Inanimate

by Deryck Jason

  “Sheriff! Those things got Shannahan! His secretary too!” Lynch’s words were strong. Oates wasn’t so bothered about Shannahan but poor Margie had nothing to do with this. In fact, Oates always got the feeling that she hated the mayor as much as he did. He did not condone any of the murderous goings on in Staunton but he wasn’t surprised to hear Shannahan was gone. He wasn’t sorry either.

  “There’s a bigger problem Sheriff…” continued Lynch “Now this thing is completely public. He was thrown out his office window; a lot of people saw it.”

  Oates closed his eyes; he just spent the last half hour talking to his own cops about keeping this close to the chest. Now Shannahan had become pavement pizza on the main street. That made things difficult for him.

  “How did Margie go?” Oates asked.

  “Bludgeoned with a coffee pot. I found her lying in the break room. There was coffee and blood everywhere.”

  “Ok Deputy, I’m gonna need you back at the station right away, we’re gathering up the last of the names on the list. There aren’t many left now though. We’ve got to wait this thing out. I’ve left Brady in charge until it’s over; the boys know what they’re doing.”

  “Ok Sheriff, I’ll head over as soon as I get this mess under control.”

  The Sheriff paused a second before speaking.

  “Be safe Deputy.”

  “This is it, this is the address the Sheriff gave me” Jacobs peered out the window at the large house on the exclusive street.

  “Ok, let’s go.”

  The two men exited the vehicle and walked up to the large house in front of them. Jacobs knocked on the door but nobody answered so he decided to try announcing himself.

  “Police, open up please!”

  But still there was nothing. Looking around, Matthew noticed there was a car in the driveway so he jumped off the stoop and walked round onto the lawn, peering in through the living room window. Right away he saw Jessica sitting having a tea party with her dolls.

  “The little girl’s in the living room”

  Matthew yelled to Jacobs. The cop drew his gun; he knocked one last time before using one solid boot to kick the door in. His gun poised for action, Jacobs scanned the hallway for signs of intruders.

  “Hello? Mr. Ellis? Mrs. Ellis?”

  Getting no response he cautiously headed to the living room. Matthew slipped past him and headed for Jessica, attempting to get information from her quickly so they could leave quicker.

  “Hey. Do you know where your parents are?”

  Without bothering to look up Jessica answered.

  “They’re in their bedroom.”

  Jacobs interpreted the girl’s cold mannerisms as trauma symptoms and felt sorry for her.

  “I’ll check; you stay with her,” said Jacobs as he left the room.

  Taking the stairs with extreme caution, Jacobs had seen the damage these creatures could do; he didn’t want to end up on a slab any time soon. The second level of the house was quiet. Jacobs was finished calling out names, his gut told him no one was going to answer. Jacobs’ pushed open the first door at the top of the stairs. It was the bathroom, and it was empty. Moving further down the hall he came to another door. He was thankful the Ellis’ family had soft carpets so he could approach silently. Pushing open this door he stepped inside, gun at the ready, but this room was empty too. The third door had a sticker on it that read “Jessica’s Room.” Jacobs did not even bother opening this one. This left only one remaining door. Quickly, he crept up to it and grabbed the knob. While holding on to the cold brass he raised his foot and placed it against the door. With a solid boot he pushed hard, allowing the door to swing open while also allowing him to fall into a strong stance with his gun poised. The master bedroom was a room painted in blood. Jessica’s parents stared back at him from the bed, their faces frozen in terror. Throats cut wide explained the quantity of blood but didn’t explain how the walls were covered so evenly in it. The bodies were sitting up straight, fully clothed on the bed. These were not natural sleeping poses. Cussing out loud, Jacobs turned to head downstairs. He felt no need to check their pulses or even call in their deaths right now. Jacobs was not overly cautious as he headed down the hall and back down the stairs, after all, he had checked all the rooms. Well, all except Jessica’s and that door was closed. There wasn’t going to be anything coming at him through a closed door. The thought did occur to him that the killers could have been hiding in Jessica’s room but he was not prepared to risk Jessica’s safety by tackling them himself. If he were to be overcome, she would be left with a cowardly, unarmed Matthew for protection. Jessica sat on the couch beside Matthew clutching her doll.

  “We’ve gotta go” said Jacobs.

  “You didn’t find her parents?”

  “No, I did!”

  “Oh” said Matthew, reading between the lines.

  “Come on sweetie” Jacobs said, thrusting his hand into hers.

  The three of them headed out the house fast. Jessica held Betsy tight.

  CHAPTER 35

  MacNamee’s cell phone rung loudly in the car. The day was wearing on now; night would be heading into Staunton in a short while. Oates drove carefully, unwilling to add to the death toll with reckless driving. MacNamee answered his phone, allowing Jacobs to inform him of the pickup of Jessica Ellis.

  “We got the little girl” he said.

  “What about her parents?”

  Jacobs looked in the rear view at the little girl holding her doll, he couldn’t say too much because she was in the car.

  “Um, no luck there” he said, hoping the innocuous answer would not make the little girl suspicious, while also hoping MacNamee would understand.

  “Jesus” MacNamee responded, he did understand.

  “Who’s left on the list?” Jacobs asked quickly, changing the subject.

  MacNamee skimmed through the list he had with him.

  “Sandy Allen, I think she’s one of Matthew’s friends.”

  Jacobs turned to Matthew.

  “Do you know a Sandy Allen?”

  “Yeah, I’ll call her” Matthew said, aware of why Jacobs was asking.

  “Matthew’s calling her” Jacobs relayed to MacNamee “we can pick her up then meet you at the station.”

  Sandy’s phone rung eight times before it was picked up.

  “Hello?” came the voice down the line.

  “Hello, Sandy?”

  It was Sandy’s voice but something was wrong with it.

  “Sandy can’t come to the phone right now.”

  Matthew closed his eyes, he felt sick hearing that voice again. He remembered Dummy’s scratchy voice from when he was impersonating Glenda.

  “What have you done with her?”

  Dummy’s screechy voice burst into laughter.

  “What do you think I’ve done with her? I’ve killed her stupid!”

  Matthew hung up straight away. Dummy sat quietly at the kitchen table in Sandy’s house. He casually put the phone down and looked around proudly. His face was covered in blood. Anne’s parents were nowhere in sight.

  Jacobs turned his head round a few times to Matthew while driving, only holding his gaze for a second each time before turning back to the road.

  “Well?” said Jacobs impatiently after a minute. Matthew faced forward, visibly upset by hearing Dummy’s voice again. He shook his head in response to Jacobs’ question. Jacobs cussed to himself.

  “Another one down Doc”

  “Have we actually saved anyone?” MacNamee asked, frustrated.

  “The day’s not over yet. I’ll see you at the station.”

  Jacobs hung up.

  The cruiser door slammed shut Oates’ car was the last of the four to arrive at the station (including Lynch’s who got there first). Oates was in the center of the parking lot when he was accosted by a pedestrian across the street.

  “Where are you going Sheriff? Shouldn’t you be stopping these murders?”

  Oates was
taken aback, this had never happened to him before. As darkness thought about entering Staunton, Oates only had one thing to say.

  “Return to your home, we have this under control!”

  “The mayor is dead Sheriff? Who’s next?”

  As Oates stood silent, the yelling man’s wife urged him to move along, sparing Oates any further embarrassment. Oates had to admit he didn’t have the answers the man was looking for and a lot of people had died while he was looking for a way to stop all this. As he stood for a moment watching the pedestrian leave he thought about what he could have done differently. This wasn’t a normal situation where a person was committing crimes. It wasn’t a human killer with human fallibilities. This was an extraordinary situation, which required an unorthodox approach to policing. Despite the queue of bodies waiting to be refrigerated at the morgue, Oates had five civilians in his care with the potential to be saved from this mess. To him that was definitely worth celebrating. And that number didn’t include MacNamee, Crass, Lynch, Murdoch, Graham and Jacobs who, despite the age-old cliché of accepting the risks of a job, did not sign on for anything like this.

  The station felt quiet when Oates entered. Dora sat at the front desk, watching him intently. Lynch had already filled her in to what was happening.

  “Dora, why haven’t you left yet?”

  “I didn’t know if I should. Deputy Lynch said I should wait and see what you said.”

  The full weight of Lynch’s words were heavy on Dora.

  “I don’t see why you shouldn’t. The only reason you’d be in danger is if you stayed here. All the targets are already here safe and sound.”

  Dora quietly nodded, accepting his words. Packing up her things she quietly got ready to leave.

  “Good luck Stacey…” the old woman said quietly as she headed out the front door.

  As she left Oates couldn’t help but appreciate her. Not least because she spoke his first name in a high regard instead of the usual subtle mocking others did. She had been with him for many years, always an asset to the station. For a moment he wondered if that were the last time she would see him alive. He wondered if he would actually make it out of this. Gritting his teeth he pushed those thoughts from his mind. Now was not the time for self-doubt and he knew it.

  Oates walked into the main hall, keeping an eye on Dora through the windows as she headed into the car park. He stood beside Lynch who was doing the same thing.

  “What have you gotten done Deputy?”

  “I made sure Tony was alright downstairs, and then I went to the roof and pulled up the escape ladder. I checked the windows on the first floor...”

  Relaxation settled in as they watched Dora’s car reverse out its spot and pull up to the car park exit onto the road.

  “...then I made sure everything downstairs was...”

  A harsh revving sound killed off Lynch’s words. Dora’s car rapidly accelerated forward for about thirty feet before slamming hard into a large Oak tree on a grassy knoll across from the station. Chestnuts fell in rapid numbers, pelting the roof. Lynch automatically stepped forward, as if he was about to run out and help her but Oates placed a restraining hand on his stomach without taking his eyes off the vehicle.

  “Wait!” said Oates quietly.

  They watched as the back door on Dora’s car creaked open, then the two small dummies jumped out. The dummies pushed each other for a minute before heading over to the station car park, just off to the side of the building.

  “Can they get in here?” Oates said quietly as none of the others heard the collision.

  “No” said Lynch equally as quiet “I made sure all the doors were locked on ground level. The windows are good too. Sheriff we should go see if she’s still alive…” Lynch said impatiently.

  “Dorrian, when have these things ever left someone alive? Besides, there could be more of them out there. Lock the door.”

  Oates gestured to the door to the main room. Lynch didn’t move right away, he couldn’t believe the Sheriff would just leave her out there without even checking to see if she was still alive.

  “Lock the door deputy!”

  Lynch stood his ground, holding eyes with Oates.

  “Look, I know this is hard but if we go out there now we risk exposing ourselves, and our priority right now is the people who are alive in this room. Dora’s gone deputy!”

  Lynch breath trembled as he relented, heading over to lock the door as Oates stepped forward, took one last looked at the car and closed the blinds.

  “Ok listen up everybody!”

  As Oates scanned the room he noticed Anne and Jessica were the only females; his thoughts then drifted to his wife. He never really thought of her until now. MacNamee’s wife was killed and Dr. Crass was staying in town to protect his, but it never even occurred to him to protect his own Bella. Deeper resentment came to the surface in an instant. If she was worried about him she would have asked him to stay at home at least once, instead of sleeping so much. Perhaps she may have even called to make sure he was alright. But this was not the case, so he decided to do nothing to help her and let the chips fall where they may. This was his cause now, protecting these people from this blight. As far as he was concerned, his wife left him a long time ago.

  The room was roughly divided in two with MacNamee, Jacobs, Murdoch and Graham on his left and the two girls with Brian and Matthew on his right.

  “Everything is locked down” Oates said. “All the doors, windows and entrances have been sealed. We have many fire doors around the building that cannot be opened from the outside, but they can from the inside. So if at any point from here on out we have to get out, those doors are our best options. Any questions?”

  “What exactly are we all supposed to be doing here?” Anne asked impatiently.

  “We’re holing up here; these things will want to come for us, and when they do we should at least be protected.”

  Lynch said stepping into line beside the Sheriff, trying to show solidarity.

  “But I thought the plan was to destroy them? How are we going to do that if we won’t let them in?”

  “They’ll get in” interrupted MacNamee “They’ll find a way; we just need to be ready for them.”

  The group was silent for a long while, all thinking about MacNamee’s ominous statement. Jessica held Betsy tight.

  CHAPTER 36

  Frieda left the hospital early today. He had been waiting for either Crass or MacNamee to call but they never did. It was true that Crass never said he definitely would call, but Frieda would have really appreciated it if he did. Alone in his condo, even the beautiful city view did not comfort him. The large living area with the leather couches didn’t comfort him, nor did his large television. Frieda’s materialism was deep rooted, he thought living beyond his means would make him feel like he was a more successful person, and it did to an extent. That was until Connor Williams came along and framed his failings for him. Up until that point he was happy living in personal ignorance. Now, all these expensive things simply served to remind him he had no one to share them with. Lying back on his plush black leather sofa he took a long drag of his cigarette. As he blew nonchalantly up, the grey smoke fluttered around him. He sat up and leaned forward as his head floated in nicotine. Rubbing his eyes with his palms he took the last drag and it was a big one. His neck felt stiff. Holding the smoke in his lungs he closed his eyes, rolled his head and tilted back his neck. Slowly, he opened his eyes wide and blew out a thick plume. The smoke hit against something transparent. He watched in shock as the rising wisps pressed against a large creature’s face, making an outline clearly visible. The smoke accentuated the contours of a strong jawline, complete with large teeth and a growling face. For only a second, the complete face was in view in the smoke, but it was the deep growl that accompanied it that told Frieda it was real it was alive and it was watching him. He pushed back hard against the couch. When he reached the back of it he pushed with his feet and used his arms to climb ove
r, away from the sight. He stood in silence, watching the last of the smoke disperse but there was nothing there anymore. Nothing ominous. Nothing monstrous. Nothing at all. After more silence he decided he was imagining things; attributing what he saw to a lack of sleep. Slapping his head gently he thought out loud, reassuring himself he was alone.

  “No Paul No. No, no, no!”

  With a rub of eyes he walked towards the view from his window. He had chosen this condo principally for the view of Downtown. Being able to observe the city from a safe distance made him feel at ease. When he was buying the place, the realtor told him “the ladies will love the view.” But this had no impact on his decision. He had never had a lady back there who wasn’t his mother. Placing his head against the cool glass window, he rested his arms above him, using the large double ply pane to support his body’s weight. His apartment was quiet, only the faintest sounds could be heard from his balcony door; slightly ajar in the warm evening. Closing his eyes tight, he tried to push his fears out of his head, but it was no use. After a minute of trying he gave up, deciding he needed a drink. Slowly he opened his eyes. Connor stood in front of him of the balcony. For a second Frieda didn’t register what he was seeing, but after that second he went pale. Connor just stood in front of him, through the glass, staring. Frieda was speechless. Connor’s face broke into a devilish grin and that was about all the doctor could handle. Sharply, he turned to run for the door but was stopped by another sight. This sight repelled him to the floor as quick as it had repelled him over the back of the couch.