Dark Corner (36 page)

David hadn't gotten much sleep. After the miraculous
healing of his ankle, he had awakened Nia, and they had
speculated about the identity and motive of the mysterious
black woman who had appeared in his dream. Although they
reached no conclusions, he was too excited and intrigued to
easily sink back into sleep. He lay awake, his thoughts circling ceaselessly, and soon after sleep finally took him, it
was time to wake again. They wanted to catch Chief Jackson
in his office before he got bogged down in day-to-day issues.

It was Labor Day. Throughout Mason's Corner, David saw
people cutting grass and firing up barbecue grills, gearing up
for holiday cookouts. It made him edgy. If the residents only
knew the trouble that was building, they would be hitting the
highway to get the hell out of there. It made him more determined than ever to win Jackson's support.

They parked on Main Street, in front of the police station.

"He's there," Nia said, indicating a man's side profile, visible through the blinds on the front window. "Thank God."

"Let's go sell him," David said.

Inside, Chief Jackson sat behind a small desk on which
were piled folders, scattered papers, and an old computer
partially covered by files. A teenage boy who bore a strong
resemblance to the chief sat beside Jackson's desk. Deputy
Dudu, whom they had met at the hospital yesterday, was at
his own desk, paging through a file.

None of the three looked happy to see David and Nia.
Anxiety lined their faces. They seemed to sense that the visit
heralded bad news.

Chief Jackson cleared his throat. "Morning, folks. Guess
y'all ain't here paying a social call."

"We've got something critically important to tell you,"
David said. "I only ask that you let us tell you everything before you interrupt for questions."

The teenager began to chew on his fingernail. The deputy
closed his file, leaned forward.

Chief Jackson tipped back in his chair, steepled his thick
fingers on his stomach. "All right. Got my attention. Take a
seat and start the telling."

David and Nia began to tell the story, beginning with the
appearance of the Frenchman, Kyle's assistant, who asked two
men to help him dig on the Mason property. David spared
only the details of his personal investigation into his father's
life, as he was still unsure how his father was connected with
what was happening. They spilled everything else to their
audience, including their conclusion that they were dealing
with vampires. There was no point whatsoever in hiding the
truth.

Chief Jackson remained silent throughout their speech.
At various points, he idly examined his nails or looked out
the window. The teenager and the deputy, however, were captivated.

"That everything?" Jackson said. His face was unreadable.

"Yes, sir," Nia said. "That's what has been going on here. It explains the disappearances, the attack at the hospital.
Everything."

"Got that Bible with you that figures in the tale?" Jackson
asked.

"I sure do" David pulled the Bible out of his duffel bag
and slid it across the desk.

The chief slowly flipped through pages, humming a song.
Then he closed the book. He took a sip of coffee, frowned as
if not liking the taste.

"Well?" David said, putting the Bible back into the bag.
"Do you believe us?"

"I got a lot of respect for the Hunter family," Jackson
said. He nodded at Nia. "The James folks, too. But y'all are
way off base on this. I ain't never heard so much foolishness
in my life."

"We aren't lying," Nia said. Veins stood out on her neck.
"Didn't you hear us tell you what happened at the hospital,
how Doc Bennett was bitten by that girl? How she went into
a frenzy?"

"Girl was sick." Jackson shrugged. "Folks act up when
they get sick."

"Even if it's just a sickness, and it isn't," Nia said, "you
should call a town meeting, pass out flyers, get volunteers to
go door-to-door, warn people. This isn't going to go away,
it's only going to get worse"

"Ain't a good idea to get folks all riled up 'cause a girl got
sick," Jackson said.

"Doc Bennett can back up everything we've told you,"
Nia said. "He's in the hospital right now. Call him."

"You said Doc Bennett was sick," Jackson said. "Don't
wanna disturb a sick old guy to ask him about some nonsense, he needs his rest"

Nia swore under her breath.

David spread his hands on the desk. "Chief, be straight
with us. Do you think we've made up all of this?"

"Ain't say you made up nothing. You might've seen some stuff happen. But you're interpreting things wrong, buddy.
Ain't no such thing as vampires." The chief quickly looked
away from them. His fingers drummed the armrests.

"You're scared," Nia said. She looked from the chief to
the teenager to the deputy. "All of you are scared out of your
damn minds. You know something is going on in this town,
and you're afraid to do anything about it. Cowards"

The chief glared at her. "Don't forget your place, Miss
James"

But Nia kept going. "If you don't get off your butts and
start taking action, my place is going to be at the local cemetery and so will yours"

Chief Jackson pushed away from his desk and rose. "All
right, now. Think it's time for you folks to leave."

Nia started to continue the argument, but David put his
hand on her arm.

"Forget it, Nia. Let's drop it. Looks like Franklin was
wrong about the chief. He said he would rise to the occasion,
but I guess not. He's not the man that Franklin hoped he
was"

"Will you at least go check out the guy at the Mason
place?" Nia said. "Can you please do that much?"

"Got no reason to hassle innocent folk." Jackson nodded
in the direction of the doorway. "Door's over there. See ya
around"

The teenager and the deputy appeared to be anguished,
but David saw no way to get through to them if they allowed
Jackson to cow them into silence. Shaking his head, David
took Nia's hand, and they left the station.

"Shit, he pissed me off!" Nia said. "He knows something
is happening and he's too scared to do anything about it."

"He's going to have to face up to it, soon. Like you said,
things are only going to get worse"

They got inside the Pathfinder. Nia folded her arms
across her chest.

"I admit, we gave him a lot to swallow," David said. "If I were him and some people came in and said vampires were
the cause of the trouble in town, I'd be doubtful, too. But he
could at least check out our story."

"The deputy believed us," Nia said. "I think the chief's
son did, too. Maybe they'll be able to talk some sense into
the chief."

David checked the dashboard clock. It read 9:21. "I think
we should visit Franklin. I want to see if he has any ideas
about what we should do, and I'm worried about him, too.
It's been almost sixteen hours since he was bitten."

"Good idea," Nia said. "Let's hurry up and get to the hospital."

"Kids done gone crazy," Van Jackson said. He stood at
the window, peeping through the blinds as the Hunter boy
and the James girl drove away. He turned to face Jahlil and
Deputy Dudu. "Vampires! You ever heard some mess like
that?" He laughed, a trifle uneasily. He felt a trembling in his
knees and hastily sat in his chair.

"They told us about the wild dogs, and Shenice," Jahlil
said solemnly, "they took away T-Bone last night, like I told
you"

"The same kind of rabid dog initially attacked Shenice
Stevens, too," Dudu said. "I've written a report of what happened to that poor girl. After her spree of violence at the
hospital, she disappeared-until Jahlil saw her last night."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Jackson's temple. He
wasn't supposed to be feeling like this. He'd taken a vacation
yesterday so that he could relax, gain perspective, and wrestle his fear into submission. He thought he had conquered
his anxiety, but when he drove back home early this morning, the dread returned, as though it permeated the air in the
town like some kind of psychic smog. It maddened him because he could not put his finger on the cause of his fear. It
lay heavy in his stomach like an acidic, undigested meal.

His son's eyes pleaded for a solution. A yearning for a
bravely delivered command filled the deputy's eyes, too.

"Can't accept vampires," Jackson said. He shook his head
firmly. "Can't do it. Too crazy to consider."

"You've got to do something, Dad," Jahlil said.

"I got to think on it a little while," Jackson said. "Got to
be a sensible explanation."

"Whatever, man," Jahlil said. He got up. "I'm going by
Poke's crib. Later."

Jahlil started out the door. Jackson almost called to his
son, to tell him, Son, I want to help, but I'm afraid and I
don't know what to do. But he said nothing. His kid hopped
on his bicycle and pedaled down the street.

Deputy Dudu stood, put on his hat.

"You leaving, too?" Jackson said, not liking the touch of
anxiety in his voice. He sounded like a child afraid of being
left alone in the dark.

"I'm going to grab some doughnuts," Dudu said. His face
was downcast. "I'll be back"

The empty office was the loneliest place on earth. The
room was silent and lifeless.

But it was safe.

Jackson admitted to himself that he did not want to step
outdoors. There were things happening out there that he'd
rather not consider. He would stay inside, man the phones,
and dispatch the deputy and perhaps another officer to handle any work that arose.

But first, he would open the blinds, to chase away all the
shadows in the office.

Deputy Ray Dudu resolved that it was time for him to
take matters into his own hands. The chief was normally a
brave, dependable officer. But he wasn't the right man to
handle this.

Vampires were not in Mason's Corner. Extraterrestrials
were in Mason's Corner.

And Dudu was the only one in town with the insight and
courage to lead the human resistance against the invasion. A
die-hard skeptic like the chief couldn't do it.

However, it would be good to have a little help. Even the
most valiant heroes had sidekicks.

To that end, Dudu cruised the street, searching for the
Robin to his Batman. He caught up to Jahlil as the kid was
about to cross the intersection of Main and Lumley.

Dudu rolled down his cruiser's passenger window. "Hey,
Jahlil! Come here, will you?"

"Yeah?" Jahlil rolled closer to the car, one hand raised to
block the glare of the sunlight.

"You and I have something in common, my friend," Dudu
said.

"What's that?"

"We're inclined to believe the story that David Hunter
and Nia James told us"

A change came over the boy's face that let Dudu know
that his instinct was right-on. Caution framed Jahlil's features.

"I don't know. Maybe I believe them, sort of." Jahlil
shrugged. "I just want my dad to do something. He's the
chief, you know?"

"He's afraid," Dudu said. "I respect your father, but fear is
clouding his judgment"

"My dad ain't scared of nothing."

"Normally, I would agree with you. Chief Jackson is a
brave man. But today, he's afraid."

Jahlil hung his head slightly.

"Now, I'm not afraid," Dudu said. "This isn't a time to sit
idly, paralyzed with fright, needlessly debating whether to
call an orange an apple or to admit that it's truly an orange.
We have to act! The fate of human civilization is at risk."

"Huh?"

Dudu waved his hand. "Never mind. Jahlil, I am going to
investigate the Mason residence, and I want you to come
with me"

"Man, you're crazy. I ain't going up there."

"Let's move to the curbside," Dudu said. "We don't want
to impede the flow of traffic"

Jahlil rolled his bike onto the sidewalk. Dudu parked in
front of a hardware store, then reached across the seat and
opened the passenger door.

"Climb in for a moment, my friend."

Jahlil got inside the car. Suspicion tinted his gaze.

Dudu picked his words carefully. "This is a time for the
men in this town to be courageous. We have to act in spite of
fear. That is what heroes do, act bravely in spite of fear. Do
you want to be a hero?"

"I'm not a cop"

"You're the chief's son. Your grandfather was the chief
before your father assumed the job. Police duty runs in your
blood, and that's good enough for me. You've got the right
stuff."

Jahlil watched him closely. Weighing his words.

"Your friend was snatched last night," Dudu said. "You
want to know what's happened to him. You want to believe
that he's okay and will turn up soon. I want those answers,
too. You were there when Hunter and Nia were talking. It's
clear that our adversaries are residing in the Mason house"

"But if they're really vampires, man .. ." Jahlil said.

"They will be asleep during daylight hours," Dudu said,
punctuating his statement with a snap of his long fingers.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that"

Dudu smiled. The boy was finally coming around. Good.

"I'm only going to check around the residence and see what
evidence I can uncover," Dudu said. "I want you to accompany
me as backup. You will not need to exit the vehicle if you don't
wish to do so"

"That's all?" Jahlil said. "Just sit in the car and chill?"

"Yes, sir. It doesn't sound like much, but only you can
help me with this. No one else believes and has the courage."

Jahlil was silent for several seconds, chewing his lip.

"All right," Jahlil said. "But if anything goes wrong, I'm
calling my dad"

"Fair enough, future chief."

Jahlil smiled briefly. "Let me lock up my bike, over there
by the store. I'll be right back."

Jahlil drummed his fingers against his thighs as the
deputy drove up the steep road that led to the Mason
place.