The Beast That Was Max Read Free Page B

door.
    "Not for nothing, Max, but what's wrong with the traditional incinerator dust-off or swamp dump?"
    "At five tomorrow morning, a cement truck is going to pour a foundation in that pit for a house extension. The people buying the property require blood sacrifices to sanctify the ground on which they plan to hold future services. They've done favors for me in the past. This is the least I could do."
    "Some housewarming gift."
    Two sets of their shadows stretched over the hole: a faint set from the car's inside light left on by Max's open door, and a darker pair set at an angle from the house. They threw the body into the ground and went back for the woman. Max bundled her in the plastic lining the trunk, taking care that none of the blood or gore dribbled out. As they approached the pit again, the body fell out of Lee's hands. He flailed about, trying to hold on to the slick package, but managed only to grab the woman's head by her blond curls. The thin shreds of skin holding the body together snapped and the torso landed with a crackle of gravel. Max scrambled to close off the open end of the package while Lee watched, the head hanging at his side from his fist. As Max crouched, his gaze met the woman's blank stare. The Beast's low rumble of satisfaction vibrated through Max. He smiled into her frozen expression of pain and terror, remembering for the Beast all he had done to shape her final rictus. He scooped up the woman's body before he lost himself in thoughts of the last twists and twitches of her flesh. The wind whistling through budding branches reminded him of the whimper of her dying breath. He threw the body into the hole and headed back to the car.
    "You're dripping," he said, pointing to the head's ragged wound.
    "Yeah, wouldn't want to ruin the property values for Satanists." Lee went down on one knee and rested the head on the ground, atop the blood droppings. He studied the woman's face, moving the head slightly up and down and from side to side, letting the bulb shed its glow over her face.
    Max picked the shovel and flashlight from the trunk, returned, studied the ground for drippings. He gingerly picked up loose loads of stained dirt and gravel and threw them into the hole.
    "You know, I've seen things like this all my life," Lee said, staring at the woman. "All over the world. Men, women, kids, animals, some shit nobody could ever figure out what the hell they were supposed to be. Seen others and watched you do the work, and done my own share of it."
    Max policed the area around Lee until he was satisfied there was nothing left except for the head. He put the flash beam on Lee for a moment. The Beast sensed weakness as the night bore down on Lee, framing his weary face. He moved the beam to the woman before the urge to kill overcame him. Her eyes seemed to follow him in the play of light and shadow as Lee continued to pivot the head around.
    "So what? Come on, I thought you were in a hurry to get back."
    "Was she good?" Lee held the head up to his face, peered into her eyes. "Did she give you a thrill?”
    “Yes."
    "But she didn't want to go like this."
    "No."
    "You didn't care."
    "You just wanted what you wanted, because you wanted to, and that was it."
    "Yes. Same as you. Same as always. What's your point?"
    "And it was worth it. No matter how messy or what a pain in the ass it was to clean up after, it's always worth it. It always is."
    Max shut off the flashlight, let the blade sink into gravel and dirt with a metallic clink. He knew what was coming, had heard the kind of talk before, in asylums and hospitals, jungle encampments, basements, tunnels, and caves. It was a moment humans seemed to find inescapable, even if the remorse they presented was only a pretense to fool themselves into believing they had feelings of sorrow and regret where there were none, and preserve their place among others and in the world.
    "Do you think there's any forgiveness for this?" Lee asked, not taking his gaze away