Out Are the Lights

  'Freya, this is Tango.'

  'Pleased to meet you,' Freya said, staring at the girl's glossy, dark skin. The vest was open wide enough to expose much of her breasts.

  'Pleasure's mine,' Tango said. Leaning forward, she held out a hand to Freya.

  The hand was warm. It lingered in hers, and slid away.

  'All set?' Todd asked. 'Let's run through the tape once with the audio, then I'll give you some time to familiarize yourselves with the scripts before we do the dubbing.'

  Freya nodded.

  'Whatever you say,' said Tango. 'You're the bossman.'

  They turned to the main television screen.

  'Get the lights, Freya, if you please.'

  Reluctantly, she reached for the light switch. Darkness wasn't necessary for viewing, but Todd always insisted on it. For atmosphere, he said.

  Maybe it's best, Freya thought. With the lights on, she wouldn't see much of the tape. Her eyes, she knew, would be on Tango.

  'I believe I'll call this Schreck the Ax-man.'

  'Why not The Ax-man Cometh?' Tango suggested.

  Todd laughed politely, 'I'm afraid not, darling. Too much levity spoils the soup.'

  ***

  The two young women sit close to their campfire, as if they believe its bright flames will keep them from harm.

  The one in the plaid flannel skirt tilts her head back, and squirts a stream of wine into her mouth from a leather bota.

  'Don't you ever miss?' asked her friend, who has obviously missed often. The front of her gray sweatshirt is wet and red-stained.

  'Takes practice, Lynn.'

  She passes the bota to Lynn, who raises its spout to her lips and starts to squirt.

  'Hello, young ladies.'

  They both jump. Lynn shoots the stream off into her nose and eyes, and the man laughs. 'Sorry,' he says. 'I didn't mean to startle you. I saw your fire.' He walks close to it. He is a stout, red-bearded man. 'My name's Jim.'

  'I'm Kristi. This is Lynn.'

  'Mind if I join you?'

  Kristi glances at Lynn, then smiles at the man and says, 'Help yourself.'

  He steps closer to the fire, where the girls are sitting beside each other on a six-foot log. 'You can use our table,' Kristi suggests, sweeping her arm toward the stump standing upright beside her.

  'Thanks,' he says, and sits on it.

  He wears tight, faded jeans. The sleeves have been cut off his denim jacket at the shoulders, and his tanned arms look thick and powerful. 'Can I have a taste of that?'

  Lynn shrugs, smiling nervously. She glances at Kristi, as if for permission. When Kristi nods, Lynn passes the bota to her. and she hands it to the man. He squirts a long stream of wine into his mouth, and doesn't spill a drop. He gives the bota back to Kristi. 'Where you girls from?' he asks.

  ' San Diego.'

  'Long way from home.'

  'Are you from around here?' Kristi asks.

  'Me? I'm from Scottsdale.'

  ' Arizona?'

  ' California. She's a little burg just the other side of Sunny Lake.'

  'Where's that?'

  'Just the other side of Loon.'

  'And that's just the other side of this lake,' Kristi adds, nodding her head toward the shoreline down the slope from the campsite.

  'I canoed in, saw your fire.'

  'Probably the whole world can see our fire,' Lynn says, and laughs nervously.

  'Pretty near. Can I have another taste of that? It's Zinfandel, right?'

  Kristi laughs. 'Fantastic! A wine connoisseur in the middle of the forest primeval!'

  'Not a connoisseur, just a drinker.' He tips back his head, and squeezes the sides of the bota. When he is done, he passes the leather sack to Kristi.

  'I wanted to talk to you about this fire,' he says. 'It's a warm night. You don't really need one.'

  'We like it,' Kristi says.

  'Sure. I know how you feel. She's bright and cheery, and keeps the darkness at arm's-length. Gives you a good feeling. Helps you forget you're alone in the woods, with god-knows-what prowling around and watching you.'

  'You're not helping the situation,' Kristi says, and contorts her face in an exaggerated expression of fear. Lynn grimaces, looking very nervous.

  'I'm serious, now. You ought to douse your fire. After dark, it's like a neon sign, tells folks you're here. If they're the wrong kind of folks, and come snooping, you could be in big trouble.'

  'We can take care of ourselves,' Kristi tells him.

  Lynn, who doesn't look so sure of that, chews her lower lip.

  'Even if you have guns, which I doubt, it's still no guarantee. The way you're dressed, Kristi, I can see you're unarmed unless you've got some dinky thing way down in one of your jeans pockets.' He aims a finger at Lynn. 'You might have a pistol concealed under that bulky sweatshirt, but I'd bet you don't.' Smiling, he pulls a knife from the sheath on his belt. 'Now, I'm sitting here with a knife. You're there without guns. What're you gonna do?'

  'Why don't you put that away?' Kristi says. Her voice, so confident before, is trembling slightly.

  'Scared?' Jim asks.

  'Put it away, all right?'

  'I just want to put a little fear into you. You need it. You're both vulnerable as hell, and don't seem to realize it.' He slides the knife into its sheath.

  'I'll bet you haven't heard about our murders. If you'd heard, you wouldn't be out here at all, much less with a roaring fire.'

  Kristi and Lynn glance at each other. Lynn shakes her head.

  'That's what I thought,' Jim says.

  'You want to tell us?' asks Kristi.

  'Five murders in the past two months, all of them within a few miles of here. The first was a fourteen-year-old girl. She went out alone on Sunny Lake to do some night fishing, and never came back. They found most of her body a week later in an abandoned boat house. Someone had used an ax on her.'

  Lynn groans.

  'Is this really true?' asks Kristi. 'Or are you just trying to scare us?'

  'It's true, all right. The next two victims, just a month ago, were Randy Wilson and his wife. Randy owned the hardware store in Scottsdale. He and Mary used to do a lot of hiking. They were camped about a mile from here the night they were killed.'

  'With an ax?' Lynn wants to know.

  'Same as the girl. Same as the two teachers we found last week. Those gals were camping over by Loon. Chopped up like cordwood.'

  'You don't have to be so graphic.'

  'I just want you to understand the danger you're in.'

  Lynn makes a sickly smile.

  'We're here now,' Kristi says. 'What do you want us to do? Just pack up, right now, and pull out?'

  'Wouldn't be a bad idea.'

  'Except for one thing. Our car's about seven miles from here. We're not about to hike seven miles in the dark. We'd probably break our necks.'

  'I can give you a lift in my canoe,' Jim offers.

  'Our car's away from the lake.'

  'I don't mean to your car. I'll take you over to Scottsdale. We can drive over and pick up your car in the morning. What do you think?'

  'I don't know,' Kristi says, and gets to her feet. She gestures. Lynn stands up. 'Give us a couple minutes to talk it over.'

  Jim nods. He picks up the bota, and begins shooting a stream of wine into his mouth.

  Kristi walks away from the fire, twigs and pine cones snapping under her white sneakers. Lynn follows. They stop in the darkness just beyond the area of light cast by the fire. 'Should we go with him?' Kristi asks.

  Lynn shrugs.

  Kristi brushes hair away from her eyes. 'What about these murders?' she asks. 'Have you heard anything about them?'

  'Not a word,' Lynn says.

  'Me neither. Of course, I don't read the papers.'

  'Neither do I. Five murders, though. Wouldn't something like that make the six o'clock news?'

  'You'd think so,' Kristi says. 'This is really boondocks, though. Maybe they're keeping it quiet.'
/>
  '1 don't know.' Lynn steps close to Kristi. 'I think…'

  'Whew! Didn't you bring any deodorant?'

  Lynn sniffs the armpits of her sweatshirt. 'Isn't me. Anyway, look. Maybe this Jim-guy made it all up.'

  'What for?' Kristi asks.

  'Who knows? Maybe he wants to get us dependent on him, so we'll let our guard down. Maybe he wants to get our equipment in his canoe, and steal it. Hell, maybe he gets his kicks drowning campers-'

  'You've got a wild imagination, Lynn.'

  'I'm just thinking of the possibilities.'

  'Look, we've got to make up our minds.'

  'You decide for us.'

  'No! You can't put it all on me. Give me a yes or no. Come on, Lynn. Do you want to pack up and go with him in his canoe, or not?'

  'A yes or no?'

  'Right.'

  Lynn shakes her head, and pushes a hand through her short, bristly hair. Turning, she looks for a long time at Jim. He is drinking more wine. 'Okay,' she says, her voice whiny with defeat. 'No.'

  "Are you sure?'

  'I'm sure,' she says reluctantly. 'Maybe he's telling the truth, but I don't want to go with him. Not in a canoe, I can't even swim.'

  'All right, it's settled.' Kristi turns away.

  'Wait.'

  'Yeah?'

  'What if he won't leave?'

  Kristi frowns. 'Did you have to say that?'

  Then they both return to the fire. Kristi makes it brief. 'We decided to stay here.'

  'I was afraid of that.'

  'Thank you for the offer, and for warning us, but…' She shrugs.

  'You decided to take your chances,' he finishes for her. 'That's about it.'

  'Well, thanks for the wine.' He stands. 'I'd better be on my way. I saw another fire, down at the south end. I'd better let them know. Good luck, ladies.'

  Without another word, he walks into the darkness. Kristi and Lynn wait for a few seconds, then quietly follow him. They stand close together. Looking down the slope, they watch him climb into his canoe, and shove off. They watch for a long time, until the sound of his paddle dipping into the water disappears in a whisper of wind.

  Then they return to the fire, and sit down.

  'Maybe we ought to put it out,' Lynn says, looking tense. Kristi shrugs. 'Why bother? If the ax-man's around, he already knows where to find us.'

  'Don't say that!'

  'Let's have some more wine, and forget about it, okay? That guy was probably just some kook who gets his laughs scaring. people.'

  'Geez, I hope so.'

  Kristi lifts the bota and squeezes a long, thin stream of wine into her mouth. As she passes the leather bag to Lynn, a shape moves silently among the trees behind them.

  Lynn raises the bota. She squirts into her mouth.

  The shape moves into the shimmering light of the fire. It is a man. He wears black, leather pants. His bare chest is shiny in the firelight. A black hood covers his head. His eyes glisten through holes in the hood. In his hands, he holds a double-bit ax.

  'I think I'm ready to hit the sack,' Kristi says. 'One more for the road.' She reaches out for the wine bag.

  Lynn holds it out to her.

  ***

  With a grunt, the man swings the ax in a swift, sideways blow. It chops through Lynn 's neck. Her head flies, tumbling. It rolls into the campfire.

  For an instant, she sits there headless, still holding out the bota to Kristi as blood spouts from her neck stump and rains down.

  Kristi screams.

  The bota drops. The body topples forward, shouldering into the campfire, scattering flaming branches across the ground.

  Kristi screams and screams as she jumps to her feet and tries to run. The man grabs her shirt collar. He throws her to the ground.

  On her back, Kristi gazes up at him.

  He laughs, and pulls away his hood. His face is gaunt, his wet eyes bulging, his mouth writhing with a terrible grin.

  'I am Schreck,' he says.

  He raises the ax high overhead, and brings it down.

  It knocks through Kristi's upthrust hands, and splits her face.

  ***

  Todd turned off the machine.

  Freya flicked on the lights, and saw his wide grin. She turned to Tango, who wore a smirk.

  'Well ladies, what do you think?'

  'That's one baaad dude,' said Tango. 'Wouldn't want to mess with him.' She laughs. 'No sir, no way.'

  Todd looked amused. 'What about you, Freya?'

  'Fantastic!'

  'I thought you might enjoy it.'

  'How'd you do that?' Tango asked, 'I mean, how'd you do that with the head?'

  'Just chopped it off.'

  Tango laughed. 'I know, it's a trade secret. I'll lay odds you used a dummy.'

  'Very astute, young lady.'

  'Sure looked real.'

  'I appreciate the compliment.' Todd removed three scripts from a manila folder, and passed them out. 'I've underlined your parts. Tango, you're Kristi. Freya, you're Lynn. I, of course, will play myself. Take a few minutes to look them over.' After glancing through her script, Freya spent the remaining time looking over Tango. The girl knew she was being watched, and seemed to approve. As she read, she casually loosened her vest. She twisted in such a way that a nipple appeared in the laces.

  Todd paid no attention.

  She was doing it for Freya alone.

  'Ready?' Todd asked.

  'Ready when you are,' Tango said.

  'How come we're doing this? You know what I mean? I'm just curious, is all.' She fluttered the script. 'This looks like just what they said except for their names and a couple things. Maybe I'm just ignorant, but it seems kind of funny to me.'

  'Their voices simply aren't what I want,' said Todd.

  She shrugged. 'It's your dime, honey.'

  'Let's begin.'

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  They walked along the balcony to the door of Connie's apartment. She pushed her key toward the lock, but Pete stopped her hand.

  'Let me,' he said.

  'I didn't catch that,' said Connie. 'The light's off.'

  Pete shook his head. He took the key from her, and opened the apartment door. No lights were on inside, either, so he didn't bother to speak. He stepped into the room, ahead of her, and found a light switch on the wall. A lamp beside the couch came on.

  'You're certainly acting mysterious,' she said.

  'Just careful. Some guys, when they're dumped, they do crazy things.'

  'Dal's never been violent,' she said.

  'That you know of.'

  'I don't think he'd do anything to hurt me.'

  Pete shrugged. 'If he bought an engagement ring, he's serious enough to be a threat. I ran into a guy once, he threw his fiancee out a fourteenth-story window because some fellow sent her flowers for her birthday. Turned out, they came from her brother.'

  'You're full of grim stories,' Connie said, smiling as if she wanted more. 'Would you like a drink?'

  'Ah, a libation,' he said, doing his Fields voice. 'Nothing I'd rather partake of, my dear.' It was out of his mouth before he realized she probably wouldn't understand his distorted lip movements. He didn't have time for embarrassment to set in, though.

  'Come up and see me sometime,' she said.

  He laughed. 'You're remarkable.'

  'When I'm bad, I'm better.'

  He took hold of her hands. 'Very true,' he said. 'You were very, very bad this afternoon.'

  Her face, still flushed from a day in the sun, turned a deeper red. 'You were pretty bad, yourself. Now, what would you like, a beer?'

  'Great.'

  They went into the kitchen and Connie took two bottles of Budweiser from the refrigerator. 'Want a glass?' she asked.

  'The bottle's fine. I think I'll use the facilities first, though.'

  'Right through there.' She pointed.

  Pete used the toilet, but didn't return immediately to the living-room. First, he stepped into another room and
turned on the light. Connie's office. He stepped past cluttered, metal bookshelves and opened a closet door.

  'What're you doing?'

  He turned to Connie. She stood in the doorway, frowning slightly.

  'Just snooping.'

  'You're looking for Dal. You think he's hiding somewhere, just waiting for you to leave so he can jump out and cut my throat.'

  'It happens.'

  'You worry me, Pete, you know that?'

  'Can't be too careful.'

  'I think you can be too careful. If you have to spend your life looking over your shoulder, always afraid there might be some terrible villain back there just waiting for you to let your guard down so he can jump you… Yeah, I think you can be too careful. Where's the fun, if you're always on your toes for disaster to strike?'

  'Oh, I have my share.'

  'Shall I show you the bedroom, or have you already checked it out?'

  'Not yet.'

  He followed her into the bedroom, and grinned as she rushed to the bed, dropped to her knees, and peered under the draping coverlet. 'What on earth?' She reached into the space beneath the bed. 'I wonder what that… aaah!' Her body lurched forward. Belly down, she twisted and kicked. She clutched the bedframe as if to keep herself from being pulled under.

  Pete ran to her side. He reached down for the bedframe, ready to fling it aside, when Connie grabbed his hand.

  He saw her smile.

  'That wasn't funny,' he said.

  'Yes it was.'

  She pulled him down to her, and kissed him.

  When his hand slid under her blouse, he was surprised to feel the smooth, bare skin of her breast. She must've taken her bikini off while he was in the bathroom. He pulled the blouse up. The nipple was rigid in his mouth, and had a slightly salty taste.

  He moved a hand under her skirt. Up her thigh. Her bikini pants were also gone.

  'You're a darling,' he said.

  She didn't answer. Of course not. His mouth was on her breast.

  He raised his head. Connie's eyes lowered to his lips.

  'You're a darling,' he repeated.

  With a smile, she reached both hands inside his shorts, and held him.

  'Would you like your beer now?' Connie asked.

  'It's probably warm.'

  'We'll make believe we're in Ireland, drinking lukewarm Guinness in a pub.'