The Vivisectionist Read Online Free PDF Page A

in the thick bushes. He recognized the scene—it felt like he was watching himself from behind as he fell from the garage loft. All that was left of Ben was his legs at waist-height, and they were slipping away. Jack threw himself forward and grabbed for Ben’s shoe. He knew that if the quarry were on the other side of this bush, Ben could be falling into a deep pit.
    Jack managed to get a handful of shoe, with his fingers hooked in next to Ben’s ankle, but Ben’s momentum carried them both forward. Digging in his knees, Jack stopped himself and Ben’s shoe popped off in his hand.
    “Ben!” Jack screamed as he thrust his face through the bushes.
    “Hey, what are you thinking?” asked Ben—inches from his face.
    “Oh man, I thought you fell.”
    “I was going to, until you stole my shoe,” replied Ben.
    Ben helped Jack through the bushes where he could see that they were on the lip of a small sand pit. Ben grabbed his shoe from Jack and sat down to put it back on.
    “I think there’s a path over there,” Ben nodded towards the far side of the pit.
    They made their way around the sand and found a four-wheeler path that led through a brief stretch of woods before opening up to a large dug-out area. They carefully slid down the side, to the bottom of the quarry. Four-wheeler tracks all around them suggested the pit had heavy recreational use now. They explored the different areas and worked their way around to a flat rock next to a big pool of water. The water was a strange shade of blue-green.
    Protected from the wind, it was quickly becoming very hot on the rock. The boys took off their shoes and socks and dangled their feet in the cool water. They balled up their shirts, and leaned back on the hot rock, using their shirts as pillows as they laid in the sun.
    “Do you come over here much?” asked Ben.
    “Nope, not very often. My friend Mark showed it to me one time. His dad used to work for the sand and gravel place.”
    “Jeez, I’d be down here all the time, this place is neat,” said Ben.
    “Well we haven’t really had the chance. I mean, I’ve only lived here a couple of years, and that stuff with that Vigue kid. I couldn’t even leave the house for like two months,” said Jack.
    “Yeah, I know what you mean. I had to go everywhere with my brother. Doesn’t that kid live right near you?”
    “Well, he 
did
. Just a couple houses away,” replied Jack. “My dad used to do some stuff with his dad, but not anymore. Now that guy is really angry all the time.”
    “How old is he—the kid I mean?” asked Ben.
    “I don’t know, maybe six or something. He was just a little kid,” Jack said and paused, then asked “Hey, what do you think got into our food last night?”
    “You know, I’ve been thinking about that a lot, and I think there’s only one answer… The 
ghost of Gabe Vigue,
” Ben laughed.
    “Yeah, real funny,” said Jack.
    “Wow, lighten up already.”
    “Seriously though—that was something big that took down that cooler,” said Jack.
    “Probably just a raccoon or something,” replied Ben.
    “Have you ever heard of a raccoon figuring out how to break into a food stash hung fifteen feet up?” asked Jack. “How did it know to chew that rope?”
    “We’re not talking about any old raccoon here, dude. If you haven’t noticed, that’s one nice neighborhood you live in. You probably have some well-educated animals patrolling those yards,” joked Ben.
    They laid in the sun for several minutes without talking.
    “You know, I’m starting to get hungry—maybe we should get out moving,” said Ben.
    “Yeah, let’s get wet first,” replied Jack.
    They deemed the water too cold for full immersion, but decided to dip their heads and splashed around a bit before heading back to the path. On the way out of the pit they found a proper trail back to the power lines and marked it with their swiss army knives—peeling a small amount of bark from selected trees.
    The trip