Flashmaster (Short Horror and SciFi)

What Ever Happened to Summerville Part II - "Deloris' Breakfast"

What Ever Happened to Summerville Part II - "Deloris' Breakfast"

At seven stories, eight counting the basement, the BankBuilding was by far the tallest in Summerville and the only one with an elevator. Deloris wasn't thinking about any of this as she walked down the cooly lit basement hallway. There was a small cafeteria down there and Deloris had gotten herself a red and white paper tray laden with biscuits and gravy. The smell of cooked bacon was pervasive. Deloris wasn't thinking about breakfast either.

She'd found a note on her desk up on the sixth floor asking her to come to a "dictation session" up on seven, the executive floor. It was signed by Floyd Maxwell, son in law of the president. What it meant was that Deloris would go up to Floyd's office, take a few minutes of shorthand and then spend a half an hour fighting to keep his hands off her ass while he told her what a "good time" they could have while his wife was away. She adjusted her conservative, business dress unconsciously with one hand. She worked way too hard to be a professional and do her job right to be pawed at by some poor little rich boy. She sighed. Still, she needed the job.

She went to the elevator, pushed the button and waited. It was a modern elevator that didn't need an attendant. The door and inner grate slid open. She got inside, pushed six and leaned against the back wall. She was still fuming to herself when the elevator stopped on one. She stood up and prepared to smile politely at whoever got on board.

When the door opened, however, she very nearly screamed out loud. Standing in front of the door was a hideous creature, pug nosed, winged, scaled. It was so dark gray in color that it was almost black. Behind it, the bank lobby was a scene of total mayhem. Bodies and lobby furniture were tossed around in jumbled piles and all the front windows had been shattered.

The beast walked onto the elevator, ducking its head slightly under the doorframe and pulled the last of its tail in just before the door closed. It turned just as anyone else would and looked boredly at the doors as the elevator began to rise.

Deloris was surprised to find herself calm though only in that "terrified beyond the ability to look terrified" sort of way. The monster drummed the claws from one hand on the back of its other. Floors two and three rolled by. It hadn't pushed a button.

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" Deloris asked, terrifying herself in the process.

The monster looked at her benignly. "Just whoever's in charge." It shrugged.

Floor number four passed.

With a sudden jab, Deloris pushed the seven button. "When you get to seven," she said, "go to the last door on the right. That's Mr. Maxwell, the Executive Vice President. He's the highest officer who's here today."

"Thanks." The beast tried to smile but it didn't do much good, too many teeth, too little lip.

The door opened on six and Deloris got out, biscuits and gravy still in hand. She started down the hall at a brisk walk but stopped and turned before the elevator door could close.

"Oh, and will you tell Mr. Maxwell that Deloris said, 'Go to hell you arrogant pig?'"

The monster waived with one hand as the door closed. "Sure." It growled.

"Thanks." Deloris made her way back to the secretarial pool. She could hear the monster's progress down the hall on the floor above her. There was the shattering of glass and the girls in accounting started screaming, then a series of crashing noises as the filing cabinets in the hall went down.

She walked to her desk calmly, ignoring the concerned looks from the other secretaries and opened her window. The noises continued upstairs. She took some salt from her desk drawer, salted the gravy and began eating. The noises were directly over her now. Suddenly there was a shattering of glass, audible both through the floor and through her window. A shape in a dress suit hurtled by her window, shrieking loudly. A second later there was a sickening crunch.

"And one more thing," a hideous, roaring voice outside the window bellowed loudly enough to be heard by everyone for blocks around, "Deloris says, 'Go to hell you arrogant pig!'"

There was a long roll of sinister laughter and the flapping of leathery wings, which retreated swiftly into the distance.

Deloris sat eating her breakfast, blissfully aware of the eyes of all the secretaries on her. "You know," she thought, "you've just got to keep your head up. You never know when something nice is going to happen to you."

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