“True, but then again, what if it does?”
Scott just sighed and nodded, leaning back in the chair as suddenly the lack of sleep crept up the base of his spine and settled into the back of his skull, making it feel hollow. His heavy eyelids drooped half way over his dark, red rimmed eyes. Stifling a yawn, he batted his lids fiercely, fighting back the swell of sleep that threatened to swallow him beneath a wave of darkness.
“There’s another one here,” Harry said, tossing the small clipping he had just read onto the desk. “And while I have no idea what paper this actually came from, I can see that it’s an AP release. Listen:
“Johannesburg, South Africa. Half a dozen unidentified bodies have turned up over the last few days, presumably victimized by revolutionary forces in the nearby countryside outside of Johannesburg. And while, uncharacteristically, no one has taken credit for the slayings, authorities believe they are close to apprehending the culprits. The condition of the bodies resembles that of being drawn and quartered, the bodies having been gruesomely ripped limb from limb. A thorough search of the surrounding area is being performed as authorities are unable to rule out the possibility of more similar casualties.'
“That’s where this nun was before she came here,” Scott said, leaning forward and rubbing the small balls of crust from the corners of his eyes.
“Exactly.”
“So perhaps there were more than two hundred deaths.”
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
“Or maybe these deaths were just a harbinger of things to come.”
“You’re suggesting that what we’re experiencing now is nothing more than the prelude to the actual event?”
“That’s the way it looks to me.”
“So we need to end this right now or we’re going to end up with two hundred more bodies.”
“I think so.”
The two sat in silence for a moment as Scott chewed gently on his lower lip. Harry tossed the clipping back on the desk with the other in its small pile and looked questioningly at Scott.
“There’s one thing that’s puzzling me a bit, though.”
“Hmm?”
“Where around here could one go to find exactly two hundred people at the same time to cause some sort of mass casualty?”
“Where are you going with this?”
“Think about it. There are far more than two hundred people in a mall at any given time. Air Force and Colorado College Hockey games draw more fans than that, and
The football games are always sold out. There are countless youth league games where the numbers would approximate that, but it doesn’t fit the profile to exterminate largely children. What does that leave? Businesses, movie theaters on a slow day?”
“Restaurants? Dormitories?”
“Sure. You see where I’m going with this.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t narrow it down very much at all really.”
“Think about it this way, though. What do we have right around this area, near to these hills where you will find anything resembling one of those things?”
“Nothing.”
“Right. Nothing.”
“This entire area is almost completely residential. The nearest restaurant capable of holding two hundred people is a fifteen- minute drive. The nearest businesses of that size are just as far. All of the killings so far have been in this exact area.”
“That could be nothing more than coincidence.”
“Maybe, but I inclined to think not.”
“What do you suggest then?” Scott said, rising from the chair and placing his hands in the middle of his back. Leaning backwards, the vertebrae in his back popped audibly.
“I suggest we don’t wait around long enough to find out.”
“I’m with you there.”
The phone rang again.
Rolling his eyes, Scott lumbered to the kitchen and grabbed the headset from the receiver. With a beep, the green LED display screen came to life.
“Hello?” Scott answered impatiently.
“Scott?”
He recognized the voice immediately.
“Oh, hi Sharon. What’s new?”
“I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“We just signed the contract on the last lot in the project. We’re now officially full.”
“That sounds great.”
“That’s it? Sounds great? I expected a little more enthusiasm than that. Are you all right?”
“Just having a hard time sleeping is all. I’m a little under the weather and just need to take a little time off.”
“Must be the stress. Well, don’t take too much time, with all of these plots commissioned, we’re down to your part of the deal. You’ve suddenly got a whole lot of houses to build.”
“But that’s a good thing,” Scott said with a smile.
“That’s what I like to hear. So get some rest and get yourself back up to one hundred percent.”
“Thanks for the call, Sharon.”
“You’re coming to the mixer on Saturday still, aren’t you?”
“That’s the plan.”
“It wouldn’t be the same without the builder there, and it sounds as though we’re going to get a really good turn out.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
“And you know, I was thinking, maybe the two of us could go out for drinks when it’s through?”
“That sounds nice,” Scott said with a genuinely pleasant smile.
It was the first time in the last three days that he had forgotten about the current situation, if just for the few seconds it took to be asked out.
“Then I guess I’ll see you Saturday,” Sharon said, her voice positively bubbling.
“Yeah, see you Saturday.”
“Buh- bye.”
There was a click on the other end and Scott hung up the phone with a twinkle in his eye.
Walking back into the living room, he caught the sullen look that wrenched Harry’s face into a concerned knot and remembered the conversation that they had been having before the phone rang.
“You want to go in there, don’t you?” Scott said, the faded remnants of his smile fading into the creases in his cheeks.
“Yep.”
“When?”
“Do you have any plans now?”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
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THE BLOODSPAWN
