Forsaken: A Collection of Short Stories

Forsaken

By Bryant Wiley

Copyright 2016 Bryant Wiley

Smashwords Edition

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For Linda

CONTENTS

A Night To Remember

The Album

Forsaken

A Toast

There Are No Heroes

One In The Chamber

The Work Of My Hands

Darkness And Silence

About The Author

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Daniel was the only person still awake. Sleep never came easy for him, but tonight he didn’t mind it much. He looked around to find the hotel room was littered with liquor bottles, cigarette butts and drug paraphernalia. If a police officer were to enter the room, there’s no doubt that all ten of the occupants would be thrown in cuffs and hauled off to the county lockup. Of course, the cops would need a good reason to be nosing around a penthouse suite in such a fine hotel, where all guests were treated as law abiding citizens. The general feeling was that cops had better things to do.

Daniel hadn’t taken part in any of the weed smoking, unlike his friends, but he was a heavy drinker and was, at that moment, unquestionably intoxicated. It was four in the morning and he knew that if he left now, he’d be home in an hour and still be able to get at least a good nap in before he had to be at work.

The night began just as they had planned. Everyone met up outside of the club, in the parking lot. They had plenty of laughs at Rick, the groom-to-be's expense, after they were escorted to the VIP section. Lifelong friends together, celebrating the passage of one of their brethren into matrimony. They were the life of the club. All ten of them professionals, in their own rite and very big tippers. The money seemed to attract the attention of every dancer on the floor—or on a pole, rather. The night went on just as it should have with plenty of alcohol, beautiful women and laughter; it was less a bachelor party and more a celebration of life.

There were a few patrons who’d gotten upset at the fun Daniel, Rick and the other guests were having. Regular visitors that, after a hard day, were looking to unwind, not be tossed the second rate dancers because a few high rollers wanted to ruin the amicable fun. And was their anger not justified? Every attractive—even somewhat attractive—dancer in the club got on the stage, did her routine and then bee lined it straight to the VIP section. As it so happens, some angry words were exchanged. Things escalated and before long an all-out brawl erupted. In the end, Rick, Daniel and the rest of the bachelor party left the club. Several dancers followed and others promised to meet at their hotel later, once they’d finished working.

The club was nothing more than harmless fun, but if Rick’s fiancé had seen what transpired in the hotel room, there’d be no wedding this weekend, for sure. This was an anything goes environment, free from the laws and regulations that governed the club. As long as the gentlemen were willing to pay, the women were willing to oblige. Nothing was off limits. Daniel remembered seeing Rick, accompanied by two gorgeous women, making his way to the bedroom. He stopped his friend. Rick thought that Daniel was about to preach one of his lectures on morality, But Daniel only stopped him in order to make sure that Rick was going to use a condom. After all, he'd be leading his wife into the bedroom in a couple of days and it would be such a shame if he brought the clap along with him. Daniel was assured that Rick had things covered—literally. A few minutes later, Daniel and the other guests could hear screams of pleasure coming from the room. If they were any louder, they would likely break the windows, Daniel thought.

Daniel gave the room one last look and laughed at the sight of his friends sprawled out all over it, asleep. He made his way to his car, dragging his feet and fighting back the urge to vomit. Putting the key in the ignition, he turned it and pulled out of the parking lot. It was now that he realized how tired he was feeling. Rolling down the windows, he quietly cursed himself for leaving the hotel. Daniel wanted to be there when everyone woke up, to relive the highlights and laugh at the stupid things they’d done. But he had a very big day ahead of him and could not afford to ditch work, today. Late was acceptable, but if he'd stayed at the hotel, he wouldn't make it in, at all.

Slamming on his brakes, Daniel screeched to a stop at a red light he’d noticed, much too late. At four in the morning, there wasn’t much traffic, but Daniel still wanted to avoid being pulled over. Having just gotten his license reinstated, another DUI would cause a world of problems that he could ill afford to deal with; the penalty this time being a full revocation of his driving privileges. He stretched, shook himself a little and made his best attempt to appear sober and alert.

As the light turned green, Daniel turned onto the freeway. Something didn’t feel quite right. He couldn’t explain the feeling. It was as if he was doing something wrong, but of course this was all wrong, he was driving home with a mind numbing intoxicant coursing through his body. He knew how drunk he was, knew he shouldn’t be behind a wheel, so why shouldn’t he feel odd? Daniel expelled the distracting thought and devoted his full attention to the road ahead. A car was approaching, no, not a car a truck, a tractor trailer to be exact. It was coming straight at him. Daniel could not understand why or how a truck going in the opposite direction was speeding toward him in the wrong lane. And that’s when the truth came to him. Daniel realized that every road sign he’d seen was facing the wrong direction, the north and southbound lane divider off to his right instead of left, he’d gotten on the freeway the wrong way. But why was the truck not slowing down? Was this some sick game of chicken between his car and the eighteen-wheeler? Suddenly panic set in, as Daniel realized he hadn’t turned his headlights on. In the early morning darkness, the driver of the truck didn’t know he was there.

In this moment of horror, Daniel’s foot had, unknowingly, pressed down harder on the accelerator. It didn’t cross his mind to change lanes, or even pull off to the shoulder. Instead, Daniel scrambled to find the switch for his headlights. Once he did, he turned them on. His car had worked its way up to eighty miles per hour. Daniel looked up from the instrument panel only to see that he was too late. The last sound he heard was the blaring horn from the truck just before the collision.

Daniel’s windshield shattered as the front end of his car crumpled like a piece of paper. His body—with no seatbelt to hold him back—flew forward and through the shattered glass. The grill of the truck stopped his forward momentum. His body then flew sideways and fell to the road. After a few tumbles, Daniel finally came to rest, horribly lacerated, joints separated and nearly every bone in his body, including the delicate ones in his neck and spinal column, broken.

The sudden stop caused the tractor trailer to jackknife. The trailer skid sideways and tore free of its rigging. The top heavy load caused it to tip over and come crashing down to the road, on top of Daniels mangled body. All of the kinetic energy the trailer had amassed had not yet been disbursed once it fell over. It continued to slide forward, grinding Daniel to pulp beneath it.

He awoke with a gasp, sweat beading on his forehead and his heart racing. He had no idea where he was, but as he looked around he saw that it was his car. A few seconds later and Daniel realized he was in the parking lot of the strip club. His friends, gathered outside, were waiting for him. Daniel’s heartbeat began to settle. What had just happened? Had he dozed off for a minute or two? How? Daniel certainly didn’t feel tired. And why had he come to in such a panic? If he had been asleep, Daniel could not remember anything of the dream he’d had.

A knock at his window pulled him out of his thoughts. It was Rick. Daniel lowered the window.

Come on, Space Cadet, we’re heading inside, Rick taunted while laughing. Looking down into the car, Rick noticed a sweating, pale Daniel, and didn’t hide his disappointment. What the hell Danny? You’re not supposed to get cold feet, I am. Get out of your car and let’s go have some fun!

In what seemed an instant, the confusion lifted away from Daniel. This was Rick’s bachelor party. They were here to drink and have a good time. There were no worries tonight. There were just good times, laughter, and memories to be made, before Rick’s big day. They’d even rented a hotel room to throw an after party.

Yeah, I’ll be right there.

Inside the club, everything was perfect. There was bottle after bottle of the finest liquor and the women were beautiful and very accommodating. Daniel became fixated on one dancer in particular. Her name—she later whispered in his ear while brushing by him slowly—was Heaven. He thought of her as beautiful beyond all reason, with a name that suited her to perfection. If she would have asked him to sign over his entire financial portfolio to her, he would have gladly done so.

There came a point in the evening at which several patrons, not attending the party, grew angry with the lack of women outside of the VIP section. After her stage routine, one individual had felt the need to voice his concern to Heaven.

They’re the ones with the money, sugar She said with a smile.

The man grabbed her, and when Daniel saw this he got to his feet at once. He rushed down to where Heaven was struggling to free herself from the man’s grasp. The second he arrived, with no words said, he punched the man in the jaw. The man released his hold on Heaven and looked at Daniel, smiling. Daniel wasn’t expecting to see the sight that now stood before him. The—not so—gentleman’s mouth bled as he smiled. His teeth appeared to be sharpened to points, like some wild beast. Daniel had little time to take this in before the rest of his friends ran to the main floor, ready to take on the crowd that arose in jealous opposition.

It was a violent brawl. Punching, kicking; Daniel was sure that he’d seen at least one person get stabbed. Then there was the feeling, a sort of déjà vu. Daniel was almost certain that this already happened. It was almost a crystal clear memory. But the brawl had not gotten this crazy in his memory. As he looked around to see where his friends were and if they needed help, he found Rick. The groom-to-be had a man in a headlock and it was clear that the guy could not breathe. Rick didn’t seem to care at all. Quite the contrary, in fact, Rick was smiling and seemed to be enjoying himself. Daniel wasn’t sure, but it looked like Rick’s teeth had transformed and were now filed to sharp points the same way as the man who’d started all of this. In the next few moments, the man in Rick’s grip fell lifeless to the floor and Daniel knew that they—he and his friends—had to get out of the club, quickly.

Frantic would be the best way to describe Daniel as he led the party out to the parking lot and to the hotel. A few of the strippers had decided to tag a long, including Heaven, Daniel’s favorite. She rode shotgun next to Daniel as he drove. For no particular reason, other than how much he liked her, Daniel told her about the things he’d seen during the brawl. Heaven assured him that fights break out at the club on a weekly basis. She did a great job of ensuring him that no one had been killed. By the time they reached the hotel, he felt embarrassed to have even mentioned such paranoid delusions.

Upstairs in the hotel suite, there was uproarious laughter as the men recapped the confrontation. There was no mention of the man whom Rick had choked to death. And finally, Daniel let go of the thought. The strippers were not holding back now that they were in a no rules environment. Rick, the man of the hour, had his hands full with two of them. Two more were putting on a show for everyone to watch; while Heaven involved herself in a drinking game with Daniel.

Daniel did not smoke weed, but he knew that his friends did. He also knew that any moment now, they would be loading bongs, emptying blunts and rolling joints. He didn’t mind. However, what happened next was far different from his expectations. Everyone was pulling out small baggies of heroin, vials of crack cocaine and pills that he could not make out. Syringes and glass pipes took the place of bongs and rolling papers. It made Daniel sick to see, even worse was that his best friends were hiding this from him.

Let them have their fun, sugar. Heaven pleaded with him. And, indignant, Daniel obliged.

The more he drank, the more willing he was to do anything Heaven asked of him.

There was a sudden burst of maniacal laughter. Daniel turned to see one of his friends, James, convulsing. There was bloody foam oozing from his mouth. Daniel stood in horror. Their friend was overdosing and no one was lifting a finger to help him, they laughed and pointed as if it were a comedy routine. Daniel began to cross the room in a fury. Heaven grabbed his hand and stopped him. As she did this, the two strippers who’d put on the big show made their way to James and began to dance on top of him. When Daniel tried to pull away, Heaven held him tighter, pressing him against her full bosom. Without a struggle, he looked on in horror as the women ground against James’ dying body. The convulsions stopped and there was no doubt that he was now dead. It seemed to be the ultimate turn on. The ladies moaned, touched every part of his body and lapped at the blood dripping from his mouth. Their fingers seemed to elongate with sharp almost claw-like nails. These nails sliced open James’ abdomen and the women delighted as they bathed in the offal.

This is not happening. This is NOT HAPPENING! Daniel turned to look at Heaven who wore a devious smile on her face.

What’s not happening? she questioned, batting her eyes in feigned innocence.

He looked back to James, but his friend was no longer there, nor were the strippers. Confused, he broke free of Heaven’s grip and crossed the room to Rick who was being led into the bedroom by the two women who had been monopolizing his time in the suite.

Rick, something is wrong here.

No Daniel, you’re not doing this to me. Not tonight. Anger poured into his words, when Rick spoke.

You don’t understand. I swear there’s–

Save it. You don’t get to ruin this with your moral objections. This is my night. If you’ve got a problem with that, then get the hell out. And with that, Rick closed the door to the bedroom.

Daniel knew he was drunk, but he’d made up his mind to chance the drive home rather than stay to see where things were going to lead in the hotel room. He couldn’t leave without saying something to Heaven. In his inebriated mind, Daniel felt the need to protect her from the darkness infecting his friends. He crossed the room to where she now sat. That’s when the feeling of déjà vu returned. Along with it came a sense of impending doom. He looked around the room and saw his friends passing out in odd places, the floor, beneath the window, one in a fetal position on a small table. Empty liquor bottles everywhere, along with drug paraphernalia, the likes of which Daniel never would have imagined his best friends would possess.

I don’t know what’s going on, but nothing about this night seems right. Daniel explained to Heaven.

Is this how you get when you drink? She questioned, with a laugh.

I’m serious. It’s like this has all happened before. Except before, it was, I don’t know, safe.

Daniel, Heaven said as she stood, I enjoy your company, but if you want to leave then go ahead. But you’ll be missing out on all the wonderful things I have planned for us.

How much Daniel had come to like Heaven in the little while that he’d known her. He took a minute to contemplate what she’d just told him. The silence of the room was broken by Rick. His moans drifted out of the bedroom and filled the suite.

Sure sounds like Rick’s enjoying the night. Don’t I get a chance to have some fun with you? Heaven said, looking straight into his eyes.

The moaning grew louder. Daniel was having a hard time keeping track of his thoughts. Heaven began to slowly trace her fingertips across his chest. Did he really want to leave? Any thoughts of consideration shattered when violent cries of pain erupted from behind the bedroom door. It was Rick. But what had happened? The cries continued. Before Daniel could reach the door, it opened. The two strippers exited, laughing. Daniel wore a look of disgust, realizing that they were covered, head to toe, in blood. They danced with each other, but the sensuality of the scene was lost at the grotesque sight of the blood and gore. Daniel began to sweat, his head swirling. One of the strippers kissed the others neck, before sinking her teeth into it and removing a chunk. The other did not so much as, flinch. The grizzly display continued until they both climaxed in a mutual orgasm that brought Daniel to his knees. He threw up.

No longer sure whether what he was seeing was real, or some weird, alcohol-induced hallucination, Daniel got to his feet and headed for the door. He looked around the room, wondering if any of his friends were having such an experience. Of course they weren’t, they were