Read Online THE SUBWAY COLLECTION-A Box Set of 8 Dark Stories to Read on the Go by Billie Sue Mosiman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Billie Sue Mosiman
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"Yes, I understand. I need to reach my parents. I'm going home for Christmas."
"That's right. And Frank never came with you. You never knew a man named Frank. You're going home alone and that's all right, isn't it?"
Dina nodded. She took up her purse, opened it, found the keys. Abaddon handed her the bag with her things in it. He walked her to the door and stood watching as she got into the Nissan and drove away into the still night.
#
Frank Nesbeth woke in Hell. Over him stood the devil.
"I am Abaddon. It's my true name. I am sometimes called Satan, the great Lucifer, Beelzebub, Father of Lies. But you may call me Abaddon, Frank."
Frank began to cry, tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes and into his hair at his temples. "No," he said, blubbering and beginning now to strain at his iron straps. "I picked this place. You can't be the devil. I can't be here. I have things to do. Let me go!"
"But you're my guest, Frank."
Abaddon began to sparkle. His flesh, impossibly red and inhuman, sparkled as if lit from within. The shadows gathered.
"You were given to me," Abaddon said. "Can you guess why? And answer truthfully. This rack is not for your entertainment. It will stretch your neck until it snaps, until it tears from your body."
Frank was weeping openly, his face blotched, his nose running, his fists closing and opening. "I sold some drugs! I'm just a middleman! I get them from out of state, I distribute to sellers, I set up the whole structure."
One of the shadows came to his side and Abaddon stepped back. The shadow thickened, grew into a form, and like fog hugging the ground, it settled into a short human, became transparent flesh. A face came into being. It was a boy who was not yet a teen. "You killed me," the shadow person said. "They gave me some pills at school. They came from you. I died. I'm dead. I'm stuck in limbo because of you and I can't get to heaven."
Frank flung his head side to side denying it. "I did no such thing! I never gave a kid drugs."
Abaddon moved the small shadow aside. "You did it the way any man does any terrible thing. You did it faceless. You were behind the scenes, the puppet-master. Without you, they don't die. You were the...facilitator, Frank. And you plan to do more. You aim for an empire. That can't happen, not in this place at this time. So you were steered here. To me."
Another shadow came forward, holding out a hand, pointing a dark, accusing finger. "He killed me, too!"
Frank had his face turned away. He turned it back, staring in stupefied fear. "Gran? Gran, I didn't mean it. I was playing a practical joke!"
The shadow changed, took form, and a little old woman with wispy white hair glared at Frank. "I loved you, boy. I did everything I could to make you right. To make you right . And to pay me back for caring, what did you do? What did you do , Frank!"
"It was a starter gun! It's used at track meets. It wasn't a real gun, Gran. I never would have shot you!"
Her eyes narrowed. She pursed her lips. "You knew it would kill me, regardless. Didn't you? Didn't you, Frank? And that was your intention because I'd punished you, isn't that right, Frank? You can't lie to us." She turned to look at Abaddon who stood quietly behind her. "We all know your whole heart, your whole intention, your whole...evil."
The hours in the dungeon droned on beyond time and space, shadow after shadow coming forward to accuse Frank with
"That's right. And Frank never came with you. You never knew a man named Frank. You're going home alone and that's all right, isn't it?"
Dina nodded. She took up her purse, opened it, found the keys. Abaddon handed her the bag with her things in it. He walked her to the door and stood watching as she got into the Nissan and drove away into the still night.
#
Frank Nesbeth woke in Hell. Over him stood the devil.
"I am Abaddon. It's my true name. I am sometimes called Satan, the great Lucifer, Beelzebub, Father of Lies. But you may call me Abaddon, Frank."
Frank began to cry, tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes and into his hair at his temples. "No," he said, blubbering and beginning now to strain at his iron straps. "I picked this place. You can't be the devil. I can't be here. I have things to do. Let me go!"
"But you're my guest, Frank."
Abaddon began to sparkle. His flesh, impossibly red and inhuman, sparkled as if lit from within. The shadows gathered.
"You were given to me," Abaddon said. "Can you guess why? And answer truthfully. This rack is not for your entertainment. It will stretch your neck until it snaps, until it tears from your body."
Frank was weeping openly, his face blotched, his nose running, his fists closing and opening. "I sold some drugs! I'm just a middleman! I get them from out of state, I distribute to sellers, I set up the whole structure."
One of the shadows came to his side and Abaddon stepped back. The shadow thickened, grew into a form, and like fog hugging the ground, it settled into a short human, became transparent flesh. A face came into being. It was a boy who was not yet a teen. "You killed me," the shadow person said. "They gave me some pills at school. They came from you. I died. I'm dead. I'm stuck in limbo because of you and I can't get to heaven."
Frank flung his head side to side denying it. "I did no such thing! I never gave a kid drugs."
Abaddon moved the small shadow aside. "You did it the way any man does any terrible thing. You did it faceless. You were behind the scenes, the puppet-master. Without you, they don't die. You were the...facilitator, Frank. And you plan to do more. You aim for an empire. That can't happen, not in this place at this time. So you were steered here. To me."
Another shadow came forward, holding out a hand, pointing a dark, accusing finger. "He killed me, too!"
Frank had his face turned away. He turned it back, staring in stupefied fear. "Gran? Gran, I didn't mean it. I was playing a practical joke!"
The shadow changed, took form, and a little old woman with wispy white hair glared at Frank. "I loved you, boy. I did everything I could to make you right. To make you right . And to pay me back for caring, what did you do? What did you do , Frank!"
"It was a starter gun! It's used at track meets. It wasn't a real gun, Gran. I never would have shot you!"
Her eyes narrowed. She pursed her lips. "You knew it would kill me, regardless. Didn't you? Didn't you, Frank? And that was your intention because I'd punished you, isn't that right, Frank? You can't lie to us." She turned to look at Abaddon who stood quietly behind her. "We all know your whole heart, your whole intention, your whole...evil."
The hours in the dungeon droned on beyond time and space, shadow after shadow coming forward to accuse Frank with
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