Avarice

“Surprise!”

Grinning like a maniac, Jake popped the little jewelry case open, and inside was a shining silver bracelet, encrusted with diamonds all along the band. Cassandra gasped, clamping a hand over her mouth.

“Jake, its beautiful!” She exclaimed, taking the bracelet from its cradle and fastening it onto her wrist. “Oh, wow. I just can’t… Hang on a second. How much did this piece cost?”

Her husband’s grin grew even wider. “That’s the second surprise.” He produced a small slip of paper from his pocket and shoved it into her hands.

Cassandra frowned, examining the paper. “A lottery ticket? What-”

And then it dawned on her.

She gasped again, her eyes wide with excitement. “How much did we win?” She cried.

“Ten million! We hit the jackpot, baby!”

Cassandra screamed and Jake whooped and hollered with pure joy. He pulled her to him in a tight embrace.

“I can’t believe it,” she said when they had separated. “We won the lottery. Wow!”

“Yeah. It’s amazing, huh? Hey, I got something else to show you. Check this out.” He grabbed her by the wrist and led her into the living room. Inside, taking up a majority of the room, was a pool table. Possibly the most expensive looking table she’d ever seen. It had smooth, hardwood legs, and black cloth.

“Eh?” He said. “Whaddya think?”

“I think-”

But before she could finish the thought, Jake’s body suddenly convulsed with a strange, croaking hiccup, and his neck inflated slightly, kind of like a balloon. However, it deflated just as quickly, and went back to looking normal. Like that hadn’t just happened. Frowning, he rubbed his neck, half expecting some agonizing pain to spear through him at the touch. Instead, it felt… normal. Like nothing at all was out of the ordinary.

Cassandra frowned at him. “What was that? Are you alright?”

Jake looked at her in surprise. “I’m… fine,” he said.

“You sure? That looked pretty… freaky.”

“Yeah. I’m probably just hungry. You want to get a bite to eat?”

“Sure, how bout that-” She started to say, but then went silent, making a face and pinching her nose. “Yuck. What is that smell?”

Jake frowned. “What smell?” He sniffed at the air, but couldn’t detect anything foul.

“Is it the pool table?” She inquired, gingerly inching towards it. She leaned in close and unplugged her nose so she could give it a good whiff.

“What are you talking about?” Jake demanded, but found himself mimicking his wife and sniff-testing the fabric of the table. “It smells fine to me.”

“Ugh,” she moaned, but seemed to agree with that sentiment. “If it’s not the table, then…” She narrowed her gaze at him and leaned in close. “Oh, God, what is that? Did you change your deodorant?” She quickly retreated from him, holding her nose again.

“What?” He lifted an arm, sniffing himself. “No. I use the same stuff as always. But I don’t smell anything. Are you sure you’re not imagining things?”

“Oh, my God. I can’t… I just can’t.” She pushed past him, running for the bathroom while making strange retching noises. He called after her, only to be met with the sound of the door slamming shut and her heaving into the toilet.

-.-

A few days went by, with the two enjoying their unexpected wealth. Jake stocked up on about a million different types of deodorant to try and cover up the weird smell Cassandra claimed to have been detecting coming from him. It never seemed to help, though, and in fact only seemed to make the problem worse. Cassandra could barely stand to be in the same room as him anymore, and pleaded with him to see a doctor. He shrugged her off, figuring it was just a result of stress; stress from winning so much money and not knowing what to do with it, having to suddenly avoid certain people because they kept asking for handouts…

He also kept buying stuff. Anything he could get his hands on, really. He just couldn’t help himself. He had plenty of money, so why not?

The next big surprise he had for Cassandra was sure to make her happy, though.

She was sitting on the sofa in the living room, trying to ignore the out-of-place pool table sitting between her and the TV, when Jake came bursting in through the front door, red-faced and out of breath.

“Cass, I’ve got another - rrrrrrhic - surprise for you. Come with me.”

Before she even had a chance to protest, before she could recoil from the horrendous stench wafting off of him, he grabbed her and hauled her out the front door. His skin felt rough and leathery, and she was horrified to discover he had developed a few warts, and… had he gained weight recently?

Her mind started reeling at the discovery of the warts; was she going to grow some of her own now, after having touched his?

He dragged her across the patio, and over to the driveway, where there was what could have only been described as a vehicle sitting in front of the garage, covered with a plastic tarp. Jake looked back at her, his face almost splitting open from how wide his smile was.

“You ready?” He asked.

Cassandra, absolutely bewildered, gave a slow nod. He pulled the cover from the car, and Cassandra’s jaw hit the pavement.

It was one of those high-end luxury vehicles, but she couldn’t remember the brand name. Yellow, shiny, and sleek, it looked like it could win a beauty contest.

“What!” She yelled, though this time it was not with excitement.

Jake, however, didn’t seem to notice the change in her demeanor. “What do you - rrrrrrhic - think? It’s the one you always wanted.”

She looked at him in disbelief. “Jake, the bracelet was more than enough. Why do you keep spending all of our money?”

“What are you talking about?” He replied. “Your car is old and falling apart. I just got you one that you’ve wanted forever.”

“Yes, I’ve mentioned wanting a new car for a while, but it’s just too much. I don’t need this. I would be perfectly happy with a much cheaper car!”

“Honey, we’re - rrrrrrhic - rich now. We deserve this.”

“Ten million dollars doesn’t make you rich if you go spending all of it! Baby, no more. Okay? This is the last purchase. Is that clear?”

He sighed. “Alright. I won’t buy anything else.”

-.-

A week later, Cassandra awoke to the sound of a car engine revving and her husband’s voice yelling something.

She rolled over groggily, blinking the sleep from her eyes, and frowned towards the window curtains. A horn honked several times, followed by Jake calling out again.

“Cass! Come out here!”

Cassandra crawled out of the bed and pulled her bathrobe on. She then went over to the window, parting the curtains just enough for her to peek through. Sitting in front of the house was yet another brand-new luxury car, and her husband sat in the driver’s seat with a cocky grin plastered on his face. It was an olive-green in color, and smaller than the one he’d gotten for her, and she couldn’t help but wonder how he’d even managed to crawl inside it with how fat he was getting.

“Cass! C’mon! I wanna - rrrrrrhic - show you something!”

Growling under her breath, Cassandra stormed out of the bedroom and straight to the front door, throwing it open and practically charging up to this unexpected ‘surprise’ sitting on the street.

“Jake! What the hell?” She yelled. “I told you: no more purchases! What is wrong with you?”

“I got you a new car; it’s only fair - rrrrrrhic - that I get one.”

“What, so now you’re just going to spend all of that money that we won?”

The grin on Jake’s face slowly melted away. He turned the car off and climbed out. He approached his wife, tried to pull her close to him, but she backed away from him, instinctively clamping a hand over her nose.

“I don’t see what the problem is, Cass. We’ve still got most of our winnings locked up in our savings accounts. What’s so - rrrrrrhic - bad about having a little bit of fun with some of that extra cash?”

“Jake,” she said, trying to keep her voice even, “if you keep this up, we won’t have anything left! And look at you! You realize you’ve gained weight, don’t you? What are you doing during the day, eating nothing but fast food?”

His face fell as he conceded to the point she was trying to make.

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry. I won’t - rrrrrrhic - buy anything else, okay?”

“And you’ll see a doctor?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise?”

He nodded. “Swear to God.”

-.-

We need a bigger place to put all this stuff.

The thought came to him almost as though it had been transmitted inside his brain by some unseen force, like it wasn’t even his own thought. He immediately brushed it aside, remembering rather painfully what his wife had said. She was right, though; they’d already spent way too much. The cars put together cost him over a million dollars. Add on all the rest of the stuff and it suddenly became closer to five million.

And her comment about his weight… he had noticed that he’d put on a few pounds; he had a bigger belly for sure. But he hadn’t been doing anything different, so he wasn’t sure why. In addition, he couldn’t stop hiccuping, his skin felt weird, and he couldn’t seem to get rid of the warts that had begun to plague him, no matter what he tried. He still had yet to book a doctor’s appointment, and he really didn’t want to. Doctor’s offices freaked him right the hell out.

God, what was happening to him?

Despite all of that, however, he found himself pulling out his cell phone and typing in the address to a website for real estate. It wouldn’t hurt to just look at some new houses, would it?

As he scrolled, he found himself becoming increasingly agitated by what he was seeing. Houses ten times the size of his current residence, with built-in movie theaters and basketball courts and football field sized swimming pools. Garages that could hold up to ten different vehicles! They were all so amazing! He found himself wishing with such vehemence that he could just walk through one. Wanting to see what they really looked like on the inside. Sure, there were pictures showcasing the innards of these buildings, but those could never compare to really seeing the place, with your own eyes.

His thumb hovered over the ‘Book a tour’ button. He sucked in a breath, knowing Cassandra would have a cow over this, and pressed the button.

Within a month, he was the proud owner of a two million dollar home. He’d kept the whole process a secret from his wife, hoping to surprise her with it just as soon as he got the keys. And so, once all the paperwork was signed and money transferred over, he drove home to collect his wife. She was dubious when he said he had a surprise for her, as that had become his go-to line over the past few months. But he swore, he pinky promised that she was going to absolutely love this particular surprise.

She’d insisted on driving separately, since she could no longer stand to be in close proximity to him. That was fine. His surprise wouldn’t work out quite the way he intended, but it would still be amazing.

They pulled into the driveway of the new house, and Jake banged his knee trying to leap out of his car, but he ignored the pain and started making a ridiculous gesture with his hands as she parked behind him.

She got out, looking up at the massive building with a very dubious expression.

“Ta-da! Rrrrrrhic!” Jake cried.

Cassandra was silent for a very long, very tense moment, just staring at the massive building looming before her. “I… I don’t understand. What’s the surprise?” She asked.

“This,” Jake replied, gesturing to the house. “We live here now.”

She looked at Jake, her mouth falling open in utter disappointment and disbelief. “You did what?!” She suddenly shrieked, her voice shrill enough to shatter glass.

“I… rrrrrrhic - bought us a new house,” Jake admitted, rather lamely.

Her eyes were wide, nostrils flaring, breathing heavily. “Jake, you promised you wouldn’t buy anything else! What were you even thinking? We don’t need a new house. The one we’ve had for the last ten years works perfectly fine!”

“It’s just that, with all the - rrrrrrhic - stuff we’ve acquired, I figured a little more space wouldn’t-”

“No,” she interrupted acidly. “No. You bought that stuff. You. Stuff we don’t even need! How many times have I said this? If you really felt like we didn’t have enough space, why not just sell some of the crap you keep bringing home?” She paused as though waiting for him to respond, but before he could, she said, “No, you know what? That’s it, Jake. That’s it. I am done. I told you I didn’t want this. Did you even listen to anything I said? No, you didn’t.”

Cassandra stormed back to her car and threw the door open. But before she could get back in, Jake ran over to her and grabbed her arm.

“Cass, wait!” He said. “Wait! Rrrrrrhic! Hear me out!”

She whirled around to face him, her expression twisted into a furious snarl. “No, Jake,” she retorted. “I will not hear you out. I am leaving. And I’m not coming back. I hope you’re happy.” She dove into the driver’s seat of her car as fast as she could and peeled out of the driveway, leaving her husband standing there in a daze.

-.-

A Few Days Later…

Sam Warner knocked briskly on the front door of his client’s new home. When there was no answer, he tried the doorbell. “Mr. Bryers?” He called.

Still, there was no response.

“Mr. Bryers? Are you in there?”

He tried knocking again and, to his surprise, the door slowly swung open. Frowning, he peered inside. The foyer was dark, but he could hear a strange croaking sound coming from somewhere deeper inside the house.

“Jake?” He tried once more as he walked into the house. “Are you home?”

He shut the door behind himself, and cast a glance around the room. It looked pretty much the same as the last time he’d walked the length of this structure, but with a few new additions; expensive-looking paintings and a couple pieces of furniture. He felt awkward letting himself in like this, but something seemed wrong about this situation. Normally he didn’t hear from clients after the sale of a house. However, there was some paperwork that had been overlooked, and he needed Mr. Bryers’ signature for a couple items.

The problem was that he couldn’t get in contact with this client. Like the man had fallen off the face of the Earth, never to be seen again. Even his wife hadn’t heard from him for several days. Though, he supposed he couldn’t blame her for that - she was pissed off at him and had already filed for divorce.

Sam took a couple tentative steps further into the house. “Mr. Bryers, it’s Sam Warner. I’ve been trying to call you, but I guess you’ve just been really busy. There’s some last-minute paperwork that needs signing. Are you here?”

He reached the end of the foyer, and walked into the living room. As soon as he passed through the doorway, the singular most pungent, offensive smell assaulted him, and his eyes began to water. It was so foul he had to backtrack into the foyer just so he could catch his breath.

“Good, Lord,” he muttered, fanning the air in front of his face. He knew the other man had an awful stench about him, but this was a whole different level of putrid. It was almost as if someone had... His eyes went wide and he whipped out his phone, dialed 9-1-1.

“9-1-1, what is your emergency?” Came the voice on the other end of the line.

“I’m not certain, but I think there might be a dead body in here.” As he spoke, he pinched his nostrils shut and went back into the living room, winding his way through the halls of the massive building, searching for anything out of place. As he walked, the smell began to get even worse. Even with his nose pinched closed, somehow the odor managed to pierce through.

“What’s the address?”

Squish.

Sam looked down, recoiling in disgust when he saw that his foot had sunken into the carpet. A slimy liquid oozed out of the fabric, soaking into his shoe.

“Yuck!” He cried.

“Sir?” The voice brought him back to reality.

Shaking off the discomfort, he simply said, “There’s something really strange going on here.”

“Can you give me an address?” They repeated.

“Uhh, yeah. I’m at 841 South Province Road.”

“I’ve got units on the way. Can you tell me what’s happening?”

“Uhh, no, I can’t,” he replied.

He reached the master bedroom, taking great care to walk lightly and avoiding rugs and carpeted areas as much as he could, and pushed the door open, his mouth falling open in shock and horror at what was on the other side.

A gigantic toad sat on the massive, king-sized bed. This creature was so huge that the bed-frame had snapped in several places, causing the mattress to sag awkwardly. The toad let out a despondent croak, and for the briefest of moments Sam swore he could hear it saying, “Help… me...”