Musings From A Demented Mind (6 page)

                
          
The Dogs

My gun was ready and I slowly looked around the corner of the building toward the back door waiting for my prey.  A prey I’m getting paid to kill.  You see, I’m a hitman ─ somebody who gets paid thousands to kill people.  Nice business to get into if you have a knack for it. One thing, just don’t get caught doing it. 

John Lumm, you’re going to wish you hadn’t double crossed your ex-business partner like you did, because, baby, your destiny is now in my hands.

It’s a dog eat dog world and that is why I take these types of assignments.  I hate greedy souls who reap thousands of dollars at the expense of the misery of others.

I tried other jobs, but just couldn’t find any enjoyment in them.  I don’t like other people ordering me around.  I just want to be by myself: working at my own pace and leisure. 

I first tried being a salesman for a couple of months, but I felt like I was cheating people by selling them cheap products which they didn’t really need.  I then tried selling life insurance for almost six months.  I got into it with the district manager when the company wouldn’t pay the death claims.

It was as a bartender in Las Vegas where I met Arthur Hamlin, a former hitman. I knew him for a year before he revealed what he used to do.  From then on, I was hooked because it gave me the sense of adventure I was looking for.

“Why?” some people asked.  I don’t know. 

Suddenly, I heard a click from the screen door.  I gripped the silencer tightly.  Slowly, the door opened and it was him.  The one and only double crosser himself.

As I approached him, I said, “Mr. Lumm, I suggest in your next life you don’t cheat your partner.”

“What!  No!”  he screamed.

I fired my gun.  The bullet struck him in his heart.  I thought it was ironic since I didn’t know businessmen had hearts.  I whirled around, replaced the gun in my jacket, and darted straight toward my aero car when somebody ran out of the same house yelling, “Somebody stop him!  He killed my husband!”

I ran faster.  Finally reaching the aero car, I jumped in and pressed my finger on the ignition pad.  Seconds later, the car lifted off the ground several feet and I gunned the bloody thing out of the area.

“The dogs are going to get you for what you did back there,” a voice coming from the backseat said. 

I looked in the rearview mirror and saw somebody in the backseat.

“How in the hell did you get in here?”  I asked.

“There isn’t an aero car I can’t break into.  Their security system can easily be hacked.”

“Why are you in my car?”  I asked annoyed.

“I’m tagging along for a ride.  Don’t try anything funny.  I have a gun pointed at your back,” he said, laughing.

A few minutes later he climbed into the front seat while holding the gun toward me.  “My name’s Mike.  What is yours?”

“My name is Jake.”

“Interesting.  Mighty interesting.”  He stared at me for a few minutes and then asked, “You love killing people? It gives you a personal thrill?”

“I only kill certain people.  People who love to see other lives in misery ─ like corporate people.  I get hired by people who want them removed.  If they have the money, I do the service.”

For the next hour, I tried to think of some way to get rid of him.  I suddenly remembered him saying the dogs were going to get me.  I looked over at him and asked, “What did you mean about the dogs?”

“My parents always told me when I did something bad the dogs would be coming for me.  If you commit the ultimate sin, they will appear.  I’ve always believed they made it up to keep me in line.”

Out of the blue he said, “I could use the company of a woman.  All nice and tight.”

I gave him a disapproving look.

“So how much?”

“How much for what?”

“How much to kill my parents?”

“I only kill those who deserve it.”

“I’m just joking.  You don’t need to be so serious.”

Again, I gave him a disapproving look.

A few minutes later, I saw a young woman up ahead standing beside the road thumbing for a ride.  Mike leaned forward and then said, “Stop.  Pick her up.”

“No.”

“I think you will.”  I felt the gun being pushed into my ribs.  I slowed the car down and landed it by the side of the road where the woman was standing. Mike pressed the button lowering his window.

“Where are you both headed?”  she asked. 

“We’re heading to Connersville,” Mike answered.

“Great.  It’s in my direction.” 

She was beautiful.  She had brown hair and brown eyes and a great slender figure.  She wore cut of blue jeans with a red checkered tank top.

“What’s your name?”  Mike asked.

“Nancy.”

“Mine is Mike and my friend here is Jake.”   He slid the door open and climbed out pointing his gun at her.

She took a couple steps backward trembling with fear.

“Jake, give me your gun or I’ll be forced to shoot this fine lady.”

I looked at her for a few seconds and then handed him my gun.

“Do not leave unless you want me to kill her.  I’ll be back when I have my way with her.”

“Please don’t,” she pleaded.

“I’m sorry, my dear, but somebody as hot as you shouldn’t be hitchhiking.” 

Mike looked at me for a second and grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the bushes.  I climbed out the car watching him drag her away.  There was no way I was going to let him kill her let alone have his way with her.  I moved around the car when suddenly I had the strange feeling I was being watched.  I heard a branch break from the other side of the road.  I could hear Nancy screaming and the sound of a struggle.  I ran through the bushes as Mike was slapping her across the face. I ran toward him and he pointed his gun toward me.

“Another move and you’re dead,” he threatened.

“You’re an animal!”  I yelled.

Nancy’s shirt was ripped and she was staring at me crying.

Mike walked past me pointing the gun at my head.  “You can stay with her.  I’m taking your car.” 

As I got near her, she stood up and yelled, “I hope the dogs get you both!”

I heard a branch break behind me.

“The dogs are here!”  she yelled angrily.

I heard more branches break.

“They’re going to get you,” she said, staring at me. Her body began to glow bright blue.  Her body transformed from a human into a large white dog.

From the distance, I heard Mike screaming.  I slowly backed away from her and then ran faster than I ever had before.  I pushed through the bushes and saw Mike lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood.  I ran toward my car and jumped in.  I pressed my finger on the ignition pad and the car lifted several feet and then crashed to the ground.  I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a gigantic black dog holding onto to my bumper with its teeth.  I slammed my foot on the accelerator with no success.  In front of me was another dog growling while another ripped the roof completely off.  I looked up and saw one of the dogs staring down at me.  I felt its hot breath and a few seconds later it grabbed me with its sharp teeth. 

The dog dropped me onto the ground, and I saw the white dog walk out of the bushes.

“Do you fear the dogs now?”  the white dog asked.  She lowered her head motioning to the other dogs to attack.  As they ripped me to shreds, I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I was in my car.  Mike was pointing his gun at me.

Mike leaned forward and then said, “Stop.  Pick her up.”

I could see Nancy standing by the side of the road.  I looked over at Mike and slammed on the brakes.  He pulled the trigger.  I felt a pain in my chest as the bullet penetrated my heart.  I grabbed my gun from out of my jacket and shot him in the head.

Mike was dead and soon I will be too.

                
        
Travelers

                       Valparaiso, IN

Dave watched as the birds ate all the bread he had thrown from the park bench.  From behind him, he could hear a girl playfully giggle.  He turned around and watched a young couple rolling around in the grass.  He shook his head.  He turned his attention back to the birds.  He thought about the time back in high school when Jack, Lonnie, and he had gone to the drive-in movie to pick up some girls.  Jack and Lonnie had found a couple of cute girls for themselves but not for him, which was just how his luck with women always had been.  He could never find anyone interested in a loner like himself.  He wasn’t someone who could ever be a cover model for GQ magazine.  For what women looked for in a man, he was way below average.  His hair receded when he was in his teens and now, in his sixties, he still hadn’t found anyone.  Every now and then, the loneliness would overtake him making his heart ache for someone to love him.  The sound from the young couple giggling snapped him out of his deep thought. 

“Get a room,” he mumbled. 

The couple, while holding hands, walked out of the park, and he watched them drive away in a black corvette.  He resumed his bird watching.  Suddenly, all of the birds flew away as if something had just startled them.  He looked around expecting to see some cat trying to make one of the birds its afternoon snack, but he didn’t see any predators lurking around anywhere.  He could smell something foul in the air reminding him about the time he returned from a trip to Russia.   He won the trip for being a top salesman for the insurance company he worked for.  He opened up the refrigerator and found the eggs had become rotten because the refrigerator stopped working while he was away. 

He was blinded as he was engulfed in a large ball of bright yellow light.  He was knocked to the ground as someone collided into him.

“Garth, watch where you are going!” someone shouted.

“How was I supposed to know the tranzer would put me where someone was standing,” Garth said.  He grabbed Dave’s arm and helped him to his feet.  “Sorry.  It wasn’t intentional.”

“Don’t mention the tranzer.  No one here would understand it,” a woman said.

Dave stared at the man wearing a shiny, metallic uniform as his eyes adjusted to the bright light.  He looked like he was from some science fiction movie from the fifties.

“Mom should be coming through any second now,” the woman said.

Through the light, an older woman with long, dark hair with blonde highlights appeared.  She was wearing a shiny, metallic dress. 

“Melinda, where’s Marty?”  Garth asked.

“He didn’t make it.  He gave his life so we could transport through the tranzer,” the older woman said.  She looked at Dave suspiciously.  “Who is this?”

“He was here when we jumped through,” the woman said.

“My name is Dave,” he said.  He looked at the four in shock.  They all were wearing shiny, metallic clothing.  His first thought was they had appeared through some type of gateway from the future.

“My name is Melinda.  These are my two sons, Garth and Jepkins.  This is my daughter, Kendra.”

“Are you from the future?”  Dave asked.

“That depends.  Is this the past?”  Jepkins asked.  He was muscular and had spiked, blond hair.  He had tattoos running down both of his arms.

“Jepkins, it’s not nice answering a question with a question,” Garth said.  He was a husky man with reddish hair.  He was shorter than Jepkins with thick glasses reminding Dave of something a nerd would wear.  “We can’t answer that question.  We’re not even sure where or when we are.”

“Valparaiso, Indiana.  2015,” Dave answered.

“We are definitely in the past,” Kendra said.  She had long, curly, blonde hair with reddish highlights.  She was very short and looked like she could be in her early twenties.

“I suggest a memory wipe.”  Garth pulled out a small device that looked like a cross between a smart phone and a laser gun.

Dave stepped backward in fear.

“Garth, stop,” Melinda ordered.  “He looks harmless. Besides, we are unfamiliar with this timeframe.  We’ll need a guide to survive.  Will you help us?”

Dave looked over at Garth and then at Melinda.  “I have nothing on my plate as of right now.”

“I’m assuming that is how they say yes in this timeframe,” Kendra said.

“I would suggest ditching the metal outfits.  Devo hasn’t been popular since the eighties.  I suggest getting some clothes at the Goodwill.  I’ll drive you there and on the way you can tell me how you ended up here,” Dave said.

“Thank you,” Melinda said as Dave led them toward his vehicle.

“What’s Devo?”  Garth asked, looking at Kendra who shrugged her shoulders.

                    Area 51, Nevada

Sergeant Malcom Teller watched as their latest secret aircraft, J'onn 6, successfully landed after its first test run.  The craft was designed based on the alien spacecraft that crashed in Roswell back in 1947.  They had developed several different aircrafts based on that technology over the years, but the J’onn 6 was the crowning achievement.  It was the first aircraft that could successfully leave Earth without the need of heavy rockets launching it into space.  In theory, it was fast enough to reach Pluto in a matter of days instead of taking unmanned spacecraft twelve years. 

“Thing of beauty isn’t it?”  Mason Parsons, the lead scientist on the J’onn 6 project, asked.

“Yes, it is.”

It was a very large spacecraft ten times the size of any of the other crafts on the base.  There was room for at least eight people in it.  It was designed for long exploratory missions.  Personally, Malcom thought it was too cramped in there and couldn’t imagine traveling long distances in it.

“Imagine the solar systems we can visit thanks to its speed.”

“We first have to launch it into space.  Anything can happen.  If something goes wrong up there, it could take us years to retrieve it,” Malcom said.

“I know it’s a gamble, but one worth taking.”

“Mason, I agree with you on that point.  Unfortunately, our investors aren’t interested in a failed mission.  This mission has to be a success.  There’s too much riding on it financially.”

“It will.  I have faith.”

“Faith from a scientist?”

“Even a scientist can have faith.”

“We need more than a miracle if we want the funding to continue.”  Malcom walked over to the craft as the pilot exited the hatch on the top.  “How did it handle?”

“Sergeant, it purred like a kitten,” Russell White said as he climbed down the side of the craft. 

“Sergeant! Sergeant! Sergeant!” 

Malcom turned around as Wayne Harris ran down the hallway leading to the hanger.  He stopped in front of him trying to catch his breath. 

“What is so urgent you’re about to have a heart attack from running like a madman?”  Malcom asked.

“The satellites just picked up a massive energy spike,” Wayne said, still out of breath.

“Where?”

“Valparaiso, IN.”