One Heck of An Exterminator

          Lee Baggett was proud of his work. Besides being so lucrative in itself, his job had many side benefits, as indicated by the general rule of finders keepers. With his level of education, exterminating was the best Lee could do in Hawkinsville.

          Hawkinsville, with citizens mostly businessmen, was the richest town in the county and probably in the entire state. Its citizens made their fortunes in other towns and multiplied their earnings in the stock market or through other wheelings and dealings. They didn't care for anything else other than making more and more money each day. Since important people like them wouldn't waste their time with pests and varmints, they paid any amount of money Lee asked for his services. Also, they didn't mind if Lee took some of their unused items long forgotten in their basements.

          In the beginning of his career when Lee used to ask if he could help himself to some of those precious items, these people, so busy with their paperwork, only answered him with grunts. Soon Lee just stopped asking to save himself time. Within a few years, through his practice of extermination, Lee had managed to own a huge house, full of antiques and such.

          Today, in Dr. Chaunsey Craddock's house as he threaded his way toward the cellar, Lee Baggett rejoiced over his latest find, which now dignified his foyer, an ornate Regency bench either from eighteenth century or a great copy, whatever. It mattered that, real or fake, it looked expensive and pretty with a mahogany frame and brocade tufted seat.

          With this job, Lee was even more hopeful, since Dr. Craddock had just expired in a car accident. There was no limit to what he could find in this house. His heart throbbed with glee like the jingling set of keys in his hand. He knew that the ebony grandfather clock in the hallway would be his as well as the antique hutch in the sunroom.

          The real estate broker who had sent Lee on this job had cautioned him to be careful. Dr. Craddock was known to be weird retiree, a loner who spent a lot of time alone inside his home. It was rumored that the doctor conducted some experiments in his cellar, but a policeman had told Lee not to mind such empty talk. Since people did hear their squeaks from the outside, the house had to be infested with rats. That was all.

          In his big bag, Lee had a good amount of rodenticides, repellents, and some Odor Genies just in case some rat would kick its heels inside a wall where it couldn't be reached. He also carried a baseball bat to use as a weapon, just in case.

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          Lee flipped the light switch at the top of the stairway. Since everything was a different shade of grey in that cellar, it was difficult to separate the forms with bare eyes in the dim light for there was only a tiny tinted light bulb, hanging without a shade in one corner over a slate table. Lee noticed some shapes with huge shadows scuttering toward the dark grey walls.

          As Lee made his way down the stairs, the heavy metal door behind him closed with a bang. He turned back and tried to open the door but it was of no use. He shrugged. He should attend to the business first. He could always call for help on his cell phone, later.

          The unbelievable glared at him when he made his way to the bottom of the stairs. He gasped, utterly bewildered as blood rushed to his temples. The stone walls were lined with rats that had retreated when the light came on. Each was the size of a dog; not a tiny poodle but a big German shepherd.

          The gigantic rats jeered in tiny squeaks showing their teeth with each motion Lee made. Lee froze with terror. In one corner human remains gnawed to the bone, skeletons with phosphorescent glimmer, grabbed his sight. He remembered the two businessmen who had suddenly disappeared three months ago. Each was last seen with Dr. Craddock. He gazed with disgust at the ripped and shredded clothes all over the floor. Yes, Lee was sure now. He saw a torn pinstriped sleeve of a suit made with the kind of pinstriped cloth he knew that only businessmen wore.

          One of the rats leaped on his right side. Lee instinctively swung the bat. He heard the crash of glass breaking and then darkness... He had hit the lamp. The rats scurried around him emboldened by the darkness.

          Dreadfully nervous, Lee took out his flashlight and repellent from the bag. With the repellent, he sprayed himself and a circle around him. That should keep them at bay for a while until he could use one of his foolproof rodenticides. He decided to retreat to the top of the stairs and administer his chemicals from there when he himself would be out of harm's way.

          He hung the flashlight on his shirt pocket and placed the straps of the bag over his neck. If only he could back off while the repellent lasted!

          He stopped when he came to the base of the stairway. With quickening pace, the rats were busy pulling each other and conducting themselves as if their rehearsal was over and they were about to go on stage. They were devoutly placing their heads on the table, and by pushing their noses forward, putting some thing or rather some things on its slate surface...some glittering, sparkling things through the dark.

          Lee turned the flashlight on to the table. Rarest gems of different colors and sizes... So many!

          Inside the gems beat a fever more precious than Lee's fear for life. That fever grabbed Lee by the heart and whirled and twirled all his senses, mesmerizing like the chimes of a distant temple. He burned to sink his hands into those spirited, glowing charmers. Each stone was an ember that blazed its image forever into his mind. With a deep and reverent awe, he sauntered forward to the table. All those gems, so inviting with their thousands of reflections. And Lee was so hungry for all this!

          Lee's senses convoluted with the perfume of sparkling promises; he grabbed and pulled the gems to himself, exhausted from the brilliance of his intense passion. Now, he had everything.

          So much joy yet so much pain.

          Pain?

          Lee became aware of his hands and legs being torn apart. He saw his blood cover the gems. What had he done!

          He banged himself against the slate table just in time to set the rodenticide capsules off his bag. The fumigators scattered around and began fogging the interior of the cellar.

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          Three policemen and the real estate broker stood with rigid limbs in the middle of Dr. Chaunsey Craddock's cellar. The terrible truth had struck them in its entirety. The gnawed out skeleton of the exterminator had bent over the slate table. His teeth seemed to be grinning as he was holding on to some indistinct pebbles. On one corner of the cellar, other human skeletons were deposited with their bones intertwining into each other. The carcasses of dead rats were scattered all around the basement.

          "So hellish! They are so huge!" muttered the real estate broker trying to keep his voice steady.

          "Yeah, well, you never know what you come across in these Godforsaken houses."

          "But why the pebbles? What was Lee Baggett trying to do with them?"

          "Who knows? Poor guy! Look, he was one heck of an exterminator though."



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Prompts:

A cellar...rats the size of dogs...a broken light bulb...an exterminator...a jingling set of keys...your story is horror and has a 2,000 word limit.