Grant’s hand reached over to the pile as another lot was drawn. This time, the cigarette had Kim’s face on it. Kim backed away from the towering smoker, but in a flash, she was grabbed up just like Duke before her. She tried to latch onto Jack's shoulders begging for help, but a quick tug separated the two.
Grant looked at his newest plaything. She was actually pretty cute. If he had been twenty years younger, he might have asked this woman out. No, I suppose it would be fairer to say that if he had been twenty years younger, he probably would have wanted to ask her out, but never work up the courage to do so. After all, that had been the story of so many of the relationships in his life. Wasted opportunities as the years ticked away before him. He shrugged.
“Let’s try this again. Please at least attempt to do better than … well, I guess I actually never got the first guy’s name. If you value your life at all, you better give me a good introduction. After all, if you don’t have anything you’re building towards, what do you really lose if I take everything away from you.”
Grant grabbed a glass sitting on the table. Placing Kim back in the tray, he slammed the glass down on her upside down, trapping her inside. The ringing sound the glass made seemed to snap Tanisha out of her transe. The ash-covered woman ran over to her friend and started slamming on the glass.
Grant lit his cigarette and looked down at the tiny woman. The cold stare he gave her was enough to send shivers down Kim’s spine. Grant took a long drag of his cig and, lifting the glass, blew a large puff of smoke into the glass. Kim realized that she was going to suffocate in the glass if she didn’t do something, so she went along with Grant’s request, hoping for mercy.
“Wait! My name is Kim Liufang. I’m twenty-two years old, and I’m in school studying medicine right now to become a surgeon.”
Grant pondered this a while as he smoked. It looked to the tiny trapped woman that the giant was seriously considering the merits of her dream and the work she did to achieve it. Kim was about to ask the giant to let her go, he lifted the edge of the glass up and blew more smoke in. Kim recoiled and coughed loudly from the smoke blown into her face.
“Surgeon is a bit vague. You could use that to mean anything from brain surgeon, to knee surgeon, to plastic surgeon! And why surgeon anyway?”
Tanisha was beside herself. She tried desperately to lift the rim of the glass, but no matter how hard she strained herself, she couldn’t budge the glass an inch. Even when Jack started helping, they couldn’t lift the barrier between Kim and freedom.
Gary, on the other hand, had different ideas. When he had gotten shrunk, he was still holding the beers. Apparently he must have dropped them, since he was incredibly sticky and smelled of booze. He noticed that Grant was keeping the glass pretty close to the shear wall of the prison. Compared to the almost 90 degree cliffside the tv tray’s walls created, the slope of the cup seemed far more manageable, especially with hands sticky enough to scale the glass. He would have to leave his friends behind, of course, but he could always call for help after he had gotten out of the tv tray and escaped Grant. Positioning himself in a blindspot to Grant, he started climbing.
Kim finally caught enough of a breath to continue.
“I wanted *cough* to be a heart surgeon. My *wheeze* grandma died from a heart complication when I was little, so *hack* I’ve always wanted to make a world where others wouldn’t have to *wheeze* go through that. Think of all the people I can save! Please *hack* mister. Let me go!”
Grant did earnestly think about all the people she could save. From children who had so much life left to live, to parents wanting to see their kids grow up, to the elderly just trying to cling to every last second they have. In that moment, all the people Kim could one day help flashed within his mind, each appearing as a flickering flame. They all sat before him like candles on a birthday cake.
And Grant blew one last puff of smoke.
Like that, all the little flames were blown out as the life faded from Kim’s eyes. But Grant knew that none of those people would get their wish. Grant could barely contain himself as he stroked himself harder and harder. He wasn’t even making an effort to hide it anymore.
Jack watched Kim place her hand on the glass and give him one last glance before falling into a slump against the glass’s side. Tanisha was howling and bawling her eyes out at the sight. Jack couldn’t process Kim’s death. As he looked into the cup, he could only focus on the smoke swirling inside. It was like a cloud of dark magic came to suck the life from everybody he knew. Then he looked up to the being that conjured it, towering above him like a malicious, depraved god.
Tanisha looked up and saw what Grant was doing. How could he be so thoroughly monstrous? He had just taken away the love of her life, and now her best friend! And for what, some sick kicks? Tears flowed as she knew that everybody here, including her, would have their life ripped away just to satisfy this sick bastard.
When Grant had lifted the glass one last time to deliver the final blow to Kim, he had inadvertently sent Gary tumbling. He hit his back hard against the edge of his enclosure. He wanted to scream, but bit his lip. After all, he didn’t want to attract the giant’s attention.
Grant put the cigarette out in the ashtray. He lifted the glass and dumped Kim next to the snuffed-out cig. Very little of her picture was still left on the cigarette, with most of it being burnt away. Tanisha went to check on Kim, praying that by some miracle she had just passed out, but when Tanisha checked her pulse, it was clear her friend had truly perished.
Grant’s libido needed sating. Kim’s death had triggered something in him that Duke’s simply couldn’t. He had taken Kim’s hopes and dreams away from her, and he knew exactly what that entailed. He had to have more. He hurriedly grabbed at the pile like a hungry animal clawing at its prey.
Two cigarettes down, three to go.