The Dreamer's Canvas: A Cosmic Horror Thriller by Caleb R. Marsh

Author:Caleb R. Marsh [Marsh, Caleb R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

17

8

“What happened?” Weber demanded from the car as we hurried out the back of the gym. “Who’s that?”

“My landlady,” I said.

“She doesn’t seem to like you much.”

As if to prove Weber’s point, Sarge delivered a devastating punch to my kidney. I buckled, nearly dropping her.

“Let me go, Charlie!” she shouted. “I want to wait for him. He’ll be back, I know it!”

She hit me again. I had her slung over my shoulder with my arms holding her legs, so I was helpless against the blows she rained down on my back.

“She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” I said to Weber. “They did something to her. Showed her something.”

Weber frowned. “Then maybe she knows what we’re dealing with.”

“Look,” Sweet said. “I’m a little confused myself. But one thing I know. She can’t sit in the car with the rest of us. She’s going to hurt someone.”

The distant sounds of a police siren was growing closer. “What are we supposed to do with her then? I’m not leaving her.”

Sweet opened the trunk and gestured.

“No,” I said.

“We don’t have time, Charlie. Stick her in. Let’s go.” He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Fuck.”

I looked in the trunk. There wasn’t a lot of space. Guilt tied my stomach in knots as I pulled Sarge off my shoulder and lowered her into the trunk. She tagged me in the chin hard enough to make me see stars.

“Goddamn it.” I stepped back, rubbing my chin. Sarge looked up at me from the cramped, dark trunk with tears in her eyes.

“Charlie,” she begged. “Please don’t do this. Don’t take me away.”

“I’m going to get you help, Sarge. I’m going to make you better.”

“Charlie, please.”

I put my hand on the lid of the trunk. “I’m sorry.”

“Charlie—”

I closed the trunk.

“Charlie!” Her voice was muffled. She banged on the inside. “You stupid, blind idiot. You’re too scared to face the truth! You’re nothing, an insignificant speck, a pathetic failure. I always pitied you, Charlie. A coward, hiding from himself. But you can’t hide from this.” She laughed. “Not this, Charlie!”

I tossed my backpack into the car, then got into the back seat next to Weber and closed the door. Sweet’s eyes flashed to meet mine in the rear view mirror.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Just drive.”

“Sure.”

He hit the gas and pulled out onto the street. A block later, a cop car with lights flashing zipped past us in the opposite direction.

Sarge was still shouting from the trunk, but the engine drowned out most of what she said. It didn’t matter. The words were like a knife, whether I could hear them or not.

As if reading my thoughts, Weber said, “I’ve seen this sort of thing before. She doesn’t mean what she says.”

I wasn’t so sure that was true. My kidneys still ached where she’d been punching me. Maybe a few hours ago she wouldn’t have meant what she said to me. But now, in this moment, I got the feeling she meant every word. Whatever she’d seen had changed her deeply.

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.