Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Vinnie and Ethan arrive in Green Cove Springs and prepare to meet their nemesis, the Florida Mangler. See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them! Their links follow my tale!
The Clay County Detention Center/ was a more imposing structure than I had imagined it would be for such a small town. It probably housed inmates from many areas of northern Florida, I surmised. We’d received instructions from Anderson on what was expected of us, and left everything inside the vehicle, including our weapons. Neither Ethan nor I cared for that idea, but we had no choice. The rules applied to law enforcement visitors as well as others. I supposed it would be different if we were dropping off or picking up. But as Chip was already there, and I had no intention of taking him with us (the very thought made me shudder), we followed their instructions before we made our approach to the edifice.
We’d left Benny with a very nice lady who ran a pet
daycare close to our motel. Benny seemed reticent about staying with her at
first until she produced a particularly delicious-looking treat for him, after
which he became a willing participant to being left behind and barely spared us
a glance as he wolfed down his largesse and then proceeded to introduce himself
to some of his fellow canines.
“Fickle child,” I muttered under my breath as we
returned to our car and Ethan opened my door for me. “He could have at least
pretended like he was sorry to see us go.”
Ethan laughed and kissed me softly. “Don’t worry.
He’ll make up for it when we pick him up later.” I knew that was right. As
usual, Ethan made me feel better. No wonder I keep him around.
Okay, he keeps me around. Same difference.
And maybe I wasn’t really perturbed at our pup’s
seeming indifference but was using it to mask what was really bothering me.
Which, of course, my observant and intuitive boy quickly figured out. Before we
reached the front door, he drew me aside and hugged me.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I could hear the
concern in his voice.
“No,” I said honestly. “But I’m going to do
this. I can do this.” I looked
deep into his beautiful blue eyes and hoped he would understand my
determination not to give in to my fear. Of course he did.
“I know you can, Vinny,” he agreed. “I have faith in
you. Always have. Okay, then, let’s do this thing.” He kissed me gently and we
proceeded on our way. We headed to an information desk where we gave them our
information and presented our badges. I’d expected to have some sort of wait,
but an officer was immediately delegated to escort us to our destination.
I remember thinking that at least he’d be on the
other side of a plexiglass barrier, as far from us as possible…
But how wrong I was. Which I quickly discovered when
we were shown into a private room whose only furniture was a table and three
chairs. And sitting on the other side of that table, hands and feet securely
chained, a smug look upon his face, was none other than the stuff of my
nightmares…
Chip…aka the Florida Mangler.
Let the games begin.
to be continued
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