Page 32 of Rawest Venom

Like the budding of new leaves for the coming spring, the green of his eyes changes from an icy mint to a warm pine. “I was wondering if you’d like to go out again soon.” My body locks, frozen in an awkward position, unable to move. Did he just ask me on another date? Maybe he doesn’t know about Larry. Now I’vewaited too long to speak, and his shoulders stiffen as he says, “So sorry. Should I not have asked you?”

“Of course you should.” With a slight hint of hysteria, the pitch of my voice rises as I spit out, “Yes, I wouldloveto go out again, Cal. When and where?” I definitely sound desperate.

Relaxing into an easy stance, he leans forward on an elbow to gaze at me. “Friday night? I can pick you up. How do you feel about costumes?”

“Huh?”

A glib smile brightens his serious face. “There’s an old, abandoned warehouse turned spooky funhouse on the outskirts of West Side. People dress up and get into it. You ever been?”

His casualness makes the tension in my back ease some of its burden so, hopefully, I sound less like a strained cockatoo when I say, “No, can’t say I have. It sounds great, though. What should I dress as?”

Looking at my hair, his fingers graze my shoulder to pick up some fallen strands. Studying them carefully, he says, “You seem like a Little Red Riding Hood.”

“So does that make you a wolf?”

Pursing his lips at the seeming insult, he stares at me for a long time, an unspoken question shrugging in his eyebrows. “No. A fox.” With a step backwards, his grin reappears. “I’ll pick you up Friday at eight. See ya then.”

It was only Wednesday, so I wasn’t sure where he would be tomorrow. Still, I’d have plenty of time to come up with a costume for our date.

But the bigger issue was…

Did he know about Larry?

By Friday,I’d put together a sexy Little Red Riding Hood costume with a short, flouncy skater skirt, tight white tank top, and a red cape from someone’s donated Halloween costume I found at the thrift store. White thigh-high tights covered my legs, and Mary Janes adorned my feet. With my hair in pigtails, I knew I’d drive Cal wild when he saw me.

Expecting some cute fox outfit, my jaw drops when he jumps out of the Tesla to open my door wearing a black hoodie over a LED blue lighted sinister animal mask. The look is demonic, unholy, and terrifying. Silently, the fox waves me inside the cabin with a gloved hand.

Is he admitting that it was him the other night in the park? Is he being blatant about it now? Am I supposed to say something?

Hesitating slightly, I stutter some steps before hurriedly passing by him to get in my seat, keeping my eyes on the city streets in front of us. The block is abandoned given the chill in the air. Even the homeless have found better places to stay for the night. There are no witnesses, and I squeeze my eyes shut with a wish that where we’re going is crowded.

Once he gets into the driver’s seat, Cal twists and stares me down, the lighted slants of his eyes scoping out my body.

“Hi. Um, how are you?” I say, trying to make some conversation and put my nerves at ease.

He rights himself and types on his computer before blasting dark wave music at an incomprehensible volume, the car taking off at full speed. All without saying a word. Gripping the door handle, I hang on and check him out cautiously from the corner of my eye. Other than small bops of his fox nose to the beat of the drums, he doesn’t move.

After whipping through side streets, all the lights changing to green as we approach, we reach our destination in a matter of minutes. Just as he had in a much different manner for our first date, he hastens to open my door for me, then points to the entryway.

Cal pays for tickets by plopping down several hundred dollars in cash, to the surprise of the teenaged attendants behind the booth. With a hand on the small of my back, he leads us to the dark and foreboding front door. Doom comes over me as I get the sense I won’t be having much fun in this house.

The foyer is designed like an ancient gothic mansion, but there is no noticeable way out of the room. As I turn my head to ask Cal where we should go, the wall seems to open near the back. An optical illusion. A hallway behind the panel was there all along. Before I walk toward it, Cal leans the fox mask over my shoulder and an audible long sniff sounds from underneath it.

As if he has embodied the devil himself, a growling voice reaches out to me and says, “You better fucking run. If you go out the way we came in, our game ends. But I’m not sure you’ll like how it ends. If you runtoward that hall, I’ll catch you. But I’m not sure you’ll like that, either. It’s your choice, Little Red.”

Holding my breath, I quickly decide I have to let him catch me, but my knees tremble with fear at what he’ll do to me once he does. Hemustknow about Larry. If I go out the front door, it’s game over. Score is zero for Zero. Oddly, letting Cal do whatever he wants may be the safest option here. This is part of my duty, my mission. Thoughts racing rapidly, I can’t hold on to just one. Logic has moved out of my brain as terror takes control. As I contemplate whether I can make it to an extraction spot before Cal hunts me down, he says, “Run.”

Screaming out the air I’d held inside, I dart toward the open panel behind which lays a long, narrow hallway that appears to get shorter as the end draws nearer. Another optical illusion. Closed doors line the walls, but instead of pausing to choose one, my legs push me to the end. Cal walks slowly behind me, as if out for an evening stroll.

Tugging the doorknob on the last door, I quickly spin and slam it shut behind me, but must bend down to almost a squat to shuffle through a narrow, dark tunnel. Following the only visible light at the far end, I listen for Cal’s unhurried steps ten feet behind me.

Finally, I launch into a brightly lit circular room covered with black and white swirls on the floors, the walls, and the ceiling. Everything seems to be spinning, including me. There are several doors here to choose from, but everything is in constant motion, changing positions every few moments. Loud carnival musicblares through unseen speakers, disorienting me further, my pulse confused on which rhythm to follow: the one in my heart or my ears.

Cal steps into the room from the tunnel, his blue lights peering straight at me. Without a second’s thought, I grab the door near me and rush through, hoping the rotations of the room prevent him from guessing where I headed.

Scoping out my new surroundings, it’s a blacked-out hall curving around to an unknown destination. Brightly painted neon stripes encase everything, except the floors, which have metal grates built in every few feet. When passing over the top of one, I spot a spike pit six feet below. One has some glowing LED fire that lights up as I maneuver around it. Cal must have chosen the wrong pathway because he doesn’t follow.

Catching my breath, I lean against a wall for a moment before pressing on. Maybe I should get out of here. If I do, I’ll fail my mission, which is certain death. My stomach churns, worrying about what Cal will do to me if he catches me. A quick death by Dash or something possibly worse by Cal… Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.

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