Goddamn Electric Nights

 
          
Published
by New Flesh Books
August 2011

 
          
Goddamn Electric Nights
eBook
exclusive
Copyright © 2011 by William Pauley III. All rights reserved.

 
          
This
book is a work of fiction.

 
          
Cover
art and design copyright © William Pauley III

 
          
www.breaksaidsilence.com

 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written
permission of the author or the publisher.

 
 
$5 ELECTRIC SUZIE was originally
published by Library of
Bizarro
Horror in the
anthology TECHNICOLOR TENTACLES.

THE SPIDERS OF HONEYVILLE was originally published by New
Flesh Books in the anthology TOE TAGS 2: BLOOD & BIZARRO and reprinted by
Copeland Valley Press in the COPELAND VALLEY SAMPLER.

INSECTION 8 was originally published by Panic Press in the
anthology CREATURE FEATURES (published under the title THE THIRD FLOOR) and
reprinted by Copeland Valley Press in the COPELAND VALLEY SAMPLER.

 
Also by William Pauley III

Automated Daydreaming (forthcoming
)
Demolition
Ya-Ya
(forthcoming)
The
Doom Magnetic!
trilogy
(forthcoming)
The Brothers
Crunk
LIVINHELL
If You Don’t Sleep, You Don’t Dream
Mr.
Malin
and the Night

           
This book is dedicated to
Sullivan
Dax
Pauley

CONTENTS

$5
ELECTRIC SUZIE

THE
SPIDERS OF HONEYVILLE

INSECTION
8

 
           
Suzie was humming when I found
her.
 
          
Back
then I used to live in that garbage heap. Well, not literally, but you know
what I mean. I was addicted to the goddamn place. Four acres of discarded
treasures separated into thirty piles, stacked as high as small mountains. Oh,
those sweet metallic juggernauts, how I loved them so. And only five dollars
for whatever I could carry out in my hands. That place was more responsible for
my upbringing than either of my parents ever were. They spent most their time
with empty glass bottles and dirty bathroom floors. They’ve long ago lost touch
with what really matters in life. This world has so much to offer, but everyone
thinks the only way to get past all the shit is to go about it the traditional
way – good jobs, raises,
promotions
– but there’s
another way.
An easier way.
 
          
She
was hidden beneath a pile of soiled mattresses and some scrap metal. I had
almost given up my hunt for the day when the sun quickly and very mysteriously
began to lower, shining its red rays directly on her. It felt something like
divine intervention. As if the entire universe wanted me to find her.
To have her.
To hold her.
Till death do us
part.
I lifted the mattresses and the metal off her and tossed them aside. I wasn’t
prepared for her beauty. I guess in a lot of ways, I’m still overwhelmed by it.
Her slender curves, her pink skin, her perfect mouth… her sexy little pinch
roller. Even the lettering of her name, ELECTRIC SUZIE, written across her top
right corner, felt majestic in the way it sparkled under the sunlight.
 
          
Suzie
was by far the most breathtaking VCR I had ever laid eyes on.
 
          
I
took her to the pay window and paid the guy his $5. He was watching an old
episode of THE A-TEAM on his computer monitor. He took the cash and stuffed it
in the drawer without even looking up at me once. And it’s a good thing too,
‘cause if he knew what I had in my hands that day, he never would have let me
leave with her. Not for all the money in the world. At least I wouldn’t have if
I was the one in charge.
 
          
I
ran all the way home and didn’t even stop running once I got there. I nearly
broke the door down, I was running so fast. I ran back to my bedroom and spun
the lock shut. If I was smart, I probably would have worried about what a
beautiful thing like Suzie was doing in a garbage heap, but at the time the
thought never even crossed my mind. She could have been faulty. She could have
had a short in her that caused somebody’s house to burn down. But for some
reason I didn’t have a worry in my head. Something inside me knew she was
perfect. And boy was I ever right. She was perfect.
More than
perfect.
She was an electric angel.
 
          
I
fumbled through the wires and plugged them into the back of the television set.
Snuck back out into the hallway and down to my parent’s bedroom where they kept
all their VHS cassettes. There weren’t many, but there were more than I could
carry out in my hands. I grabbed what I could and raced back to my bedroom,
tossing the cassettes on the floor and again locking the door behind me. No one
was to know about my $5 Electric Suzie but me. I’ve always been greedy in that
way. I didn’t want to share her. Hell, I
couldn’t
share her. I needed her all to myself.
 
          
I
looked through the tapes. PARTY PLANE, EMANUELLE 5, SERENA… the titles didn’t
sound familiar to me, but that didn’t matter to me
none
.
All of the covers sported half naked females spread across random items of
furniture – beds, tables, chairs, hell one was even spread across a kitchen
countertop. I picked up one labeled THE STORY OF O and placed it inside Suzie’s
mouth. Suzie’s low hum turned into a short sigh,
then
a loud moan, as the gears started to turn. For about two full seconds I saw the
image of a naked woman stepping into the shower,
then
the video stopped. The screen turned blue. I looked down at Suzie, who was
humming just as quietly as before, but I hadn’t noticed anything else out of
the ordinary. No fire, no smoke, no sparks. I hit play again. Again the image
appeared for only a split second and the screen turned blue again.
 
          
“Damn
it!” I yelled at the TV. Not at Suzie, never at Suzie.
 
          
I
hit the play button again.
Same results.
But this time
I had noticed something different.
A voice.
I hit play
again.
 
          
“Jack…”
the voice said.
A sexy female voice.
A sexy female
voice was saying my name. I hit play again.
 
          
“Blah…”
it says this time, and goes off again.
Blah?

 
          
Play.
 
          
“Duh…”
Every time I’d hit play, the image and sound would display for a shorter amount
of time then the time before it.
 
          
“Blah…
Duh…
Blah… Duh…”
 
          
I
finally ejected the tape, but the tape wouldn’t come out. I lifted the flap of
the tape deck and took a peek inside. It was just as I had expected. Suzie had
eaten the tape. I pulled out my pocket knife and dug the blade into her mouth,
trying to loosen her grasp and pull out the tape. Suzie’s hum morphed and
screeched like a needle being pulled across a vinyl record. It was so loud and
sudden that it startled me, causing me to drag the blade across my left index
finger.
 
          
“Goddamn
it!” I shouted, sucking the leaking blood from my finger.
 
          
Suddenly
tape began to spew from her mouth in all directions as if something, maybe the
tape itself, had made her very ill. I tried to collect all the squirming worms
of tape in my arms as they shot out her mouth, but there was just too much to
keep up.
 
          
“What
the hell, Suzie?” I yell, “What’s gotten into you?”
 
          
All
at once she stopped squealing and spewing tape. She was silent for a moment.
The blue screen of the television painted the room with light. Then I noticed a
strange clicking sound. It was faint at first, but it gradually grew louder. I
moved closer towards Suzie, swimming through the sea of tape between us. She
was still clicking. I couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed to be getting…
faster. I lifted the flap of her tape deck mouth and leaned over to take a peek
inside. Suzie made one final click and spit the VHS tape directly at my
forehead at the speed of goddamn sound. I fell flat on my back. may have been
unconscious for a moment or two, I don’t know, I can’t remember for sure, but
what I do remember is whenever I finally got up off the floor, Suzie and I were
one. We were connected. I instantly knew her every need, her every want, her
every desire.
Blah.
Duh.
She
wanted blood.
My blood.
 
          
And
I wanted to give it to her.
 
          
I
could feel a pulse at the end of my finger. Blood would spurt from the gash
with every beat. I wiped my thumb over the wound, pulling the skin back to see
how deep the cut was. It was pretty deep, but it was a straight cut. If
bandaged properly, I wouldn’t even need stitches.
 
          
I
looked over at Suzie. It was as if I could see her moving, squirming. Her body
needed me. She was begging for me to come closer, for me to stick my bloody
finger in her mouth so she could suck me dry. I was connected to her now. I
could see all of this without her showing me anything. I knew what she wanted.
Me.
 
          
I
got on my knees and knee-walked over to her again. I rested my face against
hers and gently petted the top of her case.
 
          
“You
want me, don’t you, Suzie?” I whispered to her. “You need me. You need this.”
 
          
I
rubbed the tip of my bloody finger along the edge of her tape deck mouth. The
color display on the TV was no longer blue but instead a whole range of warm
colors – oranges, reds, yellows – all swirling into the next like some endless
whirlpool.

 
          
“Blah.
Duh,”
she whispered back at me through the television speakers. I pushed my finger
deep into her mouth and squeezed a few drops into her. The colors on the screen
began to flitter and strobe, so much so that my eyes were having difficulty
focusing. I wasn’t for certain if it was the rapid flashes of color messing
with me or if it was really happening, but for a few seconds, very faintly, I
saw a face.
Her face, Suzie’s face, staring back at me
through the television screen.
But only for a few
seconds.
Then she was gone.
 
          
I
again squeezed my finger into her mouth, this time giving her a generous amount
of my blood. The colors
strobed
and very loudly I
could hear her breathing, taking in air in giant gulps, as if it were a glass
of water and she had been stranded somewhere for weeks without it.
Maybe even years.
 
          
And
then she was there with me again… on the television screen. She smiled at me
this time and
goddamnit
, it was electric. I had never
seen anything more beautiful in my entire life up to that point, or even after
that, to tell you the truth. She had on thick blue eye-shadow with long black
eyelashes, like the movie stars from the ‘50s used to have. Her lips were
bright red and always looked wet. She had a beauty mark on the right side of
her upper lip. The rest of her face was bright white and didn’t seem to have an
end, stretching all the way out to the edges of the television screen. I was
speechless. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. I sat there on my knees
staring, admiring her beauty. She held her smile the entire time. She almost
seemed a little shy towards me.