Creep Out by Strand Jeff

Author:Strand, Jeff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

12

October 22nd, 1938.

“What did you do?” asked Vanessa.

“It was very naughty indeed,” said Clarence, speaking through Virgil. “The worst thing I’ve ever done.”

Vanessa took a step away from Clarence. “Tell me what you did.”

“Don’t talk to me,” said Clarence. “Talk to Virgil.”

“I’m not going to talk to your goddamn dummy! Tell me what you did!”

Clarence glanced down at Virgil. “You hurt his feelings.”

“I’m calling the police.”

Clarence sat the dummy gently on the couch. “No, you’re not. You don’t want me to go to prison, do you? Who’ll take care of you? Who’ll buy you cigarettes? Whose life will you make a living hell?”

Vanessa tried to walk past him. Clarence grabbed her by the arm and yanked her over to him.

“Virgil did something horrible tonight, and I need you to be very, very nice to me while I figure out what to do. Maybe I won’t have to do anything. Can the cops tell if somebody was beaten to death with a ventriloquist dummy?”

Vanessa didn’t answer.

“That was a legitimate question. What I’m trying to say is that a man talked during my show, and Virgil beat him to death. It was an awful thing to witness.” Clarence smiled. “I’m just joking. It was a wonderful thing to witness.”

“I won’t tell anybody,” Vanessa promised. “Just let me go.”

Clarence shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”

“I’m sorry about what I said. You have every right to share your gift with people.”

“Oh, really? What gift do I have?”

“The gift of…laughter, right? That’s what you’re trying to do. Make people laugh.”

“Yes.”

“I want you to keep doing it. Keep following your dream.”

“I don’t know if I can,” said Clarence. “There’s a bloody corpse in an alley, thanks to Virgil, and I don’t know how funny I can be with a dummy that murdered somebody. Do you think he’ll ever regain his comic timing?”

“I don’t⁠—”

Clarence punched her in the face. He continued punching until she stopped moving.

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.