Spookshow Read online

  SPOOKSHOW

  A Ghost Zero Novel

  Written and Illustrated by

  DAVE FLORA

  COPYRIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2014 by David flora

  All rights reserved.

  Cover illustration: Dave Flora

  Cover design: Anthony Schiavino

  V1.1

  For Ann, who always inspires me to keep doing crazy things.

  Contents

  SPOOKSHOW

  COPYRIGHT

  Chapter 1: Blackout

  Chapter 2: Cat and Mouse

  Chapter 3: Home

  Chapter 4: With this Ring

  Chapter 5: Goodbye

  Chapter 6: Haunted House

  Chapter 7: Safe-house

  Chapter 8: Ghost Zero

  Chapter 9: The Car

  Chapter 10: Hunted

  Chapter 11: Emil Zorbra

  Chapter 12: Traitor

  Chapter 13: Friends and Enemies

  Chapter 14: Past Midnight

  Chapter 15: Spookshow

  Chapter 16: Slaughter

  Chapter 17: The Colossal Corpse

  Chapter 18: Flight

  Chapter 19: Ghosts with Guns

  Chapter 20: The Enemy of My Enemy

  Chapter 21: Beginnings

  Acknowledgments

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Chapter 1: Blackout

  Pluto the Devil ran by me, shrieking.

  He appeared from out of nowhere, his sudden scream raising every hair I ever had, making my blood thunder like ice in my veins, his white tuxedo making him glow in the half light like something fresh from a grave. I may have yelled my surprise, but it was swallowed up by the screams being offered by hundreds of others in the musky, dark theater.

  As Pluto passed, his blurry eyes made contact with mine and he swung the decapitated head of the young girl by her blonde hair. I pushed frantically to the side, feeling the sick splat of blood across the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes and leaned down, my cheek nearly pressed up against the seat in front of me. I would have gladly crawled in a coffin to get away from the lunatic magician.

  When I realized that he had (thankfully) gone elsewhere, I raised my head to see him leap gracefully to the stage some fifteen rows of teen-filled seats in front of me. A shadow to my right slugged my arm, its knuckle biting deep.

  “Ha! Eddie, you Pansy,” the shadow said with a chuckle.

  What I imagined to be a clever retort to my buddy Todd was lost as Pluto gained the spotlight at the center of the stage.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Pluto shouted, his voice matching the fever that showed in his heavily-lidded eyes, his long butcher knife close to his face.

  “Someone is going to DIE here tonight,” sweat dripped from his nose onto his white shirt, “And it might be…..YOU!”

  With that, the spotlight vanished, plunging the theater containing 600 teenage boys and girls into absolute night. Robbed of the image of Pluto, my eyes showed me his hazy after-image and I blinked them quickly as I imagined him running down from the stage, bloody knife in hand, heading right toward my chair.

  Every other kid thought the same thing apparently, as the darkness collapsed with waves of screams that pushed into my head like a physical force. I tried to think rational thoughts, but they were carried away with the tide, and I covered my ears.

  The Blackout had arrived.

  It was the time in the hour-long Spookshow that received top billing in the lewdly illustrated, cheaply printed flyers that had appeared, nearly overnight, all over town.

  “Weird! Uncanny!! Unbelievable!!” the brochure cried, “Come, if you dare, and see Spirits Walk, Corpses Talk and Hell Open Wide at Pluto the Devil’s amazing Midnight Spookshow!”

  We were promised ghosts galore, and before kids had even managed to pull a cold breath after their first scream had died, they appeared. Flickering, corpse-green, shrouded figures took flight directly over our heads. Leering, twisted faces on disembodied heads appeared in where I assumed the aisles were, bobbing and dashing right into the face of terrified onlookers. Lightning flashed on the movie screen and thunder roared, causing entire rows to jump and yell in delight. I was distracted as some guy’s foot stepped on my leg as he apparently tried to walk over seats to get to the aisle.

  After the creep launched himself into the dark, a shimmering figure seemed to grow from the very seats around us. Up and up it grew, a skeleton cloaked in a rotting shroud, it looked down upon us with a single eye the size of my fist. Ten, fifteen, twenty feet high the thing rose before achieving its full height, flickering with a moldering, green corpse-light. It seemed to reach toward the balcony above us, the kids there erupting in a chorus of shrieks.

  Somehow, without realizing it, I was standing, staring up at the thing. My brain tried to make sense of what I was seeing, but without having much success, deserting me entirely. Then someone slammed into me, knocking me over the arm of my seat. I expected to fall into some angry kid’s lap, but I just kept falling through the satin dark for what seemed like forever before my head landed with a crack on the stained carpet of the aisle floor.

  I saw honest-to-goodness cartoon stars, shouted something crude, and cradled my head before it rebounded onto the ground. I must have bit my tongue-- the metallic taste of blood was in my mouth-- and I suddenly was aware that I could get trampled as I rolled around on the floor. I rolled to my side, but before I could get up onto my knees, a pair of hands had my shoulders and was pulling me up. It was hard to know where “up” really was at that moment, so I was glad for the help. The hand on my bare arm was warm and soft, but had a firm grip.

  “H-hey,” I muttered, my tongue feeling like it was twice its size. “Thanks for the hand u- “ was all I got out before a mouth closed on mine.

  The kiss was a hot, damp, open-mouthed kiss that flooded my head with shock and pushed away any kind of real thought. My eyes closed by instinct, and I sucked in a breath, inhaling a sweet, flowery scent mixed with sweat. I reached out and found soft, rounded shoulders under some stiff, blousy fabric.

  Now, look. I’ve been kissed before. I’m nearly seventeen for crying out loud. But I think you’d agree that any kiss delivered under such conditions would be kind of stunning. And yep, I was stunned.

  Fortunately, though my head had checked out, my body was in the game. I found myself returning the kiss, and I thought I felt a gasp for my efforts.

  I don’t know what would have happened next, because the world suddenly lit up in a pinkish glow as the stage lights pried through my eyelids. I snapped them open, and the glow turned into needles as I squinted into the face inches from my own.

  It was the head of the decapitated girl. I had seen Pluto slam the meat saw down on her neck earlier, toppling her lovely face into a basket below before snatching it up by the hair and rampaging up and down the aisles.

  But here she was, definitely not decapitated, definitely alive. She was gorgeous, with large eyes, one ice blue, one green, a pert nose and wisps of blonde curls falling down into her face. I must have looked stupid squinting at her like that, but before I could say anything to that effect, she spun and ran toward the stage.

  I shouted for her to stop in my mind, but all my baffled body could manage was to raise a hand and say “Whu?”

  Pluto was on stage again, smiling and raising his arms to the crowd.

  “Thank you for your patronage tonight,” he said loudly in a clipped, urban accent. “Enjoy the feature films that follow, and remember to tell your friends about Pluto’s M
idnight Spookshow, playing here tomorrow night…..at midnight!”

  With a flourish of his crimson cape he exited though the curtains on the left of the stage and the movie screen flared into life with the intro credits for ‘Things Happen at Night’, the first of two films of the evening. The noisy crowd was already settling down into a murmur, and popcorn flew down onto us from the balcony above.

  “That girl,” I sputtered to Todd, who had appeared at my side. “Did you see that girl?”

  “Yeah, Romeo, I saw,” he grinned. “C’mon, let’s blow out of here before those lame movies start. The REAL show is over!”

  I was more interested in the girl than the movie, but as she was nowhere in sight, I let Todd lead me by the arm through the lobby and into the warm, night air.

  Chapter 2: Cat and Mouse

  Originally, I had intended to stay and watch the movies, but now, my head was mush. Todd pulled me through the crowd of teenagers that still filled up the area underneath the Palace Theater’s blazing marquee. I could swear I still felt the heat of the mystery girl’s lips. Who was she? Why did she kiss me?

  I must have said it out loud, because Todd ran his hand over his curly, cow-brown hair and grinned.

  “I figure she must have been some kinda half-dumb circus sideshow to kiss the likes of you, Eddie.” I slugged him in the shoulder, and he staggered with a belly laugh so contagious that I found myself laughing too. Todd was great for that, for pulling me out of my moods.

  We walked out into the street in front of the Palace, the rest of the brick storefronts up and down 3rd street dark and empty like sleeping faces. A summer shower must have washed up the valley while we were inside. The air was thick with the damp smell of night sky, and the kids threw dancing reflections in the scattered puddles. Standing away from the crowd changed things somehow…sobered my head as my thoughts finally had room to breathe. I thought about the blonde girl’s eyes again.

  “Why did she kiss me like that,” I wondered aloud. “Why me?”

  I looked up at the words on the marquee as a cool breeze spit tiny raindrops on my neck. Friday Midnight in Person on Stage, Pluto the Devil and his Den of Living Nightmares!

  “Maybe she’s the ‘Living Nightmare’ part,” Todd shrugged.

  “Yeah,” I sighed. “But no one does that without a reason. I’m gonna find out what it was.” I started walking, angling around the crowd and the few city cops, moving toward the alley along the left side of the theater. It had to have a back door, or something. Now that the spook show was over, things would be quieter back stage, and I might have a shot at seeing her.

  “Crap, Eddie,” Todd whispered as we entered the shadow of the cracked, trashy alleyway. “Don’t take too long at this. We’re gonna miss our ride back home.”

  The walls seemed closer together than they looked from outside the alley, almost like they were leaning in to cut out any stars that flickered through the clouds overhead.

  “Who’s being a pansy now, wise guy,” I said over my shoulder. I thought I could make out the shadow of a doorway in the right wall. There were lots of shadows, though. Definitely one more than there should have been. A large one detached itself from the rough brick and threw an empty beer bottle against the alley wall. I froze where I stood, my foot standing in a dirty puddle of muck.

  “Hey. Asshole”, the shadow said. I could just make out a blonde flattop haircut, but the face was in shadow. He was definitely taller and thicker than I was.

  “You lookin’ for someone, shithead?” He took a step closer. “You made a mistake kissin’ that girl, pal. That’s gonna cost ya.”

  Now, I’ve been in a couple of fights. I work on my uncle’s farm, and I’m in pretty good shape, so I can hold my own okay. If we were going to have to do this though, I wanted some room to maneuver. Here, that big creep could get some good shots in. I backed up into Todd.

  “Back the hell up,” I hissed over my shoulder. “Don’t let him-“

  Then, I was on my knees, broken glass and sharp pebbles biting into my palms as I tried to keep my face out of the alley slime. The entire left side of my face was on fire, feeling like it had been knocked about a half an inch toward the middle. I knew I should have been doing something, but I seemed to be most concerned with getting both eyes to focus on the same spot.

  “Faggot,” spat the boy as he sneered down at me. He grunted and something thudded into my chest, picking me off the concrete and rolling me over in the rotted food and wet paper. I stretched for the next breath, but my chest was made of stone, and I just lay there making gulping sounds.

  Todd yelled something and leapt over where I was lying, plowing into the older boy’s fat stomach. He staggered back, used one hand to catch himself against the alley wall and the other to yank Todd away by his hair. It must have hurt like hell, but Todd punched anyway, coming close enough to the crotch to make the boy twist to the side.

  I still couldn’t breathe, but the fury of seeing my friend get yanked around like that propelled me from the alley floor. His head turned toward me with a look of alarm just before my left hand plowed into his nose. I could feel a popping snap in my fist that I wasn’t sure came from my hand or his nose, but it made him let go of Todd. He stumbled and fell back on his ass, sending a stack of cardboard boxes and bottles clattering to the floor.

  “Hey,” a deep voice from behind us barked, “You kids!”

  I got my first good breath and pulled Todd up off the bricks. We both turned and saw the figure of a police officer standing at the end of the alleyway, half-lit by the lights from the front of the theater. I wasn’t sure how well he could see, but I sure didn’t want to wait around for him to recognize us.

  “Holy crap,” I croaked, startled at how my voice sounded. “C’mon, Todd. Let’s get the hell out of here!”

  We flopped and floundered through the trash and shadow, past the still-sitting kid and out the far end of the alley in back of the Palace. There was only one light here, a lone, shaded lamp buzzing on a pole, but we could make out a narrow street running left and right. We skidded to the left and scrambled over a short, plank fence and through a weedy lot before reaching 2nd street. Still buzzing with adrenaline, we shot down the street and ducked into another alley to rest.

  “Huh-hunh,” Todd panted, bending over with his hands on his knees. I gulped air, feeling way too hot. Spit dripped from my mouth, and when I closed it, I noticed that my upper lip was swollen hard like a rock and twice its size.

  I wiped my nose on my arm and leaned back against the dark brick as Todd did the same, enjoying the coolness through the back of my t-shirt. We both looked out toward the street, expecting to hear sirens and yells, but none came. When I looked back at Todd he was breathing hard with a grin slicing across his face.

  “Jesus, you look like shit.”

  It hurt when I smiled back, and then we laughed so much we couldn’t breathe.

  ***

  We managed to circle back around, close enough to the theater crowd that we could get the attention of some older boy named Foudray who lived near Todd. He said we could catch a ride back with him and his friends in his dad’s Ford flat-head. We were pretty eager to leave, and Foudray’s friends were getting bored, so before long, we hopped in the back of the light blue truck and had soon left the dark town behind us.

  Todd leaned his back against the rear of the cab, while I sat on the right wheel-well. Bits of straw from the truck bed whirled through the cyclone of air, causing us to squint, but the cool night air blasting by us felt great. We hurtled along the narrow, dark roads, the occasional light illuminating the screen door of an empty store or grey barn doors shuttered tight. We didn’t say much for a long time, just enjoying being free in the night. It was like we were the only ones left, like the whole world belonged to us. My lip still hurt, sure, but our escape from the bully and the cop and the night ride through the moist, warm country air made it all seem worth it.

  I closed my eyes, feeling the wind slip by,
hearing the pockets of chirping crickets fly by as we passed a thicket or pond, like I didn’t have a care in the world.

  When I opened them, Todd was over on my side of the truck, leaning in close, his brown hair whipped into a huge, ridiculous mess. His eyes were serious, however.

  “Hey, Eddie,” he shouted over the wind, “I’ve made up my mind. I’m gonna do it.”

  “Do what?” I asked, but I already knew. He’d been talking about it for weeks.

  “I’m going to quit high school and join up. Enlist.”

  “Huh,” I grunted, stalling for time. “You know, its 1948, Todd. The war is over. The good guys won.”

  He wasn’t taking my bait, however.

  “I’m serious. I’m going to join the army, learn to drive those big trucks. Then, when my tour is over, I might get a truck of my own…haul stuff from one side of the States to the other.”

  He paused. I was quiet.

  “You should join too,” he urged. “I spoke to a sergeant about it, and if we enlist together, we would get to go through boot camp together, maybe even stationed together. We’d blow this flyspeck country and see some things.”

  I looked down. I wanted to jump right into his enthusiasm, to head off into the world. I mean, we were both almost 17. Shouldn’t I be deciding what to do with my life? I’d thought about the service lots of times….My dad did his part in the war as a merchant marine. Should I do any less?

  Of course, dad hadn’t come back from one of those supply missions, sank by a German u-boat somewhere west of England, leaving mom and me alone to bury an empty coffin. Any time I mention enlisting to Ma, she freaks going into a worried, quiet spell that has so much painful silence that I just stop talking about it.

  Is it what I wanted to do? I could just stay around here and milk cows for my uncle, but I never felt like I really belonged here. Other than a couple of friends like Todd, I never really got along. Never had a steady girl, wasn’t the best in the team at sports. There was no way I was going to college. We couldn’t afford something like that, and I’d have no idea what to study, anyway.