“Guess what I got?” boasted Stephen, holding up a glow-in-the-dark frisbee.
“Good job — you risk all our necks for a stupid toy?” said Ben.
“Relax — everything is under control, isn’t it?” said Stephen.
“As long as you don’t mind ruining the fair for thousands of people,” said Ben. “They’re all going home.”
As if on cue, the lights around the midway came back on at that instant.
Stephen laughed — “See? No harm done,” Stephen turned to Jack. “Jack, man, you’re the best — thanks for saving my ass.”
“No problem,” Jack replied. “You would have done it for me.”
“No way!” exclaimed Stephen. “These hands do not touch dudes down there.”
With the tension broken by Stephen’s joke, the boys laughed for several minutes. They recounted their exploits to each other, exaggerating their roles.
Jack finally put a stop to their reminiscence — “Hey! It’s nine, the fireworks!”
With that, the three jogged off to the hill beyond the football field. Earlier in the day they had debated the optimal viewing location and decided on this hill. Their opinion was shared by most; and the hill was packed with spectators. Once they had located a empty space on the dark hillside, they settled in to watch the show and slap at mosquitoes.
Mid-way through the display, Stephen remarked: “Man, these fireworks are awesome.”
Jack and Ben agreed.
CHAPTER 7
The Boy
The boy squeezed his eyes shut and tried to forget what he had just seen. He didn’t want to know how the edge of his severed muscle would shimmer in the light. It had almost a metallic look, like gasoline floating on the lake in the sun. His skin had been seared, and smoothed at the edges. His internal organs looked wet and shiny.
He took a deep breath and held it. Then, he moved his stomach in just a bit, to see how painful it would be. It didn't feel numb, but there was no pain at all. He felt okay — imprisoned by a crazy man, but otherwise okay.
How had this happened?
Keeping his eyes shut he took further inventory — he couldn’t hear anything, and he only smelled a subtle musty smell.
The boy remembered waking up, seeing the new incision, and then closing his eyes again. Was the man here now?
He flexed his leg muscles and decided his left leg felt weird. Something about the angle when he flexed his calf. The boy opened his left eye half way. He tried not to look at his stomach and forced his gaze down to his toes.
He closed his eye immediately, but couldn’t forget the image. His foot had been semi-transparent. The bottom was fine — ankle, heel everything looked normal. About half-way up his foot it turned bad: nothing left but bone.
When did that happen? Shouldn't it hurt?
“It’s the acid,” the man said.
The boy’s eyes flew open. He now saw the man, clear as day, standing near his devastated foot. The man looked odd. He was a normal crazy guy wearing a white lab coat until you got to his neck. From the neck up, the “dissecting man” had a bull’s head.
The boy’s mind reeled. Bull Man examined the boy's half-foot, and the boy remembered something about acid.
He wondered: had Bull Man burned away his flesh with acid?
“Lysergic acid diethylamide,” said the man. “It’s a hallucinogen.”
The boy wondered if Bull Man could hear his thoughts.
CHAPTER 8
Rescue, July 5
Emboldened by their exploits at the fair, the boys grew hungry for adventure. They kept each other awake until late, talking of Stephen’s larceny and Jack’s rescue. Ben interjected occasionally, but allowed Jack and Stephen to dominate the discussion. When they woke, they got excited about what this new day could bring.
“What do you think we should do today?” asked Jack.
Stephen replied first, “What about that pond we saw on the map?”
“Or we could try to get across that river and see how far we can get that way,” suggested Ben.
“I think we should do something bigger — like build something cool,” said Jack.
“Like what?” Stephen asked.
“I don’t know, maybe like a big tree fort or something?” said Jack.
Ben dampened the idea — “You need tons of lumber and junk for that. It would be easier to find some other kid’s tree fort and take it over.”
“That’s true — my Dad’s always talking about how much lumber costs,” said Jack. “I can’t think of any other kids who have a good fort. Well there’s one a couple of streets over, but it’s right next to the house and it’s pink.”
“That would be awesome,” laughed Stephen. “They look out their window and we’re right there in their girly tree-house. We’d be all playing house and making tea and stuff.”
“Hey, why don’t we just break into that guy’s house?” said Ben. “You know, the one who the cops hauled away.”
Jack paused before commenting — “No, that’s crazy, that’s a crime scene. You can’t just break in there.”
“Yeah, besides, they would have already taken all the good stuff out of there,” said Stephen. “All the torture stuff and everything is probably down at headquarters already.”
Ben said, “But what if there’s a like a secret door or something, and that’s where he keeps his victims. Cops are always missing that kind of thing, and then the guy gets off and goes right back to killing.”
“Sure! That happens all the time,” mocked Jack. “Oh yeah —
Ben pretended to be offended — “Man, that’s just not nice. I just had an idea, and you had to make fun of me like that. Why do you have to be like that.”
“Seriously, Jack,” said Stephen. “Now he’s going to go off and make a secret torture-chamber and hide it from the police in a pink tree-house. See what you’ve done?”
They all laughed.
“You know what we ought to do?” asked Jack. “We ought to find out if those stupid guys shot that dog.”
“How are we going to do that?” asked Ben.
“Well, if you find the bullet that killed that dog, then you could probably get the cops to match it to their gun and stuff,” answered Stephen. “But that would be really gross, because you’d have to cut up smelly dead dog. The best way would be to catch them shooting another dog.”
“Oh, you think they’re going to do it again?” asked Jack. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Why do you think they were looking for that other dog?” asked Stephen. “They were trying to find it so they could shoot that one too. Those types of guys always come back for more.”
“Hey — I should bring my camera,” said Ben. “It’s in my bag somewhere. It’s got an awesome zoom on it.”
