Family Night (10 page)

Chapter 32

     Sarah watched as the man got closer. He still had that stupid mask on for some reason. It had to be hard to see in that thing, she was counting on it. She had seen the boy climb up on the rocks, so she crawled further away behind a tree. Still naked, the rocks and sticks poked and jabbed her skin, but she had to push it aside. She could barely even bend her knees. If she got out of this alive, she wondered if she’d ever walk again.

     There were dozens of rocks of various
sizes all around her. Without being able to stand, she hoped she could muster enough strength to throw a rock with enough velocity to do any good. She found a rock that was the size of a golf ball. Once he was close enough, she hurled it with everything she had. Fortunately he was only around twenty feet away. The rock hit him hard enough to stun him.

     She grabbed another and threw it, then kept firing them as fast and hard as she could. He started working his way toward her as she rolled back behind the tree. She heard his footsteps coming closer as she crawled to some nearby bushes.

     “Oh, so we throw rocks now, huh?” He yelled. “Sticks and stones may break my bones! Unless Sarah is throwing them!” He began laughing as he continued toward her. She saw his leg appear just in front of the bushes. Reaching out, she thrust the knife into his upper thigh as deep as it would go. He howled in pain as she pulled it out and stabbed his leg again.

     As he fell to the ground, he swiped at her with his knife, cutting her shoulder open. She screamed as the blade burned through her skin, warm
blood poured along her shoulder. He leaned up and swiped at her again, this time catching her forearm, though not as deep. There was a large branch lying near them. She grabbed it, pulled herself up on it with both hands, still holding the knife.

     Using the branch as a walking stick, she beg
an to stumble through the woods, fighting through the pain of each step. She made it to the field and hobbled her way down the long drive. She saw a car sitting way down there. It was probably the cop’s car who had come looking for them. It was such a long ways away.

     She was so tired. Every part of her body ached, especially her legs and knees. Her new cut was burning as well. At one point, she toppled over, falling onto her face. Ignoring the aches and pains, she pulled herself back up. Looking behind her, she saw the man coming, though he was hobbling as well, and his mask was finally off. She still had to move though.

     After what seemed like forever, she was only a short distance from the car. However, the man wasn’t far behind her, she could hear him. She tried not to panic, but it was too late, in trying to rush herself, she fell again. This time it didn’t take him long to be on her.

     “I got you now, bitch!” He yelled. Her hand with the knife was pinned underneath her. The man grabbed her by the throat and stuck the tip of his knife into her throat, just enough to draw blood. He slid the knife up to her face, and started cutting into her cheek at an angle as if he were peeling a carrot.

     “Feels good doesn’t it?” He said. The man was bald on top and had a chubby face. She also just realized he wasn’t very tall. He seemed taller before, but maybe the mask just made him seem more imposing. He was just a pathetic little man. “I’m gonna skin you alive. Then me and my boy will eat you for dinner. You like that bitch?”

     As he talked, she worked her knife hand free, little by little. Finally it was free. Without breaking eye contact, she thrust the knife into his side. The man screamed as she pulled it out and stabbed him again, and again and again. He dropped his own knife and slid off her as she rolled
onto her side. The man was coughing up blood as she stabbed him again, this time in the stomach, then the chest, then she stabbed him in the neck, repeatedly. His body twitched as blood sprayed all over her face. Finally he lay limp. He was dead.

Chapter 33

     She lay
flat on her back, taking in deep breaths, the pain still coursing through her entire body. Finally, she found her stick and pulled herself up. Slowly she hobbled over to the car. She was happy the asshole was finally dead. She had never killed anyone before, and felt no remorse at all for what she’d done to him. She didn’t feel sorry for the girl either. They were all a bunch of fucking psychos. Which reminded her, where was the boy?

     That question was answered as she got to the car. The boy was there standing by the driver’s side.

     “What the hell. Really?” she muttered. She walked up to the kid who just stood there staring at her. At least he wasn’t wearing that creepy ass mask.

     “Look kid, your family is dead. You don’t have them for backup anymore. Ok? I’m going to get out of here. So could you just move?”

     She didn’t know why she even wanted to give him a chance; he was just as much of a monster as the other two. Maybe since he was little she thought she’d give him the benefit. She pushed him out of the way and started to open the door. He ran up and shoved her, knocking her to the ground. As weak as she was, it wasn’t difficult.

     “Ok you little shit,” she said as she pulled herself back up. She stumbled back to her feet and went for the door. This time the boy pulled a knife and pointed it at her.

     “Are you fucking kidding me?” She said. “You think you’re going to kill me now? Give me that thing.” She reached for it, but he swiped at her. She pulled her hand away just in time. Shaking her head, she moved the knife from her hand holding the stick into her right hand.

     “I tried to give you a chance you little fucker.” She said as she raised it just over his head. As she began to bring it down, she felt something slam into her chest before she’d heard the gunshot. It knocked her flat onto her back, but this time she wouldn’t be getting up. She had been shot, but she had no idea from where or by
whom. She coughed as blood gurgled from her throat and onto her naked chest. The boy was still standing there looking at her.

     She looked down at her chest and saw the large hole there with blood bubbling out of it. After everything she’d been through. After all the pain, all the
fight and all the suffering, she was going to die there, naked in some field with this fucked up kid staring at her. Anger surged through her as she contemplated the unfairness of it all. Neither she nor Julie had ever harmed anyone. They were good people. Yet the last few days of their lives were spent enduring unspeakable torture.

     As she looked up at the sky, the sun began to fade. The life drained from her as she struggled for each additional breath, somehow hoping she would suddenly be able to breathe right if she kept trying. After a couple minutes, the breaths got harder and harder to take, and were further apart, until she took one last breath; and she was in pain no more.

Chapter 34

     Officer Ray Smith looked through his scope after firing the shot. He saw the woman go down; it was a perfect hit, right in the chest. He keyed the mic on his radio.

     “All units, that shot was me. I have a subject down.” He said.

     They had arrived just a few minutes before. Captain Johnson’s car was rigged with a GPS unit. They were able to use that to find the location. Smith was part of the Special Response Unit or SRT. They had been briefed there was some officers missing and they were looking for this Mason guy and his kids. He got into position to see this woman covered in blood about to stab a little boy, so he took the shot. His radio crackled back.

     “All units, move in.” The team leader ordered. Smith stood on the rocks he had climbed on and jumped down. That was the first time he’d ever had to shoot at someone as a sharpshooter. It was a good shot too, just over 200 yards. He slung the rifle over his shoulder and swung the MP-5 from his back and held it at the ready.

     The rest of the team was spread out as they each moved down the lane. All were in full “SWAT” gear, helmets, body armor and armed to the teeth. The first team reached the house as Smith stayed outside with the rest. He stayed focused on the tree line, watching for anyone else that may still be around. There was no movement though. Someone from the house began yelling.

     “All clear!” the officer yelled from the house.

     They kept moving until they got to the car. Next to the car was the dead woman he’d shot. Being closer, he could see she was naked, though she had so much blood on her, you’d think red was her natural color. Another officer knelt down next to her.

     “Jesus Christ, Smith.” He said. “This was one of the victims.”

     Smith suddenly felt a knot in his stomach.

     “What? Is that one of the officers?” Smith asked.

     “I can’t tell, but that lesbian cop’s girlfriend was missing too. This might be her.” The officer said. “Why did you shoot her?”

     “There was a kid here. She had a knife and was going to stab the kid.” Smith explained, though he was beginning to feel sick. If he’d killed one of the victims, he didn’t know what he’d do. Once he dealt with the mere fact of killing an innocent person, there’d be investigations, review boards. He could lose his job and even go to prison. The thought made him dizzy, so he tried to put it out of his mind.

     Before he could have another thought, he heard crying from inside the car. They opened the door to the backseat and found the little boy curled up, crying his eyes out. This had to be one of the Mason kids. He knew the dad had killed the mom and took off with the kids. He didn’t know why the kid was here in Johnson’s car. Another officer picked the boy up and carried him out, trying to comfort him.

     “It’s ok son. You’re safe now. You’ll be fine.” Smith heard him saying as he ran back to the command post with the boy. He got his answer why the boy was in the car a few moments later. Eddie Mason was lying dead a few feet away from the car. He’d been stabbed numerous times.  They cleared the rest of the field and then to the warehouse. As he and his team entered the warehouse, they found the most gruesome site he’d ever seen.
Caption Johnson was on the floor, dead and covered in blood. Detective Julie Castillo was also lying there dead. She was not only dead, but she was naked, her head had been scalped and her feet were swollen to the size of softballs.

     In the back of the room was a teenage girl lying in a pool of blood. Her eyes had been gouged out, nose cut off and throat had been cut from the looks of it. One officer actually threw up at the site.

     “What in the fuck?” Smith said. “What happened here?”

     “Some seriously fucked up shit.” Another officer called out. The second team came walking in.

     “The rest of the building is clear.” One of them said as the rest of the officers lowered their weapons.

     What a mess. Everyone but the little boy was dead, and they had all died horrible deaths from the look of it. Smith took his helmet off and stepped outside the warehouse and knelt down. The reality that he’d just shot and killed the only surviving victim began to hit. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to live with himself, but for the time being, he was going to have to.

Chapter 35

     In the aftermath, Eddie Mason turned out to be one of the most horrific killers in the history of Texas. Police combed through his property and even dug most of it up. They found the remains of more than fifty people. Many of them were matched up with missing persons spanning a period of the last five years.
There was evidence that he’d cooked and ate his victims in some bizarre ritual. The national media named him “The Alamo Cannibal.”

     No one knows why Eddie changed his pattern that day. Maybe he was bored, or just wanted a new challenge. Often serial killers get cocky after getting away with things for so long. Or perhaps he wanted to be caught or killed, and be released from his o
wn personal hell. Either way, he was gone. He was buried in an unmarked grave at the state cemetery in Huntsville, Texas. Margie and Brandi were buried next to each other in a family plot outside of San Antonio.

     Captain Johnson
and Ben Sylar were posthumously awarded the San Antonio Police Medal of Valor. They were buried with full police honors. The mayor, police chief and governor of Texas spoke at their funerals. The motorcade to their gravesite was over three miles long. Children and adults all lined the streets holding candles to give them a hero’s send off.

     Julie Castillo and Sarah Howard were buried together per each of their wills. Julie’s family had never accepted her lifestyle or Sarah. Sarah’s family had been more receptive. Though in death, both families came together and made sure the two ladies would go to their final rest side by side.

     Officer Ray Smith was cleared in the shooting of Sarah Howard. There wasn’t much of an investigation. They officially reported Sarah was dead on their arrival and listed her as another victim of Eddie Mason. They didn’t want the embarrassment of a victim being killed by their own officer. Ray was quietly transferred out of the SRT unit and sent to patrol the local high school. However, for him it wouldn’t be so easy to forget. Three months after the shooting, he took his own life using his service weapon.

     Jeffrey Mason never spoke a word since he was found by police.
None of the authorities so much as suspected any of his involvement in the crimes. As far as they knew, he was another victim of Eddie Mason’s. They tried to have him interviewed by officers, therapists and psychologists. No matter who they put in front of him, he didn’t utter a sound.

    
The court decided he couldn’t add any new information to the case, and it was probably best to let him forget as much as possible. His name was changed for his own safety and he was placed into the Texas foster system after a short stay in a local group home. To this day, his whereabouts are unknown.