Tabula Rasa(65)

I sank into a red velvet chair in the corner and didn’t say anything else while Shannon pulled a bundle from his bag and unrolled it with a flourish on a small table he’d dragged near the professor. From my position, I could see several gleaming knives and other fun little toys I didn’t want to think about.

“Shannon?” Was this normal for him? In my head I’d managed to convince myself his job was some sort of necessary evil and that all his kills were quick and clean like hunting a deer for dinner. Did he need them to suffer first?

He looked up. “I’m taking my time with this one. This one is personal. You can go wait upstairs if you need to.”

I wished again that we hadn’t had dinner so recently because now it was starting to get real. It wasn’t some abstract notion. There was a living person sitting a few feet away who was going to be carved up like Christmas ham, and I was going to watch it happen.

“I’ll shoot him when I get bored. Or you can do the honors when it’s time if you like.”

I shook my head vehemently. When he’d been gone on his last job... when I fantasized about taking Professor Stevens’ out, in the fantasy, I’d actively participated. Shannon and I had been like Bonnie and Clyde—two disaffected sociopaths who didn’t give a shit about playing by the rules. Now I didn’t want anything to do with it. I wasn’t sure I could even stomach being down here.

“What if he screams and wakes up a neighbor? You can’t afford that,” I said, hoping Shannon would change his mind and just make this quick.

“I’ll use one of his ball gags. Besides, look at the walls. This place has been soundproofed, and it’s underground. How else do you think he got away with what he did to you?”

I shuddered at that, and for the smallest moment, my reservations melted away. But then Professor Stevens regained consciousness. His eyes widened when he saw me sitting across the room.

“W-what’s happening? Elodie? I-I thought you were dead.”

“Why would you think that?” I asked. I at least had the courage to have a conversation, even if I couldn’t bring myself to rip and tear skin.

“You were missing. I saw you on the news. That hospital.... that doctor...”

I could see from the look in his eyes that he’d been thrilled when he thought I was dead.

“How many others besides me did you do this to?” I asked, my voice getting a little stronger. I wasn’t sure if I was just trying to get some sort of closure or if I was stalling Shannon.

A smug, satisfied expression, spread over Stevens’ face. “My relationships with other students are none of your business. Jealous, you little slut?”

I leaped out of the chair and across the room so fast that, for a moment, I didn’t realize I’d even moved. But all at once, I stood in front of him inches from his smarmy little face. Did this * not realize what was about to happen? But no, his eyes had found mine immediately. He hadn’t yet noticed Shannon, who’d somehow seemed to dissolve into the shadows behind him. He hadn’t noticed the table with the instruments of pain. He hadn’t noticed the gun. He was too f*cking stupid to know this was his last night on earth.

I hauled back and slapped him so hard my hand stung. “You f*cking piece of shit,” I spat.

He just smiled. “Oh, so you want to try role reversal? I like a good round with a dominatrix as much as the next fellow. It must be why you have me tied to the chair.” His eyes widened suddenly as if only now realizing he was tied up in his own basement. “T-there was a man... before...”

Now it was coming back. The effects of the drugs were wearing off enough that his rational faculties were returning. He looked around and noticed the table with gleaming knives and the gun. He craned his head around, and Shannon seemed to materialize from the shadows.

It was as if Shannon’s energy had been so deep in predator mode, so silent, that you couldn’t see him unless he wanted you to. Now that subtle energy had shifted, and he suddenly seemed larger and louder even before he spoke.

“Hello,” Shannon said, mildly. “I hope all your affairs are in order.”

For the first time since I’d known him, Professor Stevens looked afraid. The air of smug condescension and power abuse that clung to him like too strong perfume finally shed its scaly skin.

“Do you want to get some of your anger out first?” Shannon asked me.

I shook my head. Now that Stevens had stopped being so aggressively nasty, now that he looked scared and about to start begging for his life, I once again didn’t have the stomach for it. I wished I did. I wanted to have the strength and courage to make him pay directly by my own hand, but now that the moment was upon me, I shrank away.

“Very well. Do you want to watch, or do you want to go upstairs and wait for me?”

I stood for a moment in indecision, and then there was a sound upstairs. The front door opened and shut. It was after midnight. Who the f*ck had a key?

“Professor Stevens?” a young woman called from the first floor. “I finished grading those papers you wanted. You said you didn’t care how late it was. Hello?”

Fuck. It was his TA.

“Professor? Are you downstairs?” I realized then that the basement door was open and the light was filtering up. It was just a matter of seconds before she came down here and saw all this.