NEW YEARS EVE..Part 3
Sheriff Barnes walked into the old but quaint cafe. It was a sort of safe haven, a place of refuge if you will for him. Millie Jenkins had been running the place virtually by herself since the unfortunate passing of her husband of forty years Herbert. Times were tough, not only financially but emotionally. Millie had lost all of her family and was now alone. The good thing about living in a town as small as Eastridge is that you really get to know your neighbors. there is a love, a respect and a bond that is like family, and not easily breakable. Millie could have sold the cafe and moved away from all of the tragedy and the bad memories, but she felt safe, comfortable and loved. For twenty years Sheriff Barnes kept the small town safe. He even managed to keep the "small town' feeling after the development corporation came in and took over. They wanted to tear up the small town, but Sheriff Barnes would not agree to them building over or within their small town. He only allowed them to build around it, which was bad enough. Eastridge became the "quaint little town" smack dab in the middle of all of the big city chaos. " The usual Henry?" said Millie with a friendly but clever tone. " Not today Millie, just a cup of your famous coffee this morning" said Henry. " It's gonna be a cold one and I think a storm's a brewin' said Henry matter of factly. " Somethin' on your mind sugar" asked Millie lovingly but with a slight note of worry. " Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about" . "It's just..well you know, that time of year" "Yeah...I know" said Millie pensively. "Laura would be about twenty five now" said Millie deep in thought as she poured a cup of hot coffee and sat it down in front of him. " Not a day goes by that I don't think about her, and that poor girl Sara and your..., it's not right Henry, it's just not right" Millie started to well up with tears, excuse me , if you need anything else, just give a holler" Millie could barely get the words out as the tears were rolling down her cheeks and she rushed quickly into the kitchen to compose herself. " Henry wanted to say something, to go after her, but a wave of crippling grief came over him. He too lost someone special, someone he loved that horrible night twenty years ago. Michelle was so beautiful, she was the sweetest, kindest girl you'd ever want to meet. They were so in love. He had never felt like this before. The engagement ring still sits in the top of his dresser drawer. He never got to give it to her... Henry could feel the tears welling up like acid burning his eyes. He closed his eyes and saw the horrific scene, body after bloody body, not just unidentified corpses, neighbors, lovers, family, friends, all slaughtered like cattle, bodies mutilated and discarded all over town by some sick psychopath. Henry still remembered as a young deputy the look on Sheriff River's face as they carried out his daughter's body piece by piece. He couldn't get those images out of his head. He fumbled through his jacket pockets until he came upon a prescription bottle of pills. Henry was shaking so much that he could barely get the child proof cap off "damn caps" he angrily said aloud to himself. Millie came walking out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly cleaned coffee mugs. " that won't make the pain go away hon, it just deadens the soul, trust me I know" . Millie started to put the mugs on the shelf as she continued due to Henry's awkward silence. " When I lost my Laura it was all I could do to ease the pain, the anger. That monster took my baby away from me and I'm never going to see her again". Millie was so distraught that she broke down into uncontrollable tears and ran into the kitchen again. " Mill..I'm so .. I'm so sorry" said a severely distraught Henry almost under his breath. He wanted to say something, he wanted to chase after her, comfort her, but he could barely muster up the strength to help himself. "Damn!" he said in anger as he pounded his fist hard on the counter. He took a few pills from the bottle, tossed them into his mouth and washed them down with the last of the coffee. " Have a good day Millie" he said knowing that he would not get a response. Henry walked outside and stood by his car. He took a cigarette out and placed it between his lips. In an act of extreme grief, he hit the top of the police car with his fist. He could stop seeing those images of all of those innocent people slaughtered. Though visibly shaken he tried to regain his composure. As he went to light the cigarette, a loud voice came over the CB in his car " Sheriff Barnes, Sheriff Barnes, are you there, do you read me?" said a young but very distraught and excited voice" Henry jumped in spite of himself and opened the car door reaching for the CB. " Yeah I'm here, what is it Don?" he asked his young deputy. " Well, there's a few kids, well teenagers missing from up at the ski lodge". said Don still in animated excitement. " Yeah well, they are probably fuckin' around up there somewhere, you know how kids are, how long they been missin'? asked Henry in feigned interest, but still slightly curious as he lit his cigarette. " They say since last night sir" "Who's they?" asked a slightly annoyed Henry " the people up at the lodge sir" said Don with a quivering voice at the possible anger and authority in his boss's voice. "Dammit!" said Henry in a gruff tone as he took a long drag off of his cigarette as he dropped it and then crushed it under his foot. ' Well don't just sit there get some men up there, I'll meet you guys there". said Henry rather aggressively. He jumped into the squad car and sped away.
The sound of heavy boots stomped down the old wooden stairs. Step by step they listened and knew that with each step he took, it meant one more second was shaved off of their young lives. They could hear this awful thump thump thumping sound like a body being dragged by it's feet down the stairs and the head stopping to hit every stair, never once missing a beat. Mary could feel an ominous presence in the room, she could hear his breath. It was so dark and quiet. They both sat and listened to him walk around the room. Mary held her hands to her face to try to cover her mouth. She felt something at her feet, like a burlap sack or something rough, she could feel it was a body, and it was hard and wet. it was right at her feet. She was so consumed with fear as she listened intently to the movements in the dark. Clang! Scrape! Smash! these sounds startled her. Mary tried in vein to focus her eyes on something, anything, it was pitch black dark. It was too dark to see anything. Mary tried to be as quiet as she could be, backing up in the corner and listening to the sounds that seemed to be coming from all around her. As she slowly tried to back herself up and prop herself up in the corner her chains rattled. She closed her eyes tightly as she heard a grunt then at that moment all the sounds stopped. Though it was probably only for a few seconds, it felt like a lifetime. Mary trembled in fear and utter silence as she listened to see if he had heard. She sighed as she heard movement and sounds again. Maybe he didn't hear me she thought trying to convince herself. Suddenly all motion and sound stopped completely again, it was a dead silence that was deafening. Mary could hear her own heartbeat pounding through her chest. Just then the loud sound of an old generator screamed into the darkness cutting through sharply like a knife and the sound of buzzing as bright lights suddenly appeared from overhead. they flickered on like a domino effect, one by one they buzzed on and bright light would appear. It hurt Mary's eyes, the brightness blinded her, she tried to cover up her eyes to shield herself from the bright lights. Soon Mary's eyes focused and she could finally see. Every muscle in her body tensed up and she felt her heart would jump out of her chest, she could feel the intense fear building up inside of her, it was coming, it was a fear she had never experienced, it kept building and building rushing faster and faster, coursing through her veins, it was here she could not hold it back, she could not control it, this fear had a mind of it's own. She could feel the heavy pressure contorting her face. A force deep within her so powerful that it could not be controlled. Her throat got tight and her jaw slammed open...Mary let out a long and bloodcurdling scream...............
To be continued..
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