The Smile

Love is a game of give and take. Or is it hide and seek? I get those two confused.

Either way, you best run like hell to be sure.

The Smile by Scott Douglas

I watched the woman in green tread along the side of the road in the pouring rain. I put the picture in the glove compartment. Fuck it. I smiled. Why not a second? The night’s still young.

I pulled the car up beside her. “Alright, luv. Fancy a lift?”

She held an army jacket over her head. Her dark eyes moved between me and the road behind us.

“Was that your car back there?”

Her eyes studied me from under the jacket.

“Look, luv, it’s absolutely bucketin’ it tonight. And, I don’t mean to scare ya, but this isn’t the safest road for a girl to be walking, so ... y’know …” I opened the door.

Her eyes narrowed, “Alright. Thanks.”

She got in and we drove off. Not one car in sight. She took the jacket off and brushed thick the black hair from her damp face. Her bee-stung lips caught my eye, as did the swirling blue pattern that ran down between her breasts. Paki? Indian? Tingles ran down my spine.

“Your car breakdown?”

“No.” She rubbed her knees.

I nodded. “Is anyone waiting for ya?”

Her face reddened, “Why?”

“Well, you’re walkin’ about in the pouring rain, thought maybe you went for help or something. Is someone waiting for ya back there?”

“No one is waiting for me.”

I smiled. “That’s too bad.”

She twirled fingers on her lap.

I turned the bend and drove down the decrepit road. Her head darted round the scenery like dog. My hands started sweating.

“Wh-Where are we going?”

I stopped the car, leaned over her and opened the door. “You have thirty seconds.” My blood warmed.

“What are you talking about?” Her face turned ashen.

“You have a thirty-second head start, then I’m gonna come and get ya! And when I find ya …” A smile forced itself across my face.

Her damp eyes stared at me as the realization kicked in. She turned round and whipped the seatbelt off. She pushed the door open and ran into the woods.

The seconds of my watch ticked away like minutes. I gripped the wheel until my knuckles turned white. At last, the hand struck 30.

I ripped the seatbelt off and jumped out of the car. I galloped through the woods. The tree branches whipped my face, but they couldn’t stop me. Nothing could. I was alive again. For the second time tonight, I was alive.

I stopped. The trees stood silent. They were on her side. They were always on their side. No matter. Owls made their presence known as did the stars and the moon. My eyes darted through the darkness. Where was she hiding? A twig snapped behind me. I turned. Nothing. I cut further into the woods, calling out to her.

I spotted a green shoe on the ground. I picked it up and sniffed it. My body become steel. I was ready now.

I raced through the woods like a wolf, drooling and snarling in the moonlit night. Goosebumps crawled along my flesh, filling me with promises that only her body would deliver.

And there she was. Standing there like a lighthouse, her eyes moving around her like a beam of light. They stopped on me. I froze. Can she see me? I calmed my nerves. Her eyes continued moving along the woods. I smiled.

I held my breath and got low. I slid along the ground like a snake. Each step took me closer to my prize. I reached for her. She turned. Her mouth flew open. I grabbed it and held it shut. I threw her to the ground and went at her like a car crash.

 The screams of ripping metal and screeching tires filed the night. Steaming oil splattered against my clothes, but the crash continued until the car was a wreck. And silence filled the air.

I placed her next to the car and walked round to the trunk. My hands shook as I straightened my shirt. I wiped the sweat from my brow. It must’ve taken more out of me than I thought. I held my nose and opened the trunk. The shovel lay next to the corpse in the plastic bags. I reached for it, but my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. My heart smacked in to my chest. I clenched my hands into fists but they wouldn’t stop shaking.

Fire shot through my stomach and liquefied my insides. I held onto the car. My dick burned like a sausage on a frying pan. I looked down. Blood spread from my crouch.

“Fuck me!”

I yanked my zipper open and threw my trousers down. Blood drained from my face.

“Oh shit!”

Blood oozed from my dick like pus from a spot.

“Bloody hell.”

My fingers trembled as I followed the thick black veins that ran along the blackened shaft and up my abdomen.

Hammers smashed my brain as my blood boiled me alive. I fell to the floor, filling the night with screams. My bowels forced themselves out from my stomach. The stench hit me like a slap.

The trunk slammed.

The woman in green stood there. A smile scratched across her face bruised and bloodied face.

“Wh-What did you do? What the fuck did you—”

Blood poured out from my mouth, my eyes smelted in my head as blood rushed from my nose.

She stepped towards me, smiling. Her big black eyes fixated on me. I tried to crawl away, but my guts exploded in my stomach.

Her footsteps closed in on me. She kicked my hands away. I turned round. She stepped over me and plopped herself down on my chest. The smile. The smile was still there.

“Two in one night,” she said. Her oily tongue ran along the edges of her jagged teeth. “I knew I could do it!” She smiled.

Scott Douglas the UK, but has been living in South Korea for the seven years. He works as an English teacher at a university there. Scott has written a few short stories over the years, but has recently started taking writing more seriously. He is now looking to develop his writing and hopes to publish more stories in the future.