“You must be kiddin’ me. Fifty dollars?”
“Swear to God.”
“I could live two years offa fifty dollars.”
“I know you could.”
“And all I gotta do is come back to your place?”
“That’s all.”
“There must be some catch.”
“Not at all. These are hard times. We have to help one another whatever way we can.”
“That’s good of you. But you know-a lady’s got to be careful. There’s been creepy stuff goin’ on around here.”
“I know that, too.”
“How do I know this won’t turn into something weird?”
“Do I look weird?”
“Nah. You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Not originally.”
“Let’s just do it. I could really use that dough.”
“Follow me.”
It was so easy here. Almost too easy. Kingsbury Run teemed with the disaffected, the lost, the penniless. It was not a challenge at all. There had to be something more…
That was what his wife had said. That was what she always said. Always pushing him. Do this, do that, do more. A staff position at the hospital wasn’t enough for her. Start your own practice. See patients of your own. Why? What was the challenge? How would that give him what he needed?
Curse the woman. He was better off without her.
This one was so stupid she wasn’t suspicious until he had her tied to the chair.
“Hey, I said I’d let you have a little fun. I never said I’d let you tie me up!”
“Perhaps there was some miscommunication.”
“Get me outta this. Now!”
“I believe you have misunderstood the nature of this visit.”
“I know I don’t want to be tied up. Have you heard about those people! Those corpses?”
“A little bit.”
“So you see what I’m sayin’. Let me loose.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t. Not now.”
“Then when?”
Hesitation. “When you least expect it.” He shoved her forward onto the table. Her head dangled off the edge.
“Hey, what’s this? What are you, some kinda pervert?”
“Some kind.”
That was what his wife had said when she walked out on him. Of course she was bitter. She had not gotten what she’d bargained for. She wanted an uptown respectable citizen, and she got someone who would… never be that. Never wanted to be that.
Fine. But notifying the authorities-that was too much. Why had he endured all those twisted inquisitioners, would-be Freuds, trying to pry inside his head? They reached their verdict-but what did they know about it? He didn’t need that job; he knew he would be provided for. Ignorant panel of so-called experts. Did they know what he knew? Had they glimpsed his destiny? The thought of so many unworthy people casting their aspersions on him-it made him angry. It made him want to hurt someone.
“Cut me loose and I’ll give you something you’ll like.”
“I’ll just use my imagination.”
“Let me go!”
“When the time comes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means-hold still. If my aim is off, it will hurt a great deal more.”
Back in school, they had told him that pain was to be avoided at all costs. Modern science had given them a solution. Anesthesia. We could numb the pain. Eliminate the suffering. People could undergo all kinds of mutilation and dismemberment and never feel the agony. This was a great advance for medical science, they had told him. But even while they were saying it, he felt a loss deep within the core of his being. Science had taken so much from him. Science needed to be put back in its place.
“Hurt? What are you talking about?”
“Let’s hope nothing. I’m a lot better at it than I used to be. And more careful.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Good night, Sleeping Beauty.”
He swung the axe. It cut clean. He was definitely getting better at this.
And then it was over. So soon. Much too soon. It had barely begun to move him. There would have to be more cutting. Much more cutting.
He couldn’t wait until the next time. And all the other times thereafter.