Burning of the Jack
“What the…?”
Screeeeeech!
Pushing the brake almost through the floorboard, John barely missed a car stalled in the middle of the dark country road. His pulse pounded through the veins in his neck as he took a moment to collect himself. With building anger, he pulled to the side of the road. If this was some teenager’s idea of a Halloween prank…
“I am so sorry,” a man, John assumed the car’s driver, approached his truck. “Damn thing broke down and I couldn’t budge it.”
John rolled down his window, ready to let loose a string of profanity that would make sailors blush. But the stranger looked helpless in the country night. John stepped out of his truck and gestured toward the car.
“Maybe together we can move it before someone does plow into you. There’s that gravel on the side. We should push it there.”
“Sounds good.”
As they walked to the back of the car, John took a moment to study the stranger. He stood just a little shorter than John, and a little thinner. A nervousness hummed just underneath the surface of the well-dressed man. With some effort, they managed to move the car out of harm’s way and then made their way to the truck.
“My name is John… and yours?”
“Kyle.” The voice was tense.
Even in the dim light, John noticed Kyle’s pale skin and his veiled eyes. John already didn’t like the guy.
“And, I really appreciate your help. Didn’t know what I was gonna do.” Kyle stood in front of the truck and shoved his hands in his pants pockets.
“Don’t suppose you have a cell phone?” John asked. When Kyle shook his head ‘no’, John shrugged his shoulders. “Neither do I.”
An awkward silence fell between the two. John didn’t want to leave him out on the road alone, especially on Halloween. But, John didn’t want to get too involved, either.
With a tinge of hesitation, John broke the silence. “Hey, Kyle, hop in. You can call someone from my house to come get ya.”
Kyle nodded with a quick movement around his mouth that John assumed was supposed to be a smile. Once Kyle got seated, John started his truck and quickly turned down the radio.
“So where ya from, Kyle?”
“Shelby.”
“That’s quite a drive, man. What brings you down here?” At Kyle’s silence, John glanced over, awaiting his response.
“Well, I didn’t plan on coming here. It just happened. What about yourself?”
“I had to drop my two girls off at their mother’s for trick-or-treating. My one girl, Krista, is such a tomboy. She dressed like a football player. Can you believe it? But Lauren is the girlie girl. Tonight she’s going as a princess, tiara and all.” John smiled to himself at the picture they had made. No matter how he felt about his ex, those girls were his heart.
As another long silence fell between the two men, John turned up the radio. One song ended and the DJ started the usual blather. “By the way, people, I want to remind everyone to be on the lookout for the person or persons who murdered the young woman in Shelby earlier today. They are presumed to be armed and dangerous. Do not approach them. Call the police.”
“Shelby?” John frowned. “Isn’t that where you said you…”
A gun stared him in the face. “Drive us to your place.”
“Damn!” John muttered under his breath. Turning to face the road, his hands clenched the steering wheel, his mind raced. Should he deliberately wreck the truck? Or pull into a gas station and try to run? Idiot, he scolded himself, there’s nothing between you and home but countryside.
“Don’t try anything stupid,” Kyle warned as if sensing John’s thoughts.
After an eternity of ten minutes, John pulled into the driveway and parked. With the gun so close to his face, the barrel seemed to be twenty feet long. Slowly moving his right hand, he turned off the engine and pulled the keys out of the ignition.
“I want you to follow me out on this side.” Kyle instructed. He stood beside the door, waiting for John to scoot across, and then followed him to the front door.
In spite of his resolve, John’s nerves got the best of him. The keys were fumbled and dropped. He wished there was something he could do, some noise he could make that would alert his neighbors. But, out in the country, all of his neighbors lived too far away. Finally, with the door unlocked and the lights on, John led Kyle toward the kitchen.
They sat on opposite sides of the table, Kyle still training the gun on him. John studied him for a moment, grateful that his girls weren’t home for this nightmare. Thinking of his girls brought John’s anger back. How dare this man invade their home?!
“Now what, you sick fuck?” John growled.
Kyle smiled, then laughed. “Let me worry about that.” He grabbed the cordless off the kitchen table and dialed. “I got a truck. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes… Yeah, yeah, I know. But the damn thing broke down… No, cops won’t see it. I had help getting it off the road.” Kyle gave John a sarcastic wink, making John’s stomach twist.
After Kyle hung up, he looked thoughtfully at John. “Now what am I gonna do with you? I’m already looking at life for cutting that girl into tiny pieces. What’s another dead body gonna do to me?”
The expression in Kyle’s eyes chilled John to the marrow. If ever there were soulless eyes, he was looking at them now. Fighting the fear rising in his chest, John glanced around the room for something — anything — to help him destroy this lunatic. His glance finally rested on the small can of Zippo fluid on the coffee table.
The gun’s hammer clicked, jerking John’s attention back to Kyle. “I hate to do this to ya, John.”
“Wait! Wait!” John raised one hand in supplication, desperate for a way to stall for time. “Can I at least have a smoke first?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Kyle nodded once. Pulling a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, he tossed one over to John and stuck one between his own lips.
When John reached into his pants pocket for his lighter, Kyle waved the gun at him in warning. John flashed the lighter to Kyle in between his index finger and thumb.
“Chill out, man. Just gonna light this thing.” Acting as if he couldn’t get the lighter to strike, John shook it in frustration. “Out of lighter fluid.” He frowned and searched the room. “Ah, there it is. May I?” He pointed to the can in the living room.
“Yeah, sure. Just don’t go too far.”
John got up from the table and retrieved the Zippo can. Walking back to the kitchen, he leaned next to the jack-o-lantern on the counter and began refilling his lighter. Once that was done, he deliberately left the top off the can.
“My girls made this today,” he nodded to the pumpkin. “Here. Look.” John took off the top and reached in, lighting the candle inside. “It looks better in the dark, but it’s still kinda cute, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Kyle sounded mildly bored.
“I’m gonna miss my babies.” John lit his cigarette and looked Kyle in the eyes, his voice growing deeper. “You don’t have to do this, you know? You can take the truck and just drive away. Here’re the keys.” John tossed them on the table with a loud clink and then took a slow drag, awaiting Kyle’s response.
“I have to kill you. You’re in the way.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” John shrugged his shoulders and tossed Kyle the lighter to light his cigarette. At that second’s distraction, John grabbed the jack-o-lantern, jerking the lid off, and threw it at Kyle. Just as the candle fell toward Kyle’s face, John quickly sprayed the Zippo fluid at the flame.
A huge ball of fire engulfed Kyle’s hair and shirt. Dropping the gun, Kyle frantically tore at his clothes. Now that he was unarmed, John threw Kyle through the screen door. Kyle jumped to his feet and raced around the front yard, panicked to find relief. The flames snapped and hissed, completely engulfing him as he collapsed, writhing in agony until the merciful release of death.
John watched the flames die down as his mind reeled the horror in front of him. “And that, my dear girls, is the scariest jack-o-lantern I’ve ever seen.”
