The Sound of Broken Ribs(68)

“So I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t?”

“Damned right. Fucking Christ, will you just shoot me already?” Belinda didn’t want to die, but anything was better than looking into this bitch’s sad face. Besides, this tactic had worked thus far. The more she said she wanted to be shot, the less the author looked like she wanted to shoot her. The dumb bitch might hand over the gun eventually and tell Belinda to shoot herself.

“I’m not going to kill you, Belinda.”

No fucking shit. “Then what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Wonderful. So we just sit here while you make up your mind?”

“Pretty much.”

“Fantastic.”

“Go to the bathroom.”

The order caught Belinda off guard. “Excuse me?”

“I want you to use the bathroom. I say when you go and when you don’t. That keeps you from scheming.”

“If you’re not going to shoot me, what control do you have over me?”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to shoot you. I said I wouldn’t kill you. My point is, killing you would be too easy. I will, however, shoot you in both legs and watch you crawl into the bathroom in a trail of blood.”

“Nice visuals.”

“That’s why I make the big bucks. Now, are you going, or do I have to drag you by your fucking hair.”

Belinda made her way to the bathroom, which could only be located in the short hallway off the living room. A picture of blurry people boating and one of a stream weaving through a forest were placed on either side of the bathroom door. From where Belinda stood, she could see into the master bedroom at the end of the hall, but the door to the guest room, which was directly across from the bathroom, was closed.

After stepping into the bathroom and easing the door shut, the author’s voice barked, “Leave the door open!”

“Now you wanna watch me piss?”

“No one’s watching you. I just don’t want you to be able to lock yourself in. If I don’t hear water splashing in the next minute, I’m coming in.”

“Whatever.” Belinda realized how much she sounded like a teenage girl and decided she didn’t mind her petulant tone. Fuck this author bitch. Stank-ass could suck the shit from her ass for all the fucks Belinda gave. That made her laugh to herself.

While on the commode, she took a look around. The only window in the bathroom was set high in the wall. A little sliver of a thing. Belinda didn’t think her boobs would fit through there much less her entire body. So much for the author’s thoughts of her escaping that way.

The bathtub was one of those old cast-iron numbers with claw feet, and the hand-washing sink looked like a fountain more than it resembled a basin. She couldn’t even tell where the water was supposed to come from.

When she was done, she flushed, and then tried washing her hands. A sensor in the sink caused a jet of water to shoot up about three inches. Not enough to send it over the rim, but just enough to get her hands wet. The temperature, which couldn’t be controlled by the user, was lukewarm at best. She squirted the provided jasmine-and-vanilla-scented soap into her hand and scrubbed in the fountain. The dirty water disappeared into slots around the fountain’s spigot. Neat-O. She wasn’t sure how much she liked the functionality of the sink, but the concept was cool.

“Done in there?”

“Yeah. Coming out now.”

“Good. I just thought of something else I wanted to ask you.”

Fuck you, bitch, Belinda thought but didn’t say. Sighing at her reflection in the mirror above the sink, she turned and left the bathroom.

*

Lei trained the gun on Belinda as the woman left the bathroom. She didn’t think she would have to use the gun at all, not with how dejected and defeated Belinda had become, but she was taking no chances.

What came next was very important.

Belinda plopped down on the loveseat once more and said, “Well?”

Lei took a deep breath, let it out, and shoved in all of her chips. “Have you seen anything strange since the accident?”

“Like what?” The response and confused look on Belinda’s face sent Lei’s heart plummeting.

She pressed. “Things. Dark things… Monsters.”

“I see monsters every day, but they’re just everyday monsters.”

Lei wondered if Belinda appreciated how poetic that last statement was.

“I’m not talking about terrible human beings. I’m talking about the kind of thing that hides under your bed. In your closet. Have you seen anything that shouldn’t exist?”

Belinda started laughing. “You’re fucking with me.”

“No. I’m not.” Lei stared at Belinda. Oddly enough, staring at the laughing woman made her want to, at the very least, crack a smile. This wasn’t the time or place for such a thing, but laughter, as they say, is contagious.

“So you’ve seen monsters. Like, what? Werewolves and vampires and”—Belinda waggled her fingers at Lei— “spooky, scary ghosts?”

“Don’t make fun of me.” Lei let her finger slip onto the trigger. Belinda saw it happen and stopped laughing. “You have no right to laugh at me.”

“No, author lady, I haven’t seen any monsters. If anything, maybe you’ve become one.”