3WW CCXLIV, "Rapture"

The words over at Three Word Wednesday are alter, fond and tranquil. Something short, and not so sweet.

Rapture
That he had been in-utero during the Cuban Missile Crisis seemed to taint Tony Breslauer’s future life as something of a worrywart and a fine purveyor of  the macabre.

Not in a convention sense, however. No, Breslauer was tranquil as a Hindu cow on the outside, like he always had been. This included an idyllic childhood where he successfully learned to ride a bike without a fall, was elected eighth-grade class president (nobody else ran against him) and attending his senior prom with one of the junior class’ most popular your ladies, Jill Gallagher (he even managed to get to second base, fully holding Gallagher’s tiny A-cup breasts in both his palms like a man offering fruit to a crowd).

He couldn’t really say if his college education laid the groundwork for the awakening, what he termed his “altered state,” where he could finally see life for what it truly was – a twisted, burning car wreck in agonizingly slow motion. But that’s where he first practiced his art, which is what he called it, and everything went so very fine and he didn’t get caught and so many got hurt.

It was therapeutic. It was a calling.

Breslauer was fond of saying - and only to himself in the dark, the sheets pulled tight against his chin in balled-up fists – that the time was ripe to speed up the ruin and bring about something of a rapture.

Not The Rapture, of course, that was for the true believers and he was pretty sure he’d be one of the wicked left behind to burn for their sins anyway.

No, Tony Breslauer wished for a euphoric state of blood-red murder, screams, the look of horror screwed onto every face in every corner of the world.

Oh, he was doing his part. Not everyday, of course, that’s how you get caught doing the sort of nefarious things he was known to accomplish.

No, Tony Breslauer hunted selectively, within his own demographic: Single, white, successful, fearful.

“Business is so very good,” Breslauer said, flipping the plastic visor down on the motorcycle helmet he wore as he commenced to run a hacksaw through this middle-aged-man’s ankle bones.

Comments

Altonian said…
What an unpleasant man! Have to see if we can get Benedict Cumberbatch to bring him to justice.
VL Sheridan said…
It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Nice tension to this one.
Jae Rose said…
You treat us to so many wonderfully flawed and reassuringly sick individuals..I think only a sound mind can deliver them to us...I always feel that they have passed you by..and that this is their real story..not the one you have written for them..there is a book..maybe you have already written it..all these people colliding in bloody rapture as the rest of the world carries on..pulling their socks up around their flabby self-satisfied middle-aged ankles..thinking they're doing ok..Jae
Anonymous said…
A story of serial killer very intriguing! Scary but intriguing
andy sewina said…
Nicely Thom, I was waiting for something gruesome, but I wasn't quite expecting that ending.

Nicely built up!
Sheilagh Lee said…
A serial killer freaky.A very unnerving story. you definitely scared me with this one Thom.
Monica Manning said…
As usual, deliciously creepy and leaves me wanting to read what happened before and what will come next. You will, one day, grace us with a novel, won't you?
Tony Noland said…
Ouch. Beware those quiet sociopaths.
TodBryant said…
Pretty sure I used to live next door to this guy.
earlybird said…
Nice buildup. Horrendous ending! Good write, Thom.
Jess PJ said…
a nicely characterized serial killer. intriguing
Fearful, he's fearful, and preys on others that are fearful. I wonder what he fears? The burning from being "left behind"? Condemnation? Business is good - his business? He sees himself as a professional, this is not just a hobby, well he said it was a calling. But he's conflicted? "and only to himself in the dark, the sheets pulled tight against his chin in balled-up fists..." He fears the dark. Interesting. Thank you.
Mike Patrick said…
He'll slip up. They always do.

Great read.
Jeni Mc said…
I like this better than last week, but something still isn't clicking right for me. Perhaps we should meet for an egg burger and figure out what my problem is.
W.J. Howard said…
This would be a great start to a novel about the sinister character you've created here.
you just know from that opening sentence that this is going to be a cracking tale, fizzing with energy and pep. You didn't let us down.

marc nash
Li said…
"It was therapeutic. It was a calling." A scarily authentic glimpse into the mind of a psychopath.
Alice Audrey said…
Going after middle aged men? That's a high-level serial killer.
Ren said…
You got me on this one!
I thought this was going in a totally different direction and you put a super twist on it.
I love it!
Anonymous said…
Very eerie. You built it up well and smacked me in the face with my own tense shoulders with that last bit. I can't believe I missed the significance of "and everything went so very fine and he didn’t get caught and so many got hurt" until the end. Delightfully creepy.
PJD said…
That first line alone was worth reading 20 other 3WW entries today. Sublime. And the gruesome finish. Augh. Blech.

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