The Modern Prometheus: An Existential Body Horror Novel by Jayson Robert Ducharme

Author:Jayson Robert Ducharme [Ducharme, Jayson Robert]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2022-04-24T00:00:00+00:00

28.

The town of Salem straddles the Massachusetts border, nestled between the cities of Methuen and Haverhill, and the towns of Atkinson and Pelham. It is a commercial town, referred to as the “Gateway to New Hampshire” for people coming in from the Bay State. Along with neighborhoods, the town is home to a wide variety of restaurants, shopping districts, and hotels.

It was in this town that Peter decided to set up his base of operations. It was directly next to Atkinson, and about a half-hour drive from Manchester, where he knew his daughter was and where he suspected his wife to be.

Near Exit 2 off I-93 was a cheap motel with rickety steel walkways, dirty windows and a parking lot littered with trash. A sign greeted Peter as he pulled in that read “Rockingham Motel.”

The woman at the front desk gave him disconcerting looks as he rented a room, but her general attitude was that she was used to funny-looking people. Peter got a room for three nights, paying two hundred dollars. The woman didn’t argue—didn’t seem to care either. Peter used his wife’s debit card. He had gone to the ATM in the lobby prior to speaking to the woman at the desk and saw that Margie had plenty of money in her checking account. The money was likely from Peter’s life insurance. It would be enough.

Room 205 was predictably dreary. The bed sheets were dirty and covered in hair, and the carpet stank of machine oil. A wooden desk and chair sat in one corner of the room, and a shanty TV on a steel stand sat in another. That was it. It was more than Peter needed. All he wanted was privacy, and for nobody to know where he was.

The first thing Peter did was set all the folders and binders on the table, and then plugged the charger into the outlet next to the bed to charge his wife’s phone. After that, he grabbed the alarm clock from the bedside table, then went into the bathroom and smashed the mirror over the sink with it. Once that was taken care of, he sat on the edge of the grimy bed and caressed his face. He could feel the skin peeling, and it burned to the touch. More spots were bleeding on his cheek and forehead.

This awful rash started shortly after he left his brother’s place the night before, first emerging on his arm, then spreading to other parts of his body soon after. By the time he reached the cabin, his whole body was itchy.

Whatever, he thought. Jacob will fix it. If he can bring a man back to life, then he should be able to figure this out and get it fixed. But that can come later.

Another voice in his mind interjected, Are you just telling yourself that because you don’t want to think about it? Because you’re afraid?

There was some truth to that. At the same time, part of Peter hoped that there was something wrong with him.

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.