Little Shop of Monsters, Chapter 4

[Cbarton]

Little Shop of Monsters
Chapter 4
by c_tickler and The Hawk​

“I TOLD YOU…I DON”T KNOW!” Katie shouted at the officer. C.T. stood there, poker-faced and incredulous. He stood there with his notebook open, scribbling more notes.

The past week had been insane for her. First, Vicky disappears, standing her and Keeley up. Now, Vicky’s agent Clair’s car was found in the parking lot with no sign of her anywhere. There were no signs that she had even been at the shop, but C.T. seemed to think there was a link. Frankly, Katie thought that the real reason he was hanging around was to flirt with Katie and ask her out. She just wanted him out of there so she could get back to work.

The shop was a busy as ever, with TeeKee now sprouting red blossoms to go with the purple ones that appeared the day after Vicky had disappeared. All of the publicity from TeeKee blossoming had even brought the regular press crawling all over the shop. Keeley was soaking up as much attention as she could. Katie was too busy trying to keep business going to care, but most of the press wanted her. And to be honest, she was enjoying the time in spotlight.

She didn’t need to advertise anymore. All the press coverage made Hayley’s ads pale in comparison. Keeley had even remarked that Katie was dressing much better, perhaps even hotter, than normal at the shop. Katie had to admit, she had been dressing more to be seen. But now, she had to get rid of the pesky cop.

“So, you found nothing in here at all of hers in the shop? No cell phone, purse, keys?” C.T. asked for what seemed like the 1000th time.

“No, and I didn’t even know that was her car in front of the liquor store either. Now, I have customers to tend to…” she said as she left him standing there, a customer at the register. C.T. closed his notebook and walked off toward TeeKee.

The plant looked huge as he stood at its base. Some of its branches had even begun to entwine themselves in the rafters of the shop. He marveled at the size of the branches, the many vines, and the huge bulb-like part that was still yet to bloom.

Then, something caught his eye. He reached into the terra cotta pot that TeeKee was now in and pulled out a shard of red fabric. It was the same shade as the new blossoms that had come out this morning on TeeKee. He felt and pulled at it. It felt elasctic and springy, like some of the sport garments he and his fellow officers wore when practicing for the precinct rugby team. One of Clair’s neighbors, a peeping tom according to the rest of the neighborhood, claims he saw her leave her place in a red workout suit. He placed it in a ziplock evidence bag and left.

The rest of the day was quite normal, or, at least as normal as it could be since TeeKee had sprouted. It was almost closing time when she saw a sight that made her cringe. There, entering the doorway to the shop was Hayley Fullard. She marched in wearing a black lace shrug that tied off in the front, just sheer enough to show the high fashion black lace bra under it, plus a pink satin mini-skirt that flashed plenty of leg to catch the eyes of the cameramen who were still there.

She stormed right up to Katie and the words came out like a rapid-fire gun. “I suppose you think you’re something special, huh? Get some freakin’ huge plant to grow and now every treats you like Lady Di or something?” Katie looked up and saw the rage building inside her supposed rival. She hadn’t seen Hayley this angry since their senior year when Hayley had been beaten out for class president. She enjoyed the sight for the moment before she responded.

“Gee, Hayley, TeeKee is pretty freakin’ huge, isn’t he? Maybe Munster outta see if they can buy someone out and get something like him, since they don’t seem to know how to grow their own?” The running truth in the business was that lately, Munster was so bloated that they were unable to come up with innovative or original ideas, but bought Mom & Pop stores in order to steal their ideas. “I know…why don’t you go to the spa and get a new facial, the one you have is wearing off…”

“You just wait, Katie…this won’t last forever. You can’t make this…this... thing…last forever. Whatcha gonna do when this thing dies and everyone ignores you like they should? Play in the dirt with your cousin all day?”

“No, I’ll actually earn a living, rather than act like a spoiled little trust fund chick all day. Excuse me, it’s closing time. I need to lock up and water the plants…” Katie retorted back as she turned her back on Hayley. She was enjoying this, even if just for a short time. Hayley huffed, reached in her personallized Prada purse. She pulled out her cell phone and started to dial as she stormed out. Katie and Keeley tended to the plants before they closed up for the night.


C.T. looked at his watch. 9:25 PM. He stood in front of the plant nursery. He knew what he was about to do wasn’t quite within the policies and procedures of the department, but this was an extreme case. He knew that Katie had to be hiding evidence in the shop dealing with the disappearance of both women. The only thing in common with both women was this plant shop. The shard of cloth was the type of material used in workout clothes, and C.T. was convinced that Clair had been there the night before. Interviews that afternoon with the liquor store clerk confirmed that Clair had walked to the shop, but he did not see her return to her car.

He walked to the back door and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small Mag Lite and a lock pick. In seconds, he had the door open and slowly entered. He had already deactivated the alarm system, but would hook it back up when he left. His plan was to simply look for evidence. When he found it, he would leave it there, then get a search warrant to make it all legal. Then, he would bust this case wide open and endless promotions would follow. It was a quite simple and , to be honest, brilliant plan.

He stayed low, sweeping the light across the floor as he approached the main counter. He put on latex gloves and began to slowly search each drawer and compartment. He found nothing there. He moved to Katie’s office. He thoroughly searched her desk, then the room. Still nothing. Then, he hit pay dirt. Hidden in the back of one of the filing cabinets, he found a pair of purple shoes. He knew that they had to be Vicky’s. They matched the description perfectly from Keeley and Katie’s own words. He put them back carefully and left the office.

The shoes were a great find, but not enough. He needed more. He crouched low as he left the office, moving past the counter. He surveyed the area. He saw all the potted plants, shelves, and empty pots. “Maybe she has the evidence buried…” he mumbled to himself. He walked over toward the stack of empty pots, thinking it would be the fastest place to start. He started to unstack the pots, looking for anything that could be used as evidence. Not finding anything in the first stack, he started on another stack.

He brushed some vines away as he did, not remembering them being there previously. When he finished looking over the final stack of pots, he found himself kicking away more vines. “Strange…where did these come from?” he wondered as he tried to step over them. He cursed quietly as he found his feet entangled in a vine. He kicked at the vines and finally stepped over it.

“WHAAAAAAAA???”

Suddenly, C.T. felt himself being grabbed by the feet and lifted into the air. He looked around wildly to see what was going on. More vines had shot around his feet and were as tight as ropes around his ankles. He reached toward his pocket for his knife. When he did, a new vine reached out and grabbed at his hand, blocking his attempt. He managed to keep his hands free from becoming entangled. As he did, he saw in horror as more vines began to wrap around his legs.

“How sweet. Something male. I wonder how you will taste…”

C.T. looked around for the source of the voice. His face became at least a dozen shades of pale as he saw the large bud open, showing lips and a tongue, speaking toward him.

“This…impossible…it…can’t be!” he cried out as he dodged vines aiming for his arms. Suddenly, the reality of it all hit him. He was about to meet the same demise as Vicky and Clair. Did Katie know about this monster? Obviously not, since he had seen her give the creature plant food earlier that day. Now, only one thing mattered. Survival!

“Hold still and make this easier on yourself…” the plant purred out.

“Over…my…dead….body!” C.T. shouted as he struggled

“If you insist…” the plant replied as more vines moved out. C.T. cursed his luck that he had not brought along his gun. A well placed bullet in the mouth-bud would help his cause. The only weapon he had on him was his Tazer. It would take a well placed shot to get the plant on the bud or one of the main trunks, but it was all he had. But first, he went for his knife, pulled it out and began to cut at the vines at his waist.

As soon as he cut the first vine, the plant shook C.T. violently. It began to whip-crack him in the middle of the room. The second crack of the whipping vines knocked the knife out of his hands. C.T. reached for his Tazer now. The weapon was his only chance.

“No more playing nice…” the plant cried out as it kept shaking C.T. all over the place. In the process, he felt his shoes fly off. The vines kept shooting for his arms, trying to immobilize him. He felt them bounce off his ribs and sides as he tried to grab the Tazer. He got it in his hands after several attempts, and aimed it at the gaping maw of the creature. The creature was still trying to wind vines around him to mummify him, but he kept his arms free. His body was still flailing all over the room, but was being slowly moved toward the mouth-bud.

“And now…time for a real dinner…” TeeKee said as he moved C.T. closer to his mouth. Finally, C.T. could wait no longer. He raised the Tazer and tried to aim, but he did not have a clear shot. The creature was just moving him around too much. He would only get one shot, and he could not afford to miss.

“OW!” C.T. shouted as TeeKee rammed him into a rafter. His shoulder hit it hard, sending a stinging sensation down his arm. He fought it off as he tried to take aim again. The creature, somehow sensing it, flung him against another rafter against his gun arm. He screamed in pain and dropped the Tazer. He was stunned for a few seconds before he realized what had happened. He was now weaponless!

He reached for one of the rafters, wrapping his arms around some beams. He pulled as hard as he could against the entangling vines. He felt some of them give as he pulled. He tried to climb higher to pull harder away from it. TeeKee pulled even harder back, but C.T.’s grip was tight as well. C.T. clung to the rafters for dear life, knowing that he had to pull loose from the deadly grip of the vines.

“Come to me…there is no escaping me now” said TeeKee as it shot more vines toward C.T. This time, the vines wrapped around his arms, slowly and methodically. They grips his arms and pulled at them, trying to wrest them free of the rafters. C.T. felt them tightening, his ligaments and tendons searing in pain from their viselike grip. The lumber began to creak as the creature pulled. More vines came, wrapping around his arms tighter and tighter.

Soon, the pain became too much and C.T. released his grip on the rafters. As he did, he tumbled downward in the air towards the open jaws of TeeKee. Then, with a swift jerk, the vines around his legs jerked him like a bungee cord, suspending him over the mouth of the creature. C.T. fought to free his arms as TeeKee lowered him, headfirst toward his mouth. “Yes…finally…dinnertime...” he chuckled as he taunted his victim.

C.T.’s head entered first, with the lips slowly closing around his head and neck. C.T. shook and wriggled in vain, hoping to shake free, somehow, someway. Gulp, gulp, gulp went TeeKee as he slowly, cruelly, methodically swallowed him down. When C.T.’s feet disappeared, TeeKee swallowed one last time, a smile crossing its cruel lips.

“Mmmmmm….tasty...a bit tough…but delicious none the less…”