It had been three months since Randy had gone to Burman. Three months since he killed his mother and the priest. Three months since he drove away as Walter watched him.

Three months and still no sign of Walter anywhere.

But the day after that night in Burman, Randy had been sitting on his couch watching TV when a special news bulletin came on, cutting his favorite show short. The anchorman was standing in front of a town that was filled with black smoke.

"This is David Crosby with Channel 5 news," the anchorman said. "Behind me, the town of Burman is burning down. Police and firefighters say that the fires began late last night. Every house and every business in Burman has burned to the ground. As of now there are no reports of survivors."

Randy knew right away that Walter was behind the fires and the deaths. He remembered the last thing he saw of Walter. Walter had held in his hand a large red container. More than likely it had been filled with gas he had used to start the blaze in the church and his mother's house.

In fact there was nothing else it could have been. Randy only hoped that Walter had burned along with the rest of the town. The only question in Randy's mind was, why? It made absolutely no sense. Why would Walter go back to the town, set the entire place on fire, and kill everybody in the town of Burman? Why would he burn the place to the ground? For what reason? There was no logic to any of it. Then again, there seemed to be no logic in anything Walter had done thus far.

Why would he just appear out of nowhere and decide to have some sort of twisted compet.i.tion with Randy? What was the point?

Randy had turned the TV off and went into the bathroom to take a shower. He pushed the questions out of his head and simply hoped he never saw Walter ever again.

That news report had taken place three months ago and since then Randy hadn't heard a word of his brother. In fact, he started to finally forget him and get his life back together again. He'd been doing well at controlling his urges, too. He hadn't killed anyone since that night with his mother and the priest.

He even got a good job working at a small plastic factory called Mellow Products. The factory was a small place near Caruthers. In fact, it was the building that had replaced the candle shop Randy had worked at so long ago. It was a well kept place, too, the floors always spotless. They even shined; something you never saw in any factory he'd ever seen.

Randy guessed that it was kept so clean because the boss was obsessive compulsive. As it was, Randy's new boss was female, and she was beautiful. Her brown curly hair was always pulled back in an extravagant pony tail that cascaded down her back towards her a.s.s. Her body itself was slender, her skin perfectly tanned. Her face was the most extravagant part about her, though. Her lips were thick and were always a bright shade of ruby red. Her face looked as if it was that of an angel. Her eyes were bright blue that shown throughout and whenever she talked she showed off a perfect pair of white, pearly teeth.

Her personality was just as charming. She seemed to always smile and laugh and she didn't mind a good joke or two unlike so many other bosses of the world. The only times she acted like a boss at all was early in the morning, late Friday afternoon, and of course, whenever something was spilt on the floor. This was the worst. One day, while a lonely little twenty-one year old kid was standing at his work station pumping plastic merchandise through his industrial machine, he accidentally spilt a cup of orange soda on the floor. It was his own stupidity. He'd just come back from his lunch break and he brought a small paper cup filled to the top with orange soda. He said later that his mouth had been terribly dry all day.

That didn't matter, though. He had carelessly sat the paper cup down next to his machine, just barely close enough for his right elbow to smack the cup and tip it over. It fell to the floor, orange soda splashing onto the machine as well as the spotless concrete floor. It happened so quickly that n.o.body was sure what had happened.

That is until she was at the poor boy, standing at his face and screaming at him for being such an idiot. It was the first time Randy had ever seen a grown man reduced to tears by the simple screams of a boss. Especially a boss lady.

Without even talking anything over, she fired him right there in front of everyone. The boy took his ap.r.o.n off and dropped it at her feet. He put his head down and started to walk away. She wasn't through yet, though. As he was walking away, she yelled to his back, "You're not going anywhere until you clean up this mess you made!"

The boy raised his head and turned around to face her. He wasn't crying any more as he put his middle finger up and aimed it at her defiantly.

"f.u.c.k you, you arrogant b.i.t.c.h!" he snapped.

That said, the boy left and was never heard from again. After that she didn't yell at all anymore. It was as if she'd learned a valuable lesson from the experience. Whatever that lesson was it was lost in her mind. Other than those parts of her when she lost her temper, she was great. Of course, almost all bosses can be great until you get on their bad side.

She, though, had seemed to lose her bad side. She was no longer always cheerful and she never told any jokes anymore. After that day her elegant face had lost its joy and gained a deep brooding sadness that seemed to overcome the workplace one person at a time. Randy felt it, as well. The place had lost its elegance and joyfulness. No more jokes were told, in fact, no one really seemed to say anything. As for her, well, she usually kept to herself and stayed in her office.

A few more months pa.s.sed and Randy had fallen back into a never-ending loop in his life. He woke up at six in the morning, took a shower, drank his coffee, ate some eggs, then left for work. He worked quietly in the a.s.sembly line putting a small piece of curved tan plastic the size of a thimble onto a larger tan rectangle piece of plastic. He stood in that line for eight hours a day, Monday through Friday doing this day after day.

After work he would get in his car and go home, take a shower, drink a beer while he ate a microwave dinner, and then go to sleep. On the weekend, he would go get groceries then off to see a movie then sleep the rest of the time.

It stayed like this for nearly a year. Then one day, he noticed something about the boss as she walked by the line inspecting everyone's work. She was getting a bulge in her belly. He looked at her for a second and thought maybe she was just gaining weight. He doubted that though and decided to follow her to her office as she had an open door policy.

He was just wondering if everything was okay with her. Her office was spotless. A perfect line of workbooks stood on a brown bookshelf against a wall. Her desk had nothing on it but a nameplate and a computer. The nameplate read Kendra Clouse. He sat down in a black chair across from her and looked at her stunning face.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I just wanted to know if everything's all right."

She hesitated, a sign that she was lying, "Of course it is, Randy. Why do you ask?"

"Because you just haven't been yourself since the day that guy yelled at you."

"I deserved to get yelled at. I fired him for a simple mistake."

"You didn't deserve to get yelled at like that. Before, when he worked here, I noticed the two of you always talking as if you were friends."

She stood up and crossed the office to the door. Closing it, she said, "We were more than friends, Randy. We were lovers."

This took Randy by surprise, "Lovers? You know how much trouble you'll get in if anyone ever found out?"

"I already am in trouble, Randy. After he left that day, Chuck called the worker's union. He told them everything."

"You're kidding me! Are you being fired?"

"No, he called them again later and told them he was lying. Of course, their still investigating me."

"Well, at least you're not being fired."

"It gets worse, Randy. A few days after calling them back he called me. He wanted to see me again. I told him no."

"Why?"

"Because I was being investigated, even though he was fired they would've known the truth and then I would be fired. A week later, I learned that Chuck had reportedly killed himself. They said he shot himself with a shotgun but I don't believe it."

"Why not?"

"Because he hated guns. He was scared of them. He would have never touched one."

Immediately Randy thought of Walter but he pushed the thought away, "Are you pregnant?" he asked matter of factly A look of surprise crossed her face. "Is it that obvious?"

"Somewhat. I noticed your belly has gotten bigger. How far along are you?"

"About four months. Chuck's the father. I don't know what I'm going to do." She started crying when she said this.

He was wondering why she was talking so easily to him. But now he knew she needed to get everything off of her chest. She would have told anyone about this, it just happened to be him who broached the subject first.

"So then, are you still being investigated if he's dead?" he asked.

"Yes. They'll probably figure it out but I'm not worried about that. I'm worried because my child won't have a father. Every child needs a father, Randy."

"You'll be okay. So will your child," he said with a smile. "You've got to have hope." Randy got up and walked to the door. "I didn't have a father and I was just fine." He was lying of course; if he'd had a father then maybe he would have been fine.

"Oh, Randy, wait," she said.

"Yes?"

"You need to keep this private, you know that right? I shouldn't have told you any of this but Ia"

"I understand, your secret's safe with me," he said and left the office, Kendra still crying slightly.

A few more months pa.s.sed and her b.u.mp got bigger. She was snappy and seemed to be hungry and in a bad mood all the time. Which was understandable, she was being investigated even worse now. A couple of men had come into the shop one day dressed in black suits. To Randy they looked like some kind of government spies or something. They stopped the work line and gathered everyone together in a back room. From there they asked everyone about Kendra. They asked about Chuck, too.

Surprisingly n.o.body said anything to get her in trouble. When Randy was asked the same questions, he had told them she was an excellent boss. He didn't say anything about her and Chuck.

He did tell them that the father of Kendra's baby, from what he'd heard, had run away with another woman. After their stupid questions were asked the men left with a look of defeat.

That following Friday, Kendra threw a party for the entire workshop. During the party, she stood up on a table and told everyone merrily, "It's a girl! I'm going to name her after my late sister Margaret and her daughter Amanda. Her name will be Margaret Amanda Clouse." Everyone clapped and smiled, enjoying the festivities.

But Randy was no longer smiling. A look of dread covered his face. He knew that name. It was the name of the mother and daughter from Caruthers.

Someone behind him asked, "So what happened to them?"

Kendra's pleasant smile faded away and she looked like she had that day in her office. "n.o.body really knows for sure. They just disappeared one night."

Someone else asked, "No one just disappears? They could have left the state without telling anybody, maybe that's what happened." The entire factory was quiet. Everyone seemed intent to solve what was going on here.

Everyone except Randy, that is, he already knew.

"Because I know my sister," Kendra said softly. "She'd never do that. A lot of her blood was found in an ally near Caruthers, the police said. Unfortunately, she was a promiscuous girl. I think she got mixed up with the wrong man."

Randy knew what had happened that night. Not everything of course, but just enough to answer a few questions.

In his head he was begging everyone around him, please don't ask about the daughter, please don't.

Thank G.o.d, no one did. Perhaps the rest of them had a heart. Randy was frightened, and angry. Even though Walter wasn't around, he could still feel his influence on everything around him. The rest of the party went on for a few more hours and into the late afternoon. Near the end of the party, Kendra had forgotten all about the past and was focusing on the future.

She only had three more months to go before she would have her baby. Randy could feel his temperature rise and fall. He was p.i.s.sed and wanted someone to pay for this. It was cruel to be reminded of someone he had wronged. It was even crueler to have to look in her face everyday. He had never noticed it before but now he saw the similarities in Kendra to the niece. Her eyes, her hair, everything about her. It all reminded him of the little girl he had killed.

He'd killed his boss's niece and he hated her for it. He hated everyone for it. Someone had to pay for this. Anyone but him of course.

On February fourteenth, Kendra went into labor. She was sitting in her office when it happened. She had rung the bell that sounded lunch several times before someone ran in to see what was wrong.

That someone happened to be Randy. He knew what was wrong the second he looked at her.

"I'll take you," he told her and helped her up.

Everyone behind him watched silently as he walked out the front door to his car. He placed her in the pa.s.senger seat and laid her chair back a bit before getting in on the driver's side and starting the car.

Quickly but carefully he drove to the West Birmington Hospital. It was fortunate that it was so close by because she was looking like she was about to give birth at any moment. It was the way she was moving around that made him think that she was going to deliver right there in the car. Short breaths of air escaped her lips as she breathed in and out trying to calm herself and ease the pain.

When they reached the hospital, he helped her out of the car and walked her to the emergency doors. He yelled for a wheelchair and a nurse brought him one right away. He sat her down and turned back to the nurse, who had disappeared.

He frowned and went to the reception desk and said, "I need a doctor right away. She's in labor." The woman at the desk looked annoyingly back at him for a second before rolling her eyes and picking up the phone and calling for a doctor. If Randy had the receptionist alone right now, he knew he would have gladly killed her. As it was, for the moment he just wanted to help his boss.

They had oddly become good friends over the past several months and found themselves going to Caruthers almost every night after work. They had even had s.e.x in the alley one night, almost in the same spot he had taken her niece so long ago. So much irony to be found in one lifetime.

Within the next two minutes a doctor and two nurses arrived and immediately took Kendra deeper into the hospital as fast as they could. When they reached the swinging doors, the doctor turned and asked Randy, "Are you the father?"

"No."

"Then you have to wait in the lobby."

"But..." he was interrupted.

"Now please, sir, she'll be in good hands. We'll let you know as soon as we know more, I promise." Then he was gone.

Without another word, Randy went back to the lobby. He sat alone in the bright white lobby near a middle-aged couple, some kids, an old man, an old lady, and a group of black friends. He looked up at the TV. The news was on. Some h.o.m.os.e.xual looking man wearing a tan suit sat next to what was probably the ugliest b.i.t.c.h ever to be on live TV. They were talking about the weather, about how hot it was going to get in the next month. They were laughing as if everything they said was funny. He took his eyes away and watched the receptionist. She was quite attractive. She looked like she had either just graduated college or was still in it. She paid no attention to anyone around her. She seemed lost in her own little world. Randy realized he was nearly drooling over her. He also noticed that he had an erection.

Someone around him may have noticed as well but if they did they didn't mention it, or whispered about it with giggles or disgust. Even if they did he didn't care. He couldn't care.

Another woman walked in dressed in a nurse's outfit. She walked around the reception desk and stood next to the attractive college girl. The other woman wasn't nearly as cute. She was fat and looked as though a week on the Subway diet may do her some good, if she could stop eating grease for a second. She wore a beehive hairdo which made her look just as ugly. She looked like that one aunt that everyone has, the one that always brings around fruitcake and gives socks to you for Christmas. And she always seems to smell like carrots or some kind of fruit or vegetable. That was definitely this lady. The attractive girl looked like your average everyday college girl with the ambition but not the drive, the money but not the concern. She probably had a nice car her father had bought for her, a trampy mother, s.k.a.n.ky sister and currently dated a barrage of jock types. She probably spent most of her time at a mall or coffee shop, f.u.c.king and drinking and spending all her parents' money on bulls.h.i.t clothes.

Something about all of this sent Randy over the edge.

She got up and the ugly one took her seat. She was leaving, it was his perfect chance. He stood up and left before her. He walked outside and then around the corner of the hospital and waited, watching silently for her.

She was exiting through the same doors he'd used and was now walking along the sidewalk towards him. He backed up farther and kneeled behind a nearby bush. The bush worked perfectly. It was big enough for someone to hide inside of. There was even a gap in the back of it so he could get in and exit it easily. He could even pull her inside and do whatever he wanted to her. He climbed inside and peered between the leaves. She was walking past the bush, slowly and casually; close enough for him to reach out and grab her.

Which is what he did.

He popped out of the bush behind her like a jack-in-the-box and grabbed her by her hair, yanking her into the bush with him. He pulled her down to the ground and stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth. Her eyes were screaming at him and her arms were thrashing, her fingernails clawing at his skin. To shut her up and keep her down he balled a fist and struck her in the face. One...two...three...four times he punched her until she was asleep, unconscious, unaware.

He ripped apart her nurse's pants and found she wasn't wearing any panties, just like a college girl. Maybe she had even been a stripper or better still on Girls Gone Wild. He smiled at this and pushed all five of his fingers inside of her, relishing the warmness within. He could barely fit his fingers inside of her; maybe she wasn't just another suburbanite wh.o.r.e. He pulled his fingers out and unzipped his pants, panting heavily the entire time.

With one hand he pulled out his c.o.c.k and placed it along the rim of her v.a.g.i.n.a. With a sharp thrust he penetrated her. Her eyes flew open and in a mad daze she started to fight again, but he wouldn't be stopped; he couldn't stop. He reached behind her head for a rock. He grasped it and raised himself a bit all the while still thrusting deeply into her. He gripped the rock tight, and as she struggled to break free, he brought it down onto her nose.

Her hands stopped trying to hurt him and went to her now bleeding nose. Tears dropped out of her eyes and mixed with the blood now gushing from her flattened nose. He brought the rock down again and again and again until she was no longer moving, all the while thrusting with each blow of the rock, exposing the bone beneath her soft flesh. The blood flowed casually as if escaping from some abyss. He continued to thrust until he came inside her, grunting like an animal as his head filled with pleasure, all the while staring at the mangled ma.s.s that was her face. Then he stopped and pulled his d.i.c.k out and slid it back inside his pants.

He felt for a pulse; it was light but it was there. She wouldn't survive another hit. So he hit her two more times, cracking the bone beneath. He felt her pulse again. This time there was no pulse. The pretty and b.i.t.c.hy receptionist was dead.

Randy sat back on his haunches and found himself smiling. He wasn't sick and feeling terrible about his actions this time.

In fact this time he felt pleased. He'd enjoyed that immensely and he wanted more of it.

He crawled out of the bushes stealthily and looked around to make sure it was clear.

It was, no one was around.

It was a fortunate occurrence that no windows or cameras were over him. Just a large brick wall bore witness to his sneaking from the bushes. He went to his car and drove it back to the bush, parking next to it. Then he popped the trunk. He made sure no one was watching before he placed the corpse into his trunk and slammed it shut.

He drove back to where he was originally parked, thereby replacing the car in its parking spot, and opened the middle section of the seat. Inside were some bottled waters.

He uncapped one of them and poured it into a rag he kept in the back seat. He scrubbed his hands and arms until the blood came off. He replaced his blood-stained shirt with another shirt he kept rolled up in the pa.s.senger floorboard. Then, all finished and looking as good as new, he exited his vehicle and went back into the hospital, hiding his smile as he did so.

Almost as soon as he reentered the hospital he found himself in Kendra's room. The delivery had gone flawless, a complete success. Kendra was just fine and so was the baby.

Kendra looked up at Randy with a smile on her face. In her arms was Margaret Amanda Clouse, sucking hungrily at her mother's left breast. Without a single word, Randy walked over to Kendra and stroked her hair and then looked down at the baby. He stroked the newborn's head and smiled.