Suckers

SUCKERS! 1 "They're the newest thing, dude! Forget about dogs and cats, Feinters are gonna be huge!" I could tell by Ed's enthusiasm that he really bought into this. "All right, I believe you, and they sound cute, but explain to me again what a Feinter actually is, would ya'?" "Here's the thing, they are so new to the states that most people don't know WHAT they really do. They are imported from the rain forests of Blatzenkrieg, wherever that is, and they are supposedly smarter than monkeys!" "I saw it on News Flash 8 AM this morning. Now, I know Fred's got some, they cost about 50 bucks, depending on what size you get." Fred was well known in our neighborhood, he ran a very successful pet shop called "The One Stop Pet Shop" since he was only about 20. He was nearing his 70's and surely he'd seen it all in his lifetime. "Fred told me he's never seen nothing like it, Jenn! These new animals - Feinters - they are like little fluffballs with beady eyes. They've got really powerful legs that are like springs underneath 'em." "I don't know Ed, they SOUND cool, but how do you know that they are tame? They just shipped the things over from who knows where, and from your description I can't believe that they would actually do that many tricks -" "Believe me dude, just go see one at the pet shop and ask Fred about it, I've got one on hold until I get paid." 'Dude', that's all he ever called me, I was just one of the guys to him, except for the fact that I actually was a girl. I didn't care too much, at least I had a good friend in Ed - that's all that mattered. I nodded at Ed and signaled that I needed to get back to work if I ever wanted to go anywhere, much less to the pet shop. I thought about having a new pet a lot while I worked. Where I worked I had time to think, after all, it was my hands that did the working. I worked as a typist at a sign and advertisement agency. When people needed a banner typed up or a mailer ad in the area, I usually did it. Yeah, sounds boring, but I'm trying to work my way up to become the head honcho of the company. Eventually I finished up my work for the day and headed out towards "The One Stop", but had to COME TO A stop a half mile from the shop! Cars were backed up clear to the pet shop, which was very weird, since Fred never really did a huge amount of business. Sure enough, once I reached the parking lot of the pet shop I had to park in the grass at the back of the lot. I got out and made my trek past at least 200 cars to finally reach the sidewalk outside the shop. It was CHAOS. There were cages stacked ten high running the length of the sidewalk, in and out of the shop, and some had spilled over into the parking lot itself! I walked up to one lone Feinter that wasn't surrounded by people and squinted down at it. It had one eye open, but slowly opened the other tiny black eye as I stood there. He was just a little softball sized lint wad. He began to stir and then walked to the front of the cage. I moved closer and said "Hey little guy... " but before I could get another word out - the little thing lunged at the front of the cage, knocking it and me down onto the concrete!

2 "Oh my God lady, are you all right?" Fred helped me up as I wiped the dust off of my skirt. "Yes, thank you, but it's the fur ball here thats got the problem!" "Yes ma'am, I am very sorry about him, he IS quite the trouble maker." I nodded as I scowled at the stupid thing there on the ground. "Are you... looking to buy one a little more tame than him?" I laughed and looked at the line of cages along the walk. "Yes, I am interested, if you can find me your best uh... feinter was it called?" "Right, he's called a feinter. Well, let me show you right to 'em. The best, if that's what you want, I keep in our back room. I was led past all of the other customers to a back room. Two more cages sat on a tabletop with fluorescent lamps shining down on them. "These guys, I've found to be pretty well trained... to be such a new import." He tapped on the cages a little when we walked up. It was dark in the room, but he was obviously trying to get the feinters woken up for me. As I approached the cages, both of the animals began moving around wildly. The one on my left was doing backflips and somersaults for us, while the other feinter began to hop around in it's cage too. "Ma'am, these are the top of the line... best I've seen yet. Now - when you take one of these home, I throw in the cage, lamp, some toys they seem to like, and even a leash if you'd like to let it run loose for a while." I was ready to buy one for the entertainment value in itself, but a big question still hung in my mind... "Exactly what do they eat?" Fred lowered his head as if I had just said something that hurt his feelings. "Well, Miss, that - that's the weird part about these feinters." "What do you mean?" He nodded his head at me slowly. "I've tested a lot of common pet foods with them - not knowing what they liked of course... lettuce I tried. Bird seeds, corn cobs, heck - even dog food! They don't have a taste for any of that, surprisingly. So I started to think they leaned toward being carnivorous creatures, like snakes are, maybe." He gulped loudly and hesitated to finish. "And they did. They like live animals mostly. Well, not 'animals' in general... they uh... they eat their own kind." He kicked at the floor nervously and started again, "That's why no two feinters are in a cage together. When two feinters born of different families catch a whiff of each other - it... it becomes a feeding frenzy."

3 "But, otherwise these guys are pretty cheerful creatures!" He chuckled and I half-smiled at his creepy joke - at least that's what I hoped it was... I ended up deciding on the one on the left; he had a cute little set of dog tags around his neck, and he certainly seemed to be the active feinter of the two. Fred agreed and he carried the heavy cage for me to the front, stopping only to grab a basket and a few 'essential' feinter pet-keeping items. We eventually reached the front desk, at which point I realized the basket he carried to the front now weighed at least fifteen pounds more than it did when he

picked it up. Apparently, Fred had gotten a little overzealous with the toys and treats for "Flip" - that's what I decided to name him. When he finally rang up the last item in my basket I glanced down at the LCD screen as I pulled some cash out of my purse. The screen read $85.97! I nearly fainted right then and there! "Phew! A little more expensive than I had expected!" Fred rocked uneasily to his other side and muttered, "Well... I'm sorry I have to charge you so much Miss Jennifer, but supply and demand is how I stay in business and bring you these feinters. You understand don't you?" I understood on his part perfectly, but I wasn't about to admit that much to him! I left the shop 86 bucks lighter than I was when I came in, but I was still happy to have my very on feinter to brag to Ed about at work. That is - until I got back home. I lugged Flip's heavy cage up to my front door where I heard a yell from next door. "Jennifer! You got one too?" It was my neighbor, Rebecca. "Yep!" I replied, exasperated. "Cool, I bought mine a couple days ago, I'll come by later and show him to 'ya!" I nodded and smiled at Rebecca. I didn't mean to be so rude, but I had a cage and 15 pounds of feinter toys in my arms. I turned my lock and kicked the door open; hands tied. I brought Flip inside to the air conditioning and sat him in the mud room. He certainly wasn't performing any more gymnastics at the moment - no, something was definitely wrong now... he looked sickly. He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily. He started to make scary gurgling noises among all of this. I squatted down on the floor and swung his cage door open. I picked him up and he nearly slipped right out. His fur was soaked in sweat! His eyes gazed up at me for a moment before I felt him begin to tense up in my hands. Suddenly, I realized that something dark was dripping from his mouth, I wiped at it and saw that it was - blood. Before I could get grab the phone and call the pet shop, though, he vomited a heavy object right onto my new shirt. I screamed for what seemed like hours when I saw what the object was. In my lap was a severed hand.

4 When I came to a rest from screaming I slapped the horrible hand away from my lap and dropped the feinter to the floor. I sobbed uncontrollably as I stared down at my blood-soaked shirt. What had I gotten myself into? Was this animal mean enough to bite a... a hand off of someone?! I hoped that wasn't the case. I pulled myself together and managed to push Flip back in the cage. I closed the door and he smiled up at me. It was the first time that I had seen him smile. I didn't know what to do next. I was going to call Fred's shop, but it was late. They were probably already closed for the day. So then I looked over at the hand. I couldn't blame that hideous thing on an animal barely it's size! What was I going to do? I began to think of what a murderer would do to dispose of the evidence. But, I wasn't a murderer! Oh, God. My mind raced and before I could think anything else, I felt my body fall to the floor lifelessly as I fainted amongst the bloody, disgusting mess. *** "OW! You son of a...," sitting next to my head was Flip. The little monster had just bit my ear! He smiled up at me, and it wasn't really a full-on bite, so I figured he was just being playful. Then I remembered what led to me being

sprawled out on the floor. I jumped to my feet and pushed Flip back into his cage, noticing the faulty lock that let him escape. "We'll fix that, you little rat you." I said to the feinter, not knowing or caring at that point if he understood the least bit of what I spoke. I drug the cage into the kitchen and rummaged through a junk drawer. I found what I needed, a pack of garbage ties. I loaded that door down, tying every possible point of escape - all while Flip sat calmly inside. Something about him still just warmed my heart. "This is for the safety of YOU and I Flip." There I go again, talking to an animal. Once I felt secure about the cage door I ignored the crime scene in the mud room and headed to my bedroom. I got undressed and flopped down onto the luxurious bed, the only luxurious thing I had at that point. I glanced over at the alarm clock. '11:48', it read. I didn't bother to get any pajamas on or cover up - I had just experienced a seriously awful day and I conked right out. At some point in my slumber I was awoken by a sharp pain at my side, but before I could investigate that, my eyes adjusted to the dark. I noticed something on the foot of my bed. Lots of little somethings. A row of FIVE dark figures wriggled quietly at my feet.

5 "I'm dreaming." I blinked hard several times before finally flicking the light switch on over my headboard. I stared down at them in disbelief, and they stared right back. Smiling almost. Five feinters. I was sure I had only bought ONE back at Fred's. My head was pounding as I struggled to figure things out. 'I'll start by getting some clothes on,' I told myself. I pulled a pair of pajamas out of my drawer and began to slip them on with my back turned to the feinters expecting to turn back around and maybe, just maybe, see nothing. Then, my door bell screamed through the silence and nearly sent me crashing to the floor. Not something you would expect at three in the morning. I stumbled over a severed hand as well as a puddle of feinter vomit on the way to my front door. At the moment, nothing really phased me. I creaked the door open wide to see Rebecca standing before me. "Sorry it's so late. Saw light. Jennie... I don't feel so good..." She really didn't look too good either. Her dark brown hair was a mess and she was in her pajamas. Poor thing probably couldn't sleep either. "I'm so weak." I grabbed her arm and helped her inside. "Lie here on the couch Rebecca..." When I had her comfortable I asked her, "Now - what's going on?" Before she could answer she began convulsing violently as she keeled over the edge of the couch. She spat a scary amount of blood down onto the floor. I was horrified at the sight of my friend like this. "Oh my GOD Rebecca! I'm calling 911 right now!" She was now lifeless and I was forced to push against her to keep her from dropping to the floor in a pool of her own blood. Then I saw the reason for all of this. Her t-shirt rode up her back and showed me something I wouldn't wish for anyone to ever have to see. There was a gaping hole that had been torn into her skin. Her entire back was drenched in dark, dark blood.

6 I managed to push her all the way back to a lying position on the couch as she peacefully passed away there in my arms. I had no feeling left in my entire body... not physically or mentally. "Rebecca, I'm sorry. So sorry." I pulled a throw blanket gently over her face - still wrenched up in horrible agony. "I have got to find out who did this!" I was irate with anger now, but I didn't know at who or what I was angry at. My question inevitably was about to be answered. I knew that much was true. After all, I had been caught off guard plenty of times in this one day to know that I was not safe anymore. No one around me was safe. Who put me in this MESS? Sure enough, just when I thought my life could NOT get any worse, I was proven wrong. My chest thumped and sent me stumbling backwards, almost losing my footing. I looked down at what had just hit me and gazed once again at a feinter. He hung from my shirt, tearing at it with his claws. Without a moments notice he sprung off of my shirt and latched those claws into my cheek and lip. He dug them into my face - causing blood to gush from my fragile skin. I screamed out in the excruciating pain. He didn't let up, and I realized I would have to defend myself against the creature. I stumbled towards the kitchen with my eyes covered, mouth full of fur. I swung my hand across the counter, grabbing for anything sharp. I found a dinner fork and wasted no time. I jabbed the fork as deep into the feinter as it would go without hurting myself. He immediately went limp and I pried his claws away, sobbing in pain. I stood in my kitchen, tears streaming from my face as I dropped the disgusting thing to the ground. I surveyed my house with blurred eyes. It was in ruins. Blood was everywhere, my closest friend, Rebecca, was dead, I was close to passing out from pain, and blue lights were now blinding me through the kitchen window.

7 "Open up, POLICE!" The loud voice reverberated through my front door. I wiped at my eyes, but what good was that doing? I looked like I had died and come back! I rushed to the door before he could ram it down, and swung it open. He was fiddling with his flashlight, aiming it at the ground, when I opened the door. "Ma'am, oh, Jesus - GET PARAMEDICS TO ALBANY AVENUE NOW! He dropped his radio as he hurried me toward the closest chair. "What's your name, what happened here – what..." He spotted Rebecca in the pool of her own blood. He ran to help her, not knowing she had already passed. The policeman checked her pulse quickly and then dropped her wrist. He stared up at the ceiling. I knew I was in trouble now. He was putting the puzzle together in his head now. Look around, cop! I am bleeding, but how do you know it's not Rebecca's blood all over the place? I was alive and she was dead. It was just too easy for him to corner me now. "You did this?" The policeman's eyes squinted up at me with a hatred I had never seen before. Yep, I'm suspect number

1. "No, no, GOD no sir... I know what this must look like to you, but..." He stopped me right in my tracks and pulled me to my feet. "You're coming down to the precinct, lady."

8 "So, this is it." I am sitting in my cold, cemented jail cell now. I kick a cockroach aside as he makes his way to my bed. Not much allowed around here. Except for this T.V. here. My last bit of freedom. I flick it on, just curious what could possibly be going on outside these walls. The station is set to WNN, The World News Network. The newscaster cuts to a Live shot of an interview with a police officer. Not just any officer, though. This is the one who paid me a visit at my house. Yeah, now he's describing the gruesome, bloody mess that encompassed my home. And that there, hanging behind the guy from the window sill... why - that looks like a leftover feinter! "Should'a believed me... should have believed me." I struggle to hold back a smile as the little monster sinks his claws right into the palefaced policeman.

THE END OF “SUCKERS” A Fear Series Book By Matthew Watts, Cover Also By Matthew Watts. Download All Of The “FEAR” Series via Our Website @ http://www.fearbooks.com