Kobe (7 page)

Chapter VIII

Sweet Coffee &

Cigarettes

             
The BBQ Pitt is so quiet it's almost eerie. The bar's clear, the kitchen's empty, and the booths are vacant, with the exception of one.

              Judd sits with a warm cup of coffee in front of him, along with a large pile of sugar packets and empty cream containers.  The red carafe waits in position for another pour as soon as the mug runs dry.

              Zed slides in across from his brother.

              "Mornin'," Zed smiles.

              "Yup," Jud replies.

              "How's the clan doin'?" Zed wears a red t-shirt and a ball cap that covers up his silver hair. Both pieces of apparel don the BBQ Pitt logo; a pig with a chef's hat eating a grinder sandwich.

              It was created in a contest years back. The winner received a dinner for four at the Pitt. Zed was smart like that, he would utilize the resources of the town. Instead of spending, say, a thousand bucks for a pro to draw up a logo he simply gave away a free meal.

              "My house is a fuckin' zoo," Judd sips his coffee, "I got three teenage boys and my wife's goin' through menopause. I solve crimes to relax. Shit, seein' your ugly mug's the best part of my day."

              Zed smiles and puts a pack of cigarettes on the table, "Karen givin' you shit?"

              "I'm married ain't I?"

              "That's why I ain't. Better to be a free agent," Zed puts a lung dart between his slightly yellow teeth. "Katie ain't been at work in two days. I got her shifts covered, except for today, but I'm willing to bet Krystal will stay to help out. I told everyone I'd keep Katie's job 'til I seen 'er," Zed fires up the cigarette, "people've been talking crazy. They're gonna start lookin' again. Like the last time."

              "Don't I know it."

              "How the fuck you think we're s'posed to get outta this one, Judd? You talk to Curt?"

              "I haven't. And I ain't," Judd says sternly.

              "That's the deal then?"

              "That's the deal."

              "So what're you gonna do?"

              "I think it's time to let him hang. Three," Judd holds up his fingers, "three years of this back alley bullshit, maybe not consecutive, but three none the less, Zed. Either it's gonna be him or us. I don't want to kill 'em, but..."

              "He's our brother. He ain't never..."

              "What? Never did wrong? No baby brother, that cocksucker ain't never done right. The night he killed Emmaline was the first time we saw it clear enough, but I'll be goddamned if he wasn't on the brink of it all our lives."  Judd's coffee, cool now, slides down his throat, covering up his harsh words. "He murdered Emmaline before Austin was even old enough to crawl. He didn't deserve to grow up without a mom. I shouldn't have helped Curt. It went against everything I believe in. But last year? And again this year? It ain't about solving an issue, gettin' revenge, or a broken heart, Zed. This one's about a sick need to fill a void. I think he's killed more than the three we know about, too. Reckon he did some out of town."

              "How you gonna take care of him?" Zed takes a drag from the cigarette. 

              "I ain't wrapped my head 'round it yet."

              "Leroy ain't even been there a week. You remember what happened last time we had two alive at once?" Zed asks.

              "That ain't a chance I wanna take either, baby brother. That's why I gotta wrap my head round it," Judd says, "we can't just clip him and think nuttin' bout it. We have to put it out in the open. Three murders at once? Or at least three missing person cases? Shit, one of 'em'll pop. Sure, Leroy was a piece of shit that we needed to get rid of, the system just would've made it worse. Katie? She was as cute as a button. She's got a mom and dad that're gonna come looking for her. How's our friend Mr. Leroy Brown?"

              "I took his tongue out last night." Zed slumps down with his elbows on the table. Casual as can be.

              "I imagined that was gonna happen. He ran his fuckin' mouth too much, in my opinion."

              "He wouldn't stop bitchin'."

              "You doing okay with the seasonin'?"

              "You can't boil water, motherfucker, how're you gonna ask me how my cookin's doin'?" Zed ashes his smoke."I'm goin' out there tomorrow night to install the feeding tube. After that, we gotta keep him there for thirty days. You know that. To get rid of two bodies, we'll have to come up with a fuckin' whopper of a story," Zed rolls his cigarette along the edge of the glass ashtray before he puts it back into his mouth.

              "I know it Zed. I'm gonna find their bodies. Katie
and
Curt. He's been calling me from the cabin all day. I haven't answered. Figure I'll go over there, kill him, and let the rest work itself out. I may ask someone to go over and check on him, say I ain't heard from him in a while, and they'll discover the gruesome details. I might even cut off good 'ol Leroy's hand, take it over to Curt's cabin and leave it in the closet, somethin' sick and twisted like that. Kill two birds with one stone."

              "PR work?" Zed smashes his cigarette down and leans back in the booth.

              "I'll spin it, I always do."

              "That must be a helluva cup of coffee, for you to develop that plan so quick."

              "It's all that sugar."

              "You stickin' around for breakfast? Krystal's about to open the dining room any minute, and Robbie and Austin'll be here too."

              "Nah. I'm gonna need to take a to-go cup for this coffee, though. I'm glad you take care of them kids during the day, give 'em a good job, keep 'em out of trouble."

              "You thinkin' about letting 'em move out soon?"

              "Not until they save some money up."

              "I could give 'em a raise."

              "No. Karen'll kill me where I stand if I let her little birds flee the nest. Johnny's a senior this year, and he's got a good chance of getting into school at Ohio State, unless he knocks up some chick. I swear that boy's hornier than a rabbit in heat. His computer should be in fuckin' quarantine, I got syphilis lookin' through the boy's browsing history."

              "He's a teenager, the boy's gotta get them calluses," Zed chuckles, "it helps him get a better grip on the ball. I swear he used to suck something awful, shit now he's captain and startin' quarterback," Zeds says.

              "He's the same way at his school work," Judd says, "struggles to get a B on the test, but he makes it happen. Fucking Austin on the other hand got straight A's, stoned out of his mind half the time. Like we don't smell that shit in his room. Rob's the same way. Neither of 'em give a shit. Neither of 'em wanna go to college. I can't really bitch too much, though, I think they'll end up takin' this dump over after you kick the bucket."

              "Fuck off, I ain't dying for at least another half century," Zed slides out of the booth.

              Judd chugs the rest of the coffee in his mug, and answers his cell phone, "hello?" He fidgets with the mug, spins it this way and that while listening to the caller on the other end. "Bayside again? Send one of the detectives or the deputies, I'm lookin' into the O'Malley case." Judd pauses to let the caller give him more details. "No shit? The head clean off, huh? Well, I'd better go check it out then." Judd hangs up the phone.

              Zed comes back to the table with a large to go cup.

              "A new one?"

              "Yup with all the shit in it already, better than takin' the rest of that cold thermos."

              "Poker tonight?"

              "Every Sunday. I'm closin' down the Pitt at five."

              "Tell Jaybird to be here early, I gotta have a one on one before we start playing," Judd heads for the door. "See ya, hoss."

              "Yeah, take care."

          
 
Chapter IX

The Benefits of

Being a Night Crawler

1993

             
"The dog's body was right there." Matt motioned to Devil's Rock, Kobe's historical monument to debauchery and devil worshipping.

              "I heard when Judd found it, he pissed his pants." Clint picked up a log and tossed it on the fire. The embers intertwined themselves with the dry wood and ignited.

              "Dude, Sherriff Judd Beosh's a badass." Haley chugged her beer and threw the can onto the coals.

              Clint could tell it wasn't empty, girls do that from time to time. They pretend to drink a shit load, usually to impress some boy. As soon as three beers are in their blood stream girls act ten times drunker than they really are.

              "He ain't no badass," Clint Retorted, "he's just a pussy with a badge," he opened a flask full of whiskey and took a pull.

              "You're just a hater," Haley wrapped her slender fingers in between Matt's, "I think he's kinda hot."

              "Slut," Clint chuckled and lit up a joint.

              "Come on man, that's fucked up." Matt gave Clint a 'shut the fuck up, I'm trying to score', look.

              "Thanks baby," Haley leaned into Matt and wrapped his muscular arm around her torso like a belt. He kissed her forehead while she nestled her nose into his chin.

              Haley snickered at Clint. "I'm not a slut. He's a very handsome man. You're never going to be handsome, and you'll definitely never be remembered for saving a little girl's life." She wiggled Matt's hand off of her waist and stood up. "All you do is get drunk and act like a retard." Haley grabbed Clint's flask and took a swig. "How many times has Judd hauled your bitch ass to jail?" She laughed and tossed the flask back to Clint.

              "Fuck off." Clint chuckled to push back the pain. He watched as Haley staggered back to her handsome boyfriend, oblivious to Clint once again.

              Clint left them alone to play tonsil hockey and wandered into the woods.

              The forest was mysterious at night, and Clint loved to lose himself in the shadows. There was an entrance to the woods behind his house. After his parents fell asleep, he would unlock the basement door and venture into the night with nothing but a joint and a sense of adventure. Unless he was getting drunk at the Watering Hole, that is.

              Clint hated Matt and Alison, almost as much as he hated himself. They were his friends, sure, but the envy grew in Clint. He would never have a chance with a hot chick like Haley.

              Matt ran through the ladies pretty quickly. Every couple of months there would be a new girl to conquer.

              Clint was the other half of the teenage world. The ones not getting laid or pretending to be cool, the nobodies. All he wanted to be was normal, but since that could never happen, he got trashed instead.

              The twenty-one year old boy walked around shit creek, the narrow river that ran through the length of the woods. Everyone called it shit creek because Playboy Tunnel dumped the town's turds into it. Funny thing is, it didn't smell like shit, it smelled like rain, nature. In a way it smelled like adolescence.

              Clint walked a little further until he got to the edge of an open field and stopped next to a weeping willow tree. The full moon reflected on the water, shimmering against the boulders.

              Dog Head Lake.

              The beer filtered through his kidneys and needed an escape. Clint whipped out his pecker and drained it.

              Maybe he was just too drunk, but he didn't notice someone was behind him until a firm palm covered his mouth.

              The predator's pointy teeth protruded Clint's neck. Strangely it didn't hurt.

              As a matter of fact, it felt magnificent.

              Clint enjoyed the sensation until his blood was half drained. Then he dropped to the ground.

              The sad loner hemorrhaged in the wet grass, covered in piss. Suds spewed out of his lips like a rabid dog. After the seizures ceased, his pupils grew to the size of silver dollars.

* * * * *

              Haley rubbed Matt's bare chest and sucked on his tongue.

              Subtle soft breaths escaped between kisses. He nuzzled at her neckline and slid his hand between her thighs. She pulled him close and lightly ran her purple acrylic nails across his spine as Matt massaged her crotch.

              Haley leaned back and guided Matt's hand with hers. He knew what he was doing, but every man needs a little help.

* * * * *

              The predator swam through Dog Head Lake, a familiar body of water from his childhood. Clint's a-negative blood gave him a rush of energy and strength.

              When he arrived at the cliff that housed Playboy Tunnel, he used his monstrous muscles to climb the wall. 

              Once on top, he could see for miles around. The full moon lit up the night sky. Housing developments, the baseball diamond, Bayside apartments, the whole town was visible from the mountain.

              At the same time, though, none of the town's population could see him, a one way mirror without a reflection.

              He looked closer at the weeping willow. It wasn't the first time he saw someone suffer there. It brought back a lot of memories.

              His intoxication heightened his senses. He smelled the two lover's pheromones and knew at once that they had to be friends of the other camper.

              It wasn't just that he enjoyed killing, but the nourishment was akin to heroin or quenching a longing thirst. Of course, playing God never goes out of style.

* * * * *

              Haley's panties were in the dirt, she disregarded the ugly third wheel walking around the forest. Clint would probably enjoy the show anyway.

              Matt maneuvered his guitar plucking fingers. He strummed up and down, and slowly moved in and out. Haley loves musicians.

              Most boys seem to forget about the clitoris, that's why Haley enjoyed Matt so much. His attention to detail.

              Her hand stroked the front of his jeans, and then unbuttoned them. She pressed on the bottom of his bulge and the pants unzipped on their own, like pushing up on the bottom of a banana peel.

              She grabbed the inside of Matt's forearm, signaling him to stop mapping out her insides.

              "My turn," she said.

              She grabbed his crotch and led him to Devil's Rock. Haley pushed his toned body on the cool stone, his ass pressed against the granite.

              Haley got down on her knees and pulled Matt's pants off, slowly, popping his dick out like a diving board.

              Matt spread his legs allowing her as much room as she needed. Haley licked the salty sweat up Matt's thighs, then suctioned the skin around his crotch.

              Matt's arms tensed in excitement.

* * * * *

              The monster followed the smell of sweet secretions. His hand gripped onto the concrete tunnel, and with a swift movement, he swung his body into the tunnel.

              The monster remembered as a kid he would never go through Playboy Tunnel in the dark, spiders, rats, God knows what resided in there, it still does, but with the victim's blood in his veins, fear was obsolete.

* * * * *

              Matt shivered as Haley's hands and jaw played magic tricks on his testosterone levels.

              He held on to the back of her head for balance. She slowly bobbed up and down, tugging on the most vulnerable skin of his anatomy.

              Her silky brown locks separated between his fingers as his knees weakened. He tightened his wobbly muscles to keep from triggering. He thought about baseball practice in the rain, mom's fresh baked cookies.

              Anything.

              Haley backed off. Women somehow know when a man is going to blast a wad. Haley was never one to just swallow and run, she liked to enjoy herself.

              The brunette escorted him to a blanket next to the fire. Her warm hands pressed against his chest as she gently pushed him down on the blanket.

* * * * *

              The predator walked through the notorious tunnel. Graffiti on top of graffiti, decades of teenage turmoil surrounded by toilet water.

              His leather boots squished in the water. Once out of the tunnel, he kicked them off and went barefoot. He scaled around the water's edge, incognito. For not being a member of the advanced race for very long, he's learned there are different taste profiles of human blood. Scared, sad, sedated, and of course, sensual.

* * * * *

              Haley unsnapped the hook of her bra. It slid out from the bottom of her shirt, leaving the two mounds of flesh to hang underneath the polyester-cotton blend of her tank top. She tossed her bra to Matt.

              "Look earmuffs," he playfully put the cups over his ears, "these things would be awesome in the wintertime."

              She covered her mouth and laughed.

              Matt's hair was curly from a day of swimming and sun, his blue eyes beamed like aqua headlights. And his dimples, youth personified on each of his cheeks.

              Summer love.

              Slowly, she pulled her shirt up. The magnificent outline of her smooth, tan, stomach danced from the shadow of the camp fire. As her under-boob started to show, she stopped.

              Teasing can even work
after
a blow job.

* * * * *

              Closer now, the Hunter felt her presence. The young woman, she couldn't be more than twenty-two he thought to himself.

              He's never had another
woman's
blood. The thought makes him salivate.

              The monster watched the foreplay develop into coitus. Although the show was nice, he wanted to get into position.

* * * * *

              Matt held on to Haley's plump, round, ass. Her strong legs rocked her tone body up and down, slamming Matt deeper each time.

              Her thick thighs slapped against his slender ones with every stroke. The sound of the Kobe night synchronized with their sexual melody.

              When the warm hands cupped her large breasts, she thought it was Clint.

* * * * *

              Her nipples swelled as he squished her tits, kneading them like pizza dough.

              His diamond sharp fingernails barely touched her skin. The Monster's thick fangs pierced above her clavicle and attached to her carotid artery.

              Haley held on to the back of the Predator's neck as he fed, getting closer and closer to the finish line. He withdrew his teeth when the endorphins finished pulsating in Haley's brain.

              High as a star in the sky.

              His hands were still cupped on to her when she looked down and screamed.

              The monster's claws stabbed into her perfect breasts and cut through them like butter, all the way through her chest.

              The predator gripped on each side of her ribcage, and pulled back her bones. Haley opened up like a good book and exploded on her favorite blue eyed beefcake.

              Matt couldn't do anything but stare at the monster before it crushed its fist through his breast plate. The predator snapped the coronary arteries from their host organ.

              For a split second, Matt's eyes locked on to his own beating heart.

              The monster chomped his teeth through Matt's aorta and squeezed the juice down his throat. After the heart was drained he threw it aside like an empty soda can.

              The monster had come a long way from a boy running the town as a child.