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DOOM MAGNETIC!! - CHAPTER TWO:
THE PINK BUBBLE
William Pauley III
Qoser sits in a quiet doctor’s office waiting room, shaking, twitching, bleeding all over the floor. The bones in his face have shifted, permanently disfiguring his skull. His teeth have rearranged and now look something more like a bear trap of bone.
“There it is…” he mutters under his breath. His voice is different now. His words come out a blurry slur, but somehow still intelligible.
Sitting next to him is Gusto Geraldo Herrara, Jr, flipping through a two-month-old issue of Retro Gamer.
“Say what, boss?” he asks, his attention still on the magazine resting on his lap.
“The end, Gusto. There it is…right in front of me. All I have left is death,” he mumbles, staring blankly at the floor. “I am not ready to die.”
“Die? Come on now, boss…you’re talking loco,” he says, finally looking up at Qoser. “You know what? Slap a little make-up on those bruises and we’ll go out clubbin’ tonight. We’ll get drunk, try and get you laid. That’s what you need right there, a little somethin’ somethin’ to take your mind off things.”
“I don’t think that’s what I need,” Qoser says, massaging his temples.
“Sure it is, it’s what every man needs!”
“I think I need a doctor.”
“I think you need a nurse!” he says, nudging Qoser in the ribs with his elbow. “Know what I’m saying, man?”
Qoser turns his head and points to his bleeding left ear.
“Do you see that pink bubble protruding from my ear hole?”
Gusto moves his head in close to get a better look. There’s a small pink ball, the size of a marble, bloody and pulsating on the outside of his earhole.
“Oh my god, I think I’m going to fucking puke,” he begins to dry heave and gag. “What the fuck is that thing?”
“I think it’s part of my brain,” Qoser says, cupping his spider leg over his ear. “I really need to see a doctor.”
“Well, that’s why we’re here, bro,” Gusto says, his attention returning to the magazine. A few moments of silence pass. Qoser continues to stare at the floor.
“You know,” Gusto says, “you should really think about getting that cue-ball replaced.”
Qoser rubs the inside of his empty eye socket, now the size of a fist from years of holding his cue-ball eye.
“Wha- why would I do that? I hated that fucking thing.”
“Chicks dig it, man. Remember Sourpuss?” he says, licking his fingers and turning the page of his magazine. “Sourpuss melted over that thing.”
“Sourpuss,” Qoser mutters under his breath. He’d been distracted by all this Maundin business for so long that he hadn’t actually even thought of her until now. For a second he thinks to ask how she is doing, but decides against it. Don’t need her in my head right now. That’s all I fucking need…more trouble.
A tiny Asian woman, one of the nurses, peeks out of the crack in the doorway and says, “Quasar?”
The pink bubble twitches.
“Qoser,” he quietly corrects her.
“Huh?” she says.
A little louder now, he says, “I said my name is Qoser, not Quasar.”
She looks at her clipboard with confusion and shakes her head. She holds it up so that he can see it. “Quay…zar…” She taps the end of an ink pen against the line on the paper where his name has been signed.
“Come on, man, just let it go, people get my name wrong all the time too. Big fuckin’ deal.” Gusto says, tossing his magazine on the coffee table. He turns to look at Qoser, his eye immediately focusing on the pink bubble, which is expanding right in front of his eyes. A bright blue vein runs through the center of it. It pulsates with every beat of his heart. With every pulse, his anger heightens…and the pink bubble expands.
Pulse. Pulse. Pulse.
“Uh, excuse me, nurse…” Gusto shouts, backing away from Qoser, “can you get the doc out here immediately? I think his brain is going to fucking explode or something!”
The bones in Qoser’s face begin to shift again. His teeth slide in and out of their gum sockets, creating a wicked chattering sound. His eye rolls back into his head. The wet eye-white begins to glow so bright that it looks as if it is being illuminated from behind. Blood begins to trickle down his face, tiny spurts of it shoot out of his empty eye socket.
A loud crack of thunder blasts overhead, shakes the building and immediately causes the power to cut out.
Paid subscribers! The next chapter of this story will be posted on February 14th! Stay tuned for Darkness Breathes.
The Pink Bubble
© William Pauley III, 2011
All rights reserved.
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