Infestation: A Small Town Nightmare

by Tanya R. Taylor

  "That means a lot to me, ma'am." Marie smiled. She started to get up. "I've really taken up enough of your time, Mrs. Drake. I ought to get going now. Thanks for hearing me out."

  Annie stood with her. "It's nothing, dear. Would you kindly let me know if you find out anything further? I'd really like to understand what happened to my Raven."

  "I definitely will. Now you take care of yourself and again… I'm very sorry for your loss."

  "Ready?" Amy asked as her mother approached. By then, a few more people were sitting around the living room.

  "Yes," Marie replied. "Pleasure meeting you all," she said as they were leaving.

  "Likewise," Dorcas answered.

  Annie went to the front window and shifted the curtain. She watched as Marie and Amy slowly drove away.

  "So, how did it go?" Amy asked as they proceeded down the street.

  "Much better than expected. I think she actually believes me—at least, she says she does," Marie replied.

  IV

  "Do you mind turning that down a little?" Marie asked as they were leaving Annie Drake's neighborhood.

  Amy reached over and lowered the stereo. "Mom…" Her eyes veered over to the left.

  "What in the world?!" Marie swerved abruptly to the side of the road.

  Dozens of onlookers had crowded the front of a green townhouse that was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape. A slim, straggly-bearded man was being hauled off by two police officers toward one of several squad cars haphazardly parked in front of the building.

  "I don't know why I did it!" The man cried before the angry-looking officer pushed his head down as he was entering the car. "I swear, I don't know why! My God… what have I done?!"

  Marie and Amy looked at each other. "Let's find out what happened," Marie suggested.

  They quickly unbuckled their seat belts and joined the large group of onlookers—most of whom were visibly shaken.

  "What happened?" Marie asked a young man standing at the wall.

  "The dude they just hauled away murdered the people inside the house there," he said.

  "What? How many people?" Marie asked.

  "A family of four," the man confirmed.

  "My God…" Amy's hands met her mouth.

  "Any children?" Marie probed further.

  The young man sighed. "Yeah… two teenage boys."

  "What kind of a monster could do such a thing?" Amy cried.

  Body bags containing the victims were being wheeled out one by one.

  Marie turned away, suddenly feeling ill. Amy looked on as her mother found support against the wall.

  Amy went over to her. "Are you okay?"

  "Yes." She tried composing herself. As Marie looked up again, she saw coroners wheeling out another body. "I can't stay here a moment longer. Let's go!" she urged.

  Marie barely spoke a word during the drive home. After pulling up onto the driveway, she quickly put the car in park and hurried toward the door. Dave was in the living room watching television when she walked right past him.

  "Honey…" he called after her. Void of a reply, he heard a door close.

  Amy entered the house.

  "What's with your mother?" Dave asked her.

  Amy went over and slumped onto the sofa. "An entire family was murdered on Austin Lane a while ago. We just left the scene," she said.

  "What?" Dave's jaw dropped.

  "We heard the guy confess to the killings, but he said he didn't know why he did it."

  Dave recalled Marie's recent dream. He instantly got up to leave.

  "Where are you going?" Amy asked.

  "I have to speak with your mother."

  Dave knocked at the bathroom door and tried to turn the knob. "Honey, are you all right in there?" He could hear quiet sniffling inside.

  "Yes. I'm fine." Marie cleared her throat. "I'll be out in a minute."

  Dave reluctantly walked away. However, he was waiting nearby when she resurfaced a few minutes later. She glanced at him, then walked out into the living room. Dave could see that she had been crying.

  "Are you all right, Mom?" Amy asked.

  "Yes, sweetheart. I'm fine," Marie replied.

  Confident that her mother would be well taken care of by her dad, Amy said: "I'm going by Sandy's house for a while; okay?"

  "Okay, sure," Dave told her.

  Marie sat down wearily in Amy's spot as the teenager retrieved her headphones from the mantle and headed out the door.

  "Amy told me about the murders." Dave sat close by. "I can't believe it."

  Marie was visibly heart-broken.

  "In the past ten years, there's been… what… two murders?" Dave continued. "And both, to my recollection, were self-defense cases."

  Marie quietly nodded.

  "It's really happening; isn't it? Just like you saw?"

  "Yeah," Marie responded almost in a whisper.

  Dave could feel the anxiety building. This is one of the times when he desperately wished that somehow Marie got it all wrong—that her dream was nothing more than negative entertainment while she slept. However, he knew he wasn't getting his wish. The signs were matching up.

  "The body of the young woman they pulled out of waters at the dock wasn't a normal suicide either," Marie stated.

  "Normal suicide?" Dave grimaced.

  "She didn't plan to end her life that night. Amy and I had just left her aunt's house when we came across the dreadful scene."

  "You visited the girl's aunt?" Dave was surprised.

  "I felt I had to." Marie started rubbing her eyes. "I know this is out of character for me, Dave, but I couldn't let her family believe that she had killed herself when I knew she didn't—not after I saw the vision."

  "A vision?"

  "This morning after you left for your run."

  Just then, the phone rang and Dave got up to answer it. Seconds later, he handed the receiver to her. "For you… it's Steven," he said quietly.

  "Steven?" Marie frowned. She reluctantly took the phone. "Hello…"

  Dave sat down and listened. It wasn't a regular occurrence for any of Marie's relatives to call the house. Recently, Steven had been reaching out more and more.

  "Uh…huh," Dave heard Marie say. "I don't know about that, Steve." She added, moments later.

  Marie soon hung up from the call and looked at her husband with great uncertainty on her face. "He wants me to come over for a get-together they're having this weekend," she said. "He was initially thinking of having it at his house, but he and Betty are renovating."

  "What's this get-together for?" Dave was curious.

  "He said it isn't anything special—just a dinner mainly and that he wanted to do it because we haven't all been in the same room since Dad died. I know what he means though. He means that I haven't been in the same room with them since Dad died," Marie surmised.

  "Are you going?"

  "I don't want to, Dave. I really don't, but Steven…"

  "Then go for him, if not for anyone else, since he's reaching out to you like this. Before you know it, the time will have passed quickly and the visit will be history until… whenever."

  To Marie, it made sense; Dave always made sense.

  She sighed heavily. "Okay. I guess I'll go then."

  Dave reached for her hand and smiled. "It'll be okay, honey. Trust me."

  Their attention drifted toward the television when they heard the one o'clock news announced. The video of the Austin Lane killings was the highlight. Black body bags were shown leaving the residence on stretchers.

  Marie gasped. "That's one of the boys in there." Her voice lowered.

  "How can anyone do something so horrendous?" Dave charged. "They're innocent, for God's sake!" He slammed his fist on the arm of the chair.

  Marie rested her hand on Dave's. She didn't know anyone in the world that loved children more than he did and was sorry that she was never able to give him more of his own.

  "I don't know why I did it!" They saw the accuse
d killer declare his guilt with apparent remorse or what one might think was a future insanity defense.

  Marie shook her head sadly. "He really didn't know why he did it," she said.

  The look in Dave's eyes was piercing. "What do you mean he didn't know why he did it? He's a human being, dammit! When we do things, we know why we're doing them!"

  "You still don't understand, Dave," Marie's calm return was somewhat sinister. "Powerful forces are driving these people to do such things. I strongly feel that in the moment, they are clueless as to what's happening or at least, if they know, they cannot control themselves."

  "Do you know this for a fact, Marie, or is this conjecture?"

  "What I do know is that a gateway has been opened by which these entities came and somehow, some way, I have to find out where it is," Marie replied.

  "Do you mean an actual, physical gateway?" Dave asked.

  "No." She sighed. "It's a spiritual gateway. If I can locate where it originated, then I'm assuming that something can be done about it."

  "How in the world will you do that? Find out, I mean."

  Marie thought carefully. "All I can say is… if God showed me the problem, He'll somehow lead me to the solution."

  "God doesn't need man's help for a solution, Marie. That's why He's God," Dave thought he should clear that up.

  "I believe that sometimes, He does. Not that the problem can't get solved without man's involvement, but sometimes God requires it. Right now, in this case, I don't know which one it is."

  (NEWS ANCHOR: "Within the past twenty-four hours, police have indicated that there have been four armed robberies, five reported cases of rape, and another suicide in Foxdale. Folks, this escalation of crime and suicide is unheard of in Bringham).

  Marie, horrified, looked at Dave who was pretty much gaping at the television screen.

  "That solution had better come fast!" Dave finally vociferated. "If it goes on like this…"

  "I know." Marie leaned back quietly on the sofa.

  * * *

  "I still don't understand why we had to come here!" Amy grunted in the back seat as they pulled in front of the white, split-level house with the perfectly manicured lawn. The large yard was one of the most well-kept in the neighborhood and Sylvia Stokes took great pride in that.

  "We'll only be a while," Marie said, feeling a degree of apprehension that she was trying hard to conceal. She glanced at the car clock. "It's 6:15 now. I don't suppose we'll be here longer than an hour or two max."

  "Listen to your mother, honey," Dave interjected. "Before you know it, we'll be walking back to this car and heading home."

  Amy sucked her teeth. "I guess we can all go in there, be fake and pretend just as well as Grandma does. Then maybe, when it's all over, we'll feel like we've accomplished a great, big, amazing task, right?"

  "Amy Adams! You suck your teeth again and you'll be missing a couple!" Marie charged. Dave and Amy knew her warnings were nothing more than laughable since she never backed anything up. "I know my mother has never been much of a grandmother to you, Amy, but in spite of that, when you go inside that house, remember to be respectful. We cannot change people—only God can do that. Leave it to Him."

  Amy got out of the car.

  "Take a deep breath in," Dave told Marie.

  "I'm fine," she replied.

  Dave knew she was lying. Marie hadn't been anywhere near that house or the neighborhood for that matter for several months and he knew that walking through those double doors just ahead would be one of the most uncomfortable things Marie would have to do. Not only were the people inside there considered toxic by Marie, but the house held many memories of her beloved father.

  "Let's go," she said. "Let's get this over with."

  Amy was waiting for them and they all walked toward the front door together.

  Dave rang the doorbell once and they waited quietly on the porch, each one silently dreading the fact that they were there. The door flashed open moments later. It was Steven. "Dave, how are ya?" The men shook hands. "It's been a while," Steven said.

  "Yes, it has." Dave nodded.

  "Amy!" Steven grabbed his niece and hugged her tightly. "You've grown so much since I last saw you. Sis surely has a woman on her hands now." He looked at Marie. "It's great to see you. I'm really glad you came."

  Marie's attempt to smile was fruitless. She couldn't believe she was there again and wasn't sure what she was walking into. They were all standing at the door, feeling somewhat out of place.

  "Come on in," Dave said to them. "Everyone's here already."

  "It seems awfully quiet," Marie noted.

  "Yeah." Steven grinned.

  Sylvia Stokes—Marie's mother—was sitting in her favorite chair. That old thing was around for the better part of Marie's forty years of existence. Jan, the eldest of the siblings, was on the couch speaking with their mother. Vera—second in line to Jan, was in the kitchen busying about. The kitchen was her domain and no one was allowed in there with her during family functions unless she specifically requested assistance.

  All eyes were on Dave, Marie and Amy when they walked into the living room.

  "Hello everyone," Marie said. Dave and Amy hailed as well. Jan and Vera glanced at each other, then each responded with a simple, "Hello".

  "Mom…" Marie went over and kissed Sylvia on the cheek. If the woman's face offered any indication of her thoughts, it was clear that she was not harboring good ones. She looked stoically at Marie, Dave and Amy. "How are you all doing?"

  Amy went over and hugged her grandmother, but Sylvia barely seemed to notice the girl. She leaned to the side, retrieved a small blanket she had been knitting and picked up where she had left off.

  "We're doing good, Sylvia. How are things with you?" Dave attempted to break the ice that was quickly forming inside the room. He and Amy sat down together.

  "Jan… Vera…" Marie hailed her sisters again before sitting next to Dave. Jan and Vera didn't seem the least bit enthused.

  "Where's Ted?" Marie asked, looking around.

  "Ted! Marie's here!" Steven shouted toward the back.

  The kitchen, living room and dining area were all set neatly in one large, open space. Cabinets lining the ceiling and floor of the kitchen served as a boundary line between it and the living room.

  A tall, lanky young man in his twenties emerged from a back bedroom with an equally undernourished girl on his arm. Ted was a heavy drinker and the youngest of the Stokes children who always got his way with Sylvia.

  She still allows him to treat this house like a motel, Marie thought as she was getting up to embrace Ted.

  "Long time no see, Sis! What's saying?" Ted voice slurred. "This here's…" He looked at the young lady next to him. "What'd you say your name was again?"

  "You know my name, you buffoon!" The girl responded sharply. "Sorry, Ted's sister. My name is Sam… short for Samantha." She extended a hand. "It's good to meet you."

  "Nice meeting you too," Marie caught her hand.

  "Amy, my girl!" Ted pulled up his niece from the chair and gave her something similar to a bear hug before turning to Dave and shaking his hand enthusiastically. "Good to see ya, bro."

  "It's good to see you too, Ted," Dave said.

  "Well, I know this is supposed to be some kind of get-together thing, but…" he turned to Sam, "…what'd you say your name was again?"

  She gave him a reprimanding glare.

  "Oh, yeah… Sam," he continued. "Me and Sam gotta hit the road right now. We'll be back in a while. Okay, Mom?" He eyed his mother who looked back adoringly.

  "You're not driving. Are you?" she asked.

  "No, mumsy. Ahh…" He looked at Sam. She knew he had trouble remembering her name again.

  "Sam," Dave reminded him.

  "Right. Right. Sam here… she's driving," Ted finally cleared it up.

  "All right, son," Sylvia conceded. "You be careful out there, okay? People in this town have gone downright berserk lately. I don'
t know what in the world is wrong with them."

  Ted leaned over and kissed Sylvia as she resumed her knitting. Amy sat back and watched her uncle leave with someone she was sure was yet another stranger he had met and shacked up with under his mother's nose.

  "So where are your kids?" Marie asked Jan. "And why isn't Betty here, Steven? She's not coming?"

  "Ah… no. She's at home," Steven answered.

  "This get-together was just for us, Marie—Mom and her children," Jan said coldly.

  Dave and Amy suddenly felt more uncomfortable.

  Marie looked at Steven all puzzled. "Oh? Steven didn't mention that to me."

  Steven looked as foolish as he felt. "I didn't because it doesn't matter. What matters is that all of us are here together for the first time in almost a year. We don't know how much time any of us has left, so what's important is the here and now, and for us to make the best of it."

  Jan immediately crossed her legs, picked up the remote control and switched on the television.

  "Vera, can I help you with something?" Marie offered as her sister started to take the food over to the dinner table.

  "You can grab the macaroni pan if you like," Vera said.