Golumpki - Part Three (the final part)
(You can find PART ONE HERE and PART TWO HERE)
I awaken with white lights burning into my eyes. After blinking a few times to adjust I take a look around. I’m in a dingy room with dirty tiled walls surrounded by old televisions. I’m sitting in a creaky, old swivel chair but I’m not tied down which is good. I lean forward to stand up but the door swings open, it’s Andreas, he motions towards me and says something in his native language. The old waitress from the other evening enters the room holding a bowl of warm water and a towel. When she comes closer I hear her singing a strange tune in a language I don’t understand. She begins to clean the blood and gore from my face.
“Who are you people? What did you feed me? Why are you doing this?” I scream at Andreas.
He says something and points at the door for the old woman to leave. They have a bit of back and forth motioning in my direction until she plops the towel back in the water bowl and shuffles out of the room still singing her song. Andreas slams the door behind her and pulls out a big knife. He spins around and starts walking towards me playfully pointing the knife in my direction, the bright lights glint off the metal.
“You are very pretty girl,” he leans in towards me and sniffs me slowly with the knife pressed up against my cheek almost daring me to move, “good for Mirko but your friend has more…” he motions grotesquely at his chest outlining giant breasts, “THIS.” What a pig.
“What are you going to do to us? What was in that food?”
His hand grasps my neck and the weight of him tips the chair backward slightly, he taps the knife on my nose…
“You eat golumpki. Golumpki eat YOU.”
“Andreas!” Mirkos’ voice comes from the doorway and gives Andreas pause. Mirko says something in his language sternly and the two begin to argue a bit before Andreas leaves the room. He blows a kiss with the knife before shutting the door. Mirko walks into the room with his head down, almost as if in shame, he has a bowl of that food with him.
“Here, eat. You’ll need your strength.” He’s gotta be out of his mind if he thinks I’m eating that.
“Get that away from me. Mirko what’s going on? What’s happening to me? I trusted you, why are you doing this?”
He sets the bowl down on one of the old TVs and sits on another larger TV placed precariously on the floor.
“Coralee, you are very beautiful and I like you a lot it’s just-“
“It’s just what Mirko? It’s just you had me eat something that made me puke up a monster that tried to kill me?”
“It’s not a monster, it’s your child, our child, it’s you,” what in the hell is he talking about? My child? Our child? “You should not fight, it will be easier.” He still has his head down, he won’t make eye contact me with, he sounded ashamed of what he has done.
“Mirko this doesn’t make any sense! What’s going on? Who are these people?”
“They’re not...we’re not ...I'm not PEOPLE Coralee.” Uhm, what? He stands up and steps close to me, I flinch but he just drops to his knees and puts his hands on top of mine, looking deep into my eyes.
“I love you Coralee, but on my planet love works different,” did he just say he loves me? “You have my seed.” He motions over at the bowl of golumpki. His seed? I think I’m gonna puke.
“You eat golumpki. Golumpki eat you. Your babies, our babies are born and they don’t just eat your body they eat your memories. They become you and we stay together forever.”
A million thoughts rush through my head…this can’t be happening to me, oh my god but that’s so sweet, in a fucked-up way. He puts his head into my lap and starts sobbing.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I love you.” Okay, I know it’s fucked up because he’s like this alien that fed me his seed that made me puke up an alien monster thing that was gonna eat me and take over my life like Body Snatchers, but it’s still a cute gesture. Maybe I can use his sympathy to my advantage. I put my hand on his head and start stroking his hair softly.
“Mirko, look at me,” he lifts his head slowly and I put on a fake smile, “that’s so sweet! I’ve never had a guy feel like this for me and it’s a crazy situation but…we have a lot in common and I think you’re cute so...I’ll have some of that golumpki.”
His eyes light up as he beams from ear to ear. He kisses my hands and jumps up to grab the bowl, bringing it back to me and kneeling down again. I grab the spoon, stirring it slightly and then start raising the strange broth to my lips, I blow slightly before taking a sip. Mirko seems pleased as I go for another bite, instead I jam the spoon as hard as I can into his left eye.
He leaps up screaming and I follow, spitting the mouthful of food into his face, followed with a swift kick to the balls. Wait…do aliens have balls? I push him over and yank the spoon from his eye and start stabbing it into his throat over and over. The more I stab, the quieter his screams get until all that leaves his throat is a gurgle of blood. I can’t stop as I stab and stab, everything I’ve been through tonight pouring out of me through this stupid spoon. Eventually the spoon digs through an artery and blood sprays my front and pours onto the ground.
I jump off him and when I’m certain he’s dead I check his body for something I could use as a weapon. In his front pocket sits a small pocket knife, this will have to do, I flip it open and head for the door. The thick metal door wasn’t locked and opens with a loud creak, it leads to a small dark hallway only a few feet long. At the other end stands a door, I open it slightly, only enough to take a peak.
Is this the dishwashing station from the restaurant? They took me back to the restaurant? Those TVs! I must be in the TV repair store next door. In the dishwashing area stands the waitress talking on the phone and another door straight across from me, next to it is a flight of stairs with an EXIT sign above. Just gotta wait for the woman to leave. The door opens and out walks Andreas who begins to yell at the old woman as she hangs up the phone. The two walk back towards the kitchen. Now’s my chance!
I open the door slowly armed with my swiss army knife and creep slowly into the room towards the stairs. One foot on the step I pause as my mind drifts to Lexi, where’s Lexi? I turn around and put my attention on the door Andreas came out of, he liked her, she might be in there. With trepidation I walk towards the door, keeping an eye on the entrance way to the kitchen which is bustling with three people, or probably aliens. I open the door, another short hallway and another door. I creep closer and open that door slowly to what appears to be a storage room for the old liquor store.
“Lexi?” I whisper as I walk through the dark room towards a light that outlines a partially closed door straight ahead. “Lexi, is that you?” I push the door open slowly, it’s the bathroom and there lies the body of a girl, I can't tell if it’s Lexi as the face is too mangled. The figure is hunched over the toilet, her body has been ripped apart, one arm removed and her rib bones exposed, her whole body covered in bite marks and scratches. The sight startles me and I fall backwards into the dark storage room knocking over a case of liquor bottles, shit that was noisy!
“What are you doing little girl?” Andreas’ voice booms from the doorway behind me, he slams the door and rushes at me. I squeeze the pocket knife as hard as I can and stick him underneath the jaw as he approaches. The small knife pokes up through the inside of his mouth as he screams. He stumbles backward, his feet slipping on the spilled liquor as the knife falls out from the wound. I crawl over and pick it up, stabbing him again, this time in the chest and his face over and over. He attempts to block with his arms but I’m stronger and the knife slices into his forearms and hands. Long gashes bleed and at some point, I start cutting through fingers.
He finally stops fighting but I keep stabbing. Five more. Ten more. Twenty more. When I’m sure he’s dead I take a breath, wiping the sweat and blood from my eyes. I check his pockets and find a keyring with a bunch of keys and a zippo.
Exhausted and covered in blood, I stand up and that’s when I see it, MY COAT! It was thrown in a pile next to the bathroom door, oh I hope they didn’t find the gun. As I approach I realize it’s a giant pile of coats and jackets, all different sizes and colors. I grab my jacket and throw it on. The pile had to have been at least three-foot-high, were these other victims? How many times have they done this? How many girls have died? This has to end.
Quick. Think. I rummage around the abandoned liquor store and find a couple bottles of lighter refill fluid. I douse the pile of coats in the fluid and grab Andreas’ lighter to start the blaze. Then I draw my gun and go back into the dishwashing area and up the stairs to the exit. I slam shut the door and fumble through the keyring until I find the one that locks the door. I break the key off in the lock by slamming my gun into it.
I run into the alley and out to the front of the restaurant and quickly do the same for the front door. By this time, I can see the flames spreading throughout the main level. God, I really hope there weren’t any non-aliens in that building. I hope Lexi got away. My head feels heavy, my stomach turns and I collapse onto the pavement.
I spent two days in the hospital. Broken nose, twelve stitches, a broken rib. I told the cops everything…well not everything, I left out the part about the aliens and the puke monster. I told them Mirko and Andreas killed Tony and the Uber driver and that they were planning on sex trafficking us and my only escape was to burn the place down to draw attention.
It was still early but they found Mirko and Andreas’ body right where I said they would be along with the girl in the bathroom and six other bodies. My parents came to the hospital to visit me. Mom was sorry for pressuring me into dating, Dad was proud that the gun came in handy. I wanted to take an Uber home from the hospital but they insisted on driving. Oh, my apartment has to be a mess, I hope they don't want to come in.
They followed me up to my apartment, I nervously unlocked the door, closed my eyes and opened it. Nothing. No mess, no broken door, no alien in my bed. Did they clean this up trying to cover their tracks?
“Miss Coralee!” It was Ms. Ramirez from 203, “I have your little Louie! I found him barking on Saturday morning, I thought something had to be wrong so I brought him to my apartment.”
Louis leaped out of her arms and into mine licking my face happily. When Andreas was coming to get him, I was able to get the passenger door opened, looks like the little guy ran right home.
My parents insisted I didn't, but I went back to work as soon as I could. I don’t know, it’s strange. In the movies when something like this happens the “final girl” always finds her strength or confidence but I feel just the same. If anything, I am more cautious of people. What if there are more Mirko’s out there? How many aliens are amongst us? Nope, unlike Molly Ringwald I just live my life like nothing happened. The only difference is now I do carry a purse regularly and that little gun is in it. Always. Other than that, nothing different.
Woke up late to the alarm, let Louis out to relieve himself and made my way to work. A quick stop at Starbucks to grab a medium French vanilla cappuccino and into the office before 9am. I walked into my cubicle area and everything is the same as it was when I was last here, even all of Lexi’s stuff is still here. God, I hope that girl wasn’t her…
“Hey sis.”
OMG it’s Lexi! But it can’t be her, I saw her, she was dead. Those things ate her, she was dead!
I reach into my purse and pull out that silver pistol my father bought me to keep me safe in the city, point it at this alien imposter and pull the trigger until the gun stops making noise.
It’s not her…
It’s not her…
It’s not her…
It can't be her...
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