Fisherman's Waters | ✔

Chapter 14

It felt like it took Johnny forever to return. Debbie had said it would be soon, but the hours continued to tick by like an ice cube melting. You could see the progress but still it seemed to take forever. The minutes taunting me. The creature floating as she too held so silent in the darkness of death.

I swore I would go back to rod fishing. There was no reason to ever use a net again. No reason to use the weight to hold it down. I owed that to this beautiful girl whose life was taken way too soon.

Johnny rushed into the room, a large smile beaming from ear to ear as he did so. I shook my head.

"What did they say, damn I've been waiting here for so long!" I didn't mean to shout, the pressure of hanging out with a dead body growing too much for me. Even if it was a fish.

"They will do it, they will do a facebook live stream, whatever the hell that is, it's supposed to be the best way to get views. They will dissect her on camera, and every view and like they get will earn us money. Then after that all the press goes to us. We get all the credit, as long as they get to use it in their recruit system. They were super excited about the idea," Johnny was speaking a thousand words per minute as they fell from his lips like darts. I had no clue what to say, or how to feel.

In the time I'd spent with the girl my heart had bonded to her and the thought of someone cutting her up didn't really make me happy, actually it really pissed me off.

"They are going to cut her up on camera?" I questioned, almost as if the words had shocked me. Like this hadn't been the plan from the first moment we showed Debbie. I shook my head trying to wrap my mind around everything.

"Yeah, it will get us so many views," Johnny mumbled. I couldn't believe what he was saying.

"What the hell are views," I griped. I wasn't up to date with all of the newest technology. I didn't know how this facebook live worked, or what they meant by views. But as a grown man that was able to use deductive thinking I realized it must mean how many people click on it. The more clicks we get the more money we will get.

"I don't know, the president of the school explained it to me, but honestly I was too nervous to pay any attention to it. He said so many things that I don't even remember," I took a seat on the stool I'd been sitting on all day. Suddenly the information weighing too much on my shoulders to stand.

"So what is the plan then?" I question.

"I have to text him a picture of her current state, and they will come pick her up tomorrow morning. They need to know how tall she is so they can prepare the table and everything. They want to interview you since you discovered her, they think you are going to be famous,"

"No," I shook my head, biting on my lip. I wanted nothing to do with their fame. I just wanted to fish, and find a spot in my life where I was happy yet again. It'd been forever. The guilt that was piling up on top of me wasn't making it any easier. I closed my eyes to let everything settle.

"Why not?" Johnny argued. I didn't have the patience to fight him right now. "Tyler, are you kidding me, you won't have to sell your house, you won't have to work anymore. If you are famous you will have enough money to live out the rest of your days as happy as can be," As convincing as he was I still wouldn't do it. I didn't want to let him know that though.

"Maybe," I muttered mostly to give him the sanctification of a possibility. My mind continued to dance over the idea of them cutting her up on camera. My heart racing as they had invited me to be there in person. I couldn't watch them do something like that. How did people keep jobs like that? The thought of harming a dead body made me sick.

I couldn't look at her anymore.

"Do you want to finish this conversation in the lobby, with Debbie," I muttered. Trying to hold back the vile that was building up in my chest. I couldn't believe we were going to go through with this.

"Sure," Johnny muttered. I'd never jumped from a chair faster in my life, rushing across the room towards the exit. Things would get better once I was able to get some fresh air and get away from the fishy odor that was this storage room.

"Did you hear the good news?" Debbie seemed much happier as she still sat perched behind the desk. I nodded my head trying my best to smile. The cheerful voice was nice to hear. Much nicer than the other tone she had used with me earlier in the day.

"So what time are they coming to pick her up? I want that nasty thing out of here," Debbie seemed so careless, so insensitive to the creature that was currently in the back room. I prayed for just a moment that there wasn't a heaven and hell. A way for the girl to look down on us and judge us for what we were doing.

I knew I would be if I was her.

"They will be here just before lunch. Mr. Tanner said he would be here personally to check out the creature before the truck, so we should expect him around nine in the morning," I listened carefully, trying to get all the information I could.

I had a feeling it would be awfully useful.

"So it's a plan," Debbie cheered. Her face flushed with emotion as she tried to keep herself contained. She was very clearly excited to get rid of the creature.