Page 75 of Body Tox

Cali smiled, her pearly white teeth gleaming as she leaned down and kissed me.

“No, it’s fun, which is exactly why I know you will meet me.”

With that, she ran off. Her bouncing curls disappeared in the doorway. Later that night, I met her at the old arcade. The lights were out, and a chair and rope were lying in the center.

I didn’t want to even think about what the fuck that could be used for. Maybe some teens were roleplaying? The sky’s light was a dusk color, and I used the light to navigate around the area, looking for Cali’s baby blue bug car.

I didn’t see anything until I walked to the building next to it.

Cali’s blue slug bug was parked at the back lot, and a big duffle bag was left abandoned on the ground.

I got an eerie feeling. The air felt colder suddenly.

“Cali?” I whispered, taking a few steps toward the black bag.

The car was…on.

I walked to the front passenger side and looked into the glass windows, and the keys were hanging out of the ignition. Her little Eiffel Tower keychain dangled where the air was blowing from the AC unit.

“Cali?” I said again, trying to look in the back seats. There were more bags, but not Cali.

My phone rang, and Cali’s number flashed across the screen. She was video-calling me. I clicked the answer key and screamed. Cali was beaten and tied to a chair, one that looked like the one in the arcade. I couldn’t tell where she was. She had a light swaying above her head, and her mouth was dripping with blood.

“Cali!” I shrieked, turning left and right to figure out where she was being held.

The familiar sound of a monster laughed from the phone line, spinning the camera to face his malicious smile. He was covered in blood…her blood.

I felt the tears sting my eyes.

“A little birdy told me you two love birds were running off into the sunset.” he taunted, grabbing Cali by her hair and lifting her unconscious head up to the camera.

I looked away from the screen, my hands shaking. “What do you want, Alex? Please.” I sobbed. There was zero sign of where Cali could be, and my only chance of saving her life was listening to the devil himself.

“That extra package,” he said, blood dripping off his lips. “Get rid of it. Can’t have Daddy knowing about our fun little games, can we?”

I blinked, trying to understand what he was saying.

“Open the trunk, Eira. There’s a gift from me to you. Set the phone down and get to work. If you don’t get rid of that parasite, this one,” he pointed to Cali…with a knife covered in her blood, “I will get rid of it for you. Are we clear?”

I held my mouth, my poor Cali. I didn’t even know if she was alive.

“How do I know you haven’t killed her already?” I questioned, the accusation making him smile wider.

He took the butt of the knife and smashed Cali in the face. Her shriek of pain made me cry harder.

“No!” I gripped my phone. “Stop. Cali, just hold on.”

The trunk…

I walked over to the car and pressed the button to open the trunk. The pop sound of its opening might as well have been a gunshot because it made me flinch.

“Set the phone down. And get to work. I am impatient, and I just may play my games with your little fuck friend.”

I swallowed and picked up my pace, making my way to the back of the trunk. There was a bag, and I reached my hand inside. The tears fell faster, the realization that I was holding…a hanger.

The metal bit into my hand. The cold metal made me nauseous. I threw up, the contents of my stomach emptying on the ground.

“Ew! You’re already getting sucked dry by it. Get it out, Eira. Now. Or she dies. But not before I make you watch a demonstration on how we made that nasty thing.”

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