by C. A. Kunz
I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose her, Rachel thought struggling against tears. She had lain awake all night in Sam’s arms, listening to his gentle snoring, wishing she could fall asleep.
Cat didn’t move. She just sat watching the scene in front of her. What’s wrong with me? Why hasn’t Dr. Bane come in yet? Mom’s biting her lip, that’s never a good sign. Where is he? As if he heard her, the door behind them swung open. Two sets of eyes watched as Dr. Bane walked to his desk and flopped down into his chair.
“Sorry to keep you ladies waiting. I was up all night at the hospital with a few patients. Now let’s discuss these results.” He pushed back his chestnut colored hair, his handsome face very serious. “I found the cause of Cat’s problems and it deals with her blood. Her red blood count is extremely low and it’s a wonder she hasn’t been passing out more frequently. I had a conference call with a friend of mine yesterday, a blood specialist, and we’ve come up with a regimen that should work, if done properly.”
“Has this person ever had a patient like Cat before?” Rachel quizzed.
“No, but he has experience with rare blood disorders, so I have confidence in him that this will work.”
“Rare blood disorder?” Cat shook her head in disbelief. “How did I get it?”
“We don’t know. There’s very little data on it. But we will begin slowly. And as we go along, we’ll figure out the right dosage to alleviate your symptoms and get you feeling normal again. Carol, could you retrieve Catherine Colvin’s medication please?” Dr. Bane asked pressing and holding the button on the intercom. “While we’re waiting, I’ll explain what you’ll need to do.”
Carol Nelson, Dr. Bane’s nurse opened the door to the basement below the office. Flipping the switch, the industrial lights illuminated the stairs and the vast room beyond. Walking across the room, passing stored medical equipment, she opened a large stainless steel door, shivering as the cold air hit her. Passing shelves full of jars, canisters, and boxes, she found herself standing in front of another stainless steel door with a numeric panel. Pressing the ten digit code, she heard the electronic lock open and pulled the door ajar. Slipping into the second room, Carol approached a huge cabinet full of large medicine bottles. Grabbing one, she turned and retraced her steps, making sure that both doors were closed and locked securely. Reaching the top of the stairs, she flipped off the light and re-entered the warm office. A knock on Dr. Bane’s office door announced her entrance. Carol smiled at Rachel and Cat as she handed her boss the bottle. “Thank you Carol, a little cold down there, huh?” Dr. Bane asked.
“Just a little,” she replied standing off to the side.
“Now, Cat, here’s the medicine I was telling you about. It’s imperative that you take one pill first thing in the morning, every morning. It has to be kept refrigerated, so reminding yourself to take it could be a little difficult. I’ll see you back in a week, or sooner if you find it is not helping. Any questions?” Both of them shook their heads and Dr. Bane watched as Carol escorted Cat and Rachel out of the office.
She slipped back moments later. “Do you think this will work?” Carol asked.
“It has too,” he replied, worry etched all over his face.
“Mom I’m so relieved!” Cat stated as they entered the car. “I thought something was really wrong with me. But I can just take a pill every day. That’s a piece of cake! Not that I’m happy about it, but it could’ve been much worse,” she joked, trying to make light of the situation.
“I know how you feel. I was up all night, worried. But Dr. Bane is such a good doctor and I trust his judgment one hundred percent. We will get a handle on this. Now here take your first dose. Use my bottle of water,” Rachel said handing a pill and the bottle from the cup holder to Cat.
“Geez mom! It’s a horse pill! Look how red it is! Ugh, it smells terrible! How am I supposed to swallow this?” Cat complained as she showed the pill to her mom.
“Just do it Cat. Hold your nose, quickly put it in your mouth and wash it down with the water.”
“Yuck! Seriously disgusting! I can still taste it, even holding my nose,” she whined taking another gulp of water.
“Oh, we have to get you to school! I can’t believe it’s almost eleven!” Rachel exclaimed, pulling the car carefully into the flow of traffic.
By the time Cat reached school, lunch had just begun. Kissing her mom on the cheek, Cat hurried to the office and presented her doctor’s note. Making her way to the cafeteria, she felt more positive than she had been recently. Sitting at the table surrounded by her friends, she listened as they gave her a play by play of the events she had missed. By the afternoon Cat was feeling wonderfully energized with no sign of a headache. She had lost weight over the last few weeks due to her constant nausea which had her avoiding food altogether. Everyone at lunch noticed her returned appetite as she gobbled down the huge tray of food that sat in front of her. The reassurance that she would be her old self soon brought smiles to their faces.
“Mom? Aren’t blood disorders hereditary? Does this run in our family?” Cat asked later that night.
“Umm…well…I believe when your father was younger he had problems with his blood, I can’t remember exactly what it was though,” Rachel said hoping Cat didn’t notice her hesitation.
“Oh, well then at least maybe that explains it. I was beginning to think I was a freak or something that just developed this out of nowhere,” she said with a chuckle.
“Cat this is a very serious matter, you shouldn’t laugh at it,” Rachel said sternly.
“Mom, if I don’t make light of it, then I would get depressed. So I’ve got to joke about it for my own sanity. Especially since I can’t talk to any of my friends about it. You’re the only one I can joke with.”
“I’m sorry Cat. I guess I’m still very sensitive to all this. It worries me to think that something could happen to you and take you away from me,” Rachel said beginning to sob.
Cat hugged her. “I’ll be all right! I’m a tough chick! This will go away eventually. Remember what Dr. Bane said, we only need to wait it out and follow his instructions.”
“I know, I know,” she said patting Cat’s arm that was wrapped around her.
Each day Cat waited for her symptoms to return but they stayed away as the medicine seemed to be working its magic. Ryan even noticed. He was amazed at the change in her from the last few weeks.
Miss Amaya picked up the phone and dialed with shaking fingers. She hoped that Gretchen would answer. Before the second ring she heard her strained hello. “You saw it too? It was awful,” Miss Amaya asked, her head bent, her hand covering her eyes.
“Yes it was horrible. Those eyes, those awful evil jet black eyes,” Gretchen replied reliving the vision she had just witnessed.
“What can we do?” Miss Amaya’s desperate plea came over the phone line.
“I’m going to have a meeting in the village. We need as much power as we can get to stop this monster. Those poor girls! We have to make him cease. I’ll call you this evening when the ladies and I are together so you can join by speaker phone. The roads are too treacherous for you to physically come here. It will just have to suffice. Blessed be Amaya.” Sitting at her breakfast table, Miss Amaya knew she had to get up and ready herself for school. She was glad that Gretchen had shared her vision, as she didn’t think she could verbalize the horror she had just witnessed.
Sitting in her first period class in the last week of February, Miss Amaya wasn’t surprised when a somber Principal Landers announced that yet another girl had gone missing.
Cat closed her locker and made her way to the gym. Her group was standing quietly by the door waiting for her. “It’s just terrible! Who’s doing this?” Amanda asked quietly. Cat nodded in agreement and then opened the double doors leading into the gym. A man sat behind a table with stacks of large envelopes containing copies of the pictures that were taken at the homecoming dance. A line formed and the group waited patiently near th
e back of it.
“I can’t believe what’s happening. I’ve always felt safe in Astoria. Things like this only happen in big cities, not little towns like ours. My mom has started locking every door and window since the other girl’s disappearance. I can’t imagine what she’ll do now? We’ve never had to lock our doors before!” Elle rambled on.
Cat put her arm around her, “don’t worry Elle. They’ll catch this monster. I only hope it’s sooner than later.”
“Yeah and you guys have me to protect you. So what’s your worry?” Matt interjected. He flinched readying himself for the punch he knew would be coming from Amanda. They all stared in disbelief as she just stood there staring into space. He turned to Amanda, realizing a punch was not forth coming. Seeing the somber look on her face, Matt placed his arm around her, hugging her close. Everyone looked on in amazement at him, most of all Amanda.
“Name?” the man behind the table asked.
Cat gave him her receipt, “Catherine Colvin.” The man quickly flipped through the envelopes looking for hers.
“Here they are, let’s take a look,” he said pulling out the numerous photos. “Well, I don’t know what happened with this one here. There seems to be some kind of black shadow standing in front of you,” he stated placing the photo off to the side. “The others here look okay, see?” He laid the rest of the photos on the table in front of her. Ignoring the other photos Cat asked to see the one with the shadow. “See, this one’s a little messed up,” he explained pointing to the black shadow framing Cat’s head and shoulders. “In fact, it kind of looks like a person. That’s creepy. Hope he wasn’t your date!” he joked chuckling to himself. She peered at the photo. It does look like a person. She felt a chill staring at the black mass, sensing it was real and that it looked very familiar.
“I’ll take them all,” Cat said sliding the photos back into the envelope and leaving the table. While her friends weren’t looking, Cat placed the odd photo in her coat pocket to examine it later.
Later that night, up in her room, Cat pulled the photo from her coat pocket. Placing it on her desk under the lamp, she scanned the photo looking for the shadow. The shadow had disappeared. “Of course it’s gone. Why would there be any evidence proving that I’m not going insane. Great Cat! Just another creepy imaginary thing to add to your long list of creepy imaginary things!”
15
Troubled Waters
A stones throw away from Astoria, near the mouth of the Covington River, violent dark waves crashed forcefully on the rocks in Oldes Bay. A solitary object lay on the sand. On closer inspection Astoria’s Sheriff, Barry Stokes, confirmed what his deputy Kim Burkins had reported. It was a body. Though ravaged by the elements, he had a gut feeling that it was one of the missing girls. He watched as the waves hit the shore, the howling wind ripped through him, but he barely felt it. “Sheriff Stokes, could you please move out of my light. I need to take a closer look before we move the body,” a voice called out bringing his attention back to the scene.
“Sorry Doc, let’s move out of this man’s way Kim so he can do his job.” They watched for a couple of seconds as the short, stocky, balding man carefully examined the body with his bright green gloves. An ambulance stood silently by the sheriff’s cruiser, its lights flashing. Barry nodded to the two attendants waiting patiently to transport the body back to the morgue. He motioned for Kim to get into his cruiser. Feeling the air from the car’s heater blasting over them, they sat in silence.
“Barry, Barry, you there?” Bethany Watkins, the night dispatcher, came through loud and clear, making him jump a little.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Barry answered wearily picking up the hand radio.
“You need backup?”
“No, we’ve got enough, over and out.” He released the button and sighed. “I’m not looking forward to the next couple of days, no sir,” he said rubbing his eyes. Kim glanced at her boss, realizing that this must have hit close to home with him being the father of two young teenage girls. Several minutes later they watched as the body was loaded into the back of the ambulance. “This son of a bitch made a mistake, bringing this to our county!” Barry muttered under his breath as he started the vehicle.
“Cat, Taylor, we’ve got a town hall meeting tonight!” Rachel called out frantically, shuffling around in the kitchen. “Dinner’s in the oven…so please remember to take it out when the timer goes off! The last thing we need is for the house to burn down!”
“I’m right here mom.” Cat’s voice behind Rachel made her jump.
“Oh Cat, honey, you startled me.”
“Is the meeting about the young girl they found today?” Her worried eyes met her mom’s. Rachel nodded.
“Rachel, honey, hurry up! We’re going to be late!” Sam’s voice carried into the kitchen. Cat walked with her mom to the foyer where Sam stood with her coat in hand. Rachel grabbed it as Sam bent down and gave Cat a quick hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Taylor we’re leaving!” he called up the stairs. Taylor’s head poked over the banister.
“I know, I know, make sure the house doesn’t burn down and put Cat out with the garbage!” Taylor called out grinning.
“You better be nice young man! I can still put you over my knee,” Sam replied trying to look foreboding but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away. “Just ignore him Cat. I know you do all the time.” He chuckled. “Now, woman we have to go!” Grabbing Rachel he opened the door and the two hurried down the pathway. Locking the door behind them, Cat turned and looked up at Taylor.
“Garbage, huh? Like you could,” she joked as she walked back to the kitchen, ignoring the laughter from above.
“Sam, I’m worried about how this is going to look. The news said the girl looked like she was mauled by an animal,” Rachel said fidgeting in the passenger seat.
“The townspeople are none the wiser Rach. Whoever is doing this, they meant to make it look like an animal attack. I just wish I knew why.”
“Maybe Aldon should speak with Lucien.”
“Yes, that might be wise. I hope this doesn’t trace back to them. I’m having a hard time believing it could be someone from their group,” Sam replied maneuvering the slick streets as sleet fell hard on the windshield.
Lightning struck and thunder sounded, setting the tone of the town hall meeting. Sam fought with the door helping Rachel through it, letting in some of the rain before wrestling it shut. The warm, humid hall was jammed packed with worried citizens voicing their fears to one another. A confident, tall man made his way to the podium as the crowd noise began to diminish. Markus Woods, the youngest Mayor in Astoria’s history, stood before them.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” his strong voice came over the speakers, “Thank you for coming tonight.” Murmurs ran through the crowd. “Everyone…please…can I have your attention…Thank you. There is something wrong in our backyard. As you all know there have been three disappearances in the area as of late and now one of the bodies has been found. I don’t want any lynch mobs or any rogue heroes trying to catch whoever or whatever might be doing this. We need to, at this time, and always, rely on the skills and abilities of our local sheriff’s department. Here to speak with you is our town Sheriff, Barry Stokes. Barry will you take the podium?” The Sheriff approached and adjusted the microphone to accommodate his height.
“Now, I’m sure that you have all heard about the ongoing investigation into the missing girls and now the finding of the first girl’s body. Well, at this time we do not have any leads as to what, or who has done this. The sheriff’s department and the city council have decided to propose an idea to you. And hopefully, you’ll agree that it will help us deter anything from happening here in our town. We think it’s a necessary step to ensure the safety of our children to enforce…a curfew.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” a voice called out from the front row. Standing up, Debbie Fuller, a tall, busty blonde faced the crowd, her quiet husband sitting beside her. A few groaned as they saw
the arrogant, self-anointed Queen Of Astoria standing before them.
“Mrs. Fuller, I’m glad that you’re on board with this. And I’m sure everyone’s happy to see that you care so much about Astoria’s safety,” Barry replied.
“Well, since all of the missing girls have been very pretty, that makes my daughter Kirsten, a prime target. Her being the prettiest girl in Astoria after all. Anything that keeps her safe, I’m on board with,” Debbie gushed, sounding like she just answered a beauty pageant question.
Barry cleared his throat and tried to pull everyone’s attention to him and not toward the arrogant beauty queen. “Like I was saying, we will institute this curfew starting immediately and hope to have the cooperation of the whole town. Remember that this is for our children’s safety. This is not a punishment and we may need to remind them of this when they’re informed about it. Does anyone have any questions?” A hand shot up. “I have one. What about the kids who have jobs at night?”
“Good question. If they’re under eighteen and work at night, I suggest a parent take them to and from work. I know this may be inconvenient, but it needs to be done.”
The next day, Astoria High was abuzz with talk about the curfew. The male students were causing the most ruckus. They felt the curfew should only be placed on the females. Their argument fell on deaf ears. Everything was clarified by the sheriff over the PA system during first period. His voice followed the principal’s introduction. “Students, as you know we had a meeting last night and have decided that a curfew shall be put in effect immediately for all under the age of eighteen. I’ve heard that some of the male students feel this does not pertain to them. I want to reiterate that it does. Anyone caught out after dark will be dealt with by law. This is for your own protection, and is not a punishment. We’re also asking that during daylight hours you don’t travel alone. Safety is better in numbers. Principal Landers and I have decided that the Spring Fling dance will still take place, but with certain safety restrictions. A flyer will be distributed outlining them. If you or your parents have any questions, please feel free to call the sheriff’s office. Thank you for your cooperation.” CRACKLE…CRACKLE…