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Sheriff Monroe pulled up in his car. There were crowds outside the station, spreading their news to anyone who would stop and listen. Exiting his car, he slipped around the back of the building and entered undetected. He watched the doctor, sitting at the sheriff’s desk, reading a magazine, waiting for the boy to wake.
“Enough of this,” the doctor said to himself at last. “I got something out in the car that will wake you up right now.”
He put down his magazine, then exited the building and moved to his car, parked across the street.
Sheriff Monroe went to his wall safe, put in the combination and opened it, then took out a syringe filled with a silver colored substance. He went into the boy’s cell and injected the slumbering youth with the contents of the syringe, then left.
Doctor Carter returned with his medical bag. He noticed a putrid smell in the air, but paid it little attention, until he reached the cell. He looked sharper. Horror filled his eyes. The boy’s face was sunken in and all of his hair had fallen out. Steam rose from his collapsed chest and body. The doctor held his nose and turned away from the awful sight. He went back into the adjoining room to breathe fresh air and think. What could have happened to cause this? Was this natural or was something else at work here? There was no way that he could complete a thorough exam now, nor send the boy to the home office in Seattle for study. Not to mention that this boy was a freak of nature. Who was he? The discovery of a lifetime evaporated in front of him and left him with unanswerable questions.
“Hey, Doc, what are you doing here?”
The sheriff entered through the front door and took off his hat, hanging it on the coat stand. His face was jovial as if he did not have a care in the world.
“My God, Sheriff, where in the hell have you been?”
“Out in the woods behind your place. What brings you here?”
“You don’t know? All the people in this town chattering away and you don’t know? Look in that room and see what has been found.”
Sheriff Monroe walked back into the cell and immediately came out coughing. “What the hell is going on in there? What did you put in my cell?”
“Mike Chambers found that boy in the woods. He was living and breathing moments ago. He had fangs and long fingernails that grew and retracted on command. I went out to get my bag to wake him and when I came back he was in that condition. One of them kids over at the high school must know who he is; he was their age.”
The sheriff looked as if he did not believe the man. “Now, Doc . . . that does not look anything like a boy and you know as well as I do that bodies don’t decompose that quickly. Now I hate to ask, and I know it is awfully early, but have you been drinking today?”
“You are kidding me; please tell me you are kidding me! I brought a live boy into this jail with Mike Chambers and we placed him in that cell in there. Your deputy opened the cell for us. Now are you telling me all of us are going crazy here, Sheriff?”
“Calm down, Doc, calm down. There is no reason to fly off the hinges so let’s not get hysterical and start making wild claims. I am not saying anything; I am just trying to get at the facts. Now tell me who saw this supposed boy of yours.”
“I don’t have time for this! I will be with the men searching the woods. You stay here and play detective.” Doctor Carter bolted for the door with a scowl across his face. He exited the building.
Behind the wheel and slowly calming, George decided he would go home to check on his family before joining the hunt. He drove quickly, and when he arrived he met his wife, but not Allie.
“Hey, babe,” he greeted.
“Hey, yourself. How is my handsome doctor today?”
“Worried. Where is Cat?”
“At her job.” Then, seeing that he stared at the floor and would not meet her eyes, she trembled. “George, what is it?”
Grimly, George said, “Have a seat. I have something to tell you.” And he began to speak, Kay listening patiently, all the while thinking about her daughter.
Cavers: A Vampire Tale Page 31
