The Solution Read Online Free Page B

gather his wits—an act he began to think was impossible. Randal tried breathing steadily, to calm down, and for short-lived time it did. Until a putrid stench, which seemed to float down from above, suddenly burned Randal’s nostrils. He looked upward to the side of the building, focusing his eyes in an attempt to see past the black and slivers of red and green neon light. He heard something moving, like footsteps on the alley wall. The second he noticed them the footsteps ceased, but as cold wind funneled through the alleyway carrying the sounds of the festival a thought came to Randal: death.
    Suddenly from the blackness a charred arm clutched Randal’s shoulder with such brute strength he was surprised his bones didn’t immediately snap. Frozen by fear (a near irreparable but tamable Dysfunction according to Dr. Reverence), Randal didn’t move or fight back. He wasn’t sure he knew how to. He still wanted tea. His job was soldering computer boards. He was not a fighter. He had never been in a fight, not even in grade school. No one ever cared enough. So he said nothing, did nothing. He stared upward. Randal could see the thing’s slender, inky shape. Its skin seemed to be woven with squirming things and black corrosion. Then, he could see it almost wholly. Worms acted as teeth and the creature’s entire visage was made of rows upon rows of infected and abscessed incisors. Randal saw gleams of moisture and yellow throughout its body, and he realized they were toothless, puckering mouths. 
    T he creature leapt from the wall and swiped across Randal’s chest with its nails. The two tumbled and it got on top of him, pinning him down. There was no remorse or hesitation. Tetrax bit into Randal’s shoulder with its teeth. Blood sprayed as it chomped, swallowing Randal’s slippery redness down its numerous mouths. Worms from its body attempted to weave around Randal’s hands, trying to pull him inside Tetrax’s torso and he felt as helpless as a trapped mouse under a cat’s paw.
    Suddenly a white, blinding light flashed and Randal felt the weight of the creature release. Flashes of heat flew inches over Randal’s head and Tetrax roared and was immediately muted.
    A nother wave of dizziness sucked him down and he went to sleep. There was nothing, the silence Randal had been waiting for, but it wouldn’t last long. 
    When Randal came to, he was looking through a dirty window and riding in the backseat of a car. He saw silvery and grey buildings zipping by. Randal grunted. He wanted to ask where he was but when he moved his mouth a pang in his neck silenced him. His eyes were already bruising and his face was a swollen mess, his shoulder throbbing.
    He couldn’ t at first make out whether the driver was male or female.
    “Hi ,” the driver said. It was a woman. Before Randal found the strength to respond, all sounds of normality faded and were replaced with maniacal chuckles and hums induced by pain and blood loss, causing catalepsy. Randal became aware of nothing pleasant as he fell back into a stinging sleep.
     
    * * *
     
    Elizabeth woke up at around six o’clock in the morning, eyes wide open. In front of her were the mirrored angel figurine on the bureau and her vacant reflection in the vanity, vacant because she held no facial expression. The lifeless angel seemed to stare back at her, and Elizabeth locked eyes on it for a moment. Mr. Spires sat in his chair and the computer screen glowed. Two new men stood beside Mr. Spires, looking at Elizabeth blankly. One was a short, stout man wearing a cashmere sweater, grey slacks and black, shiny dress shoes. The other was a bigger man in a suit called Mix. They were Solution operatives, she knew. Something was definitely up. Elizabeth was unaware that overnight Mr. Spires had run diagnostics, deduced formulae, and manifested an aspect of her subconscious which resulted in conclusions beyond Elizabeth’s knowledge. She looked at the operatives, then back to Mr.