Archive for June, 2009

BLUE FIRE by: Michael A. Kechula

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

The beautiful bartender leaned over the bar, and asked how I was.

“OK,” I mumbled.

Instead of making a senseless remark and running off, she leaned close enough to kiss, looked me squarely in the eyes, and asked, “Are you sure?”

“What if I’m not OK?  What would you do?”

“Whatever it takes to make you happy.”  Her face mirrored the seriousness of her voice.

Her words made my stomach tingle. “Do you realize what you just said to me?”

“I know exactly what I said.”

“I suppose you say the same thing to every guy who walks in here,”

“I’ve never spoken like that to anyone before.  Something about you moves me.”

What a liar,  I thought.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Rodney.”

“Tell me what’s wrong, Rodney.”

I had to strain mightily from unleashing a flood of verbal misery. So much was wrong I didn’t know where to begin.

“Well, if you won’t tell me,  do you want me to tell you what’s wrong?”

“How could you possibly know anything about me?”

“It’s all over your face, flashing like a red neon sign on a dark and sultry night.  You’re vulnerable, terribly deprived, and incredibly hungry.”

Her intuitions left me speechless.

“I can help you,” she said.  “I know exactly what you need.”

“Oh?  What do I need?” I asked, glancing at the word SANDY on her nametag.

“Blue Fire.”

“I never heard of Blue Fire.  Is that some kind of new designer drug?”

“No.”

Just then, somebody at the other end of the bar called for a refill.

“So what’s Blue Fire?” I asked when she returned.

“Come home with me, and I’ll show you.”

“I have to warn you,” I said, “too much exposure to the color blue affects me in strange ways.”

“Sounds exciting,” she said, smiling lasciviously.

My blood turned to fire.  I’d hoped I could pick up somebody that night.  I never expected a beautiful woman would come on to me, proclaim she knew what I needed, then invite me to her place.  I couldn’t wait  for her to remedy all my woes, though I wondered if she’d respond to ALL my terrible cravings.

Sandy’s apartment was small and nicely decorated.

When she took me to her bedroom, she said, “Don’t take your clothes off.”

“Why not?”

“Just do what I say and go with the flow.  Will you do that?”

I nodded.

“Take your shoes and socks off, and come here,” she said.  “Sit on the bed, facing me.   Now, press the bottom of your feet against mine.  Yes, just like that.   OK, extend your arms toward me so that our finger tips are touching.”

“Why do you have to be so far away?  I’m dying to kiss you.”

“No kissing,” she said.  “Now, close your eyes.  Keep them closed and take a deep breath.”

I figured I’d play along for a while, then jump her bones.  Pressing our fingertips and feet together was about the goofiest thing I’d ever done with a woman.  I figured it was Sandy’s weird idea of foreplay.

A few minutes passed.  Nothing happened.  I was getting bored.   “So when are you gonna give me some Blue Fire?” I whispered.

“You’re getting it now.  I’m Blue Fire,” she said.  “Feel the heat in your feet?”

“Yeah.  Now that you mention it, I do.”

Then something happened that took my breath away.  “Wow!   Are my feet supposed to tingle like this?”

“Oh yes,” she said.  “It starts there and moves all over your body.  Slowly, but surely.  Just let it happen.  It’s very mystical.  If it gets too intense, pull your fingers away from mine and it’ll stop.”

She was right.  I’d never felt anything like it.  After an hour of intense pleasure, I opened my eyes to see the expression on her face.  I was astonished to find Sandy’s skin had turned blue.  Not only that, her entire body was surrounded by a halo of blue flames.

My insides turned upside-down.  Excessive exposure to the color blue makes me voraciously hungry for foul things, taboo things, things never intended for human consumption.

“Sandy, you’re blue all over.”

“Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Can you make it stop?  All this blue is making me crazy.”

“Crazy is good. I hope you’re ready for more, because I’m gonna pull out all the stops.”

The blue fire that surrounded her intensified.  So did my pleasure.  And my hunger.

“Run, Sandy!” I screamed.

She didn’t listen.

I recalled my dead mother’s words when I bit deeply into Sandy’s stomach. “Chew every morsel 35 times before you swallow, Rodney.  It helps digestion.”

“I will, Mommy,” I muttered.

When my count reached 35, I swallowed a big chunk of Sandy’s luscious, blue intestines.


©2006 Michael A. Kechula

Michael A. Kechula is a retired tech writer.  His fiction has won first place in seven contests and placed in six others. He’s also won Editor’s Choice awards four times. His stories have been published by 103 magazines and 30 anthologies in Australia, Canada, England, India, Scotland, and US.  He’s authored a book of flash and micro-fiction stories:  “A Full Deck of Zombies–61 Speculative Fiction Tales.”  eBook available at www.BooksForABuck.com and www.fictionwise.com. Paperback available at www.amazon.com.

THE WOODLAND RIPPER By: Nick Allen

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

There was a huge metal gate over the mouth of a cave, kept shut by an enormous padlock. But, nevertheless, desperate hands shook the gate, rattling metal against rock. Greg put out a hand to try and still the rattling, but then the screaming began; a piercing noise, almost animal in intensity. And there were the eyes, wide and white and full of fear. Greg looked on with feelings he found he didn’t fully understand because, deep inside, somewhere, he felt pleasure.

He awoke with a start, a patina of sweat covering his face. Linda stirred briefly.

“You alright Greg? Another of those dreams?”

“Just a bit of cramp love, you go to sleep.”

* * *

Greg eased his 4×4 into a space just off the dirt track behind some trees. No one used this route much since The Woodland Ripper, as the press had dubbed him, first struck five years earlier, but even so Greg and his son, Stuart, didn’t want to advertise their presence.

There had in fact been no murders for two years, yet this seemed to unsettle the locals even more, and what had once been a popular tourist spot was now largely devoid of people.

Between them they hauled from the car the supplies they’d brought, including a small tent, and hitched the stuff onto their backs. The fishing gear they had brought, as ever, lay unused on the floor of the car. It was, however, something Greg found to be a convenient decoy when his wife questioned his frequent trips with Stuart.

“Ready son?” asked Greg.

“As I’ll ever be,” replied Stuart, and the two of them began their long march into the woods.

They walked steadily for three hours until both were quite exhausted, finally stopping at a small clearing by a large rock face. It was a spot and a routine they both knew well, and while Stuart erected the tent, Greg approached the towering wall of rock. He quickly pulled back the branches and bracken they’d left there last time, revealing a massive iron barred gate that covered the mouth of a cave. Greg fished in his pocket and produced a key to the sturdy padlock that kept the gate firmly shut. Within seconds he was in the cave. It darkened towards the rear and Greg pulled out his flashlight, playing the beam around the walls and floor. Bloodstains and scratches covered the walls, and on closer examination he noticed a torn, bloodied, fingernail adhering to the wall. He knocked it with his torch and ground it under his shoe into the dirt, along with a couple of tufts of hair he spotted on the cave floor.

Tent finally up, they were sitting and eating their sandwiches when they heard female voices in the distance. Greg looked at Stuart wide-eyed, dropped to his belly and gestured for his son to do the same. Reaching into his rucksack he pulled out the binoculars they always carried, and began scanning the area.

Greg quickly picked out the source of the noise. It looked like a mother and teenage daughter out for a walk. He couldn’t believe that they were not frightened to be in the woods alone, but then heard them whistle. A huge Rottweiler bounded over to the women and gave a deep, loud bark. Immediately, Stuart flashed a glance to his dad. Greg gestured for his son to remain low to the ground then, fearing the dog could be trouble, would sense a danger humans couldn’t, reached for the large hunting knife on his belt.

They were still half a mile away though when, through the binoculars, Greg saw them and more importantly the dog, turn off and begin heading away from their camp. He relaxed, sat up, and with a relieved grin, threw his son a can of Pepsi.

By evening they had a fire lit, more for company than for warmth, but as the twilight began to turn to darkness, Greg turned to his son.

“Right Stu, it’s about time we moved, come on.”

The two of them got up and walked to the cave. Stuart stepped inside and Greg slammed the gate shut behind him, snapping the heavy padlock into place, before walking back to the tent.

The moon was full and bright and he knew the howls, the screaming and banging, would begin soon as Stuart’s body began to change, but felt reassured that, at least while he was there to look after things, no one else would be killed by The Woodland Ripper.

©2009 Nick Allen

Nick is a Mental Health Nurse from Manchester, England.  He has short fiction published by a variety of ezines including Bewildering Stories, Ink Sweat and Tears, Flask and Pen and The Linnet’s Wing.  When not writing Nick enjoys Scrabble, Poker and Hiking.