NIGHTMARE SUBURBIA

Part 4

Blood trickled down Dave’s cheek and splattered onto his shirt. Blood soaked his hair from the gash where he smashed his face as he tumbled down the steps. His right leg bent in an odd direction.

My vision blurred. I couldn’t believe I had done this. I might have given him a concussion, but Dave was still alive. Barely. His phone lay three feet to the right; Its shattered screen mirrored the damage I had inflicted. It still worked.

Someone texted him.

ASHLEY (Wife, answer!):

Flight got delayed by 1 hour. I’ll be home a little late. Don’t pick me up at the airport. I’ll take an Uber. Love you.

I didn’t know how long I stood there, staring at Dave’s unconscious body, still numbed from what I had done and what I was capable of.

My stomach suddenly growled. I was so hungry. The feeling came out of nowhere, but it was all I could think about as I stared at Dave. I must have been too distracted by all that had transpired. Everything was happening so fast. Did the gem require nourishment? Do rocks even need one? How would I eat? These thoughts swirled in my mind while I stood there motionless.

I decided to use my powers. Maybe I could figure out more about my abilities if I used them. But first, I needed some food. And water. My thirst was becoming unbearable. But the other three tabs were still inaccessible, and I wondered what they meant about Dungeons, Monsters, and Traps. From the words alone, they didn’t paint a pretty picture. If I could move people and objects around and levitate, I shuddered to imagine what was behind the Monsters tab.

The sudden jolt of the water pipes pulled me out of my thoughts. The children were awake, getting ready for school. An hour after I knocked Dave unconscious, Xavier and Vivian prepared their breakfast in the kitchen. I spied with my many-eyes like a fly on the wall.

“Hey, Viv. Did you hear Dad come home last night?” Xavier asked, taking a bite out of his toast.

Vivian wiped her mouth with a napkin and nodded. “Yeah, I think so?”

“When?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was late.”

Xavier nodded. His eyes darted to the ceiling before he walked out of the kitchen, went up the stairs, and checked his parents’ bedroom. He found it empty, just like I did. With a sigh, he went back to the kitchen.

“Dad’s not home,” Xavier said.

“Maybe he went to pick up Mom. Isn’t she due back from the conference today?”

Xavier nodded. “I don’t know. Something’s bugging me.”

Suddenly, Xavier looked in my direction.

I froze. I thought he could see me for a second until he shook his head and finished his breakfast.

“Well, since he’s not here, I’m driving us to school,” Xavier said.

“Mom’s car? No way.”

“Yep. She told me I could.”

Vivian narrowed her gaze and chuckled. “You’re lying. She never even allow me to drive it.”

“Oh my god, Viv. She did, okay?”

“Dude, you wrecked your car three months ago. Mom did not tell you to drive hers.”

“Would you rather ride the bus?”

Vivian pursed her lips. “Okay. Fair point.”

Xavier grinned. “Come on. Finish up.”

“What? This early?”

“I like school.”

“Yeah, right. You want to get there because Carly’s in Publications. And their meetings are like seven in the freaking morning,” Vivian teased. “Whipped.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear you.” Xavier fished out the car keys from the bowl near the front door. Vivian wolfed down her sandwich and gulped down the orange juice. She quickly followed Xavier into the garage.

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They stopped, staring at their father’s BMW.

“Wait, Dad’s home?” Vivian muttered.

Leave, I wanted to say. Just go! Get to school! Your Dad’s not in the house.

“Coach Hodge picked him up last night, remember? Maybe he’s not back yet,” Xavier said, walking up to the Escalade.

“What the heck are Dad and the coach doing that they’re out until morning?”

Xavier shrugged. “Probably drinking.”

“Dad doesn’t drink, Xav.”

Xavier paused, regarding the garage door again. He looked like he contemplated checking out the house again. Suddenly, his phone chimed. He pulled it out of his pocket and stared at the screen before a wide smile crept on his lips.

“What?” Vivian asked.

“Nothing.”

It was Carly texting him. She was one of the most popular girls in school. She played volleyball, wrote for the school’s newspaper, and planned on running for school president for her senior year.

CARLY:

Omw to school. I’ll see u by the quad with Zoe once I’m done w/ meeting.

Xavier opened the driver’s side door. “Get in.”

Vivian rolled her eyes. “That’s Carly, isn’t it?”

“I said get in. We don’t want to be late.”

“We got like forty-seven minutes until the first bell, Xav. That’s like too much.” Vivian stifled a laugh.

“Whatever.”

“What about Dad?”

“I’m sure Coach Hodge will drop him off any minute. He’s picking up Mom from the airport, after all.”

Vivian sighed. “Okay. Fine. Why don’t you tell Carly already that you like her? It’s so exhausting seeing you run around like—”

Dave suddenly jolted awake, snapping me back to the basement. His ragged breaths grew heavy. A broken rib might have punctured his lungs. He coughed and wheezed as he tried to sit up until he noticed his broken leg. The Escalade’s engines roared as Xavier turned on the ignition.

“Help!” Dave screamed. “Help me!”

His voice reverberated through the basement. I flinched and floated back toward the couch.

“Xavier! Viv! I’m down here!”

But Xavier and Vivian didn’t hear him. Vivian connected the USB cable charger to her phone to the car’s speakers. Music blasted through them, drowning out Dave’s muffled screams from the basement.

“Help! I’m down here!”

The garage doors slid open, and Xavier drove out into the street, heading into town, and left me alone with Dave. He heard the car’s noise gradually fade, his chance for help dissipating.

Dave tried to reach for his phone.

Without hesitating, I unleashed my telekinetic power, swatting the device away from his fingertips. It soared through the room and tumbled under what used to be a TV stand.

Dave froze; the realization hit him like a truck. I was still there, or at least the phantasmal presence he believed was tormenting him. His quivering lips and glazed eyes showed me his fear.

And it was fucking intoxicating.

More, more, more, was all I could think about.

His frantic gaze darted around the room. There was none.

In a hushed whisper, desperation dripped from Dave’s trembling voice. “Please,” he pleaded, his words barely audible. “Whoever you are, I swear I have nothing to do with it. It was all Hodge. Justin Hodge. Please! He summoned you! Not me!”

Ah. He believed I was a demon. I could see his mind click into place; he probably thought his fiendish little groupie managed to summon an angry citizen from below. And now it was taking his frustrations out on him.

“I swear I had no part in it. I don’t even know how to do magic! It was all him. So, please, just let me go. Let me go!”

Anger welled inside me. Were those tears? Unbelievable! After the unspeakable things he had done, he dared to cry and beg for his own life. Bullshit. What about mine? Did he stop to think he was murdering a person? I had a life, and now it was fucking gone! I lost everything! What about my poor parents? They had been worried sick while I was missing for days, now rotting in the woods, waiting to be found. He just murdered me a few hours ago, and now he wanted mercy? My mercy? The sheer balls of this man.

“Please. I have a family.” He choked up.

[Power: 2/5]

“So do I, asshole!” I cried out. “Fuck you!”

Grasping [Telekinesis], I dragged across the cold, hard floor. He thrashed and yelled, his cries echoing through the dimly lit space. Finally, I released my grip on him near the lally column with a resounding thud. With seconds left to spare with my power, I pushed the heavy industrial storage cabinet over.

And on top of his head.

Dave’s eyes widened with terror as he realized the danger he was in. His broken leg immobilized him. He raised his arms in a last-ditch effort to defend himself, but the feeble gesture proved useless against the cabinet’s weight. These heavy industrial storage cabinets could weigh almost two hundred and fifty pounds—some even more. The cabinet groaned and creaked as it teetered on its edge and bore down on him.

“No! No—!”

Dave made a high-piercing screech that lasted for a split second when his elbows snapped and bent unnaturally, the sickening sound of bones breaking punctuating the room. Skin tore, and blood mingled with the cold floor.

With a sickening squelch, the cabinet crushed his head mid-scream, nearly severing his head. Only his lower jaw and a row of perfectly nice teeth remained. His body twitched. His other unbroken leg jerked erratically before it subsided.

My insides churned with a nauseating mix of horror and disgust. But I had no mouth, and all I was left with was this nauseating aura, and I had no way to vomit and get rid of the exasperating feeling.

I killed him, I thought, disgusted. I fucking killed him.

I stared at Dave’s lifeless body for a long moment. It didn’t seem real. Maybe I imagined it. Maybe I hallucinated all of the bullshit, and this was Hell; everything was my punishment. I expected a camera crew to come out and tell me it was all a prank. A huge, fucked-up, elaborate prank.

I wanted to cry. I really did. But no tears came. Not even a strong pull welled deep in my gut, bringing down my heart. I just stood there, or rather floated there, frozen like a fucking idiot. I killed a person. Shouldn’t it affect me more? But all I could think about was how fucking hungry I was after.

Food. I needed food.

I needed to eat something. Anything.

Then I noticed that Dave’s body emanated this faint reddish glow. Wisps licked from the corpse, hanging mid-air before dissipating. I could taste in the air its enthralling allure. I was drawn to it. Or rather, the gem was.

I needed it.

Using the last of my Power, I rolled out from under the couch, levitated five feet off the ground, and moved closer to Dave’s body. The moment I drew near, the reddish wisps instantly melded into my aura, a euphoric trance that momentarily blinded me. As my vision returned, I was bombarded by several prompts all at once.

[Rank: Z - #4987 > #4702]

[Power: 6/6]

[You received: 100 crystals]

[You received: 1 essence]

[You can now upgrade 1 core ability rank]

[Discovery (Potential Dungeon): The Yates Residence]

[Would you like to designate The Yates Residence as your dungeon?]