Right Under Your Nose

It’s cold, so cold, ah, ah, aaaaah…. And dark, so dark that I can’t see a thing. What time is it? Where am I? Wait, I, I can’t move! Why can’t I move? I’m scared. What’s happening to me? What...

Suddenly I heard a heavy thud and pull followed by a screeching sound then more scratchy sound. It sounded like someone just lifted up a hefty lid of a freezer that hadn’t been opened for some time, the frost clammed to the thick rubber seal and someone was trying to remove it in order to open the lid more. Luckily there was light, very dim though, pale and useless like them lights in those hillbillies’ sheds just about for them to make out the silhouettes of their rotting hoards lying around everywhere so they won’t bump into them in the tight spaces but enough to attract a moth or two fluttering and crushing into the light bulb relentlessly and leave clouds of tiny scales of their wings floating in the damp air with the swirling unsettled dust. Something fuzzy was blocking the dim light, no, not something, someone, a person, a person in police uniform looking down.

Hi, I’m here, below the frozen food packages! Just move them out of the way and then you will be able to see me. Wait, what? Why am I under some frozen food cartons? Oh…. no, no, no, no, no, no…

Horrific images were flashing through my mind like a fast bullet train and I started to remember why I was there. I witnessed my own murder by my boyfriend and his incest sister, then I was chopped into pieces, threw into a couple of black plastic garbage bags and left at the bottom of the freezer in their dingy little shed. All the trauma started flowing back to my mind like a huge flood rushing through a broken dam. Sudden grief hit me like a sharp stabbing knife, and yes, they did stab me through my heart, over and over until they watched my life left my eyes. Blood, there was so much blood. I had never seen so much blood in my life, it was a pool of deep crimson red, it was my first and last.

‘Looks like it hasn’t been opened for some time huh?’ The policeman asked with his head turned and one hand still holding the lid, 'So this is where you keep your frozen food?'

‘Yes. Unfortunately, as you gentlemen can see, there’s not enough space in the house.’ Billy answered cooly leaning against the door frame without a blink of his ice-cold eye and gestured with his head tilting slightly towards the house behind him. 

Billy, you son of a bitch! You son of bitch! Stop lying through your teeth! Tell them! Tell them the truth! Tell them how you and your evil bitch sister killed me and dragged my lifeless body parts all the way here. Tell them, Billy! You are no man! I fucking kill you! I try to grab hold of his neck and chock him but my hands went right through.

‘Yeah, we can understand for sure after we’ve seen the house, it was pretty crowded.’ The policeman nodded with a lopsided smile and shaking his head. ‘So, you haven’t noticed anything suspicious?’ The policeman closed the lid of the freezer with a heavy thud as he let his hand go.

Darkness. Unbearable darkness… No, man, don’t! Don’t leave me here! He is a murderer! Murderer!!! Can’t you see? Please, come back, lift up the lid and remove some of the clutters and you will be able to see better. I beg you, please! Please, come back, please, please, please don’t leave me here alone again. Tears started rushing down my pale and hollowed face and I feel nothing, no warmth, no wetness, nothing at all.

‘Suspicious? Not at all. As you gentlemen can see, we are in the middle of nowhere here and ain’t nobody ever come here for nothing.’ Billy shook his head without even a slight rising of his heartbeat. 

Ha, does this lying piece of shit even have a heartbeat? No, does he even have a heart?!

‘Yeah, you are right. I guess it’s pretty remote out here. Nevertheless, it’s still pretty close to the bank. I’m sure you can understand, we have to have a thorough search in the immediate areas, it’s standard procedure.’ The policemen replied apologetically while looked aimlessly through the mountains of messy hoards.

Wait, bank? What bank? What are you guys going on about? It’s murder! Aren't you looking for me? Hello? No? Do you know even know I am dead? What did this motherfucker tell you? That I ran off with some random dude or some shit like that? What the hell is going on? Did that bastard rob a bank? Really? That bank near his house opposite the diner where I used to work? Hollyshit! He did, didn’t he? Motherfucker’s on a fucking roll!

‘Oh of course! I understand, you guys are just doing your job! No problem, it’s not a problem at all.’ Billy shook his head with a concerned look that he gained so many times before. ‘I heard he took a shit load of money, the guy with the shock collar.’

‘Yeah, you heard right, half a million they initially demanded in the letter but their guy only managed to get about a quarter in cash. Then boom! His head blew off like a watermelon.’ The policemen made gestures of explosion with laughter.

‘Oh yeah, nasty shock collars, I remember hearing it on the news. How bizarre! It’s the first time I ever heard of such a device being used. Did it explode? Oh my! I hope nobody else got hurt. Who’d do such a terrible thing?’ Billy suddenly caught an eye of his sketches of the collar lying on the workbench, slowly moved in front of the bench and tucked them away.

‘Yeah, it exploded alright but the shrapnels only travelled inwards so no one else was hurt. But they did puncture the guy’s neck real bad, and he didn’t live long enough to tell his tale.’

‘No, he did not. How sad.’ Billy nodded with a slight undetectable smirk under his worn baseball cap. ‘Listen, gentlemen, I hope you guys catch that son of bitch who did this. And if there’s anything I can do to help, just give me a buzz.’ He slid a business card into one of the policemen’s hand.

‘Will do sir. Have a good evening!’ The policemen took off with a handshake with Billy.