Dark Corner (43 page)

Jackson thought they had done a pretty fair job of educating the townsfolk about what was going on in Dark Corner,
and what the people should do, without them giving away
the frightening truth that surely would have driven the crowd
into a panic of disbelief, fear, and superstition. But twentyplus years of working with the public had taught him that
even if you explained something as clear as glass, people
would have questions. When he opened up the floor to the
audience, he gripped the edges of the pulpit and braced himself for the worst.

Out of the hundreds of people in the church, his cousin,
Elmer, was the first to get to a microphone. Hitching up his
pants, his sleeves rolled up around his chubby forearms,
Elmer hurried to the mic positioned in the middle of the
sanctuary. His bald head glistened in the fluorescent light.

Jackson dreaded giving his cousin a chance to speak in
public, but he had to be fair. He pointed toward Elmer and
said, "Go ahead, Elmer."

Elmer cleared his throat. "I don't know what the other
folks in here think, but I think y'all got it all wrong. You say
a virus is in our town and you don't know where it came
from. I know where it came from the federal government.
They're using our town for experiments-"

Christ, Jackson thought. Leave it up to Elmer to open up
the government conspiracy box.

Members of the crowd nodded in agreement.

"-we ain't nothing but guinea pigs for them," Elmer said. "They don't care about the welfare of a town full of
black folks. Bet it's some kinda biological weapon they're
testing out. Far as they're concerned, we're expendable. A
black life ain't never meant shit to Uncle Sam"

"Like Tuskegee, Alabama," a man said. "Remember
those syphilis experiments they did on the brothers, back in
the day."

"AIDS started off as a government experiment over in
Africa," another man said. "They don't care about us"

Murmurs of agreement swept through the group. Elmer
cracked a smug grin and folded his arms as if to say, What you
gonna say to that, cuz?

Jackson clenched his teeth.

"All right," Jackson said. "Say it is an experiment by
some government outfit. What you think we should do about
it, Elmer?"

Elmer cleared his throat. "Well ... umm ... well ... maybe
call up the NAACP."

"And stage a march, huh?" Jackson said. "Meanwhile,
folks getting bit and falling down sick."

"The chief got a point," a woman said.

For once, Elmer didn't have a comeback. Jackson hurried
to move past him. He pointed to a young woman on the
right. "Next question. Your turn, miss."

She stepped to the microphone. She was a cute girl,
maybe no older than twenty, and wore a plain blue dress and
thick glasses.

"I'll be frank," the girl said. "I'm scared. I've been having
nightmares for the past week, and my own dog, Pete, has become like one of these infected dogs that you've mentioned.
He isn't a normal dog anymore, and he ran away from home.
I don't think it's a virus or a government plot. I think it's evil.
Something evil and supernatural is in our town, and I know I
can't be the only one in here who's felt it. Be honest with
yourselves."

Silence fell over the crowd. Coolness tapped Jackson's
spine. Had he underestimated what the people were willing
to believe?

Be honest with yourselves.

He felt exposed as a liar. What good was he doing these
people by hiding the truth? The young lady was right.
Anyone with a pulse could feel that something evil and unnatural had taken root in the town. Be honest.

"The devil's walking in Dark Corner!" a man shouted.

"We got to call on the Lord!" a woman cried. "Only He
can deliver us!"

An outburst of clapping and shouts of Amen followed.

Jackson drummed the pulpit.

What the hell have I got to lose by telling the truth? he
thought. By nightfall, they're gonna see proof themselves.

He saw Jahlil in the back of the church. His son was nodding. So was David. As if they understood his dilemma and
encouraged him to lay the full story on the audience.

To hell with it. I'm gonna unload.

"Okay, gonna be straight with you, folks," he said. "It is
evil, to the core. I've seen proof myself. What we dealing
with is something you might not wanna believe, but I owe it
to you to be honest. We've got vampires here in Dark
Corner"

Gasps and exclamations of shock erupted from the audience. But surprisingly, a lot of folks nodded, as though
pleased that Jackson had put their nameless fear into words.

Jackson checked behind him. The members of the leadership team gaped at him as if he had gone crazy. He might be
jeopardizing his job by telling the people about vampires,
but so be it. Besides, no one tried to stop him. Maybe, in
their secret thoughts, they perceived the chilling truth, too.

He continued to speak.

"Took me some time to swallow the truth," he said. "But I saw one of 'em myself, and I bet some of you in here seen
'em, too. We don't think too many of our people have turned
into the vampires, yet, but a lot of the dogs have. Yep, you
heard me right. Some of the hounds are working for the
vampires. Understand, they ain't normal dogs. They're smart,
vicious, and tough. I shot three of 'em with a twelve-gauge
shotgun, and those mutts got up five minutes later and came
after me again."

Curses of surprise and frightened looks came from the
crowd.

"Break it down, brother," a man said.

"Go 'head, Chief!" a woman urged.

Jackson bent closer to the microphone. "I don't claim to
know everything about these monsters, but I know they ain't
exactly like what you've seen in the movies. They do feed on
blood. But these dogs I told you about well, if one of them
bites you, you can get sick and change into one of the vampires. And it looks like crosses, holy water, and religious
stuff doesn't hurt 'em none, either. The strongest ones can
walk around during the day. The only way you can kill them,
for sure, is with fire. Guns don't work, wooden stakes don't
work, knives don't work. You've gotta burn them to ashes"

Throughout the church, people scribbled notes.

A woman sitting in one of the front pews raised her hand.
"Is there a master vampire, like in the movies? Someone has
to be responsible for starting it in the first place."

Jackson paused. "Yeah, guess there is one. No one's seen
him yet, but we know he's out there. We're gonna find him
and take care of him, I promise you.

"But look, everything we said about the virus and what
we need to do, that ain't changed. We're asking folks to stay
in the house, only come outside for an emergency. Keep
your doors locked and your windows shut. Stay away from
dogs, and keep your own dogs penned up in the house. We
still need you to tell us the folks that've been sick lately,
'cause they're the ones who might change. We're gonna quarantine the sick people at the hospital so we can watch
over them, and make sure they don't hurt anyone"

"You gonna burn them up?" a man said. "You said that's
the only way to kill 'em, was to burn 'em. My wife's been
sick all day. You gonna put her in the hospital and burn her?"

Jackson swallowed. "I didn't say we were gonna do that."

"But that's what you're implying, Chief!"

Jackson stammered, "Now, hold on-"

But more questions and angry shouts pelted him.

"You can't be killing our people, man!"

"Where'd the head vampire come from?"

"We need to set the town on fire! Ain't nothing here, no
way!"

"I'm leaving town soon as I get outta here!"

"You're full of shit, Chief, you don't know what the hell's
going on!"

"What about my little girl who's been sick?"

The chaotic energy boiling in the church made Jackson
dizzy. People stood in the aisles and pews, eyes bulging,
mouths yapping. Other people grabbed the microphones and
shouted into them, their voices jumbled together. Some people were beginning to argue with one another. An older
woman smacked a younger lady in the mouth. In another
pew, two guys were starting to wrestle, knocking over others
in the process. Still more people were on their knees at the
altar, praying loudly, tears streaming down their faces.

Jackson turned. Even the mayor, physician, sheriff, and
pastor were barking at one another.

Pandemonium was what Jackson had feared.

He shouted for order. He hammered the pulpit with his
fist.

No one paid him any mind.

So he unholstered his .357 Magnum, raised it skyward,
and fired. The gun boomed like a cannon. Chips of wood
rained from the ceiling and showered the crowd.

Everyone froze, as if zapped by a magic spell.

"Listen to me!" Jackson said. "We've gotta stay calm and
stick together. We ain't got time for no foolishness-'cause
just like in the movies, these vampires do come out at night."
Now he really had their attention again; he dramatically
tapped the face of his watch. "We've got less than three
hours till dusk. That ain't a lot a time for us to do what we've
gotta do.

"Like I was saying, Doc Green's team is gonna drive
around and pick up the folks that're sick and take 'em to the
hospital. So you need to put the names of the sick on that list
we're passing around. Don't keep it secret, I'm warning you.
Might wind up with something on your hands that you ain't
prepared to handle.

"Next, David Hunter, please come forward."

David rose from a pew in the rear of the church and
walked down the center aisle. Astonished murmurings of
"Look, that's Richard Hunter's boy" followed him. Jackson,
for his part, was pleased with how David handled himself.
The kid looked strong and capable, like a born leader.

In front, David faced the audience, hands on his waist,
like a man ready to take care of business.

"Hunter is heading up our citizen patrol teams," Jackson
said. "Why? 'Cause he knows more about these vampires
than anyone in this building. His family fought them before long, interesting story that maybe he'll share with you
one day. We need at least twenty volunteers for our teams. If
you volunteer, you'll be put in a small group, and at night
you'll be either patrolling the streets or put at different locations. We'll keep in touch with walkie-talkies. You'll get
more information at our patrol team meeting later. Anyone
who's interested, stay here after we dismiss this meeting, and
you'll be part of the team. We need you.

"If you ain't volunteering, then we need you to show
common sense. We've only got each other. Look out for one
another. Stay in the house at night. Run to and from your car
if you gotta go somewhere. Don't go nowhere alone. Now, more than ever, we've gotta be true brothers and sisters, hear
me? We've only got each other. They ain't sending in no
National Guard, or the FBI, and the state and county police
probably ain't gonna be much help, either. We've only got
each other. But each other's all we need"

Applause broke out. Jackson straightened, a warm feeling
spreading through him. David gave him the thumbs-up sign.
In the back of the church, Jahlil clapped, too.

If we can keep up this unity, we'll win this, Jackson
thought. Sure as hell we will. Vampires can't stop a people
united.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Reverend Brown.
The pastor smiled.

"Well said, Chief," he said.

"Sorry 'bout your ceiling, Reverend,' Jackson said sheepishly.

"You'll find the repair bill in the mail tomorrow," Reverend
Brown said, and chuckled. He put his arm around Jackson
and leaned closer to the microphone.

"For those who are interested, we're having a night of
prayer, praise, and fellowship here at New Life Baptist,"
Reverend Brown said. "We'll be here from eight o'clock this
evening until eight tomorrow morning, worshipping our allpowerful God. These vampires, these servants of the Devil,
will not breach the house of the Lord. You are invited to
come here and be safe"

Another wave of applause, and shouts of Amen.

"Anyone who wanna party can come to my place!" a
woman cried into a microphone. Jackson recognized her:
Emma Mae Taylor. An older woman, she was always throwing wild card parties and playing loud music. A thin, elderly
woman tried to snatch the microphone out of Emma's hands,
and Emma pushed her away. "Shut your mouth, Lillie, I'm
just inviting folks. With all the shit goin' on here we all need
a little sunshine. I'm at 2147 Coldwater Lane, we gonna have chicken and ribs and booze and music and be playing
cards all night, so come on by, y'all."

Jackson hastened to get to the mic before chaos broke out
again. "Okay, everyone, that's it. Volunteers, please stay behind. Everyone else, go on home. Thanks for coming. May
the Lord be with us all."

There was a final smattering of applause, then people
began to file across the aisles to the exit doors, chatting all
the way. Jackson was pleased to see that a couple dozen people remained seated. They would need all the help they
could get. With a strong team, they had an honest-to-goodness chance to win. He would not allow himself to think otherwise.

It was ten minutes to six o'clock. Night would fall shortly
after eight.

Time was ticking away.

-wenty-eight people volunteered for the citizen patrol
teams, not including Nia, Jahlil, and his friend, Poke. The
volunteers' bravery impressed David. If he had been in their
shoes, he would've been tempted to leave town before dark,
an option that, judging from the comments he'd overheard
during the meeting, more than a few people had picked.