Nightcrawlers: Reign of Terror

by Ron L. Carter

  Chapter 5

  Just like he had promised, Jed left work the following Saturday after they had moved. He picked the boys up and they headed to Palmdale to see if Johnny still lived there and if he was home. Even though it had been almost fifteen years since he'd been there, he was able to find the place without any trouble. When he pulled into Johnny's yard everything still looked the same, except the grass was a little taller and there were some weeds scattered around the property.

  He told the boys to stay in the truck while he went to see if Johnny was at home. As soon as he got out, he heard the familiar sound of the dogs barking from the metal building out back. He instantly knew it was still Johnny's home as he looked back at the boys and gave them thumbs up.

  Just as he started to knock on the door Johnny opened it up. He stood there for a minute trying to figure out who was calling on him. After a few seconds, he said, "Jed, is that really you?" Jed laughed, "In the flesh, Johnny." He hollered out, "Well I'll be damned. I haven't seen you in a koons age." He moved in closer and gave Jed a huge bear hug as he said, "Come on in boy. You have to tell me what you been up to all these years."

  Jed thought Johnny still looked the same as he did when they last saw each other, except he was a lot older looking and he had a few deep wrinkles in his face. The hair on his head and beard were completely gray now and he no longer had the pony tail.

  Jed said, "I have two boys now and they're out in the truck. I wanted to make sure you still lived here before I had them get out." Johnny laughed, "This is my home, and I'll probably be here until I die." He told him to have the boys get out and come and join them. Jed stepped away from the house and waived for them to come.

  As they approached the house Johnny said, "Wow! Twins huh? Now you boys are some good looking dudes." He went over and put his arms around their shoulders and headed toward the front door. Cooper quickly moved away, but Dalton thanked him for the complement and kept walking. The boys tried to be cordial during the introduction, but they had only one thing on their mind and that was the puppies. They were anxious to find out if Johnny had any and if he would be willing to part with a couple of them.

  When Cooper first met Johnny he felt uncomfortable with him and how friendly he was toward him and Dalton. He didn't like the way he looked at the two of them. He felt like it was a little weird to him. After they went into the house he pulled Dalton aside and said in their dialog, "Did you see how that weirdo looked at us? He was checking out our butts like we were a couple of girls or something. There's something weird about him. We better keep our eyes on him." Dalton said, "Come on Cooper don't be like that. It's probably just your imagination. He seems just like a friendly old man to me."

  As soon as they got in the house Johnny went to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer for himself and Jed. They sat on the couch and Jed told Johnny about Chelsea and how she had died when the boys were born. He told him that they had been living in Tennessee for quite a while, but moved back to Red Mountain a few years back. "We moved back when my Grandma died and my uncle didn't want us there anymore." Johnny replied, "That sucks." Jed told him, "We just moved into the place where my folks lived in Red Mountain." By the time they were through talking about it, they each had about three beers.

  As they sat there and listened to the conversation between Jed and Johnny, the boys were starting to get a little antsy as Cooper looked over at his dad and said, "So go ahead and ask him." When he said that, Jed then began to talk to him about the dogs, "Do you still have the fighting dogs like you used too? I heard some dogs barking out back when I got out of the truck, so I assumed you're still fighting them." Johnny was all smiles as he told them that he did have a couple that he would let fight on occasions. He said, "My main guy is Cobra and he's so mean and tuff that not too many people will bet against him." He laughed and proudly said, "He's one of Mister's offspring and he's never been whipped. I've won a lot of money with of him over the years."

  That gave Jed the perfect opportunity to speak up, "That's one of the reasons we came to see you. I promised the boys I would get them each a dog and I was wondering if you may have any of Mister's blood line puppies available? I'm willing to pay you for them if you have any." Johnny got real excited, "Is that right? Do you think these boys could handle a couple of those mean critters?" He looked over at Dalton and gave him a wink as he said that.

  He stood up, "Come on, I want to show you guys something." He headed out the back door and straight to the metal building that Jed was all too familiar with. The boys quickly followed behind them with eager anticipation. When they got inside, he showed them his prize fighter, Cobra. He said, "This is the guy I was talking about, aint he a beauty?" Jed could instantly see the resemblance to Mister; he had the muscular body and strong stance. He looked mean and tough just like Mister had looked. He was solid black except for a white muzzle and white on the tips of his toes. He had deep white scars around his face and head from some of the fights he'd been in. He was built just like Mister, only a little smaller in stature. Jed said, "Man, I can't believe how much he looks like Mister. He's not quite as big, but still a beautiful dog."

  Johnny then motioned for them to follow him to the pen at the end of the building. When they walked over and looked down, he laughed out loud as he pointed at six clumsy puppies and the Staffordshire bull terrier mother wagging her tail. She was pitch black, with no other markings on her. She was very strong and intimidating looking. Johnny said, "Don't let that scary look bother you Jed, she's as gentle as a lamb. She wouldn't hurt a human being for anything in the world. Now, another dog is a different story."

  He told them the puppies were seven weeks old and just starting to get around pretty good on their own. "That's the mom and Cobra is the dad. Now that is one heck of a combination, wouldn't you say?" Jed replied, "Those are going to be some beautiful dogs when they are grown." Johnny said, "I'll give each of the boys one of them if you think they can take care of them. I'm going to give the boys each one only because they are from Mister's blood line and you were responsible for me having that." He had also instantly taken a liking to Dalton. He looked over at Dalton and smiled, "Just pick out which ones you boys want and it's yours."

  The boys were excited as they studied the puppies for several minutes while Jed and Johnny looked at some of the other dogs that he had in pens. They finally settled on the ones they wanted. Dalton wanted the male puppy that was completely black, except for a white mark on its chest and Cooper wanted the male puppy that was completely black, like its mother.

  When Johnny came back around they told him which ones they wanted so he went into the pen and got them and handed them to the boys. He put his arm around Dalton while he was holding the puppy. He then ran his fingers through Dalton's hair and said, "There your dogs now boys. You'll have to feed them, water them, and take care of them." They were so excited about the puppies that they didn't pay too much more attention to Johnny and the way he was being so overly friendly. He had made the boys very happy with the gifts he'd given them and Jed didn't think too much about the way Johnny was acting.

  Dalton said to Cooper when they went outside, "See, I told you he was just being a nice old guy." Cooper just mumbled a few words to himself and kept his mouth shut. He already had formed his own opinion about Johnny and didn't want to argue with Dalton about it. All he wanted was to take his puppy and get out of there as quickly as possible.

  They hung around outside playing with the puppies while Jed and Johnny went back into the house and had a couple more beers. When the boys went back into the house Jed told them they would be spending the night. He told them that Johnny was being good enough to offer to barbeque some hamburgers for them so they might as well relax and enjoy themselves. They knew their dad had a few too many beers to safely drive them back to Red Mountain so they were okay with spending the night.

  Johnny went into the
kitchen and pulled out an old coffee can he had hidden under the sink. He took out a hundred dollar bill and then put the can back in its hiding place. He then went over to Jed and handed him the money and said there was a convenience store just down the street. Cooper had been watching Johnny very intently and knew where he stashed his can full of money. Johnny said, "Why don't you go and get us some more beer and grab a six-pack of soda for the boys while you're at it." He looked over at Dalton, smiled and said, "Is there anything else you boys might want while your dad is at the store?" Dalton said, "No, sir, we're good." Cooper spoke up, "Yes, how about some chips to go with the burgers, and some cookies?"

  Johnny told Jed he would show the boys where they were going sleep while he was at the store. Jed thanked him and took off to the store. Johnny's kindness was starting to wear on Cooper. He felt like it was all just some kind of an act to make his move on one of them. He believed he knew what his real motives were. Jed had left the boys in a real vulnerable position with a man he hardly knew. He might have thought he knew him, but that was a long time ago.

  Once Jed had gone to the store, Johnny took the boys into a bedroom that had two beds in it. He pointed to one of the beds in the corner of the room and said to Dalton, "You take that one Dalton and Cooper; you can take the other one." Jed had already agreed that he would sleep on the couch. Dalton was still holding his puppy so Johnny went over and petted the puppy and gave him another big hug. He had his arm around him as he said, "Look at that little rascal, he loves you already. You must be special, just like him. What are you going to name him?" Dalton looked up at him and smiled, "I'm going to call him Skeeter. "Johnny said, "Oh! Wow! That's a good name, I like it." Johnny continued to be overly friendly to Dalton in Cooper's opinion, and he didn't like it. He just thought Johnny's behavior was a bit too bizarre for him.

  It wasn't long and Jed was back with the beer and handed Johnny his change. He thanked him for being so kind and gracious to him and the boys as he opened one of the beers for each of them. After a few more beers each, Johnny started cooking the burgers and by the time they were done the boys were starving. They each gladly gobbled down a couple of burgers, chips and cookies along with a couple cans of soda.

  Just before they went to bed Cooper whispered to Dalton, "You better grab a butcher knife from the kitchen and stick it under your pillow because I don't trust that guy. He just seems too strange to me." Dalton told Cooper he was crazy, "Just relax Cooper, we'll be out of here in the morning and we got our dogs. That's what we came for and that's all I care about." Cooper replied, "Yeah, you're right. I guess I should keep my mouth shut about him." They laughed about it and high fived each other before they went to bed.

  Cooper was trying to trust his institution about Johnny so he stayed awake until after Dalton fell asleep. He snuck into the kitchen when his dad and Johnny weren't looking. He was careful not to let Johnny or Jed know what he up to as he pretended to be just getting a glass of water. He found a large butcher knife from one of the drawers and a hammer from a tool box under the sink. He didn't care what Dalton thought, he took them and put them under his pillow for their protection.

  It was in the middle of the night and Jed was passed out on the couch when Johnny tried to take advantage of his opportunity. He came staggering into the boy's bedroom and he didn't have any clothes on, from the waist down. He went over to where Dalton was sleeping and sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to him and woke him up.

  Once he was awake Johnny whispered, "Hey Dalton, you want to have a little fun. Dalton was still half asleep and confused about the question he was asking him. He sat there for a minute trying to wake up and didn't answer. Not getting a response from Dalton, Johnny took it as a positive sign, so he reached down between Dalton's legs and tried to fondle his private parts. Dalton quickly slapped his hand away. Johnny said, "Come on, you don't have to act like that. I'm not going to hurt you." By then Cooper and Dalton were both wide awake and Dalton couldn't believe that Cooper was right about Johnny all along.

  Dalton yelled out for his dad, but Jed was dead asleep and didn't hear him. Johnny got a little irritated that he did that so be became a little more aggressive as he tried to put his hand over Dalton's mouth. "Don't worry about your dad, he's asleep and this will be our secret. Nobody has to know that we just had a little fun with each other. Besides, he don't care about you boys anyway. If he did he wouldn't be lying out there drunk on my couch."

  Those words cut through Cooper like a knife to the heart. He instantly felt the blood rush to his face as his body tensed up and he grabbed his weapons. While Johnny had his attention directed at Dalton, Cooper quickly slipped out of bed and was standing right behind him. He had the hammer in one hand and the knife in the other. Seeing that Johnny wasn't backing down from his intentions with Dalton, Cooper took a full round house swing with the hammer and hit Johnny as hard as he could in the back of the head. There was a loud crunching sound as the hammer crushed Johnny's skull and his body instantly stiffened out. To Cooper it seemed like he was in slow motion as he fell off the bed and onto the floor. His body then started kicking and jerking like he was having a convulsion. He laid there jerking for a few minutes while the boys just watched in total shock. It wasn't long before everything with Johnny just stopped moving and he laid there like he was dead.

  Cooper laughed nervously and said, "I told you that something was weird about that guy. He was going to rape you if I hadn't killed him. Do you believe me now?" Dalton was still a little taken back by everything that had happened and just shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, ok, you were right and I was wrong. What are we going to do with him, now that you've killed him? We have to wake dad and tell him exactly what happened." Cooper didn't really want to tell his dad about it, but they didn't have any choice. He knew his dad would find out in the morning when he woke up and then he would be even angrier with them for not telling him sooner.

  They went over to where Jed was sleeping and started to shake him violently until he finally woke up. Once awake, it took a few minutes for him to get his baring. He was startled and still drunk as they began to tell him what Johnny tried to do to Dalton. They told him that when Johnny tried to grab Dalton by the penis then Cooper hit him across the back of the head with a hammer and killed him. Listening to their story, Jed first thought he was in some kind of bad dream and what they were telling him wasn't real.

  After several minutes of trying to tell him what happened they finally took Jed by the hand and led him into the bedroom where Johnny's half-nude body was lying next to the bed. Once he saw Johnny in that position he knew what they were telling him was true. He was trying desperately to make sense of it all, because that was the last thing he ever expected from his friend Johnny. He thought he knew him pretty well and believed he could trust him. In Jed's drunken state, he was trying to figure out what they should do and never checked to see if Johnny was really dead, he just took the boys word for it that he was. He didn't know or even realize that Johnny was still alive and breathing.

  For a brief moment Jed yelled out, "Oh My God! This can't be happening again." He told the boys to go out back to the equipment shed and see if they could find a couple of shovels. That's when Dalton asked, "What are we going to do with him dad? Jed replied, "We're going to bury him out back just like we did with the Mexican when Mister killed him." They hadn't heard that story before, but now wasn't the time for him to try and explain it to them. Even in his drunken state of mind, he knew there was no way they could report this to the police. He knew he would've ended up in jail and the boys would've gone to the Juvenile Detention Center.

  Jed went to an area of the property and believed he found the place where they had buried the Mexican so many years ago. He told the boys they would bury Johnny next to him and showed them were to dig. He told them to dig a hole about six feet deep and wide enough so they could throw Johnny's large b
ody in it. They dug for about an hour or so, until he told them that was good. While they were digging Jed was taking that time just trying to sober up enough so he could drive back to Red Mountain, once this nightmare was over.

  When the hole was deep enough, they all three went back into the house and got Johnny's body. Jed was still drunk and still didn't check to see if he had a heartbeat or was breathing. They carried him to the hole and dumped him in it. Without any hesitation, they then covered him with the dirt. Once it was filled in completely they put leaves and rocks over the top to camouflage the new grave. They took the shovels and put them back where they found them.

  Jed went into the house and wiped his fingerprints off the beer bottles and threw them in the trash can outside. He also wiped everything down; he felt he and the boys might have touched, including the hammer that Cooper had used on Johnny. When he was finished, he told the boys to grab their puppies and he would meet them in the truck. Cooper told Dalton to grab his puppy for him because he had something he had to do before they left. Dalton ran into the bedroom and grabbed the two puppies while Cooper went to the kitchen and snatched the hidden coffee can full of money.

  As he was driving back to Red Mountain Jed felt like he'd gone back in time. It was as though he was driving along with Joshua and Justin all over again. He felt like he was in slow motion as he made his way back home. Just before they got home, Cooper pulled out the coffee can full of hundred dollar bills. Jed was surprised to see the can full of money, "Where did you get that?" Cooper replied, "That pervert had it stashed under the kitchen sick. I watched where he had it hidden when he gave you money for the beer." Jed told the boys to start counting it and see how much was there. Johnny had stuffed all of his betting money in that old can and there was over ten thousand dollars in it.

  Jed believed it was the money Johnny used when he would go out and fight his dogs. Jed would never have agreed to keep the money if Johnny was still alive but because of what happened he figured it was their just reward. He finally laughed out loud as he said, "Well, since he doesn't have any use for it anymore, I guess we'll be able to put to some good use. Maybe we can get some beds and other used furniture we need; maybe even some new clothes for all of us. Thank you Johnny, we appreciate the gift." They all laughed out loud together as Cooper and Dalton high fived each other.

  Just before they got home Jed had thoughts of anger, confusion and frustration going through his head. He used to like Johnny and never knew that he had any kind of a pedophile problem. As he drove along he felt like he had to ask Cooper one question before they got home. He looked over at him, "So Cooper, how do you feel about killing someone, for killing Johnny?" Cooper sort of chuckled and replied, "I feel good about killing him, and he deserved what he got. He was a piece of crap, pervert. He probably would've raped Dalton if I hadn't killed him." Dalton didn't say anything as he just shook his head up and down and agreed with Cooper. Jed rolled his eyes and tried not to get mad or figure any of it out. Deep inside his heart was screaming out, "I can't believe I'm going through this again, just like I did with Joshua. My own boys are killers." He would never know because he was too drunk, but he was the real killer. He had the boys bury Johnny while he was still alive and breathing.

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