8.j.
“This set of
stairs will place us amongst the Shareholders.
Trust me when I say, though I doubt you will heed my warning, you do not
want to have anything to do with these creatures,” said General Apathy. “Move along at a quick, even pace. Avoid getting too close to them and never
make eye contact or verbalize any sort of acknowledgment of their existence or
your own.”
He turned and ascended
the flight of stairs.
The floor was
made of gold, hand wrought and hammered flat with jeweler’s mallets. The path was narrow, bejeweled with diamonds
and sapphires, and hugged the exterior edge of the platform. There was no guard rail. A rusty chain-link fence separated the path
from the space in which the Shareholders dwelt.
Large canopies
obscured the Shareholder enclosure, billowing with silk and breathing out
exotic incense smoke with a undercurrent of tangy body odor.
As they walked along
the narrow path the Union caught glimpses of movement in
the flowing silks. Shadowed forms that
stalked the periphery.
When they
neared the first corner of the pyramid structure General Apathy paused and then
whispered, “On this side there is a gap in the protective fence. This is where the Shareholders entertain the
occasional, albeit very rare, visitor.
Again, eye contact is to be avoided, and stay as close to the edge of
the path as you can manage.”
He turned.
And they
continued their walk.
The rusty chain-link
fence ended after a handful of steps and the silken canopy retreated into
Shareholder territory revealing a satin-pillowed landscape. Clusters of low, lustrous tables pocked the
terrain. Tawdry financial magazines
spread themselves like dirty fans across their surfaces.
There were
creatures gathered around the tables.
The faces of
these things were nondescript and vacant.
Their mouths hung agape; constantly salivating. They wore expensive, tailored suits which
were pressed and immaculate. Except for
the chest. Here the suits were pulled
open, revealing bare flesh. I looked as
if a cavernous wound had punctured the center of their naked torso and, left
untreated, the cavity had healed into something dented and grotesque. Thick lines of scar tissue radiated from each
wound which left their chests looking like giant, puckered assholes.
One of the
Shareholder creatures stood at a table near the path, mouth breathing and
swaying like a praying mantis. As the Union
approached he swiveled toward them in a slow, fluid movement. The pucker scar in the center of his chest
twitched in quivering spasms, like the ass of a dog about to shit.
The path
widened into an oval at the center of the fence gap. The Union
instinctively hugged the exterior edge of the platform.
Franklin Buck
glanced at the Shareholder.
The thing
jerked into a crouch and flashed his teeth with a succession of quick,
shuddering tugs of its upper lip.
Franklin Buck flinched away, nearly topping from the platform edge. He overcorrected and veered toward the low
set tables in a spastic stumble. When he
caught his balance, he was less than five feet from the Shareholder, stuck in a
crouching position.
There was a
sound, like the inhalation of breath, almost like a lizard hiss.
The Shareholder
sprang forward. Franklin Buck tried to
run but was quickly overtaken. The
Shareholder’s grappling arms wrestled Franklin
back down to his knees. Then it moved
in, pulling Franklin Buck toward its chest.
The puckered scar opened and the One Hundred Dollar Man’s head
disappeared into the pulsing chest-butthole.
“Back! Back!” General Apathy shouted. He smacked at the Shareholder’s face with a
rolled up financial magazine and tugged at Franklin Buck’s suit collar. The Shareholder fought to maintain its grip
and received another battery of disciplinary smacks.
There was a wet
sucking sound, like the one that accompanies the loss of an expensive shoe in
an unexpected patch of mud, and Franklin Buck’s head came free of the life
draining orifice. General Apathy gave
the Shareholder another solid whack and then dragged the One Hundred Dollar Man
back to the path.
The Shareholder
strode to one of the low lying tables and sulked on satin pillows.
