by Ryan P. Ruiz
“I saw you two here yesterday looking at my house. What are you two doing at my house?” the old lady questioned.
“Um, like I said, we are doing a fundraiser for our school and we were scoping which neighborhoods we should go to. Sorry to bother you, Ma’am. We will leave now.” explained Zach.
“Wait a minute, I’m sorry boys. I just don’t like people snooping around. How much is the candy?” the old lady said, changing her mean tone.
“Um, a dollar for the box.” replied Zach. “And we actually have just one box left. It’s chocolate?” said Zach while nudging his friend.
Cody pulled the box of candy out of his draw string back pack and started handing it towards the door. The old lady looked at the box and made a face. Cody nudged his friend back.
“Well, I don’t like chocolate, but just hang on there.” the old lady said and then disappeared from the doorway.
“Let’s get outta here. We are obviously way off on this.” Cody whispered to his friend.
“Ok, just hang on. Here she comes, shh.” replied Zach.
The old lady appeared back in the doorway.
“Here you go boys, here is a dollar for your fundraiser, but I don’t want the candy, you keep it.” the old lady said trying to sound nice. She kept looking at the boys and around her front yard.
“Oh wow, thank you Ma'am. Thank you very much. By the way, is that your car in the driveway?” Zach said with a smile.
“Yes it is. Why? Stay away from it.” the old lady snapped.
“Oh, uh, we just thought it was a nice looking car. We were just admiring it. What kind is it?” replied Zach, still with a half-smile on his face.
“That is 1987 Cadillac Brougham in black sapphire metallic. That is my baby.” she snapped back.
The woman was peering out at her vehicle in the driveway. Cody nudged his friend to get going. Zach just pretended he didn’t feel it.
“Oh, well we like it. Thanks again for the dollar.” said Zach holding up the dollar bill.
“You are welcome. Now leave and stay away from my car. I mean it!” the old lady exclaimed and slammed the front door.
“Well that was weird.” said Cody turning around and heading back towards the bikes on the sidewalk.
“That was definitely weird and also a huge strikeout.” replied Zach.
“Yes it was. Let’s head home.” said Cody.
The two friends hopped on their bikes and headed back home. The search was becoming hopeless. The old lady watched from behind her curtains in the front window as the boys rode off.
The week went by fast, and the kids both told their mothers that they were working on a science project together and needed to collect things from around the city. It wasn’t known if their mothers knew they did not have a science class together.
By the end of the week, Cody and Zach were completely wiped out. They used Cody’s room as a headquarters for all clues and information. The old lady was definitely the highlight of the week for the boys. They had to be careful and hide all the maps, drawings, pictures, and notes in the desk drawer.
Cody had made a secret compartment in the bottom desk drawer. He found a piece of wood in the garage and stained it almost the exact color match of his desk. The piece was used as a divider in the wooden desk drawer to be disguised as the back of the drawer.
Everything was only temporary until they could think of another idea. His mom barely came into his room anyways, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. He definitely didn’t want Olive to see any of it. It was bad enough that his time with Olive was shortened from being out so much.
CHAPTER VI
Past Memories
The strange dreams and nightmares kept on coming. It was only five years ago that a little girl named Sam Jennings was kidnapped and taken from a plaza just a couple of cities away. Authorities ended up finding the girl on the side of the road in the country an hour away from where she was taken. The man that took her was never found. Cody was roughly the same age as Sam and remembered the incident well.
The first dream always had floating questions in it like Was this event connected with the black car? Why was the sick and twisted man that took her never found? And was there ever a black car in any of the details of that case?
Cody had a nightmare about another situation earlier in his life. He was younger at the time, and the incident struck fear into his heart. He would plead with his stepfather at the time to not leave him in the car in gas stations while he went and paid for the gas. His stepfather did that often, and Cody always feared he would be taken. This was right around the time the girl went missing. He hated when his stepfather would stop at a gas station, and he would actually cry. In the dream, while Cody’s former stepdad went to pay, a man jumped in the car and drove off with Cody strapped in the backseat.
Another nightmare was about running from someone. In these dreams, it was as if his feet were trapped in quicksand. He could never outrun the person chasing him. Cody was somewhat athletic and could run very fast, but in this dream, he was slow. That nightmare would wake him up sweating and panicking.
The dreams were so real and continued.
Another one was about sitting with his grandfather, whom he called Papa. He was close to his Papa, and they would laugh together playing card games. His Papa had lost his battle with cancer a couple of years ago, and Cody did not handle it very well. His conversations in the dream were about asking his Papa about good and evil.
Cody’s grandpa would explain to him that there were a lot of bad people in the world and to always be on guard. He explained to his grandson that when he passed, Cody was the man of the house, and it was his sole duty to protect his sister and mama. His Papa had moved in with them right after Olive turned two.
In another dream, Cody was just sitting across from his Papa, asking him if he could help out with this mysterious black vehicle that tried to pick him up. While it seemed like his Papa would open his mouth and respond to the questions, he didn’t. He just had a worried look on his face and pointed toward the ground. Cody didn’t understand what his Papa was trying to say to him, and before he knew it, the dream was over.
The last nightmare was about all the police sketches of the man who took the girl from five years ago. The dream showed a bunch of sketches on Cody’s desk in his room, and the window was open. A strong wind blew the sketches all over the room. The nightmare ended with him standing in his room and catching one of the sketches with his left hand. It was different from the others. The drawing that he caught showed a completely different person. It was a drawing done by Cody himself. Who was this man in the drawing?
CHAPTER VII
The Church
It was Sunday, and Cody was on his own for the day. Zach’s mother needed him all day and also thought the two needed to be separated for a day. The weather was actually pretty decent for an end-of-winter day. Spring was officially starting in just three days. The temperature was in the low fifties, which was very unusual. It was a perfect opportunity to get out his bike and go for a ride. Cody asked his sister if she wanted to go for a short bike ride down the street to the local store. He needed to pick up his pictures and more film for his camera. Cody thought it would be nice to take his sister for a bike ride.
“Hey, Mom, is it okay if I take Olive for a bike ride today? The weather is getting better, and it would be nice to get some fresh air,” asked Cody, knowing his mom wouldn’t have a problem with that.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Just be careful with her and go slow. She can’t keep up with you,” his mother said.
Olive was in the living room, listening in.
“Yes!” she screamed.
“Thanks, Mama. She will follow right behind me,” he explained. “Ol, get your jacket and meet me outside.”
Olive was excited to spend time with her broth
er, even if it was just a short bike ride to the store and back. They both went outside to the backyard. The bikes were in the beaten-down old garage that was slowly rotting away on the outside. Their garage was painted white, and it had black trim on the sides.
Cody opened the garage door and grabbed Olive’s bike first. And although she didn’t want to, he made her wear a helmet. Cody strapped the helmet on his sister and made sure it was secure on her head. He went back inside the garage and wheeled out his eighteen-speed mountain bike from where he'd left it the other day.
Cody opened the wooden gate that separated the back of the house from the front, and off they went.
“Stay right behind me, Olive,” Cody said.
“Okay, brother,” Olive replied.
The two came to the main light on Bunting Road. The crosswalk sign was completely red. They waited until it turned white and then crossed the busy street. On the way to the store, they pedaled slowly; Cody had to go super slow because Olive didn’t have very strong legs. She was only eight years old. He set the gear on his bike down to second.
“How’s that project going with Zach?” she asked as she pedaled along.
“It’s going good, but we are nowhere near the end. Ol, please be patient with me and I will make it up to you,” Cody replied.
They pedaled a couple of blocks.
Out of the corner of his eye, Cody saw something across the street while at a complete stop, waiting for Olive to catch up.
There across the street, parked in a paid parking meter spot, a black car sat. Cody was so occupied by this that he started pedaling and almost crashed into a fire hydrant.
Olive laughed as Cody dodged his front tire to the left of the hydrant.
“Stop your bike, Olive,” Cody yelled—but didn’t mean to—at his sister.
Olive came to a halt right in front of the back tire of her brother’s dark-green mountain bike.
“What’s wrong?” Olive cried.
Not wanting to let Olive know what he saw, Cody quickly thought of an answer.
“Nothing, I just thought I saw someone I know,” he replied.
“You’re a weird brother.” Olive laughed.
“I know. Let’s get to the store. I’ll buy you some Laffy Taffy,” Cody said.
When they got to the store, Olive headed straight to the candy aisle.
“I’ll be at the register, grabbing some film. Get your candy and meet me there, okay?” Cody asked Olive.
“Okay,” Olive agreed.
Cody went to the cashier and handed the woman his receipt stub from a couple of days ago for his pictures. He also asked for a roll of film. Olive returned with two cherry Laffy Taffy sticks and then set them on the counter she could just barely reach up to.
“If that will be all, it’s $9.56 please?” the cashier asked.
Cody pulled out a ten-dollar bill from his jacket and handed it to the cashier.
“Out of ten, forty-four cents is your change,” the woman said as the cash register closed. “You kids have a nice day,” the cashier said, handing Cody a bag full of the items.
Cody pulled one of the Laffy Taffy sticks out of the bag and gave it to Olive. Outside, they both got on their bikes and rode out of the parking lot. Olive had a stringy piece of candy hanging out of her mouth.
On the way back home, Cody once again gazed across the street at the church. The car was no longer there, and frustration took over. Cody and Olive continued home, pedaling slowly.
They pulled up to the wooden gate in the driveway. Olive threw her bike down and ran inside. Cody gave her the other piece of candy before she ran inside.
“It’s okay, Ol. I will put your bike away for you,” Cody said sarcastically.
“Thanks, brother!” a little voice said from far away.
As Cody was putting both bikes back in the garage, he heard a voice from over the fence.
“Hello, Cody!” said the voice.
“Oh, hey, Mr. Durkbridge. You kind of scared me for a second,” said Cody.
“I’m sorry, son. I was just outside in the garage, doing some spring cleaning,” said Mr. Durkbridge.
Cody wasn’t very fond of Mr. Durkbridge. He was always calling him “son” every time he saw Cody. There was something about him that just didn’t sit right. Even Olive, who was one of the friendliest kids Cody had ever seen, didn’t like Mr. Durkbridge.
In his midforties, Mr. Durkbridge was a friendly neighbor. He had moved next to the Roberts family ten years ago. In some way, Mr. Durkbridge felt bad for Cody’s mother because she had to raise the two kids on her own. He was always working in his yard or outside of his house. There was something about Mr. Durkbridge that both Olive and Cody did not like. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Durkbridge was the same age as the kids’ stepfather that had left their mother.
Mr. Durkbridge lived alone and was always home. No one knew if he had a job or what he did for a living. Cody and Olive always tried to stay clear of Mr. Durkbridge. He always wore these V-neck sweaters that people wore twenty years ago. The man had thinning gray hair and had a large nose. When Cody actually thought about it, Mr. Durkbridge looked sort of on the creepy side. The guy was probably harmless.
“Well, have a good day, Mr. Durkbridge,” said Cody quickly.
“You do the same, Cody, and tell your mom I said hello,” replied Mr. Durkbridge.
“Okay, I will,” said Cody even though he had zero intention to do so.
Cody walked in the house through the back door. His mom was washing dishes, and Olive was reading a jumbo-sized book in the living room. She had her Laffy Taffy pieces right next to her on the coffee table. His sister looked content.
Cody had some thinking to do. He ran upstairs into his room, shut the door, and sat at his desk. He pulled out the bottom drawer, opened his secret compartment, and grabbed his drawing of the vehicle.
Staring long and hard at the drawing, Cody tried to remember what the vehicle looked like at the church. More questions came to mind.
Did the black car at the church have darkened windows? What did the wheels look like? Whom did that car belong to? Why was it there? And was that the car Cody saw that frightening morning?
Cody knew he had to tell Zach what he’d seen. However, it was Sunday, and Zach wasn’t available today. It would have to wait till tomorrow.
He grabbed his sketch pad and started drawing what he saw today in the limited time he saw it. While he was drawing, he wondered what the odds were that the same vehicle would be there next Sunday or any other day of the week.
It took another hour, but Cody’s drawing, when it was finished, was eerily similar to the first drawing. Was it enough, though? He kept wondering what the odds of it being the same vehicle were. Cody put the drawings back in the drawer’s secret compartment.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and Cody was getting hungry and headed downstairs to make something to eat.
“Ask your sister if she wants something, Code,” his mother said, seeing her son open the fridge.
“Okay, Mom. Ol, do you want a sandwich?” he said.
“Sure. Peanut butter only, please,” the little girl said.
“How about some juice too?” asked Cody.
“Yes, please,” his sister squeaked while walking into the kitchen.
Cody made the two of them sandwiches and walked into the living room. Olive carried the glasses of juice right behind him.
They ate their sandwiches and watched television. Olive loved watching cartoons, and her brother didn’t mind them, either.
The two of them watched cartoons for a few hours. Eventually, Cody dozed off to sleep on the couch. Olive shortly followed his lead.
The evening came and went, and it was bedtime already. Cody said good-night to his mother and sister t
hen hurried to his room. He sat on his bed and looked around his room. It was as if there were a presence in the room with him. The hairs on his arms shot straight up, and goose bumps took over his whole body.
“Papa?” said Cody.
He put his head on his pillow and drifted off to sleep. The nightmares began again.
CHAPTER VIII
The Hunt Part I
The next morning, Cody woke up early and got ready for school. He decided he would meet up with Zach at his house and surprise him.
Zach was still eating his cereal when Cody arrived at his house.
“What’s up, dude?” said Zach, who was bright-eyed and bushy tailed for a Monday.
“Hey, Zach. Good morning, Mrs. Madden! I thought I would get here early so we could discuss some things about our science project, Zach,” said Cody.
Zach knew exactly what that meant. He finished his cereal, tossed his bowl in the sink, and grabbed his book bag.
“Well, let’s get going. Bye, Mom!” said Zach.
“Bye, honey, have a good day, you two, stay out of trouble,” Zach’s mother advised.
“Bye, Mrs. Madden,” said Cody.
“So I was thinking about this science project…” Zach’s voice trailed off as his mother listened.
The two of them headed out the door and made a right toward the school. They still had a half hour till the first bell. Cody and Zach stopped at the playground right behind the school.
It wasn’t really a playground; it was more of a mulched area with a few rusted swings and worn-out benches. They each sat on a swing and put their feet on the ground.
“I saw something yesterday. I’m not for certain, but I saw something,” said Cody.
“What did you see? The car?” exclaimed Zach.
“Yes, I think, but like I said, I’m not certain. Ol and I were heading up to the store on our bikes, and you know that church on Lincoln? I saw a black car like my drawing parked across the street from it,” said Cody.
