Family Night

by Miller, Tim

She pulled off her mask, looked up and smiled at him.

  “Look what I got!” She said, holding up the scalp.

  “What did I tell you about going in there? You don’t go in alone!”

  “Why? They’re so messed up, they can’t do anything. The one just sat there while I scalped the other one. She screamed like crazy, both of them did, it was pretty cool.”

  Looking at the scalp, he could tell it was Julie’s by the dark hair.

  “Is she still alive?” He asked.

  “Oh yeah. A lot of pain maybe, but she’s alive. Won’t need a haircut for a while.”

  His anger began to subside. As much as he wanted to be angry with her for disobeying him, his pride in her overcame it. Here was his little girl, coming into her own. She took the initiative, went out there and did what she had to do, all on her own.

  “Well, I am proud of you pumpkin. Though I would prefer you’d have waited for me.”

  “I know. I just…I wanted to see if they’d fear me as much by myself. You know?”

  “Yes, yes I do. Did they?”

  “This one was passed out until I started cutting on her. The blonde kept trying to reason with me. She was trying to get me to help her escape.”

  “Yes, I told you they would.”

  “Yeah. It was weird. She seemed to think you were hurting me too.”

  “Never sweetie.”

  “What about mom?”

  He hadn’t told the kids what he’d done. They were sound asleep when he killed Margie. He had cleaned up and took them back here when they woke up.

  “Mom’s gone sweetie. She won’t be coming back. I told you, she wasn’t really like us. She never loved any of us.”

  Brandi hung her head.

  “Yeah, I guess not.”

  “Besides, look at the fun we’re having. We have everything we need here. No school, no mom, no arguing. Just us as a nice family,” He pointed to the warehouse. “With plenty to eat.”

  “How come mom never did this with us? She never ate like we do?”

  “She never realized the strength and power you can obtain from eating this way. She chose to be like the rest of the walking corpses out in the world. Flesh is the true strength. I wish I had started on it when I was younger. You and your brother are off to a good start.”

  “Yeah, plus it’s fun. School is stupid. Everyone there thinks I’m weird. They make fun of me and I can’t do anything about it. Here, I can do something.” She said.

  “That’s exactly right. Let’s get back to the house; your brother will be awake soon.”

  As they walked back to the house, Jeffrey came running out to meet them, his mask in his hand, bouncing as he sprinted up to them.

  “Hey buddy!” The Mask said.

  “Hey dad! What are you guys doing?”

  “Well, since you are both up, how about we get our stuff and head to the warehouse, only for a little bit. Our friend is probably nice and drained by now. We can use him to get breakfast ready.”

  “Yay!” Jeffrey said.

  “I thought you’d like that. It might take a little bit. Did you want to help me clean him up?”

  “Sure!”

  “You can help too if you want to Brandi.”

  “Nah, it’s not as much fun after they’re dead.”

  Chapter 24

  No one was answering at Castillo’s apartment. Her car was gone as well. After the fourth or fifth time he knocked, a woman opened the door in the next apartment over.

  “Why you keep knockin’? They ain’t home?” The woman said.

  “They?”

  “Yeah, that cop lady and her girlfriend. Haven’t seen either of them since Friday.”

  “Did they say where they went?” Johnson asked.

  “Who’s askin’?”

  “I’m Captain Johnson, SAPD,” he said as he held up his badge. “I work with Julie. I haven’t been able to reach her.”

  “Nah, they ain’t said nothing to me. I don’t usually talk to them. Just see them hanging out.”

  “You said she had a girlfriend? Like a roommate?”

  “Nah, they’s lezzies. I’ve seen them holdin’ hands and kissing and shit. They’re both nice lookin’ gals, so maybe they’re onto something. I’m stuck with this loser.” She pointed behind her where Johnson saw a fat, bald man sleeping on the couch. He’d had no idea Castillo was a lesbian. Not that it mattered he supposed. She didn’t look like most lesbians he knew, but come to think of it, he didn’t know very many. He didn’t blame her for keeping it quiet. He could only imagine what kind of shit Ben would give her. Speaking of which, where was Ben?

  “Was there anyone with them when you last saw them? Or see any men around here?”

  “Nope, nothing like that. I just figured they went away for the weekend or something. Some lezzie love getaway or something.”

  “Okay. Thank you for your time.” He said as he walked back down the stairs. He knew they hadn’t just gone on some getaway. Castillo was on call this weekend, wouldn’t be something she’d do. His phone began buzzing in his pocket.

  “Johnson,” he said into the phone.

  “Hey Captain, Pena here in IT.”

  “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “They brought me a laptop from that Mason homicide earlier. I guess this was the husbands.”

  “Yeah. Sounds right.”

  “Well, the encryption on this thing is insane. I guess they said he was a computer geek also.”

  “Correct,” Johnson answered.

  “Well, I was able to open some of the files. He had in here Detective Castillo’s address, phone number, and all kind of other info on her. Looks like he got into the DPS database.”

  “Jesus Christ.”

  “Yeah, looks like there’s some other people’s info in here. Why would he have Castillo’s info?”

  “Tell you what. Put that stuff aside for now. Get ahold of Lt. Ramos. Have him get you a warrant for her cell phone records and last location of her phone, ASAP.”

  Pena’s voice became strained with concern.

  “Um, ok, sure. You think she’s ok?”

  “Just do it and get back with me. Then keep digging through that thing.” Johnson said as he hung up.

  Fuck!

  He still wasn’t sure where Ben fit in with all this. Castillo had been working that case with the missing waitress. Maybe the guy who grabbed that girl went after Castillo though that made no sense. She had no leads at all; it was a total dead end. He sat in his car for a few more minutes before his phone rang, it was Pena again.

  “What’ve you got?”

  “Last place her phone was located was way south of town. I’m texting you the coordinates. I’m texting you the coordinates for the area. She would be within a quarter mile of that tower.” Pena said.

  “Ok, got it.” Johnson said as he hung up. Looking at his phone he pulled up the numbers Pena had sent and punched them into his GPS. Starting his car, he backed up and headed toward the location, hoping he could get some answers.

  Chapter 25

  Julie’s skull was on fire. At least it felt like it. She lay there with her head in Sarah’s lap, her eyes stinging from the blood oozing into them. Sarah had been singing to her for a little bit. She recognized the song, but couldn’t stay focused long enough to listen to it. In her years as a police officer, she’d dealt with many crazy people. She’d often wondered what it was that had pushed them over the edge.

  She couldn’t look at her feet. The one time she did, she fainted, as they now looked like a pair of grapefruits sticking out of her legs. She had never known so much pain, didn’t even know this existed. She knew the damage that had been done to her was beyond repair, even if she did make it out alive. At the moment, Sarah was holding her quietly.

  “Sarah?” Julie asked.

  “Yes honey?”

  “How bad do I look?” Julie tried to force a smile.

  “You look great babe. You’re always beautiful.”

&nbs
p; “Liar.” Julie replied. “Do you think we’ll make it out of here?

  “Of course we will. I won’t let them kill you.” Sarah said.

  Julie was impressed with Sarah’s strength. Through their relationship, Julie had always been the strong one, the fixer, or problem solver. If the landlord was giving them shit, Julie went and dealt with it. When it was time to buy a car, Julie did the talking. Not that Sarah had no guts, she was just more timid. Julie was seeing exactly how brave this woman she loved truly was.

  The door slid open causing both women to jump. All three of their captors were standing in the doorway. The man walked in, headed right for them. Julie tried not to look, but saw Sarah staring him down. However, he walked right past them over to Ben’s body. He cut the body down and signaled for the kids to join him. They came walking in carrying sheets of plastic and a bag.

  Julie didn’t want to watch, but she could figure out what was going on. Based on the sounds, she heard the cutting, squishing sound of flesh and tissue being cut and torn. Please God, don’t let them have another cannibal cookout. She clung on to Sarah who held her even tighter as they listened to them cutting Ben’s body to pieces. It went on for several hours. Julie must have fallen asleep for part of it, when she woke up, she saw them carrying body parts wrapped up in smaller pieces of the plastic.

  As they walked out, she noticed for the first time they had left the door open behind them. She had no doubt this had been done on purpose. It was his way of taunting them, reminding them of the fact they were both now crippled and helpless to run away. She only had to look at Sarah’s knees to be reminded of how bad off they both were. As their tormenters walked out, the man stopped and looked at them through his mask.

  “Bye for now ladies. I’ll be back later with a tasty lunch for you. Need to get some meat on those bones of yours.” He said and slammed the door closed.

  At least they got Ben’s dead body out of there. She felt horrible for what they had done to him, and hated seeing him hanging there like a piece of meat. Though that’s all he was to them. That’s all any of them were was meat.

  “Jules?” Sarah said.

  “What love?’

  “I have another idea.”

  “Oh God, no. Don’t try to escape, you’ll never make it.”

  “This isn’t an escape. At least, not a direct one.”

  “Then what’s the plan?” Julie asked.

  Sarah went on to explain what she had in mind. Julie listened, or tried to look like she was listening. Her mind would fade in and out, but it sounded like she was really onto something this time. At least it was worth a shot. They were probably going to die anyway. There wasn’t much more pain they could inflict. The two women were so busted up; it had to be soon before they came and finished them off. God knows what they’d do to them before killing them though. Sarah was right. This was the only way.

  Chapter 26

  Captain Johnson followed the GPS’ directions as he got closer to the coordinates he punched in. He was way south of the city, with a lot of nothing around him. Keeping his eyes open, he hadn’t seen a building or anything for a while. The GPS said he was just a few minutes away. The coordinates were only for the nearest cell tower, so she had been in the area.

  To his right, there was an abandoned gas station. He pulled in and drove around the building. Along the back side, he saw Castillo’s car. He stopped and climbed out, looking the car over. There was nothing unusual about it, other than its location. No damage, though her purse was on the passenger seat. The sight of the purse caused him a sinking feeling in his gut.

  Johnson had been married three times, and none of his wives had gone anywhere without their purse. He was willing to bet her phone was in there also. He’d have to have a crime scene tech take a look at the car and between Eddie Mason having her name and information in his laptop, and the car being abandoned out there, he walked around the rest of the area with the hope of finding something but saw nothing else that got his attention.

  He climbed back into his car and called in for a tech to come take a look at it. They said it would be an hour or so. Shit. Last thing he wanted to do was sit there with the car for an hour. He started the car and figured he’d check the area for anything else out of place. He pulled out of the gas station and drove further down the road.

  There was a junkyard on the left a ways down. He drove by there and saw Ben’s car sitting in the drive.

  “What the hell?” He muttered as he pulled in. He got out and looked at Ben’s car. First he walked around back and saw his stupid “I’m looking for a nymphomaniac that owns a liquor store” bumper sticker. His car however, wasn’t in as good of condition as Castillo’s. The driver’s window was shattered; the inside of the car was a mess. Not a usual messy car mess, but a spilled soda on the passenger seat and a smoldering cigarette on the floor mat.

  “This car yours?” A voice said from behind him. He turned to see an older man behind him.

  “Uh, no. I’m a police officer.” He said as he showed his badge. “Did you see anyone near this car?”

  “No, I got here this morning and it’s sitting here all busted up. I called the city to come tow it away, and they said I have to wait for the owner first. I was hoping you could come take it.”

  “It actually belongs to one of my officers who areis missing. Was anyone around here at all today?”

  “Nope, no one. I don’t usually come in on Sundays, but I had to pull some parts for a project of mine,” the man said.

  Johnson put his hands on his hips and tried to recreate what happened there. From where they stood, he had a good view of the gas station, Castillo’s car sitting in back. That’s when he started to realize something.

  “Shit,” he said.

  “What?”

  She went there to meet someone, and Ben was her backup. For some reason they hadn’t called it in though. Whoever she went to meet had made Ben, got him and her too. He rubbed his eyes with his fingertips. They could both very well be dead. If this was the same guy who took the waitress, unless he was collecting captives somewhere, no reason they’re not all in a ditch somewhere.

  “Hey,” Johnson said. “You know of any homes or properties in the area?”

  “Oh, there’s a few. There’s an airfield further south, and I think there’s at least one or two farms out that way. Though the one I don’t think has been in use for a long time.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep, I’m pretty sure.”

  Johnson ran back to his car, jumped in and peeled out of the lane. He may have found the killer and his detectives; question is if they were still alive. He drove south for ten or fifteen more minutes, until he saw the airfield. It was small with only single engine planes sitting around. He wasn’t familiar with it, but it may have been a private airfield. Driving around the field, he saw a dirt road that led back through some trees. He turned the car onto the dirt road and followed it through the woods.

  It wound around past woods and trees and finally opened into a large clearing. He saw a worn looking farm house with a beat up structure well behind it. There was also a van sitting way up ahead. As he got closer he took out his gun. He knew he should call it in, but there was no time. It would take almost an hour to assemble ERT. Castillo and Sylar couldn’t wait that long, if they were still alive.

  Chapter 27

  It was like carving a turkey. The Mask sliced away at the meat as the kids sat around the barbeque pit. He thought of how this is how it should be. Back in the days, their ancestors only ate what they killed. That’s what he was trying to teach his kids. That was the purpose of the ritual; to enjoy the kill and eat it together as a family. Margie had never understood that. She never cared about anything other than what was on TV.

  He sliced a big chunk of meat from the torso. It sizzled as fat drained off it. He put it on a plate and kept cutting. Jeffrey and Brandi were getting the table ready and setting up some chairs. The Mask carved up more pieces of meat, e
nough to fill several plates. There was plenty more to go around. He’d show them how to make jerky later. He carried the last plate to the table and sat down with the kids.

  They dug into the feast. They didn’t have much else other than the meat. They had bottled water, and some canned beans, but it was plenty. There was nothing more pure, more wholesome than the meat from the ritual.

  “Hey daddy?” Jeffrey asked.

  “Yes buddy?”

  “How come we didn’t eat mommy?”

  The Mask was shocked at the question. He didn’t think they’d known he’d killed Margie, but they apparently figured it out somehow. He looked at Brandi whose face had the same look Jeffrey’s did.

  “Why would you want to eat your mother?” The Mask asked.

  “I dunno. I thought when we killed people we were supposed to eat them.”

  “Not always. That’s why we do the ritual. They must be purified through pain before they are worthy to eat. Otherwise, you may as well eat dirt.” He explained.

  “So how come we didn’t purify mom?” Brandi asked.

  He was quite impressed at their detachment from their mother. They had always been closer to him, but apparently even more so than he’d thought.

  “Well, since we’re on the subject, do you guys know why I killed her?”

  “Because she was fuckin’ psycho.” Brandi said, surprising him yet again.

  “Well, pretty much yes. The yelling, nagging and verbal abuse was hard enough for me to deal with. But it was worse when she let you guys have it. When I killed her yesterday, she wasn’t alone when we got home. There was another man in there with her.”

  “Did you kill him too?” Jeffrey asked.

  “I sure did. I did it quick, probably too quick. I grabbed my hatchet and chopped their faces up. We wouldn’t want to eat them. There was nothing good inside them. They would only make us sick.”

  Both kids nodded and continued eating. It had taken him a long time and some practice to work his way up to doing the ritual with people. He’d started out with animals a few years ago, and then worked his way up to people.