This is most likely the only place in my collection of cavernettes
that will be dark and gloomy.
That just happens to be the way the story developed.
I'd like to warn you ahead of time, this is an adult story, with
adult words. With that said ...
I hope you enjoy it, and come back when the next
installment is ready!
Now, sit back, and enjoy the tale.
*Note* So that text does not fall onto border, open
your browser to it's biggest screen.
Merci looked in the mirror as she scrubbed the blood out from underneath
her
finger nails. "This is his blood..." she thought, "HIS blood!" The
satisfaction that
brought her was immense. The years that she had waited for this were
worth it. The
planning, the sneaking, all the details had finally come to a head. And
the only thing left
to do was get his blood off of her hands.
Three years earlier
Merci sat on the couch, flicking through the TV stations. Bored, she
walked over
to the video cabinet to find a good tear jerking movie. On top of it
was a picture of her
mother, Paula. For a half a second, Merci almost believed that she was
still alive, but
then the memories came back. No, Paula was gone, and now it was just
Merci and her
father, Alec.
Merci missed her mother, and she knew that her father did too. She could
see it
every time he looked at her. Merci was the spitting image of her mother.
It was as if
Paula had reached out of the grave and handed Merci all of her beauty.
Occasionally she
would feel pangs of guilt as he tried to make herself look good, knowing
the prettier she
was, the more she looked d like Paula. Alec would tell her how beautiful
she was, and look
deep into her crystal gray eyes, but Merci felt as though he was looking
straight through
her, and into the past, when he saw Paula.
Merci's thoughts were interrupted. Her father called to her from upstairs.
Merci glanced again at her mothers picture, and headed to her fathers
room. As she got
closer, she reflected on the day. Her dad had been very quiet all day,
making her feel
uncomfortable. He usually tried to make conversation all day long, causing
Merci to wish
he would just be quiet for 5 minutes. She knew what he was trying to
do, and she loved
him for it even more. He was afraid that because Merci didn't have a
mother, and he
wasn't the brief-case-in-hand type of father, that she would miss put
on something
important.
He refused to let Merci be categorized as a dysfunctional home victim.
And
Merci knew how hard her father tried to keep her ignorant of his "business,"
and she
knew so much more than he thought. But Merci continued to let him pride
himself
in believing that he was protecting her from all evil. Besides, Merci
could never imagine
having her father any other way. She always told him that she would never
trade him, if
given the chance, for any other man in the world, no matter how "normal"
they were. The
more different they were from her father, the worse they were.
In Merci's eyes, her father was her very own Superman. He knew everything
she
could possibly ask about. Alec was the type of person that held on to
knowledge for dear
life, and he shared that knowledge with her continually. He was the wisest
man Merci
believed to ever exist.
Merci stepped into her fathers room, and looked at him. His small body
sat on the
edge of the bed. She could only see the top of his peppered gray head,
as he sat ringing
his hands together. Now she knew something was wrong. She reached behind
her head,
grabbed a handful of her own hair, and proceeded to tie it up. "Yes,
daddy?"
Alec looked up at her. She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw tears in
his eyes.
"You look just like your mother." He smiled and reached for her hands.
"You shouldn't
put it back like that. The lights shine off that auburn like a ruby on
fire." He forced a
smile.
Merci held his hand. "What's the matter, daddy?" Alec turned away from
her,
and sighed. A sigh so deep, he coughed, and then he was silent. Merci
looked around the
room. The yellow glow was very calming, like being in Heavens waiting
room. Alec always
kept it immaculate, just the way Paula liked it. Merci started to remember
her mother
again, but was brought back to the present by Alec's struggled
conversation.
"You know, you haven't seen your aunt in a while." He looked at her,
and Merci
could see that he was trying to hide something from her. "What would
you say to a visit
out to Colorado? It would be on me" He handed her an airline ticket.
"You can leave
tonight. I know your car is still in the shop, so I've called a cab to
come and pick you up
at 7:30."
She looked at him blankly, "I have school tomorrow, I can't, daddy."
Alec grabbed Merci by the shoulders and sat her on his bed. He sat next
to her,
"Actually, Merci, I'm not asking you to go, I'm telling you. I've already
spoken to Anita,
and she's expecting you." He reached into his pocket, "here is some money
for you to
take." He put it in her hands. "I'll speak with you principal, and explain
to him that you
had to leave for some reason or another." Alec ran his fingers through
his hair. "I guess
it doesn't matter what I say, they won't believe a 'dope addict' anyway."
His nostrils
began to flare. "That's why I hate this place! This is nothing but a
hole in the wall! The
people here are so damm nosy! I'm sorry baby. I know what I do must be
hard on you,
but I don't know anything else. But you have to believe me when I tell
you, I never
wanted to fail you like this. I never did." His eyes fell from hers,
and he turned away.
"Daddy, you've never failed me. I love you. How could I love someone, as
much as
I love you, if they'd failed me?" She saw the tightness of his back relax.
When he
looked at her, his eyes were gentle again.
"This place is no good for you, Merci. It's a small town, full of small
minded people
who think small thoughts, and only small things could become of you here."
He held both
of her hands in his own. "I hope to God you make the right choices when
the time comes.
Don't ever do anything in vain. And never be a follower." He cleared
his throat, "you're
leader material, just like Paula. But you've got one up on her. You've
got street smarts
too. Don't let anyone pull the wool over your eyes, unless being the
fool will benefit you."
A tear fell down his cheek. "Don't forget everything that daddy has taught
you, baby.
Never." His tone of voice told Merci there was so much more to this situation
than her
merely taking a trip.
Merci took her hands from her father. She was getting nervous. "Why are
you talking like that?" she cried. She saw her fathers shock at her voice,
and she calmed
herself. She forced a smile for him and stood. "I mean, how long am I
going away? Not
forever, right? I'll be back." She felt the tears form in her eyes, "There
is still more
for you to teach me. You've still got a world full of knowledge to educate
me with, so
don't talk like that."
She reached for her father, and hugged him tightly. The tears fell from
her eyes
and she could feel the heat in her face as it turned red. Her fathers
arms around her
felt so safe. She wanted to ask him to hold her like that forever. "Daddy,
I know
there's something more going on here, so please tell me. How can I learn
if you don't
tell me? I know you're in trouble, or something." She pushed far enough
away so that
she could look in his eyes, "Don't leave me out, Daddy, please."
Alec stepped away, "I have to leave you out! You don't understand. This
is bigger
than you. This might be bigger than me. And it doesn't have anything
to do with you. I
don't want it to ever have anything to do with you!"
Merci felt her blood running faster. "It has a lot to do with me. You're
my father, my
daddy. I want to know. How do you think I'll feel, being that far away,
not knowing one
damm thing!" She looked her father in his eyes, "I know for a FACT that
I won't like it,"
she raised her voice to emphasize her point, "and I won't let you do
that to me!"
She looked at Alec, whose eyes were blank, and when he spoke, it was
just above a
whisper. "You could get hurt, baby, and you're all I have left. Please
know that I'm
sending you away from me because I love y......." His face suddenly showed
a level of fear
Merci never knew he could feel. He went to the window and moved the curtain
slightly.
"Oh, God. NO!"
The emotion in his voice scared Merci. "What?" What's the matter? Who's
here?" She had also heard the car pull into the driveway.
Alec ran to his daughter and knelt on the floor before her. "You have
got to get
out of here now." "Why," she cried, "tell me!" They both fell silent.
Someone was
pounding at the door.
"Open up Wallace. You knew I was coming!"
Alec grabbed Merci and moved her towards the closet. She started to speak,
but
he stopped her. "You stay in here, and don't make any noise." His lips
were tight against
his teeth, turning his voice into a hiss. "No matter what happens, don't
let him know you
are in here! I love you baby, more than my own life." He pushed her into
the closet.
Merci heard, and felt, the front door open and shut with great force. She
stepped
back into the closet, and looked at her father as he locked her in. She
stumbled a bit on
the junk that laid on the floor, but soon caught her bearings.
She held her breath, trying to listen to what was happening on the other
side of
the door. She could hear her fathers going through the drawers, which
frightened her.
She knew her father kept his gun in one of those drawers. He told her
where he kept it
the day he taught her to shoot it.
"I'm telling you now, " Alec screamed, "you've got one-second to get
the fuck out
of my house!"
Merci jumped when she heard the mans reply come from right inside the
room. It
obviously scared Alec also, because she heard him gasp. "And why would
I want to do
that?" The mans voice was calm and condescending, as if he were talking
to a small
child.
The feelings that rushed through Merci then were incredible. She felt
so helpless.
She knew she couldn't bang on the door and demand release, nor could
she scream. And
the worst thing of all was the fact that she couldn't see. She knew whatever
her mind
pictured would be worse than what was really happening. It had to be.
"Paul," Her fathers voice had an evil tone, "I'm only going to say this
once. Back
off! Your threats never scared me, and neither will you presence here.
You don't like who
my friends are, than I suggest you find a new line of work."
The man, Paul, began to chuckle. "You don't seem to understand, Mr. Wallace.
You
are the one that needs a new line of work. How much does snitching pay
these days
anyway?" Someone stepped across the room.
"And just what do you intend to do Paul," Alec's voice remained steady,
"chase
me away?" He laughed. "I think not. See, I don't give a damm what you
think about what
I do. I don't do jack at anyone's beckoned call, least of all yours!"
It was quiet for what
must have been a second, but to Merci, seemed like forever.
"What do you think you're going to do with the gun, Alec, shoot me?"
It was Paul's
turn to laugh. "You really don't know who you're dealing with, do you?
I'm no small show,
buddy. I got connections you couldn't even imagine. I know all about
your friends at the
police department. Seems you been spending an awful lot of time
with them, and not while you're in handcuffs either."
Merci remembered her father telling her about the
drug dealers at the school yards, and how he was helping take care of
them.
Was that what this was all about?
"I didn't think much about your new friends," Paul continued, "until
my boys
started having problems where there were none. I don't know what you're
trying to do
Wallace, but let me remind you of this...you are nothing but a small
obstacle, the kind that
I deal with all the time."
"Is that so?" Alec spoke with what seemed to be amusement. "Well, the small
obstacle just got real fucking big!"
Merci jumped when she heard the gunshot. Tears came to her eyes. The
helplessness grew until it engulfed her. Her mind raced with visions
of Paul. Was he
bigger than her father? Could her father get away from him? If only this
man knew the
person her father was, he wouldn't be here. "Please God," she thought,
"help my daddy."
Another gunshot. Merci almost choke on her own breath when something
hit the
closet with such force as to shake the floor. Her muscles tensed, and
she was sure she
would wet her pants. She leaned against the wall behind her,
and slowly lowered herself to the floor. She closed her eyes, and
begged
God to let this all be a dream."I'll slam you against more than a closet
door
Wallace, if you don't heed what I'm telling you."
Paul's voice came from right in front of the closet.
Merci opened her eyes and lifted them to where she imagined his face
to be.
There was a stream of light coming from the other side. The door had
cracked against
the weight of what she now knew to be her fathers body.
"Fuck you!" Alec's voice, still filled with contempt, spat the words
at Paul. Merci
heard her father move away from the door.
"You're fortunate that bullet caught you in the shoulder, Wallace."
Alec had been hurt. Merci held in the scream that formed, though she
didn't know
where she found the strength.
"Now, come on, man," Paul said, " I am a reasonable guy. Tell me what
the pigs
know, and I'll let you go, really, I will."
"To hell with you and what you want to know!" Alec's voice cracked, and
Merci
could only guess the pain he was in.
She looked up at the ray of light, and slowly moved towards it. She moved
as slow
as she could, out of fear of being heard. Not so much by Paul, but by
her father. She
knew if her father heard her, she would either disappoint him, or weaken
him, and she
wanted to do neither.
"You're not reasonable, you're a piece of shit!" Alec had regained some
of his
stamina, because his voice was stronger now.
"How's you figure?" Paul questioned.
"First of all, ass hole," Alec emphasized the last word, "what you sell
is shit! You
cut your product with anything that looks white to a sick junkie, and
they have to do so
much of it to get high, they end up killing themselves!"Alec took a deep
breath, "And now
your selling to kids, man, KIDS! I cant let you do that. I know what
it feels like to want
to protect your child, and I'm going to help the parents in this community
do it,
regardless of your threats. What I'm doing is not killing anyone, just
saving them!"
Merci finally reached the crack in the door. It ran the width of the
door,
and if she positioned her head just right, she could see most of the
room. There was her
father, sitting on the bed, his right side covered in blood. The scream
she had held back
before came to her throat again, and again, she held it back. She had
to blink to rid her
eyes of the tears that had formed in that fraction of a second.
She could see Paul now. The sight of him made her sick. He wore a black
suit, and
could have passed for a business man if it weren't for the fact that,
instead of a tie, the
top three buttons of his shirt were opened. His neck was enveloped in
gold, and his chest
covered with hair. "Fucking ape." Merci thought.
In one hand Paul held a gun, which Merci assumed to be her fathers, for
Alec's
hands were empty. Paul's other hand held sunglasses, which he put on.
"I guess we've
reached an impasse then Wallace. What do you think I'm gonna do now?"
He waved the
gun.
"You don't scare me." Alec spat, "There has never been much that I believed
in
standing up for, but this is something I WILL NOT back away from!"
"You talk a good game considering I am the one holding the gun." Paul
stepped
closer to Alec. "Now, the only reason I haven't blow your head off is
because no ones
ever been able to say I'm not a fair guy. So, Wallace, it's your call."
Merci looked at her father, and could see the hate. His eyes were mere
slits
beneath the lines that had formed on his forehead. "You'll rot in hell
before I do
anything for you!" He spit at Paul, catching him on the chin.
Paul lifted his hand, and wiped away the saliva. "You shouldn't have
done that.
Shows complete disrespect."
Before Merci could focus her eyes on her father, Paul pulled the trigger
of the gun
once more. Merci caught sight of her father in time to see him thrown
back, bellowing in
agony. Blood poured from his knee like a faucet left running. Merci wasn't
able to hold in
the whimper that escaped her, but it went unheard over her fathers
screams.
Paul looked amused. "I told you not to push me."
Alec rocked back and forth on the bed, embracing his knee. Merci was sure
she was going to die, right there in the closet. To see her father put
through this was
almost too much for her to bare. Anger was building up inside of her
at such a rapid
speed, she was sure she would explode.
In that moment Merci knew Paul would pay for this night. By her hand
and no
other, his blood would pool around him as her fathers did now.
Not knowing where she got the strength from, Merci stood there, and continued
to
watch. She felt as though she were frozen. She felt nothing. No fear,
pain...even the
helplessness was fading. All she lived for at that moment was to watch
and remember.
The hatred that filled her scared Merci, but only for a second. Then
she became
hardened to it. She only knew that no matter if Alec lived or died, she
would make sure
Paul paid for this.
Paul reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small bottle that he held
up to the
light. "I picked this up earlier today. Sometimes I need a little something
to help relax,
ya know what I'm talking about, Wallace?" He removed the cover and held
the bottle to
his nose. "Whew, whiskey sure is strong."
Then, with a flash of movement, he threw the bottle at Alec's wounded
knee. The
bottle shattered and liquid splashed everywhere. Every scream Alec let
out was worse
than the one before.
For the first time in her life, Merci wished her father were different.
Not so
stubborn. But she knew him. If Paul said he wanted to watch her father
bleed to death,
Alec would have done his damnedest to stop the flow of blood. It was
then that Merci
knew...she would never see her father alive again.
Paul stood over Alec, watching him, a smile on his face. He reached down,
and
touched the bed. As he lifted his hand to the light he spoke. "You've
lost quite a bit of
blood. I'd say your time is running out."
Alec looked at him, his pain showing in his face. "My time HAS run out,
because
you're going to have to kill me to stop me." He lowered his head ,took
a deep breath and
when he spoke again, it sounded as if he spoke with the tongue of the
devil himself. "What
comes around goes around, and you can be sure you will get yours, you
son of a bitch."
"For a guy who thinks he's so smart, you got nothing between your ears."
Paul
pistol whipped Alec with such force Alec's body toppled off the bed and
back in front of
the closet, beyond Merci's view. As hard as she thought she had become,
tears fell from
her eyes freely now, and silent sobs convulsed her body.
Paul moved in front of the closet, and looked down. Merci ceased her
crying,
trying to focus on what was happening. Paul was kicking her father. She
could hear the
thumps, and her fathers agonized moans. Merci squeezed her eyes shut,
and covered her
ears. She didn't believe she could last much longer. She wasn't strong
enough anymore.
She felt the walls of the small room closing in on her, and the tighter
she covered
her ears, the louder everything seemed to be. A powerful nausea overcame
her, as
everything began to spin. Merci put out her hands in an attempt to keep
her balance. The
room slowed a bit, then finally stopped. For a second she didn't know
where she was. She
felt as though she had just awoke in a strange place. And for that split
second, she held
hope in her heart. Maybe it was all a bad dream.
Merci blinked her eyes, and brought them into focus. The door was still
before
her, the darkness still around her, and that small ray of light, her
only connection to her
father. She could still hear Paul kicking her father...but Alec wasn't
moaning anymore.
Merci held her breath, trying to listen more closely, and she peeked
through the
crack once more. In that instant, Paul stopped kicking. He took a step
back, corrected
his posture and adjusted his jacket.
"I warned you." Paul turned his back to the door and began to walk away.
"I'll save a spot in hell for you." Both Paul and Merci were surprised
by Alec's
voice.
Paul stopped where he stood and turned only his head. "You sure are one
helluva
trooper, aren't you, Wallace?" Paul turned the rest of his body to face
Alec. "But you're
still stupid. I almost walked out of here. You might have been saved.
Your cute little girl
could have come home, and called 9-1-1, and you would have lived to see
another day." He
reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. "But the chances
of that
happening now are nil."
Paul wiped off Alec's gun vigorously, and was then very careful not to
touch it
without the cloth. "Now I got no choice but to kill you where you lie."
He raised the gun.
"NO!" Alec bellowed. "Merci...please....." His breathing was labored,
and
shallow.
Merci listened as he pushed away from the closet. Her heart broke, knowing
what
he meant. He had accepted his fate, but still worried about what was
going to happen to
her.
"Mercy, Wallace? Now your fucking delirious." Paul lifted his gun hand
again, then
stopped once more. "Remember when you said what you were doing wasn't
killing anyone?"
He paused, as if he really expected a response. "Well, you were wrong.
It just killed
you."
The gunshot rang in Merci's ears making her wince. She closed her eyes,
and
covered her mouth. It was over. Though she had nothing else to be thankful
for, she
could be thankful for that.
Paul spoke once more before he left the house. "Humph. I was wrong,
Wallace.
You did have something between your ears."
It seemed an eternity before Merci heard the car outside drive away. Once
it did,
emotions from the pit of her soul were released. She cried, howled and
screamed as she
pushed on the door that locked her in the closet. Her breath came in
short gasps. Saliva
flew from her mouth as she screamed to her father.
"DADDY! DADDY! PLEASE GOD, DON'T TAKE MY DADDY TOO!" She brought
her hands to her face, and allowed herself the luxury of crying.
A little while later, her eyes swollen, nose stuffed and head pounding,
Merci made
herself calm down. Her breathing steadied, and for the first time in
her life, she knew
what hate tasted like. It was that hate that motivated her now.
Merci crossed her legs, and sat on the closet floor. Then she braced
her legs
against the closet, and her back against the wall. The bottom of the
door moved slightly,
and she almost decided to stop. She knew her fathers body was just on
the other side.
"In a war, if the man next to you goes down, you cant stop and care for
him. You
have to keep going, and kill the guy that got him, or be killed yourself."
Merci heard her
fathers voice. He had spoken those words to her not 2 days ago as they
discussed the
Gulf War.
Merci took a deep breath, and kicked at the door again, and again. She
kept
kicking until she was finally able to squeeze herself out between the
door and it's jamb.
She had to crawl through her fathers blood to get out, and there was
so much of it. But
she moved on.
Once free, she looked to her father. He laid there, beaten and torn,
kicked and
shot. Merci went to him, crying again, and lifted him into her arms.
He felt so warm.
Dead people were cold, not warm, like her daddy felt. She thought maybe
she could still
help him. She reached down, and tried to pick up some of his blood in
the cups of her
hands. She took what she could hold, and tried to give it to him. She
dripped it over the
gapping wounds that she could see, and anywhere else she thought it might
help. She
spoke to him.
"I'm sorry daddy, " Her body jerked with the spasms of her tears and
her words
were spaced by the pauses she took to breath. "I don't..." gasp, "know
what to do...." she
sniffeled, "for you, DADDDDDDDDYYYYYYYYY!" She screamed. "But I do ..."
breathe
again, "know this...." Merci took a deep breath, and tried to compose
herself. "What
comes around goes around, right? Well, I'll be there when it goes to
Paul, daddy."
She ran her hand across her fathers forehead, "I'll be the reason that
it does,
daddy, okay?" She hoped he could hear her.
But he didn't. Her father was dead in her arms.
©TSoares 1999
Please remember the above work is the property of
Damsel.
I ask that you not copy it without my permission.
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