Read Online Strange Magic by Gord Rollo - Free Book Online

how he was going about things the wrong way. Killing Kemp quickly would be a big mistake. Too fast and easy. The cowardly bastard deserved a hell of a lot worse fate than a quick demise. He needed to be tortured, mentally and physically, forced to learn the meaning of true fear. He shouldn’t get off easy; he had earned the right to suffer.
    Fortunately, the magic trunk had many suggestions as to how he could fulfill his plan of revenge, but in the meantime, driving around in a stolen pickup wasn’t such a great idea. He had to find somewhere to lay low for a while, a quiet place where he could rest and plan.
    “Rest and plan,” the Stranger dreamily whispered as he climbed out from behind the wheel and entered the convenience store. Inside, he purchased a few bags of supplies and a newspaper in which he hoped to find the perfect hideaway.
    The weekly paper, a shaggy-looking rag known as the Billington Sentinel , was a twenty-page hodgepodge of local news, sports, weather, and community events. On page sixteen, right beside the help-wanted ads, was a list of apartments for rent; four of those were listed as immediately available. Smiling again, the Stranger broughtthe old truck to life and pulled out of the parking lot, a quiet apartment now his first priority.
    The first place he checked he discounted immediately without taking the time to stop. It was a basement apartment, which was fine, but the apartment upstairs looked like some type of day care center, with dozens of screaming kids continually running in and out.
    The second apartment was better. It lay on a quieter street with no apparent kids around, but he decided to pass on this one too. It was one of those large three-story complexes, and kids or not, there were too many neighbors for his liking.
    The dark man was once again feeling stressed out and frustrated, when driving east on Leamon Avenue he pulled to a stop in front of the third address. He instantly had a good feeling about it.
    Now this place has potential.
    The two-story house with an attached two-car garage was set back quite a bit from the road on a large lot filled with huge oak trees. It was an older home, spruced up with gray aluminum siding and a recently shingled roof.
    The ad in the paper indicated the owner preferred a room-and-board type of arrangement, and anyone interested would have to be willing to take care of the heavy yard work as part of the deal. Probably a good indicator the owner was an older person who needed help.
    Interesting.
    In the ten or fifteen minutes the Stranger sat considering whether this was the right place for him, not one car passed along this unusually quiet street. Inside his mind, the magic trunk nudged him into action. It said no words but sent him a visual picture of a monstrousentity slowly nodding its deformed head, obviously well pleased. The Stranger had seen all he needed to.
    “This place is perfect,” he decided, getting out of the truck and heading for the front door.
    He had to knock a number of times on the heavy mahogany door, each rap resounding louder than the previous before the door slowly creaked open. By then, his patience had been sorely tested, but he managed to subdue his angry scowl, promptly replacing it with another of his practiced fake smiles. The old lady stood inside the door, graciously reciprocating his smile.
    “Can I help you?” she asked.
    She was rather short, slightly overweight, and her badly wrinkled skin gave weight to her obvious advanced years. The Stranger guessed her age at eighty, if not older. She was wearing a full-length floral-patterned dress and white slippers. He couldn’t help noticing her beautiful silver-tinted hair was pulled cruelly back in a tight bun.
    The Stranger stepped closer, quite pleased. “Hello there,” he purred. “I’m here to see about the room for rent. I read about it in this morning’s paper.” He held up the newspaper and pointed to the small ad. “I was wondering if it’s