Benny's Quest

It was 1996. Benny was home from school for Spring break and he and Jack had been dragged to a play at the Triloville High School. Debbie Hendershot was a girl Jack had had an on-again-off-again relationship with for two years and it just so happened that her younger sister was in drama class and had won one of the lead parts in the play. Although the play had been highly regarded by critics, (at least that was what the billboard in front of the auditorium said) Benny and Jack still found it painfully boring.

Intermission finally came, much to the relief of the Writeman brothers, and the two of them stepped outside with Debbie so she could smoke.

"Isn't it a great play," Debbie squealed, "Jenny is doing so well. We're going to stay for the second act right?"

"Gee, I'd really like to," Jack answered with fake regret, "but, I have to get home so Benny can stick hot safety pins in my pupils in the hopes that the pain will erase the memory of the last hour and a half of my life."

Benny burst out laughing at this, which caused Debbie to give both of them the evil eye. She threw her cigarette down and stormed back into the auditorium.

"Man, I have had it with her," Jack said. "Fucking nut case."

"Hey, there's some suspicious activity going on in the parking lot," Benny stated, pointing to a group of teenagers who were huddled between two cars. "You want to go check it out?"

"Sure!"

The brothers walked across the lot and found exactly what they suspected; a circle with two joints being passed in opposite directions.

"Mind if we join?" Benny asked. Everyone's eyes turned to Jack with his neat hair and clean appearance.

"Are you a narc?" One of the guys asked.

"A narc?" Jack said, clearly offended at the notion. "I am a weed aficionado, my friend."

"I know you," a girl spoke up.

Benny turned and found the lovely face of Autumn Sanders staring up at him. He couldn't help but smile.

"Autumn!" he blurted out.

"You remembered."

"How could I forget? It's my favorite time of year."

"Who's the narc?"

"This is my brother, Jack. Despite his outward appearance I can assure you, he is no narc. As a matter of fact, he's probably the biggest pothead I know."

"Please, Benny, you're making me blush," Jack interjected with a sheepish grin. He shook Autumn's hand and after introductions were made all around, Jack produced a bag of joints of his own. "Two joints is an appetizer for this seasoned veteran."

Soon the two brothers had made fast friends with everyone in the group, and by the end of the night, with Debbie Hendershot and her little sister's meandering play completely forgotten, Benny found himself in the corner of Jack's living room getting to know the girl that would eventually become his wife.

"Hello, Benny," the dead girl said with a smile.

Benny reached out and put the palm of his hand on Autumn's face. Her ice-cold skin told him he wasn't dreaming, "Is it really you? Are you really here?"

"Yes, baby, it's me."

Benny then fell to his knees, wrapped his arms around Autumn's waist, and began to weep uncontrollably.

"Shush, it's alright, sweetie, I'm back," Autumn consoled her husband for a few minutes more, and then said; "I don't have a great deal of time and there are some very important things I have to tell you."

"Okay," Benny said as he stood and dried his eyes. "How much time do you have?"

"We'll get to that in a moment. First, I have a very important question to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Did you pick out this dress?"

Benny looked surprised by this. "I thought you liked that dress."

"Are you kidding? I've always hated this thing."

"But, you were always showing it to anyone who came over and you'd gloat about how your Aunt Clair had made it for you for Christmas."

"That doesn't mean I like it. It certainly doesn't mean I want to be buried in it."

Benny smiled, "Well, I was going to bury it anyway, figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone."

With that, Autumn threw her head back and laughed loudly, and just like that, it was as if they'd never been apart.

After the laughter had ceased, Autumn stood on her tiptoes and kissed Benny on his cheek. "Let's go upstairs," she said, "I want to change into something more comfortable. Besides, this thing got really dirty while I was crawling out of my grave."

The oddness of her last sentence struck Benny with fresh laughter. It didn't help that he still wasn't quite down from the joint he had smoked with Jack earlier. Man, that was some good shit, Benny thought as his dead wife led him up the stairs. He had the sneaking suspicion that he'd lost his mind, but he surrendered to it. To her. He also began to wonder if the weed could have been laced with something else.

Benny sat down on the bed while Autumn undressed and got into the shower, the whole time wondering if he was dreaming all this. He held tight to his first instincts, which said maybe he'd gone completely insane. Soon, the shower stopped and Autumn stepped out. Benny stared at her naked, wet body as she toweled off. She was always pale, but now her skin seemed like it was almost solid white, as if you could see how cold it would feel to the touch. His eyes followed the curve of her thigh and up to her large breasts. How he longed to touch her in those places that only he had known for the past ten years. His eyes met hers and she smiled at him as she began to brush her thick black hair. Those eyes. He couldn't help but notice how much darker they were, whereas before she had to apply heavy eye makeup to get the same effect.

Then he saw the ugly wound in her throat like a secret, second mouth that suddenly had the urge to tell the entire world of its existence. He looked away, his chest filling with red hot rage and crushing sorrow.

Autumn must have read all on his face and said; "I'm sorry. Here, I'll cover it up."

She walked across the room to the closet, pulled out a red and black, plaid scarf, and tied it around her neck, covering the cut.

"Better?" she asked.

"Much. Thank you."

After pulling on a pair of black, silk panties and a matching bra, Autumn began to explain why she had arisen from the grave.

"I know you want to be with me, Benny, but killing yourself won't work."

"Then, what can I do?"

"Well, first thing's first, you have to make sure I'm able to rest in peace." She pulled red and black striped stockings over her legs. Autumn noticed the way Benny was staring at her. "There will be time for that later, you naughty boy. Anyway, I guess I'm what you would call a restless spirit."

"So, you're a ghost?" Benny asked while trying to calm himself.

"Not exactly. I'm in my own body, but my body is no longer alive."

"Then you're a zombie."

"Kinda, only I'm capable of coherent thought, and I don't have a craving for brains or human flesh, you know?"

"Do you have a craving for anything?" Benny inquired, wondering if she could still eat.

"Well, yeah, but like I said, we'll have time for that later."

Benny smiled and felt his pants tighten once again.

"Much better," Autumn said after pulling on a pair of black sweatpants and a white tank top. She covered this with a black hooded jacket.

"I always liked you in a white tank top," Benny said.

"I know. Try to control yourself," she sat down beside him on the bed and her look became serious, "You have to do something for me before I can rest in peace."

"Anything."

"You have to avenge me."

"Avenge you?"

"Yes."

"Then we can be together?"

"When you die I'll be waiting on the other side for you, but only if I'm avenged and only if you wait until it's your time. No suicide. Will you avenge my death?"

"Of course, I will," Benny said without hesitation.

She leaned in and gave him a long kiss. Her lips were as cold as the arctic wind.

"Thank you, Benny."

"How long do we have?"

"Maybe a week," she said sadly, "Keep in mind, I am still dead and my body will continue to suffer the effects of decomposition."

"How can I find the man that killed you within a week?"

"Actually, there are six people responsible for my death, and finding them will be easy. I can sense them."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like a telepathic thing, I think. I know exactly where they are right at this moment."

"Great," Benny said excitedly, "I'll go downstairs, grab my gun, and we'll go take care of these rotten cocksuckers right away."

"I don't think it's going to be that easy Benny. I can also sense that these guys are extremely dangerous, and your father probably knows why."

"My father?"

"Yes, we should go see him. But first, we're going to need help. If you kill these six people many others will attempt to kill you."

Benny was confused, but in the interest of time, moved on. "Okay, we'll go see Jack, and then we'll go talk to Dad."

They packed some extra clothes into an old army nap sack they had bought at a yard sale a few summers before and, after changing into a pair of cargo pants and an old Pearl Jam shirt, Benny grabbed his gun. They piled everything into the Mitsubishi and hit the road. As they drove, Benny thought about what Autumn had said. About her body being dead, and decomposition affecting it. Suddenly, the idea of getting intimate with her was becoming less, and less appealing.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine," he had to think of something else. "So, what's with the telepathy thing? Can you read my mind and shit like that?"

"No, I can only read the location of the people who murdered me, and I also get a sense…I don't know, their aura's I guess. I can tell that something isn't quite right with them."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain. Kind of like, they're bad people but not necessarily people. Does that make any sense at all?"

"Not to me," Benny said in a grave tone.

The little truck pulled onto the long dirt driveway that led up to Jack Writemans farmhouse. A large garage to the left of the house held two hearses and sitting in front of the garage was Jack's old Ford pickup. Benny parked his truck next to the Ford, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Autumn began to open her door as well, and then felt Benny's hand on her arm.

"You better wait here," he said, "I want to try to ease him into this."

"That's probably a good idea," she replied.

Benny walked up to the front door and knocked. Seconds later, Jack appeared at the screen door.

"Jesus! Where the fuck have you been, man?" Jack said in a relieved tone.

Benny held his hands up and started laughing, "Settle down, Jack, I've been at my house, right where I said I was going to be."

"What's so funny? I was worried about you, I thought you might have gone and offed yourself or some shit. I should knock that smile off your face."

"Alright, first of all, 'offed' is not a real word," Benny said comically.

"So, you're gone for a couple of hours and you come back a fucking grammar teacher?"

Benny laughed harder at this, "Just calm down a second, alright? Something big has happened and I'm going to need your help if you're willing to come along."

"Come along where?"

"Well, first we have to go see Dad, after that, I'm not sure."

"I don't understand, why do we have to see the Old Man?"

Benny took a deep breath, "Let me start at the beginning. I went home earlier this evening and walked into my kitchen and…had a peanut butter sandwich." Benny didn't want to tell his brother how close he really was to putting a bullet in his head, "Then something really strange happened."

"What?"

"You know, Jack, I think it would be better if I just showed you, but you have to stay calm and promise me you won't freak out."

"Benny, what did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, just walk to my truck with me."

Jack reluctantly started to walk with Benny, "You know, when you tell someone not to freak out, it's most likely because whatever you're about to show them is going to make them freak out. I don't think I can promise you anything."

"Fair enough," Benny said as he opened the passenger side door of his truck.

When Autumn stepped out, Jack only stood frozen for a moment, then his eyes grew wide and his mouth began to open and close, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't quite find the words. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream (a scream that Benny thought might come from a teenage girl in a bad horror movie) emitted from Jack's oddly quivering mouth. He backed up, turned, and ran back into his house, locking the door behind him.

"That's your idea of easing him into it?" Autumn said, giving Benny an amused look, "It went well, 'Hey, Jack, look, my dead wife has returned from the grave.'"

Benny only shrugged and the two of them walked to the front door.

"Let me handle this," he said.

Autumn threw up her hands, "Sure, you've done grand so far."

As a mortician, one of Jack Writemans greatest fears was that a dead body would suddenly be re-animated as he was preparing it for a showing, climb off its slab and use his brain for an appetizer before turning his hunger on the rest of the town. Sometimes his vivid imagination even allowed him the privilege of hearing his skull being ripped open with a thick chunk sound, like fresh pumpkin innards being dropped on newspaper. He'd confided all this in Benny once before. Seeing his dead sister-in-law emerge from Benny's truck had to be the most terrifying moment of his life.

Nearly thirty minutes went by, with Benny trying anything to get his brother to come out. Reasoning with him didn't work, neither did a bribe (he probably knew Benny didn't have any money, Benny never had any money), and he couldn't even get an answer.

"Do you mind if I try?" Autumn finally asked.

"Be my guest," Benny replied, clearly frustrated with Jack.

"Jack?" Autumn called in a sweet voice. She knocked lightly on the door. "Jack, come on out, there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm still the same old Autumn I used to be, just minus a pulse," She put her head against the door, "Jack, remember that time we got pulled over for speeding in your truck and the cop let you go in exchange for that playboy you had on your dash."

For a long while, there was only silence and Benny was sure his brother wouldn't answer. "Yeah," Jack said sadly. "That was the issue with Tiffany. I was never able to track it down again."

Benny had to suppress laughter at his brother's remorse for the missing artifact in his collection of famous nude women, which was his only real hobby.

"And remember the night we went to one of Sarah's parties and I drank too much vodka. You stayed up all night with me, holding a cold wet rag on my forehead and cleaning me up every time I got sick."

The locks on the door clicked and Jack peeked out, "Yeah, I remember that. It was the first time you ever got super drunk."

"That's right. I never touched vodka again. I'm only back for a short amount of time and Benny and I are going to need your help."

"You're not going to try to eat my brain?"

"I swear I have no interest in eating your brain or any other part of your body."

"Alright, what exactly do you need my help with?"

"Autumn can lead us to the men who killed her," Benny interjected.

"Great, call the cops, have them arrested."

"No, Jack," Benny continued, "in order for Autumn's soul to be at rest, and for me to join her when I die, she has to be avenged."

Jack's look of surprise was almost humorous. He suddenly threw the door open (totally disregarding the dead girl he was frightened of moments before) and walked up to his brother. "Are you out of your fucking mind? You're actually plotting to kill people. I got to say, that doesn't sound like the liberal, anti-death penalty, tree-hugging, vegetarian, all life is precious, Benny I know."

"Jack," Benny said seriously, "I don't give a shit about any of that anymore. The only thing I care about is being with Autumn again. There are only six people I have to kill in order to accomplish that."

"Only six?" Jack said, dumbfounded, "How can you be so nonchalant about taking someone's life just so you could be with your girl in the hereafter, let alone six lives."

"I don't care if it's a hundred lives," shouted Benny, "I'll do whatever it takes."

"Okay," Autumn interrupted. "Benny, why don't you go calm down for a minute and let me talk to Jack."

Benny turned and walked back to the truck. Jack looked slightly nervous at the idea of being left alone with Autumn.

"Jack, there's something weird going on here. I have a feeling these aren't ordinary people. Besides, Benny will be the one doing the killing. We really just want you there to watch his back."

"I don't know," Jack said doubtfully.

"Look, Frank knows more about this than we do, why don't you come with us to talk to him and you can make your decision then?"

"Why would Dad know anything about this?"

"It would be better if he explained that."

After a bit more consideration, Jack conceded. "Fine I'll go with you to see Dad, but that doesn't mean I'm going to help."

"Understood."

Jack ran inside, grabbed his jacket, and met Benny and Autumn at their truck.

"All three of us aren't going to fit in that thing," Jack said pointing to the Mitsubishi.

"Fine," Benny replied, still a little pissed at his brother, "we'll take your truck."

"We can't, it's busted. We'll have to take a hearse and I have the perfect one." Jack walked over to the one door on the three-car garage that was still closed and pulled it open. Inside sat a 1979 Cadillac hearse that had been repainted in a pearl black, with the dark hood and fenders spreading back into purple flames. The alloy rims gleamed in the darkness, five-point stars to finish off the modifications.

"Holy shit!" Benny exclaimed.

"You like it?" Jack asked.

"It's beautiful."

"It's yours you know?"

Benny stared at his brother in shock. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I was going to save it for a Christmas present, but I guess we could use it now. I figured a pimped-out hearse would be just your style."

"Fit's the situation," Autumn stated.

Jack smiled, "Sorry, Autumn, dead chicks ride in the back."

"That's a horrible way to treat your dates," Autumn shot back. They all began to laugh.

"Benny, do you want to drive?" Jack asked.

"You go ahead, we need to get there fast and you have far less regard for the law than I do."

"Said the man who's plotting the murder of six people," Jack shot back as he climbed behind the wheel.

Jack hit the left turn signal and veered down Main St., cutting through the middle of downtown Triloville.

"Where are you going?" Benny asked, "the Old Man lives in the opposite direction."

Jack gave him a disgusted look and said, "Dude, Dad hasn't stayed at home since mom died. He's been sleeping at his office, and he hasn't been sleeping very much."

"I didn't know that." Benny stared out the window wondering how long it had been since he and his father had talked.

Really talked.

Frank Writeman had just finished a little late-night work and was preparing to crash on his office couch when there came a knock on his door. He walked to his desk, went to the third drawer, and pulled a 9mm pistol from a holster that lay within. Crossing the office to the door, he stashed the gun into the pocket of his robe. There was no use in asking the person, or perhaps people on the other side of the door who they were, he knew how talented his old friends could be, even when it came to voice impersonations.

With his right hand resting on the butt of his pistol, he opened the door.

"Hey, Dad," Jack's smiling face said from the other side of the hallway, "mind if we come in?"

Frank was about to ask who "we" was, but his question was answered when Benny came walking in behind his oldest boy.

"What are you two doing here?" Frank asked.

"I need to talk to you about what happened to Autumn," Benny bluntly stated.

The Old Man knew there was no point in playing dumb anymore. Benny had somehow found out. "Let's go for a walk, we'll talk outside."

Frank didn't bother to change out of his pajamas and robe; instead, he placed rubber-soled slippers over his feet and led his two sons to the elevator down the hall.

Down five floors and through the lobby, no one spoke a word until the three men stepped outside.

"Sorry, boys," Frank said to them as they walked, "I don't know how safe this building is from eves dropping."

"Dad, do you know something about Autumn's death?" Benny demanded.

Frank sighed deeply, "Yeah, I think I might. About seven years ago a group of businessmen from Europe came to me with a proposition. At the time I was desperate, I was on the verge of losing the savings and loan, and your mother and I had put almost everything we had into putting you boys through college.

"This group of people came to me with the idea of running their foreign currency through my bank. I don't know exactly how they were doing it, but they would toy with the exchange rates and make major profits. As long as I kept it quiet I would enjoy large payoffs."

"So, you were laundering money?" Jack asked.

"Yes."

Jack began to speak again when Benny waved him off, "That's not important right now, Jack," he said and turned back to his father. "What does this have to do with Autumn?"

Frank continued, "When I promoted Autumn to head of finances, she found the discrepancies almost immediately, and brought them to my attention. I told her not to worry about it, that it was something I always handled and if it came up again she should ignore it. The next month she came to me again saying she was concerned about these numbers. Once again I told her to ignore it, only a little more forcefully this time.

"Somehow the European Businessmen caught wind of her snooping around somehow. I could only assume they had someone on the inside. One of my own employees in their pocket. Or, they could have bugged every room in the building. Who knows? Regardless, they warned me that she had to stop, so I had to demote her for her own safety."

"And they weren't satisfied with that?" Benny asked.

"Actually, they were. However, Autumn continued to snoop around, and they must have found out about it again."

"And you think these people are responsible for her death."

"I do."

They had reached the hearse and Benny stopped at the rear door, turned, and looked his father in the eyes.

"Am I missing something?" Frank asked, after a few minutes of silence.

Benny's voice was nearly a whisper when he spoke, "I'm going to kill them. Will you help me?"

Frank's expression didn't change, "If you're serious about this, there is something else you should know."

"What is it?"

"These people from Europe," Frank paused.

"Go on," Benny implored.

"They're vampires."

Jack let out a snort, "Come on, Dad, quit fucking around."

Benny looked at his brother with a smirk, "Jack, is that really so hard to believe after what you've seen tonight?"

Jack abruptly stopped laughing, "Point taken."

"I don't understand," Frank said, confused. "What are you guys talking about?"

Benny reached out and pulled the back door of the hearse open.

Autumn looked up at her father-in-law and waved.

Frank only smiled. "Hello, Autumn."