Terror Town (37 page)
Authors: James Roy Daley
“And what if this boy is playing a practical joke? Did you think of that?”
“If that’s the case, he can explain himself to the police. He’ll be in trouble, not us. I think we should call, just to be on the safe side. What if he’s hurt? What if he’s dead?”
Gina didn’t think someone would end up dead tonight, but the boy working at Hopper’s might have been robbed. Might have been kicked around a bit too. Julie was right; better safe than sorry.
She said, “Let me call Hopper’s first. If there’s no answer, I’ll call the police. Then we can go back to bed. Okay?”
“Okay Mom.”
“Tomorrow we’ll discuss the appropriate hours for making phone calls to strange boys.”
Julie nodded. “Alright.”
“Having that phone in your room might have been a bad idea.”
“
Mom…
” Julie whined.
“Get me the phone number, would you?”
Julie went into her bedroom with her shoulders slumped. She grabbed a small white envelope off her dresser, which had the words
PAUL’S WORK
written in bubble letters on the back. She brought it to her mother who looked at the envelope and snickered before dialing the number that was scribbled beneath the name.
The phone rang.
Cameron answered. “Hello Mrs. Stapleton. How nice of you to call.”
Gina made a puzzled face. “Who is this?”
“It’s Cameron.”
Gina was suddenly very confused. She thought a
boy
was working, not a girl. She asked, “Are you working tonight?”
“Who me?” Cameron laughed; there was no happiness in her voice. “No. Paul
was
working. Didn’t your daughter tell you? It was Paul. She’s been sleeping with him, you know. They’ve been having
sexual
relations. What do you think of that?”
Gina shot her daughter an evil eye that would have made Hitler nervous. She didn’t think
much
of
that
. She said, “Oh, really?”
“Oh, yes.”
Interrupting the conversation, Julie said, “What is it Mom? What’s happening?”
Before her mother had a chance to respond, Cameron continued. “I can tell you what
I
thought of that Mrs. Stapleton. I can tell you what I thought when your slutty little girl spread her legs to my Paul.
I
didn’t like it. In fact,
I
didn’t like it…
at all
.”
“What?”
“Do you know what I did Mrs. Stapleton? Do you? I bet you don’t. I bet you don’t have a fucking clue what I did. So let me tell you. Let me tell you
all about it
.”
Gina shook her head, stunned. “What are you talking about?”
“I came to visit my Paul and guess what? I found him talking on the phone with that slut daughter of yours. They were talking about how much fun they were having, sucking each other off, yes? Oh, yes. That’s what they were talking about. They were talking about their
sexual
relations. Paul looked so guilty when he saw me. He looked like a cat with two paws in the fishbowl. He said,
Oh, please don’t get mad at me for fucking Mrs. Stapleton’s daughter. Please don’t get mad! I couldn’t help myself. She’s so slutty and willing. She loves fucking me, she loves it! So don’t get mad!
But it was too late. I
was
mad. I was
very
mad. So do you know what I did, huh Mrs. Stapleton? Do ya?”
Gina didn’t respond.
“Answer me Mrs. Stapleton or I’ll make you wish you did.”
Gina’s mouth began to slink open. She was getting a sick feeling. This didn’t sound like a joke. It sounded like the real deal. Anger was being replaced with concern. Who was this Cameron girl? Was she dangerous? Was she insane?
She said, “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Ask me what I did to Paul.”
“Okay. What did you do?”
Cameron laughed. “I thought you’d never ask! I kissed him, right on the lips. I kissed him and I bit down. Those were
my
lips, Mrs. Stapleton. They were
mine
and I took them, swallowed them like sushi. Do you like sushi? I did, but now I like other things.
Revenge
, Mrs. Stapleton
…
I like
revenge.
And
murder
. I asked Paul about your cunting daughter, you know that? I did. Weeks ago, maybe even months ago, I said, ‘A
re you sleeping with Julie Stapleton? Tell the truth now.’
And he said, ‘
No… of course not! What kind of person do you think I am?’
I wasn’t sure what to think, if you can believe
that
. I was confused and I wanted to trust him. So I said,
‘Are you sure?’
And he said,
‘Oh yes. I’m sure, I’m sure! You’re the only girl for me. onla
And do you know what happened? I believed him! He looked me right in the eye and lied his head off and I believed every word of it!”
Gina Stapleton didn’t like this conversation. Certain words were making a very big impact on her.
Revenge
was one of them.
Murder
was another. She said, “What do you want?”
“You called me, Mrs. Stapleton, remember? You called me.”
“I suppose I did. Maybe I should let you go.”
“After I ripped Paul’s lips from his mouth with my teeth, I dug my fingers into his face and dragged him across the floor. Paul screamed so loud I figured he’d die. I didn’t want him to die. I wanted him to know how upset he made me, and I was very upset, Mrs. Stapleton. Very upset. So I broke his arms. Well, actually I broke his fingers, wrists
and
his arms. Then I chewed on his belly and chest. I have very sharp teeth Mrs. Stapleton.
They’re very sharp indeed!
His muscles tasted like raw hamburger and I swallowed them down, just like his lips. I swallowed and I drank. I rammed my––”
Gina hung up the phone. “Oh my God,” she said. “I think we’re in trouble.”
“What happened Mom,” Julie asked.
But before Gina had a chance to respond, the phone rang.
2
Gina didn’t want to answer the call, but the phone in her bedroom would wake her husband if she didn’t. She lifted the receiver. “Hello?”
“Don’t like my story, huh? I can’t blame you.” Cameron laughed. “I broke his arms, I ripped his nose apart and I tore the muscles from his bones. I did a lot of other things too, but that’s not the point, is it? No, it sure isn’t. Let me make something clear, Mrs. Stapleton, mother of Julie. I’m coming over. I’m comin’ to
getcha
!”
The line went dead.
“Oh my God,” Gina said, hanging up.
“What is it Mom? Julie asked. She looked scared now. She looked ready to cry. “Tell me!”
“We need… ” Her words trailed off. She didn’t know what she needed. She was too busy making sense of it all. Was the threat was legitimate?
It was a threat, right? Had her family been threatened?
If so, it was time for… what? Time to wake Ron? Time to call the police? Time to lock the doors and windows and hope nothing bad happens? Yes, yes and yes. It was time for all those things; probably time to get a weapon too. But she didn’t want to think that way. Getting a weapon meant
using
a weapon. And she didn’t have any guns.
What do people use when they don’t have guns?
A knife,
she figured.
I could get a knife for me––one for Julie, one for Ron. And, oh yeah––we have those pointy things from the fireplace. I could––
“Mom?”
Gina snapped free of her da ze. She got up from her chair and ran to the bedroom, which suddenly seemed far away from the kitchen. She flicked on the overhead light, shouting, “Get up Ron! Get up!”
Ron rolled over and dragged the pillow in front of his face. His incoherent mumbles might have been, “Oh… what is it now?” Might have been something else.
“We’re in trouble. I’m calling the police, so get up, get up! Your family needs you!”
“The police?” Ron said, slightly more articulate. He pulled the pillow from his face and rubbed his knuckles against his head. “Why in the world are you calling the police?”
“Ron, get up. Your family has been threatened.”
“By who,” he whined. “One of Julie’s high-school sweethearts? You can’t be serious. He was probably drunk; go back to bed.”
“You don’t understand!”
She lifted the phone that was sitting on the night table and dialed directory assistance.
Julie stood at her parent’s bedroom door, more worried now than before.
Ron forced himself to sit up. “You’re really calling?”
“Yes. I am.”
The operator came on the line and Gina said, “Cloven Rock Police Department please. Can you put me through?”
“Hold the line.”
“If this is such an emergency,” Ron said, “why not call 911?”
Gina put a hand over the receiver. “I don’t want to talk with 911 dispatch. I want to talk with Mary O’Neill. She’s working the nightshift at Cloven Rock PD, as far as I know.”
Ron grunted. He was waking up now, and although
he
wasn’t worried, his wife and daughter were upset and that was enough to get his blood pumping.
The phone rang twice and Mary O’Neill answered. Her voice was all business. “Cloven Rock Police Department.”
“Mary, is that you? This is Gina Stapleton.”
“Oh, hi Gina. Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know. I just had a strange phone call and I was threatened, my
family
was threatened.”
“Who were you talking with, someone from town?”
“I don’t know.”
“Crank call?”
No, not exactly. My daughter had… ” Gina’s words dried up. She was trying to explain quickly but didn’t know how to do it.
Mary O’Neill, being the professional, understood Gina’s thinking immediately. “Do you want me to send a car over?”
“I think it would be for the best.”
Mary said, “Gina, I’m going to put you on hold. Is that okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“You live on Hunters Road, right? What’s the house number?”
“Hunters, yes. Number Three thirty-two.”
“Three thirty-two.” A slight pause. “Got it. Hold the line; I won’t be long.”
The line clicked off and Gina waited. After a moment she whispered, “I’m on hold.”
Ron nodded.
Julie sat on the edge of the bed, worried.
When Mary O’Neill got back on the line she said, “You still there?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, listen Gina. I don’t need to tell you that Cloven Rock isn’t the biggest place in the world… our police force fits the town, you know what I mean?”
“Yes.”
“There was an accident. Joel Kirkwood and Tony Costantino are the officers on duty tonight. They went to investigate and right now they’re not answering my call. They might get back to me in two minutes, but they might not get back to me for an hour. I can put this through to our 911 call-center and they’ll dispatch someone from the nearest station. The nearest police station is in Maplebrook, and you know where that is. Fortunately there’s another option. I have two officers on call and I can wake ‘em up and send them over but again, this takes time. Are you in immediate danger?”
“No, but I think someone might be on their way to the house.”
“A man or a woman?”
“A woman.”
“Armed?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay. This is what I’m going to do: I’m going to come over and sit with you guys, and in the meantime I want you to stay indoors. I’ll try to get hold of Officer Kirkwood and Officer Costantino again. If I don’t talk to them soon, I’ll call Maplebrook and see if they can send some men my direction. Either way, hold tight and I’ll be there shortly. You can fill me in with the details later.”
“Thanks you, Mary.”
“Make sure the doors and windows are locked. Don’t opened them until you see my police car in the driveway.”
I doOkay, I’ll do that.”
“See you soon.”
“Bye Mary, and thanks again.” Gina hung up the phone thinking about the woman that threatened her, and the things that she had said.
I have very sharp teeth Mrs. Stapleton
.
They’re very sharp indeed!
3
Gina left Ron and Julie in the master bedroom. She double-checked the doors and windows, and turned most of the lights on, thinking the dark corners might turn against them somehow.
Ron sat up with the blankets wrapped around his waist like a skirt. He looked through the patio door, but couldn’t see much, just a bit of the deck, the sky and the outline of a few trees.