Read Online The Late Night Horror Show by Bryan Smith - Free Book Online
Authors: Bryan Smith
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feet. He clutched at her as she went by, his fingers sliding off the sleeve of her denim jacket. “Brix! Don’t! Stay away from him.”
“Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got this.”
A scream came again. The timbre of it was the same as the previous scream. It had a distinctly feminine quality to it. And now someone else was yelling. A guy. She heard terror in that voice. But she kept her focus on the task at hand. One crisis at a time. She would help those people as soon as she’d dealt with this dumb asshole.
She was very close to him now, mere yards away.
He took another lurching step in her direction.
And…groaned.
Brix frowned, faltering just the slightest bit.
Um…
Yet another lurching step. And now the smell assailed her. How had she not noticed it in the first place? The stench was so foul it made her eyes water. He smelled like a pile of rotting meat left out in the sun all day.
Another staggering step closer.
Almost within kicking distance.
She was maybe letting him get a little too close, closer than she normally would when squaring off for a fight with someone, though she wasn’t overly worried. His gait and his lopsided stance were strong indicators he would be dead meat the moment she went into attack mode. There was a remote chance he was faking her out, but she doubted it. Bottom line, she didn’t perceive this clown as a real threat. And yet, something was very wrong with him. Her curiosity was piqued.
She wrinkled her nose and scowled at him. “Dude. What the fuck? You smell like you slept in a fucking sewer.”
The man’s mouth hung open. It opened marginally wider still and another low groan emerged.
“What was that? Sorry, I don’t speak stupid. Try English, okay?”
Another groan, louder this time.
He lifted a hand, reaching for her. Brix took an instinctive step backward. She didn’t like that. Not at all. It went against everything she believed. Backing down made you look weak. That was a lesson her father had instilled in her at an early age.
Trevor yelled at her again. “Get away from him! Jesus, Brix!”
Another of those instinctive backward steps.
Dammit.
She heard sounds of violence nearby. Heavy thuds. More screams and more yelling. That Nikki chick and her ass-hat boyfriend, she was pretty sure. Obviously, Stinky here wasn’t the only threat in the vicinity. The reality of how much trouble they were potentially in hit home again. Yes, something immensely strange had happened in the theater. But something even stranger was happening out here in the parking lot. She needed to stop trying to figure this guy out. There were bigger mysteries that needed solving.
She squinted at him, the extent of the ragged condition of his clothes becoming apparent for the first time. His suit had been nice once upon a time. But now it was badly stained and torn in many places. He wasn’t in such great shape, either. He was gaunt and his eyes were a strange milky white. And, holy shit, one of his ears was missing. There was an ugly wound where it had been. The really weird part was the wound wasn’t leaking blood.
The guy looked sort of… dead .
Like a—
No. Shut up, Brix. That’s crazy. You’ve seen too many bad movies, that’s all.
Still…
The man who looked like a walking dead thing took yet another staggering step toward her. Brix now stood frozen in place, gawping at the lurching impossibility right in front of her. Trevor grabbed her by an arm and tried to jerk her backward. She yelped and yanked her arm free. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words went unsaid as she sensed something rushing toward her from the right. She tensed, bracing for a collision or a blow, but neither came.
Jason Tatum appeared in front of her, wielding a heavy, old-fashioned tire iron. His arms were already in motion, swinging the length of heavy metal straight at the head of the rotten-smelling, one-eared dude. Brix flinched in anticipation of the sure-to-be devastating blow.
“Don’t worry, baby. I’ve got this.”
A scream came again. The timbre of it was the same as the previous scream. It had a distinctly feminine quality to it. And now someone else was yelling. A guy. She heard terror in that voice. But she kept her focus on the task at hand. One crisis at a time. She would help those people as soon as she’d dealt with this dumb asshole.
She was very close to him now, mere yards away.
He took another lurching step in her direction.
And…groaned.
Brix frowned, faltering just the slightest bit.
Um…
Yet another lurching step. And now the smell assailed her. How had she not noticed it in the first place? The stench was so foul it made her eyes water. He smelled like a pile of rotting meat left out in the sun all day.
Another staggering step closer.
Almost within kicking distance.
She was maybe letting him get a little too close, closer than she normally would when squaring off for a fight with someone, though she wasn’t overly worried. His gait and his lopsided stance were strong indicators he would be dead meat the moment she went into attack mode. There was a remote chance he was faking her out, but she doubted it. Bottom line, she didn’t perceive this clown as a real threat. And yet, something was very wrong with him. Her curiosity was piqued.
She wrinkled her nose and scowled at him. “Dude. What the fuck? You smell like you slept in a fucking sewer.”
The man’s mouth hung open. It opened marginally wider still and another low groan emerged.
“What was that? Sorry, I don’t speak stupid. Try English, okay?”
Another groan, louder this time.
He lifted a hand, reaching for her. Brix took an instinctive step backward. She didn’t like that. Not at all. It went against everything she believed. Backing down made you look weak. That was a lesson her father had instilled in her at an early age.
Trevor yelled at her again. “Get away from him! Jesus, Brix!”
Another of those instinctive backward steps.
Dammit.
She heard sounds of violence nearby. Heavy thuds. More screams and more yelling. That Nikki chick and her ass-hat boyfriend, she was pretty sure. Obviously, Stinky here wasn’t the only threat in the vicinity. The reality of how much trouble they were potentially in hit home again. Yes, something immensely strange had happened in the theater. But something even stranger was happening out here in the parking lot. She needed to stop trying to figure this guy out. There were bigger mysteries that needed solving.
She squinted at him, the extent of the ragged condition of his clothes becoming apparent for the first time. His suit had been nice once upon a time. But now it was badly stained and torn in many places. He wasn’t in such great shape, either. He was gaunt and his eyes were a strange milky white. And, holy shit, one of his ears was missing. There was an ugly wound where it had been. The really weird part was the wound wasn’t leaking blood.
The guy looked sort of… dead .
Like a—
No. Shut up, Brix. That’s crazy. You’ve seen too many bad movies, that’s all.
Still…
The man who looked like a walking dead thing took yet another staggering step toward her. Brix now stood frozen in place, gawping at the lurching impossibility right in front of her. Trevor grabbed her by an arm and tried to jerk her backward. She yelped and yanked her arm free. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words went unsaid as she sensed something rushing toward her from the right. She tensed, bracing for a collision or a blow, but neither came.
Jason Tatum appeared in front of her, wielding a heavy, old-fashioned tire iron. His arms were already in motion, swinging the length of heavy metal straight at the head of the rotten-smelling, one-eared dude. Brix flinched in anticipation of the sure-to-be devastating blow.
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