check on the others. Andy was mostly covered up by Jenny, and as he listened, Karin was snoring softly. He drew back into the darkness and tiptoed to the outer door, easing through it. He padded around the side of the house and onto the deck. Making his way to a chair, he carefully lowered himself into it. Grateful Jenny had closed the shutters so he didn’t have to watch, he sat alone and watched the stillness of the night lake as he speculated about his lack of entertainment options.