Nikki Shore - Ghost Beneath The Ashes

Chapter 6

The abandoned warehouse, 8:50 PM

There was a brooding silence looming in this abandoned warehouse tonight. The breath of cold air didn't help with the situation. So as the casting of the moonlight through the busted rooftop. My eyes felt heavy as if time passed by because of this case. Erin was shaking with the fact that she didn't bother changing her slutty clothes. But even then she kept her hands on her gun, her fingers on the deep black trigger.

The man before me had a messed up beige trench coat, with a cape-like storm shield. He had shagged up crew cut hair. His heavy-duty steel toe boots common with workmen, are wet from the mud. His figure grew even closer.

"Roy Chandler, right?"

He stopped in his tracks. Giving me a good look of his towering height, I still can't clearly see his face because of the light behind him. He began speaking:

"How did you know that name?"

"I had some hunches. Your wife was looking all over for you."

"My ... Wife ..."

Roy bowed his head, making fists with his hands.

"She begged to let me find you apparently. Paid me a hefty fee. I did my job and now I've found you. But I never realized that a man like you would be responsible for everything."

He then faced me head on, his arms spread out, he started to move towards us in the side, finally lighting up and revealing his square jawed visage with cleft chin like somebody slapped a pan straight to his face. I can see he had a cauliflower ear on his right as well.

"Listen, your meddling with my life ends here! What even brings you the guts of finding me? I ran out of the house and her life all because I can't bear the pain!"

He exclaimed as we started walking around in circles like in those cheesy scenes of the killer revealing his intentions.

"I'm just doing my job. The pay counted. The sentiment was just a second thought. I've got what I've came for and that's what mattered. The only thing now to figure out is why. Why would you do all of this? Why did you burn down the store and the other stores before it?"

His arms stiffened from tension, Looks like I hit the bull's eye. I can see now that what he wore was actually pretty tight around his arms despite his coat's massive size, this man was ripped to the core!

"They should pay. THEY SHOULD PAY FOR ALL THE THINGS THEY'VE DONE TO ME!"

He said as he removed his coat to reveal the full extent of the damage he's endured. His lower half shined with metal cladding throughout. He stood firm with those. I was stunned in astonishment on what I saw. Erin was flabbergasted.

"The fire that happened three years ago, they didn't know that I was still working there! Their greed did this to me. They destroyed the warehouse to get insurance money, they were having their annual bankruptcies at that time. Everything but my urinary and fecal organs was gone. All that was left in my legs were my bones. Almost all muscle in my legs charred. But most of all ... The most unfortunate of all ... MY MANHOOD WAS ALSO BURNED OFF!"

We still can't quite process what happened to this guy, yet he continued on casually,

"Yes, every single time I heeded the call of nature, everything burns down ... Oh .... Everything ..."

I said to him,

"Well, I get the point, but what gives with the metal manhood?"

He then stood tall,

"What about this? My wife told me she knew some people and sent me to a private hospital of sorts. She gave me some drug. The next thing I knew, when I woke up, I got this. At first I was frozen there, I couldn't move. I gotten used to it eventually, it gave me the ability to walk again, but it didn't help in the suffering that I was having."