| Diana Bennett |
| Diana Bennett resides in Orlando Florida, with her daughter Jaquelyn and six cats. Her literary gifts to the world include, His Father's Son: Dante's Rage, a dark fantasy and Consternation, a collection of 13 edgy stories. She is the editor of the forthcoming horror anthology, U-nrestrained K-reations: Gritty Horror From the UK and co-editor of the horror anthologies Raging Horrormones and Monsters Ink. She also writes for The Midwest Book Review, The Corpse and New Camp Horror |
| Bosses Day
(From the collection ~ Consternation) By Diana Bennett Treating people with respect is something the average person takes for granted. It would stand to reason that most people in a management position, who interact with a crew, would have that basic principal down. Do not get me wrong, I am not a complainer by nature and I am not alone in the feeling, my boss borders on possessed. We all love our jobs and the field of work we have chosen and, up until about a month ago, we loved our boss. It is unfortunate when people move and throw the status quo out of balance. Things in the office began a steady downward spiral leaving the staff, all but two, feeling desperate, since the arrival of our new boss. The policy changes were not made with company profit in mind, they were made to show who is in control and for no other reason. I will give you a few examples: no breaks together; all correspondence must be forwarded to her as well and no breaks during her two-hour lunch. All of these changes were made because when we talk with one another, she is paranoid we will be speaking about her and her lack of ability to do her job. On Friday October eleventh, we, we being my fellow employees and I, had just discovered this year we would not be having a Halloween party. I don�t think the absence of the party was what pushed us over the edge. Perhaps it was the continual building up of things and there just wasn�t room in our hearts for one more blow to our morale. The time for drastic means was at hand. We had already gone through the proper channels but, in our company, mistakes are not readily admitted and to replace our boss would mean the corporation must admit they made a mistake. We decided to take it upon ourselves. A meeting at my house, tomorrow, would iron out all of the details. The first knock on the door came from Rebecca. Of all the people in the office, I think she is the one I like best. She hasn�t suffered nearly as long as the rest of us, as she is new, but it didn�t take long for her to realize something was not right about our boss. Rebecca joined me in the kitchen and continued talking while we finished the snack tray. As we were walking back to the kitchen, my other guests arrived in a flood. Cassie walked in and sat quietly down on the couch. Lately she had been the brunt of many degrading verbal attacks regarding her work. Our evil boss managed to take this fine, Christian woman and turn her into a vengeful, hateful soul. April didn�t bother to wait for everyone else and began making her opinion known to any who would listen. She is our receptionist and stresses very easily. It seems our boss noticed that and takes great delight in torturing her to the point of tears. Kara immediately offered to help with anything. She didn�t suffer too much, as she was friendly with the boss. However, she has a wicked side to her, which makes her perfect for what we have in mind. Once every one was here and seated, my roommate, John, joined us in the living room. He was the only one in our group from the night crew, who earned a place at our meeting. The verbal abuse and degradation he received was as bad as April. I think the boss alternated between the two. �I think everyone knows why we are here,� I said. �Can I just say, I want you to know my reasons for being here,� April said, in a jumbled ramble. �NO,� Rebecca said. April looked dejected, but we all knew an hour speech was bubbling under the surface. �I have spoken with you all on a one to one basis and I think we are all in agreement. Bosses day is next Wednesday and that will be a perfect opportunity. The reason I have called you here is I will need each of you to bring two things. I am open to suggestions, in case there are none, I have brought a list of my own,� I said with an evil smile on my face, as I thought about what could be done with the things on my list. �I have already made the wine. What else will you need from me?� Cassie asked. �I will also need you to bring duck tape, sound good?� I said. �Yes and are we still agreed, after she is secured, I may leave?� she asked. �Does anyone have a problem with Cassie administering the wine, securing the devil and leaving?� I asked the group. Everyone agreed, knowing the less she knew the better. It was very hard for her to lie and none of us wanted to silence her, if it came to that. �What should I bring?� Kara asked. �You will need to bring the cooler and a set of dull knives,� I said and then added, �Please see to it the cooler is full of ice and doesn�t leak like last time.� �And me please,� April said. �Go to several bait stores and find as many fish hooks as you can, big or small, I don�t care. But don�t buy too many from each store. Also tons of rubbing alcohol,� I said. She smiled and nodded. �I am going to bring a potato peeler and a pair of pliers,� Rebecca said. We both smiled and laughed at the thought. I really like her a lot. �Oh yeah, well I am going to bring a bunch of clamps and a cheese grater,� John said, beaming with pride. �Very nice, sounds perfect,� I said. �And you?� they asked, turning to me. �I will be bringing acid and a sledge hammer,� I said and watched their faces light up, as they wondered about my selection. We talked a little more and I told them, if anything else came to mind, feel free to bring it, but remember it is a work night and we don�t want to be out too late. On Monday, Cassie did some very impressive sucking up and before long things were failing into place. They were to meet after work, at the bosses� house for a glass of wine, before heading to dinner. We all kept the two true office suck ups busy with all sorts of questions, to be sure no one else knew what Cassie had planned. That was not a hard task, one of them takes five hours to write her name and the other will do anything asked of him, just so he can feel important. The next two days were a blast and office morale was at an all time high. I felt a sort of pride, as I watched my little crew happily plod through the day, knowing my plan had given them the strength to overlook any trials and tribulations the boss may throw their way. Wednesday, after we readied the house, Rebecca and myself traipsed over to the local movie theater and bought the alibis we would all need, seven tickets to the evening showing of some crappie romance movie. We made idle chit chat on the way back, as both of us were very preoccupied thinking of the best ways to get out our frustrations. A simple death may have done it for most people, not us, not after all we had been subjected to. We parked down the road and strolled up. We had all decided it would be best not to have a yard full of cars, on this particular night, considering what would be going on inside. Everyone, with the exception of Cassie, greeted us as we walked in, which was good. I wanted to get things just right, before the demon arrived. When the doorbell rang, everyone except John and me were hiding in the back room. We invited them in and offered them a seat. Clearly the wine had already been administered; the boss�s eyes were glossed over and barely opened. She slurred some kind of greeting and I pushed her gently back in her chair. �Tape,� I said, reaching my hand out, like a surgeon in a movie. She was so sloppy drunk or drugged, as it would be, she didn�t even flinch at the sound of the tape being unrolled. I started at her feet, taping each one to the leg of the chair. I wrapped and wrapped, making sure there was no way she would be getting out, then I did her hands or wrists to be more accurate. Again, I taped them individually, because I knew from watching movies, when you tied them together, they were easy to wriggle out of. Last, just in case she tried to scream, I taped her mouth. Making sure it would be tight and uncomfortable. I thanked Cassie profusely and sent her off to the movies, someone had to know the plot of the damn thing after all. Due to the personal nature of the way we were treated, it was agreed we would all have time alone with her and as much as I wanted to watch first hand, I agreed. Well that and I was taping it, you never know when you may need to unwind and watch something good. Kara was the first, she asked the nicest, and besides that we would all need to use the cooler. Just what fun is it to torture someone, if they are not alert. The tension was like a cast of stage performers waiting to hear what happened on stage. My mind wondered to the dull knives and how lovely it must be to have to work so hard at getting them to break the flesh. Indeed, I had my answer when Kara traipsed in almost a half-hour later covered in a smelly combination of blood and sweat. April went next. As soon as she left, we all turned to Kara, who had an utterly blank look, on her face. Instead of asking what happened, we all sat and waited in silence. Rebecca looked at me knowingly and I smiled. We had figured a few our fellow employees might have a problem when the reality set in and it was nothing we couldn�t handle later. Next was John, followed by Rebecca and finally after everyone else, it was my turn. When I walked in the living room, my heart leaped with joy. Before me, still alive, eyes wide with pain and fear, sat the beast boss herself. She had been stripped of flesh on most parts, no doubt the handy work of Rebecca and the potato peeler, as well as John and the cheese grater. I quite liked the way fishhooks looked, stuck in various places and thought happily about rewinding the tape and watching, as the alcohol was poured on those wounds. It�s been three years now and Rebecca and I have spent three bosses days together. Much to our delight, the pattern of hiring tyrannical bosses has continued. We will always have a special place in our heart for the original crew, it seems there is a never ending supply of staff who are willing to help us execute our plans, which by the way, get better with each passing year. Sometimes when I watch the videos, I think I can see a hint of sadness in Rebecca�s face and I wonder if she has remorse for what we did to our bosses, or maybe she just regrets we had to get rid of the staff, as well. Either way, I suppose I�ve always known eventually it may come to this and knowing her like I do, she has probably already eaten the special Key Lime pie I left on the counter. It is her favorite, after all. |
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