The Horror Library - The Best in Horror Fiction

ZybCol Press
By Jason R. Beirens

I found myself sitting in a small uncomfortable chair, in a tiny musty smelling dark wood paneled office. Few pictures adorned the walls. The ones that did I was sure were included with the frames, when they were purchased. They were ancient black and white prints that seemed to be browning with age. The glass in the front door was cracked and the door had a small hole in it. I was only half sure that a bullet caused it. Only one other chair sat beside me. The stuffing
was coming out of small cuts in the brown vinyl covering. The small middle-aged
woman behind the looming desk made of cedar sniffed at odd intervals and
adjusted her glasses every time she did so. She was knitting something. What it
was I couldn't tell. It seemed to have more arms and legs constructed in it then
was possible, while I waited I tried to count them, I got to twelve, but who
knows how much bigger it was, most of it was hidden behind the desk.
I waited for two hours, my portfolio on my lap. Listening to the click, click of the knitting, and the sniff, sniff of the woman's cold. She never said a word
after, "He'll be with you in a moment, dear." I barely moved. When the
publisher/ editor of the magazine came out of his office to welcome me, I froze.
He was huge, monstrous even. He was at least seven feet tall, if not more. He
seemed to be made of granite, his shoulders were so wide he had to turn sideways
to fit through the doorway. His head seemed a bit too small, a small tuft of
blonde hair topped it, and his legs tapered down from his giant V torso and
ended far too small. My breath left me. I had never had a panic attack before,
but I was sure I was having one now. I stayed calm outwardly.
"Hello. You must be Hal. Sorry to keep you waiting, but I am a busy man. You wouldn't believe all the things a small time publisher has to do. I've been on the phone the whole time with advertisers. I got them though. Two big spreads.
One double page in the front, and a full page on the back cover, it makes me
feel good Hal…" He stopped talking for a second, then he began to shake my hand, then he stopped abruptly and began to walk me back to his office, "Sorry I talk quite a bit. This is about you, our meeting. We love your artwork Hal. It is
great, amazing even. We want you to do the cover and a few spot illustrations
for inside. Is that cool?" He stopped talking again and lowered his head nearly
a foot to meet my gaze, his chin getting awfully close to mine. A moment passed.
"Yes."
"Great, great, just what I was hoping to hear. We need a few thumbnails by the weekend some for the cover and I'll give you a few stories to choose from to illustrate. How's that sound? Anyway welcome to ZybCol Press."
"Great."
"Awesome," at that moment he gave a thumbs up, his fist nearly touching my nose, "that's great. We also read some of your stories; we liked them quite a bit. If you want to illustrate one of your stories for a future issue that would
be awesome," again the same thumbs up that was far too close, "We, and when I
say we, I mean the small editorial staff and myself, we have Gladys. You met
her, the receptionist, strange woman, and Sally, the reporter/ columnist/
whatever else we need. We want you to feel comfortable here. Like it is your
second home. If you want the use of the computers in
the back to download porn and jerk off, no problem, just make sure to lock the
door, and meet your deadlines."
"Okay?"
"Great, great. I know you didn't expect to get an office here, but we have a vacant one, and if you wanted to work from here that would be awesome, but if you want to work from home you still can. You might be wondering about the name huh? Well, Mister Bellows he's a friend of mine, not close or personal, but we know each other. Well he gave me a box; it had ZybCol on the side of it. I don't
know why he gave me the box or what it means, but ever since then I have had
really good luck, so I thought I would name the magazine after the box."
The whole time he was talking I was shaking my head discreetly, in agreement, and looking around his office. It was small, and seemed a lot like the reception area, dark paneled walls and old pictures. A large window looked out onto the streets of August. The streets looked clean and perfect from the fifth story.
"I see you're enjoying the view. It is lovely. The view of the town makes me calm. I think this is the third tallest building in town. If you ever want to go
to the roof during lunch and eat you can. We set up a small food tent up there.
Oh, yeah, pay. You probably want to know what you are going to get paid for this
huh? Well the pay is not much, around thirty grand a year starting, but as the
magazine grows so will the pay. I hope that is okay."
"Yeah."
"Great, great. I was going to the roof for lunch after your interview. Since
it went so well, and I like you, you're easy to talk to, would you like to come
up with me. My wife always makes far more food then I can eat, so you can have
some of my lunch. I have an extra sandwich, some chips, a few other things.
Would you like that?"
"Great."
"Awesome, really awesome. Maybe you can work on some thumbnails for the cover while we eat. I see you have your sketchbook with you. A few sketches would impress the boss, namely me, if you got a few good ideas in a week before deadline, huh, huh!" he began nudging my chest with his elbow, his face was all smiles,
"You don't have to of course, and after lunch I can show you the office and you can tell me if you want it or not."
"Okay."
We walked out his office and through the reception area. The woman behind the desk didn't look up, she continued sniffing and knitting. Out of one of the other doors came a very pretty lady. She looked a few years older than myself.
"Hiya Bob, who's this?"
"This is Hal. Sally, Hal, Hal, Sally."
Sally talked like one of those old dame reporters. Fast, and through the nose, she held herself rigid yet feminine. Her hand seemed to be glued to her hip. She was lean but curvy. Her crow colored hair was in a tight bun pulled up under a
hat, a small pillbox hat, I hadn't ever actually seen anyone wear one before. I
wanted her. She looked at me and winked.
"How ya doin' kid? You the new artist 'round here?"
"Yeah."
"Don't talk much do ya?"
"No."
"I like that. Bob here does nothing but yammer. Don' cha Bob?"
Bob smiled and began to say something, but Sally cut him off,
"Yeah, talk, talk, talk, that's all we ever hear 'round here, from old Bob.
So, Hal to change the subject, I seen your stuff, it's wonderful. I been
thinking of havin' a picture done of myself to give my parents for Christmas.
You want to do it?"
"Okay."
"Great. I'm going to leave you guys. My lunch is in my office. Here's the
elevator, see ya round."
The old elevator doors creaked open with a ding, Bob turned sideways to fit in and I followed. He was holding a small bag. It smelled like ham and lettuce
"That Sally sure is a looker. I tell ya' Hal, if I weren't married I would
jump her bones for sure. By the way, I think she likes you. She usually doesn't
open up like that around new people. Very reserved that one. You got a girl
Hal?"
"No."
"Ask Sally out, she needs a man to help her come out of her shell."
"Really."
"Yeah, ask her out. She likes you boy, I can tell."
"Okay."
~
Two weeks passed. I took the office in the building. It was the same as the others, all dark panels and old pictures on the walls. I asked Bob if I could
change the décor. He said of course I was welcome to. I began to take the first
picture off the wall, and a feeling of overwhelming guilt came over me. I
stopped and went back to finishing the painting for the cover. It was due next
Friday and today was Tuesday. I had not yet gotten up the courage to ask Sally
out. She had not let up on her constant talking to me though. We had talked for
hours in the mornings while she drank from a small plastic flask. Between sips
she remind me about the picture.
"So when can we start?"
"Soon."
"I understand that you want to finish the cover first. That's fine. It's due
by Friday. So we can start Friday night. How 'bout that big boy?" She ran her
hand down my cheek. I smiled.
Later that day Bob came into my office. He barely fit.
"So you ask her out?"
"No."
"No, but she asked you out. Friday night huh?" he nudged me again.
"No."
"I know it's just to start a picture of her, but she will soon change that,
mark my words Hal. She wants you just as much as you want her."
~
Friday night came quicker than it should have. She invited me to her place. She answered the door. She had the plastic flask and was drinking from it. She was looking down but cast her eyes up. Her thick black hair fell before her eyes, it was a little longer then her shoulders. She was wearing a thin dress. I started drawing her.
~
We had our first official date the next Wednesday, we had both asked each other out at the same time, it was a very sitcom moment. We smiled and laughed at it. I let her set it all up. We went to a nice Chinese restaurant, Laos. It is a nice place that I had never been to before. It was intricately decorated, like
most restaurants of the type are. The food was wonderful. Sally wolfed the food
down, one moment it was there the next it was gone.
"Well..."
"What?" She asked while wiping her mouth free of crumbs.
"Uhm...?"
"It was good, I was famished hon. Sorry if I seemed a bit...rude, boorish,
what have you."
"Okay."
"Are you gonna finish that?"
I looked down at my plate, there was a bite out of my egg roll, but that was all I had a chance to touch.
"Go ahead."
There was something animalistic about her. I found her so sexy at that moment. Most men would have seen her as a pig, in a few years her thighs would be as thick as a sequoia tree trunk. I didn't care, she was beautiful to me. Even with a large chunk of almond chicken hanging off of her bottom lip.
"So, hon. How are ya likin' the job?."
She took out the small flask from her purse and drank deep from it. A bit of red liquid dribbled from the side of her mouth. Her fingers moved quickly to
scoop it up. She put away the flask, and sucked the juice from her fore finger.
I stared, unblinking at her.
"Well, hon? Earth to Hal, hello Hal."
Her hand waved before my eyes. For a moment the color changed from a light peach, to a gray, and then it was back.
"It's good." I snapped out of the self imposed hypnosis as quickly as I fell into it.
"Good, I'm glad. It's good to have a real man around the office." She licked her lips. Her tongue looked a bit green.
"I love you."
She dropped her chop sticks.
"Oh, Hon."
~
She made the first move. We were in my living room. She climbed slowly on top of me. She was cold to the touch. Her skin was paler than I first realized, I held her by the small of her back. She was a wisp of a woman; I barely felt her weight on me. She had small perfect breasts, her nipples plump and pink. When I moved to her face, I noticed something different in the darkness. She had sharp canine teeth; I focused a little more, small holes in the bottom. I reared back
at the discovery.
"Vampire."
I sounded more relaxed then I should have been.
"Well yes honey I am a vampire, of sorts. I'm part of a much older breed. Almost men, or in my case almost woman, that's what we were called way back when. Nature has mutated the newer versions into the Stoker versions, no sun, no shadow, no reflection. I have no problem with any of that.
She smiled wide.
"Hope you don't mind dating an older woman, I am nearly twenty thousand years old. My parents do want a picture of me though. So sooner or later I want to finish the portrait, okay."
I looked at her, I was frozen in position.
"Yes my parents are still alive. They live on the east end of town, on Lee
Street; it is a small neighborhood of brownstones. You know it?"
"Yes." I began to move again, slowly.
"They have been together for nearly thirty thousand years. Hard to believe isn't it. I mean, for you, really hard to believe. Ohhh, a little to the left
hon."
It was then I noticed we hadn't stopped, we were casually talking about her age and parents and her species and we were still making love. I was happy.
"Hon, are you alright? Do you want to stop? We can, I know this must be strange to you."
"No."
"Continue?"
"Yes."
"Ohhhh, hon that is great. You really don't mind that I'm so old. Ohhh that's nice…"
We continued on for an hour or more. I liked her, she liked me. A little thing like age shouldn't matter right? She told me she does feed on humans. She has to. She takes walks in bad neighborhoods at night. Usually there is enough bad meat (She tells me bad meat means: pimps, gang members, dope fiends, bad cops, etc.) to feed her for a week at a time.
~
Bob entered my office early one Tuesday morning.
"Hey sport, you got the pictures done?"
I handed him a stack of photocopies and a couple of disks with files on them.
"Great, I'll look at these and tell you later today what I will print and what
to save," he looked back and forth, "and what to toss. Ha, ha. You're good.
These are all gold, I'm sure."
He began to head out and then doubled back,
"So what's Sally like? You know. You guys have been going out for a few weeks now. Is she you know…good?" He made a circle with one hand and with the other made a point and connected them, "Y'know…c'mon, I gotta know. Give an old married guy something to hold onto."
"Well…"
"Yeah? Out with it man."
"She's really good for an older woman." I couldn't hold back a smile.
He hit the doorframe with an open fist,
"I knew it!"
~
If it was an ordinary life I wanted, then I failed miserably. In love with a
vampire, working as an artist for a small magazine that pays well, but is run by
a strange man that thinks he is my best friend. I don't know how I get into
these situations.
Today I meet Sally's father. She said he is nice. She is off on assignment and
this is the only time her father could get away to meet me. She told me he is a
sweetheart, to just tell him that I love her and that is all he will want to
hear.
It has been around six months now that I have worked at ZybCol Press. I sit staring at the gloomy walls and wondering why I don't change the décor. I tried
once, but something stopped me. A sense of guilt, like a tsunami washed over me.
It was stronger the first time. What was here before? Maybe a ghost of the
previous occupant is still around. I sit wondering what could be done; I wander
off and stare into space when Bob comes into my office.
"Hey man, how's things? Great, awesome, anyway, Sally's dad is here. Did you want him to come in? He, he uh, yeah, well, he's coming in."
A creature that dwarfs Bob in size comes through the door. He has no trouble at all. It is as if the doorframe bends to get out of the way. He is a giant thing, I can't say man, because he is not a man. He is not wearing the skin of a man, he is as he is. The natural state of the almost men. Dripping gray strings of
solid mucus fall from his head over his eyes and mouth. Underneath the thick
tangles of gray, two tiny red sparkles can be seen amidst a sea of hollow black.
Those are his eyes. The dark brown black room takes on a blue gray hue with his
appearance. His feet, his feet are tiny dregs. They really don't seem to be
needed. They appear to be bandaged in the same gray tangles as the rest of him.
They do not touch the ground. He looks up at me. His shoulders make him as wide
as my desk. His head is large, at least the size of a rhinos head if not larger.
I want to scream out.
I find myself standing behind my desk. He sits in the only other chair in my office. It sits across from me, my desk separating the client from myself. He
settles in, and then I sit.
Unexpectedly, Gladys walks in with a tray of coffee, two cups, and a little plastic flask. She sets the cups up and pours coffee into both. She places a cup before him, and one before me. She then puts the flask down, opens the lid and fumbles in her pocket and pulls out a straw. I can smell iron. She then leaves
without saying a word. A few moments of silence follow. I begin to sip the coffee, and he sips his drink. His mouth opens just a little and I see at least three rows of razor sharp teeth, and a large green tongue.
"So, you love my daughter? " His voice ancient and low echoes.
"Yes."
"You must wonder why I am not wearing my human skin."
"Well…"
" I want you to see us how we are. I took the skin off in the elevator up
here. That thing creaks, don't it?"
"Yep."
"Anyway, I wanted you to see what we are and make sure that you still love her."
"Okay."
"And do you? Are you afraid of me? Do you fear the sight of me? Am I a
monster?"
"Yes."
He stopped for a second, and moved his head back. The tendrils of gray wafted in the air.
"Yes what? Afraid? Love? Monster?"
"All."
"You are afraid."
"Very much."
"You love her still?"
"A lot."
"You realize without her skin, this is what she looks like?"
"Yep."
"You seem like a nice guy. How bout I slip into my skin and we go have a beer." his voice begins to sound human, even a little meek.
~
I agreed to have a drink after work. That seemed to impress him more. A bit of security and responsibility impresses every dad, even one like him. We went down to the Fiddlehead bar. Chuck was there, or more so he was just leaving. He had a fight the next night. He was going to be champion I just knew it. He was a great boxer. He didn't seem to notice me as he left. He got into a cab as Sally's father and I walked in.
"Have I told you my name yet?"
"No." I said as I ordered two beers.
"It's Harold."
"Harold."
" I like the name. It has a bit of an old timey feel to it, and I am old
timey, ain't I?" He laughed and jabbed an elbow into my ribs.
In his human skin, he was a short old man. He had a slight English accent and was balding. He wore an English cabby hat. He had piercing blue eyes. They were deep as the ocean and far more kind.
He got himself a scotch and raised his glass,
"To Sally. May you be as happy with her as I have been with Maude."
I raised my glass to the toast. We drank for hours, toasting everything; the
birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, the old man in red from long ago that
brought gifts to the world, Mister Bellows, and more. By the end of the night
neither of us could stand upright. John, the bartender had to call us a taxi,
and a strong man had to carry us to the back seat. Harold was dropped off first.
He lived next door to Mister Bellows, who was sitting out on his steps. The cab
driver called him over to help with Harold,
"He's heavier than he looks."
Mister Bellows smiled. I could tell that much through my drunken haze. I had
managed not to pass out somehow.
"He is at that, Bert. He is much more then he appears, huh?"
"Right you are mate. Wait…how'd you know my name was Bert?"
"Name tag." Bellows pointed to his own chest where Bert's name tag sat on the shirt.
"Right. I don't know why we have to wear these things. They don't have to in other cities. Just August."
Maude came out of the door then. Bellows and Bert, the cab driver put him down on the steps. Maude slapped him upside the head and left him to sleep it off.Bert came back to the cab and Bellows went back to sitting on his steps. He waswatching Harold as we drove away. I sobered up a bit when I realized I was
getting stuck with the fare.
~
The next day Sally was back from her trip.
"So Hon, you get along with my daddy, all right?"
"Yeah. Peachy." I put my head on my desk and covered my eyes from the lights in the room. She patted my back and rubbed comforting circles with her open palm.
"Sally?"
"Yeah Hon?"
"Does Bob know what you are?"
"No, why?"
"He met your dad too."
She stopped rubbing my back.
"No skin?"
"No skin."
At that moment Bob entered my office. He was shaking as he turned to the side to come in.
"Hey Hal, hey Sal. Uhm? Are you like your Dad, Sal?"
"Yeah, I am. Is that a problem?"
"No, no. Just wish you would have told me, is all. It's something a coworker, a boss, a friend would like to… should know."
"Did you tell anyone?"
"No, no. I wouldn't. Not even my wife. I'm afraid they'd, the authorities
would commit me or something."
"Good. I was worried for a moment."
Bob stopped shaking,
"Why weren't you worried that Hal would tell?"
She smiled and began to rub my back again.
"Woman's intuition. When you leave could you get the light. Hal has a hangover."
"Sure, sure. Oh how'd the trip go? You get the story?"
"Yeah."
I watched out of the corner of my eye as Bob left. His face relaxed, he seemed calm about all this. You get used to things quick in a town like August. When Mister Bellows is your neighbor strange things happen, and anything is possible.
~
A few happy weeks pass, I have a beer once a week with Harold at Fiddlehead Bar, and every once in a while Mister Bellows joins us. Then one night something bad happens.
He stood there, this stranger, this bad meat, a gun in his hand looking like a giant gorilla. He stood before me blocking my exit from the alley. His posture
stiff but relaxed at the same time. His eyes set, looking just past me. It was
creepy. His finger twitched on the trigger, a click was heard. It reverberated
in my ears, echoes out to infinity. The man moves a bit and it startles me, I
whimper, and he begins to pull the trigger, a mass of gray falls from the sky, I
am knocked back into a brick wall. I begin to lose consciousness, just before I
do, I hear,
"Don't worry hon."
~
I wake up. I am in the hospital. Sally sits at the side of the bed. It is
raining outside. She looks at me, smiling. I can see a gray tendril through her
teeth. She hugs me tight,
"I love ya, ya big palooka." She kisses me hard on the lips.
"I love you too."
~
If you ask me what I think of her, I'll lie and say she's perfect. If you ask
me if I love her, I will tell you the truth and say I do.