Lucky Damnation Read online

“I should get going before you change your mind.” Frances smiled, patted Michael on his back and darted for the door. As she ran out the doors she called, “Okay bye, you two”

  “Your friend was a little too excited to leave us alone.” Michael smiled. “Is she always this anti-social?”

  “No, she’s always looking for me to run off and to get married. She just likes to rush the process in any way she can. In her mind, the sooner it happens, the sooner she can plan it and make the day all about her, with some focus on me. She likes planning weddings.” Marisela sighed.

  “I am surprised you’re already talking about us getting married. That’s kind of fast.” Michael laughed.

  “No, I was just saying,” Marisela blushed.

  “I’m kidding.” His voice cooed. “I like it when you blush. The warmth on your cheeks is very beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” Marisela whispered. “I just want you to know-“

  “I move slowly too.” Michael replied and patted her on the back. “I’m not looking for a roll in the hay by any means. We’re going to probably head up to Jerome and just look at the stars and the lights of Cottonwood. Unless, you have somewhere else you’d like to go.”

  “No, that sounds enchanting.” Marisela replied. “I’m really looking forward to this.”

  “I am too. I just need to finish up a few things around here. You don’t mind waiting around for me for about thirty minutes do you?” Michael asked.

  Marisela nodded her head. “I’ve waited this long to find someone like you. Another thirty minutes won’t kill me I don’t think.”

  “I sure hope not. It would end up being a waste.” He smiled.

  “Well, you better get going. Otherwise those thirty minutes will turn into an hour.” She grinned.

  “I really hate that I am working right now. I would love to just take off with you and to get out in the fresh air and just live.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “But we could continue this conversation now or I could finish up. “

  “I’ll be here.” Marisela smiled. “Just take your time. I am not going anywhere.”

  With that, Michael smiled and nodded again. As he turned to go, Marisela couldn’t help but feel happy that someone was here that seemed genuinely nice. Although part of her felt a little bad that she was so happy.

  Chapter Twelve

  Waiting for Michael to finish, Marisela walked out to the diner carpark to catch some fresh air. She looked up for a moment and saw the old man standing there. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as his eyes pierced into her soul.

  She needed to understand the hatred and the rage he felt. For a moment, she looked at Mama Clifton’s behind her. She took a deep breath, knowing Michael could be called out to her in a moment’s notice if she needed him.

  As she approached him, she could see his face tightening. She knew this likely wouldn’t go smoothly and that she needed to brace herself for the possibility of him lashing out at her in anger.

  “What’s your problem, mister?” Marisela demanded.

  “He wants you dead.” The old man snarled. “I am here trying to watch over you. To protect you. Don’t be so ungrateful, woman.”

  “Who wants me dead?” Marisela pressed. “Who feels like I am a big enough threat that they need to take me out once and for all? I haven’t done anything to anyone.”

  “You know who I am talking about.” The old man sighed. “You knew when the death began who it was. When you saw the scratcher tickets. But you never realized he was that close to you.”

  “He’s dead.” Marisela spat. “He died years ago. His mother confirmed it.”

  “No.” The old man laughed. “He is very much alive. But he did spend time in the Stetson Hills Asylum. After your friends tormented him, we felt it was best to hide him away from the world. To keep him from being subjected to your ridicule and hatred. When Trisha died, I knew something was wrong. I had to go to her funeral to figure it out. I drove 300 miles to attend the funeral. To see her dead and then to see you.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me then?” Marisela demanded. “Why did you put me through all of this if you could have ended things? If you knew he was back and alive?”

  “I didn’t want to believe it.” The old man frowned. “The police wouldn’t understand. Their only goal would be to shoot him and kill him on sight.”

  “How is that a problem?” Marisela cried. “He has killed my friends. He wants me dead! I have to live in fear now because he’s older now and I don’t know who to trust.”

  “I’d offer a picture.” The old man shrugged. “But our family cut off communication with him once he was admitted. No one wanted anything to do with him. Perhaps that gave him too much time on his own. It gave him too much time to plan his revenge.”

  “Then how did he get out?” Marisela hissed. “Who helped to sign him out and get back here?”

  “There was nothing legal to ever keep him locked up.” The old man shook his head. “Once the psychiatrists felt he had worked through his issues and he had his medication, there wasn’t more they could do. It’s not like it used to be. There was a time your family could easily lock you up and keep you away from the world. That doesn’t happen anymore.”

  “What do we do now?” Marisela demanded. “How do we end this? How do we stop Nathan from killing again?”

  “That’s the problem.” The old man replied. “I have no idea.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  He saw them talking outside the diner. Marisela and his father. Soon, he would have to put an end to all of this.

  If there was one person he hated more than Marisela, it was his dad. The man was nothing more than a cold, emotionless monster who gave Nathan all of his worst traits.

  But one of his problems would soon be dead. It was time to tie up all these loose ends and to finally win.

  His got into his car and decided it was time to sit and wait for his next victim. Someone who truly needed to die.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The old man pushed his back against the post on his front porch.

  It was these perfect endings that made him love the desert even more. As he scanned his hazel eyes across the land, a warm summer breeze rattled through his thinning hair tossing it around. Taking a moment, he pushed it hard against his body.

  As a former Miami, Florida resident, he had decided to pack things up and to explore the Southwest. Not that he was completely new to this area. Every spring since he was a little boy, his family would make the venture out to the Grand Canyon for a chance to explore its ever growing beauty. The marvelous drops and vast landscape had always left him wanting more. He loved the donkeys that could be ridden through the canyon and marveled at even the slightest things like the tiny scorpions that he was able to kick up from under rocks.

  The only thing that he couldn’t quite pinpoint is why the family always came out here, without fail. The Baxter’s didn’t have any family out in the area and for most people, seeing the Grand Canyon once was good enough. There were certainly people who came to study the area for scientific research, but from what he could understand, there was no reason for his father, an oil heir, to make the trek out here with his homemaker wife and two little kids.

  Opening his eyes, he returned his gaze to the setting sun. Like clockwork, he would ensure that he was here every time that it went down and to welcome the night. There wasn’t much that he looked forward to and the setting sun was one of those things. The power and the beauty that it held left an impact on him and it gave him a reason to push forward and continue to make it through a regular day as well.

  Smiling to himself, he turned and made his way back inside of his home. It was a fairly small house, but it worked for him and his cat, Gary. The old rickety front porch could use a new coat of paint and even a few nails where some boards had started to come loose. However, it wasn’t something that he felt was terribly needed. After all, there were never guests to impress and Gary seemed to be okay with jus
t having a roof over his head.

  Stepping through the front door, he looked around the living room before him. A simple yellow couch with flower prints was laid out in the middle of the room. Avocado green carpet was spilled beneath it, with a bright red shag rug. While it seemed like something straight out of a bad decorating job in the 1970s, it was furniture that came with the place. At some point, when he could afford it, there would be some updating.

  Gary rushed over to him and instantly smacked his head against his leg as he tried to tangle his body up with his. Laughing out loud, he lowered him thin frame to pick him up. With a single scoop, he stood back up and had the ratty tabby in his hands. His green eyes burned into his as he moaned in hunger.

  “So it wasn’t even a truthful welcome home.” He laughed. “You are interested in something in your dish. Well, let’s see what I can come up with.”

  Kissing him on his head, he lowered Gary back down to the floor and began to make his way to the kitchen. As he passed the couch, he could smell the faintest scent of smoke coming from it. Taking a look at it, he stopped.

  Never a smoker himself, he thought it was odd that the smell would be coming out of his couch now. Since Gary wasn’t likely a smoker himself, he wondered where it had come from. Shaking his head he gave it a smile and made his way into the kitchen.

  As he turned the tiny corner, he was welcomed to a sink full of dishes. Next to the sink was the old dishwasher that had finally given up the fight, and was nothing more than a decoration now. It was just another item in the series of repairs that would have to be addressed at some point. But for now, he just wanted to feed Gary and grab something for himself.

  In the corner of the room, he noticed something shuffling around and turned to look at it. Gary was anxiously hopping around and prancing as he played with a tiny scorpion that had made its way into his home.

  “Gary, leave it alone.” A smile crossed his face. The absolute innocence of his pet enjoying what he thought was a simple game, was relaxing to a point.

  Getting on his knees, he took a look at the hideous yellow tiles that made the floor in the kitchen. Part of him wondered if he could easily paint over them and cover up the dreary color, while another part just wanted to let the thoughts of the house go.

  Pushing Gary aside, he grabbed a spatula and smacked the scorpion hard with it. The cat glared at him and flinched as the spatula smack sent a sharp sound through the kitchen, along with the crunching of the body of the tiny creature.

  “He could have killed you.” his words were harsh at the cat. “You should be happy I saw him and came to your rescue.”

  Gary stared back at the man. His look wasn’t amused and he turned his attention back to his dinner dish. Noticing it was empty, he began to moan uncontrollably. Scooping up the remains of the scorpion and sighing heavily, the old man stood and shook his head.

  Walking past the sink, he dumped the tiny corpse into the garbage disposal and then opened up a cabinet door. The soft oak of the door felt heavy and was impressive for a home he was otherwise not too invested in emotionally. But the overall price and the beautiful cabinets certainly were huge points on his list of reasons why he should give this location a chance.

  Looking through the cans, he picked up a tiny blue can that had a mixture of fish in it and smiled at his cat. “I think tonight is a seafood night!”

  Gary gave him a look that let his know he really didn’t care what was going to end up in his dish, but if he continued to wait, his claws would be meeting his flesh. Getting down to the cat's face level, the old man kissed his head and dumped the can into his dish. Gary shoved past his and began to nibble on the food in his dish.

  Standing up again, the old man decided the best thing to do now was to wash up before making dinner. Work required him to drive 45 minutes each way, and it proved to be a struggle at times, but he wasn’t able to move any closer, because of his financial restraints. But, he had picked up the house while it was a buyer’s market, and his $450 monthly payments certainly helped to offset the cost of gas each week.

  Heading into the bathroom, he stopped briefly in the bedroom and grabbed a clean towel from the linen closet. He looked over at his bed, the fluffy white comforter was tossed off to the side and there was a patch of Gary’s hair on the pillow. Knowing that he should be more diligent to clean things up, he figured this was all his fault.

  Walking over to the bed, he was just straightening the sheets when he heard Gary scream shrilly. Jumping around at the sound, he expected to hear the cat scurry in through the room. Instead, there was nothing more than silence. Curious, he began to walk through the home and peer into each of the rooms. As he entered the kitchen, he noticed the cat’s food dish was tossed aside and there was food on the wall.

  The old man wondered if it was another scorpion in the home that ended up giving him a quick sting. Panic struck him and he anxiously began to walk around the home, looking under the couch and going through the cat’s favorite hiding places.

  “Gary?” He called out.

  There was no response and he could feel his heart racing. What if something had happened to him and he was already dead? Tears began to well up in his eyes as he anxiously searched for his beloved pet. Turning his head to look out the window, he noticed the lifeless body of the cat lying on the ground.

  “No!” He screamed and pushed hard on the floor as he began to make his way across the house. Hitting the front door, he shoved it open and burst out into the cool summer night. Turning to the side of the house, he hit the stairs and lost his footing. Falling to the ground, he tried to adjust himself and hit against the ground hard on his side.

  With the wind knocked out of him, he slowly blinked his eyes and pushed off from the ground. As he adjusted himself he felt the hard slamming of a boot hit his chest. Looking up, he saw a faceless figure above him.

  “Who are you?” He groaned as he tried to keep the air in his lungs. “Please, my cat needs my help. If you could let me up?”

  As the old man tried to push himself back up, he could feel the man slam his boot down hard on his chest. The sickening sound of a cracking bone caused him to throw open his eyes and gasp loudly in pain. Coughing suddenly in fits, he pushed hard against the legs of the man above him, and scurried back. Breathing hard, he could feel the soft trickle of blood coming from the side of his lips.

  Trying to get to his feet, he could feel the man grab his hair and pull him up. Closing his eyes, tears stung as the old man tried to pray away the pain.

  “There’s money in my wallet. Take all of it. I really don’t care.” He pleaded; the digging pain in his lungs was making it difficult to speak.

  “You’re money has no value to me.” The man’s words were cold.

  “Then what is it you want?” He pleaded.

  “I’ve come for revenge.” His words were even and cold. “It looks like your luck has finally run out.”

  “No!” The old man gasped. “Nathan, you don’t have to do this, you can stop this now.”

  “It’s too late.” Nathan snarled. “You shouldn’t have come here. You should have avoided this place. I might not have ever found you. So you could live out your miserable days alone.”

  “We can work through this.” The old man whimpered. “We can have peace. I love you.”

  “You don’t know love.” Nathan stepped back and howled with laughter. “You only felt the pain on your end. Not from the rest of us. It’s why mother left you. It’s why I broke away. You’re responsible for all this death. You and that bitch, Marisela.”

  The old man watched as Nathan raised a gun and placed it against his forehead. He didn’t want to fear. He didn’t want to give Nathan the satisfaction of knowing that he had won.

  “She was just a little girl.” The old man pleaded. “If you have to kill one final time, kill me. But just leave her alone.”

  “Oh no.” Nathan howled with laughter. “I am going to make everyone pay. The only one who makes it out o
f here alive is me.”

  “Then stop tormenting me with your nonsense and pull the trigger.” The old man demanded.

  “As you wish.” Nathan snarled.

  Nathan moved the gun and shot him in his leg. A second shot hit his other leg. The old man realized he was mortally wounded.

  For a moment, Nathan stood above him and grinned an evil grin. He then began to walk away, leaving the old man to die slowly.

  Before he was gone, he called out.

  “You can’t protect her any longer old man. It’s time for Marisela to die.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I didn’t think you’d agree to meet me.” Michael whispered.

  Marisela looked at how his eyes twinkled in the moonlight. There was something different about him. Something that seemed off.

  “I trust you.” Marisela replied. “So what’s going on, Michael? Why did you ask me out into the middle of nowhere?”

  “There’s someone out here.” Michael began. “Someone who has been killing people. The people you love the most.”

  “Right.” Marisela responded nervously. “You have a point I hope?”

  “I can only imagine how painful it must be to see the people you love, die.” Michael paused. “To know that you’re directly related to their deaths. How does a person cope with that?”

  “I think I need to go.” Marisela replied.

  Backing up a few steps, she let out a scream when his hand grabbed her wrist.

  “No.” Michael replied. “You can’t go. Not now. This needs to happen.”

  “It’s you.” Marisela whispered. “It was always you.”

  “Well, I appreciate the flattery.” Michael sighed. “But I don’t get what you mean.”

  “You’re not Michael.” Marisela sobbed. “I should have seen through it all. You didn’t want to get to know me. You just wanted to be near me. I should have seen through all of this.”

  “No.” Michael shook his head. “Every word I said to you was true.”

  “Then why did you kill them?” Marisela demanded. “You brought me out here to kill me.”