The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

casting a flickering light over the room, so he couldn't have been sleeping that long. She stood in the doorway, half in shadow, looking very much like the woman on the television screen. She held an assault rifle at her side.
    "Molly, I've been waiting for you."
    "How'd you like it?" She nodded toward the television.
    "Loved it.I never realized. I was just so tired…"
    Molly nodded. "I won't belong, I just came to get some clean clothes. You're welcome to stay here."
    Theo didn't know what to do. It didn't seem like the time to grab one of the pistols off the table. He felt more embarrassed than threatened.
    "Thanks," he said.
    "He's the last one, Theo. After him there aren't any more of his kind. His time has passed. I think that's what we have in common. You don't know what it is to be a has-been, do you?"
    "I think I'm what they call a never-was."
    "That's easier. At least you're always looking up the ladder, not down. Coming down is scarier."
    "How?Why? What is he?"
    "I'm not sure, a dragon maybe. Who knows?" She leaned back against the doorway and sighed. "But I can kinda tell what he's thinking. I guess it's because I'm nuts. Who would have thought that would come in handy, huh?"
    "Don't say that about yourself. You're saner than I am."
    Molly laughed, and Theo could see her movie-star teeth shine in the light of the television. "You're a neurotic, Theo. A neurotic is someone who thinks something is wrong with him, but everyone else thinks he is normal; a psychotic thinks she is normal, but everyone else thinks something's wrong with her. Take a poll of the locals, I think I'd come out in the latter category, don't you?"
    "Molly, this is really dangerous stuff you're messing with-"
    "He won't hurt me."
    "It's not just that. You could go to jail just for having that machine gun, Molly. People are getting killed, aren't they?"
    "In a manner of speaking."
    "That's what happened to Joseph Leander, and the guys working the drug lab, right? Your pal ate them?"
    "They were going to hurt you, and Steve was hungry. Seemed like great timing to me."
    "Molly, that's murder!"
    "Theo! I'm nuts. What are they going to do to me?"
    Theo shrugged his shoulders and sat back on the couch. "I don't know what to do."
    "You're not in a position to do anything right now. Get some rest."
    Theo cradled his head in his hands. His cell phone, still in the pocket of his flannel shirt, began ringing.
    "I could sure use a hit right now."
    "There's some Smurfs of Sanity in the cupboard over the sink – neuroleptics Dr. Val gave me, antipsychotics – they've done wonders for me."
    "Obviously."
    "Your phone is ringing."
    Theo pulled out the phone, flipped it open, hit the answer button and watched as the incoming number appeared on the display. It was Sheriff Burton's cell phone number. Theo hit disconnect.
    "I'm fucked," Theo said.
    Molly picked up Theo's.357Magnum from the table, held it on Theo, then picked up Joseph Leander's automatic. "I'll give these back before I go. I'm going to get some clean clothes and some girlie things out of my bedroom. Yoube okay here?"
    "Yeah, sure."His head was still hung. He spoke into his lap.
    "You're burning me out Theo."
    "Sorry."
    Molly was gone from the room for only five minutes, in which time Theo tried to get a handle on what had happened. Molly returned with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She was wearing the Kendra costume, complete with thigh-high boots. Even in the dim light from the television, Theo could see a ragged scar over her breast. She caught him looking.
    "Ended my career," she said. "I suppose now they could fix it, but it's a little late."
    "I'm sorry," Theo said. "I think you look beautiful."
    She smiled and shifted both of the pistols to one hand. She'd left the assault rifle by the door and Theo hadn't even noticed. "You ever feel special, Theo?"
    "Special?"
    "Not like you're better than everyoneelse, just that you're different in a good way, like it makes a difference that you're on the planet? You ever feel that way?"
    "I don't know.No, not really."
    "I had that for a while.Even though they were cheesy B-movies and even though I had to do some humiliating things to get into them, I felt special, Theo. Then it went away. Well, now I feel that way again. That's why."
    "Why what?"
    "You asked me why before. That's why I'm going back to Steve."
    "Steve? You call him Steve?"
    "He looked like a Steve," Molly said. "I have to go. I'll leave your guns in the bed of that red