within the trailer.
He ran out and grabbed the syringe
before diving past the counter. Danforth fired and blood erupted from Salvo’s
leg. He slid leaving a bloody smear across the linoleum.
Loriei felt gravity go. She lifted
off the floor. The recliner spun in the air. Salvo and Danforth lifted off the
floor. Blood ribboned out from the wound on Salvo’s leg in a manner that was
almost beautiful. The television and cabinet pulled against their bungee cords,
but held to the hooks screwed into the floor. One crushed beer can floated up
from behind the cabinet.
Salvo kicked against the chained
refrigerator with his good leg. Glass jars jostled against one another inside.
He held out the syringe as he floated across above the counter. Salvo swept
envelopes and coupon flyers out of his path in the air.
Danforth raised the gun and fired.
His body rocked backward punching a hole in the wood paneling and he grunted.
Salvo took the shot to the head blasting matter out the back of his skull
through the air. A giant louse crawled out of the hole in the cap before white
light engulfed Salvo and the creature.
Loriei pulled off her wrist band
to buy herself time even if she was shot.
Dark ash floated out where Salvo
had been. The syringe was gone with him.
Loriei kicked off the recliner and
sailed toward Danforth. She held out the canister and he brought up the gun.
She braced herself for the shot and concentrated on planting the louse anyway.
The gun clicked empty. She reached for his scalp and sprayed the canister. The
louse was now on Danforth’s scalp.
Danforth immediately put his hand
on his head, searching for anything extraordinary, but found nothing.
Loriei heard the violin note
again. Through the pain, she listened for the train, but then realized it was
the trailer pulling against the chains.
The metal chains on the trailer
snapped vibrated through the entire structure. The trailer tipped up onto its
end and Danforth lost his grip on her and the gun.
She saw him rub his head near the
faded, purple spot. The drawers opened and utensils poured out into the air.
The television broke loose with the bungies which slingshot across the room.
A plastic kennel with the dog
whimpering inside floated past her. Danforth grabbed the kennel and clutched it
to his body.
A velvet picture of an elephant
tumbled past her from the back room and scattered the floating utensils. A
model train drifted by her in pieces. Loriei was getting weaker. She let the
canister go.
She saw the rubber mask that had
hidden her face on their last visit. It stared at her with empty eyes as it
drifted through Salvo’s ashes.
Then for the first time in her
life, she felt the itch on her head subsiding. The plan worked and the mutated lice
were gone. There was no tingling in her head or interference in her thoughts. She
felt as if her eyes were suddenly uncovered. There was a realization of being
awakened, a happiness of being alive. A sentiment of love inundated her. Love
for everything around her. She closed her eyes, in an attempt to keep this
feeling for a few more seconds.
But she had a job to finish.
Loriei put the wristband back on.
She said, “Sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused.”
She pulled the snap cord and was
surrounded by light.
Brady Danforth clutched the kennel
to his chest and kept whispering. “It’s going to be alright … It’s going to be
alright … It’s going to be alright …”
He wasn’t sure if he was talking
to the dog or himself.
The canister floated past him and
he saw the lit display read: One live specimen.
“What specimen?” He whispered
through the floating debris.
A massive pine tree slammed
through the wall crumpling the trailer.
He held on as the trailer impacted
the ground again and fell back level with the tree speared through the side. As
he floated back to the floor objects fell around him. An empty beer can rolled
and stopped close to him. He whispered. “Don’t start drinking