Page 74 of Hello, Listener
“Well, Thalia. What do youthinkI am going to do to him?” I let out a loud sigh and waited for her reply.
I am left with nothing but silence.
“I’m going to play, and you’re going to watch.” I stand on my knees and lean in closer to her trembling body so that my forehead touches hers. “I’m going to watch your heart break just as you broke mine. I’m going to make you feel what I feel as I cut your best friend’s body into tiny fucking pieces just like you did to me.” I move back to the other side of the corpse between Thalia and me.
The blade as it cuts through Jace’s tender flesh and his bone. His blood does not flow as easily as Ashley’s did. The coagulated crimson spills more slowly out of the large separation between his ankle and his leg. The chains slice so freely through the tender, decomposing skin. I brace myself as it hits his brittle bone and watch as it satisfyingly separates on the tarp below him.
“Next ankle.” Thalia’s eyes are wide and her mouth is agape. “Keep looking at me like that and I’ll be more than happy to stuff it full.” I give her a wink and study her neck as she swallows. Ilean over Jace and move the blade through his other ankle. Her face contorts into disgust as she catches sight of another set of his limbs, separating.
She's still filled with shock as I graze the blade of the mini saw up his thigh. Her chest rises and falls with every heavy breath she takes. She winces as she follows the blade stopping at his pelvis.
“Closing your eyes won't make this process go any faster.” I turn on the mini saw and wait for her to peel them open. “Open your eyes, Thalia.”
“No. I can’t watch you do this anymore.” Her sobs are growing tiresome.
“OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!” My yell makes her nearly jump out of her seat.“There’s a good girl.”
I move the blade into his hip joint and observe the way the dark red blood-covered layers of skin tissue separate from each other.
“Oh, baby. I wish you could see this. It’s like a work of art. So many intricate parts holding him together, just easily breaking off. It’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before. I mean, I have, of course…”
“How long are you going to make me watch you do this?” She sounds so broken, and I love every way that her voice quavers.
“I guess that depends on how long you’re strapped to that chair.” I move the blade of my saw up Jace’s body, gently sliding the blade on his skin. “If you’re wanting to speed up this process…” My blade stops just under Jace’s chin. I start the tool, and the small chain moves through the flesh at the top of his neck. I survey intently as his blood flows over the blade and runs down the serrated bone. His head rolls back on the tarp.
Jace's neck, torso, and arms are all that I have left to remove in the human jigsaw that lies in front ofme.
Thalia’s gagging sounds fill the concrete room we are contained in. Jace’s head fits perfectly in the palm of my hand. His lifeless brown eyes roll back towards the ceiling.
“It’s fascinating.” I begin. “There are tiny bits of copper mixed in with his dark brown irises.” Her gags turn into screams when I toss his head onto her exposed lap.
I walk slowly through his long halls and notice the light on and the door wide open to the studio.Everything in his house is dark except for this room.
“Alan?!” I yell down the empty hall.No answer.
“Hey, I think you and I need to talk about a few things,” I say in a calmer tone while keeping my slow stride down the hallway until I reach the empty studio. Everything is kept in the same place as it usually is. The only question is, why the hell is the door open, and where the hell is he?
I continue to scan around the empty room for anything that can give me answers as to where the two of them are.Why the hell is the light on? Why has he been talking to my girl, and why the fuck doesn’t Thalia have her cell?Whilesearching the empty room, I notice my desk is cleaned off and prepared for our next episode.If he’s been fucking Thalia, there isn’t going to be another episode.
“Wait a second. What the fuck is this?” I ask aloud.No one is here to answer you, dumbass.Alan’s desk is cleared except for one piece of paper. The top of the paper reads STOROVOX INVOICE FOR STORAGE UNIT in big and bolded letters.
“This isn’t for the podcast. Why the fuck would he need a storage unit? His house is big enough to keep all of his shit here.”This isn’t like Alan. Why hasn’t he filed this away, and why is it in the studio?“None of this makes fucking sense.” I read over the address in the top left corner of the invoice.If he doesn’t have her here, and she isn’t at her apartment, then maybe…My thoughts trail off. It’s a stretch, but at this point, it’s the only clue I’ve got.
“If you’re here, I will fucking find you.” I grip the piece of paper, making it ball up in my hand.
My mind races, and the only thing I care about is finding my girl. The address to the storage unit is at the forefront of my mind. My strides get longer, and I practically sprint out of the lit studio and towards the front door. I turn on the car, type the address into my phone, and quickly speed out of the long driveway.
“Why the hell would he take her to a fucking storage unit?” I press aloud, trying to connect the dots.
The directions to the facility take me down a long and dark country road.
“What in Deliverance is this shit?” I shine my brights down the long stretch, and I see nothing but trees on either side of me. “It’s like I’m living in a fucking horror movie.”
My speed increases as I press harder on the gas, moving as fast as I can along the long, empty road.
Fuck, her screams are getting to me. Maybe I should just kill her and get it over with.No, I’m not ready to see her go.Thalia fixes on Jace’s head in her lap, with a constant shrill tone to her voice. Her eyes widen with fear and sadness as the back of his head fits on her thighs.
“Screaming isn’t going to magically make his head roll off your lap.” I walk around her chair to the back of the table and look over the materials. “Ahh, there they are,” I say with a shit eating grin while I grab the new package of black trash bags.
