Again I heard the sound.
There was no doubt in my mind now: it was coming from the house. And whoever was making it was young.
The missing boy. It was him screaming, the boy who had recently disappeared. It had to be. As far from the house as I was, there was no way for me to tell what that scream meant. Was he hollering for help? Was he in pain? Was he dying? Was it all three?
I turned away from the building and leaned my back up against the shed, sighing. So much for going back to the car and calling the cops. With my twisted ankle that could take 20 minutes, and time was one thing I didn’t have a lot of. There was no telling what condition the boy in the house was in, or how long he had before Bennett turned him into just another pile of mud and bone.
All of a sudden I wanted a drink. No, I needed a drink. My mouth went dry and my tongue was crumpled sandpaper, threatening to choke me to death. I groped around in my jacket for my hip flask, but when I pulled it out it was empty. “Shit”.
My mind began to spin, trying to think of any way to rationalize the overwhelming thirst that had just swept over me. Maybe, I pondered, I should go back to my car and call the cops just as I had intended. Then I could drive over to a pub and drink until the real police took care of everything.
After all, I had no gun and no badge; how could anyone expect me to do anything by myself?
I had almost convinced myself that this was the best plan, when the scream sounded a third time.
If you can't do the smart thing, do the right thing.
No, I realized with grim finality. This was my case. It would have to be me. Gun or no gun, badge or no badge, I had to save that kid.
So I stood. I gritted my teeth against the pain in my ankle and pushed myself away from the shed. Trudging across the muddy ground, I headed for the house, trying to remain as hidden from view as possible. As I got closer and closer, I continued to pray that Bennett wasn’t even home. That I could just break a window, climb inside, find the boy and rescue him. No fuss, no muss.
I stayed alert as I neared the side of the house, eyeing the windows to make sure nobody was watching me. Finally I made it to the building and pressed myself flat against the wall. Slowly creeping over to a first floor window I peered inside.
Through the rain soaked glass I could just make out a dim parlor. The room was mostly bare and what furniture there was looked old and musty. Bare floorboards were stained with damp and wallpaper seemed to be peeling from the walls.
The lights were off and the house looked uninhabited, silent as a crypt. Maybe Bennett really was gone.
I crept further along to the next window, aiming for a better view. There were stacks of old newspapers, some trash bags and an old refrigerator, but no sign of the missing boy. Somewhere in the house I heard a floorboard creak as someone large moved around.
I was beginning to despair when finally I saw him.
The tiny figure was almost invisible in the dark corner. The kid couldn't have been more than nine or ten but he was filthy and ragged, clothes torn and face bruised. His wrists had been rubbed raw where plastic ties had crudely bound him to an old radiator and his mouth was gagged with a dirty rag.
For a moment I thought that I was too late and the poor boy was already gone, he was so still, but a then a miniscule breath inflated his chest and I saw hope.
I cupped my hand against the glass to get a better view. Suddenly the boy's gaze flicked up. I froze in place as our eyes met. Shit. I could see his mouth moving and he started to struggle. I shook my head and signaled for him to stay quiet.
I had to get the kid out, fast.
Still, I would have to be sure before I did anything drastic. I knew I'd need something to cut the ties with so I decided to go around the back of the house and do some reconnaissance, to learn as much as I could before making my move. Still trying to stay as flat against the wall as possible, I turned away from the window and—
That’s when it happened.
Through the torrent of water, I barely saw the board come sailing towards my face. I brought my hand up just in time, but there was still an explosion of pain in my arm and I was pretty sure a few of my fingers were broken.
I went to the ground and looked up into the pouring rain. Billy Bennett was standing over me, holding a wooden two-by-four in his hands, eyes wild with rage. The thunderous downpour coated him in water like a vengeful monster. He raised the board, as if he were about to strike a golf ball, aimed for my face.
My world was a kaleidoscope of pain. Everything was spinning. I managed to send my foot hard into Billy’s left knee. He stumbled just a bit, but that was all I needed. I got to my hands and knees and charged at him. He raised the board with a roar, and I collided with him just as he brought it down. It bounced off of my back, and we went sliding into the mud.
I wasted no time delivering a punch to his stomach and one to his face, crushing his nose. He bellowed and threw me off with an elbow to my chest. I let out a whoosh of air as I stumbled back, slipping in the mud and falling on my ass. I tried to get up, but the damn rain made the ground too slippery and my ankle was shot.
I got to one knee, but not before Billy’s full weight came charging at me. With a sickening crunch he landed a kick to my ribs, and fire erupted in my chest. All the air left my lungs and agony overcame my body. I tried to move, to escape, to do anything, but my gasps of breath came ragged. I was pretty sure I tasted blood.
I was only half aware when Billy picked the board up again and this time brought back like a baseball bat.
I was dead.
My body just hadn’t realized it yet.
I tried to climb to my feet, but the muscles in my arm had given up long ago, and I collapsed to the rain-soaked dirt. The comfortable numbness of defeat welcoming me.
“Get down.”
As I lay there, thunder rumbling and icy droplets stinging my face, I stared at the twisted form of death above me, and I knew the painful truth. This was it. All of my searching, all of my fighting was for nothing. I’d have laughed if I could have remembered how.
Then the voices came again, calling for me to surrender my struggle against the inevitable, dragging me from consciousness.
“Give it up,” they echoed.
I glanced to the bitter rain clouds as colored stars wheeled overhead and time slowed to a crawl. The monster lifted his arm to finish me, and I watched him swing the weapon at my head, beckoning me beyond.
“Blume?!”
Then it all went black.
I’d known that was it. The board was going to hit my face, breaking every bone above my neck—and maybe my neck itself.
Then I saw it. Billy had stopped. His feet locked up, and his eyes went wide. It made no sense to me at first, but then I noticed that he was spasming. I strained to look all around as the giant dropped to his knees, in obvious pain. He gave me a confused look and then fell face down in the mud, the board still in his hands.
Then I spotted them behind Bennett’s twitching body. Two police cars, with flashing colored lights painting the rain in brilliant hues of red and blue. Two officers sprinted through the mud, but everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.
The police were shouting something. One of them held a stun gun, the hair-thin wires stretched out to where they had attached themselves to Bennett’s back.
Were they shouting to me?