TIT FOR TAT (Short Story Part 1)

 

GIVE TIT FOR TAT

 

 

By

 

Patrick Royal

 

 

 

 

 

Give tit for tat is a game of getting even,

Soon your enemy will be seeing and believing.

When they decide not to treat you right,

Then there is nothing to expect but a fight.

For them to mess with you comes a price,

A punishment coming that won’t be nice.

They better think before they attack,

From then on they better watch their back.

__Patrick Royal

 

 

 

 

 
 

CHAPTER ONE

 

Rachael Drury sat in college, finishing her assignment. She looked it over once more as she waited for the bell to ring. Rachael stood up and walked to Professor Jenkins’s desk and handed him her assignment. She turned around to go back to her seat.

“Miss Drury,” Professor Jenkins said.

Rachael about faced. “Yes, Professor.” His eyes wondered all over her body.

“I…need to speak to you after class,” he said.

“Okay,” Rachael said and took her seat.

The bell rang. The students, stood, grabbed their books and bags, and left the classroom.

Rachael stood and approached Professor Jenkins. She held her book bag over her right shoulder and her purse over the other.

Professor Jenkins stood and walked around the desk and sat on the corner. He reached out with trembling hands and took her hands in his. She never once pulled away. He gazed at her with lust filled eyes.

“You needed to talk to me?” Rachael asked and pushed her hair over her ear.

“Yes, I wanted to know if you would go to dinner with me.”

“Aren’t you married?”

“Yes, but this would just be our little secrete,” Professor Jenkins said.

“I…don’t know,” Rachael said.

“Come on; have you ever had an affair with an older man?”

“No, but I do prefer older men. Boys are exactly that, boys,” Rachael said and gazed at his well-groomed beard.

“All right then. I’ll pick you up Wednesday afternoon,” Professor Jenkins said and leaned into her and sniffed her neck. “Oh you smell nice.”

“What about your wife?” Rachael asked and smiled.

“You leave her to me,” Professor Jenkins said. 

 

 

 

  

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

The November snow fell hard and interacted with the night’s darkness. Rachael studied the road through the windshield and the huge snowflakes. She maneuvered her vehicle through the curves and the rear end fishtailed.

A cell phone rang from inside Rachael’s purse, breaking her concentration from the road. Rachael grabbed her purse and scrambled through the contents. Finding it, she flipped it open. “Hello?” Rachael said breathy. No one spoke on the other end. “Hello?” She closed it.

The cell rang. She flipped it open. “Hello, hello?” She didn’t hear anyone. “That’s odd.” It rang. “Damn it!” She flipped it open. “Hello,” she screamed. “If you’re on this phone you better answer me.” She breathed harder, and her heart beat faster.

“Or what?” a voice said disguised.

“Who is this?” Rachael asked.

“Who is this?” the voice said, mocking her.

OK, funny, funny. Joke’s over. Rachael said. Who is this? What do you want?”

“Want? Want? To kill you,” the voice said calmly.

Rachael’s pulse quickened. “Who is this? And where are you?” she asked and searched behind her through her rearview mirror.

“You’ll find out soon enough who I am, but for where I am? I’m behind you,” the voice on the phone said.

Headlights exploded beams of brightness through Rachael’s back window and rearview mirror, blinding her. She swerved and slid from one lane to the other, side-to-side. “Why are you doing this?” she shouted into the cell phone. The brightness sliced through the night, and a horn blared behind her, growing closer and closer.

“Why are you doing this?” the voice on the cell mocked her. “You’re pathetic.” The vehicle sped up behind Rachael and backed off.

Rachael blurted in a cry. Her rearview mirror reflected the blaring brightness from behind her. A ram to her bumper sent her vehicle across the yellow line of the road. She fought the steering wheel and regained control.

“Did you like that?” the voice on the cell asked.

“Why—” Another ram came to her bumper. Her car went into a tail spin, and Rachael lost control. She flew off the road, slid down a hill, and smashed into a tree.

****

Sounds of water dripping and splattering echoed through a dark open area. Florescent lights hung high in the ceiling, giving off a dim glow. Freezing temperatures occupied the space. A foul smell of something dead hung heavily in the air.

Rachael’s head pounded with pain; it traveled down her neck and into her shoulder blades, taking her breath away. Oh—my head. Where am I? She sat in a dim lit area tied to a chair. It’s so cold. “Hello. Is anyone there?” Rachael shouted out. Her breath hung in the brisk air. Her voice echoed back.

A cell phone rang, and the facing lit up on the floor by Rachael’s feet. “Hey, you hear that? People are looking for me,” she screamed out like if someone was around to listen. Her voice echoed.

Cold air blew inward from an open door somewhere in the distances and Rachael shivered. Oh, I’m so cold. Burr… A rope wrapped tightly around her; constricted her arms to her waist and the back of the chair. “Anyone there?” Rachael shouted.

In the distance obscured in the dark, was a TV on a tall metal push cart. It stood up against a wall in front of Rachel and plugged into an extension cord that spanned across the floor. The set hadn’t been there long because dust hadn’t settled on it.

Rachael moved her neck side-to-side and stretched the soreness that had settled in from the accident. She ached all over. Something moved in the darkness. Ah. What’s that? She squirmed in her restraints.