The Headshrinker's Dilemma

Chapter Six

Dale wasn’t sure how long he had been out. At some point, after all the screaming and yelling that was coming from below, he passed out… Well, he wasn’t sure if he had passed out or if sleep had just finally over taken him – it very well could have been both. What he did know was that he absolutely hated himself. He was the cause of all of this, him and his stupid and strange power to shrink heads. Maybe he should just confess. He imagined what that would look like, what the end result for him squealing on himself would be. Of course they would kill him, but before then, what would happen before then? Would they torture him? Would some kind of James Bond super villain maltreatment ensue? And if so, how would he handle it? He could see himself crying now, in front of everyone, all that was left of their little group of survivors. Cashier girl would surely break up with him then – but even that really didn’t matter he guessed, death would soon follow anyways. He wondered if she was okay down there. He wished that he could do something to help her, save her.

“Hey…” a voice called out to him, soft, female.

Dale opened his eyes hoping to see cashier girl. But it was Nancy (he thought that was her name, the guy that the thugs came in and got had called her that). The disappointment must have shown on his face, her visage turned sour in the face of his, once he had opened his eyes and turned his head to face her. He wanted to apologize, maybe he should have, but to do so required far more strength than he had at the present, and he really didn’t see the point considering they all were going to die and a clear conscience didn’t mean much. He had done far worse than being a little crestfallen and showing it. He closed his eyes and turned back around. He was getting used to the odd way they had him tied up, he had almost found a way to be comfortable.

“Well, f**k you!” exclaimed Nancy.

She huffed and then went silent. Dale appreciated the silence the most. And he couldn’t wait for there to just be a permanent hush – forever – so that even the rumblings of his mind would disappear.

“You could at least be a man about this… You know?! And – And do something, try something!”

Dale laid still. He pretended not to hear her, but he had, that was the horror of the thing. There was no way of escape, not out of the situation that they all were in and not from his own mind’s unrelenting blame for all that had happened. Yet, there was still more: Nancy was her name. And for some reason, providence and fate had put them together and she was going to be the final thorn in his side, the one last voice to ride his ass and constantly remind him of how much of a f*****g loser his was and ultimately had been in this life. It was a sore point for Dale. His life. How it had all turned out. The fact that he had never achieved anything – a linear coast of plainness, mediocrity, and sameness. That is what he heard in Nancy’s words – a clear declaration of his inability to overcome and be more than what he was, a loser. That is why he relished solitude so much and all of that would have been perfectly fine with him if he hadn’t been given the stupid ability to shrink heads. He cursed himself, damned his soul and everything that was about him, and the stupid prick of a deity that had given or even allowed him to be born and then given the most asinine of powers ever. Fuckin’ aye.

“Hey…” she started up again. “Isn’t that your girlfriend down there? Right? Well, you – we have to do something… We just can’t sit here and do nothing –”

Dale couldn’t take it anymore.

“Do nothing!? What the f**k? Does it look like I’ve been doing nothing, Nancy? They fuckin’ beat the s**t outta of me! I – I tried to do something and that’s why I’m like this! Goddamn! man!”

Dale panted. Every word seemed to cost him an extra breath. He was panting, gasping for air now. He didn’t know much about human anatomy to truly know this for sure, but he felt like a broken rib or something had punctured a lung; that could very well have been the reason for the wheezing that he was hearing come from him.

Silence descended between them. Dale was thankful. But even more concerning was the sudden silence that he realized was surrounding them. The screaming and yelling from downstairs had stopped. Dale opened his eyes trying to strain his hearing to trace even a glint of sound (he thought it was weird that he opened his eyes to try to hear better, human beings were unusual creatures, how their senses were so interconnected and tied together – or maybe it all was in the imagination, who knew?)

“Wait,” he said, his body still, he was trying to hear some sign of life downstairs.

His heart began to pound, getting in the way of his trying to hear below. He tried to calm himself through breathing, but his wheezing and the struggle to do so hindered him, there were only short gasps of air that he fought desperately to get.

“Do you hear anything –?”

“I can’t if you keep opening your fat mouth!”

Nancy shut up. Dale breathed a fitful puff of air. But consternation rose. Nothing was coming from below, no sound of any kind. He had to do something, but what? He summoned all his might, the remaining aggregate of energy and strength he had to wrestle against the ties that held him. All to no avail. Wasted excursion. He wished he had just laid still. There was no use. It was time to give up.

“There’s no use…” he said. “This – This is all my fault…”

“No… It’s not. I – I shouldn’t have been giving you a hard time. You tried – You tried to be a hero but… They were just too much.”

It was nice to hear but none of it was true. Tears began to swell in his eyes. The realization of it all was really beginning to hit him: they were going to die there. Quite possibly everyone was dead already. And it was all of his fault. There was a knot in his chest, a clear obstruction that had no physical form but the pain of it was all the same. It was guilt. He was to blame, him and his strange power.

“No…” Dale began, his voice hoarse and raspy through sniffles and tears. “I’m the reason they – they are here. Me. I did this.”

“What do you mean?” Nancy’s voice lifted in a crescendo.

Dale thought about what he had done again. Felicia. He had walked away from that fairly unscathed minus the guilt, a young woman’s life had been changed forever because of him. He had tried to avoid anything like that happening again, he had attempted to isolate himself, to almost be a hermit accept for the occasional going out to get food or necessary items for daily living, but in doing that he had ended up killing a thug that was more than willing and ready to kill him. And somehow that had turned into this – people dead, held hostage, and with more deaths to come. It was an impossible situation. And all of it stemmed from the ridiculous shrinking heads s**t. Dale hated himself.

“I – I…” Dale started.

He then remembered that the shrunken head was still in his pocket. He rocked himself back and forth, his chest and stomach pressed against the cold and hard cement floor. He could feel the little ball rolling around in his pocket, pushing against the floor as he swayed; he scooted and then nudged himself hard to the side as much as possible. After a few times of doing this, the shrunken head of the thug rolled out of his pocket. He turned to see Nancy’s reaction.

Nancy stared at the head for a few moments. She was trying to figure out what it was. That was understandable, its size and it subsequently being shriveled, it was hard to tell that it was actually a shrunken head.

“What is it?” Is that…?” she squinted at it.

“It’s – It’s a head… A shrunken head.” Dale answered.

Nancy’s eyes shot up at him. Wide. Shocked. Bewildered.

“Th’f**k?!” she exclaimed.

Dale tried to find the right words but there weren’t any. What the hell did you say to that? To what just rolled out of his pocket.?

“Wha – What are you? How – How is that –? Oh my God!?” she was freaking out.

“Look –”

She screamed. Loud. Shrill. It was horrifying. I didn’t know how she could be more afraid of him at the moment than the murderous thugs that had more than likely killed everyone else. But then lying there, helpless, the shrunken head only a few feet away from him, one of its eyes still open and looking back at him, deformed, he moved towards understanding her possible reasoning and rationale: to do that – shrink a person’s head made him a monster, maybe more of one than the killers. Dale turned his head away from her as she continued to scream and yell. They would be up here soon enough now and then they would kill him for sure, Dale thought. Good. It would all be over.

And then he heard the footsteps running. It was the first sounds from downstairs that he’d heard in a long time. Even though he knew that it was only the thugs coming and not cashier girl or anyone that would save them, there was some relief. Just hearing movement gave Dale some hope that others were alive, that she was alive, cashier girl.

Nancy had stopped screaming. He wanted to turn back around to see her, to maybe try and assuage the horrifying sight of the shrunken head, but couldn’t bring himself to. She was terrified of him, the person who had done that, it wasn’t just the disgusting head.

The door burst open. They were here.

“What’s with all the fuckin’ screaming! Huh? You tryin’ to –” one of thugs started.

The room fell silent. Dale knew what was happening: Nancy had shown them the shrunken head on the floor. They were now trying to figure out what the hell it was… Next, they would trying to understand how the hell it happened… And finally, Dale would have to face the music, he would have to finally be held accountable for the horribleness that he had done, not only to the thug, but also to Felicia and everyone who had been affected by him and this power that possessed.

“What the f**k –? What is this?”

“Oh my God!”

“Him! He did it – I don’t know how but… But he’s the one! Now, please… Please just let us go – let me go! Please –!”

Dale didn’t blame her. It still stung to be ratted out though. The thugs grabbed him from behind and stood him on his feet. Dale’s entire body ached. Lying on the floor, tied, some of the pain had been numbed. Now, back on his feet, forced to use those muscles and bones that had been beaten on, Dale felt every whit of pain. One of the thugs shoved the shrunken head in his face.

“Did you do this?!” he shouted. “Is this – Is this him?”

Dale stared at the thug in front of him. Then the shrunken head. He knew that his next words would lead him to a place of no return. But it was time.

“Yes,” he said with finality.