The Dead Game (5 page)

Chapter 5

T
he next morning, Louise arrived early at her store. As soon as she stepped through the doorway, she sensed that something was wrong: the air was frigid and the lights wouldn’t turn on. From the corner of her eye she noticed a shadow pass by her very quickly. She was terrified that the creeping shadows were now stalking her inside and in the daylight.

Turning to leave the store, she grabbed the door handle but found that it wouldn’t budge in either direction. Staring through the door’s plate glass window, she began to realize that the town was deserted. All the other stores along Main Street were still closed, except for the sheriff’s office, which was too far away to be of any help. She was all alone with no one around to save her. If she cried out for help, no one could hear her. She felt panic beginning to overwhelm her.

She couldn’t breathe; it felt like all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out. Panicking, she began gasping for breaths of air, but there didn’t seem to be any left in the locked store.

Scanning the store for something to help her break the front window, she noticed the display of mannequins in the store window. Rushing over to one of the mannequins, she threw it head first through the glass window. Sharp shards of glass sprayed across the outside pavement and fresh air flowed freely into the store.

Gulping in huge breaths of air, she swiftly climbed out through the broken glass. As she scurried away, she furtively threw glances up and down the streets, but couldn’t detect any signs of movement. She ran all the way home without informing the sheriff’s office about the intruder in her store. She decided not to tell anyone what had happened—not even the sheriff—since she didn’t know who to believe anymore. She didn’t believe that the sheriff had ever investigated any of the strange sightings or unsolved disappearances.

From that moment on, Louise decided not to trust anyone or to confide her fears to anyone in town ever again. She would become an island to herself: strong and self-sufficient. She didn’t even trust Todd any longer: he was too chummy with the sheriff and the original residents. She suspected that these residents were the ones responsible for the unknown creatures stalking her and all the other unexplained incidents in town.

When the call finally came from the sheriff’s office later that day to inform her of the break-in at her store, she managed to sound surprised and concerned. She even returned to the store with the sheriff to check out the extent of the damage, informing him that nothing had been stolen. She then arranged to have Tom and Edward fix the window. No one had commented on the fact that the store mannequin and the broken glass had been on the outside of the store. And this didn’t surprise her at all.

Returning from her lunch break, Shana was startled to find the front door to her store standing wide open. She had locked it before going out. She entered slowly even though she knew that she should first call for help. But this was her store, she thought angrily, and no one was going to frighten her away.

The store was in shambles. More like a tornado, she sadly contemplated. Most of her bottles and paraphernalia were lying across the floor, all in pieces, with what was left of her showcases and furniture in the front room.

She suspected that somebody in town was very determined to close her down. 
It will take much more than a few broken bottles to chase me out of town
, she announced bravely to herself.

She cleaned up the mess herself without worrying anyone else with her problem. She didn’t want to upset Linda any further since she was already too agitated about the upcoming party. From now on, she was going to keep a closer watch on the eccentric residents in town, like the bland Minnie and Frank, the too-quiet Hank, and the too-talkative Shirley. And Todd and his friends on the hill were much too aloof—and who knew what they were up to most of the time?

Linda was having problems of her own in her coffee shop. It was lunchtime when the store was usually bustling with activity, but today it was empty of all customers. She couldn’t understand what was wrong and what was keeping people away.

Right at noon, the store began to shake and tremble violently. Books rumbled and fell off their shelves. As the shaking intensified, bookcases toppled over one on top of the other—like a line of dominoes. Then as quickly as it had started, the quaking abruptly halted. Linda was left standing alone in the middle of her store with books and broken pieces of shelves scattered all about her.

At that exact moment, Todd strolled into the bookstore. After seeing all the destruction, he sharply spun around to face her. “What in the hell happened here?” To Linda, he seemed genuinely shocked and surprised.

“It felt like an earthquake had hit my store,” she responded in a small voice. He was frightening her with his sudden surge of anger, even though she knew that it wasn’t being directed at her.

Todd strode to the front door and put out the “Closed” sign. “There has been no earthquake in town. We must hurry and clean up this mess before anyone else sees it,” ordered Todd.

“Why? Shouldn’t we first notify the sheriff?” She didn’t like cover-ups or vigilantes.

“I’ll notify the sheriff, but there’s no need to frighten everyone in town.”

“People need to know that something is definitely wrong in town: too many unsettling things are happening and they need to be prepared for the truth.” She had to stand up for herself and her friends. She didn’t like what was going on in her own town and wasn’t going to hide anything to spare anyone’s feelings or worry about the guilty getting caught.

“I’ve been working closely with the sheriff, but if we bring this out in the open too soon it might interfere with our ongoing investigation,” stated Todd while quickly standing the bookcases upright again.

“I really don’t understand this town or your top-secret investigation. I’ll give you a little time, but eventually the truth will be revealed and everything will finally be out in the open,” she said, her voice rising with her exasperation. She had to be firm with Todd or else he would never tell her anything; she had to accept the fact that he was hiding things from her.

After they finished straightening up the store, Todd accompanied her back to her apartment. The evening was clear and balmy, with a warm breeze blowing in from the ocean. Thankfully, she thought, without the extreme winds of the prior evening…when he’d found her alone and frightened on the same dark and deserted walkway.

At the door of her apartment, Todd cautioned her, “Please be very careful. I can’t let anything happen to you. If you need me, call me anytime—day or night. I’ll give you my card. If you’re frightened, I can stay with you tonight—all night.” He placed a card in her hand. She hardly noticed it; she was too busy being enthralled by his dark stare.

Snapping out of her trance, she replied, “I’m fine. But you might receive a phone call in the middle of the night,” she teased.

“Call me anytime. I’m sure your voice will sound nice and soothing in the dark of the night. But remember: be extra careful; nothing is really what it seems.” He bent over to give her a kiss. This time he kissed her on the forehead and then faded away into the darkness.

Why do I keep hearing the phrase, “Nothing is really what it seems”?
Why was Todd always nearby when something strange or disturbing happened to her? What did he know about the town that he was keeping secret from her? And how did he move so quickly that he blended in so well with the night?

Chapter 6

O
n Friday morning, Linda woke up with the sudden urge to take an early swim in the ocean. She used to swim every morning before work until her heavy workload interfered with the one pleasure that she was able to afford. Swimming relaxed her and strengthened her aching muscles. She felt that she deserved this one treat for herself, so she quickly put on her bathing suit and sprinted to the beach.

The beach was deserted, except for a few birds searching for food on the shore. The sun, which had risen a little while ago, was shining brightly on the blue and green shimmering water. The ocean was so clear that Linda was able to see the small fish swimming along the bottom…below the deep water that she was currently swimming in. Oh no! She had swum too far out, and was getting too close to the rocks below End House. She decided that it was time for her to turn back, before she got washed out into the ocean by the strong waves beating at the shore.

As she turned to swim back in, she felt herself being forced down beneath the water. Trying to remain afloat, she kicked furiously and thrashed her arms out, but something was firmly holding her down. Kicking her legs backward, she hit something really hard; it felt like someone’s body. Suddenly she was released. Looking down to see who or what was pulling her down, she saw a large person—wearing a wet suit and mask to cover up his identity—swimming below her in the water.

To her utter dismay, she realized that this person was coming at her again, hooking his arm around her throat to choke her. She tried to kick behind her, but this time she couldn’t reach her attacker. She was beginning to suffocate from the lack of air…slowly losing consciousness. Then all of a sudden, the hold on her was slackened and she was finally able to gulp in shaky breaths of air.

She was lifted into someone’s strong arms and held securely as they swam together to shore. As she was being placed down on the sand, she opened her eyes. She found herself staring up into big brown eyes…she couldn’t believe that they were Todd’s eyes. It was Todd who had saved her.

“What happened to the attacker?” asked Linda breathlessly.

Todd sat down on the sand, placing her gingerly on his lap. He gazed into her eyes. “I spotted two people thrashing around in the water by the rocks. I was shocked to see that one of the swimmers was you. I immediately jumped into the water and swam out as fast as I could. You’d broken free for a few seconds, but then he had his arm in a choke hold around your neck. I jumped him from behind. He must have been startled, since he abruptly let you go to swim quickly away. I didn’t pursue him, since my top priority was to bring you back safe and unharmed.”

“Were you able to tell who it was?”

“No…I’m sorry. He had a mask on his face and his hair was covered. It looked like a man…judging from the size of him.”

Todd tightened his arms around her, as they sat on the sand, watching the birds swoop in to catch whatever fish they could reach on the surface of the ocean. Her heart was pounding too rapidly, her breaths coming out as huge gasps. Having Todd hold her like this was not helping her calm down, so she sat up.

“Where do you think you’re going, honey?”

He’d called her “honey!” 
Okay, maybe he uses that endearment with a lot of women. Don’t get your hopes up again
, she warned herself.

Attempting to respond indifferently to his unexpected endearment, she heard herself murmur, “We should leave because it’s getting chilly out.” Turning to face Todd, she noticed that he was sitting on the sand in his underwear—he must have thrown off his clothes to save her in the water!

“Where are your clothes?” she asked shyly.

Todd looked around and pointed. “There, there and there….” He indicated his clothes, strewn all about the beach. He stood up to retrieve his clothing.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t look away—even if she tried. When he was finally dressed, he escorted her home. They walked together in the warm sand with Todd’s arm protectively touching her back. She could actually feel its warmth pulsating throughout her whole body.

As they neared her apartment, he stopped to face her. “Please don’t worry about anything. I’ll inform the sheriff about the attack. He won’t alarm anyone, and no one will bother you with any questions.” He kissed her cheek before abruptly turning to walk away in the direction of town.

Absentmindedly rubbing her warm cheek, she watched him walk away.

Coming back down to earth, she realized that he had discounted the attack on her—just like he’d done with every other incident in town. Now she was angry. The townspeople needed to be fully informed; they needed to be prepared for the next attack. Obviously, a maniac was running loose in town, and if she wasn’t asked questions, then how would they find any answers? She didn’t understand why Todd was being so obstinate about protecting the secrecy of her attacks….Maybe he had something to hide that he didn’t want her to find out….

The rest of the day she felt extremely jittery and on edge. She didn’t confide in anyone about the destruction of her store or the deadly attack in the water. Todd had cleaned up the mess in her store and had also saved her from being drowned in the ocean, but still these two incidents remained uppermost in her thoughts throughout that day. Soon she would have to decide who to tell and when. Secrets were slowly destroying this town, and she didn’t want to add any more to them.

After closing her shop for the day, Shana checked outside for any lingering shadows. Lately she’d been having the feeling that someone was playing with her mind. She didn’t know if she was being paranoid, but she could feel the evil spreading through Oasis.

The only reason she was attending the party tonight was to keep a watchful eye on her friends and to make sure that no one wandered off by themselves. If there was a psycho stalking and killing the residents and tourists, she feared that there was nothing she could do on her own to save the next victim.

As she neared her apartment, the sky swiftly changed from its usual calm blue to a dark grey color. It appeared heavy with enormous black clouds, hanging close to shore. The clouds seemed to be alive and breathing from the way they swayed and moved. She promptly raced home the rest of the way, all the while scolding herself for now being afraid of clouds. She couldn’t believe that she had just terrified herself with her own gloomy and twisted thoughts.

Arriving home safely, she furtively checked the sky from her front window. It appeared bright blue again with soft white puffy clouds. She didn’t know if she had just imagined the ominous clouds…or if the shadowy creatures of hell had added another trick to their growing collection of evil pranks.

Louise experienced a very unsettling and heavy uneasiness weighing down upon her the whole day, even though she gallantly tried to appear cheerful and upbeat for her customers. Her store looked perfect again…thanks to Tom and Edward’s repair work, but inside she felt torn up.

She had hidden away the mannequin—which she’d thrown through the front window to escape the locked store—in the back room behind all her stored merchandise. She had no desire ever to see it again: it would always remind her of being locked in an airless room. 
Like a sealed tomb
, she grimaced to herself.

Returning from the back room, she was shocked to come face to face with the same mannequin that she’d just packed away. It was back in its original spot—right smack in the middle of the store. She gazed in wonder at its porcelain face, shocked to see that its expression had changed from a pleasant smiling one to a mockingly evil one. She dragged it back to the storage room, burying it far back behind everything else, and then determinedly locked the room’s steel door. She feared that she was losing control of her life.

She was dreading this evening’s party even more than before, praying that it turned out to be just a simple party. However, in her heart she knew that this was not to be the case—that all their lives would be changed forever after tonight.

David was angry that Mike was pressuring him to attend a party held by an unknown host for an unknown reason. The host could even be a serial killer hiding out in town. He looked over at Mike, who was chatting cheerfully with a customer…without a care in the world. 
Nothing ever scares Mike
, he thought ruefully.

He called out to Mike, “Hurry up! We have to go home and get ready for the party.”

Mike yelled back, “Hold your horses… We’ll leave in a few minutes.”

David grumbled to himself that everything had to be Mike’s way and he was tired of always being the one to give in. He should never have agreed to attend the party in the first place when he had such bad feelings about it.

For the past hour, Hank had been pacing up and down the busy aisles of the hardware store. At the same time, Edward was monitoring him. Hank was a tall distinguished-looking man with salt and pepper hair, cut military short; his big brown eyes usually sparkled with humor. But they weren’t sparkling now, decided Edward. Today he definitely wasn’t smiling.

Cowering behind the counter, Tom whispered in his high, squeaky voice, “Why is Hank standing in the back of the store with such a deep scowl across his face?”

Being stronger and more muscled from his wrestling days in college, Edward has always watched out for his timid friend. He was dismayed to see that Tom’s skinny body was trembling with fear. “I don’t know why anyone does anything in this town. Everyone here is creepy—mostly Shirley and Hank. Don’t take it personally; it’s just their way.”

“They really disturb me. I can’t even begin to guess their age: they appear to be old and young at the same time.”

“I know the feeling. Maybe we should begin looking into a different location for our hardware business.”

“Look! He’s leaving without saying goodbye; he could have overheard what we’d been saying.”

“He heard us only if he has superhuman hearing,” joked Edward.

Tom shakily replied, “I wouldn’t joke about that if I were you. The people of this town don’t have a sense of humor and I wouldn’t want to get them angry at us. We should pack up right now and leave this godforsaken place tonight!”

“Let’s begin planning our move tomorrow. First, we’ll attend this mysterious party. Don’t worry, everything will be just fine,” he responded soothingly. 
That is, if we manage to live through it
, he added to himself.

Todd had made sure that his appointments ended early for the day.

He was about to leave when Natalie called out for him to wait for her. She hurried to catch up to him as fast as her short legs allowed. She was a tiny lady in her sixties who was a very efficient personal assistant. She took care of most things in his life, except for anything that involved the private lives of Oasis’ residents. Despite her insistence that he needed her personal touch in his personal life, he firmly kept his private life off limits. He knew that once Natalie took over a chore, she got much too involved and controlling.

“I have important papers for you to sign before tomorrow’s meeting,” puffed Natalie.

“I’ll be in early. Leave them on my desk and I’ll sign them in the morning,” he said while striding purposefully out the front door.

“I’ll come in early and then we’ll look them over together,” Natalie declared. “You cannot trust anyone in town to leave papers on your desk unattended.” She stood on the sidewalk, huffing and puffing from her short run.

To allow her time to catch up to him, he had to stop in his tracks. He couldn’t believe that she was in such poor shape—after running errands for him all day, every day. He decided to be a little easier on her in the future.

“Thanks Natalie,” Todd replied earnestly. “I don’t know what I would do without you in my life.”

“Maybe find a nice girl and settle down,” she teased.

He unhappily wondered to himself if it would ever be possible for him to find a woman whom he could trust with his unusual way of life.

“Good night Natalie,” he sadly responded.