Cage of Night by Ed Gorman
Authors: Ed Gorman
Tags: Fiction, General, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Crime, Young men, Fiction / Thrillers, Murder
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stuff?"
"Pretty icky."
"Do you have any Barbara Streisand movies?"
"Huh-uh."
"Maybe there'll be something on MTV."
"Yeah, maybe."
She made popcorn and we watched MTV. It was the usual stuff. The VJ named Kennedy kept trying to make a fool of herself and pretty much succeeded; and a couple of rap songs talked about what pigs girls were and how white guys pretty much deserved to die; and then one of the MTV male-model types came on and traded a few yuks with Kennedy and pretended that he was pretty much like all the guys watching the show, except maybe for his Porsche convertible and the $10,000 worth of caps on his teeth.
After MTV there was this show called Dimension 4 , which was about all these allegedly true stories of people who have been abducted, and who have paranormal powers, and who claim they can channel the voices of people who used to live in condos in Atlantis.
I started mocking some of the guests and for the first time, Cindy got irritated with me.
"That's not very nice."
"Cindy, the guy claimed that the alien gives him extra sexual powers and that he'd like to hear from a bunch of women so he could demonstrate how good he is these days."
"So?"
"Doesn't that sound like a put-on?"
"Gee, the way you like science fiction, I'd think you'd have more of an open mind."
I saw that it really was bothering her, the way I'd made fun of the people, and then I realized that I'd slipped back into my dip-shit mode. Putting people down. Sounding like Mr. Know-It-All on the Bullwinkle show.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I really am."
"I believe in aliens," she said.
"You do?"
I couldn't help it. When she said that, my mind immediately went back to the breakdown she'd had, and the time she'd spent in the mental hospital.
"Yes, I do." She looked distant a moment, as if she was remembering something painful. "In fact, I know someone whose mind has been taken over by an alien."
"You do?"
"Yes. And you know him, too."
"I do?"
She nodded. "There's a well out in the woods."
"A well?"
"I'd like to take you there. Would you go?"
"Sure," I said. But I was thinking about her breakdown and the mental hospital again.
For a moment there, I had the suspicion that she was putting me on. Then I realized that it wasn't her style, being sly like that. For all her beauty, she was nervous a lot of the time, and spoke in a very straightforward way. The put-on wasn't part of her.
I was going to say more but that was when I saw headlights sweep the front windows, and heard a car pull into the driveway.
"My folks," I said.
She looked at the clock. "Gosh, it's after ten already."
"That's not very late."
"For you it is," she said. "You need your rest. That's the only way you're going to get better."
"I'm already better."
I tugged her face gently to mine. "Especially after tonight."
This was our first French kiss.
I wanted to start running around the room and yelling yippee the way Yosemite Sam might have but I decided that that was something only a dip-shit would do.
Instead I said, "I really like you, Cindy."
And she just looked at me and I couldn't read her.
And I was scared because I knew she could break my heart any time she wanted to, utterly destroy me. When somebody has that kind of power over you, you're a fool not to fear them in some ways.
"I really do know somebody who's being controlled by an alien," she said very softly. "When you're better, I want to take you someplace, OK?"
"I'd love to go."
I was afraid she wasn't ever going to say anything romantic back to me.
Then she smiled and said, "I really like you, too. I just wanted you to know that."
Then my folks were there, and the fun was all over.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Two nights later, we went to get a pizza, and afterward she took me out to the well.
Everything was silent except for our feet crunching through the layer of ice. The town spread out below us like a mirage on a vast white prairie. A midnight train ran the length of the distant countryside, tearing
"Pretty icky."
"Do you have any Barbara Streisand movies?"
"Huh-uh."
"Maybe there'll be something on MTV."
"Yeah, maybe."
She made popcorn and we watched MTV. It was the usual stuff. The VJ named Kennedy kept trying to make a fool of herself and pretty much succeeded; and a couple of rap songs talked about what pigs girls were and how white guys pretty much deserved to die; and then one of the MTV male-model types came on and traded a few yuks with Kennedy and pretended that he was pretty much like all the guys watching the show, except maybe for his Porsche convertible and the $10,000 worth of caps on his teeth.
After MTV there was this show called Dimension 4 , which was about all these allegedly true stories of people who have been abducted, and who have paranormal powers, and who claim they can channel the voices of people who used to live in condos in Atlantis.
I started mocking some of the guests and for the first time, Cindy got irritated with me.
"That's not very nice."
"Cindy, the guy claimed that the alien gives him extra sexual powers and that he'd like to hear from a bunch of women so he could demonstrate how good he is these days."
"So?"
"Doesn't that sound like a put-on?"
"Gee, the way you like science fiction, I'd think you'd have more of an open mind."
I saw that it really was bothering her, the way I'd made fun of the people, and then I realized that I'd slipped back into my dip-shit mode. Putting people down. Sounding like Mr. Know-It-All on the Bullwinkle show.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I really am."
"I believe in aliens," she said.
"You do?"
I couldn't help it. When she said that, my mind immediately went back to the breakdown she'd had, and the time she'd spent in the mental hospital.
"Yes, I do." She looked distant a moment, as if she was remembering something painful. "In fact, I know someone whose mind has been taken over by an alien."
"You do?"
"Yes. And you know him, too."
"I do?"
She nodded. "There's a well out in the woods."
"A well?"
"I'd like to take you there. Would you go?"
"Sure," I said. But I was thinking about her breakdown and the mental hospital again.
For a moment there, I had the suspicion that she was putting me on. Then I realized that it wasn't her style, being sly like that. For all her beauty, she was nervous a lot of the time, and spoke in a very straightforward way. The put-on wasn't part of her.
I was going to say more but that was when I saw headlights sweep the front windows, and heard a car pull into the driveway.
"My folks," I said.
She looked at the clock. "Gosh, it's after ten already."
"That's not very late."
"For you it is," she said. "You need your rest. That's the only way you're going to get better."
"I'm already better."
I tugged her face gently to mine. "Especially after tonight."
This was our first French kiss.
I wanted to start running around the room and yelling yippee the way Yosemite Sam might have but I decided that that was something only a dip-shit would do.
Instead I said, "I really like you, Cindy."
And she just looked at me and I couldn't read her.
And I was scared because I knew she could break my heart any time she wanted to, utterly destroy me. When somebody has that kind of power over you, you're a fool not to fear them in some ways.
"I really do know somebody who's being controlled by an alien," she said very softly. "When you're better, I want to take you someplace, OK?"
"I'd love to go."
I was afraid she wasn't ever going to say anything romantic back to me.
Then she smiled and said, "I really like you, too. I just wanted you to know that."
Then my folks were there, and the fun was all over.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Two nights later, we went to get a pizza, and afterward she took me out to the well.
Everything was silent except for our feet crunching through the layer of ice. The town spread out below us like a mirage on a vast white prairie. A midnight train ran the length of the distant countryside, tearing
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