The Awakening

by Ryan Sova

  Detective Klaben’s demeanor then suddenly became serious, “Ok Donovan, so you have FINALLY killed your first prison guard, congratulations. The Master and I are going to need you to start moving faster though.”

  Donovan responded, “Why the rush?”

  Detective Klaben answered, “We have a person of interest who will be coming your way soon and we are going to need you to have the prison ready for his arrival.”

  Donovan then asked, “Are you talking about this Garry Henderson that has been all over the news lately? Why are you and the Master so interested in him?”

  Detective Klaben answered, “He is a psychic. He had demonstrated that he has the ability to sense the dead and he can also see things in his dreams. About a week and a half ago, I tried to kill him by setting up a mass shooting. He saw it coming and fled as everything was still unfolding. The Master and I both agree that this man is a threat and therefore must be eliminated. We have every news outlet, radio station, and police department in the country on the lookout for him. But if any of them find him, I will be powerless to do anything to him, which is why we need your help.”

  Donovan was confused, “What is stopping you from killing him, assuming that he gets caught in the near future?”

  Detective Klaben answered, “It is no secret to the department that Detective Grant and I were close to Garry, although the department will never admit that to the public. As I understand, they even went as far as to destroy evidence at his apartment that tied him back to all of us. But in spite of all this, they still don’t want us to have anything to do with his investigation because of our personal ties to him. They have brought in a couple of detectives from another department to head up the investigation and want us to steer clear of it. If I go anywhere near Garry, the department will know about it and my cover will be blown. So again, this is why we need you. I have it on good authority that once Garry is convicted, he will be sent to the Red Onion Prison. We need you to prepare that prison for him and kill all of the guards and inmates so that we can give Garry a nice warm welcome once he is finally sent to prison.”

  Donovan then asked, “If he is just going to prison anyway, why not let him rot. We can kill him later, after the rest of the world has already fallen to us.”

  Detective Klaben answered, “The Master wants him dead as soon as possible. I don’t know why, but there is something about Garry that worries him greatly. We have not, as of yet, been able to get a foothold into any of the jails other than a few inmates that have been cycled through the system. But what we do have is you and that prison guard that you just killed. We also own the DA and the judge so, once Garry is finally captured, we are going to offer him a deal that he can’t refuse. Plead guilty to eight counts of manslaughter and serve only ten years in prison.”

  Donovan then asked, “If we own the judge, can’t we just convict him now?”

  Detective Klaben answered, “Even a judge is limited in what they can do. To convict Garry in a capital murder case we will need a jury trial, and that could take several months at its best, or even a few years at its worst. But if Garry pleads guilty to a lesser charge, we can have him in prison in a matter of weeks. In any case, the sooner we kill him the better.”

  CHAPTER 17

  The prison transfer was rough. Of all the time that Garry had been incarcerated, his time in transit from Texas to Virginia was by far, the worst.

  He spent four days crammed in the back of a small van with at least ten other prisoners. His hands were cuffed together and secured to restraints that went around his waist. Garry could only move his hands a matter of inches from his waist due to the way that he was restrained. His legs were also shackled and secured to the man next to him forming a sort of daisy chain between inmates. Garry had to concede that it was an efficient method of keeping inmates from escaping during transit but was uncomfortable as hell if you were unfortunate enough to be the one wearing the restraints.

  The days while on the road were long. The prison transfer van stopped at nearly every jail along the way to Virginia. The stops were usually just long enough to unload the inmates who were staying and then load another set of inmates who were going. It was a constant shuffle of inmates both coming and going all the time at every stop. The guards rarely ever stopped for breaks of any kind, meaning that most of Garry’s time sleeping while in transit was done while packed like sardines in the back of the prison van.

  Two to three times a day, the inmates would be served food by the guards. This would usually consist of a bottle of water and a baloney sandwich. The bottle of water would also, more often than not, double as a bathroom. This led to some rather unpleasant smells in the back of the van, especially when someone’s bathroom spilled.

  The restraints on Garry’s wrists, at first, weren’t so bad. But after four days in transit, the restraints felt like they were tearing into his flesh. Also, the extremely limited range of movement from his hands caused Garry to have to hunch over a lot for tasks such as eating or using the bathroom. Over time this led to him getting a very sore back, which was yet another form of torture that Garry had to endure during this hellish cross-country ride.

  After four days of hell, Garry had finally reached his destination. He was almost excited to be back in jail again. After being processed into his new jail, Garry was placed back into isolation. He had also been informed that his arraignment hearing would be held tomorrow morning and that he would be able to attend this hearing from jail by way of video conference.

  A couple of hours after Garry was taken to his cell, he was informed that there was an officer here to see him. Garry was then led to an interrogation room in the jail where he then waited for the officer to arrive. The officer was a woman in her mid-thirties with brown freckles on her face and a set of small black-rimmed glasses. She wore a blue button-up shirt with brownish-black khaki pants and had a very pleasant demeanor. Garry was almost stunned when she first entered the room as she was a very attractive woman. The best, most pleasant feature about this officer, however, was the fact that Garry didn’t fear her in the slightest. This meant that the woman was still very much alive, and that was a huge relief for Garry.

  When the woman entered the room, she introduced herself to Garry as Detective Young. She seemed very friendly upon arrival and even offered Garry something to eat and drink. Garry kindly accepted her offer. The detective then politely excused herself from the interrogation room to go get the things that Garry had requested.

  When she returned, she was carrying a food tray from the jail kitchen and the drink that Garry had requested. After handing Garry the food and drink, Detective Young started making casual conversation with Garry about how he had been doing lately and also about his life before jail. Garry talked freely with Detective Young as he was eating his food. She continued to act very friendly with Garry and treated him as if he were a close friend.

  Then, Detective Young revealed something to Garry. She told Garry that she had reviewed his case and she was absolutely convinced that he was innocent. She went on to say that she had talked to many of the people who knew Garry, such as Detective Grant, and she had no doubt that Garry was not the kind of person who could do the things that he had been accused of.

  Then Detective Young went on, almost apologetically, “I am sorry that I even have to say this Garry, but before we continue, I will need to read you your rights. Now, I know that you did nothing wrong, but you know, rules are rules. So Garry, you have the right to remain silent or say nothing at all. If you choose to speak to me, anything that you say can be used as evidence against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with an attorney before answering any of my questions, and you may have this attorney with you during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you at no cost. You have the right to end this interview at any time, for any reason, and request an attorney. Now, do you understand your rights as I have explained them?”

  Garry answered, “Yes.”
/>
  Detective Young continued, “Are you willing to talk to me about your case?”

  Garry thought about this for a moment. This detective seems to be so nice and she seems to be genuine in her desire to help me. But Garry was hesitant, maybe this is a trick.

  After a moment of reflection, Garry answered, “No, I think that I am going to want a lawyer.”

  Detective Young looked disappointed, “Are you sure? Garry, I know the district attorney very well. He doesn’t want to keep an innocent man in jail any more than I do. I am certain that I can get him to drop this ridiculous case against you and let you go home TONIGHT! I just need to know your side of the story.”

  Garry answered a second time, “No, I want an attorney.”

  Detective Young paused a moment with a frown on her face, then answered, “Okay Garry, I guess that means that we have nothing else to talk about.”

  Detective Young handed Garry a business card, then continued, “Keep that card with you and give me a call if you ever change your mind. Okay?”

  Detective Young then left the room. After a short while, a couple of prison guards escorted Garry back to his cell. Once he had arrived back in his cell, Garry started contemplating what he had just done. He still had the business card from Detective Young in his hands. He looked at it, wondering if he should call her or not.

  Maybe she can help me, Garry wondered? But then Garry got thinking. She said that she was friends with the district attorney and that the district attorney will want to drop my charges and let me go home. But I already know what the district attorney will do, and letting me go is defiantly NOT what he is planning. He is going to try and trick me into pleading guilty so that he can send me to the Red Onion State Prison where I will then be killed.

  Also, Detective Young reviewed my case and knew that I was innocent? Detective Klaben is no fool! She knew exactly what she was doing when she framed me for those murders! Plus, I ran! There is no way in hell that this detective just looked at my file and knew that I was innocent! She is lying!

  Garry tore the business card from Detective Young up into pieces and flushed it down the toilet in his cell. He suddenly felt very confident about his decision earlier to end his interview with Detective Young. Garry didn’t know what would have happened had he decided to talk to her, but he knew now, without a doubt, that nothing good could have come from that interview.

  On the following day, Garry had his arraignment hearing. During the hearing, Garry was read the charges against him and asked to enter a plea of either guilty, not guilty, or no contest. Garry pled not guilty. Then Garry was asked if he was planning on retaining his own defense attorney or if he needed the court to appoint him one. Garry informed the court that there was no way that he would be able to afford an attorney on his own. After a bit of review, the magistrate appointed a man named Fran Crainer as Garry’s new public defender. Then the subject of bail was discussed and promptly denied. Finally, a date was set for a preliminary hearing and then the court adjourned.

  After the arraignment hearing was over, not much of anything happened for the rest of the week. In fact, the only thing that happened, aside from Garry spending twenty-three hours alone in his cell every day, was a visit that Garry received from his new public defender which occurred on Thursday.

  After introducing himself, Garry’s new attorney asked Garry to tell him everything that he knows about what happened the day of the shootings. Garry proceeded to tell Fran everything about that day. While relaying the events of the day, though, Garry hesitated. Should I really tell him everything?

  After a moment of reflection, Garry decided that he needed to tell Fran everything. He didn’t want to. Garry knew how crazy his story sounded. There was the fact that Detective Klaben is really an undead zombie murderer who framed him for the crime that she had both planned and executed, or the fact that Garry saw the shootings in his dreams while he was at the motel and then fled because an invisible voice told him to run.

  But with as crazy as the truth was, Garry couldn’t see any way around it. If I don’t tell him everything, there will be holes in my story, details that I just can’t explain like why I went to the motel in the first place, why I didn’t show up for work that day, and also why I ran. Garry braced himself. He wasn’t expecting Fran to take his story very well, after all, what sane person would? But it was the truth nonetheless and Garry wanted the man defending him to know the truth.

  Garry began reciting everything to Fran, his entire story from the beginning. Garry made it about three-fourths of the way through his explanation when Fran cut him off.

  “Okay Garry, I think I have heard enough,” Fran said.

  Then Fran continued, “Do you have anyone who can vouch for you Garry, that you were not at the store during the shootings?”

  Garry responded, “No, I was alone at the motel.”

  Fran responded, “Right, until you saw the shootings in a dream and in invisible voice told you to run.”

  Fran rolled his eyes, then continued, “Do you have anyone that could testify that you are not a violent or dangerous person, such as your mother, brother, sister, or even a friend?”

  Garry responded, “Detective Grant maybe.”

  Fran responded slightly annoyed, “Anyone other than a police detective!”

  Garry responded, “No.”

  Fran quietly shook his head, then answered, “Ok Garry, I’ll be honest with you. The most that we can hope for is leniency from the judge. We could try to offer an insanity plea, but I don’t think that we would win. Also, if the prosecution offers you a deal, I would strongly encourage you to take it.”

  Fran then stood up and began walking toward the door. Before he left, he said, “I will see you again at the preliminary hearing next week. For this hearing, you will be present in the courtroom with me.”

  A short while after Fran left the room, a couple of guards escorted Garry back to his cell. After his interview was over, the days passed by very slowly for Garry. It seemed like an eternity, but finally Garry’s preliminary hearing at last came. Garry was put into shackles and taken in a prison bus to the courthouse. Garry then spent a few hours in a cell at the courthouse. As the time of his hearing came closer, Garry was transferred to a holdover cell and then, after a short while, he was called into the courtroom.

  The preliminary hearing felt like a sort of mini-trial. During the hearing, the prosecution presented several pieces of evidence, such as Garry’s phone records (showing his call to the gunned down murderer who was found at the scene), records from the motel that he checked into the day of the shootings, records of Garry’s bank transfer and money deposit (the prosecutor suggested that Garry’s five thousand dollar cashier’s check was given to him by an accomplice to the murders). There were also three witnesses that the prosecution called: Garry’s store manager, Joe Flichard, the twelve-year-old girl Garry had cussed out during his panic attack several months ago, named Sebreana Ulagar, and then finally Detective Grant.

  Of all the testimony that had been presented, Detective Grant’s testimony is what hurt Garry the most. Detective Grant described Garry as a very troubled man who would frequently read what was going on in the news and then call him with worthless dead-end leads several times a month on end. He went on to testify that he had known Garry for the last ten years and had always been friendly with him in spite of his mental instability, but in the days leading up to the shootings Garry had started acting very erratically, claiming that zombies had infiltrated his store. Detective Grant then claimed that he had told Garry that he needed to get some professional help when Garry suddenly became hostile with him over the phone and then hung up.

  There were things that were said after Detective Grant had offered his testimony, but Garry could not hear them. Everything that we have been through! It all means nothing to him! In the end, he is just going to discard me as a piece of garbage, as if the last ten years were nothing more than the ramblings of a madman when he damn well knows
the truth about me!!!

  After a short while, Garry was back in his cell. He could not remember how the hearing had ended or even how he had made it back to his cell. The only thing Garry could think about was how Detective Grant had utterly betrayed him.

  Over the next month and a half, Garry had managed to forgive Detective Grant for his testimony. It took a lot of soul-searching, but after a significant amount of time Garry had managed to remember back to his dream about the treatment officer from the Red Onion State Prison named Donovan Hatter. The department wants to distance themselves from me, Garry reminded himself. They don’t want people to know the things that I did for them. Why is that? Why does it matter if people know that a psychic led police to the prosecution and eventual conviction of six-hundred and twenty-two offenders?

  Garry pondered this question for a moment longer. What would happen if it suddenly became public knowledge that I led police to the prosecution and conviction of six hundred and twenty-two people? The crazy man who murdered eight people in cold blood and then led police on an almost six-month manhunt was also the same man who guided the investigations of every single one of these cases?

  How would that knowledge affect these cases today? A mental image suddenly entered Garry’s mind. Hundreds of excited defense attorney’s storming the Virginia court system, demanding that their clients be exonerated of the crimes that they were convicted for due to police department’s abhorrent practice of using a mentally challenged soothsayer to performed their police work for them. How big of a scandal would this be? How many people in the police department would lose their jobs because of this? How many convicted murderers and rapists would go free?

  Garry suddenly understood now, in perfect clarity, why it was that Detective Grant lied about their relationship. After making this discovery, Garry could not feel angry at Detective Grant anymore. In a single moment, all of the anger and resentment that Garry had stored up in his heart suddenly vanished.