by Tim Miller
She figured there was a fight at a bar or something, even though it was early afternoon. Nothing exciting ever happened in this town. Classes had let out at San Antonio State College the day before, so she was headed back home to her parents. It wasn’t a crazy long drive, even though it felt like it. New Dublin was maybe an hour away from San Antonio, but you go from the city into complete nothing rather quickly. When sitting in the tiny downtown of New Dublin, it’s hard to imagine the second largest city in Texas is just an hour away.
An ambulance went screaming past just as she was sitting at an intersection. Once it was clear she turned and headed down Crescent Street. In her mirror, she saw another ambulance goby. What the hell was going on? Five police cars and two ambulances. At the next block, she found her parent’s home and turned into the driveway. As she pulled in, her mom was coming out the front door.
“Oh thank God you’re ok!” Her mom said as Laura climbed out of the car and hugged her tight.
“Mom, hi. Of course I’m ok. What’s going on?”
“Something terrible. Some little boy in town killed his baby sister the other day. They just said on the news that a group of people attacked some jogger just a few blocks from here. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m terrified. Let’s get inside.”
Laura followed her into the house where her dad was on the couch watching the news on TV. The reporter was standing in front of a police car giving the story.
“No one is sure what caused the attack. Witnesses say the assailants came out of this house right behind me,” she turned and pointed to a house in the background. “And attacked a female jogger who was running by. According to the witnesses, the assailants were pulling on her arms and legs while one of them tried to sexually assault her. Thankfully a neighbor came out with a shotgun and says he hit at least two of the three assailants. He said one of them was missing an arm, but all three ran away. There is no word yet on the jogger’s condition. Police are searching the area for the attackers.”
“Jesus Christ,” Laura said.
“Laura! Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain!”
“Sorry mom, this is just crazy.”
“Yes it is. And we need the Lord on our side.”
“And Smith and Wesson,” her dad said from the couch. Those crazies are still on the loose. Make sure the doors are all locked, and the windows. I’m gonna make sure my guns are loaded.”
“Dad?” Laura said as she watched her dad walk in the back. This was far too much to take in. People got attacked and killed in San Antonio all the time. The crime rate wasn’t horrible there, just typical for a big city. They get a couple of attacks here and everyone freaks out.
“Wait?” Laura said. “Did she say one of the attackers was missing an arm?”
“That’s what it sounded like.” Her mom said.
“What the hell?”
There was a knock on the door, causing all of them to jump. Laura walked to the door and looked through the peephole.
“It’s a cop,” she said and opened the door. It was a young Sheriff’s deputy. He looked around behind her, not sure what he was checking for.
“Afternoon ladies. Sorry to bother y’all. You heard about the attacks today?” He asked.
“Yes, just saw some stuff on the news about it.”
“Ok, good. We’re asking everyone to stay indoors while we look for these lunatics, whoever they are.”
“Why did they attack that lady?” Laura asked.
“I can’t tell ya ma’am. Sounds like they’s crazy.”
“I guess so.”
“Well, we’re just going around letting people know not to worry, but to be careful and stay inside until...” he was interrupted by a series of gunshots behind Laura. She turned around, but the deputy pulled his gun and pushed past her. She followed him through the sliding glass door into the back yard. Her dad was standing over a body holding his handgun.
“Dad! What did you do?” Her mom was sitting on a lawn chair nearby looking at the ground.
“He was running through our yard. I yelled at him to stop. He just kept running. I thought he was one of those nuts. I was just protecting my family.” Her dad said.
Laura walked over to him and looked. The body was that of a kid, a teenager. The boy was lying at an unnatural angle with his back twisted around and his leg underneath him. There was a large bloody hole in his chest. The deputy came up behind her dad and took the gun away.
“I need to place you under arrest sir,” he said.
“What?” Laura said. “You heard what he said!”
“I heard. But you can’t shoot someone just for running through your yard,” the Deputy said.
“You’re the ones who have everyone all freaked out over these fuckin’ nut jobs running around. How did you think people would react?” Laura said.
“Laura! Language!” Her mom said from the chair. Good thing to know she was paying attention at least.
“He’s right, honey. It’s ok. We’ll get this sorted out.” Her dad said as he put his hands behind his back. The deputy placed handcuffs on him and walked him over to the steps and sat him down.
“I’m gonna need you ladies to go back inside. This is a crime scene,” the deputy said as he got on his radio and called it in.
Over the next hour, more police cars arrived, more officers tromping through her parents’ house. They placed her dad in the back of a patrol car while crime scene techs walked around the back yard taking pictures. She’d barely gotten home and her whole world was falling apart. Her mom sat across from her on the couch staring up at the ceiling.
“What’s happening Laura?” She said. “What is happening to our town?”
Laura didn’t answer, because she had no answer. All she knew was she wished school was still in session.
Chapter 4
Officer Ted Hatch sat in his squad car looking around the quiet neighborhood. He’d been an officer in New Dublin for five years, and up until today the worst crime he’d seen was a shooting during a drunken bar fight. And that person was only hit in the leg. There’d been that crazy attack on the jogger, now a homeowner shot some kid cutting through his yard, not to mention that horrific business with some kid eating his sister. He could feel the tension in the town building. They needed to find these freaks and fast before the whole town came unglued.
He put the car in drive and he slowly rolled through the neighborhood. He was happy to see everyone was following the police request to stay inside. Once he reached the end of the street, he turned right and started down another block. In between two houses, he saw something and stopped.
“What the hell?” he said as he put the car in reverse and backed up to look again.
He saw it, but couldn’t believe he was seeing it. A man with one arm was in between two houses, humping a dog. The dog wasn’t moving. Was it dead? Was this nut humping a dead dog? Ted put the car in park and stepped out. He pulled his gun out, holding it against his leg as he approached the man. There were supposed to be three of them, so he looked from side to side repeatedly, but there was no sign of the others.
“Hey buddy,” Ted said as he reached the man. “Why don’t you stop right there. Put your hands—er, your hand on your head. Don’t do anything crazy now.” As if you’re not already, Ted thought.
The man ignored him and continued to hump away. Ashe got closer to the dog, a black lab, he could clearly see it was dead. The man made weird grunting sounds as he thrust his dick into the dead dog’s anus over and over.
“You hear me now? You stop that! Back away from the dog.” This time Ted pointed his gun at the man and inched closer. He got within just a couple feet and used his other hand to pull out his Taser. Slowly he lifted the Taser and shot it at the man, both prongs hitting him in the middle of the back. He could hear the electric current going through, but the man didn’t fall down. Instead he jumped to his feet and spun around..
“Motherfucker!” He screamed.
Ted a
lmost dropped his gun when he saw the man’s face. His eyes were red as if they were filled with blood. His face was cracked and split all over and in place of the missing arm was a bloody stump, as if the arm had been ripped off. The man began stalking Ted, like a lion ready to pounce on a gazelle. Ted dropped the Taser and pointed his gun back at the man.
“Stop right there!”
“I’m going to fuck you in the ass with your gun, you fucker!”
“I’ll shoot!”
“You’ll suck my cock until you choke!” The man screamed and began running toward Ted.
Ted opened fire, pulling the trigger until the slide on his gun locked back. The man fell to the ground, landing on his back, but immediately hopped back to his feet.
“Oh shit!” Ted said as he turned and ran to his car. The man ran close behind him, getting his fingertips into Ted’s gun belt.
“Get back here you fucker! I wanna skull fuck you!” The man screamed.
Ted reached his car and jumped into the driver’s seat. The man was right behind him, grabbing the door handle, yanking on it as Ted threw the car in reverse. As he backed up, the man fell on his face in the middle of the street. Ted threw the car in drive and stomped on the gas, running over the guy. The car rocked as it went over the man’s body like a large speed bump.
Ted sped away looking in his rearview mirror. He couldn’t believe it, but the man was back on his feet running after him, though falling further and further behind. He took out his cell phone and called the Chief directly, not wanting to put what he just saw on the airwaves. The Chief answered on the second ring.
“Chief, you’re not gonna believe this,” Ted explained. He went on to tell him about the entire encounter. Once he was done speaking, the Chief was silent on the other end for what seemed like several minutes.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” The Chief finally said.
“No! I wouldn’t fuck around about this! Get over here at Duhurst and McDermott. You’ll see, that nut is probably still running around. I don’t know what to do with him.” Ted pulled the car over once the man was out of sight.
“I’m at the scene of the shooting from earlier.”
“This is one of our guys! It has to be, he’s only got one fucking arm. How many one armed lunatics are running around town?” Ted asked.
“Yeah yeah, Ok, I’ll have Hernandez come by. Keep an eye out for the other two while you’re at it, and be careful. If you’re not totally nuts, then these guys are dangerous as hell.”
“Yeah, no shit. Ok, I’ll be here when Hernandez gets here.” Ted hung up the phone. Shit. Assistant Chief Cleo Hernandez was a fucking prick. On top of his other flaws, he hated Ted. Though Ted didn’t care much for him either. He had no doubt, Hernandez wouldn’t believe any of it and just shit all over him to make Ted look bad.
He looked back in his mirror, but the one armed guy hadn’t caught up to him. The guy must have given up or found something else to run after. Before he looked down, the sound of exploding glass made him jump. He turned to his right to see a woman whose face was cracked and bloodied like the one armed guy’s leaning through the passenger window grabbing for him.
“Hey pig fucker! Let’s play! Ya want some pussy?” She yelled.
He threw the car back into drive and hit the gas. The woman held on to the cage and was hanging halfway in and out of the car as he sped down the road. He swerved from side to side, trying to shake her, but she wouldn’t let go. He cut down an alley without slowing down. There was a utility pole on the right side of the alley. He pulled to his right and scraped the right side of the car against the pole at full speed.
She still didn’t let go, at least not right away. She had stopped screaming and flailing; instead, she fell face down into the passenger seat. He stopped the car and looked closely at her. It was only her torso that was in the seat. There was blood splattered along the door and her entrails were dangling out the window. He climbed out of the car and threw up in the grass. As he heaved his lunch onto the ground, another squad car pulled up and stopped in front of Ted’s car. It was Hernandez. The Assistant Chief stepped out of the car, put on his cowboy hat and stuck his chest out like he always did, walking over to Ted, who was still on his hands and knees.
“Well, aren’t you looking fit for duty today? Up drinking all night?” He said.
“Look in my car,” Ted replied.
“At what?”
“Just look.”
“I’m the one who does the order givin’ Patrolman, but I’ll humor you this once.” Hernandez stepped to Ted’s door and looked inside. He opened the door, apparently to get a closer look. After a few seconds, he dropped on the ground next to Ted and began throwing up.
Chapter 5
Dietrich sat in Bernard’s office as he waited. After several minutes, Bernard stepped inside, with a woman and a little boy. Dietrich stood to greet them.
“Sharon and Simon, this is Father Harlan, the man I told you about. Father Harlan, this is Sharon and Simon Masters.” Bernard said.
“Thank you, good to meet you.” Dietrich said. “But I’m not a priest anymore. You can call me Dietrich, or Professor if you must.”
“Thank you. It’s fine. I heard all about what you did at that other hospital. I can’t even imagine.” Sharon said.
“Oh, that wasn’t all me. But thank you.” Dietrich knelt down and looked at Simon. “And how are you there big guy?” He said.
“I’m fine, sir.” Simon said.
“You don’t need to call me sir. Call me Dietrich. I’m here to be your friend.”
“Ok.” The boy wasn’t smiling, but wasn’t frowning either. He seemed to just sort of be there. That troubled Dietrich, as kids that age should be expressing some type of emotion.
“Why don’t you all have a seat and we can get started,” Bernard said.
Sharon and Simon sat on each of the large easy chairs in the office. Dietrich sat just across from Simon.
“Now Sharon, I went ahead and filled Dietrich in on what happened a few weeks ago. When did they let Simon out of the group home?”
“Just a few days ago. They said as long as we keep him in treatment he can stay out as they’re not prepared for someone so young.”
“Ms. Masters,” Dietrich said. “I’m very sorry about your little girl. I can’t imagine how that must have been.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“Now, Simon, I know you’ve talked to Dr. Wayne. So I apologize if you have to repeat anything. But I need you to tell me everything that happened that day. Including things you may have thought about, heard or anything else. Can you do that for me?”
“I think so,” the boy said.
“Ok, go ahead.”
“Well, I don’t remember a lot. Mommy went downstairs to do some laundry. I was playing with my Legos. After mommy went downstairs, I heard Isabelle crying.”
“Was she crying loudly?” Dietrich asked.
“No. Just sort of sniffling crying. Mommy was in the basement, and I was gonna go and get her. But then that guy started telling me not to.”
“What guy?” Dietrich said as he looked at Bernard.
“I don’t know exactly. I couldn’t see him, but I heard him. He said Isabelle was evil, and that she would hurt mommy.”
“How could she do that?” Dietrich asked.
“I dunno. He said she had super powers even though she’s a baby. He said if I ate her heart then I’d have super powers too.”
“Why didn’t you talk to your mom? Like go get her in the basement.”
“The man said there was no time. He was kinda scary. He had a mean voice. I was afraid of what he’d do if I didn’t do what he said.”
“How did you feel when you were cutting your sister open?” Dietrich asked.
“Excuse me?” Sharon said. “How do you think he felt?”
“I’m trying to get an understanding of his mindset at the time. Understand his experience.” Dietrich explained. “Go ahead Simon.”
“Well, at first I was scared. When I stuck the knife in her, she screamed, but then she got quiet. She went all limp. So I kept cutting. The man told me how to do it and where her heart was. When I found it, I cut it out and then ate it. That’s when mommy came in.”
“Yes, I understand. What can you tell me about this man, Simon? Has he ever spoken to you before?”
“Sometimes. Usually at night. He’ll tell me he’s my friend. He says if I do what he says, I’ll be the strongest boy ever, like a super hero.”
“That must sound pretty exciting.”
“Yeah, I guess he was lying though. I don’t feel any stronger. I did everything he said. I can’t fly or anything.”
“Yeah, that is a shame, son. Has the man talked to you since then?”
“Only once, just before I left the group home.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he’ll make sure all those cunts choke on their own shit.”
Sharon gasped as Dietrich and Bernard looked at each other.
“Simon,” Dietrich said. “Did this man, does he have a name?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell me what it is?”
“No. He told me not to tell anyone.”
“You can tell us. We’re your friends, its safe.”
“No it isn’t. You’re not always with me. He is. He’s everywhere I go.”
“We’ll protect you,” Dietrich said.
“I don’t think you can.”
“We had a priest come over and seal our home. He poured holy water around and blessed his room and everywhere. So I think it might be ok.” She said.
“I’m sorry, but if this is who or what I’m afraid it is, none of that will do any good. I know from experience.”
“You think it’s that demon you fought before?” She asked.
“No, I wish it was.”
“What do you think it is? You’re scaring me.”
“I’d like a bit more evidence, if we can dig a little deeper. I have a few more questions for Simon if that’s ok.”