Screamscapes: Tales of Terror by Evans Light Page A

phone!
    Before Gerard had even decided to answer, his right hand grabbed the phone, clicked the answer key, and held it up to his ear.
    A man’s voice was on the line.
    “Hello? Hello?”
    Gerard’s left hand typed again.
    Say hello or I will make you kill your children.
    “This is Gerard,” he croaked.
    “Gerard, you okay?” the voice on the phone asked. “Jerry here. Got your manuscript, and I have to say…I didn’t know you had it in you! That was a ballsy move, changing the whole story at the last minute, but you pulled it off!”
    Aimless House Publishers loved the changes, absolutely loved the book, Jerry had said; but there was a tight publishing schedule.
    The book would make it to press if all editing was complete tomorrow, ready for the printers. If he couldn’t have it ready, kiss it good-bye until this time next year – that is, if the publishing editors still loved it as much then as they did right now .
    Jerry was quite emphatic: they probably wouldn’t.
    Would a six-figure advance be enough motivation to have it done in the next twenty-four hours? They could always negotiate his asking price on the movie rights later, Jerry said.
    The real Gerard was gone by that point in the conversation; but Maazo Maazo took over for him, finalized the details, and started to work on the requested revisions.
    Sonia got home around three-thirty. She had dropped the kids off at their grandmother’s house for the afternoon, eager to resume their love-making session from earlier.
    She found Gerard at his desk in his study, where he was typing faster than she had ever seen him type before.
    She slid a single bare leg through the doorway and wiggled it seductively, calling to him.
    “Hey there, loverboy,” she cooed, “the kids are at grandma’s. Can I interest you in, oh, I don’t know – a little fucking-my-brains out? Please?”
    He ignored her. She stuck her head into the study.
    “Pretty please? I really, really need you to do me like you did before,” she pleaded.
    Gerard continued typing. “Get the fuck out,” he said flatly.
    “But Gerard, I need you so bad!” she begged.
    Gerard’s body stopped typing and turned to face her. His eyes were black and full of anger.
    She stepped back, startled.
    “Seriously, Sonia, get out,” he demanded in a tone she had never heard. “Get out of the house and leave me alone. Stop wasting my time and let me finish writing my goddamn book.”
    Gerard’s body turned away from her and began typing again.
    She started to walk away, but reconsidered. She crossed her arms in defiance and dropped the sexy voice.
    “You are not going to talk to me that way, do you understand?” she said.
    “Get out,” he repeated.
    “I will destroy that computer and your stupid-ass book if you say that to me one more time. Say it - I dare you ,” she hissed.
    Gerard turned and hurled his cell phone at her with all his might. It missed her head by only inches and shattered against the wall, broken pieces clattering to the floor.
    That was the final straw. She was pissed.
    “You want to play rough?” she screamed, and charged him. She grabbed him by the shoulder and whipped him around.
    “Who do you think you are, you limp-dick, worthless fuck? The ride you gave me today is the only - and I do mean only - thing you’ve done right in your entire pointless life. You can get out of my house and out of my li…”
    Her rant cut off mid-sentence. In a single fluid motion, Gerard jumped to his feet, grabbed her by the throat, and slammed her head onto the desk. The computer monitor shook as she struggled and kicked, trying to free herself from his iron grip.
    He picked her head up and slammed it down again, hard, squeezing her throat harder. Her eyes bulged grotesquely as she strained to breathe.
    Gerard’s black eyes settled on the decorative dip pen, the gift she had given him; it lay on the desk next to her swollen face. He scooped it up and stabbed the gold-plated nib deep into