Some pseudo-horror fiction for a change…

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The corpse of Roland Monroe sat sideways on an old grey office chair, the left side of his bald head resting against a wardrobe. The small hole in his cranium testified to his untimely demise. His eyes were still open, two glassy orbs reflecting a display of the computer screen in front of him. On the screen, the email message he had been writing when death overtook him…

TO: JoshuaJericho@yahoo.com
FROM: RolandMonroe@CVsystems.org
Subject: Laney

Hey, Joshua old buddy… nice to hear from you again my friend.

How are you, dude? Feeling better I hope?

To be honest, your last email disturbed me. Disturbed me lot… before I realized it must be yet another of your practical jokes, that is.

I always said you were a crazy little bastard, but this one really took the gold medal for effort. I don’t know how you found out my home address or why you went to all that trouble. You could’ve just asked. And how did you get those photographs of my house? Did you actually hire a PI to track me down or something? Ya crazy fuck. Too much time or money or both on your hands, I think.

You’re certainly entertaining, though. I’ll give you that.

Another thing… You asked a lot of questions about Laney in your message. You sounded a little angry, too, so I’ll try to put some things straight for you if I can. I think I can see why you might be acting so out of character, and there’s really no need for it. Let me break it down for you.

Laney is beautiful. You’ve seen all the photos, so you know. 19 years old, nubile, willing and compliant. She’s a dream come true in a lot of ways. The sex is better than fantastic, and she doesn’t mind what I do to her. Always willing, ever eager. It’s pathetic in a way. She even crawls around like a dog and whines for me. She calls me her Master, and she gets really wet whenever I’m cruel. I’d love you to see it for yourself. She really gets off on the ugly little tortures I dream up in my imagination.

But… oddly, you already seemed to know about how things are with Laney and me. Seems you’ve been communicating with her behind my back for some reason. Again, Joshua, you could’ve just asked me these things. We go back a long-ass way, and I don’t have anything to hide from you. Obviously, you’re more important to me than any little whore. Surely you know that.

I mean… she’s pretty and her mind is just plain devilish at times – she keeps me pretty high without even involving any drugs – but she’s still only a woman. There are a billion more of them out there, and a fair percentage of them are even kinkier and better looking than Laney. She doesn’t need to come between us.

You said that you’ve built up some kind of friendship with her, that you want her with you. Do I sense a dab of jealousy there, Joshua? Lol - again there’s nothing to get upset about. If you want a piece of her, all you’ve gotta do is ask. A threesome would be kind of fun, I think. Laney is so wrapped around my little pinkey finger that I could get her to do anything. And I mean anything. I could make her whimper, just for you. I could make her beg. Sound good? Seeing as it’s you, there wouldn’t even be a charge.

A lot of hostility and negativity in your last message, Joshua, and so out of character… Are you going soft on me, dude? You criticised me for being a “misogynistic bully”, a “sadist”, and a bunch of other shit. Surely you haven’t let some silly little girl get her claws into you.

Is that it? Has Laney been using her feminine wiles on you, making you feel sorry for her? We should talk about this. We need to straighten your head out. As for Laney, I’ll have to dream up something especially degrading to punish the bitch.

It’s funny, though. As long as I say, “I love you,” to her occasionally and have some meaningful chats, she’ll tolerate everything I can throw at her. Even enjoys it, the fucking bitch. Pathetic. Such a pushover she is. But very rewarding, of course.

You really should take me up on my offer. Join us – you’ll see how it is, and maybe learn a few things from the Master.

I hope you read this message soon and come to your senses, anyway. Call me, dude. I’m still pretty much assuming your message was a belated April Fool prank or something, but you really did unsettle me. Yesterday I thought I saw somebody in the backyard, walking toward the house. Immediately, I thought about you and how cold and angry you’d sounded in your email. I remembered all that stuff you’d told me about your guns and samurai swords. You scare me. I admit it.

After “seeing” you I investigated, of course, but couldn’t find anybody. I even called the cops, to be truthful, because the incident freaked me out so much. They couldn’t find any traces of anyone in the yard or the house, either. It must have been my imagination.

You’ve made me fucking paranoid, if you want me to be totally honest.

There, dude.

You win. Okay?

I’ve been doing too much acid recently. I’ve been jittery for weeks, even before your sinister email made things even worse.

All this for some silly shit-eating slut who thinks I love her. Seriously, Joshua, you need to get your priorities in order.

In fact, fuck it. You know what? If you really want Laney so bad, you can have her. I’ll sell her to you. I’ll teach you how to keep her under control, and she can be all yours. I’ll find myself another just like her, don’t worry. Your problem is you don’t seem to realize what a cheap commodity girls like Laney are.

Call me. We so need to talk.

I don’t like feeling this spooked. Laney is out earning me some good money, and I’m sitting here writing in this old house on my own. It’s a creaky old place, I can tell you, and every time I hear another floorboard cracking I start to get the shudders all over again. I’m turning on the light in the hallway as soon as I’m done writing this. A moment ago I thought I heard yet another “footstep” behind me in the dark. Lol. Again… just my imagina