Digger - The Doctor Will See You Now by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 25

It was hunger that woke Ryan from a sound sleep. He got up and showered again, still feeling as though he was covered from head to toe in something he could not readily identify. It was only a sensation, something produced by his fractured psyche. After dressing in clean clothes, he decided that it might be good to go out for dinner -- to get away from his work for a while, even if he was alone. He left the front light on and starting his car, drove to the main road, and turned right. Forty-five minutes later, Ryan entered Portland and drove to a small restaurant near the Maine Mall. He parked in a spot near the side of the restaurant, and upon entering, was immediately shown to a table. Steak was something he hadn't treated himself to for far too long, and he ordered the nine-ounce filet -- medium rare. But when it was brought to him, Ryan's knife and fork seemed frozen in his hands, his eyes locking themselves on the slightly undercooked meat. Staring at it brought a torrent of images flooding through his mind. Open body cavities, disemboweled organs and the smell of decomposition. Unable to so much as put his knife through it, Ryan leaped from his seat, bolted outside and proceeded to vomit. He did, however, return to pay the bill, giving the waitress a hefty tip for her patience and understanding. Leaving the restaurant, Ryan drove to the 'old port'. His stomach was still in knots, and he was still somewhat confused by his reaction. Maybe he was getting a touch of the flu. Maybe the smell of bleach and decomposition were beginning to overwhelm him. But it wasn't the smell of the steak that bothered him. It was the sight of it.

After arriving downtown, Ryan went to a small restaurant that specialized in Mexican food. He avoided the steak and finished his meal without further illness. By the time he left the restaurant, he had recovered fully and was on his way back to Sebago by eleven o'clock. On the way, he concluded that his reaction may have been the result of spending too much time elbow-deep in human remains. Perhaps it was time to begin some degree of disposal. So the next morning, Ryan woke early. He descended to the basement and stood in front of the bodies he collected, trying to decide which would be discarded. With the exception of Theresa, he had forgotten their names. In Ryan's mind, they had become nothing more than rotting meat but decided that the first of his collection would be the first to go, and tying a rope around its ankles, he lowered it to the floor using the screw hook as a pulley. Once on the floor, Ryan examined it and noticed not only significant bloating but also the presence of maggots. He didn't think it would be a good idea to unwrap the plastic, as the skin had also sloughed off most of it migrated down to the shoulders. Burying it would take time, but it was a much better idea than burning it. To completely incinerate a body requires seventeen hundred degrees and at least an hour and a half. Ryan certainly couldn't provide those conditions, so burial would have to do.

He wrapped the body in the tarp he used when dragging bodies out of the ground. He'd picked a place in the woods weeks ago, in the event burial became necessary. It was well off the beaten path and in the opposite direction of the lake. Dragging the body through the woods required more effort than he expected and more time. But he arrived in roughly forty-five minutes and moving the body off to the side, began digging. However, Ryan encountered an unforeseen problem. The roots of pine trees tend to spread out at a shallow depth. Digging a deep grave would be impossible with a forest filled with pine trees. And looking for another place was pointless as the ground was transected by shallow roots. There were, however, several small areas of Earth that seemed free of roots. But this presented a problem. The places he discovered were too small to allow an entire body to be buried. Ryan's only choice was to bury the body in pieces.

He dug several modest holes amongst the Pine trees as the mid-morning breeze sent their tops wafting against a blue sky. Ryan had been able to dig as deep as three feet and, unwrapping the body from the tarp, used the blade of his shovel to dismember it, renting limb from body and head from neck. Although he had suctioned out the body cavities during dissection, the decomposition process caused the muscles and remain organs to liquefy into a viscous organic sludge. The smell was overpowering and increased in foulness with every strike of his shovel. But eventually, all the pieces were buried, away from prying eyes and hopefully deep enough to discourage scavengers, who came out only under cover of the night's murky darkness.

Gathering up the tarp, Ryan laid it out on the ground and folded it neatly into a square and, picking up the bloodstained shovel, walked back to the cabin. Returning to the basement, he soaked the blade of the shovel in saltwater. The blood had already broken down during the process of decomposition, but Ryan wasn't taking any chances. Having removed part of his collection to any place outside the cabin caused him to become paranoid, a feeling that would only grow stronger. It wasn't as though he felt he was being followed, but watched and realized how irrational it was. After all, he didn't feel as though he had completely lost his mind. But there it was, a feeling that had curled itself up somewhere in his mind. In time, it would unfold itself and rob him of his ability to make sense of the world. But in the meantime, Ryan considered the incident at the restaurant and concluded that a few days away from the dissection table might return him to some semblance of normal. He also decided to stay away from the books for a while as well. This time, he would take a break from everything.