by Deryck Jason
Oates left the room, leaving Shannahan to nurse his wounds.
“I take it everyone knows then?”
Tony Oates asked, sitting round a table in Earl’s with the people involved in the bar fight with Andy Williams. Nodding or acknowledging quietly, the table sat, all aware that Tony was talking about Jimmy. Looking down at the table Tony continued.
“You don’t even want to know how he died.”
“Who told you?” asked Matthew.
“Brady did, said they were all gonna be working double shifts until this thing was over.”
Bartender Earl came over, dropped off a round of drinks then stood by the table while they chatted. Brian and Anne, (the only couple at the table) sat together. Anne glared across the table, she had only been dating Brian for a short time and she never liked Tony, she couldn’t believe she got caught up in the events which unfolded here a few nights earlier. She was a smart girl.
“Why couldn’t you have just left the guy alone? He wasn’t bothering anyone.”
“I was trying to protect the town Anne, that guy was bad news.”
“Bullshit” Anne mumbled.
Sandy decided to pipe in at this point.
“Don’t act all high and mighty over there Anne, you were there too, I didn’t hear you saying anything.”
“It’s not like he would have listened to me!” Anne protested.
“Maybe I would have, maybe you should have tried!” snapped Tony.
“Guys, guys stop, we were all there!” Matthew chimed in.
Earl joined in too.
“He’s right, you were all there, Christ it was my bar and I never even did anything. We all have an equal part in this.”
“Yeah but only one of us was doing the punching.”
Anne mumbled loud enough for all to hear.
“Look, what do you want Anne?” yelled Tony “What do you want? You think I wanted Jimmy to die? You think I wanted Amanda to die? You think I wanted any of this?”
Anne stood up, yelling.
“That’s just it Tony you don’t think! You just do! And that’s what got Jimmy and Amanda and Lucy and Kyle killed! And that’s what’s going to kill us.”
“Sweetie what are you talking about?” Brian asked her shyly.
The mood at the table changed as they listened to Anne’s harrowing words.
“First Amanda and Kyle, then Jimmy and Lucy. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they were killed soon after Andy Williams died, and I’m pretty sure the Sheriff doesn’t think so either.” She looked straight at Tony “It doesn’t take a genius to join the dots.”
Tony’s phone vibrated on the table, glowing ominously. He looked at the text message he just received. It was from Officer Brady, it read:
“BARLOW DEAD, STEPHEN BENCHLEY DEAD, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.”
The text interrupted Anne and she, along with everyone else were now fervently watching Tony, waiting for whatever news he was about to release.
“What is it Tony?” asked Matthew.
“Two more bodies.” Tony said, suddenly summing up his own mortality.
“Who?” asked Sandy.
“A cop! Barlow; and the guy who found Jimmy’s body.”
The group sat solemn for a long moment before Anne broke the silence yet again.
“I’m not waiting around here to become an obituary. Knowing you is dangerous Tony Oates so I don’t want to know you anymore!”
Anne pushed her way past Brian who tried to stop her leaving. Matthew leaned across the table and gently grabbed Brian’s arm, stopping him from following his soon to be ex-girlfriend out the door.
“Let her go man, she just needs to cool down.”
Brian knew how right he was. The daughter of Russian immigrants, Anne had a fiery side to her. Very smart but insanely stubborn, Brian was in love with her because of her passion, but that’s also what drove them to fight a lot.
“I tell you guys, this whole business, its bad news” said Earl.
“What do you mean exactly?” asked Tony contemptuously.
He hated the fact Earl always had a piece of advice on any situation.
“I hear a lot of stuff here, a couple of the station boys came in for a quick lunch and I overheard them talking. I’m sure they wouldn’t normally discuss police business so openly, but as far as I know they’ve never had to deal with anything like this. Anne’s right, the boys from the station said as much. The common theory down there was that these murders are revenge killings for Andy Williams.”
Earl told them almost the exact same thing Anne did; only he spelled it out. Anne would have been even angrier if she had still been here as it turned out most of the group had been tuning her out when she was talking, including Brian.
“So why hasn’t the Sheriff put us all in protective custody or something?” Brian asked worried.
Earl shrugged “They haven’t dealt with anything like this before. But don’t ask me. It’s his uncle!”
“Well, I don’t know, I was surprised the old bastard helped get us out of this mess at all.”
Tony was about to blow. Despite being a bully he was certainly not stupid and, as Anne had said: “It didn’t take a genius to join the dots.”
“Those cops mentioned that they didn’t even knew who was killing them, but apparently the murders were really brutal, I’m talking real psycho shit. Like I said…we all share the blame equally.”
Tony slammed his fists down on the table causing everyone in the bar to jump.
“Everyone just stop fucking talking about it, don’t you think I haven’t thought about it too? As Anne so bluntly pointed out, I was the one fighting the guy! How can you all just sit there chatting, as if you don’t care Jimmy’s dead!”
Sandy whipped round to face him, her mouth moving faster than her brain.
“Of course we care Tony! Don’t forget my friend is dead too ok.”
“Yeah, plus there are four other bodies! Trust me we care!” said Brian, agreeing with Sandy.
Matthew chimed in.
“What did Officer Barlow’s or Stephen Benchley’s death have to do with anything?”
“What?” Tony asked flippantly as Matthew seemed to be moving off topic.
“Well think about it, the only people who had anything to do with Andy Williams directly would have been Amanda and Jimmy, the other four didn’t. So how can anyone be sure the deaths were related?”
“Well of course they are!” snapped Tony.
“No, hold on a second Tony, Matthew might be on to something here.” Brian added. “I mean, I could pick Office Barlow out a lineup…maybe…and would maybe recognize Kyle and Lucy from high school but that’s it. Those two ran in different circles and Jimmy never brought Lucy out with him. I never even heard of Stephen Benchley. Did you know any of them?”
Tony calmed down.
“I guess I met Lucy once, don’t think I ever spoke to Kyle before. Yeah, I never even heard of this Benchley guy either.”
“I knew Kyle through Amanda; spoke to that pretty cheerleading bitch Lucy maybe twice in high school. Never met the cop or the other guy.”
“I met him” said Earl, “A couple of years younger than you guys. Came in here a few times. Decent enough kid; bad tipper.”
Matthew paused a moment before attempting to sum up what he had said originally.
“So, they could all be unrelated then.”
The group had been showing little remorse for their friends due to fears of their own safety taking selfish precedence over anything else. Matthew’s possible revelation put them at ease though, unfortunately, on the flip side it caused them to feel more remorse for their friends again.
“I’d like to catch whoever’s doing this” said Tony “I’d kill them.”
“Well guys and gal, this conversation’s a little heavy for me, I’m going to take a leak, anyone else need a drink before I go?”
The group looked at their drinks, each shaking their heads; they were ok for t
he time being.
CHAPTER 25
The last of the paramedics had long since left the station but Deputy Lynch was still sitting alone in the main room. Having been out on patrol when the shootings took place he arrived just in time to aid in the effort to save the lives of his colleague and Stephen Benchley. The efforts were in vain and the fact that he had tried to help was little consolation. As soon as Barlow was pronounced dead, Oates had left the building. He left before Benchley could be given an equal attribute but everyone knew it was going to happen. Looking around at the confused and scared faces around him Lynch made a snap decision, one he could only have made once the Sheriff had left. He excused all the men for one hour. One hour to go out for some R and R which he felt they desperately needed. His hands were covered in a pink tinge from the blood of his colleague. A quick wipe was not enough to get rid of it and now his hands served as an unwelcome reminder of the day’s events. Heading into the station bathroom he looked at his reflection in the mirror. His face was pale, the day’s events seemed to have drained all color from his cheeks; even the light tan he normally kept all year round. As he gently washed his hands he quietly prayed for a quick end to the nightmare unfolding before him.
In front of the urinal Tony was thinking more than he was peeing. He was a little drunk but Tony was normally always a little drunk. He leaned his forehead on the cracked tile wall above the trough, unconcerned with hygiene issues. Closing his eyes, he focused on the relatively simple act of peeing. The blight on Staunton had provided enough of a mental distraction to give him a terrible bout of stage fright. While whispering out loud, he counted down from three, hoping that when he did so he would be able to flow freely. No such luck. Counting down from three again he quickly opened his eyes hoping for a release but instead his eyes caught the mirror, just off to his right, reflecting the stalls opposite him. His frustration was loud as if to joke about the potentially embarrassing situation of being unable to pee. He squinted at the mirror, trying to figure out who was in the stall before it occurred to him who it was. Earl’s shoes; complete with a light covering of pants and underwear sat in squat formation.
“Hey Earl! You having problems too? Feels like I’ve been standing here forever, but not quite as long as you I guess.”
Tony laughed to himself obnoxiously as if to reinforce his mild insult. After a pause, Tony continued heckling Earl.
“What’s wrong old man? Did your sense of humor run off with your sex life?”
Earl didn’t respond, which was rare for the old man.
“Come on Earl that was funny! Wait wait, I got another one, you’re sitting like your wife was when she told you she was leaving you!”
As Tony held himself, he was finally able to pee. Ribbing Earl gave him a little bit of a distraction from what was rolling around in his mind. Apart from Tony, the only sound in the bathroom was the automatic flush of the urinal trough. Water from the automatic system splashed Tony’s jeans and he stepped back annoyed, putting his manhood back in his zipper and closing it up.
“Aww, nasty!”
Tony exclaimed as the sound gently echoed around the tiled, banana colored walls.
“Hey come on Earl, where’s that sharp wit of yours?” asked Tony as he slowly made his way to the cubicle door, well aware that the unofficial male washroom code prohibited him from getting too close to another man’s toilet time.
“Earl, that is you in there right?” he asked, concern creeping in to his psyche.
“Come on old man, don’t be rude, answer me already!”
Tony started to knock on the door. His first thump pushed it open a third of the way, bringing a part of Earl into view.
“What the fuck?”
Tony thought out loud and pushed the door open fully.
The old man sat naked from the waist down. Blood leaking from a ripped out throat had colored his once white shirt into a dark maroon.
“Jesus Christ!”
Tony held his breath. Moving backwards quickly he slammed into the sink. Staring in disbelief at the man in front of him his eyes scanned the situation. The cubicle walls were covered in blood but the floor was-on the whole-clean, largely thanks to Earl’s gut preventing the arterial spray from reaching anywhere except the walls and the back of the door. A soft whimper broke the terse silence in the room. Turning his head, Tony saw a small dog beside the urinals looking up at him with a sad, longing look on its face. If it wasn’t for the patches of blood on it Tony might say the little thing was quite cute. He could not say that however. The little thing before him did not even look real. Its eye’s looked plastic, its fur looked artificial, it simply looked to him like a fluffy toy. The dog took baby steps towards the paralyzed Tony, gradually gaining ground. The dog, now standing just below his knees, whimpered at him with blood dripping from around its mouth. In an effort to appear confident Tony forced a smile.
“Hey pup,” he said nervously and the little dog looked away sheepishly.
Tony tried to make a subtle retreat while the creature’s eyes were off of him. One step at a time he moved towards the door. As he got a stepped closer the dog’s head twitched a little, then a little more. Terrified his movements were causing a reaction in the creature’s behavior Tony stopped and with one large twitch the ungodly thing before him jolted its face completely out of Tony’s vision. Just as quick as it turned away it turned back, eyes locking hard on Tony’s. Its face demented, its body shaking. White foam oozed from its mouth, turning the blood around it a light pink. Deep snarling came from within the creature as it snapped wildly at the air, transforming itself into a demonic doppelganger of its former self. Tony, unable to control himself, pissed in his pants, a large dark spotted signifying the last of what his bladder could not release voluntarily. The dog burst open its mouth revealing two razor sharp rows of gnashing teeth. As its eyes bulged, Tony could swear to himself the creature was grinning at him. The creature lunged straight for Tony’s throat with incredible speed. Reactions which stemmed from his footballing days suddenly kicked in allowing Tony to fall backwards, grabbing the beast as he did so. He was using all the strength he could muster just to keep the demon pooch from clamping down on his throat. He could feel its warm breath just inches from his Adam’s apple as it snapped profusely. Holding the dog firm took all of his power as it thrashed in his hands, whipping its head wildly like a shark does when ripping flesh from an animal. In order to get the dog off of him Tony was forced to make the most dangerous decision of his life. He needed to throw the creature far enough away so that he could make his exit. But, in order to do that he needed to bend his arms which meant bringing the creature closer to his throat. As Dog snapped and snarled furiously, Tony tried his best to be careful as he gradually bent his arms, each degree of bend sacrificing some of his strength. It was only when Tony felt the fluff from the snarling mouth tickle his throat did he push off with every scrap of strength he had left. Firing the beast across the room it slammed hard into the banana colored tiles. After falling flat on the ground Dog’s expression changed. It slowly rose to its feet looking sad; its face having quickly switched back to its passive alter ego. Whimpering gently as if hurt; Dog aimed for sympathy. Tony decided not to wait around long enough to be fooled; He scrambled to his feet and headed to the door, leaving the whimpering pooch in the room behind him. Dim light stung his eyes immediately. The bright lights bouncing off the bright yellow tiles had spoiled his vision and now he was back in the smoky, wooden bar. Pool balls clicked and pop music bellowed as he hurtled across the room to the table he recently left. The group was in a lighter mood, chatting amongst themselves as Tony bombed across, screeching to a halt beside the table.
“Guys, we need to get the fuck out of here!”
He said hushed at the table trying to avoid a panic. His emotional state in stark contrast to the group who were much more passive.
“Why?” asked Brian “Is it your round?”
He and Matthew shared a chuckle.
&nbs
p; “No. Really guys, I was just in the washroom...and a creature...it attacked me!”
“Yeah yeah I saw it too” said Matthew.
“You did?” Tony asked, relief shining in his voice.
“Yeah, I went for a piss and there was a snake between my legs, scared the hell out of me!”
This time, everyone except Tony cracked up. Tony snapped. He dove across the table yelling and grabbing Matthew with both hands.
“Listen to me you fucker! Earl is dead, something killed him!”
Despite the music playing, most of the bar heard this. About eight other people turned around. Billy, the other bartender ran across to find out what’s going on. Matt was embarrassed with himself as Tony just stared into him, fuming, still grasping his shirt.
“Hey Tony?” Brian asked, cutting the tension. “Did you piss yourself?”
“What did you say?”
Billy asked as he stopped at the table. Billy never really liked anyone in this group so he wasted no time with small talk.
“Did you say Earl was dead?”
Tony slid off the table closed to tears. He sniffled as he spoke.
“Uh-huh a dog or something attacked him in the stall; it’s in there with him now, only it’s not real. It’s like a toy or something. But the teeth on it…and that look on its face…”
Billy wasted no time. He ran behind the bar and grabbed his trusty bat, emblazoned with a “Louisville Slugger” logo. The music switched to the ambient bar music as no-one had put any more money in the jukebox.
“Don’t go in there!” screamed Tony “It’ll get you just like it got Earl!”
Billy looked back but decided to pay no heed, the brave young bartender moved closer and with a steely looked in his eye he kicked open the bathroom door. He stepped inside quickly and the door swung shut behind him. Billy never quite realized how quiet the washroom was compared to the bar up until now.
“I’ll need to put speakers in here later on.”
His brain tried to keep as calm as possible by focusing on other, more trivial matters. He peered round the corner; there was no sign of the beast Tony was talking about, only a strange sound coming from one of the stalls. Sharply he glanced up to the ceiling, up at the high windows and then he dropped down and scanned underneath the cubicles, spotting Earl’s feet. Slowly the young bartender eased towards it, his bat, cocked over his shoulder confidently. His mind took him back to a lifetime ago when he tried out for the Major leagues only to be foiled at the last minute by failing the medical because of a recurring knee injury. Edging towards the cubicle door, the noise got gradually louder but he was still unable to figure out what it was. Absolutely convinced whatever he was looking for was behind the closed cubicle door, he placed his feet in a strong stable position just outside, giving himself enough room so that if something tried to get at him from underneath he could swing down and swat it. Placing the bat softly against the upper part of the door he gently shoved at it, avoiding pushing too hard so it didn’t bounce back and block his view.