Marvin had never been good at coming up with lies that would get him out of a jam. His face and voice would never obey no matter how good of an excuse he could make up. They always knew he was lying, and it humiliated him every time. When he walked into Strawberry, his anxiousness in telling his made-up story of why he was here had disappeared. The little town was silent and still. The street lights were on, and some of the security lights within a small convenience store were on as well. The houses were void of holding any life. Not even a night light or a TV could be seen lighting up the inside of any of the houses. Several cars lined the streets, but none drove down the roads. The town isn't asleep, Marvin thought to himself, It's just fuckin' dead. Nevertheless, he wandered the streets looking for some place of refuge for the night.
"Flints Motel" read the big sign, damaged from decades of sun and rain. There were a few cars parked in the lot, and he hoped at least one of them owned to the clerk at the front desk. The lights were on, and the door to the lobby was open, but behind the desk there was no one. No matter how many times he ringed the bell at the counter, no one came to serve him. He took a seat in the lobby, sat and waited for a couple of minutes, but his eyelids grew heavy. Had it not been for the sudden thought of the people in the woods, he would have fallen asleep. Shit, I can't stay out here, they'll see me. There was a bathroom in the lobby. It was a single person bathroom. One toilet, one sink, and a window, high above and close to the ceiling. A previous patron had struck the mirror, leaving shards of it scattered in the sink and on the floor underneath it. Marvin locked the dead bolt and sat on the toilet, and allowed himself some shut-eye.
He was lying in the dirt. Worms and rocks made the earth an uncomfortable bed. He was in a pit, he realized, and the dirt walls around him grew taller. The worms at his back became firm and thicker. Tips of fingers sprouted from the dirt, wiggling as if to claw the rest of their bodies out of the ground. The dirt became wet as the black clouds in the red sky drifted overhead to pour rain over him. Marvin wrenched himself up, pale fingers with jagged nails fighting to rip through his skin. He buried his hands and feet into a muddy wall and carried himself up.
"Marv..." A woman's voice called from below. Marvin looked behind him and saw his sister, Mandy. The fingers had hooked themselves around her arms and legs and were dragging her into the muddy earth. One of his hands let go of the wall. He was about to spring off the wall. "No, don't!" his sister urged. "She needs you. I'm already gone. You know this." mud filled her mouth and nostrils as she sank into the ground, but Marvin listened to her and crawled up the wall, tears running down his face. I'm sorry, Mandy, I'm so fucking sorry I yelled and hit you.
He threw himself over the edge and in front of him he saw a large, grey tower made of stone. In front of its large wooden doors was his daughter. Natalie waved to him, smiling sweetly. She turned around and approached the door. In one window, he saw Zebra, or Jason Howard, according to the driver's license he found on him. He was licking his lips as he gestured Nat to come in. "No! Stop! Don't go!" Marvin yelled, but she continued through the darkness within the tower. He ran into the darkness, and his feet found steps. He ran up them, torches appearing to light up the rough-cut walls of the stairway.
At the top was a door. Marvin took no time and barged into what was behind. It was his living room. Sprawled on the carpet was Mandy and Nat, both bloody, slashed up, and lifeless. Zebra was sitting on his recliner, a beer bottle in one hand, and a reddened pocket knife in the other. He slammed the bottle onto the table, joining the other empty ones. Even more bottles were strewn about on the floor. Zebra looked him in the eye and said, "It was kind of a tie, who was better." then began to laugh at him. Marvin grabbed him and did the same to him as he did before. He struck and he struck, and the skin of Zebra's face gave way. Beneath was not bone, but glossy material. The eyes slipped out of their sockets and Zebra had gotten stronger, grabbing Marvin's wrists. The rest of bastard's face slipped off to reveal a porcelain mask. It overpowered Marvin, wrestling him to the ground. The skin on the figure that was once Zebra slithered off, and beneath was muscle, wrapped in gold and copper wires. From the hollowness behind the mask's holes, he heard his own voice. "Drink." And blood flowed from its eyes, nostrils, and mouth as Marvin screamed.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
