Parker was tired from the day. It certainly was a strange one. From whatever happened at the mall to what happened at the bar it added up to be an interesting day. Parker wondered if the ring had something to do with it. It was a connection here, there must be.
As he walked up the stairs to his apartment, Parker touched the ring. When he touched it, he felt a small charge travel up his arm, like he touched a small battery.
Then it was gone.
Parker walked past his neighbor's apartment. He could hear muffled voices that seemed to be rising into some sort of arguement. That was nothing new. The couple in there argued all the time. The boyfriend was a drinker. Parker has seen his woman bring out bottles of vodka for recycling. So far, it has only been some yelling. Parker never saw the woman with any bruses or wearing sunglasses on couldy days. If he did, then he would have to act on it. He really didn't want to. The boyfriend was roughly the size of Mt. Fuji. But that was his job. Like it or not he would have to do something about it if the arguing got out of hand.
As Parker went to his apartment and put the key in the lock. Suddenly, the woman's voice suddenly stopped in mid yelling. Parker stopped himself and turned to his neighbor's apartment. Something was wrong and Parker went to his .9 mm. Then he saw the ring on his hand and thought about the two men in the bar and LaRue. Maybe he didn't need the gun.
Parker went to the neighbor's apartment and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened a crack and Parker saw the massive face of the boyfriend. He looked very pissed off.
"Yeah?" he growled.
Parker showed his badge. "I'm Officer Parker. Can I come in?"
"Oh my girlfriend. She has...spells."
"Well, I'd like to come in and see her."
"She's resting," the man said, his impatience growing.
Parker was insistant. "No. I'd like to see her now."
The boyfriend looked at Parker and smiled. "How long have you been on the job? Six months? Three months? You look very wet behind the ears."
"Sir. Now."
He opened the door and Parker came in. He saw beer cans and a bottle of Povov vodka on the dining room table. The bottle was half empty. No doubt it was full only a short time ago.
"Where is she?"
He motioned to the bedroom and Parker went down a short hallway to a small bedroom that was dark, except for the dim lights of the street lights coming through the window. He saw a form on the bed and a mop of blonde hair peaking out over the blanket.
"Ma'am? You okay?"
The form shifted slightly in the bed. "Oh yes. I'm just sick." she said. Her voice sounded off slightly which could be from being sick or from crying.
Parker reached for the light switch.
"She has migraines. It will make it worse if you turn on the light," he said.
Parker didn't listen. He knew what was going on. None of this was right. He turned on the light.
The woman jumped up and looked at Parker. Her jaw was swollen and already starting to turn black and blue. Her right eye was shut tight. Her other eye was open wide in terror.
"Things got out of hand," the man said. "I never did that before."
Parker turned to the man. Size of Mt. Fuji or not, he was going to do something about this.
"And you will never do it again." Parker said and wished.
The man's face went slack, like he was plugged into the wall and suddenly someone unplugged him. Then, his muscles seemed to ripple under his t shirt and jeans. Then Parker noticed something: sand started to collect around the man's shoes. It ran down the legs of his jeans like a dun colored waterfall and piled up around his feet. When Parker looked up, he saw the man skin was flaking off him, turning to sand and cascading down his face. His full face narrowed quickly as layers of his massive body were drying up and falling to the floor. His height began to reduce, from 6' 5" to 6 feet, to 5 feet. He stopped looking human. He looked just like a grey, shapeless blob with no features. Then he basically fell apart, collasping with a soft "woosh" to the floor. And there he was, sand lying in a plie of clothes.
The woman could hardly believe what she was seeing. She didn't even notice that her jaw and eye had healed. Then she stopped crying and closed her eyes. By morning, she would forget that both men were ever here.