Twisted Roads – Twisted Horror Stories by Matthew Tonks

Market

“You seriously brought this piece of shit from there?” he says, holding up an unusual-looking goblet. The rim is cracked and chipped, the base the same. “Fuck, it won’t even hold any liquid. Please tell me you didn’t pay that much for it?”

“It was a bargain, a goblet of this type would…”

“How much?” he interrupts.

She looks at the ground and takes a deep breath before meeting his vicious glare. “Two hundred,” she says softly.

His eyes grow wide with disbelief. “Y-Y-You, you’re FUCKING kidding me? Two hundred FUCKING dollars for this relic? Are you INSANE?”

“Trevor, trust me, this goblet will change our lives,” she says, snatching it from him and slowly running her fingers around a symbol on the stem.

“How the fuck is a piece of fucking garbage like that going to change our lives, Sal? Please tell me, because I really wanna know.”

“Don’t be a jerk about it. If you’re going to act like that, then I won’t tell you,” she says sternly.

He raises his hands in front of him and takes a deep breath. “Okay, okay, honey, let’s both just take a moment. There’s no need to do this, okay? I’m sure if we both just…”

“We both? Why do you keep saying we both? You’re the only one acting like an idiot here, not me. If anyone needs to calm down, it’s you.”

“Alright, alright! Maybe you’re right. Maybe we both need to take a moment, find our centre, and talk this out like the adults we are,” he says.

“What? Are you even paying attention to me?”

“Of course, honey, we both are. Let’s take that moment. Let’s sit down and breathe it out,” he says, waving his hands around as if conducting an orchestra.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Trevor! If you’re not going to be mature about this, then you can just get fucked,” she yells, throwing the goblet at him and storming out of the room.

“HONEY! COME BACK! HONEY! I’M SORRY! HONEY?” he yells, a broad grin on his face, but she doesn’t come back. A few moments later, he hears her car pull out of the driveway and take off down the street. He steps forward and feels something tear into his bare feet. He grimaces in pain as he looks down at the goblet’s remains scattered across the floor beneath him. When she threw it at him in anger, it ricocheted off him and hit the floor, shattering into several dozen pieces. As he pulls the shards out of his foot, his mouth drops open. The goblet begins to piece itself back together again.