Beast of Burden: A Horror Novella by Judith Sonnet

Author:Judith Sonnet [Sonnet, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

9

After another shift at the theater, Mort picked Virtue up and drove him home.

All Mort wanted to talk about was the photoshoot, and after a long day of cleaning theaters and shoveling popcorn into paper bags, Virtue couldn’t help but fall under the spell. Soon, radiant energy filled the car.

“Brayden wants to do it in black and white, you know ... so it looks like classic old school shit.”

“Oh shit, that would be rad!” Virtue whooped. “I was thinking of making some fake blood tonight, so we should get at least a few in color.”

“Oh, for sure, for sure.” Mort nodded.

The radio was turned up. Virtue’s throat already hurt from talking over it. But it was a good hurt. It fit the mood. He wanted the music loud and he didn’t care if it fucked up his vocal cords.

“What are we listening to?”

“You don’t recognize it?” Mort laughed. He turned up the volume and Virtue felt his heart drop. It was Geriatric Genocide ... it was his own band, and he hadn’t even recognized it.

I’ll slit your throat; I’ll fuck the hole.

When you’re with me I’m in control

I hate everyone.

After you drop dead I’ll have my fun

Mort’s voice was like that of a smoker. It was gravelly and raspy.

Virtue laughed at the campy lyrics and the sincerity with which they were delivered.

“We recorded this two summers ago. That’s some shitty fucking audio there,” Mort chuckled.

“What did we even record it on?” Virtue asked.

“My cellphone.” Mort shrugged. “You work with what you have.”

Virtue smiled. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the day this garbage tune had been recorded. They had been hot because the air conditioner had broken down. The garage was absolutely stifling. Mrs. Ramsey had made lemonade and it had been gone in a heartbeat. Mort had needed to lay on the ground after singing, just to wheeze for breath.

“It won’t be the same without Clyde,” Mort acknowledged before Virtue could get lost in the memory. “But you work with what you have.”

“You’re right,” Virtue said.

“By the way, Brayden likes you,” Mort said firmly.

“I think he’s pretty cool too.”

“No, Virtue,” Mort said, his voice cutting through the loud music, “he ... likes ... you.”

Virtue paused. “Oh.”

They drove in silence for a soft moment while Virtue tried to think of a better response.

As if reading Virtue’s mind, Mort said, “I didn’t tell him you’re gay. He brought it up on his own. After we dropped you off at work he said you were really cute, and he wondered if you were single. I didn’t tell him one way or the other. I just said you weren’t dating anyone. He didn’t bring you up again, but I could tell that it was all he was thinking about.”

Virtue paused again. “I’m not ‘gay.’ I’m bi.”

“Sorry. My bad. Either way, he likes you. You didn’t hear it from me though.”

It was just like Mort to bring this up right before a social event. Virtue now felt fragile. He was also scared of the encroaching photoshoot.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.