Sam Williams - Tales from the Swollen Corpse

“Babe, you ok?”

Erica turned and sat, looking utterly frustrated.

“Did you take the laces off all my gym shoes?”

“No sweetie, why would I do that?”

“Well they’re not here and I wanted to go to the gym. I’ll have to get some new ones on the way. There’s dinner on the stove.”

With that Erica stood up and threw a pair of sneakers into her waiting bag. She pushed past Tony who stood in the closet doorway equally puzzled by the accusation and the predicament. After Erica left for the gym, Tony grabbed a plate and sat on the couch to enjoy his dinner in front of the TV. Flipping channels, he turned the volume all the way down when he thought he heard a scratching from inside the wall behind him. Tony waited but he didn’t hear it again. He turned the sound to the TV back up and continued his dinner.

Erica got back from the gym just as Tony was washing his face. While getting ready for bed, she wrapped her arms around him and gave her best puppy dog look.

“Sorry about earlier, I was just really annoyed.”

“I can’t blame you, that’s really weird.”

They kissed to make up which led to more kissing, which they only paused to get into bed. Under the covers Erica positioned herself over Tony’s chest and moved her face to his. Just before their lips touched she hollered out and jumped off the bed taking most of the covers with her.

“Oww damn it! Something freaking bit me!”

Erica sat back on the bed and held her ankle.

“What?” Tony asked, sitting up quickly.

“Something freaking bit me, look.”

Erica held out the hand she had been holding her ankle with. There was a little smear of crimson on her fingertips.

“Damn it. Where are you, you little bastard?”

Tony scoured the pile of blankets then picked them up in a clump and shook them. Nothing came out. He looked under the bed and all around the room. When Erica asked what he was looking for he confessed that they might have a rat problem. The fact that he had kept it a secret sent her into a screaming fit. Tony tried to calm her by insisting the landlord would take care of it.

“Well I am not going to sleep here and be nibbled on all night. I am going to stay with my mother until you handle this.”

Tony had never seen Erica this upset and knew there was no use arguing with her. He helped her pack some things then drove her to her mothers. When he went to kiss her good bye she turned her face and gave him a slight pat of a hug. She then pulled out her keys and let herself inside as Tony walked back to his car.

Tony didn’t get much sleep back home. The little he did was filled with dreams of thousands of tiny sharp toed feet scurrying across his bare flesh. He got up with the sun. Dragging himself out of bed, he called the landlord who assured him the exterminator would be out that day. Just as he hung up the phone, it rang; it was Erica. She said she had forgotten her MP3 player and needed it for her spin class. Tony asked if she could come by in the evening so maybe they could get some dinner and talk about things. She told him, in a tone that kept him guessing as to her mood, that she’d think about it.

At the office, the day went by fast. About noon, Tony got a call from Mr. Miller the landlord, telling him they didn’t find any traces of rats or mice but they left glue traps to be sure. Tony wasn’t sure if it was going to be enough to make Erica feel safe so he stopped by the hardware store on the way home and picked up poison and a couple more styles of traps.

When he got to his door, he found it unlocked. Inside he put the bag from the hardware store on the counter and yelled for Erica, receiving no reply. The kitchen and bedroom lights were on but there was no trace of Erica or anything missing.

Tony picked up the phone off the kitchen counter and called Erica. A faint pulsing buzz that coincided with the ringing on the phone line emanated from the coat closet. Tony wondered why she would leave her cell in the closet and opened the door. First, an odd odor told him something was wrong before his brain registered the feet and legs protruding from the darkness of the closet floor.

“Erica… sweetie?”

Tony bent down. Erica’s skin was ice cold. He gently pulled her torso out of the dark depth of closet into the light. He covered his mouth when he saw the look of horror frozen on her face and her open but lifeless eyes. The little he moved her lifted her blouse, exposing her bloody belly. A few centimeters above her bellybutton was a large hole about the size of a child’s fist. Tony couldn’t help but think it looked like something had burrowed into her.

He stood up- banging his head on the closet shelf. Tony watched as the little empty glass box fell to the ground breaking off a piece of glass that was already partly detached and hanging off to the side.

“What the f… Ahhhh!”

The steel blade of a kitchen paring knife sliced Tony’s left Achilles tendon. A sharp pain shot through the back of his foot and leg. He lost his balance and fell backwards, hitting his head on the granite countertop on the way down.

Tony woke to an awful burning on his chest and stomach. He could tell he was lying on the floor. He tried to move his hands and feet but they were securely tied and splayed out. He looked down to see his work shirt unbuttoned, his under shirt pulled up, and a large patch of his skin removed. He pulled against what he realized was the missing shoelaces and began to yell.

He fell silent with astonishment when he saw a tiny figure climb onto his torso. It was a little naked man no bigger than Tony’s thumb. He moved peculiar and slow and looked almost aboriginal. The little man’s hair and skin didn’t seem to match, like a patchwork doll. His mouth was bloody and face incomplete, he was missing something; his eyes.

The little man slowly lumbered to Tony’s face. Tony closed his eyes as the man climbed over Tony’s chin. When he felt the tiny fingers forcing his eyelids open, Tony began to scream again and then louder still when the microscopic fingernails penetrated the soft tissue of his retinas.

Hugging William, his mom told him how she appreciated him coming out to his grandpa’s farm. She had brought him out to stay for the week.

I wish grandpa did.” William replied with a tinge of sarcasm.

Holding him at arm’s length she looked at William “He may not show it but I know he does.” She said with a somber smile.

Letting go, she turned to walk towards the car. “I will be back to pick you up next Sunday around six.” She hollered without turning around.

“If you remember.” He whispered to himself. She gave William a little wave then jumped into the old station wagon. William stood feeling marooned as he watched his mom’s taillights disappear in the dust.

His Grandfather was at “The Pigs Ear”, the only bar in town. He was a man of routines and days were ended with “the boys” down at “The Piggy” (as locals lovingly called it). William’s mom had given him a key to the old place before they left. She kept a spare key in case of emergencies. She had also laid down grandpa’s house rules. This left William less than enthusiastic about the week.

The outside had looked a bit rundown but somewhat welcoming. Inside of the house was a different story. The downstairs living room was dark and shadowy. A pungent smell hung in the air. The smell was like dust and what William could only accredit to “old person”. The stairway wall was filled with picture frames. Some pictures were of familiar faces but a lot were much older. William thought the really old ones were creepy. He wondered why no one seemed to smile back then.

Upstairs was brighter; the old curtains covered everything in a soft yellow light. William unpacked his things neatly in the guestroom’s chest of drawers. He moped while thinking about his mom’s instructions. She had repeatedly said that grandpa liked things in their place. He picked up an old picture frame. It had sat on an antique corn crate that served as the bedside table. It was a picture of him standing with his gramps holding a fishing pole. He couldn’t have been more than five and was smiling ear to ear. He put the frame back, thinking it had been a long time since he smiled like that.