Page 50 of Hello, Listener
“Well, you see… I found what you had in your pocket over there.” He points to my jacket with his metal bar. I try my best to look in the same place where he threw my coat. I wince from the continuous pain in my head. A tiny bag sits on top of the side pocket.Shit. How the fuck did he know what I was doing? Is that why he was following me?
“Oh, that… that’s mine. Thalia ain’t got nothing to do with that. She doesn’t do that kind of thing.” I pause and wince at the bright light bouncing off the metal bar he continues to pass back and forward to each of his hands. “Are you some kind of cop or something?”
“Or something. Lawyer, actually.” He stands up, and I notice how large this man really is.Fuck. I’m going to prison. “Do you know whatcould happen to you if you get caught with that in your possession?” He asks, turning around with his back towards me.
I don’t answer. I’m suddenly feeling like a child in trouble with my parents. He turns around with his hand gripping the end of the metal bar. “What happens is you and whoever you’re with will get in a bunch of fucking trouble.” He smiles down at me. Not like a normal smile that I had seen when he looked at Thalia. More like one that sends a chill down my spine.Fuck, I really need to get out of here.“I can’t riskmylistener getting charged with something like that.”Your listener…?
“I wasn’t going to– I mean, I– that’s just for me. Thalia wouldn’t do any of that. I can’t get her to do any of that shit. I mean, she’s one of those rare good girls you hear about.” I manage to stammer. My body shakes the closer he moves to my chair. I swear I can hear it vibrate against the concrete underneath me from my body shaking out of fear.
“I know she is.” I watch closely as his bright green eyes almost turn black.What a fucking psycho.“And I know you won’t go near her with this shit.” He takes a few steps closer, waving the metal bar in the air like some kind of baton.
“Oh, good…” I sigh.
WHACK. Shit!
“What the fuck?!” My pounding in my head gets worse, and my body and the chair I’m tied to fall against the cold, concrete floor. With my cheeks on the frigid surface, I look up and see him gazing down at me. My head pulses from the impact.
“You see, I can’t just take yourword for it.” He kneels down to match my level. “You guys are always together…”There’s that terrifying wide smile again.
“I can throw it away. I-I-I can flush it,” I stutter.
“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll take care of that.” He nods, looking towards my jacket again. My eyes follow his movement, but a sharpZINGbrings my attention back to him.
He hits the metal bar on the cement again, creating an echo throughout the tiny space. The sound makes me flinch. With one hand, he picks me up by the back of the chair and sets it back in the original position. I look down where I was and notice the drops of blood from the impact of my head hitting the hard floor. My awareness barely comes in spotty while he stands in the position he once was before he grips the bar in his hand like a fucking baseball bat. He takes a step closer to my chair. He raises his arms and takes his stance.
“W–wait!” I manage a scream. He pauses.Thank God.“You don’t want to do that...” He looks at me with a bit of concern.Maybe I’m getting to him.His eyes follow my tears running down from my swollen eyes down past my chin.
“What I mean is, you don’t want to hurt me. T-Thalia would be upset if anything happened to me. Y-you wouldn’t want to do that. I mean, you wouldn’t want to do anything to upset her. I’m her best friend. I’m her only family. I’m all she’s got left.” He drags his weapon against the hard surface. It creates another metallic scraping sound that echoes through the room.
“See, Jace.”There’s that fucking smile again. It will forever haunt me in my nightmares.He picks up the metal bar with both hands, resuming the baseball stance. “There’s where you’re wrong.”
He walks closer and brings the bar closer to my head. I flinch as he runs the cold metal across my cheek. He looks closely at the end of the metal rod as he catches each of my tears.
“Thalia will never be alone,” his voice lowers, and he moves the bar to my other cheek. “She’ll always have someone keeping a close watch and making sure she’s safe.” He steps back and strokes his chin. “After tonight, I just can’t trust that you won’t put her in harm's way.”
I zero in on Alan as he walks over to the metal shelf. He places his blood and tear-stained bar in the middle of the shelf and moves what looks like a tripod with a phone attached a few feet in front of me.Wait… is that my phone?It’s set up as if it is already recording.What the hell?
He grabs the same bar that he threw on the floor just seconds before, moves up, takes the bar in both hands, raising his arms above his head.
“P-please! Don’t do this!” I scream.WHACK!
Jace’s body spasms with the impact of the last hit. I circle around his body while it seizes. I notice how both of his eyelids flutter, his long, black lashes brushing his cheeks, leaving his lids open, as he takes his last breath. The pool of blood gets larger, creating a puddle around his head and neck. I examine his face and his eyelids slowly become heavy, and life starts to leave his large brown eyes.
After placing the metal bar down on the shelf once again, I grab a pair of latex gloves I had so conveniently brought in earlier. I slide the gloves over my large hands, snapping the stretchy material over my wrists as if it’s my new regimen. The sound is loud through the small storage unit.
“What should I do with you?” I circle around to his limp wrists and cut off the zip tie that holds them together. His arms fall flat on top of each other. I move down to his feet and cut each zip tie around his ankles. They're now broken and thrown to the side. His body slides easily off the metal folding chair.
I examine his lifeless body on the floor as one would admire a painting. The way he’s fallen is truly a work of art, arms and legs bent unnaturally. The harsh light from the lamp shines off his silver nose ring. The pool of blood ripples with each step I take toward his fresh corpse. I gently lean in closer and carefully remove the metal hoop from his right nostril.
“Look at that, Jace, not a drop of blood,” I observe the piece of jewelry, and hold it up closer to the ceiling.Where am I going to put you?
“This won’t do,” I comment while looking down towards Jace. “Your space, it’s too empty.” I grab his phone, which still sits on the tripod, and set it next to the small ring. “This will sit here only for the time being.”
I walk over towards his jacket, grab the clear sandwich bag, and set it down with the other items I’ve gathered over the past couple of weeks. Stepping back, I admire my museum of trophies I’ve collected. A smile paints on my face as I look over the menagerie with a feeling ofachievement.
“Now, Jace,” I say, breaking my own silence. I turn my head and stare down at his eyes that were once full of fear. “What am I going to do withyou?”
Right Under Your Nose
