‘Excuse me. Miss, excuse me!’
The woman looks up from her magazine. She walks over to the counter and leans to the speaker. ‘Can I help you?’ she asks.
Kate looks back at the Old Man and waves her hand in a come over motion. She turns to the woman, ‘My dog is injured….’
The woman walks away and grabs a sheet of paper and a pen. She lays the paper on the counter, ‘And what is your name young lady?’
‘Kate’ she replies.
The woman begins to write. She stops and looks back at Kate, ‘And your last name? Kate rolls her eyes, ‘Newberry. Look I just need help with my….’
The woman looks down and begins to write, ‘And what is your address?’
Kate puts her hands on the counter and tries to look through the glass at the paper, ‘296 Crest water Ave.’
The woman begins to write, ‘And what would you like to report?’
Kate looks at the woman puzzled, ‘I don’t want to report anything. You see my dog is hurt…’
The woman cuts Kate off, ‘And do you know the name of the person to hurt your dog?’
Kate begins to grind her teeth, ‘No one hurt my dog. He has something stuck in his paw. I was going to take him to the hospital…’
The woman looks at Kate, and then looks back at the Old Man holding Nibbles. ‘Are you sure no one intentionally hurt your dog? If you’re in fear of some sort of retaliation from the person who did this, you should file an order of protection.’
Kate steps back from the counter. She lightly takes Nibble’s paw and brings it closer to the counter, ‘There is a twig that pierced his paw all the way through. The only thing I need is some medical assistance from someone to get it out. That’s it. Now, if you can’t do it just tell me and I’ll take him somewhere else.’
The woman looks at Nibbles’ paw. She picks up the phone beside her and dials. She waits a few seconds until a crackly voice comes through the speaker, ‘This is Morrison.’ The voice says.
‘Sherriff Morrison? There is a little girl out front who needs some assistance.’ The woman replies.
The line falls silent until a crackle breaks through the speaker. ‘I’ll be right out.’ The voice answers. The woman looks up at Kate, ‘He’ll be right out. You can take a seat over there.’ Kate sarcastically smiles at the woman, ‘It’s ok, I’ll stand.’
Kate walks over to the Old Man who is struggling to hold Nibbles, ‘You can go if you want. You’ve already been such a big help and I don’t want to take any more of your time.’
The Old Man shakes his head and smiles, ‘It’s ok, I wasn’t doing anything important. If you want, I can stay until you get situated, just in case they kick us out of here and we have to take your puppy to the hospital.’
Kate grins at the Old Man, ‘Thank you so much. I really mean that.’
The door beside the counter swings open and Sherriff Morrison swaggers out holding a clipboard. He sees Kate, and the Old Man standing with Nibbles in the center of the floor. He walks over and takes a pen out of his pocket.
‘So,’ he says, ‘what seems to be the problem here?’
Kate points to Nibbles’ paw, ‘My dog stepped on a twig and I need help getting it out and bandaging it.’
Sheriff Morrison puts the clipboard under his arm. He bends down and looks at Nibbles’ paw. ‘Are you sure he stepped on it?’ he asks ‘Because it looks like someone jammed it in there.’
Kate looks down at Nibbles, ‘I think he stepped on it. You see, I lost him in the woods and when I went to find him, I heard him yelping and I found him with like this.’
Sheriff Morrison looks over to the woman at the counter, ‘Maxine? Is Roy here or did he go out on a call?’
The woman begins flipping through a chart. She stops and looks back at Sherriff Morrison, ‘He’s not here. Want me to radio him and ask for his 20?’ Sheriff Morrison nods his head and the woman picks up her radio. ‘Roy is our medic. He’s probably out doing something…ummm…medical, so come on to the back and we’ll wait for him.’
Kate and the Old Man follow Sherriff Morrison to the back of the police station. Kate sees a woman handcuffed to a chair with her head on the table. She smells strongly of alcohol and her tight, short, purple dress hardly covers her modesty as she slowly slides down the chair.
Sherriff Morrison picks her back up and leans her back in the chair. ‘You can lay the dog on this desk.’ Sherriff Morrison says.
Kate looks at the woman in disgust, ‘You want him on this desk? Like, this desk right here? The one beside this lady?’
Sherriff Morrison clears the papers off, ‘Oh, she’s harmless. She just likes to drink a lot and chase her boyfriend around with knives when she’s loaded. But she sobering up so she’s almost back to her cheerful, peace-loving self.’
Sherriff Morrison looks up at Kate and cracks a smile, ‘Let this be a lesson to you. If you drink, you’ll end up handcuffed to a chair.’
Kate tip toes past the sleeping woman and slides a chair over to the desk. She looks around the mostly empty office. A young man dressed in a red sweater types ferociously at a computer. His desk is piled with papers. A shadow behind him in a small cell paces back and forth.
Kate hears the shadow mumbling in deep, inaudible grunts. She tries to peer deeper in the cell, through the darkness. The shadow stops, and turns to her. The mumbling ceases as she feels his glare bursting through the bars, raising the hair on her neck.
She swiftly turns away from the cell. She looks at Nibbles on the desk, but she can still feel the stare of the shadow.
The Old Man extends his hand to Sheriff Morrison, ‘Well, I think my job here is done. I better get out of here before the ol’ ball-and-chain locks me out the house and I have to sleep on the porch. I’m sure you can take it from here.’
Sherriff Morrison takes the Old Man’s hand and gives it a vigorous shake, ‘Yea, we’ll take care of her and get her home safety. Thank you for all your help.’
Kate gets up from her chair and walks over to the Old Man. She wraps her arms around him and gives him a snug squeeze.
‘Thank you again. If there is anything I could do for you, just let me know.’ The Old Man puts his hands on Kate’s shoulders, ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m a karma believer and I’m sure it will come back to me. You take care of yourself, ok kid?’
Kate smiles, ‘You do the same.’ The Old Man pushes the door open. Kate watches as he disappears behind the closing exit.
‘So,’ Sherriff Morrison utters while examining Nibbles’ foot, ‘you say you were walking in the woods and he step on a twig?’
‘Yes’ Kate replies, ‘he ran out into the woods and the next thing you know, he came back like this.’
Sherriff Morrison reaches in his pocket and yanks out a pair of wire framed glasses. He flicks the hinges open and slides them on his face. ‘Well, it looks like the end of this stick has been sharpened, kind of like a spear.’
Kate sees the shadow in the cell begin to walk closer. The light catches his scraggly white beard and ragged clothing. He walks closer and presses his face to the bars.
Sherriff Morrison stands up and walks over to the first aid kit on the wall. He takes out a small bottle and holds it up to Kate.
‘This is Betadine. It’s a disinfectant and it’s safe for humans and animals. I’m just going to pour a little on his wound, make sure he doesn’t get an infection.’
The raggedy man reaches his hands through the bars and grips them. His knuckles turn white. His eyes widened into a deranged look. Kate stares directly at the old man.
‘Kate? Kate?’ Sheriff Morrison says, ‘Could you hold your dog? This might sting him a little and I don’t want him to thrash around the desk.’
Kate breaks her attention away and puts her hand on Nibbles’ nose. Sherriff Morrison takes a rag and pours a little of the Betadine. He wipes the rag around the wound. Nibbles tries to kick his feet away.
‘Nibbles, take it easy. He’s trying to help.’ Kate sa
ys in a soft voice.
The door to the office swings open and a short, bald man wearing medical scrubs walks in.
‘I heard you have a 481. I tried to get here as fast as I could.’ The short man looks at the desk and sees Nibbles, ‘Is this the 481?’
Sherriff Morrison motions for the short man to come over, ‘Yes this is the 481. Sorry Roy, but 481 was the closest code we have to “Twig Stuck In A Dog’s Foot”. Anyway, do you know anything medically about dogs?’
Roy looks at the paw, ‘Well, I guess it’s the same as any other organic life form. It’s a good thing you didn’t try to take that stick out. I could only imagine how fast that puncture wound would’ve gone septic.’
Sherriff Morrison pats Kate on the back, ‘Well, the credit for that goes to her.’ he says with a grin.
Roy scoops up Nibbles, ‘Listen, I’m going to take him in the back to bandage him up. It’ll take about an hour so, I’ll be back shortly.’
Kate walks over and kisses Nibbles on the nose, ‘See you soon puppy.’ Roy carries Nibbles down the hall and vanishes around the corner.
Sherriff Morrison walks over the handcuffed lady in the chair and shakes her gently.
‘Monica? Monica, you have to wake up.’
The woman eyes flutter open. She groggily looks up at Sherriff Morrison. ‘I am…awake…doctor.’
Sherriff Morrison takes a key from the side compartment of his belt, ‘No, no. It’s Sheriff Morrison. Do you remember what happened last night? The woman sluggishly sits up in the chair, ‘Was I driving?’ she asks.
‘No Monica, not driving.’ The woman begins to scratch her head, ‘What I stealing?’
‘No Monica, not stealing.’ The woman leans forward and puts her head between her legs. Sherriff Morrison walks over to the coffee machine and pours some in a paper cup. He walks over to the woman and sits the cup next to her, ‘This should sober you up.’
The woman pops up, ‘I re-know-ber now. I…was…passed out…in the street.’ Sherriff Morrison shakes his head, ‘Wrong again.’ The woman looks away confused. She takes a sip of the coffee and rubs the bridge of her nose, ‘So…what the hell am I doing here?’
Sherriff Morrison pours himself a cup of coffee, ‘You’ve been getting black-out drunk again and chasing Marty around with the carving knife…again.’
The woman holds her coffee between her knees and looks down into it. ‘Well,’ she says in a lethargic tone, ‘I’m sure he deserved it. And when I figure out what the reason was, I’ll be justified in my actions.’
Sherriff Morrison takes the key and unlocks her huffed hand from the chair, ‘I called Marty and he’s coming with your bail. I’m going to walk you out to the lobby, give you some more time to sober up.”
The woman rises from the chair, ‘Oh, alright. I’m going to leave this coffee here because it smells like rotten avocados. No offense.’
Sherriff Morrison helps the woman to her feet and she stumbles around to find her footing. He turns to the man typing at the computer. ‘Calvin, can you make sure this young lady calls he parents to pick her up when Roy patches her dog up?’
Without looking up from the keyboard, he raises his hand and gives Sherriff Morrison a thumbs up. Sherriff Morrison opens the door for the woman, ‘Good. Kate, you can call your parents from his desk. Roy should be that much longer.’
The woman pulls Sherriff Morrison by the arm, ‘Are you going to take me out there or what?’ she snaps. He looks down at her hand tugging his sleeve, ‘You know technically, this is considered an assault on an officer right?’ The woman stares menacing into Sherriff Morrison’s eyes, ‘Honey, you haven’t seen assault yet.’
Kate walks over to Calvin’s desk and picks up the phone. She picks up the receiver and puts it to her ear, but doesn’t hear a dial tone. She begins to dial the number, still no sound.
‘Excuse me, Calvin. I don’t think your phone works.’
Calvin reaches over and presses a red button at the top, ‘Try it now.’ Kate puts the receiver to her ear and hears the dial tone buzzing through the speaker. She quickly dials her home phone number. No answer. She puts the receiver down and begins digging in her pockets.
Calvin looks up from the computer, ‘What’s the problem now?’ Kate begins to pull out the contents of her pockets and lay them on the desk, ‘They’re not home. Is it alright if I dial 411 to get my Aunt Lucy’s number? I don’t think I have it in my contact list.’
Calvin lets out a sigh, ‘Sure, whatever.’
Kate takes out her cell phone and a piece of folder paper drops to the floor. She picks the paper up and carefully unfolds it.
‘Do you have a pen so I can write the number down?’ Calvin hands her a large highlighter, ‘Will this do?’ Kate unfolds the paper and lays it on the desk. She sees the chaotic X scribbled on the paper…and so does the raggedy man in the cell.
The man begins to beat on the bars. ‘Where did you get that!’ she screams. Kate begins to back away from the desk. The raggedy man continues to beat on the bars, ‘Hey where did you find that! Answer me!’
Calvin turns around and faces the Raggedy man, ‘Willis, get away from the bars!’
Willis bangs on the bars with his fist harder, vibrating the bars and making a low pitched humming sound, ‘You seen the beast haven’t you! That thing! You saw it!’
Calvin gets out of his chair. Kate begins to back away from the desk and Willis begins to kick the hinges of the door.
‘Tell me!’ he shrieks, ‘Where did you see it!’
Calvin takes a radio from his desk, ‘Don’t worry about him, he can’t hurt you in there.’ Kate backs away further from the desk. Her hands shake from the adrenaline pumping through her body. Her knees feel weak and about to buckle.
As Willis continues to kick the door to the cell, Calvin turns on his radio. ‘This is Officer Tappus, I’m going to need assistance with a unruly subject, over.’
Willis runs over to the toilet in the cell. He dips his hands in the toilet bowl and scoops two hands of water. He runs back over to the door and tosses it through the bars of the cell, ‘You wanna shut me up?! Come in here and do it!’
The water crashes through the bars and splashes on Calvin’s shirt and radio. Kate freezes with fear. The look on Willis’ face is one of pure fury. His chest heaves up and down and he approaches the bars. Kate begins to inch over to Calvin. Her stomach twist into knots and Willis approaches.
Calvin shakes the water from his radio. He looks at Willis, seething with anger. ‘That is considered an assault on an officer; you just earned yourself some extra charges.’
He sees Kate taking small steps towards him. Willis swiftly walks to the bars, his hands reached out, closing the space between him and Kate.
Calvin grabs Kate by the arm, ‘Come over here, quickly.’ Kate freezes with panic and the sight of Willis’ hands coming through the bars.
‘Kate,’ Calvin says in a calm voice, ‘you need to move. Just relax and walk over here.’
Kate feels the rush of the adrenaline surge into her shaky legs. She sees Willis’ fingertips inches away from her chest. Each pounding beat of her heart pumps warm bust of blood into her throbbing neck.
‘Kate!’ Calvin yells. Kate takes one sharp step and starts to run. Willis grabs Kate’s coat and pulls her tightly against the bars. ‘Let me go!’ Kate screams.
Calvin runs over to the bars and begins to beat Willis’ arms with his fist. ‘Get off of her!’ he yells.
Willis reaches out with his other hand and grabs Kate by the hair. He pulls her face flush to the bars. She can feel the coldness of the metal digging into her cheek. She looks at Willis between the tears in her eyes.
Willis leans in. She feels the warm breath from his lips warming her cheek.
‘Listen to me little girl,’ he says in a tranquil voice, ‘if you want to stay alive, you will take what I say as serious as your young life.’
Kate looks at Willis, ‘You’re not going to kill me are you? Please, please
don’t kill me.’ Willis leans closer into Kate’s ear, ‘When death finds you, his practiced craft won’t be by my hands. Those who have kept you ignorantly safe are the ones you should tie your blame to. And those who will remain safe are the ones who call me insane.’
The Slender Man Game of Myths Page 7