A Time for Everything
Jack Rage
"A Time for Everything"
Jack grinned at the many passers-by in the park that evening. The night air was cold, the streets noisy, and the selection looked pretty good that night. So good it made him a little --- giddy. He laughed inside his mind. Jack Rage giddy? When was the last time he had felt like this? God damn, he loved feeling like this. The last time, he remembered, was just about a week ago when he had broken out of that criminal insane asylum. Yes, it had been too long since he had gone on a killing rampage. It was just about time that he did, just for the hell of it.
He reached his rough hands into his stained and ripped sportscoat and grasped the handle of the small knife concealed within it. It had been used on many victims, and still it was as sharp as the day he had stolen it and used it to gut the merchant who had caught him.
Mmm, guts, Jack thought. He had tasty guts, that merchant did. Don't know why everyone was looking at me funny. It's like they've never seen a man eat before. Jack drooled at the thought of remembering the man's viscera oozing juices into his mouth as he chewed with insane delight. He remembered how the blood rushed from the man's body cavity, and how the crowd of people had looked at him in horror. Not one survived to tell the tale. If you keeping looking at me funny, I'll slit your fucking throats open! You hear me! Slit your fucking throats open! Jack leapt forward and grasped tightly with his hands, screaming and shouting.
"Let go of me, you psycho!" Jack looked around, no longer in his thoughts, but in the park. The real world. The place where he had all his fun. "I said let go!" Hardly anyone was left in the area, but music could be heard coming from about somewhere near the duck pond. "Let --- " Jack threw his fist into the person's mouth, realizing it was a woman, and whipped out his blade. He plunged it into her stomach and watched as the blood spilled out. The woman tried to scream, but Jack grabbed her by the hair and threw her to ground. He then shoved her face into the dirt, muffling her cries for help.
"If you don't shut up," Jack whispered, "I'm going to kill you, bitch. You got that? You fucking got that!" He lifted her face up then rammed it back into the ground to show her he was serious. "Now stop screaming!" She did stop, but Jack couldn't be sure if it was because she believed him, if she had fainted, or if she had somehow died. He lifted her head up again and looked into her eyes. They were wide open and full of fear. Jack grinned. He loved it when people listened to him. "Tell me what's going on over there." He turned the woman's head so she could see what he was talking about.
"It's a party," the woman gurgled as she spat out blood. "The mayor's holding a party for the Little Uptown Orphanage." Jack grinned as the whole scenario played out in his mind instantly. The woman noticed the sick insanity within his smile.
"That means little orphans will be there," Jack murmurred.
"So will their parents," the woman added. "And also cops." Jack grinned at the woman now.
"I know! It'll all be so much fun. Too bad you can't make it. I'll tell them you couldn't come." Jack shoved her face back into the ground and used his knife to cut the woman's shorts off, leaving not a mark on her white skin. She scrambled up and tried to scream again, but Jack rushed forward and brought his elbow into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She doubled over and tried to breathe. Jack chuckled as he watched her desperately trying to scream. He struck her fiercely with the back of his hand and she fell to the ground. Jack quickly grabbed her panties and tore them off. He inhaled the scent of her undergarments deeply as she got up and made a mad dash to get away.
"Lovely bitch, gotta die now!" Jack yelled as he ran after the woman. He caught up to her in less than two seconds, stuffed the panties in her mouth, then grabbed her by the waist. She turned and twisted and struggled to get out of his grasp, but Jack was too strong from insanity to be beaten. Jack ran to the nearest tree with the woman in his arms, then jumped straight up, a little over the tops of the pine trees. He let go of her and brought his hands to her ankles. As they fell, Jack spread open her legs and aimed for the top of the tree. The woman, was scared stiff and so shocked about what had just happened that she made no attempt to thwart Jack's efforts. Jack knew she wouldn't have succeeded in moving him an inch anyway. He impaled her upon the tree and she passed out instantly. Jack laughed as blood dripped down onto his face as he hung from her legs. He let go, fell the rest of the long way down, and landed on his feet, never even breaking a bone. Jack grinned and looked up at his work.
"Congratulations, bitch, you make one helluva Christmas Star," Jack said. The music caught his attention again, and Jack turned towards the pond. "So the mayor wants to have a party. Well, you can't have a party without punch, now can you, Mayor Hamrich? I guess I'm just gonna have to bring some to you." Jack walked with knife in hand, towards the pond.
-----
Tyler Wen glanced behind him for the fifth time tonight. The feeling had come back, and he could swear that someone had their eyes on him. He couldn't quite figure out what this feeling was building up inside of him, but he decided that he didn't like it. It was like a tightness spreading throughout his body, and yet it was like every muscle in him was twitching, aching to get away from something.
"Something wrong, Tyler?" Tyler looked up and into the eyes of his adopted mother. The worry in her eyes contradicted the smile on her face.
"No, it's nothing," he replied. "I just have this wierd feeling."
"Really?" his mother asked. "What kind of feeling."
"I don't know. I can't explain it."
"Maybe you're just excited about this whole event. Everyone here used to be an orphan. No one to care for them, or teach them values. But now you all have loving parents who will take care of you no matter what."
"I don't think it's that. It's something else. Something bad."
"Something bad?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe you're just nervous?"
"No, it's not that either. It feels really bad. Can we just leave?"
"But the party hasn't even started yet."
"Please, mom?" Tyler looked up at her with wide fearful eyes. There was no denying it, he was genuinely scared.
"Okay, if you're really that scared, we can go home." Tyler hugged her thankfully and they made their way to the car.
"Looks like Carol's leaving already," Kyle Johnson told his wife.
"She probably has somewhere more important to go," his wife, Mileena replied. "I don't much like being here myself."
"We're doing this for Rodney, remember? Besides, it's either here or dinner at my mother's. You know how much you hate my mother."
"Don't remind me."
"It's only for another hour or two anyway. It won't kill us to stay and do something with our new son."
"All right, all right. It's just that I hate being here. I was an orphan too, you know. It brings back too many memories." She sighed and brought her jacket more tightly around her shoulders. It had suddenly got very chilly. Mileena tried to ignore the cold weather and observed the sights around her. There were a number of chairs under a tent that served as an eating area, and off to the side was another tent covering two long tables stacked with trays and platters of food. Closer to the pond, where they stood now, was a sort of platform where Mayor Hamrich stood, ready to begin the festivities. The band next to him was playing loud, but cheerful tunes. Everyone was in a more or less happy mood, awaiting the celebration of new families to lost children.
Jack looked at the same scene with an evil and murderous air. There were so many people ripe for the killing that Jack could hardly contain the feelings of joy within him. He had been an orphan at one time too, but he had wanted it that way. He had disposed of his own parents, after all. And then they sent him to that orphanage just above the Downtown Cleaners. Oh, what a terrible place it was! But Jack had left it in even more terrible shape. He smiled, remembering the carnage, the pure fun he had had.
"It's time to relive old memories," Jack murmurred as he made his way to the festive gethering. He gripped his knife even tighter as he got closer. And closer. Oh so ever closer. He could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins, and an insane smile crept onto his face.
"Hold it right there!" Jack stopped in his tracks, a cold rage slowly building up inside of him. His smile disappered. A police officer he hadn't seen stepped out from the darkness, his gun drawn. "Put the weapon down now!" Jack's eyes grew wider as he turned to face him.
"You," was all Jack could mutter.
"Put it down now!" the officer shouted again.
"You." Jack began to shake. He slowly began to raise his knife. Without taking his eyes off of him, the officer quickly raised his radio to his mouth.
"Officer reques---" was all he got off before Jack darted forward and ran his blade through the machine. The officer jumped back and fired. Jack brought the knife up, deflected the bullet, then dashed at the officer. He fired again, making certain of his aim this time. Jack tilted his head and the bullet whizzed by, driving itself into the dirt. He rammed his skull into the gut of the officer and sent him flying back almost ten feet. He hurridly got to his feet and raised his gun to fire again. Jack snapped his wrist and released his blade, sending the knife flying into the wrist of the officer. He yelled sharply and dropped his gun. Jack jumped forward and brought his fist into the mouth of the officer. He flew backwards from the force, but Jack reached out, grabbed him, and brought him back into his fist. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Then he hurled him to the ground. The blood from his smashed face leaked out and covered the orange leaves that had fallen onto the ground.
"You!" Jack roared. He picked up the half dead officer. "Don't ever stop me from having fun." He pulled the knife from his wrist. "I think this is mine. Thanks for holding it."
"There he is!" Jack turned towards the sound of hurried foot steps, the cold rage nearing explosion. Three officers ran into the clearing with guns drawn. One carried a pump shotgun.
"Jesus, what the hell did you do to him?!" one of the officers exclaimed. He had a short white beard. Jack thought it made him look stupid.
"All right buddy, put the weapon down, now!" an officer with long legs shouted. Jack gritted his teeth and let go of the knife. The officers stared him down with unflinching eyes and readied weapons. It seemed like he wouldn't get the chance to have fun.
"Now, let go of him, lay down, and put your hands behind your back," Long Legs ordered. Something in Jack broke, and his smile returned. He looked at the officers with a new air. The officers looked at him in confusion, almost certain they had seen his eyes crack and turn a cloudy pale blue. "Let him go!"
"Oh, I'll let him go," Jack replied as he switched his grip from the officer's neck to the top of his head. He now held him forward with one hand, displaying his strength. "After I kill him!" Jack clenched his hand into a fist, crushing the skull of the officer. It seemed to explode, sending brain fragments and blood everywhere. Long Legs and White Beard fired, but Jack jumped quickly into the air with a little kick. The kick sent the knife on the ground flying forward in an arc and between the eyes of White Beard. He gasped as he fell down dead. Shotgun raised his weapon to the sky and fired. Jack twisted in the air and the shell flew by. He landed back on the ground and jumped on the dead White Beard. Both of the officers fired at Jack, but he was gone with the knife before the bullets reached him. Jack circled round back to Shotgun and rammed the knife into him just below the chin. Long Legs fired repeatedly at Jack who had just enough time to turn Shotgun into a human shield. He pulled the knife out of the dead Shotgun and shot him at Long Legs with a fierce push. Long Legs stumbled back and Jack darted behind him. He steadied Long Legs with one hand and shoved the knife up the officer's ass with the other. Long Legs screamed and Jack knocked him to his knees.
"Shut the fuck up!" Jack yelled as he pushed his fingers into Long Legs' eyes. He pulled outward, and with a loud, wet crack, he broke his skull in half. Jack grinned and looked towards the party. He picked up the corpse of Long Legs and threw him into the air.
"What was that?" Mileena asked as she glanced back into the woods.
"What was what?"Kyle asked his wife.
"It sounded like someone screaming."
"It's probably just some drunk. Or a crazy homeless person. They're everywhere these days."
"Is it safe?"
"Of course it is. This party is full of officers. There's no need to worry. Look, the mayor is about to start the party."
"It's about time." Mayor Hamrich stood on the platform with a smile on his face and a cheery glint in his eyes. He was wearing a sort of formal blue business suit, and he was adorned with many small paper medals created for him by the former orphans.
"Good evening!" the Mayor addressed the crowd. "As you know, the life of an orphan is often a confusing and depressing one. They deal with all sorts of emotions and disappointments everyday. Let me start off by thanking you all for adopting one of these lost children." The small crowd exploded into a thunderous applause. Mileena rolled her eyes. He was obviously doing this whole party for public points. "Now, before we start --- what the hell is that?" Everyone looked to where Mayor Hamrich was pointing. Something was twisting in the air, in a sort of unnatural way. The bodyguards around the mayor took out their weapons as they realized it was a body. People screamed as the corpse fell onto the tent over the food and crashed into the tables. People began running around in a panic. Mileena looked around at the chaos and grabbed Rodney. She looked to her husband.
"Let's get out of here Kyle!" she yelled. The three ran towards the parking lot with the rest of the crowd, frantically trying to get away. Someone up ahead was just standing there. It was hard to tell what he was doing, but it looked like he was waving his hands dead. Everyone ran to him. But that was their first mistake. The person shot his arms out at people, and they fell down. Even the children were subject to this fate. Their second mistake was trying to run away. The person came after them, cutting down everyone who got close enough. Police officers rushed up the opposite way the crowd was going and raised their weapons. They fired when they had a clear shot, but it didn't seem like they were getting any hits in. Mileena looked back and saw that the killer was a man. He was dodging bullets like he was some kind of super villan out of a comic book. The officers shouted out as the man charged them. They all died without even leaving a mark on him. Then their eyes met, and she saw that they pulsed with a sort of insane excstacy. He shot towards her and her family at lightning speed. She tried with desperation to somehow run faster. She had to somehow get away from him. The man was right next to her now, smiling with that insane smile of his. He stuck his leg out and tripped her. She fell down and waited for the end to come. And she waited. And waited. She looked up wondering why he hadn't killed her instantly. Kyle was fighting with him. He was throwing quick and hard punches, but the man was dodging and weaving better than even professional boxers could. The man seemed to get bored with the whole situation quickly, and gave her husband a quick uppercut to the jaw. Kyle flew back and cracked his neck against a tree.
"Kyle!" she shouted as he slumped down dead. The man looked at her and smiled. He had Rodney in his other hand, but she hadn't seen him before. "Don't you dare touch him!" The man laughed and ran his blade across Rodney's neck. Blood sprayed out like water from a partially blocked hose. He threw down the boys' corpse like it was nothing, then he made his way torwards Mileena. She tried to get up, but the man kicked her down. He then placed a heavy foot on her.
"Women these days," Jack commented. "What have we come down to? A woman's place is in the home, feeding her husband." He grinned. "Well, looks like he's dead now. Sorry about that. So, I guess that makes me your new husband. I'm Jack Rage. What's you're name?"
"M-Mileena," she stammered.
"Well, guess what, Mileena? I'm hungry."
"I'll never be you're wife!"
"Regardless, you're still going to feed me."
"Fuck off!" He slashed her stomach with a quick motion of his hands.
"I'm hungry!" he roared as he plunged his hands deep unto her gut. He ripped out her intestines and bit down on them, savoring their juices. As he chewed and swallowed inch after inch, she screamed her death shrieks and he laughed with enjoyment. He hadn't eaten this good since he had made that bitch pie. He looked up from his dinner and saw Mayor Harmrich and a couple bodyguards making a hasty exit. He grinned and jumped up into the trees and made after them.
"How is he running in the trees!" Hamrich yelled. His bodyguards desperately fired into the tree tops, but the man never seemed to get hit.
"If we can make it out of the park, we'll be okay!" one of the bodyguards exclaimed.
"How can you be sure?"
"You'd be crazy if you tried to kill someone in the open."
"Insane, to be exact." Jack corrected him. The bodyguards pointed their weapons at him.
"How'd you get in front of us?" Hamrich demanded fearfully.
"He probably jumped ahead and got down," the other bodyguard replied.
"Well, just don't stand there, kill him!" The bodyguards opened fire, and Jack howled with laughter as he moved his body to just slightly miss being hit. He tossed his knife seemingly weakly, but the knife stuck in the head of one of the bodyguards. He turned as he died, and with his finger still on the trigger of his automatic weapon, he tore up the other one.
"That's what I call killing two birds with one knife. Eh, Hamrich?" The mayor turned and ran. Jack laughed, wrenched an arm off one of the bodyguards, and sprinted after him. He caught up to him within a couple of seconds and smashed the mayor's femur with the limb. Hamrich howled in pain, and Jack shut him up with a blow to the face. He tossed the extremity off to the side and grabbed Hamrich by the collar.
"I like you, Hamrich," Jack whispered. "That's why I'm going to let you live tonight if you give me something."
"Anything you want!" Hamrich agreed. "Money, cars, the city, you name it. Just don't kill me!"
"Oh, I can't promise you that. You see, Mayor Hamrich, this is the deal. If you give me what I want, then you get to live for another day. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook. Oh no, Mayor Hamrich. I still get to kill you. It doesn't sound fair, does it? But you can use this time to your advantage. Be more prepared when I come to finish you off, because mayor, I will be back to kill you. There's no doubt about that. Twenty four hours is the least amount of time you get. Have we a deal?"
"What do you want?"
"A list of all the people that were here at this party."
"I have the invitation list. It has all the names of the orphans that were adopted and their new parents."
"Good. Give it to me." The mayor reached into his coat and Jack stabbed his hand. The mayor screamed with pain and surprise, as Jack grabbed the small gun in the mayor's coat and tossed it away.
"No more tricks," Jack smiled.
"Here it is," Hamrich said as he handed him the list. Jack looked over it carefully and grinned.
"See you later, Mayor Hamrich." Jack then leapt back into the trees, leaving the mayor to cry for help.
* * * * *
Jack counted angrily for the third time. He was searching among the dead bodies for the children, and so far, he had only come up with ten. But there were eleven children on the list. Someone was missing.
"This can't be!" Jack raged. "All of them have to die." Jack was sure he hadn't missed a body. It just wasn't like him to forget who and where he had killed someone. The only answer was that someone hadn't come to the mayor's little party. Killing the mayor would have to wait. He had to kill the last child or he would never get any rest. He went about and looked at the children he had killed carefully, imprinting their faces into his mind. He would remember the faces of those he killed and match them to names, then he would have his target. Jack looked up at the moon, wondering if the kid was sleeping well tonight, because he damn sure wouldn't have anymore peaceful nights.
"That just the way it goes, kid. There's a time for eveything, and it's your time to die."
