The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Chapter 26

Nearly two hours later Linus found himself face to face with Leroy Cummins' house once again. He sat inside his cruiser moping over the gut-wrenching fact that there were dead human beings gathered inside just a day earlier.

Upon finishing all of the paperwork that he had set aside the day before, Linus needed to escape the disorderly confines of the station. As luck would have it, he chose a murderer's homestead to find solace.

In his head, it was all like putting together a thousand piece puzzle in the dark; no matter how hard he tried to gather everything mentally, nothing seemed to connect, the emotions and memories kept slipping through his fingers like water.

Linus pulled the keys out of the ignition, got out of the car and sheepishly stepped forward to the front door. The sharp wind seared straight through his heavy coat, leaving his chest nearly frostbitten. In vivid color he recalled the sights and sounds of men carrying body bags out of the home one by one.

There the man stood at the front door of one of Cuyahoga Falls' wealthiest former residents. He remained face to face with the door as if it were supposed to open at the very sight of him before he suddenly remembered that just about every door to the home was locked, which meant that only an exterior tour would have to ease his inquisitive cravings for the time being.

He stepped down from off the doorstep and made his way around to the back of the house where the wind just happened to be even more spiteful than it was up front.

Upon reaching the spacious backyard the flapping of plastic could be heard loud and clear. The hole in the wall was covered with two large layers of plastic that were nearly coming apart at the seams, thanks to the severe wind that was pushing against it.

"Hey there, buddy!" A young, white highway patrolman hollered from the other side of a chain-link fence.

Linus spun around to see the man hop over the fence with his right hand clutching his sidearm that was still lodged in its holster.

"You can't be here, mister!"

Linus ever so carefully pulled out his badge from his pants pocket and held it up for the patrolman to see in plain sight.

"Detective Linus Bruin," he called out in a stutter. "Cypress Police!"

The officer stared closer at the detective before removing his trigger happy hand away from the butt of this gun.

"I'm sorry, sir." The officer humbly blushed, scratching his thin, blonde mustache. "I thought you were another reporter or another kid trying to get in there again."

Slipping his shield back into his pocket, Linus said, "Don't mention it. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You're not intruding." The officer waved. "It's just that last night, after all the others left from here, we got some reports of some kids running around, trying to get in. The little bastards even tried to tear down the plastic you guys put up."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah," the officer panted heavily. "Hey." He gazed on at Linus. "You're that guy that—

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Officer—

"Oh, Officer Stamp, sir," the young man smiled.

"Officer Stamp. I'm gonna tell you the same thing I've told just about everyone else that wants to give me kudos. I got here too late."

"Yeah, maybe, but at least the guy is gone."

Linus turned around to face the mildewed plastic. "Just how many times have you guys been out here since last night?"

"Um, I think about maybe seven times or so."

"Seven times," Linus gasped. "Yeah, this place is real famous, or infamous. We kept getting calls from folks that live near here saying that they keep seeing kids peeking in there."

Linus turned, cracked a cynical smirk and asked, "Folks that live near here?"

"That's right."

"I suppose those same folks that saw those kids just happened to miss all those bodies that Cummins brought up in here these past few months, huh?"

Officer Stamp uncomfortably lowered his head and mumbled, "I guess so, Detective."

"I'm not beating up on you, son, it just...amazes me."

Officer Stamp glanced at the house before saying, "I still can't believe that it was Leroy Cummins of all people. My dad bought his last two cars from that guy. He seemed like a real nice fellow."

"That's what people are saying...but." Linus shrugged.

"Um, did you want to go in there? I mean, we can tear a hole in the plastic if there's something you need."

Linus paused, trying to remember why he even bothered to drive completely out of his way in the first place.

"Uh...that's okay." He took a nervous glance of the house. "I just saw everything that I needed to see."

"Yep, I guess coming back to the scene of a crime always haunts a person." Stamp remarked while taking a peek over Linus' shoulder. "I'm still having a hard time figuring out just what in the world could have that big of a foot."

Linus turned around to see the paw prints, along with traces of blood still lined in the snow on the ground. Every other second the spark of a large animal's face would appear before his eyes. He had been trying in vain since the day before to imagine what it could possibly look like. novelbin

Teetering back and forth with his hands in his coat pockets, Stamp said, "God help us all if that thing attacks again."

"If you saw what it did to Cummins, then I guarantee that not even God himself can help anyone." Linus stated.

"I still can't believe what it did to the Sanders down the road there."

"Were you familiar with the family?"

"Sure was." Stamp replied with a pessimistic grin on his face. "The mother and girls were really nice, but the dad, Gary, that guy was a character."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, he would always beat on his wife, Sarah. Every so often, she would call the police on the asshole, but Gary had a few connections down at the station, if you catch my drift."

Linus twisted his lips and said, "I'm afraid I do, officer."

"Well, all I know is that those girls didn't deserve any of what they got the other night. You think you're safe, and then...then something like this happens."

Linus exhaled before looking back at the house and then turning back to Stamp. "Tell me something, besides snooping kids, have you or your comrades noticed anything out of the ordinary here since last night?"

Stamp stood in place at that very moment. He took his hands out of his pockets and folded his arms. He then peered deeply into Linus' eyes as though the question had offended him.

"I don't know." Stamp seemed nervous to utter. "I'm not supposed to say anything about it. I'm sorta sworn to secrecy on the whole subject. But since you're the one that cracked the case, I guess it's okay."

Linus braced himself, and that's all he did. He didn't budge or even blink. All he could do was stand and wait for the man to speak; and the sooner Stamp explained the situation, the sooner Linus himself could breathe again.

"Last night, two of our guys were patrolling out here, just like they do every night, nothing out of the ordinary. Well, when they got down to the Sanders' house, they see the downstairs lights coming off and on. So, they go into the house, and in the living room they said they saw a naked, colored guy sitting in a corner, talking to himself. When they asked the guy what he was doing there, the guy gets up, runs down to the basement, and...just vanishes. They couldn't find him anywhere. Mind you, we don't see too many blacks around these parts, but this guy was completely butt naked." Stamp exclaimed.

All Linus could do at that point was continue to stand. To say that he was frozen in place would have been cliché. He was drowning within himself, trying desperately to come up for air.

Clearing his throat, Linus asked, "You say they never found him?"

"That's right."

"Maybe he escaped through the opening where the animal came in."

"That's what they figured, too, but they remembered that the officers before them had boarded that opening shut before leaving yesterday afternoon. The guy just vanished into thin air, detective."

Linus stood back and watched Stamp's mustache bristle in the blowing wind before asking, "Would it be okay if I went there, just to check things out?"

Grinning, Stamp answered, "You can go anywhere you need to, detective."

"I'm glad you said that." Linus grinned back while heading for his squad car.

"Would you mind a little company?" Stamp followed. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, it's just that I don't want you to be spooked all by yourself."

Smiling from ear to ear, Linus said out loud, "Company? Hell, I'd rather you bring the entire Cleveland Browns' squad with us!"

Both men got into their respective vehicles and took off down the road. For Linus, what seemed to keep his foot so light on the gas pedal was the harrowing fact that he actually believed Stamp's tale; every last bit of it.

***

Just a few minutes later, both lawmen arrived at the Sanders' residence. Unlike Cummins' home, the Sanders' house appeared even more sinister in Linus' eyes. He threw it all up to the fact that young lives were taken inside the place.

Both men dragged their snow burdened feet towards the home as if they were too afraid to walk any faster. Every so often Linus would turn around to see if anyone else was near or around the property. Right before reaching the front door, Linus could see the backyard where a pink swing set was located. All of the sudden the man couldn't seem to move anymore.

"Let's get inside before the mother-in- law sees us." Stamp urged, pushing against the front door to get it open. "She lives right across the street."

Linus had to snatch his brooding eyes away from the empty swings just to look at the young man in front of him barge his way inside.

The moment the door opened, the stench of fresh blood stung his nose. Linus shut the door behind him and covered his mouth.

"There's nothing worse than that 'day after a death smell,'" Linus said in a muffled voice.

"Really," Stamp asked. "Someone said that the animal took a dump somewhere in here before it took off."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Linus replied while listening to the furnace suddenly kick on. "Do you know if the officers came across any of the animal's fur in here?"

"Uh, I can't say for sure." Stamp answered, trekking towards the stairwell. "Neither of them stuck around for long after what went down. Do you need to go upstairs?"

Linus gawked strangely at the man as though his question were the most outlandish thing he had heard in his life. "Uh, no thanks," he gulped. "That's the last place on earth I want to go. I'd rather see the basement."

Stamp led Linus through the living room where the brown carpet was stained with blood, and into the kitchen where a large crack in the linoleum could be seen. Linus knelt down and inspected.

"I wonder if Lou saw this." He murmured to himself.

"Jesus H Christ." Stamp exclaimed, gazing on in amazement at the deep indenture. "Was the thing that damn big?"

"For it to leave such a print, I'm guessing so, officer." Linus said without taking his eyes off of the dent in the floor.

He then looked up at the brightened kitchen and the refrigerator that was littered with 'Holly Hobby' magnets and school papers with the letter A written in red on the top left hand corner of each.

"There's the basement." Stamp announced, pointing directly at the door. "I bet you could find some more fur down there, considering that's where it came through."

Linus stood back up and neared towards the door while trying not to appear skittish in front of the young officer. He then cut on the light and immediately caught sight of more blood trails that were lined up and down the steps.

"I honestly wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to go down." Stamp stammered.

Linus glanced back for a moment to not only see the officer, but also an old, grey-haired white woman standing behind the man with a broom in hand and a hateful look on her face.

"What in the hell are you two doing here?" She angrily screamed while waving her broom at the men in a defensive fashion.

Out of shock, Linus slid down two of the steps while Stamp spun around and hollered, "Ma'am, we're police officers! We're just doing some investigating!"

Holding on for dear life to the slick wall, Linus looked back down into the pitch blackness of the basement, hoping not to descend any further into its gaping mouth.

"Ma'am, we are terribly sorry about this!" Linus panted, struggling to regain his footing. "I'm here on official business. This officer was escorting me."

"I don't care what kind of business you're doing; I don't want anyone else around my daughter's house!" The woman irately yelled.

"Ma'am, put the broom down or else I'll have to take you in!" Stamp warned with shaking hands.

"I don't care anymore! You can go on and take me anywhere you want to! I don't have anything more to live for!"

Approaching the woman with extreme caution, Linus explained, "Ma'am, my name is Detective Linus Bruin. I'm from the Cypress Police Department. I've seen all I need to see. We'll be on our way now."

"Good, and don't come back here, ever again!" The old woman ranted while following both men out. "Don't you people have any respect for the dead? First, some nigger comes hiding out around here, and now this!"

"We apologize, ma'am." Linus sheepishly remarked while both he and Stamp made their way outside to their vehicles.

From a distance, Linus and Stamp watched as the woman slammed the front door shut, stood and waited for them to leave.

"I could've arrested her for that." Stamp scornfully stated. "We're police officers; we have every right to be here."

"It's all the better that you didn't. She has every right to protect that house." Linus modestly responded. "To tell you the truth, I had no business coming out here anyways. This was supposed to be my day off."

Stamp stood and stared on and on at the house before asking in a far off whisper, "Who'd want to live here anymore after what happened? Kind of reminds you of that incident that happened three years ago in New York with that family and the kid that went crazy with the shotgun."

"You mean with the DeFeo's?"

"Yeah, that's it."

Linus looked over at Stamp with a glint of fatherly admiration in his eye. "Officer Stamp, how long have you been a lawman?"

Stamp looked back at Linus and proudly replied, "About three years now, sir."

Linus put his hand on Stamp's shoulder and said, "My friend, as a law officer, you're going to have remarkable days. Days that are going to be remarkably boring, remarkably great and remarkably ungodly. What happened inside that house two nights ago was remarkably ungodly. But as long as we get to go home at the end of the day and see our families, then everything just falls into place."

Linus and Stamp stood in front of their respective cruisers and stared on at the dreadful, empty home ahead of them, without another word being spoken.