Chapter Twenty-Seven
As soon as night had fallen, I hung a poster board in the front window that read “Gas Station closed for private event.” It seemed highly unlikely that we’d have to worry about any customers, but I wanted Jerry to see the sign and feel special.
I almost forgot to wrap my present, but Rosa came through and helped at the last second. And by helped, I of course mean she did it all by herself. His gift was a three-month supply of nicotine gum. I promise, I’m not just the worst gift-giver in the world; that was actually what he asked for. He’d been trying to quit smoking ever since the bounty hunters beat some humility into him. It ended up being the last thing I purchased before the bank shut down my overdrawn debit card, but I didn’t care. It was a worthwhile investment if it meant Jerry would be stealing less of our tobacco products. (Also, Jerry’s health or something.)
As she wrapped the present, I tried to make small talk. “Hey Rosa?”
“Yeah?”
“Weird question: Is there anyone else in your family named ‘Rosa’?”
“Yeah. My grandma.”
“Paternal or maternal?”
She looked up from the present with an inquisitive eyebrow raise. “Why?”
“No reason. Just curious.”
O’Brien knocked and walked through the door, wearing a black dress with a purse on one shoulder. I came around to greet her and found myself at a complete loss for words. The best I could muster was a simple, “Hey.”
Her hair was down around her shoulders, and she was wearing a pair of dangly earrings. She looked good, if not a little out of place. It was strange. I’d literally never seen her in a dress before, and until that point, I didn’t even know she owned any jewelry.
She smiled back at me and said, “Hey yourself, stranger. Do you have a place for this?”
She was referring to the six-pack of beer she’d brought and wrapped in ribbon with a bow on top. Jerry was going to love it. He loves anything with a bow on top.
I reached to take the drinks, but O’Brien mistook my gesture as me going in for a hug. She leaned in and wrapped an arm around me and squeezed. I went with it and hugged her back. Then she said, “I missed you,” before letting go.
I didn’t know how to react, but I’m sure laughing nervously and saying “Thanks” probably wasn’t the right thing to do. Still, that’s what my brain decided on.
She laughed back and said, “It’s been so long, I forget how weird you are.” Then she brushed past me to say hi to Rosa, and I caught myself smiling and thinking how nice it was to finally have everyone back together in one place…
...but then another thought struck me…
Isn’t it weird how O’Brien is dressed?
Isn’t it a little out of character for her to be so relaxed right now?
And where has she been, anyway?
Does any of this make sense?
Maybe something’s wrong here. It’s been a while since the last attack. My guard is down. The store is technically closed so there’s not even a good chance of a random passerby stopping through and interrupting.
Maybe things are seeming a little too good to be true because they are.
Maybe they’re both changed. Replaced by those things. And now I’m a sitting duck. Outnumbered and ill-prepared for a fight.
O’Brien popped open a beer and handed it to Rosa, and I snapped out of it. My senses came back to me all at once and I had to laugh.
Of course they haven’t been replaced. If they had, I’d be dead by now, and they’d be fighting over my delicious blood. No, I was right to be cautious, but this was my paranoia attempting to take the wheel again.
We all took seats around the folding table I’d placed in the center of the gas station. A brand-new pack of playing cards and poker chips were already set up in the middle, and we went ahead and dealt a few hands to get warmed up before the guest of honor arrived.
Except he never did.
Our collective mood went from excited to confused to nervous to worried in the span of an hour.
I tried to keep from freaking out, telling myself that Jerry was probably just pregaming at his place. No reason to panic. Worst case scenario, maybe the bounty hunters came back for him. I knew we should have installed a tracking device on him when we had the chance!
All of our calls went straight to voicemail, and soon O’Brien announced that she was leaving to check on him. She opened her purse and pulled out a handgun. At this point I didn’t even flinch. Of course she brought a firearm with her to a birthday party. But then she handed it to me and said, “Take this. I’ve got more in the car. If anything happens before I return, shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Amy, I really don’t think you should leave me with a gun.”
“It’s okay. I’ll be right back. Stay by the phone just in case.”
She started for the door, but before she reached it, somebody else opened it from the other side.
It was nothing short of a miracle that I didn’t drop the gun on the ground. I could feel the blood drain from my face and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
No way. No fucking way. It can’t be her.
“Hey y’all!” she said with a big grin as she walked through the door. “Sorry I’m late. Is Jear-bear already drunk? Because if not, I brought something to take care of that.”
O’Brien eyed her suspiciously as she walked past and put a bottle of scotch on the counter next to the cake. “And who exactly are you supposed to be?”
She turned and sized up O’Brien. “I’m Calista. And you must be Amelia, right? Or do you prefer O’Brien?”
“O’Brien’s fine,” she answered.
“Jerry’s told me a lot about you.” She flashed me a look next, then said “Hi, Jack. Good to see you again.”
I was still trying to wrap my mind around this. As soon as the ability to breathe returned, I attempted to speak. All I could get out was, “What are you doing here?”
She laughed, then closed the distance to me. I almost put a bullet in her right then, but decided to hold off until I knew what the hell was going on. She threw both arms around me and squeezed me into a hug, whispering softly into my ear, “If you try anything, I’ll kill them first.” When she released me, she looked into my eyes and said loud enough for everyone to hear, “You and your funny brain. Don’t you remember inviting me? I was the first one to RSVP.”
This was crazy. How was this happening? How was I the only one that recognized her? I looked over at the bulletin board by the coffee machines to see if her missing-person picture was still visible, but then I remembered that it hadn’t been there in months. We took it down shortly after they found her body. But here she was, alive and well.
“Calista” wasn’t Calista. Sure, she’d cut her hair into a pixie cut and dyed it jet black, but I knew who this was. Well, no, that’s not true. I had no idea who this was, but I did know whose body she was using. The woman standing here in front of me was an exact physical copy of my late friend Vanessa.
Rosa, completely unaware of the present danger, walked up to us and introduced herself. “Hi, I’m Rosa. Nice to meet you.”
Vanessa, or Calista, or whatever the hell it was looked down at her and said, “Hi. Calista.” She reached out and shook her hand awkwardly, then added, “Do you work here too?”
“Um, no, not anymore. I’m friends with Jerry.”
“Oh,” she replied, “He never mentioned you.” Then, with a big, silly laugh, she added, “He probably didn’t want to make me jealous. You know how he is, Jack.” She nudged me in my chest, right on top of my claw wounds. Even though it was just a gentle pat, it felt like I’d been hit with a sledgehammer. Her tiny hand packed one hell of a punch.
“Hang on,” O’Brien said, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
She was catching on. Calista grabbed one of the beers from the pack O’Brien had brought for Jerry and twisted it open, saying, “You probably knew my cousin, Vanessa Riggin. I get that a lot around here.”
O’Brien looked at me as I mouthed the words “Casper Van Dien” and tried my damnedest to send a telepathic message to O’Brien. WARNING! WARNING! RED ALERT! This is not Calista! Hell, this probably isn’t even human! I need help! Go get your other guns!
I couldn’t tell if O’Brien saw my signal or not, but I knew she knew something wasn’t right. Calista took a spot at the folding table and sipped her beer. Rosa took a seat right next to her and asked, “How do you and Jerry know each other?”
Calista said with a proud smile, “He’s my boyfriend.” A loud country song started playing out of nowhere, and this time I did flinch. Calista reached into her jeans and pulled out the source of the music—her cell phone. “Speak of the devil. That’s him right now. If you’ll excuse me—” She stood up and walked towards the exit, answering with a “Hey sexy,” before opening the door and heading outside.
A beat passed before Rosa said, “Well… she seems nice.”
O’Brien snapped me out of my daze. “Hey Sleepy, you alright? You don’t look so hot.”
Tell them, Jack. Tell them right now.
“I—” What are you waiting for?! “—I’ll be right back.” I stuffed the gun into my inside jacket pocket, then went outside.
The cold air hit me hard, sending a shiver down my spine. At least, I think it was the cold. I wasn’t sure what I was doing or what I was going to say, but I knew one thing—I needed to get her alone and away from the others. I scanned the front of the store and the parking lot, but somehow, she had vanished.
“Hey there, handsome.”
Oh shit!
I spun around to see that she was standing right behind me.
“What do you want!?” I yelled.
“Easy, keep your voice down. I’d hate for O’Brien to come out here and get hurt just because you got your panties in a twist.”
“What do you want!?” I whisper-screamed.
“That’s better.” She put a cigarette to her lips and lit it. After a drag, she offered it to me.
“No, I’m good.”
“Life’s too short to miss out on the little pleasures. I do hope you’ve got some vices, Jack.” She turned and looked over her shoulder at the gas station. Inside the store, O’Brien and Rosa were talking, and I caught them looking at us through the window. Calista turned back to me with that evil smile on her lips. “Remind me again: which one of them were you fucking? I can’t keep up.”
“Where’s Jerry?”
“In a better place,” she answered, flicking her half-spent cigarette into the lot. “Now why don’t we go back inside? I’m freezing my tits off out here.” She turned to head in, but I caught her by the arm. She looked back at me with hate in her eyes. “Take your goddamned hand off of me before I take it off for you.”
I released my grip, “You never answered me. What do you want?”
“You really are slow, aren’t you? Isn’t it obvious? We want the gas station.”
“Why?”
“None of your business.”
“Play me for it.”
She squinted at me. “What?”
“Play me for the gas station. We’re already set up for a game of poker. If you want me to sign the gas station over, let’s play for it. If you win, the gas station is yours.”
She shook her head like she couldn’t believe what I was saying. That made two of us.
“You’re serious?”
“Yes. But if I win, you tell Doctor Asshole to go fuck himself back to hell and leave me and my friends alone.”
She threw up her hands, “Alright. Let’s play.”
The door opened and O’Brien stepped outside. “Everything okay, you two?”
Calista answered before I could, “Everything’s great! Jerry says he’s going to be a little late, but he wants us to get started without him.”
***
I sat across from Calista. Rosa was on my left, O’Brien on my right. Calista glared at me with Vanessa’s eyes as I shuffled the deck. Rosa tried to fill the intense silence between shuffles.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve played.”
Nobody answered. Calista studied the cards while I studied Calista.
Rosa tried again. “Quick question. How old is Jerry anyway? Does anyone know? I just grabbed a whole bunch of candles.”
I broke the deck, shuffled, broke it, shuffled. Calista began loudly tapping the table with her fingernails. She knew I was stalling. This was her way of telling me to hurry it up.
Rosa tried again. “Boy, I sure hope Jerry gets here soon. Starting to feel like a real clamboree up in here.”
I straightened the cards and got down to the rules. “The game is old-fashioned five-card draw. Nothing wild. Bet, draw, bet, showdown. Any questions?”
Calista announced, “I’d like to cut.”
“Well you can’t. You’re out of turn. Amy, would you do the honors?”
I pushed the deck in front of her. She took her time trying to decide what to say, but in the end, she kept quiet and split the deck.
I dealt five cards to everybody, then watched as Calista looked at hers. She smiled big and winked at me.
Rosa started the betting, Calista raised, O’Brien folded. I looked at my cards. I had a pair of twos and nothing else. Still, I called. Rosa asked if it meant anything for all of her cards to be the same color, and O’Brien told her to fold, which she did.
Now it was just me and Calista playing heads up. She drew one card. I threw away everything but the twos. My new cards were a two, king, and jack unsuited. I was sitting on three of a kind. Not terrible for a first hand. Calista made a large bet, and I responded by pushing the rest of my chips into the middle.
“I’m all in.”
Calista pouted. “You know it’s not going to be any fun if you’re going to play like that.”
“What can I say? I think I’ve got a winning hand.”
Calista studied my face for a moment, then she looked to Rosa, then O’Brien, then back to me.
“I think you’re bluffing.”
“Then call me and find out.”
Rosa rubbed her hands together and said, “Ooh, this is intense.”
“Fine!” said Calista. “I’ll call.”
She flipped her cards over. Two queens and two aces.
“Ha!” I yelled, flipping my own cards over. She looked at them, then laughed.
“Tough luck, Jack. You barely missed the straight.”
“What?” I looked down to see that my cards were completely different than they were just a moment ago. I had an eight, nine, ten, and two jacks. I couldn’t believe it. I screamed across the table, “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!”
“Whoa, calm down!” Calista said. “You lost fair and square. And you know what that means, right?”
She stood up and reached into the center of the table to grab the chips.
BANG!
I didn’t even have to think about it. It was the only possible choice left for me. No matter how many times I fire a gun, I will never get used to how insanely loud those things are, and by the time the ringing in my ears went away, all I could hear was screaming. Once the situational blinders wore off, I realized that the screaming was coming from Rosa.
“Jack. JACK!” O’Brien was yelling at me, too.
I took a deep breath and looked over at her. “What?”
“Put the gun down, okay? Here, hand it to me.”
I didn’t want to do that, though. Not yet. I was about to need it. They were both about to see. This thing sitting lifelessly in the chair across from me was about to come back, and we needed to be ready. Blood and brain matter dripped from the hole in the back of Calista’s head, her eyes wide open and pointed at the ceiling but seeing nothing. Any second now, she’d reconstruct and molt and then, well, then we were in for a hell of a fight.
“Jack,” O’Brien repeated as she reached out and took the gun from my hand. As I released my grip, I could see that my whole arm was shaking. That was one hell of a shot. Way more luck than skill. I hit the thing right between the eyes. And now, I knew it was going to be pissed. “Jack, LOOK AT ME!” She grabbed my face and pulled my gaze away from Calista’s body.
“What?” I asked. “She’s not really a human. She’s a monster. Watch, you’ll see!” I looked back at the body and said, “Any second now.”
My heart sank.
Oh god.
Oh god no.
Noooooooo.
She wasn’t coming back.
Rosa jumped up from her chair and ran out the front door. I got up to try and run after her, but O’Brien pushed me back into my seat and said, “Let her go, Jack.”
She was right. As usual. I needed to let Rosa get as far away from here as possible.
O’Brien shook her head and looked back at the body of the young woman I had just murdered in front of her. With O’Brien’s gun. Worst birthday party ever.
“Okay,” O’Brien said after a minute of thinking. “Here’s what we’re going to do. First, I need you to get a tarp...”