Peeler Read Online Free PDF Page A

the razor blade in his pocket but he didn’t want it covered in blood when Peeler arrived. As it was, the letters on his arm barely bled but were still legible and managed to make him feel slightly better.
    The room he was in wasn’t much of an office. Certainly not what he’d pictured in his mind in the days leading up to this. Of course, this wasn’t Director Ross’ main office. That one was on the ground floor and Randy had only seen it once, on the day he’d been hired. Ross’ real office was a huge sprawling space complete with a massive oak desk, two walls of leather bound medical books, and an oriental rug that probably cost more than Randy would make in wages this year. It was as lavish as this one was stark. Here in the basement, the walls and floor were bare. There was a simple wooden desk, three chairs, and a few metal filing cabinets stacked on the wall opposite the door. This was a place for working, not for show. The Director of the asylum probably only came down here when dealing with a patient in the basement and even then, he probably met them in their own quarters. Most of the men who lived down here were far too dangerous to bring here.
    In the corner of the room was a small closet. It wasn’t good for holding much more than a few coats and maybe a broom, but today it was where Randy intended to hide out when Ross and the security guards came to unlock the door. He’d hidden inside there already for a while, until boredom had beaten his fear of being discovered and he’d ended up sitting on a comfortable padded chair at the desk. Every now and then throughout the long afternoon, someone would approach the door outside in the hallway, causing Randy’s heart to race and send him quietly scurrying into the closet again, but no one ever came inside. He was stressing himself out over nothing, but what else was new?
    Now that Lucius and Peeler were scheduled to arrive at any second, Randy headed back to the shadows of the closet again, not wanting to go through all this just to be caught at the last minute. Good thing too, as he was no sooner inside the door when he heard men’s voices approaching outside in the hall. This time, their footsteps didn’t fade away, but rather stopped on the other side of the locked office door. Holding his breath again, Randy heard a set of keys rattling around, heard the distinctive metallic sound of the lock disengaging, and before he could fully prepare himself for whatever was about to happen he was no longer alone in the Director’s office. The overhead lights clicked on and several people entered the room. Randy couldn’t see who, but he heard Lucius Barber say, “…That’s right, sir. Have him hold all my calls,” then laugh like it was the funniest thing he’d ever said. No one joked back and Randy wasn’t laughing either. He was so scared right now he was close to wetting his pants. If Lucius was wrong about Director Ross’ laissez-faire security measures for these meetings, he was in a whole heap of trouble. Forget losing his job, Randy would probably be arrested.
    How the hell did I get myself into this anyway?
Randy wondered, honestly having no idea.
All this bullshit and potential trouble just for the chance to see a lunatic who’s even more fucked up in the head than me. What possible good can come of this?
    Beyond the closet door, everything was quiet for a moment, but just as the tension was getting unbearable Randy heard a chair scrape against the tiled floor, Lucius chuckle yet again at apparently nothing, and then the office door slam shut and relocked from the outside. Did that mean Director Ross was gone already, or was he sitting at his desk just outside the closet door? Randy had no way of knowing so he stayed as quiet as possible and waited to see what happened next. Fortunately for his already shredded nerves, he didn’t have to wait long.
    Lucius yanked the closet door open seconds later, but quickly held his finger to his lips to