Crimson Couture Part Two - Doug Klein
Part II: In Transit
(before you start reading - here’s PART ONE)
Most of the items had been auctioned for a minimal amount. The final item was the only possible prize in the lot. A full size female bodied mannequin. Bids started at ten dollars, but grew quickly. For a sum of seventy-five dollars, the mannequin was sold to Harold Brand. Harold ran The Neon Touch sex shop, and had found his new window centerfold. He had the mannequin loaded into his van and he drove back to his shop, which was just off of Broadway in downtown.
Harold was in no physical shape, so he struggled to unload the mannequin and set her up in the window. Once she was set up in as sultry of a position as possible, Harold put on a red and black dominatrix outfit. It was a combination of leather, PVC, and metal hooks and latches. The product's actual name was "She-Devil" and Harold had been having trouble selling the stock he had of them. He hoped this would bolster sales. Once Harold had finished with his window dressing, he fiddled around the store for a bit until the last customer left. It was close enough to closing time, so he locked the door and turned off the neon sign. Meandering to the back, Harold pulled out some cocaine he had stashed in his office and started to make some dainty lines, as his supply was low. All was quiet.
In the front window of The Neon Touch, the mannequin stood in stasis, under the dim lights of the city streets. There was no one around to watch her begin to move on her own. Slow and rigid shifts in the body was all it could muster at first. She tweaked her head and body away from the window. Like an entangled marionette, the mannequin began to cross through the store towards the back office. Still lacking some coordination, she bumped into a few displays, rattling their contents and sending a few things dropping to the floor.
Harold turned his head and listened for a moment. He thought he had heard something in the store, but there was nothing. Probably just bums outside getting into a scuffle over the last drop of liquor they had. He turned back to his last few lines and continued.
After each step, the mannequin began to become more attuned to the motions, as if learning them all over again. Still with a slight wobble to her walk, she found her way to the back office, and quietly opened the door. A man sat there, his back to her. He moved his head along the table and inhaled deeply through his nose, and then leaned back in his chair and looked towards the ceiling.
"Oh God, I got to get me some more of this shit, whew!" He exclaimed. He stayed motionless for a moment, and then feeling that he was not alone, he turned to the mannequin that was standing behind him.
"The fuck? This shit may be too strong. Too strong." He shook his head and looked forward once again. He blinked, rubbed, his eyes and turned back. The mannequin lunged at him and her hand locked onto his face. With an unbelievable strength, the hand crushed his head and he screamed in her face. The mannequin's thumbs found his eyes, and without hesitation plunged them into his skull. His agonized shrieks reverberated in the office, and with one last thrust she silenced his annoying voice. His body slumped out of the chair and fell to the floor. The mannequin stood over him, her head slowly moving as if surveying the scene. The mannequin walked out of the office and to the window where she had been displayed. Without missing a beat, she simply walked through the glass pane. It shattered, but it did not attract any attention. It wasn't an unusual sound for this part of town.
The mannequin walked out into the street. A taxi swerved around her, the driver spewing profanities. She twisted her head the way the taxi had gone. It drove off, disappearing around a corner. Her eyes kept rising, however, for jutting above the small derelict buildings was a giant monolith of a building. It had a scattering of lights on all up and down the many floors, and bright lettering at the top.
Belmont
She rotated her body with a little bit more precision and began walking in the direction of the Belmont. She had gotten within a few blocks when she passed a man on a payphone. She didn't notice him eyeballing her from under his fedora and trench coat as she walked by. He put his hand over the mouthpiece and called out to her.
"Hey baby! Where you going looking that like? Any chance I can come along?!" He smirked a bit and was about to go back to his call, but the woman had stopped. She turned her head enough to look over her shoulder, and then walked down an alley to her right. The man's jaw had dropped and he quickly hung up the phone. He followed the woman down the alley. She was standing still, in a pocket of light.
"Hey, this ain't no place for us to make our acquaintances. How 'bout you, and me, find some place nice to, uh, you know, get to know each other." He spoke with a smile, but it faded and the woman remained still. He looked around, and saw that they were in fact all alone.
Well, she started this? I'll finish it. He thought to himself. He walked toward her and grabbed her arm. It was like grabbing a rock. He tried to pull her around, but she did not budge.
"What the fuck?" He said as he let go of her arm and took a step back. The woman whirled around and took two steps and her hands shot out and gripped his throat. She lifted him up as he choked and scratched at her hands. Blood began to ooze out of his neck where her iron grip began to pierce his skin. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his life faded away, and the mannequin dropped his lifeless body to the ground. As the body hit, an item fell from him and hit the ground. It flashed silver and drew her attention. She knelt to the ground and picked it up. A long switchblade. She held it and ran her fingers along the edge. She gently reset the blade, and kept it in her palm as she picked up the dead man's long trench coat and hat.
She entered the Belmont and walked at a brisk pace to the elevator. A security guard glanced over and watched her stand patiently as she waited. He didn't recognize her, but he wasn't paid to remember faces, so he went back to watching the late night show he had running on one of the security cameras. The elevator door opened and she entered, pressing the button for the twelfth floor.
Stay tuned for part three…
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