Howlietzer Publishing

Tag: The Witch Doctor

  • Hush part 2

    Thomas lowered his binoculars.

    “Tom!” said Alec, his business partner, “You need to stop obsessing over this girl! We need to get back on track. Sam Walton, himself, wants to talk to you and you only. You made quite the impression on him and if you don’t show up, we may lose our contract.”

    Thomas stared at him. He saw his lips moving, but he couldn’t focus on him right now, he had to watch for Bev to leave the flower shop, where she worked, and then tail her to her next stop…

    Alec shook him. “Tom! Please! I know you don’t care anymore, but please do this for me! We’ve been working on this product for 10 years. It took us 2 years to get any shop to stock our it. This is a chance to be in a growing chain of stores. Walmart has 24 stores! We can make this happen, but I need you to forget her.”

    ‘Forget her…’ Thomas heard that. He stood up and violently ripped Alec’s hand off of him.

    “I love Bev!”

    He wanted to break Alec’s nose. He needed Bev in his life. He wasn’t going to lose to some strange jerk, pretending to be her boyfriend and he wasn’t going to let his business partner get in the way either.

    “If you touch me again, I’ll cut off your hands,” said Thomas.

    Alec fell backwards. “I’m done, Tom. We’re done. You’re not a part of Romo any more. Don’t contact me again.”

    Thomas sat back down on the bench and raised the binoculars back to his eyes. There she was. She just stepped out. This was his chance to get to the bottom of this.

    He stepped up and moved in a crouched walk, his eyes never blinking staring straight ahead at his target. He stayed 20 feet away from her on the opposite sidewalk. She seemed to be heading home.

    He straightened up. People were staring at him. He couldn’t draw any more attention to himself. He had to be stealth. When he got there, he was going to confront Bev and figure out why they weren’t together.

    He was there! Thomas ducked behind a mail box. He peaked over top of it to the stranger standing next to his car staring right at him. Bev reached out to him and he acknowledged her, nodding his head upward. She turned around and saw him too.

    This was not how he wanted things to work out.

    Here he comes. The stranger is walking towards Thomas, his fists clenched. Thomas stood up erect, to his fullest height. He was ready to fight to the death if he had to.

    “What are you doing here?”

    “I have to talk to Bev,” said Thomas, bringing his fists up.

    “She doesn’t want to talk to you. You’re scaring her. If I catch you following her again, I’ll call the cops. This is your last warning.”

    He stood there blocking Thomas’s view. He couldn’t see her! He tried to peer around the man.

    He stepped so close Thomas could smell his laundry detergent.

    “Leave! Right now.”

    Thomas shook. His mind furiously cycling on how to get rid of this brute. He punched him in the chest and turned around and ran. He ran back to the park bench.

    He doubled over, wheezing, fury rising, what was he going to do?

    “Watt kin I do fo you?”

    Thomas let out a yelp and tumbled backwards onto his bottom. A peculiar man sat on the bench. He sounded otherworldly and his garb equally so: he wore a black blazer, studded with spikes on the collar, a black fedora with a leather strap wrapped around with three strands of stone, bone and feathers hanging from it, and a leather strap around his neck, dangling a metal and bone, engraved with weird symbols.

    Worse of all his face. Painted on was a skull that covered his whole face. His lips whitened, as well as his gleaming teeth. He smiled as he tipped his hat towards Thomas.

    Thomas looked around, they were alone. It was eerly odd; the park was never this empty. He seemed to be gathering his wits for the first time in weeks. What was he doing there? What was this man doing there?

    “Watt kin I do fo you?” He continued to smile, more like baring his teeth. Thomas stood up slowly. He didn’t want to take his eyes off this man for fear of being bitten or something worse.

    “I’m not looking for any trouble,” he said.

    “I don bring trouble, my child. I bring opportunity.”

    “I… I don’t want what you have.”

    There was something wrong with this man. He stood up and extended his hand. Thomas did not take it.

    “I kin give you anyting you desire,” he said, “Fo da right price.”

    Thomas hesitated. “What price would I have to pay to have her?”

  • The Witch Doctor Part 4

    Lance invited Paul to his apartment later that week. There was a lot to do. He opened the door to his apartment and surveyed his open living room. The area rug had to go. He didn’t want to ruin it, after tonight… He wasn’t sure just how it was going to turn out.

    The witch doctor had given him an incantation to use, which Lance felt extremely skeptical about. It would suck if he had to go through with the whole ritual and it didn’t work.

    He walked into the room and after setting a brown paper bag on the floor, he pulled the furniture and the rug away, to clear the center of the room. Then he reached into the brown paper bag and pulled out a piece of white chalk.

    It felt dry in his hand, and a shiver ran up his wrist as he stooped to draw a large, white circle on the floor.

    (more…)

  • The Witch Doctor Part 3

    Lance knew what he wanted; he had been quiet for too long and he didn’t want to go down without a fight. His original plan was to step up during the wedding itself, during the part when the minister asked if anyone had any objections and be all romantic, but as time went on, he knew he couldn’t do that to Paul. He like Paul; Paul was a likable guy.

    Paul did anything he could to put a smile on another’s face; Paul helped other co-workers meet their quota, after he had met his own. He worked hard and did a great job, but he couldn’t be perfect, there had to be a real reason for Lance to take what he wanted.

    Why do you ned a razon? Men ha keeled fo less. Eef she is yo heart’s desire, you should do wat neds to be done… The words of the Witch Doctor turned in Lance’s head like a globe. He told him everything he needed to do get Talia’s heart, but he hesitated. It had been three years of comraderie with Paul Branson and Talia Roberts, hanging out on weekends and going on trips, could he do what he needed to do?

    Lance sat at his desk, in his cubicle staring at the computer screen. He was suppose to be making sales calls to their list of “interested” clients, but most of them forgot they signed up for the service in the first place. Lance leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. The white tiles seemed to go on forever from inside his cubicle…

    (more…)

  • The Witch Doctor: Part 2

    Thump! Lance awoke from his daydream and spun around to look out his back window. Nothing was there, but he was sure he felt something…

    His hand instinctively put the car in drive and he returned to the parking space, opened his door and stepped out to investigate. As he walked behind the vehicle, all he saw was the pavement. There was nothing there. Not a bump, not a hole, he had hit nothing, but he was almost sure that something had wrenched him from the space between realities.

    Lance sighed with relief and his heart slowed down. He almost thought he had hit someone while he was thinking about Talia.

    He stepped back inside his car and put his seatbelt on, but when he checked his rearview mirror he saw someone sitting in his back seat. Lance jumped as far as his seatbelt would let him.

    (more…)

  • The Witch Doctor: Part 1

    Lance McElroy trudged to his car. He never felt so humiliated in all his life. The girl of his dreams, his boss, Talia Roberts, was engaged… to his best friend Paul no less. Sure they had been dating for three years, but they fought everyday. That couldn’t be good for a relationship, right?

    Lance really didn’t know. He had never had a real relationship before. The closest thing he had to a relationship was the made up ones he created when jerking off at 10 pm.

    He didn’t know why he did it; it started when he was younger. He couldn’t talk to girls so it was easier to create a phony relationships, clean up and go to bed. Do people in love fight?

    Lance spotted his car on the 2nd floor of a nearly empty parking garage. The December air gripped his knuckles as he held on to his attache case, its handle chilled as he switched hands to dig into his long, wool coat’s right pocket for his keys. With a quick movement, he pulled them and inserted the key into hole. Click. Opening the door, he gently set his case on the passenger seat and ducked into his lowly, old car.

    (more…)