I pushed open the door to the Newport Mini Mart, a small convenience store in the corner of Fourth and Madison. A cozy spot I’ve come to frequent due to the hot coffee and the pretty little lady behind the counter.
“Good morning, Gladis,” I waved to the elder woman complete with a pristine smock and name tag. She smiled in my direction.
“Jon, I just put a fresh pot on for you,” she said as she rang up the next customer in line.
“Gladis if you don’t stop, I’m going to ask your husband if I can marry you off of him,” I answered back. We shared a laugh as I rounded the corner and came to a single wooden door that was marked appropriately with a toilet. I knocked on the door and waited for any protest. A few moments went by and I heard nothing. I grasped the handle and threw open the door.
Sitting on the toilet was a man, doubled over, holding his stomach with both arms.
“Aw, shit man. I’m sorry. I knocked.” I turned to leave.
“Please,” he whimpered. I turned back, hand still on the door knob. “Help me. I don’t know what else to do.” He sat back as much as he could and let his arms fall to his sides. The front of his shirt was covered in blood. His skin was turning green and his eyes had a shade of yellow to them. The front of his shirt moved just then. I jumped back at the sight of it. “Please,” he said again. He took his final breath and died right there sitting on the shitter. Like a skinny, poor Elvis of the Mini Mart. Thank you, very much.
Whatever was in his stomach started to move again. Really pushing against his shirt. I stepped forward and reached out with my hand. What the hell was I doing? I grabbed the bottom of the shirt and slowly moved it up his chest. For a moment, the thing stopped and I could see that the guy’s chest was all cut up and seemed to be stitched back together. Some sort of gross science experiment gone wrong. Organ harvesting or something.
Suddenly, the thing burst out of his stomach and flew across the small bathroom. It was slimy and pink. The head of it looked like a snake with two talons and a tail. It scrambled in the corner and then turned to face me. I put my hands up and backed away, but the thing jumped right at me and wrapped its tiny claws around my neck. I started to pull it off, but the thing held on. I pulled again but it brought me closer to it almost as it was hugging me not wanting to be let go. It was shivering. It was scared. Its tail whipped back and forth on my leg.
What the hell was I going to do? Who was going to believe me? Shit, Gladis would die if she saw this body just laying on the bathroom floor. I had to move fast.
