Fracture After Dark

by Shawn Jolley

  He sprinted home, but he was too late. When he walked inside, his mom was already making dinner. "Where have you been?" she asked over a pot of boiling water.

  "In the treehouse making some models and stuff." She didn't pry any further, and he sat down at the table. He nodded his head as his mom talked about her trip to the store, and he ate all of his dinner just to keep her in a good mood. Once the food was gone, and she had stopped talking, he went to his room to make plans.

  12

  It was Saturday morning and the weather looked promising. The sun wasn't out, but it was brighter than usual and there was no rain, snow, or wind. Eden was sitting on the edge of his bed thinking about how to get back into the woods without his mom knowing. She would never believe him if he told her the truth, so he needed a lie that she wouldn't question.

  A simple story about going to a friend's house would be perfect, but without Dustin around, he couldn't think of anyone he could mention without his mom becoming suspicious. Of course, he wasn't sure if his mom knew about Dustin's Aunt Heather. If she didn't, he might have been able to make her believe Dustin had returned from his supposed trip. But, if she knew about the death, then he would be setting himself up for failure.

  He decided a vague story about sledding with some kids from class would have a better chance of working. Plenty of snow on the hills near the school made it a plausible story. He had just seen Tony at the town party two days before. Eden's mom would most likely believe that he had made plans to go sledding. He just had to be convincing. Believing the lie yourself was the key; his dad had taught him that. He left his room and walked toward his mom's room to tell her.

  Confident that he would be leaving after their conversation, he didn't doddle in the hallway. Her door was open a crack; and, he was about to knock, but before he did, he saw her sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor. She was dressed and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were red.

  Puzzled, Eden thought about retreating back to the kitchen and waiting for her, but that's when he smelled it. He hadn't smelled it in four months, but it brought images rushing to his mind all the same. Still-photo memories of his dad, Melvin, the cop and alcoholic. He always wore that same cologne.

  Eden quietly followed his nose to where he thought the scent was coming from. He walked into the bathroom his mom used. He noticed a medicine cabinet behind the mirror. The same ones that had scared him as a child. He imagined something lurked behind the mirror, a part of an alternate universe, and that it would crawl out and get him while he was using the toilet. Of course, he didn't believe that now, but the memory was still strong.

  He raised his hand and the latch clicked. He gently pulled it open and saw that the place was a disaster area. The small shelves were littered with old and new toothbrushes, purple and green bottles, and long tubes of hair spray.

  Amid the face wash, makeup, and q-tips, he saw a lonely glass bottle of blue cologne. The lid was laying on the bottom shelf. He returned the lid to the top of the bottle and shut the cabinet. He wondered if his mom kept it to remember his dad.

  Eden went to the kitchen and started making pancakes and eggs. His mom entered the kitchen just as he was about done.

  "I'll take over if you want to sit and eat," she said.

  "Thanks." Eden sat down at the table, His mom started flipping more pancakes. As he wolfed down his food, he didn't lose a second getting to his point. "Mom, can I go sledding with some kids from class?" The sound of the spatula scraping the griddle stopped. Eden tried to look indifferent as his mom turned to look at him. Her eyes were narrowed.

  "Who and where?"

  "Tony and some others, but I don’t know exactly who. We’ll just be at the hill behind the school." He hoped he sounded convincing. It was always so difficult to tell.

  "You can go, but I want you back here in two hours to do your homework." She scooped the last of the pancakes and eggs onto a new plate and sat down. Eden finished eating and put his dishes in the sink to avoid looking too eager. He put on his coat and gloves and went outside.

  He took the sled out of the garage and pulled it through the front yard for show. After stashing it behind the barbed wire fence under some snow he looked back at the house. He couldn't see his mom in any of the windows. He started walking toward the gas station, crunching patches of snow every few feet along the edge of the road.

  When he got to the gas station, all the lights were off and the front door was locked. He peered through the glass, but there was no trace of Sammy anywhere. The cashier's black Mustang was parked on the side of the building, but it was empty too.

  Not knowing what else to do, Eden began walking home. He had just reached the road when a snowball hit him in the back. Some of the snow flew up and into his collar where it melted instantly on his skin. Eden turned around, his fists raised, looking for the person who had thrown it.

  Sammy was crouched down by the side of the gas station, frantically waving for Eden to come over. Eden dropped his fists and looked around to make sure nobody was watching. He casually walked over to Sammy who grabbed his arm and pulled him down so they were both crouching. "Were you followed?" he asked. Eden shook his head. He was about to ask what was going on but Sammy made a shushing sound.

  Still crouching, he followed Sammy around the building as quickly as possible. Sammy grabbed two large trash bags and pulled them off a bulkhead door. Eden helped Sammy pull the door up, revealing a partially carpeted concrete staircase. Sammy went down first followed closely by Eden. At the bottom, there was a flipping noise and two fluorescent bulbs filled the basement with light. It wasn't much to look at.

  A blanket-covered cot stood in the corner, a half-filled bookshelf next to that, a banged up mini fridge, and two chairs: one brown recliner and a large wooden rocking chair. The cement walls were bare, and the light blue carpet was thin. Eden looked at Sammy, waiting for a proper explanation.

  "Sorry about the snowball. Actually, sorry about everything." Sammy walked over to the cot and sat down. He looked up at Eden, his eyes wide. It seemed like he didn't know what else to say. Eden had totally forgotten about why he had come in the first place.

  "I don’t know what you’re talking about," said Eden.

  "The kid!" Sammy shouted, jumping up and stepping toward Eden. He looked at his puzzled face and added, "Your friend, the kid. Dustin!" Eden nodded. "Yeah, I saw him!" He was now pacing back and forth the length of the basement, his voice becoming louder, then quieter as he did so. "At first, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but no, that wasn't it. I'm still sure of it. Why else would there have been a burglary attempt—" He seemed to have forgotten that Eden was still standing there. Eden interrupted him.

  "What? Where?" Eden began pacing along with Sammy, keeping his eyes on the cashier. If what he was saying was true, then that meant Eden had been right all this time. He hoped Dustin was still alive.

  "The white truck. He was tied up, being hauled around like a bale of hay." Sammy stopped and sat down on the cot again; his face had gone paler than before. "But now, he’s gone. And I don’t trust the police." Eden sat down too.

  "I don't trust the police either, but, what do we do?"

  Sammy scrunched up his eyebrows. Apparently, he hadn't thought that far ahead. But, of course, they needed to do something. His expression relaxed and he looked at Eden. "They’ll think I’ve gone, and I will be, soon, but I needed to tell you. Why haven’t you come around before now?"

  "I tried to find you at the Thanksgiving party. Other than that, I've been grounded. My mom has been watching me day and night. Not that you'd have believed me before now anyway." Eden didn't know why he added that last part, but it was true. Sammy seemed to realize it too because he just nodded his head. "Why are you leaving?"

  "I need to find a real police station with actual officers. That sheriff is not the real deal, nor are any of his officer buddies. I don't know where they came from, but they need to be stopped." Eden nodded h
is head. It made sense. The conversation ended there as both Eden and Sammy became wrapped up in their own thoughts.

  Half an hour later, Sammy handed Eden a microwaved hamburger that was still wrapped in its cellophane wrapper. Normally, it wouldn't have looked appetizing, but his stomach had been growling for the better part of an hour. The food was gone in less than a minute.

  One he had eaten, he realized how tired he was. It was as though he hadn't slept the night before. He watched Sammy sit down on the floor, a blank sheet of paper on his lap and a pencil in his hand. It was sometime after that that Eden laid down on the cot and shut his eyes.

  "Eden, wake up. We need to get out of here." Sammy was shaking him back and forth. When he saw that Eden's eyes were open, he started packing a half-filled black backpack with food and clothing. Eden sat up on the edge of the cot and tried to blink away his grogginess. His head was pounding and he didn't feel like standing.

  "What's going on?" he asked.

  Sammy zipped up the backpack and tossed it to Eden. "We need to leave. The sheriff has driven by here three times in the last hour. He's up to something, looking for someone." He caught Eden's eye and grabbed another backpack that was leaning against the wall.

  "What about my mom and Dustin? We can't just leave them," said Eden. He thought about his mom crying on her bed that morning. He wondered if she still thought he was sledding out behind the school.

  The sound of an explosion rattled the basement and Eden supported himself against the wall. Sammy was already walking toward the doors when the explosion stopped. Eden followed him to the base of the stairs and walked past him. Sammy caught him from behind and pulled him back.

  "I'll go first and if it's safe you follow a few seconds later. We'll run to my car," said Sammy. Eden nodded his head, and Sammy tightened his backpack. They climbed to the top of the stairs and Sammy opened the bulkhead door a crack. Eden tightened his own backpack and waited. Sammy opened the door a little more and stuck his head outside.

  A moment later, the doors were flung open and Sammy was running. Eden didn't wait, he just followed the cashier like an obedient soldier following his captain into battle. They weren't going toward the Mustang. He heard himself trying to ask Sammy where they were going, but there was no answer. They ran into the adjacent woods and took shelter behind a thick, rotting tree trunk.

  Eden peered around the tree trunk. The sheriff had just driven into the parking lot with his lights flashing. He got out of his car, looked inside the gas station, and got back behind the driver's seat. He picked up the radio and talked for a few seconds, then he drove off.

  "What was that all about?" asked Eden. It was then that he noticed the flaming wreckage that represented what was left of Sammy's car. How he hadn't seen it till now was beyond him. The black smoke billowed out from the front of the gas station.

  "I have a dirt bike we can use to get out of here. Stay put while I get it out of the shed." Sammy walked back down the slight slope toward the empty building. The garden shed was attached to the gas station; it looked to be little more than a broom cupboard.

  Eden’s head hurt and his palms were sweaty. He was hungry, but he didn't think he could stomach anything. Focusing was impossible, making him the worst lookout of all time, but Sammy was relying on him, so he did his best. Luckily, the sheriff didn't come back nor did anyone else. He watched Sammy pull the dirt bike from the shed and wave for him to come over.

  "We need gas," said Sammy. Eden raised his eyebrows.

  "We're at a gas station," he said as though it weren't at all obvious. Sammy let out a few low chuckles and pushed the dirt bike out in front of the building. Eden followed in bewilderment. "What's so funny?"

  Sammy picked up a gas nozzle, punched a code into the display, and pulled the handle. Nothing came out. "You'd think there would be gas, but you'd be wrong. It's been shut off at the source and there's nothing I can do to turn it back on."

  Eden couldn't believe their luck. "I have some back at my house," he said. He started walking down the road. Sammy followed with the dirt bike. They made it to the house. Eden's mom's car wasn't there. "Who blew up your car?" asked Eden.

  Sammy shook his head, and said, "I don't know. Whoever it was is working with the sheriff though. That's probably why he was driving by all day: to pack it with explosives and to make sure it actually did explode."

  Eden climbed the rope ladder into the treehouse and found the gas tank under the card table. He was about to make his way back down when he heard the white truck coming down the street.

  Looking from the window, he saw Sammy hide himself and the dirt bike in some bushes. The truck slowly drove past the house. The windows were impossible to see, though, but Eden gasped when he saw inside the bed of the truck.

  Once he couldn't hear the engine anymore, he climbed down to where Sammy still hid in the bushes. "I saw Dustin’s hat in the back of the truck," said Eden. Sammy stepped out of the bushes and brushed himself off. "That means he's still in town, and we need to find him."

  "Eden, he’s gone." Sammy grabbed the gas tank and started filling the dirt bike.

  "How do you know? What if he’s not? You saw him yourself less than a week ago."

  Sammy was shaking his head. "They just blew up my car. What we need to do is get out of here and get some actual help. Then, we can come back and find Dustin." He threw the gas can on the ground and hopped on the bike. "Come on."

  "Come with me if you want, or save yourself." Eden pushed past Sammy and slid into the field. "The worst we can do is find some evidence to use against them when we finally get help." He walked toward the woods, ignoring Sammy's pleadings for him to stay. "I'll just find him myself then," he muttered as he walked.

  Before Eden had gotten halfway across the field, Sammy caught up, pushing the dirt bike alongside him. They didn't say anything; they simply walked side by side into the woods. It seemed that Sammy trusted where Eden was leading him. The sun had just started to descend in the sky as they walked past the first trees.

  They came to the fork in the woods before either of them spoke. "This way," said Eden. Sammy followed without question. Eden focused his hearing on the truck if it happened to be driving down the path, but they only had to stop once to lift the bike over a freshly fallen log and ran into no other problems. It wasn't too long before they noticed the deep tire tracks which turned between two trees.

  Eden used his arms to push through the thin branches until he came into a clearing on the other side. At first, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, then he saw the small cabin. The outside had been painted brown and green to match the surrounding area. The truck was nowhere to be seen, but there was a closed single-car garage at the near end of the structure.

  "What is this place?" whispered Sammy. He hid the bike in a large green bush just outside of the clearing. Eden shrugged his shoulders and tried to see signs of somebody being home, but everything remained quiet and still.

  He silently crept out of the tree cover toward the garage. Sammy seemed unsure of whether or not he should follow, but Eden had only taken a few steps when he heard a metal clinking sound, and a Rottweiler rushed out from behind the cabin. Eden immediately retreated to the bushes and watched the mindless animal pull at its chain. The barking was deafening.

  "Quick! We need to shut it up," said Eden. He was panicked and looking around frantically, half expecting somebody to come out of the cabin or the surrounding woods.

  Without missing a beat, Sammy picked up a round rock and threw it hard, striking the dog’s head. The barking ceased. Eden looked from the dog to Sammy with a questioning look. "What? I played pitcher as a kid." They waited for a minute to make sure the dog wasn't going to get up again. The woods returned to their silent nature once more.

  Eden walked past the harmless dog and saw to both his relief and disappointment that it was still breathing. Sammy followed closely behind. Once they were at the garage they tried to lift it up from the bottom, but it was lo
cked securely in place. Sammy crouched down and approached the front door. The handle turned with ease and the door swung freely open. Both Eden and Sammy entered the cabin.

  Once inside, Sammy closed the door. Eden was shocked by how nice everything looked. They stood in a small, narrow entryway which opened directly into the living room. A hallway led toward the garage on the left, and the kitchen was just visible beyond the front area. Hardwood flooring was used throughout the house and everything was furnished with nothing but leather and oak decor. The whole place smelled of pine.

  "I don't think anyone is home to stop us," said Eden. "So, let's find out if Dustin is here."

  "Let's hurry then," said Sammy. He walked down the hallway toward the garage door.

  The door leading to the garage looked formidable. They tried the handle but it was locked from the other side. This made Eden want to get in there even more than before. Sammy pushed him to the side, backed up, and kicked the door as hard as he could.

  The first time he kicked it, the door shuddered a little, same as the second, but the third time the latch broke and it swung open, crashing into the far wall. Eden looked and saw that the two-and-a-half inch deadbolt had ripped clean through the thin door jam.

  The room was dark, so Sammy flipped a nearby switch and the overhead lights turned on. The garage floor had a layer of dust with visible footprints running around the edge of the space. The middle of the room was filled with metal shelves.

  Eden followed the footprints along what seemed to be the busiest path in the garage, which led him to a shelf of boxes in the farthest corner from the door. Turning around, he noticed that all of the shelves had boxes on them and that each box was labeled with a name.

  The names were both male and female: Susan, Gary, Timothy, Rebecca, but none of them were given a last name. Eden walked up the middle aisle, looking for a particular box; he knew there would be one; he just knew there would be one. Dustin!