by Amber Lynn
How else could he not know about Alex, Sebastian, and me making the news? Has he even heard of Facebook and Youtube? Why do I keep coming up with more and more questions?
“Inside the bubble that is the town, you won't find a connection,” he tells me. “There is a library close by outside town that we use to email and look things up on the Internet.”
“That might make doing background checks on the townies a bit difficult,” I surmise.
“I think doing backgrounds on anyone would be tough, even if you had an Internet connection ingrained in your mind. I am pretty sure I mentioned the folks are real private. Getting one of them to give you a real name is not very high on my things happening this century list,” Kent informs me. It is good to know I am not the only one that has crazy made up lists.
“Maybe I can scare their identities out of them and then step out of town real quick to run the scans.” No, it doesn't make any more sense when I say it out loud. Too bad, it seems I am going to be working a little blind.
“Hey, this is our turn at the next intersection,” Kent instructs. I really wish he would have given me coordinates. I hate backseat drivers.
“You do notice you are having me turn where there isn't actually a road, right?” There aren't even tire tracks where he is pointing. I haven't exactly seen civilization in a while either.
“More people would wander in if it was easily accessible. Trust me this truck will make it to where we are going. Just make the turn and keep going for about five miles. You may want to take it a little slow.”
“And what are we doing with the Suburban when we get there? Can I drive it right down Main Street?” I ask curious about his little vortex.
“With all the stuff you brought along, just for the Hellhound, we are going to have to try. Plus, leaving it on the outside would draw attention,” he says. I think somewhere in there was a dig on me and Clyde. This guy really doesn't want to get on my good side. “Okay, see that tree up ahead?”
“The one that almost looks like it is upside down?” I would imagine it is the right one, since it’s the only fucking one around and it is upside down making it really peculiar.
“Wait, you see it upside down? Does anyone else see an upside down tree?” he asks.
“I see a normal tree. Looks like an oak,” Jonas says.
“I would agree with it being an oak standing right side up,” Sebastian concurs.
Okay. WTF? We are seeing different trees. I don’t even think mine is an oak. I don’t think I need my eyes checked, but I am starting to worry.
“For me it is upside down. That is why I ran towards it all those years ago. It was unexpected and odd,” Kent says. “It would seem the town wants Slaughter to pay a visit. Only those that see the upside down tree are able to get in on their own.”
Great the town wants me. Just what I wanted to hear. If it wants me so bad, maybe it will make its residents cooperate with my investigation. That's not asking too much, is it?
Chapter 16
Welcome to an alternate universe
Before I can even attempt to enter Insanityville, I notice Marcus circling above us. Hmm. Wonder how long he has been tagging along. I stop briefly to collect him. He just hops in, puts his bag with the rest of the cargo, and hurries to the back row of seating.
“I am happy you could join us and glad you did it when you did,” I say having actually forgotten he was supposed to be meeting us. He just shrugs and smiles. I bet he is trying to get a take on the sheriff.
Back to the task at hand, I have decided playing chicken with a tree is a very odd thing. I know good and well that the tree isn't going to move, but Tex in the back seat tells me to drive right into it. I think driving into a tree is going on another list somewhere. If I just stop here, I wonder what would happen. The putting my toes into the water to check the water temperature versus cannonballing into the water sounds like a great method to me right now.
Sadly, my foot and hands disagree with logic and keep us on the path into the tree. I cringe slightly expecting an impact, who wouldn't, but the impact doesn't come. What does come is definitely a “we aren't in Kansas anymore” moment.
You would think with the cowboy sheriff in the backseat and the horse in tow, and just in general, the name Ghost Town, I would have been prepared for the scene before me.
You would be wrong.
I don't see any tumbleweeds, but I am expecting one any second. It is like we just drove back in time and I don't have a DeLorean. I can see a corner saloon occupying the biggest visible building.
We drive by the stables, blacksmith, doctor, and a general store. Seriously, I am not making this up. This is nuts.
I don't see a lot of people around. In fact, I haven't seen another person at all. The crazy skinner person was supposed to be waiting right out front for me. He must not have got my email.
“Pull up in front of the jail,” Kent says pointing towards the building closest to the saloon. I guess that makes sense. Don't have to take the drunks far to let them sleep it off.
I do as I am instructed. “So, are there always this many people out and about?” I ask while I take stock of the “jail”, or what he considers one. I wonder if the cells have any special protection to keep the werewolves in.
“I am hoping people are staying inside to not attract attention to themselves. It is still early and we have no idea when the skinner takes his victims.” We start climbing out of the vehicle. Clyde is up and ready for whatever new adventure is in store. I grab his leash and start walking him around a little so he can get familiar with the new place.
“Oh good, that sounds like you are going to be able to kill something this trip,” Marcus says in a jovial tone. Being late to the party, I guess he wasn’t clued in on all the details.
“You know it is what I live for,” I reply. “I forgot to ask during our question and answer period, are all the victims wolves?” I assume they are because of the low percentage of anything else in the town.
“Yup, all wolves,” he says walking to the door for the jail. I am surprised he actually takes a set of keys out and unlocks it. “I have the first body on ice so you can take a look. Then we can go talk to Deb, see if maybe you can get something else out of her.”
As gruesome as I am sure it is, I was hoping that the body was still available. Every once in a while, dead men do have tales to tell and I am all for listening to them, if it makes my life easier. They seldom lift their hand and point it in the direction of the killer, but they do tend to hold clues.
We follow Kent into his office. Sebastian has taken his place behind me, placing his hands on both sides of my waist. I think he leaves about a half an inch of space between us as we walk. Insert mental groaning here.
Surprise number one when entering the office is the giant deep freezer. I wasn't expecting either the town to actually have electricity or the body to be on ice right here for my inspection. I thought maybe the doctor would have it embalmed or something over in a morgue.
The second surprise is one I already pondered, but didn't imagine the town of years gone by to actually have. The two cells are standard Collective issue. They look and feel strong enough to hold the rowdiest wolf or vamp. By feel, I mean the amount of silver in the bars is tingling the hairs on the back of my neck.
“The cells are unexpected,” Sebastian says verbally acknowledging my thoughts.
“They were a bit of a surprise for me, too,” Kent says. “I haven't used them more than once or twice to let someone cool down, but they would hold just about anything.”
“Just to verify, is the body in the freezer or do you have a year’s supply of steak on ice?” I ask.
“We don’t exactly have a lot of medical provisions here, so yeah the body is in the freezer. Let me grab something we can lay it on,” Kent says walking into another room.
He returns with a large vinyl sheet and goes about placing it on the floor. I look down at Clyde trying to decide what to do with him wh
ile I inspect the body. I pick him up and place him in the chair behind Kent’s desk.
“Now Clyde, mommy needs you to sit here and be a good boy so she can get some work done. Can you do that for me?” I ask looking into his eyes.
I swear the dog smiles at me. I don’t think that is a good thing at all. I am choosing to believe that means he agrees with my thinking and will stay put.
“Whoever is helping me lift the body out of the freezer will probably want to wear a pair of gloves,” Kent says holding out a pair.
Marcus and Jonas exchange glances before Jonas holds his hand out to take the gloves. “I’ll do it,” he says obviously not happy about the idea.
They move over to the freezer and Kent lifts the lid. Jonas looks into it and then looks back at me with a look that clearly states I owe him big time. Yeah, well, add it to my tab.
They each reach in and start to lift the body out. As it makes its way over the lip of the freezer, I can see the horror scene worthy goo of flesh. It is one of those things you have to stare at a long time and maybe tilt your head a little to the left to make out what it is. And let’s not get started with sound effects. I am closing my ears now.
They quickly get her settled onto the tarp and I have a chance to start my perusal. As Kent said, the ears are missing which helps to make it not look humanoid.
“Can I get a pair of gloves?” I ask. I don’t want to, but chances are I am going to have to touch it.
“They are in the top left drawer of my desk,” Kent instructs.
I give Clyde my “you better keep your butt in that chair” look and grab a pair of gloves. Putting them on, they are a bit big, but they will keep me from touching the nasty flesh with bare skin.
Looking back over at the body, I try to get a feel for how the skin was removed. The hair is missing, so I cannot tell if this is the blonde or one of the brunettes. The marks where the knife went into the flesh look inconsistent with the smooth cuts of a filet knife.
“Were the other bodies in this same condition?” I ask.
“They were all missing their skin just like this,” Kent says.
“Yeah, but did they all have little marks like this?” I ask pointing to one of the places the knife left marks. I look back to where the guys are standing and encounter a wall of Sebastian chest.
The touching was bad enough, but for him to be hovering this close over a mangled pile of flesh, is too much. “Do you smell the cloves?” he asks like there is nothing weird about his closeness.
I had been trying not to smell just yet because I had been expecting a putrid smell. At Sebastian’s nudging, I open up my sniffer. Surprisingly, there is a strong clove smell coming from the body.
“I haven’t smelled any scents from the body,” Kent says coming a little closer, which is good because I want him to looks at the marks.
“Maybe your nose isn’t as good as I thought. The cloves are there,” I say wondering what other things he may have missed. “Back to my original question, are these marks on the other bodies?”
“Yeah. They all had those. I figured they were just from the knife cutting into the flesh.” As soon as he answers the question, he backs away again.
“And the witness is sure of the filet knife?”
“That’s what she said. She seemed pretty adamant about it,” he replies.
“Then either she is stupid or was hallucinating. The marks are left by a serrated knife and by the amount of them, and the fact they are over the entire body, I have to believe it was the only knife used.”
“I wouldn’t call Deb stupid, so maybe she wasn’t thinking too straight when she thought she saw a filet knife.”
I don’t think I can detect anything more on this body so I am ready to move on. “You guys want to put her away? I may need to have a look at her again later.” I got away with not even having to touch anything. Life is currently good for me.
Jonas and Kent move forward to complete the task. I look over to check on Clyde and he is eying the body as it is moved. Sensing me looking at him he turns and smiles at me again. I am starting to think there is something off about that puppy.
“So, is Debra relaxing at the doctor that we passed?” I ask ready to move on. Betty is safely back in her freezer coffin.
“No, she requested to be moved to her house. We figured she might be more comfortable there. Doc really couldn’t have done anything more for her at his place.
“Her body is in the same condition as the one we were just looking at?” I don’t care if it is more comfortable. If I am in that condition, I don’t think I want to be at home making my bed all funky.
“She has her ears, but other than that she looks similar. She has a few friends that stop by to keep her company and I check in with her a couple times a day,” Kent explains.
“Is she actually up and moving around?” Jonas asks appalled by the thought, if his voice is any indication.
“I have seen her walking around. She doesn’t do it often. The only times I have seen it is when I showed up unexpected.”
Now that is an interesting bit of information. I don’t know exactly what it means, but it is something I will set aside for later.
“Lead the way, Sheriff,” I say gathering Clyde to follow. I am very curious to meet a werewolf that was skinned less than five days ago and is actually able to walk around. We may have speedy recovery, but I have never seen anything that good.
Chapter 17
And you think I wanted to come to this town?
The town is small enough that taking the Suburban would be a little ridiculous. Kent does pause to unload his horse, though. We walk it over to the stables where Kent hands him off to someone I will probably eventually be interviewing. It is nice to see that there is at least one other, not dead, person in the town.
“Deb lives just a block to the west,” Kent says leading the way.
“I have been meaning to ask, where do you get your food from? Clyde and Jonas are going to need to eat.”
“Most of the freezers in town are not full of bodies. A group of us heads out once a month to the closest town and stock up. The place I have set up for you guys has plenty of supplies.” Good. I am glad he planned ahead.
There are no paved sidewalks in this town. There are plank walkways lining the front of the buildings. As we make our way down the street, the only thing we can hear is Kent’s spurs rattling.
With my good hearing, I was expecting to be able to hear conversations going on, but there is just dead air. It makes the eerie town even creepier.
“This is her,” Kent says turning in front of what looks like a wood shack to me.
Shack may be a little harsh, but it is about the size of my bedroom. The cottage that I stayed in last week looks like a mansion compared to this. The only thing that makes it look lived in is the window box, filled with purple and yellow flowers, bordering the one window.
Kent knocks on the door and turns the knob a little to open it. “Deb, I am coming in and have some company,” he announces entering the house with us on his tail.
The inside is rather simple. Open room for entertaining with a single couch and coffee table. On the left, there is a semi-modern kitchen with a newer stove and fridge. There isn’t enough room for a dining room table.
There is a door opening to a bedroom, judging by the medium size bed that is visible. I see a small movement on the bed and see a red mass shift under the comforter. It is kind of like watching hamburger move around on its own.
“Kent, is that you?” a hoarse voice asks. Clyde does his little growling act to let everyone know he is still there.
“Yeah, Deb. I have some people with me. I am hoping to catch the guy who did this to you before he strikes again.”
“You brought in outsiders to deal with town business,” the voice asks a little bit stronger.
“Well now, where the bodies have been found may indicate it isn't just town business. Nyx here is the only expert I could bring in here without
going to the Collective. She has a keen eye for things and has already picked up some things I didn't see. As everyone in town knows, my badge is just honorary because I was the first one here. I don't really know a whole lot about police work,” Kent explains.
Speaking of those things I picked up on, the smell of cloves is strong here as well. I am still too far away to see her body to check for marks, but Kent said they were there, so I believe him.
“I am sorry to bother you, Debra, but I would like to ask a few questions,” I say passing the guys and walking into the bedroom.
“Why are you walking a dog?” Debra asks sitting up some so I can see her face more. I wish she wouldn’t have done that. It isn’t a pretty sight.
“Because he is my pet. Now, I am going to start asking some questions and I would like you to answer as many as you can. First off, do you know what time of day you were taken?” Since we are trying to prevent another victim from meeting this fate that seems like the most important question at the moment.
“I don't remember. I am having a lot of problems with my memory since the ordeal. I suppose the person that took me might have had something to do with that,” she replies. I have a feeling, even injured, she is going to pull the “you aren't one of us” card and clam up.
“So, you don't know if it was a male or female that did this?” I cannot see a woman causing this much damage to another woman.
“I don't know for sure,” she replies.
“Kent told me you saw the knife being used on you; can you go into any details about it?”
She sighs. I imagine if Kent hadn't told me, she wouldn't even contemplate giving me the details. “I think I did a pretty good job already describing it to Kent, but if you must know, the knife was about a foot long, with a wood handle. It had a smooth blade that tapered in a curve to a thin point.”
“Were you awake for the whole procedure?” I ask trying to be a little delicate. I figure it wouldn’t get me too far just yelling “liar” at her. “You actually saw that knife being used to do it?”
