Chapter 3: Day Two

If Cody slept fitfully the night before, this night’s sleep was a non-stop nightmare. A coin burning his skin, turning invisible, the image of a drunk stumbling across the street, and then the sound of a brick impaling the drunk’s head. That sound. Like a baseball bat whacking a watermelon. It reverberated through his unconscious mind non-stop. And it was all because of some weird coin.

At 10:30 Cody rose, dressed, and headed to the kitchen for food. His thoughts were barely coherent as he struggled to make sense of what happened to him, and what he had done because of The Onyx.

Finally, his maelstrom of thoughts began to subside into a coherent solution he could accept. He did not know the consequences, but he decided killing a second person was not an option. The next question he wrestled with was whether or not he should turn himself in for killing the drunk?

As he ruminated on that question he stared at a blank television, hoping for some clarity on his next step. Instead of clarity he got a sudden painful burn on his thigh.

“Fuck! That damn coin,” he screamed as he jumped up from the chair. The coin was glowing and giving him the instruction to start The Onyx to read a new message. Knowing the process, Cody quickly tented his hands and tapped his fingers.

The scroll that appeared was a little different than before. The title was in a creepy Halloween-looking font that was blood-red in color. It simply stated, “Your Only Warning.” The text of the article was short and simple.

Cody read the words but did not fully understand the warning until the pain began. It was not the crushing pain from the night before. It was much worse. He was looking at his tented fingers, and they were not moving, but it felt as if each finger was impaling its opposite member, the fingernail driving into the skin of the opposing digit like a knife slowing cleaving skin from bone. The feeling continued as the knife-like feel began to extend into his wrist, then the searing pain of a razor-sharp blade filleting him alive continued to his shoulders before it dove straight toward his heart.

Cody could not breathe as the cold shooting pain pierced his heart. He dropped to his knees and clutched his chest with his tented fingers as the pain continued to probe his chest. The point of the pain continued through his heart and moved to his stomach before it inched lower into his groin. Cody had a kidney stone before and swore it was the worst pain he ever felt. This was worse. It felt as if a sharp stone was being expelled, slicing his penis from the inside.

The sweats and convulsions started simultaneously. He writhed on the ground but nothing he did could help alleviate the pain that methodically worked its way through his body. Suddenly, the slicing burning feeling was gone. All was quiet. Then the slow burn of the coin returned. Cody rolled onto his back, panting heavily, his eyes blurred from tears. His fingers were still tented and he watched breathlessly as a new scroll appeared.

Cody frantically tapped his fingers to exit The Onyx and jumped to his feet. He went to the kitchen and stuck his mouth under the running faucet instead of waiting to fill a glass. He eventually went back to his chair and flopped down in it staring at the still quiet television.

“What am I going to do?” he wondered.

As dusk began to settle, Cody dressed and headed back to Billie’s. It was a quiet night so he was able to get his favorite booth. Billie left the bar and brought him a beer.

“Hey, you’re starting to make this a habit.”

Cody nodded and took the beer. “Yeah, getting tired of sitting in front of the boob-toob all day. Need to get out at least a little.”

“You should have told me you’re wanting to sit in front of boobs. You have a rain check that needs to be cashed.”

Cody smiled and raised his beer to Billie as a toast.

“That I do, but first, can I get a burger and fries?”

Billie leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek as she reached into his lap and gave his crotch a playful squeeze.

“Of course. Need to get you well-nourished before your workout.”

She spun and returned to the bar, sliding an order sheet into the little window. Ten minutes later a burger and fries appeared and she brought them to Cody’s table. This time she sat down across from him as she slid him his food.

“Here you go.” As he reached for the ketchup Billie said, “Did you hear about the drunk that got killed last night? Damnedest thing. Got hit by a falling rock from the building across the street.”

Cody faltered slightly as he opened the ketchup.

“No,” he stammered, then quickly asked, “What happened? Who was he?”