Page 76 of Hello, Listener
“I just updated the body modification she's already had done to herself.” His voice abnormally switches in an instant back to his normal tone.
“Why the fuck did you do that?”
“She needs to know, Lee. She needs to know how bad I feel knowing that I love her, and she thinks she can fuck us both.” His tone changes again, this time cracking. I stare in shock as his eyes begin filling up with tears.I’ve never seen him like this before.
“What about Ashley, Alan? Where is your wife?”
“Oh, she’s been missing for some time now.” He spins the tip of the blade on the pad of his index finger.
“Did you do something to her?” He gives a wide, creepy smile, letting his mouth stretch across his face. Grinning like the fucking Cheshire Cat.
“Won’t you come in?” He moves out of the space between us. I can feel his glare as I walk in.
“What the fuck, Alan?!” My loud voice echoes in the unit. The sight in front of me makes me want to vomit. I scan over the room of carnage and gore.It looks like someone already has.
Quickly, I cover my nose and mouth the best I can with the collar of my shirt.
“Whose body is this?!” Pieces of a torso with a few limbs still attached are in a fucking bloody mess on top of a clear tarp. I notice a miniature saw sits upright on top of the rechargeable battery attachment. Drops of blood are still dripping off the chain and blade into the puddles on the plastic tarp.
“Lee, you need to get the hell out of here. Don’t worry about me. Just run to the police. Don’t look back,” Thalia’s sobs can only be heard between the two of us. I look closer at her body and notice the two bloody M’s on her chest.
“Thalia, what did he do to you?” I step closer, trying not to step in the gory mess in front of me.
“Just get out of here, okay?” she pleads. I can’t stand to look at her like this.
“I can’t just leave you here. I’m going to find a way to get you out.”
“What are you two love birds talking about?” Alan moves towards both of us. The look in his eyes sends a shiver down my spine. “Oh, Lee, you’re thinking of taking her away. But I worked so hard at getting her here. Would you like that, Thalia? You want to leave and go home?” He mocks. She nervously watches him walk around to the back of her chair.
“I suppose it’s okay.” He squats down and cuts the middle of the constraint holding her wrists in place. She flinches as he runs the flat side of the blade up the back of her forearms. Menacingly, he glances at me and moves the blade down to the black zip ties holding her ankles in place.
“Aren’t you so happy he decided to show up after I left everything out for him to find? Your phone in your apartment, my empty house, and the invoice I left on the desk. All clues so your knight in shining fucking armor could see what I’ve done to you.” His eyes gaze into mine once he trails his switchblade down her ankles above the black zip ties holding her to the chair.
She lets out her first scream as he cuts one of the tendons in her ankles right above the zip tie holding her to the chair. He cuts her restraints right after he gets what he wants from her– the sound of her breaking into smaller and smaller pieces of herself.
"Just one more, Listener." I cringe at another sound of his knife going into her other tendon right before she cries again. “What are you waiting for? He’s right there. Get up and walk to him.” He jestsand cuts the other zip tie off her ankle. I’m in a permanent state of shock as she falls on the gory mess in front of her.
“What, you didn’t catch her? WHAT KIND OF FUCKING HERO ARE YOU!?” He yells and I continue to watch her struggle to get up off the bloody corpse in front of me.
“Whose body is this?” I press once more.Do I want to fucking know?
“Oh, that-that was Jace.” He takes in Thalia as she sobs over her best friend’s lifeless cadaver.
“You’re a sick fuck, Alan.”
“Yeah. I guess I am.” He shrugs.
“Come on, Sweetheart. I need to get you to a hospital.” She reaches over what is left of Jace’s body as I pull her up through the mess of vomit and bloody limbs. Her heart beats fast on my chest, and I hold her close. “I’m so relieved I found you. I had no idea where you were.” I kiss the top of her head and try to stop the tears from swelling in my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Lee. I’m so sorry.” She weeps against my chest.
“It’s okay, Thalia. Let’s just get you out of here.” I hold both of up on the tarp, doing my best not to drop her.
“Well, isn’t this a lovely sentiment?” Alan interrupts. His loud claps move through the small, concrete space. “You, my listener, really put on another great performance. I almost believed this one as much as I believed that you gave a shit about either one of us.” He stops until he’s front and center. “Do you think that I’m just going to let him take you out of here? I worked so hard at getting you here and planning this surprise for you.”
“You said you would let me go.” She continues to cry.
“Oh, baby. I’m never going to let you go.”
