Second Chances

Second Chances by Derek Ailes

Angelina washed her blood soaked hands in the hot water from the sink in her garage that had been converted into a small meat processing plant. As she could see her perfectly tanned skin in the mirror over the sink, she grabbed a towel. She looked over at the table where she had just finished butchering Daniel, a man who she had a sexual encounter with hours before. She was going to get a high premium for his meat from her customers, a group of rich local businessmen who had the taste for human flesh, which she kept in constant supply.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror admiring her supermodel face. Her long raven-black hair glowed as the fluorescent lighting shined down from above her. With her petite physique and gorgeous looks, she had no problem finding men who she could bring back to her house hidden within the trees off of the highway.
She walked away from the sink and instantly jumped backward as the door leading into the garage burst open and two police officers rushed in with their guns ready to strike.
“On the ground now!” one of the officers shouted.
She quickly grabbed one of her butcher knives from the table adjacent to her. The officers aimed with speed and precision and before she could attack, they fired.
She slammed back into the wall behind her and slowly slid down it; her blood was a scarlet river flowing on waves of pain. Clutching the butcher knife tightly, she stared at the two officers as they watched her bleed out. “Go to Hell,” she managed to say before her life force completely oozed from her body.

Angelina struggled to adjust to the bright light as she slowly regained consciousness. She felt a tingly sensation all over her body. She tried not to scream as she watched the maggots feast on her lower abdomen. She grabbed a hold of a large dirty boulder and slowly pulled herself back to her feet. She could see a small stream ahead and hastily ran for it hoping the water would rinse the vile maggots off of her. She jumped in instantly screaming as the heat from the boiling water scorched her skin. She crawled out of the stream and stared at her once flawless skin covered in blisters. The blisters increased in size and burst causing her to experience a pain so agonizing she screamed for several minutes.
A loud clapping sound from behind her gave her a minor reprieve from the pain. She slowly turned around and was shoved back into the scolding water by a tall muscular woman with scars all over her face and arms. Her cinnamon hair was the length of her greenish body. She was completely nude except for her red, knee high leather boots. She slowly walked over to the stream and pulled Angelina out.
“Don’t worry; the pain will go away shortly and your beauty will quickly return,” the creature assured her.
“Is this Hell?” Angelina asked, knowing it was the only destination in her cards regarding the Afterlife.
The creature’s laugh boomed through the distance as she slapped Angelina on the side of her head. “No silly, that would mean you were completely dead. This is Intermediarium, the land of the haunters. To put it in terms you can understand: this is the realm of ghosts.”
“Ghosts?”
“If Freddy Krueger really existed, this would be his realm.”
“Why am I here?”
“My boss enjoys watching you entertain and butcher your guests.”
“I do take pride in my work,” Angelina bragged.
“She feels your work on Earth isn’t quite finished yet. She had me intercept your spirit before it was sucked into Hell so we can send it back to Earth. There is a woman, Jessica, who is very beautiful who is in a coma. She has no immediate family. The doctors do not expect her to make it through the night. She will be the vessel for your spirit. They will be surprised when she, I mean you, awake from the coma. Protect this body. We can’t save your soul a second time. Once you die, off to Hell you will go.”
“I understand.”
The creature grabbed Angelina’s head and violently twisted it snapping her neck. She picked up her lifeless body and threw it back into the swamp. With a smile on her face, she sat down on a large boulder and waited to intercept the next spirit her boss was interested in.

Three Months Later….

Jessica stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was more beautiful waking up than Angelina ever was after putting on make-up and doing her hair. She now had flowing straight blonde hair and looked like a movie star. She looked like she was still in her teens even though she was in her late twenties. Business had been better than it was back in Valparaiso, Indiana. There were plenty of cannibals living in Texas who loved there chili with human meat and paid a pretty price for it. Also, there was an endless supply of men she could use her sex appeal on to lure them to her secluded ranch where they would be sexed, drugged and slaughtered.
She walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed where she had four dresses laid out. She grabbed the silky red one. The guy she was meeting stated in his profile that red was his favorite color. He had all the characteristics she looked for in her victims. He was socially awkward and into comic books and video games. She could tell from his profile that he had little or no sexual experience ─ someone she could easily manipulate.
She drove away from her ranch in her white pickup truck and headed for an abandoned building an hour’s drive down the road and parked her car in the back where it couldn’t be seen from the main road. From there she walked toward the fast food restaurant located downtown. She was supposed to meet the guy at four, and she wanted to be there several minutes early. After a half hour walk, she entered the restaurant and sat in a booth by the window waiting like a lion stalking its prey.
Several minutes later, a blue Chevy Colorado with a Spider-Man vanity plate on the front pulled into a parking space. She watched as the driver nervously got out and stared at the restaurant for several minutes. Easy pickings. He slowly walked toward the entrance pausing for several minutes before opening the door.
“Nicholas,” Jessica said, waving at him.
He slowly walked over to the booth. “Hi,” he stuttered.
“You look very nervous. Trust me; I’m more nervous than you are,” she said with a big smile.
“I think I may be more,” he said, trying to hide his shyness.
“Let’s go up and order. My treat. We can then sit down and get to know one another.”
After getting their food, they sat back down and talked.
“What do you do for a living?” Nicholas asked.
She tried not to laugh. No matter who she met up with, that was always one of the first questions they asked.
“I’m in the food industry. Nothing really to brag about. And you?”
“I work at a used book store,” he answered. “It’s the best place for me. I’m a writer.”
“What do you write?”
“Dark fantasy. Nothing as great as Twilight or Harry Potter.”
“I love to read. I’m more into the Fifty Shades type of books,” she said with a flirtatious smile.
He raised his left eyebrow. She knew she had him hooked and soon literally. They sat there for another hour talking.
“Well, it’s getting late. I think it’s going very well. Not to scare you, but do you want to go back with me to my place? I didn’t drive here. I jogged. I do a lot of jogging. Keeps my awesome body in shape,” she said, rubbing her right leg which she knew would turn him on.
“I’d love to. I need to refill my drink. Can I refill yours?”
“Sure. You are such a gentleman,” she said as he grabbed her empty cup and walked away. As he was refilling their drinks, she quickly texted her client that she would have a fresh supply of meat tomorrow. She put her smart phone back into her purse as Nicholas walked back over to her.
He handed her the drink and she seductively drank some of it through her straw. “We better hurry if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” he said and opened the door for her.
“The perfect gentleman.”
Once they made it to her ranch, she quickly led him to her bedroom where they had the best passionate encounter she had experienced since becoming Jessica. As they were relaxing afterwards, she listened to him talk about his life as she waited for him to fall asleep. As he continued, she felt light-headed. She yawned.
“Are you sleepy?” he asked.
“A little. If you can stay the night, I will be able to go at it again in the morning. Trust me it will be…”
She slipped into darkness.

The green creature was staring at her as Jessica slowly opened her eyes.
“How did I get back here?” she asked.
The creature laughed for several seconds and then spoke. “Let’s just say my boss has a warped sense of humor.” The creature pointed at the blood flowing like a river from Jessica’s chest.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will in a second.”
The creature grabbed her head and violently snapped her neck.
Jessica slowly opened her eyes and screamed as she realized she was in her meat processing plant suspended in air by two meat hooks. Nicholas was standing by one of the tables sharpening a butcher knife with a stone. She struggled to pull herself free from the meat hooks.
“I wouldn’t bother,” Nicholas said with a sinister smile. “I do this for a living.” He walked up to her and slid the sharp butcher knife deeply across her abdomen showering his shirt with her blood.
She screamed.
“Oh, Jessica, I mean Angelina, you got so careless this time. You had no idea you were the one being manipulated.”
“How do you know my real name?” she asked as she watched her blood flow from the large slit.
“After I was killed recently, I encountered this beautiful green creature in the Intermediarium. She told me her boss was offering me a chance to live again if I sought you out and butchered you. She said her boss no longer found you amusing and thought that meeting your end this way would be the most ironic thing ever. I agree. This is ironic.”
“You don’t have to do this!” she pleaded.
“Don’t have to do this!” Nicholas screamed. “I want to do this. You see I belong to the National Cannibal Society. Yes, the group you supply so much meat to. Guess what. Not only am I a member, I’m their president.”
Tears streamed down her face as she realized this was the end for her.
“One other thing. I like my meat fresh.”
He cut out a big chunk of her flesh from her chest and greedily chewed away. His flesh-ripping feast had begun.