by I N Foggarty
When Matt moved towards the door he saw Natalie about to open her mouth to argue. Mark too must have sensed an outburst as he practically swept the brunette towards the door. “Come on guys lets go,” he said.
Out in the hallway, Matt filled in beside the other boy. From in front, he could hear Kitty ask Natalie if she thought that they were all in trouble for doing something wrong. He only had to look at Mark once to tell that they shared the same thought, Dylan. When they reached the principal’s office the vice principle stood waiting outside for them.
“Follow me please,” she said in a tone slightly lighter than her normal stern one.
Exchanging glances the group followed the woman into the office. Matt could not recall ever being inside the principal’s office before. Yet any mystique its old-fashioned décor, complete with copious amounts of wood and leather should have held was overshadowed by the two people standing on either side of the large oak desk. Clad in full CPD uniform stood his elder sister and another police officer.
“I suppose the four of you are wondering why we have called you here this morning,” the principal said in a slightly sullen tone. A statement, not a question. He was a portly man with a chubby face and slightly dishevelled and tired look about him; a pair of ancient-looking spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose. In stark contrast, his deputy stood poker straight beside him in a crisp grey power suit and perfectly polished black stilettoes.
When no one answered he continued. “Unfortunately, your friend Mister Rodgers has been reported missing…” Matt heard the two girls let out a gasp. Though he himself had been prepared for this it did not make it any easier to hear. “His housekeeper filed a report last night that she had not seen him since Thursday. Needless to say, she has not had any contact with him since. However, the school had been able to confirm that he attended on Friday and that he left the premises shortly after the school day ended. As the four of you are his friends and, according to Mr Burke the last people he was seen with, we were hoping that at least one of you would be able to shed some light on where he may have gone.”
When the man paused to take a drink of water Matt tried to catch his sister’s eye. She did not return the look. Had she known about this last night?
“This is Officer Baker and Officer Taylor of the Chicago Police Department,” the principal continued, gesturing towards each of the officers in turn. “They would like to talk to each of you individually so they can try and establish the best possible picture of what might have happened to Dylan.” He then turned to the two Police officers. “Officer Baker if you would like to take Mr Taylor and Mr Hamilton and follow Miss Williams to her office. Officer Taylor, you are free to use my office.”
Matt looked glumly up at his sister but was quickly ushered from the room by Miss Williams. His sister’s face remained emotionless. Back in the hallway, he followed the vice principle along the short distance that lay between the two offices.
“Mr Hamilton please wait out here while I talk to Mr Taylor,” Officer Baker said as Miss Williams opened the door to her office and ushered him inside. Solemnly he crossed the threshold. “Have a seat, Mr Taylor.” Matt sat down in front of the desk while the man strode round to the other side and took up residence in the teacher’s chair. “First off all, I want to stress that you’re not in any sort of trouble, Son. We just need you to be open and honest so we can find your friend Mr Rodgers.”
Matt nodded though he had not actually been asked a question. Officer Baker withdrew a notebook and pen from his pocket and flipped it to an appropriate page.
“After speaking with one of your teachers, a Mr Burke, we’ve been able to establish that Mr Rodgers was last seen in your company. Can you confirm this?”
“Yeah,” Matt replied, thinking back to Friday evening. At least that part of the day remained clear in his memory. “Dylan and I left class and headed out to his car.”
“Were you still with him when he left the premises?”
“Yes. We drove to my house and then to his where we hung out for a bit.”
Officer Baker frowned at him “A bit?” he asked, not sounding impressed with Matt’s lax attitude to timekeeping.
“We hung out till about seven. After which…” Matt paused, the memory of the texts Anna had sent him floating through his mind. It still hurt thinking about it. Yet her appearance at Raymond’s party still confused him.
Officer Baker gave him a firm look that told him he was expected to finish his sentences.
“We hung out till about seven after which we left to go to a party.”
“A party? Did you drive there?”
Matt nodded in response to the question. “Yes. One of our friends, Raymond, was having a party at his place that night.” He almost choked on the word friend. It would certainly be the first and only time he would ever describe Raymond as that.
“Is this Raymond a student here at Woodlake Academy?”
Before Matt could answer Miss Williams interjected. She must have been taking bad to not talking while in her own office. “Raymond West is one of our students here. I’ll have him sent for once you are done with Mr Taylor.”
“That would be most helpful,” Officer Baker said stiffly, sounding unimpressed with the deputy’s interruption. He then sighed. “We may need to establish a list of everyone in attendance at this social gathering.” He then turned his attention back to Matt. “What happened after you arrived at this… party?”
Matt paused for a moment as he tried to recall exactly what had happened. He could remember arriving, being greeted by Raymond and shown to where the rest of his friends were gathered. After that, it started to get a bit hazy. Dylan had given him some beers before he had left but that was the last time he had seen him. He conveyed all of this to Officer Baker and hoped he did not ask for any details pertaining to the party beyond that.
“And you are sure that was the last time you saw Mr Rodgers.”
“Yes.”
“What time did you leave the party at, Mr Taylor?”
Matt racked his brain but came up empty. The best he could come up with was that it had been about 5 am when Janine had picked him up. Sober, the walk would probably only have taken him about thirty minutes. “I don’t remember. About four in the morning maybe.”
Officer Baker did not look impressed but did not push him any further. Instead, he asked. “When you left was Mr Rodgers’ car still parked in the vicinity?”
Again Matt drew a blank. “I don’t know. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Frowning the policeman recapped his pen and sat it down neatly beside his notebook. “Thank you for your time this morning, Mr Taylor. We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”
While relieved that the man had finished, a thought had occurred to Matt. “Officer Baker?” he said slowly, then paused to wait for the man to acknowledge him.
“Yes,” the man replied in slight surprise.
“Umm…” Matt began. He had only just formulated the idea and had not quite figured out how to articulate it. After a few seconds and a look of impatience spreading across the man’s face, he just blurted it out. “I think my girlfriend Anna may have gone missing too.”
Officer Baker looked pointedly at him. “Has she been reported missing to the police?”
“No,” Matt replied. “She lives on her own so no one except for me would notice that she had gone missing.”
The voice of Miss Williams cut in, causing Matt to turn and look in her direction. “Are you suggesting that you think Miss…” the woman’s voice trailed for a second as though she had been about to say something but changed her mind. “…Richards has vanished also, Mr Taylor?”
“Yeah,” he said again, slightly more firmly than he had intended.
Officer Baker opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the vice principal.
“Officer Baker may I be blunt with you on this issue?” The man nodded. “Miss Richards is one of our more troubled students. A delinquent i
f you will. Over the past year, she has developed a track record of tardiness, cutting classes or not even bothering to show up. In fact, it was brought to my attention last week that she had been late by over an hour on Monday, skipped school on Wednesday afternoon and absent without informing us on both Thursday and Friday.”
“I see,” Officer Baker said. He gave Matt a stern look.
“That’s completely unfair,” Matt blurted out as he stared at the woman in absolute horror. How could she just dismiss him without even hearing him out?
“Be careful of your tone, Young man,” Miss Williams snapped, in the same manner she would at a child who had just protested a detention. Then she turned to Officer Baker. “It is not my place to tell you how to do your job, Officer. However, I would stress that in the case of Miss Richards, that her absence today is not atypical and that it would be a severe waste of your time to chase up a truanting child….”
“How can you say that?” Matt shouted at her but quickly found himself cut off.
“Be silent, Mr Taylor,” she demanded before continuing. “If she has not shown up by the end of the week, and we receive no contact from her whatsoever, then I shall personally contact the police and report her as missing. However, until such time, I feel that you would be wasting valuable police time.”
“Your point is received and understood, Miss Williams,” Officer Baker then said before turning back to Matt. “You may go, Mr Taylor. I will make a note of your point and ensure that it is checked out should the need arise.”
“Please go to your appropriate class, Mr Taylor,” Miss Williams said sternly.
The next thing Matt knew he had been shepherded back out into the hallway. He couldn’t believe the audacity of the vice principal. It wasn’t fair that she had outright dismissed him based solely on Anna’s attendance record. Not to mention the fact that she had swayed Officer Baker into seeing her viewpoint without even listening to his. Though to be fair he was not entirely sure that he would have gotten a different response from the man if he had fully listened to his concerns.
Angry and annoyed Matt stalked down the hallway and made his way to what remained of his first-period class. By the time he got there, he had made a decision. When school ended he would look for Anna one more time by himself. If that failed… well, he was pretty sure he would get a lot further with Officer Baker’s partner.
Inner struggle
Silence hung in an air and darkness lingered all around. In the centre of the void, two figures circled each other, watching... waiting. Anna’s eyes remained locked on her foe as the pace suddenly quickened. She had her guard raised though it would be of little use against her opponent’s blade-like claws. Evasion would be a much better tactic. Around the pair, a circle of faceless onlookers were slowly forming. Such an occasion required an audience after all.
Their dance slowly brought them together and the beast howled a piercing note. The stillness shattered like broken glass. In a flash, it thrashed out a claw. Anna ducked her head under the attack and brought her arm across behind the swipe to guide it away. At the same time, she brought her leg around in a kick aimed at the beast’s lower back. She made contact but it was not enough. The creature swung its blade-like talons backwards and caught her trailing leg.
The force of the blow caused her to stagger and she almost lost her balance. Struggling to regain her footing, a twin-clawed attack came hurtling down towards her. Anna did the only thing she could and threw her body sideways. With no time to control her movements, she hit the ground hard. Struggling to catch her breath, she hurriedly scrambled to her feet. There was barely a moment to take stock before the beast came hurtling through the air and she had to evade again.
This time she controlled her landing and managed to spring back to her feet before the thing recovered. The creature let out a thunderous roar of frustration and charged at her again. As it took another swipe she dropped to the floor and with all her might swung her leg around three-sixty degrees and took its legs out from underneath it. The beast shrieked and fell backwards, crashing to the ground. Meanwhile, Anna fluidly rose up from her sweep kick and brought the same leg straight up then crashing back down towards the things head... She missed.
The creature had rolled out of the way just in the nick of time. Before it could properly pick itself up she seized the initiative and delivered a front kick straight to its face. The blow connected and the creature flew backwards with a piercing cry. However her leg lingered a fraction too long and the beast caught it with its claws as it fell, tearing a long gash down her calf. Anna cried out in pain at the feeling of hot blood running down her leg. When it touched back down to the ground it almost gave way. Sucking in a slow deep breath she forced it to bear weight. If she could not fight through it, she would be dead.
The beast rose from the ground and she could see that her own blow had bloodied its face. Its savage features looked even more twisted and mangled. The damage had been more than just superficial she realised when it staggered slightly. Whether it was slightly disorientated or not she did not care and rammed her fist into its face.
A sickening crunch sounded and she felt her own knuckles break. The beast roared at her. She hit it again. And again. Over and over she pummelled it until the bones in both her hands were shattered and only adrenaline kept her from writhing in agony. The beast fell.
With a low resounding thud, the creature’s body hit the ground and Anna stood over it. Bloodied and battered the beast grunted and wheezed. Slowly it raised a clawed hand up though not in aggression; a sign of defeat.
Anna looked down at the thing with her fists still raised and saw how pathetic it actually was. At the end of the day, once stripped of its might and power the creature should have no hold over her. Slowly Anna lowered her hands, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she looked down and finally saw the thing for what it truly was.
“I’m not afraid of you anymore,” she said firmly.
Carefully she tilted her head slightly, turned and walked away. A few steps later, she felt the cold metal of a blade rip through the back of her left shoulder…
…She screamed.
Inspect the unexpected
Beyond the outskirts of Chicago, the clouds had thickened causing the early afternoon sky to become overcast. The light drizzle that had broken out two hours ago had since passed but had left the air feeling clammy and a little heavy. Ramone stood outside the garage, the end of a smoke in his hand. Looking at nothing in particular, his dark eyes scanned the horizon. In his free hand, he kept flicking open the lid on his zippo. His patience wearing increasingly thin.
Today marked the third day since his secondment to this inadequate hovel in the middle of nowhere. Of yet there had been no word of what was to happen to either of the kids in the cell. He didn’t even want to think about the one in the broom closet. Unfortunately, he had no choice for Tanya had just called to say that the ‘buyer’ would be with them shortly. He sighed and took a final draw from the roll-up. How much longer would this all last?
Crushing the butt underfoot he turned and headed back inside. The shutter groaned in protest when he hauled it down and slid the stiff bolt into its housing; the damn thing could use some oil. On the workbench next to the door, he rummaged around looking for the padlock. He had carelessly discarded it in his haste to get outside and now couldn’t find it. Shifting a set of tools and some scrap metal, he eventually located it. How it had managed to lodge itself beneath everything he did not know. Though like how wires seemed to instinctively tangle themselves it seemed to be the law of the universe that something you were looking for would always be at the bottom of the pile.
The Shutter now securely locked Ramone made his way downstairs and back into the living quarters. “Are the kids awake yet?” he asked when Roca grunted at him by way of recognition.
“The boy is but his bitch ain't. Haven’t checked on the new one yet.”
Of course, you haven’t. Tha
t would require getting off your ass and moving further than the distance between your sofa and the fridge Ramone thought bitterly. He chose not to voice this assessment. “Come on then,” he replied instead.
The big man shrugged his shoulders and for a moment Ramone expected some form of protest. As he rose from his couch the unfortunate piece of carpentry groaned. If they were stuck here much longer there’d be one less bit of furniture for the next unfortunate sods. Out in the narrow hallway, Ramone turned right and unlocked the wooden door that sat only a few meters along from the one he had just walked out of. Taking no chances he went to draw his gun.
“Come on you bastard!” he cursed as the gun caught on the leather and he had to wrench it free.
“I told ya you needed to replace that thing when you got a new piece,” Roca said smugly.
“I keep it for luck,” Ramone fired back at him. It was a lie but Roca didn’t need to know that. It had actually been a gift from Maria. Some months ago he had been forced to replace his handgun and had opted for the tried and tested Glock 19. It had not been his first choice, however, he did not have the funds to contemplate anything from the Sig Sauer catalogue. Regardless, the Glock did not quite fit his holster and occasionally caught on withdrawal.
“Yeah well, it’s gonna be some other bastard’s good luck when they shoot you first cos they outdraw you.”
Ramone ignored him though it was a something to think about. Maybe once all this ended he would replace it. Holding the now drawn gun out in front of him he twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Peering through the gap he had to squint in order to see properly for there was no light source. The girl lay huddled against the back wall and by the looks of her asleep.
“She’s fine,” Ramone grunted. He closed the door and re-locked it.
Holstering his sidearm he pricked up his ears. It was faint but he could just make out the sound of tyres on dirt. It must be their ‘guests’ he reasoned, indicating to Roca to head up the stairs. When he reached the top a dull rap sounded from the shutter. Without hesitation, Ramone undid the padlock and had to force the bolt out of its housing. As the corrugated metal trundled upwards a ray of sunlight, that had broken through the clouds during the intervening period, caught his eye. He had to raise a hand up to block it.