PEENER (Part V)

“What’s that thing on your head?” Tina asked right before bed.

Phil was sweating bullets. “Nothing, just a thing to help me sleep better,” he explained. “The therapist gave it to me.”

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“Yeah yeah! I’m fine. I’ve just been working out before bedtime. You know, to help me sleep better.”

Tina wasn’t convinced. “Phil, you can talk to me, ya know? I know you’ve been struggling to write for awhile. I’ve been worried…”

“You don’t have to worry about me! I promise. It’s just a little writer’s block. All writers go through this.”

Tina took by the hand and looked him in the eye. “Okay,” she said. “I guess I can be a worrywart sometimes. Just promise to open yourself up to me.”

Phil nodded. “Okay, I will,” he told her. “But I promise that what I’m going through is nothing that you have to concern yourself with. It’s just a passing phase. I promise.”

Tina held her gaze for a moment. “I believe you,” she said. She kissed him on the forehead, turned off the lights, and soon both were laying together in bed. Phil activated the small device on his temple and made sure the dream emitter was functioning. This better fucking work, he thought.

He was fast asleep; faster to sleep than he had ever been before.

What felt like seconds later, Phil was standing wide awake. He was in an unknown garage.

He looked around to a workbench. In his hand was two wooden handles, seemingly sawn off from a broom, that were connected by a blood soaked steel wire. “What the fuck?” Phil said aloud.

Obscuring his vision from the other side of the garage was a vehicle, a large black 2043 Porsche SUV. Beneath the vehicle, a puddle of blood was forming. Phil cautiously walked to the other side.

“Jesus!” he screamed.

On the ground was a body. Moreover, the body was missing its head. Blood was still pouring out from the neck.

TO BE CONTINUED…