by Chloe Young
As Sullivan headed down to the beach area in front of the house, he couldn’t believe what he saw. There was an indentation in the sand where Damon’s body had been located only ten minutes ago. The body, however, was gone.
Sullivan attempted to look for traces of blood, but the nighttime sky made it too difficult to discern any trail of blood. He considered it almost impossible for Damon to have survived and have the strength to get away so quickly. He wondered if perhaps the odd neighbor had heard the shot and seen the body.
Sullivan began to walk towards Horace’s house. It was getting later into the night now. Soon dusk would be upon them, and all of the blood shed would be visible to the world. He reached Horace’s home to find the door wide open.
The detective entered the house. It was completely dark inside and all he could hear were the patters of raindrops against the house. He wasn’t sure that the house was in condition to withstand and make it through the storm. He called out, “Horace? Are you home? It’s the detective, again.”
He withdrew his gun as he entered the living room. He stumbled over something in the middle of the room. He reached out his hand and eventually found a lamp. The light illuminated the entire room. He looked down to see that he had tripped over a dog. He wondered why the dog had not woken up and reached down to touch it. He quickly realized that the dog was no longer alive. “Jesus, what in the world is wrong with these people?”
CHAPTER 39
Megan sat still in the car. There were so many thoughts running through her head. How could this have happened? How could she have left Kristi alone with him? She had no idea how much time had passed since the detective had left her alone in the car. It could have been two minutes or two hours. It was as if time was standing still. All she knew for sure was that she was heading home alone. She would be without Mark and Kristi. That part of her life was over. She would get to continue on every day, but they would not. Their lives ended at the beach house. How could she continue on knowing what had happened here?
She closed her eyes. The tapping of the raindrops began to relax her. She just wanted to sleep and wake up safe and sound. If only it had all been a dream. Just as her body and mind began to settle down, she heard a loud thump at the back of the car. She jumped up with a start, and turned around to look at the back window. She didn’t see anything. She supposed that she would be jumpy for a while now.
Her eyes closed again. This time the loud thump came from the front of the car. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Damon standing there directly in front of the vehicle. She thought that she must be hallucinating, Damon was dead. She closed her eyes and opened them again. He was still standing there.
Megan didn’t understand how this was possible. Damon was holding some sort of a stick in his hand. He smashed it against the windshield. He continued to bring the stick crashing down across the windshield. As it cracked and pieces of glass splintered, Megan thought about her options. Chances were that she wouldn’t survive regardless of her decision.
As Damon lifted the stick another time, Megan unlocked the passenger door and bolted from the car. She ran around the side of the house to the front of the beach house. Damon had dropped the stick, and she could hear his footsteps following closely behind her own. She continued to run down towards the water.
The rain continued to come down. She looked out into the water. The water appeared to be very agitated as the waves rose higher and higher and came crashing down upon the shore. She turned around to see Damon behind her. Without giving it much thought, she propelled herself into the ocean and began to swim.
***
Sullivan had looked throughout the house. It was completely empty aside from the dead dog. He had no idea where Horace had gone. For that matter, he had no idea where Damon’s body had ended up. He did know that he needed to get back to Megan to make sure that she was okay. He had really screwed this up; two people had been murdered and the killer’s body was missing.
He left the house with his gun securely gripped in his hand. He began to run back to the beach house where the awful crimes had been committed. As he made his way across the sand, he made out a figure in the ocean. He wondered if Horace had decided to take a late night swim in the storm. After seeing the dead dog in the living room, nothing would have surprised him.
The detective ran along the shore and called out to the figure in the water. “Horace? Is that you? I need to talk to you.”
As he got closer, he could see that it was Damon. What troubled him more, was that he could see another figure just slightly ahead of him. He assumed that it was Megan. Without considering the consequences, he dropped the gun and ran into the water.
The water was still warm. The waves seemed to overwhelm the ocean. Sullivan looked up as a wave came crashing down over his head. Momentarily under water, he kicked as hard as could in the hopes of catching up to Megan and Damon. His visibility, however, was greatly compromised. The waves and heavy rainfall made it almost impossible to keep Damon in his line of sight. He decided to just swim as hard as he could until he caught up with him. He wouldn’t allow Megan to die. He had already made enough mistakes.
CHAPTER 40
Damon wasn’t about to let Megan out of his sight. He was surprised what a skilled swimmer she appeared to be despite the storm and waves. The gun shot had stunned him, but fortunately, had not pierced any organs. He knew that he would survive the gunshot. He was not about to let Megan get away.
This night brought back memories of Jonathan’s death. He could see his brother struggling out in the midst of the ocean, waving his hands, begging to be saved. There was not a single day that he regretted the death of his brother and today was no exception. Jonathan had deserved to die just as Mark and Kristie had deserved to die. Megan had decided to become involved in something that was none of her business. Now she would have to die too.
He could see that Megan had turned around and was beginning to swim back towards the shore. She was about six feet to the right of him. He could tell that she was fatigued and would not be able to make it much longer. Turning around, Damon began to make a straight line towards Megan.
As Damon closed in on her, he felt something tugging on his leg. Turning around to see what was behind him, he saw the detective. Sullivan had grabbed onto his left leg and was pulling him towards him. Damon struggled to free himself, but he could not break away from his grasp. Seeing her opportunity, Megan began to swim with all of the energy that remained. She aimed for the shore. Her desire to live gave her the burst of energy that she needed.
As Megan got nearer to the sand, a large wave mounted behind her. She heard the wave smacking against the ocean and felt the crashing down of the water over her head. It took her thirty seconds to surface again. She turned around to look for the detective. She could not see either of them in the water. The waves must have pulled them under temporarily.
Finally reaching the shore, Megan crawled onto the beach and looked out over the ocean. The waves continued to be unforgiving and rose to incredible heights. From her view, she was still unable to see Sullivan or Damon.
***
Damon used his free leg to kick at the detective. Despite his best efforts to free himself, Sullivan was not about to let him go. He looked up to see another strong wave forming. This one rose about six feet into the air. As it came crashing down, Sullivan lost his hold on Damon and found himself under the water. When he surfaced, he didn’t see Damon. It was possible that Damon had been dragged under and lacked the strength to come back up. After his earlier mistake, he didn’t want to take any chances.
Sullivan spun around and looked in all directions for Damon. When he didn’t see him, he began to start heading for shore. He didn’t want to leave Megan alone up there. He shouldn’t have left her alone in the car. If nothing else, he needed to get her to safety.
He turned around to head towards Megan. As soon as he did, he was face to face with Damon. He felt a strong elbow to his nose which immediately b
egan to bleed. The next blow to his head caused him to feel a bit woozy. When the next wave came crashing down, Damon put both hands on Sullivan’s head and pushed him underneath of the water. Initially, he could feel Sullivan kicking hard beneath the water’s surface. Gradually, the kicking slowed and then stopped.
He released his grasp and decided to swim back. He expected Megan to be sitting there waiting for the hero to return. Unfortunately, for her, this was not a movie and in real life, people were not always saved from their impending fate.
Damon finally made his way back to the shore. He could hear sirens from police cars in the distance. Obviously, Sullivan had requested back up and they had arrived. Too bad for them that they were too late. Damon looked up and down the shore for Megan, but he could not spot her. He realized that she must have run to a hiding place. He doubted that she had gone back to the beach house where her friends had been massacred. The next closest place would have been Horace’s house.
Damon took off in that direction, hoping to find her before the police officers found him. He ran with everything that he had left, completely running on adrenaline at this point. When he reached Horace’s house, the lights were off and the door was wide open. It made sense to him that Megan had made her way inside to get help. He stepped inside and called out to her as he attempted to catch his breath. “Give up, Megan. It’s over. You’re dead. Just like Mark, and Kristi, and the cop.”
Dusk was beginning to settle in outside, which meant that some light was creeping in through Horace’s front door. Damon could make out Max lying in the middle of the floor. Just as he glanced up, he saw a shadow coming towards him from the kitchen. It was Horace.
Before Damon had time to react, Horace raced towards him and tackled him to the ground. He drove a knife that he was holding through the other side of his chest. This time, Damon felt an intense amount of pain. He knew that this time he may not survive the stab wound. He lifted his head to see blood oozing from the open wound in his chest. This is not how he thought things would end, but he accepted that some things were out of his control. When he planned the trip to the beach house, he knew that he was not able to predict the ending.
Horace dragged Damon by his legs into the kitchen. Damon did not attempt to kick at the old, grungy man. Instead, he allowed him to drag him across the cluttered floor.
In somewhat of a daze, Damon looked up to see a rope hanging from the rafter in the ceiling. Horace lowered the noose and wrapped it around Damon’s neck. Damon could feel the coarse rope against his skin, and supposed that Max’s death was about to be avenged.
Megan stepped into the kitchen and stood behind Horace. “You deserve to die, you monster. You’re going to go to hell for what you’ve done.”
Damon smiled. “You’re going to be living in hell from now on.”
Although this was not the ending he wanted, Damon still felt as if he had accomplished his objective. He had rid the world of an egomaniac and a cheater. He had also made a lasting impression on Megan and the want-a-be detective. They would never forget him or the horror that he caused.
Megan and Horace used all of their strength and energy to pull the rope from the other end. Damon was pulled off of his feet and was suspended in the air. Horace tied the rope off and stood back to watch Damon meet his fate.
Damon knew that death was imminent and saw no reason to struggle against it. He allowed it to overtake him. He hoped that death would finally bring him a sense of peace. He would no longer be haunted by the memories of his younger brother. Now, he could let it all go. He hung like that for a matter of a couple of minutes, and then all want black.
CHAPTER 41
Megan dropped to her knees and cried. It was over. Damon was dead. Except that it would never really be over. She would have to face every day now knowing what had happened.
Just then, Horace and Megan could hear cops at the beach house next door. They would find the bodies of Kristi and Mark. They would soon realize that Detective Sullivan was nowhere to be found.
After Horace was sure that Damon was dead, he cut his body down from the ceiling. He knew that the police officers were probably at the house next door examining the crime scene and looking for Detective Sullivan.
Horace wrapped Damon’s body in an old blanket that was lying on his couch. He looked down at poor Max. He felt that he had avenged Max’s death and that he would be able to finish out his years on this beach peacefully. He scooped up Damon’s body and carried it out of the beach house. The rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to come up.
Horace approached the waterline, Damon still cradled in his arms. He continued to walk into the water until it was about up to his shoulders. He let the body go and watched it slowly drift away. After a short period of time, the body was out of sight. Horace wondered where the body might end up. “Now the ocean has another secret to keep.”
Horace made his way back to Megan. By this time, there were police officers on the beach. One of them was questioning her. He wondered what answers there were to be given.
CHAPTER 42
Megan had explained the whole situation. She told the officer about what Damon had done to Cliff, Max, Mark, and Kristi. She told them about how her and Horace had worked together to kill him. She told them about how Detective Sullivan had saved her life and in the process had lost his own.
The officers listened with great sympathy. Not only had she lost her friends, she had been tasked with the matter of saving her own life. They were also saddened by the loss of one of their own.
The police officers inquired as to the whereabouts of Damon’s body. Megan wasn’t quite sure about Horace explained what he had done with the body. She, however, understood the justice of sending his body out into the ocean just as Damon had left his brother’s body out there so many years ago.
Megan collapsed onto the sand. She had never been so exhausted in her life. She didn’t know what to do now. She was tired, starved, and deeply saddened all at the same time. She didn’t know how she would move on with her life.
She buried her face into her arms and released a lot of emotion that had built up over the last several hours. As she cried, she could feel the presence of someone standing next to. She looked up to see Detective Sullivan looking down at her. She had no idea how he could still be alive, and she didn’t care. She was just so happy to see the person who had saved her life.
Megan was able to muster enough strength to get to her feet and wrap her arms around Sullivan. He happily embraced her. He knew that the nightmare was over. For the first time in a long time, he had some hope that things in his life would change for the better.
CHAPTER 43
As Clint and Susan approached the beach house, they saw from a distance that the road was completely blocked. Clint couldn’t believe their bad luck. “It’s just one thing after another on this damn trip.”
Susan rolled her eyes. “Probably a car accident that will be cleared up. Just be patient, honey.”
An officer approached their vehicle, and Clint rolled down the window.
He peered into the car. “Morning, folks. This road is going to be closed down for some time. There’s been a crime committed and we can’t have people going down to the beach.”
Susan wondered what kind of crime could be committed at the beach. “We’re headed to our beach house, officer. Any idea how long this might take?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It will be awhile, ma’am.”
***
After a couple of hours, Clint was able to drive down to the beach. Despite his declining health, he remembered the way to the beach house as if he had driven it just last month. Upon reaching their destination, they saw that it was their beach house that was completely roped off. Susan and Clint got out of their car and found an officer who had just left the crime scene.
Susan walked up to the officer. “Excuse me, sir. This is our beach house. What happened here?”
When Susan heard of what her son had done,
she dropped to her knees. Clint tried to console her, but it was no use. Both of her sons were gone. This place that had housed such great memories had been the demise of both Jonathan and Damon.
***
Horace peered out through his window. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the grieving parents. Ironically, the ocean had swallowed up both of her sons. He only hoped that Jonathan felt vindicated in some way. Maybe Jonathan could finally be at peace.
EPILOGUE
Clint and Susan signed the final paperwork. The beach house was no longer their property. They were very relieved to be finished with it. They had no idea of the horrors that took place within the home, and they didn’t want to know what had happened.
They knew that their other son was gone. His body had yet to turn up anywhere. Perhaps it never would. The police officers had explained to them that Damon had been the cause of Jonathan’s drowning. Susan couldn’t fully accept that fact although it explained a lot about what had happened to her youngest son.