The sterile smell of the interrogation room unnerved Dale Bixby. The Death of Clumsy Clive Barrett As the owner of Cyber Burger, Dale Bixby was brought in for questioning. He stared at the one-way glass and knew the detectives observed his behavior to choose their best approach.
A female detective in a power suit slapped a thick file on the desk. She slammed her cuffs on the table next to her badge. "Mr. Bixby, I am Detective Iris Sharpe. I'm having trouble understanding what happened last night. One of your employees died in a horrible yet preventable accident.
After he weighed his options, Dale thought it best to tell the truth. "I should never have hired him. The kid was accident-prone. If there was a way to get hurt, Clive could find it." Dale ran a shaky hand through his hair. "I don't see how I can help I wasn't even there"
"We know Clive died because the long chain he wore got caught in the ice cream maker, and choked him to death. I can't call it an accident because the camera footage doesn't show it happening. I saw four people working through a mess of orders. Don't you find that strange, Mr. Bixby?" Iris asked
"I don't have an explanation for that."
"Could you explain the low sales? It looked busy in the camera footage, but the receipts say next to no one came in at that time."
"I don't understand it myself, detective."
"Your alibi would be airtight if not for those two discrepancies."
Dale shrugged and said, "I know camera two was scheduled for maintenance that morning. I signed the work order myself. It should've been functioning properly."
"Is it possible someone else tampered with it?" Iris asked.
"You'd have to ask the people who were on shift." Dale didn't like where this was going at all. "Everyone on shift that night was of age or older. One of them might've messed with it."
"Did you investigate that angle?"
"No. An employee just died. I was dealing with Clive's parents. They were understandably upset." Dale said.
Iris sighed in frustration. "Looks like I'm bringing them all in for questioning."
***
A year later.
Thanks to a late concert, business at the Cyber Burger was slow, and Terra had nothing better to do than dwell on the past. The fast food joint never invoked good memories for her. Cyber Burger was a painful reminder of an awful mistake she made a year earlier. One that saw Clumsy Clive Barret dead. Her eyes noticed the headline.
The headline read, "Local Tech Wizard Dies In Tragic Electrical Accident." Beside it was the picture of the former assistant manager Maria Halstead. She just signed with a big company who were interested in her ideas. Maria was always so careful. How could she get burned beyond recognition?
Terra didn't have time to dwell on Maria's death. Her bladder told her it was time to visit the little girl's room. She pressed a button on the headset. "Hey Steve, could you cover me for a moment? I need to use the bathroom."
"How about you give me your number, and I'll do it."
"Do you want another harassment complaint on your file? Dale said one more, and you're out of a job. Your scholarship states you need one." Terra derived satisfaction from her words.
"I was just kidding. I'm coming now."
A minute later, the handsome jock with sleazy eyes appeared. Steve rarely talked to a woman's face. He preferred to speak to their breasts. "Get going. I'm off in five minutes. I got a hot date with..."
"Someone who will regret touching your diseased body." Terra crossed her arms and covered herself. "You're such a skanky douche, you know that?"
"I love you too." Steve puckered his lips and made kissing noises.
"Gross." Terra marched toward the bathroom. Once inside, Terra could see her breath and shivered. "I thought Dale got the AC fixed," she muttered. Terra opened the lid to the toilet and discovered frozen water. She heard a noise.
"Urgh. Gurgle. Aggh."
Where was it coming from? Terra backed out of the stall. Ethereal whispers reverberated off the walls. Terra's heart pumped like a techno beat. The cold seared the lungs, and her knees started to knock together."
"Urgh. Gurgle. Aggh."
Zzt. Zzt. The lights flickered. Cold sweat now poured down Terra's brow. The noise was right next to her now.
"Urrrrgh. Gurgle. Aggh."
Terra attempted to find the source. Her eyes darted back and forth until she caught a slight glow in the mirror. Behind her in the reflection was Clive.
Oxygen deprivation had turned his face bright blue, and thick veins ran over the eyes. They threatened to bulge out of their sockets. Blood streaked down Clive's neck from where the chain had bit into the soft flesh. A single hand reached out.
Terra clutched her ears and ducked down. "This isn't real. It's just my imagination. I'm sorry." The noise stopped. Her hand frantically jammed the intercom button on her headset. "Steve, are you there." Terra waited for ten seconds. No response.
"Steve this isn't funny. I need your help." Steve refused to respond. Terra growled and shoved the door open. The one time she needed his sleazy ass, and he couldn't be bothered.
"Cachunk. Cachunk." The ice cream machine was on.
"Steve?" A pit formed in Terra's stomach. A pair of expensive sneakers left scuff marks on the wall. "Are you eating ice cream straight from the machine again? I..."
Terra's hand covered her eyes against the horrific image before. Steve's mouth was agape, and ice cream poured dribble down the side of his mouth. His stomach was bloated. Blood oozed from an injury on the back of his head. It was then Terra realized the noises she heard were Steve dying.
Tears formed in Terra's eyes, and she slid down the wall. Her hands covered her face in horror. It took several minutes before her unsteady hands managed to dial 911.
***
"Where were you when the incident occurred?" Detective Iris Sharpe asked. The detective in
"I was going to the bathroom." Terra omitted everything else that happened. While the experience was note-worthy, to say it out loud would give her a seventy-two-hour lockdown followed by a psych evaluation.
The suspicious eyes of Detective Sharpe squinted at her. "Are you sure that's everything? Weren't you working the night Clive Barrett died."
"Yes," Terra admitted. "It was terrible. Clive always treated me like gold. The day he died I lost a friend."
"What about Steve Werther?"
"Steve was a sleazy asshole, but he didn't deserve to die. Like I said. I was in the bathroom. I had nothing to do with his death." Terra enunciated every word
"I believe you. It just seems strange that two people have died next to the same ice cream machine." Detective Sharpe said. The officer turned to leave before she raised a hand. "Quick question. wasn't Steve working the night Clive died?"
"Yes, I don't see how that matters."
"It seems funny that Maria Halstead died not two days ago. Wasn't she on shift the night Clive died?"
Iris was a dog with a bone. She wouldn't let it go. Did Iris know that Maria altered the cameras that night? "She was."
"You were on that night as well?"
"I was."
"Is there anything I should know about that night?"
"No."
Iris stared directly at Terra, "Would you like to know something interesting?"
A numb nod was all Terra could muster in response.
"The cameras only showed you and three others working while Steve died."
***
Cyber Burger closed its doors for a week. Terra attended the funerals of Maria and Steve. The incident in the bathroom stayed with Terra, as did the image of Steve's bloated body under the machine. Dale Bixby called an emergency staff meeting. The glass doors didn't induce a feeling of safety anymore.
Terra couldn't face her reflection after what happened in the bathroom. She stood for several minutes with a hand on the metal bar. Her body refused to cross the threshold, afraid of memories within. Eyes made contact with the glass. In the reflection, an open hand threatened to wrap around her throat. She squeaked and spun around. Terra's heart thrashed against her ribcage.
Nobody was there. Terra clutched her chest and hurried through the doors.
The crackle of oil drifted from the kitchen when Terra entered the restaurant. Dale was a cheapskate when it came to his staff. They only got a twenty percent discount, and he never made anything for staff meetings. Free food wouldn't help Dale keep people on staff.
Terra marched toward the kitchen, "Dale, it's going to take more than a Couple of burgers to..."
The stench of burnt hair activated Terra's gag reflex when she neared the door. A little voice told her to leave the kitchen door closed. A shaky hand pushed it open a crack. A single person knelt in front of the fryers.
The door swung all the way open. Terra kept her eyes closed and stepped forward. The acrid smell grew worse. The oil bubbled over the vats while tense arms fought to keep the Dales's body upright. The timer ticked down from ten seconds.
"Beep. Beep. Beep." The timer ended, and Dales's body shook in a death rattle. Hot oil flew in all directions as the unrecognizable head of Dale crashed to the floor. His mouth was fused shut, and he no longer had ears. His skin bubbled with blisters that pulsated and popped.
The timer continued to beep. Terra tumbled back through the door, head in her hands. She fell into the fetal position and tried to convince herself the scene wasn't real.
***
"Ms. Graham, why do I keep finding you next dead bodies?" Detective Iris asked. Officers marched around and held the press at bay while a forensic team scoured the grounds for signs of foul play. "We reviewed the footage of the Steve Werther incident. Do you know what we found?"
"I don't know," Terra sniffled and wiped away the tears in her eyes.
"It showed the same video as the night Clive died. I don't know what's going on, but his death is connected somehow. You know something, Ms. Graham, and it's in your best interests to tell me."
She couldn't hold on to the secret any longer. "We left Clive alone the night he died." Terra blubbered for ten seconds before she continued. Maria had an important meeting with a tech company. She doctored the cameras. Steve left because he got a date with some college cheerleader. Dale had pulled two double shifts and needed a rest." The words poured from her mouth and into the ears of the detective.
"What about you, Ms. Graham?"
"I was the last to go. I didn't plan on leaving."
"What happened?"
"My house got broken into."
Iris narrowed her eyes, "I don't think anyone called in B and E."
"The camera app on my phone showed me it was my ex. I didn't need the police to handle the situation. I left the store a half hour before Clive died." Terra explained.
"If you don't mind me asking who left first?"
"Maria."
"I'll assume Steve left next, followed by Dale?"
"Yes."
Iris shook her head, "They're dying in that order. You could be next. I want to put you in protective custody."
"You think someone is killing us?"
"Three people from the same night is not a coincidence. Someone or something is killing the people involved from that night," Iris said. "I know a safe place where we can talk."
***
Even though she was with Detective Sharpe, Terra didn't feel any safer. Why did the detective choose her apartment as a safe place? Iris had stepped out to get Chinese food. Terra wandered around the two-bedroom suite. The detective preferred order to chaos. On the shelf were photo albums. To pass the time, she decided to have a peek inside.
She pulled the thick album out and sat on the couch covered in plastic. Terra pulled the cover open and dropped the book. The first picture was of the Detective and Clive in a romantic embrace. Clive was barely eighteen when Dale hired him. Did the relationship start before then?
Something cold and heavy pressed against Terra's skull. Iris's voice came from behind her. "We weren't supposed to fall in love. I pulled Clive over for speeding, and he charmed me. While the man suffered in the physical world, underneath the clumsiness was a passionate man who wrote me such beautiful words."
"We didn't think..." The gun butt struck Terra on the head. The world started to blur.
"No, you didn't!" Iris screamed. "We saved each other from loneliness. All of you will pay for what happened to my Clive." She gripped Terra's shirt and pulled her up. "Grab that pen and paper, now." Iris pointed to a legal on a desk.
Terra gripped the pad with one hand and the pen with the other. "What now?" She asked. The gun barrel pressed against the back of her head, and tears started to streak down her face. "I don't deserve to die."
"Neither did Clive. Now write the following." Irish shoved Terra into a wooden chair and cocked the hammer back on the pistol. "I can't stand the guilt anymore. I am responsible for Clive Barrets death."
The pen dragged across the yellow paper, and the ink formed the required words. Terra's hand shook through each letter. "You don't have to do this. I'll confess to everything." She had to keep Iris talking. Her survival depended on it.
Iris pressed the barrel harder against Terra's skull. "I would've accepted a confession a year ago. You all lied. I was forced to close the case." She slammed a knife down in front of the legal pad. "Once this letter is done, you will slit your wrists in the bathtub."
With a flourish, Terra finished the letter and grabbed the knife. She had one chance to survive. She stowed her tears and rocked back hard. The chair tipped toward Iris.
Blam. The gun went off. The bullet smashed through the table where Terra had been a few seconds earlier. "You seduced him before he turned eighteen didn't you?" she accused. The steel in her hand flashed in the light before she drove it into Iris's foot.
Iris dropped the gun in shock and left her legs open for a tackle. Terra seized the opportunity, and they collapsed into a heap. The pair became a tangle of limbs. The outstretched hands reached for the fallen gun.
Terra touched the handle, and Iris knocked her hand away. "I will have revenge for his death."
Iris's madness seemed to imbue her with limitless strength. They rolled back and forth for several minutes until a loud bang filled the air.
Iris went limp, and Terra slipped in blood that wasn't hers. She cried for several minutes before she called the police. The police labeled Iris's death as self-defense, and Terra left town shortly afterward.
As for Cyber Burger, they say the ghost of Iris still haunts the place, waiting to get revenge on the next group of kids responsible for the death of an innocent life.
THE END