Once upon a time (and no, this is not a fairy tale!!) there was this guy named Dan, and this woman named Lisa. Well, Dan liked Lisa --in fact, he was in love with her. He would spend all of his time thinking about her, he had gotten fired from his job because he was drifting off too much. Ya see, Dan was a waiter at this restaurant called Chez Food, and one time while he was serving an order of chicken noodle soup to a person with a very bad cold he spilled it on the poor persons crotch (no, it was a woman, but she was still in pain) and the soup there is very very hot. Well the person was rushed off to the hospital, but she died because her immune system was shot from the cold she was having. Personally, I do not think that anyone who is that sick should be leaving their house. She should have spent her time in bed trying to recover. Her husband was pissed off, so he sued the restaurant, and they fired Dan. But anyway, he just had to call Lisa; however, he didn't know what to say. He tried to find out what she was interested in, but he did not know very much about those things. He wanted to impress her with his knowledge (like that ever works). He did not figure that he had anything else to go on. His appearance certainly was not going to drive Lisa to him.
Dan went to the library and researched as much as he could about the topics which she is interested in (remember that he had a lot of spare time that his job used take up). He joined clubs that he thought would impress her, he even had her phone number memorized! He would just stare at this picture that he had of her. So finally he got up the balls to call her on the telephone and ask her out on a date. His heart was beating so hard that he could hear nothing else. He dialed that number, then hung up before the phone could even ring. He dialed again, this time he had the guts to let it ring. She picked it up:
L: Hello!
D: Hi! Lisa?
L: Yes, how may i help you?
D: My name is Dan, Dan Voltaire.
L: Do i know you Dan Voltaire?
D: Yeah, I, uh, I am the person who accidentally knocked
into you a few weeks ago. Remember, you dropped
all your parcels!?
L: Oh yeah, is there something that I can help you with.
D: Well actually i had these tickets to see `CATS' up in
the city this weekend. [He only had to pay a P.I.
$50 to find out this was her favorite show]
L: Uh, Um, I think I am busy this weekend, sorry.
D: Well, how about if we go out some other time?
L: Uh, i don't have a lot of spare time. I'm taking a
Dutch cooking class. [The P.I. also found out that
she hates Italian and Dutch food]
D: Well how about I give you my number an...
L: That won't be necessary, I am busy a lot, sorry bye?
<CLICK>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dan was devastated, he loved her so much and she did this to
him, she did not even give him a chance, he was sure that if
only she would give him one chance that maybe he could win her
over, but she gave him nothing. She even LIED to him!!
Dan just sat at home wondering what on earth to do about the whole thing as he listened to his vinyl copy of Pretty Hate Machine, the song: `Something I Can Never Have`. He smirked at this ironic twist of fate. By the time he got to the end of `That's What I Get`, he could not take it anymore, he was really fucking pissed off. He hopped in his old, beat up, VW Rabbit. It was all blue and rusted (except for the right door, that was gray). He headed straight for the back roads, he would always head for them when he was upset, drive as fast as that beat up, diesel engine could take him. His tuner was busted and the only damn tape he had in the car was some country piece of shit that the hick who sold him the car had left (he had been meaning to get rid of it along with the bumper sticker of the Dixie flag). He stopped at some diner, all he ordered was coffee. The waitress, Dottie, asked 'What's wrong sugar?' They got into a bit of a conversation, Dan told her of his problem, it turns out that Dottie was married to someone that could get Dan a gun, cheap. Dan still wasn't sure what he wanted to do, but he thought that a gun may help, if not it might be a good thing to have anyway.
Dottie got off at 7:30, it was 7:08. Dan had no problem waiting, he just sat there and drank his coffee. Pondering a possible solution to his dilemma, he thought of some of the best lyrics he had ever heard of, by a local artist named Duvekot: "I'm not serious when i tell you that i love you. I bring you flowers, when i really put my dog above you." It is now 7:35 and Dottie's off. As he is following her to her house, Dan passed a car that looked just like the one that Lisa drives, he almost started to cry. Dottie brings Dan to the house and says "Here you go, Betty show him all your stuff." "Betty?!" exclaimed Dan. "Yeah, this is my WIFE Betty." Betty takes him to another room and explains that she must frisk him, he agreed. While she was frisking him she threw him down on the bed and tied him to it. Just then, Dottie walked over in a leather suit and a bull whip. He was now very scared. Betty finishes tying him down tight and then begins to undress him. Dan pleads with them to stop, but they just started to grin and laugh. His shirt was up around his wrists and his pants and boxers were around his ankles. Every time Dan would ask them to stop they would strike him with the whip. He just closed his eyes and began to cry, he stopped though, to stop their laughing. They took turns until he wouldn't work anymore, then left the room. He thought that this would never happen to him, all he did was cry for hours. The next morning they untied him and Betty gave him a 9mm pistol. "`It takes one in the barrel and 9 in the clip.", she said, "I put two clips and 2 boxes of bullets in your glove compartment, now get your sorry ass outta here."
Dan was filled with rage as he sat in the car looking at the bullets, he had to do something, Dan loaded both clips he walked up to the house and rang the door bell. When Dottie answered the door Dan lifted the gun and squeezed the trigger. BANG, with a flash of light and sound she was on the floor. Betty ran out with a shot gun, but she met the same fate as her wife. Dan grabbed the shot gun and the couple of shells that were in Betty's shirt pocket, then ran to his car and bolted. He couldn't believe the feeling which had come over him. It was a feeling of remorse overshadowed by power and in the end it kinda felt good! He knew the people at the diner last night would give the police his description.
All he wanted to do was go out on a date with Lisa and now look at his life, what a mess. No one lives within a mile of Betty and Dottie so he assumed that he had at least 24 hours before he had to be out of the state. He stopped at a Denny's to get something to eat while he decided what to do. Should he run now or try with Lisa one more time? Also he couldn't get his mind off of what he did to Betty and Dottie (they did not think that he could do it, but he proved them wrong). He paid for his French Slam and coffee then took off for Lisa's house. He knocked on her door praying; and she answered along with some half naked man standing behind her. "What are YOU doing here??" she proclaimed. He did not know what to do about the man behind her so he just asked her if she would go away with him for a couple of days. They both laughed and slammed the door in his face. Dan shot the lock and kicked the door open, shot the man between the eyes and looked at Lisa "We could have been good together." As he raised his arm "Please don't shoot me, lets go away, just the two of us. What do you say?" and squeezed the trigger the fourth life was taken. The remorse was gone and never to return, he thought to himself
Dan decided before, his only bet was to head for Canada so he set off for Pennsylvania to get out of the state then he figured just in case they figured out his plan that he would go up to New York and into Canada from there. While driving he realized that he had very little funds and he need gas. He decided that he might as well kill two birds with one stone. The gas station was pump first and a self-service. He pumped his gas and walked slowly to the building so the people could leave. Dan searched for cameras as he pretended to look through a playboy that was on the magazine rack. Then walked up to the cash register with a ten dollar bill in his hand. Just as the cashier opened the draw, suddenly Dan shot him and smirked at how easy this killing thing was to do now. There was only seventy dollars in the cash register, but that was good enough for him. Dan had noticed that there was only one other car in the lot so he grabbed the keys from the dead cashiers pocket and ran for the car. Dan shot the gas tank of his car three times and was amazed that the car blew up, he didn't think that it would work. The dead cashier drove a beamer, it was this really cool emerald green color, really old and restored.
Dan hopped in the car and headed for the road. He didn't want to take the interstate cause he thought he may be found easier on bigger roads. After two hours of driving he decided to pull over at some dirt road and take a little nap, he did not know what he was about to get himself into. He heard a noise, it was some asshole beating on his girlfriend. She was screaming for help. The man looked over at Dan and told him to mind his own business and then the man started to move towards him. Dan pulled out a gun and the man started to back away, the poor girlfriend stood there half naked in the clothes which her man ripped, but she had a grin on her face (no one had ever stood up to him before and she was loving it). She started to move towards Dan, she trusted him. Dan through the gun to her on an impulse, he felt like he could trust her as well. She turned on her boyfriend and shot him in the chest then tossed the gun back to Dan. "What's your name?", asked Dan. "I'm Kris, and you?" "I'm Dan." They started to talk. Kris found out about what had aspired that day. Dan felt good about telling someone, it seemed to make everything more real. After a long conversation, Kris and Dan decided to travel together, Kris may have felt freer than ever before in her life, but there was no way she could ever return to her life after this, she would be arrested and her dead dick-head boyfriend was a cop, so there was no way she was getting out of there alive! They hit the road, this was a good thing, because now they could both take shifts driving. Dan stared at Kris for the longest time without saying a word, she was paying attention to the road, it was dark, so she did not notice. He thought Kris was was great, he really admired her for the life she was forced to lead, and the damn male-ego bullshit she had to put up within that damn dead boyfriend of hers.
Crossing into the New York border was, like, the greatest thing, everything was now a state behind, the information about them probably didn't reach that high North, they could stay a night and rest. They stopped at this cheesy town with an even cheesier motel. Kris decided they should get a room under the guise of being married, that would cause less suspicion. The clerk asked few questions, which probably saved his life, or at least prolonged it. They were careful not to call each other by name around other people, Kris called him honey, and Dan called her baby --corny, but it worked. At dinner Dan noticed that Kris was glancing over at him periodically. He couldn't help but wonder if he intrigued her even half as much as he was intrigued by her. They kinda smirked together, they each felt more free than ever before. The police were after them, yet there was a sense of not having a care in the world. Dan did pay for dinner with the money he stole from the register at that gas station. He did not want to start any trouble. Sleep in a bed ruled this decision.
When Dan and Kris got back to the motel room, they noticed that there was only one bed. Neither of them said anything about it though. If Kris asked him to sleep on the floor then he would have. They sat down on either side of the bed and started to take off their shoes. Dan remarked that he was going to take a shower. He took off his shirt and went into the bathroom. The shower felt great! After he was in the bathroom for a couple of minutes he heard the the door open. Kris stepped into the shower and she had a body which could melt steel! Dan was about to speak when Kris put her finger over his mouth to quiet him. They began kissing and Kris turned the water hotter. They made love with the water running all over their bodies. By the time they had finished, the entire room was filled with steam. They made their way over to the bed to make love again. This was the greatest night of Dan's life. In all they made love four times. Dan was most glad that Kris felt the same way about him as he did her! Kris eventually fell asleep in his arms, but he could not sleep for many hours. Kris woke him up in the morning with a kiss, this was just the sign Dan was looking for. He now knew that night had meaning to her as well!
While Kris and Dan were walking into the clerk's office, their story was on the news. The clerk looked at them, then back at the television in fear. He began to pull a gun from behind the counter. Kris called and Dan killed the clerk while he was giving his don't move speech. Kris grabbed the gun and they ran to the car. They almost headed west towards Michigan, if the police tracked their present course, it would be obvious they were headed for Canada. There are not many many places to cross over into Canada from Where they were headed in New York. You know, small obstacles like a couple Great Lakes. But, they decided that may take too long.
The situation in New York was now very problematic. The Motel had surveillance cameras and, since they were there all night, many people would be able to give descriptions of them and their stolen car. As they were driving along a secondary road, a news van caught up to them. The reporter in the van, looking for a late breaking and exclusive story, started driving next to Dan and Kris. The reporter coaxed them into a parking lot to conduct the interview. Kris questioned Dan's judgment; she just wanted to "get out of dodge", quick. Dan assured her that he knew what he was doing. The parking lot was empty and almost completely surrounded by trees. The van only had two men in it, the camera man and the reporter. They both exited the van and started walking towards Dan and Kris. The cameraman was being very cautious, but the reporter was not. When the reporter walked up to shake Dan's hand, Dan pulled out his gun and pushed it right up against his forehead. As the camera man began to back away, Kris took out the shotgun and told him to walk towards her. While Dan kept them in check, Kris rummaged through the van and found some video cable and duct tape which they could use to tie the two men up. Dan took a hat from the camera man and Kris took the reporters station jacket for disguise. They put the two men in their car and took the van.
They drove all night and into the next day until they came to a small town. They both decided that they needed a break. So, they stopped at a bar to have a drink. Dan was 23, but Kris was only 20. The bouncer did not ask her for her ID, because he knew that just the site of her alone, would draw men from miles around. Since, he wasn't going to card Kris, he didn't card Dan either; this was good because it kept them from being identified easily. Dan had a Guinness or three, while Kris had a couple of some micro-brew type beer with a fruity name. Dan was getting a little boring to hang out with; he had done most of the driving and was tired. Kris was talking to some Army person, that really disgusted Dan. He did not like the military, he considered them a necessary evil. He didn't like the individuals who were brainwashed by them; but, he understood that if we didn't have a strong military, then we couldn't beat the shit out of our creditors if they came to call in our trillion-dollar debts. Anyway, Kris was overtly flirting with this guy. She was touching him all over and making sexual advances. Dan could not believe it, he thought, "what a bitch!" He had done nothing but care for her and try to do what was best for her, but she just threw it back in his face.
Dan was disgusted with Kris, he felt the only acceptable response was to leave. Despite all that he had been through and done, Dan did not care much for violence and he really disliked confrontation. He got up, looked over to Kris and mentioned he was going to he Men's room. Well, after that, he just left. Kris did not realize his plan until he was at the car; Dan was leaving her. He got in the van and drove away. This was probably the best thing he could do considering the situation; also, the police would be looking for a woman and a man together, not just a man. Dan knew his decision was logical, but his heart still wondered whether or not it was right. He decided that he needed to pull over and really think about all of this. He soon came to a very small road; he turned down the road and it lead through an apple orchard. There was a small, dirt parking lot off to the side of the road, Dan decided to pull off there. The sat there all night, pondering the situation. Should he follow his heart and go back for her, or should he follow his head and leave her there? Dan needed something to occupy some of his time so he wouldn't explode from thinking solely about his problems with Kris. He looked around the van and saw a pack of Camel Filtered Cigarettes sticking out of a compartment below the AM/FM radio installed in the van. Dan was beginning to love these television guys when there was a pack of matches in between the cellophane and the cigarette box. The cigarettes were enough of a distraction to let Dan really contemplate the ramifications of his possible actions at this point. He sat there for hours and eventually fell asleep.
After about 20 minutes of flirting with these guys, Kris finally figured out that Dan had left, as did the guys Kris was flirting with. Unfortunately for her, this was about the time the place got surrounded by the police. It turns out that the Army guy was really a cop in disguise (women are so gullible, even cops know they will stick to a man in uniform, who pays the slightest bit of attention to them, like white on trash.) Kris knew that she was in trouble. She didn't want to have to atone for the things she had done with Dan or pay for the death of her dead boyfriend. She looked at the army guy and said that she had to go to the ladies room. He smirked, then cuffed her.
Dan woke up to the sound of some cops bragging about the bust last night. It seems that the News van had a police scanner in it. Dan just thought, "These news guys kick ass." He was upset to hear about Kris getting busted, but at least he knew where she was. He had decided the night before that he had to talk with her. What ever problems they may have cannot be fully resolved until they sit down and talk with each other.
From the chatter on the scanner, Dan was able to ascertain the location of the police station. He decided that he had grown more in the last couple days with Kris than ever before, in such a short period of time. He went to the police station; he was wearing gear from the TV van. He walked up to the clerk and announced that he was there to see his sister, Kris. The clerk was skeptical, but let him through. The clerk called to the prison guard to bring Kris to the interrogation room for a visitor. However, as Dan walked through the door, a metal detector went off. The clerk walked up to him and Dan shot him point blank in the head. Dan started walking swiftly towards the interrogation room. Just as he rounded a corner, a bullet flew by his head. He dashed behind a wall and began to fire back. The cross fire ensued for only a few seconds; however, Dan heard two separate screams and thuds. He proceeded carefully towards the source of the gun fire, and he realized that he had killed the officer and Kris! Dan did not know what to do; he ran back to the van and took off.
Dan just drove, as fast as he could. He began thinking about everything he went over the night before; he was just trying to make sense of it all. He had spent a lot of time alone. He always thought that he knew who he was. Dan had introspected upon his life many times over in the past. He should have had all the answers, but he did not. In fact, he was not even close. He thought he was in love with Lisa, that was mere infatuation or some other lesser thing. He had learned from this. Life is not this easy; love is not this easy. Yet, Kris looked at him in this special way, like no one else ever had. He may have been in love with her, certainly more so than anyone else before her. How could this have happened so quickly? He did not know how, but he knew it did. And, it was now over; he could have avoided it too. When Kris looked at him like he was the only other person on the face of the planet, he saw something inside of himself which he had never noticed or understood before then. He is not just one person, alone in the world. He is the world --or, at least, a piece of it's whole. He embodies everything the world has to offer, love, piece, anxiety, fear, hate, and more. The world is completely different than he had before thought. Dan was confused; nonetheless, he knew things about himself which were otherwise impossible. So, now, how did Kris feel? Dan would never know. She was gone from his life forever, and everything he had ever taken as true in his life would have to be called into question.
Dan went through customs without a hitch. But, the van stalled on the bridge crossing into Canada; he quickly started it back up. A weird thing happened, the radio started on an AM band. It was broadcasting a Canadian baseball game. The Canadian national anthem was playing; it was beautiful. It is not a song of war, but a song of peace and love. He gazed out his window at the majesty of the Niagara Falls. This chapter in his life was over, the first 22 years. Kris would always have a special place in his life and heart; although, he may never love again. He understood himself better now than ever before, and he was ready to begin the rest of his life. He had to rebuild his new life now. The future was unsure, but it was his for the first time and nothing could ever take that away from him.
This story took 3-1/2 years to write. It was started the summer before I began attending the University of Delaware and my goal was to finish this work before I graduated. I finished it, but it will never really end. It is hereby released into the public domain and may be redistributed, modified, and republished in the hope that you will enjoy reading it, as long as no profit is gained from its use or reproduction. Note: this means that this library is not distributable under the strict terms of the GNU GPL; every aspect of the GPL which do not contradict this point, profit, should be assumed. All characters are fictional and this story is based solely from my warped imagination.
All pieces of this story were written while I was intoxicated, which should explain many of the mistakes here within. Each section is in some way a reflection of how I was feeling when I wrote it.
Copyright: (C) 1995 1996 1997, William Totten