Storymania - Judgment Day In Eden Hills by Jimmy Mason

Judgment Day In Eden Hills
Jimmy Mason

A black and blue police cruiser moved steadily down Main street, the lettering on the door read “Eden Hills Police Department.” Mary Holloway drove the cruiser while wiping blood off her face with a large wad of tissues. Sitting behind her was her prisoner. He was a tall man, slightly lanky, but good looking. He had jet black hair that was short and a goatee that was just as dark. The man was very calm and quiet he almost seemed to be sedated, but Mary knew better. He had his face right up to the metal mesh that separated them. She could hear his rhythmic breathing slow and without urgency. That was the worst part of this whole ordeal, the way this man acted. Mary looked into the rearview and saw his pale orange eyes staring directly at her through two of the little diamonds, curious and caged like those of some animal.
“Hey! Why don’t you sit back? Take it easy we’ve got a twenty minuet drive back to the station.” Mary took her eyes away from his witch were very beautiful and yet dangerous and tossed the bloody tissue to the floorboard. The prisoner chuckled and sat back slowly saying.
“We’re not going to make it to the station, Detective Holloway.

Mary Holloway, a homicide detective for E.H.P.D here in Eden Hills, came into work that morning like every other morning. She walked in and went straight to the coffee pot and took down her cup from the cupboard. This wasn’t a town things really happened in. There was some burglary here and some mugging there, and even once they’d had a rape. Since Mary was transferred here seven years ago their wasn’t one murder. So much can change in a day. Richard walked into the break room as Mary mixed the cream and sugar into her coffee. He was the best desk cop in the department. He walked over to mary holding a folder visibly flustered.
“What’s up Dick?” Mary asked before taking a sip of coffee. He pushed his glasses up.
“In your office. We’ll talk about it.” Mary shrugged and led him into her office setting her cup down on her desk, she took off her jacket and hung it on the wall hook. Richard came in shutting the door behind him and sat down across from her. Once Mary was settled behind her desk he pushed the folder at her as though it were something hot and scolding.
“Chief told me to keep this on the level. He doesn’t want media involvement if at all possible.” She opened the folder. Large photographs assaulted her eyes. What she could tell before Richard said anything was; It was a woman, shot at close range at least three times, college student. Richard began.
“Amanda Kingston. Age, 27. Local student at Eden university. Found in the rest stop outside of town by Lesher and Jensen at approximately 4:40 a.m. Cause of death, four 38calibur gun shots, multiple broken bones, and mutilation.” Mary came to the last picture and dropped it. The picture was a close up of the girl’s back, carved into her skin was a verse it read.
“Take a big bite and fall in to your sin. Take a big bite so I can finally win. Eat out your soul and then there’s no return. Take a big bite and watch Eden burn.”
“Cute.” Mary said closing the folder and picking up her cup for a sip.
Richard just shrugged and shook his head.
“Have her parents been notified?” Mary asked. Richard pushed his glasses up again.
“Um-yes. Mr. and Mrs. Kingston are with the body right now.” Mary nodded.
“Would you have them come see me before they go?”
“Certainly.” Richard answered and got up to leave he then stopped and looked back to Mary who had opened the folder again.
“Anything else?” She looked up from the photos.
“Yeah get me Lesher and Jensen’s report.” Richard opened the door.
“You got it.” and he was gone. Mary took another drink of coffee then said aloud.
“Eat out your soul and then there’s no return, Take a big bite and watch Eden burn.”

Mary spoke to Amanda’s parents. Mrs. Kingston did most the talking because Mr. Kingston always excused himself behind his handkerchief. They couldn’t believe their daughter was dead, couldn’t think of any one, not one single person who didn’t like her. Mary did jot down the name Brian Kelly, also a student at eden university and Amanda’s boyfriend. About ten minuets after the Kingston’s left Mary’s office, Richard rapped on the door jam. Mary waved him in and set aside the police report filed by Lesher and Jensen.
“What do you got?” Mary asked. Richard plopped down in the chair across from her and held up a peace sign.
“Murder number two.”
Fifteen minutes later Mary pulled in front of the co-ed dormitory at eden university. She stepped out of her cruiser straitening her dark blue jacket over her white blouse. She then adjusted her shoulder holster witch held her nine millimeter automatic under her left arm. Mary walked up to the blue suite standing at the entrance to the dorms, as she approached he said.
“Second floor on the right detective Holloway, just fallow the noise.” When Mary stepped in she understood what he was talking about. From the stairwell came clamoring commotion and Mary headed up. At the landing she met two people a girl who was bawling and a boy kneeling in front of her who was doing a bad job of not bawling himself. Mary got a sudden overwhelming fear as to what exactly she was walking into. There was a tangle of people near the door being kept out of the room by two officers. Some were standing against the wall, and some milling about trying to get a look inside the room. All of them were talking in low conspirators voices, making their own assumptions no doubt. After many “excuse me’s” and “pardon me’s” Mary made it to the door and flashed her badge, the officers stepped aside.
The room was like any other dorm room. Rock & Roll posters lined the walls, a large stereo stood on a shelf with four stacks of C.D. cases next to it, Against one wall was a bunk bed set and a desk witch didn’t seem to get much study time judging by the beer bottles littering it’s surface, on the other wall was a single bed. Sitting on this single bed was a man Mary knew and a young man. Mary was not surprised to see Joe Pinkerton here, he was the college counselor when Mary had gone here and he still was. They nodded to each other and he pointed towards the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar and as she approached she could tell Lenny the photographer from the station was already inside. The quick rapid flashing told her that he was already high on the shutterbug flight.
“Coming in.” Mary announced as she slowly pushed the door open with her elbow. Lenny stepped back and turned his baseball cap forward and half smiled.
“Hey Holloway. How the hell are you?” He asked chomping on chewing gum as always. Mary closed the door behind her.
“I’m o.k. Better than some.” She said this last as she looked at the lower leg and foot that hung over the rim of the tub. When she moved closer she saw the body submerged in pinkish water.
“Jesus. Where are his eyes?” Mary asked. Lenny shook his head.
“Not here.”
Mary crouched down pulling on latex gloves and leaned over the tub. It was a male in his mid-twenties. His eyes had been removed and she would later find out his tongue had also been removed. At this moment she was concentrating on the victim’s thigh.
“Did you get a shot of this Lenny?” The photographer moved forward to look at the thigh Mary had raised out of the rose hued water, there were words carved into the skin of his thigh.
“No I didn’t Mary, I can’t believe I didn’t see that.” He turned his cap backwards again and brought his camera up. He took several pictures from a couple different angles, righted his hat and glanced out the window.
“The coroner is here. I’ll develop these right away and have Richard drop them by your office after lunch.” Lenny then excused himself. Mary hardly noticed she was still staring at the cuts on the victim’s leg. The victim’s name was Malcolm Steep. A twenty five year old computer student here at the university. The young man sitting on the bed with Joe was one of Malcolm’s roommates. Twenty five year old Aaron Moat, an art student. The coroner came in to take the body and Mary took Aaron outside to let him smoke a cigarette and got his statement. Last night he and his two roommates went to a party across campus. Around one in the morning Malcolm told Aaron that he was as drunk as he wanted to be and he was going to catch a ride with their other room mate back to the dorms.

Aaron woke around nine a.m. He arrived here at his dorm room at ten o clock and found Malcolm, then he phoned 911. Aaron hadn’t seen his other room mate Brian Kelly at all since he left with Malcolm at last night‘s party. Mary was already exhausted, was this what she signed up for? She guessed so.
She drove back to the station with the windows down allowing the smell of death to waft away. This was her only peaceful moment in this the last day of so many lives in Eden Hills.
Back behind her desk she typed up the reports on today’s murders with one hand and slugging coffee with another. Paperwork always came first it seemed in police work. As the monotonous work went by in clicks and clacks of information Mary’s mind clasped on to Brian Kelly. Where was that kid? He was in the university on a football scholarship and met Amanda Kingston one month after arriving. Had he found his girlfriend cheating on him with his room mate? Mary visibly ticked her head to the side. No, she thought not. The heinousness of these crimes were far to grizzly for that. Mary was contemplating all this when Richard rapped twice on her door jam around eleven thirty with another folder in hand. He pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“Here is the folder on Malcolm Steep, coroner’s report, and photos.” Mary took the folder from him and smiled.
“Hey Rich, Calm down. It will be alright.” She said this in regards to Richard’s panicky body language. He looked at Mary with large eyes.
“But Mary, there hasn’t been a murder in Eden Hills in over twenty years. Let alone two in one day!”
“I know.” Mary said sitting back in her seat.
“It’s like all hell has broken loose here in town. Any word on the whereabouts of Brian Kelly?”
Richard shook his head.
“No, not yet but I’m sitting in at dispatch.” Mary nodded and Richard left her office. Mary opened the folder and sifted through the pictures till she came to the one of Malcolm’s thigh.
Just as in the case of Amanda Kingston, a phrase had been carved into the flesh. The words were puffy and distorted from soaking in the water but still quite clear. They read.
“ Temptation is all that you were needing. I am the snake in the garden of Eden.”
Mary shook her head. This person who was killing her town’s people was totally out of his mind. Mary figured it to be a man, non-local, and probably a sociopath, but she really didn’t know enough about the psychology to be sure of that fact.
Mary was frightened for Brian Kelly, she was sure he wasn’t behind this. However that only left the option that he will be or already has been a victim to this madman. Mary’s personal line on her desk rang startling her. She placed the folder aside and answered on the second ring.
“Hello, Detective Mary Holloway speaking.”
At first there was only silence and then.
“Hello detective. I understand your having a rough day.” Mary’s brow creased with confusion. The cool, calm, voice brought back that overwhelming almost crushing fear she’d felt entering the dorms.
“Who is this?” She asked sternly.
“Let me ask you first, detective Holloway?” the voice said
“Why haven’t you found your culprit yet? Why are you just sitting behind your desk? Contemplating the handy work of a mad man are you?”
Mary shuddered at the fact he’d used the same word that was on her mind.
“Are you the one doing all this?” Just then Richard came in and mary quickly put a finger over her lips. Richard stopped short and the voice spoke again.
“Yes detective. Just listen to Mr. Kelly here.” It sounded as if the boy was gagged but the man was putting the receiver up to his mouth, Then mary herd a thump with a crack accent and the muffled screams of the boy. Richard nodded as mary pointed to the receiver made an arc to her desk top where her finger went around in little circles, and he left the room quickly.
“Sir!” Mary said “Please don’t hurt him any more. We can resolve this I’m sure, just tell me what you want.”
A slight laugh answered this with another thump, crack, and muffled scream.
“But detective I’m having so much fun.”
Mary was so scared she was going to have to listen to this psycho kill Brian while Richard traced the call.
“Mr. Kelley’s having fun too. Aren’t you Brian.”
Mary herd muffled shouts. Richard came in and mary looked up just as she heard a gun shot loud through the phone and a muffled scream.
“Sir! Sir! Did you just kill him?” She looked back up to Richard.
“No my lady. I just shot him in the kneecap.” Richard gave mary the thumbs up and she stood up.
“You’d better hurry.” Mary slammed the phone down picking up her jacket.
“Where Richard, Where?” She was stalking out her office through the department with Richard fallowing close behind.
“He’s at the green garden hotel.” Richard said as he held open the door, Mary started running now and called over her shoulder.
“Get dispatch to have two units meet me there.”
Mary jumped into the black and blue cruiser and was off with screeching tires and smoke. A half hour drive out to the hotel witch right next to the interstate took Mary twelve minutes. Her blood roaring through her and her mind on auto pilot she swerved through traffic and blazed past the people of Eden Hills with her sirens on full blast. When she screeched to a halt in the green garden parking lot two other cruisers were there as instructed. Two officers trotted over to her, one was Jacob Coleridge and the other was Larry stockman.
“Detective.” Jacob began. “ Officers Lemay and Jensen are covering the back. Stockman and I got a peak in the office and it didn’t look good. We were fired upon from the basement window.” Mary popped the trunk and got out walking to the back of her cruiser. She tossed her jacket in the trunk and pulled on a bullet proof vest. She refastened her shoulder holster and took her shot gun from it’s locked cuff. She could see the window officer Coleridge talked about, there didn’t seem to be anyone there now. She looked back at Jacob.
“Any contact with the perp?”
“None as of yet, other than the shooting.”
“No one was injured?” Mary asked and stockman turned away from the hotel very slightly.
“I don’t think he was actually trying to hit us Detective. We were right at the front door damn near point blank range.” Mary nodded
Mary chambered a round.
“Let’s go, let’s be fast. Tell the boys in the back to enter on the count of ten.”
Larry used the radio on his shoulder to relay the message. He and Jacob both had out their nine millimeters. On the count of ten they charged the door preceded by a blast from Mary’s shotgun. The glass door blew inward and all three dove through. The radio’s sprung to life.
“We have entered the back, over”
Mary chambered a new round and the spent casing bounced off the bloody check in counter. Mary peered over the counter and saw Milt Strathmore dead with the top of his head gone and his chin burnt and black. After checking out the lower floor officers stockman and Coleridge rejoined Mary and they informed her that it was clear. Lemay and Jensen came down the stairs telling her the upper floor was clear. They were standing in the main lobby hallway and Mary hardly had time to register Lemay’s words to her before his face exploded outward with the sound of a gunshot. Mary’s face was covered in the man’s blood. Two more reports sounded and on the second Stockman’s left calf seemed to have a blowout. He fell to the floor dropping his gun and screaming, Mary jumped onto the blood soaked counter as three more gunshots coincided with holes that formed in the floor. Coleridge hid behind a large planter and Jensen crouched on the staircase. Mary peeked around the corner to look down the hall, Stockman was whimpering on the floor and then two more gunshots ended Stockman’s pain. He arched like he was doing a back bend and his chest burst open in two large red plumes then he fell back to the floor dead.
“Holy Shit! Larry!” Jensen screamed. A moment later they herd a door open slowly with creaking hinges. They all braced themselves but none were ready.
A happy sounding voice came down the hallway softly.
“Yoo-hoo. Anybody out there?” Mary shivered at the sound of the voice, She definitely recognized it. It was him he’d waited here, and that didn’t make sense to Mary. She slipped out her compact and opened it, using the mirror she looked around the corner. Mary saw a boy who could only be Brian Kelly being held and directed by the scruff of his neck. His eye’s were purpled and panicked, his mouth gagged with a bandanna that probably started out white but was now red and glossy. A forty five caliber gun barrel was stuck deep into his right ear, and Mary caught sight of one focused orange yellow eye peeking over Brian’s left shoulder. The voice floated down the hall again.
“Come out, come out where ever you are.” The eye then looked directly at Mary’s mirror.
“There you are detective.”
Mary tossed the compact away.
“Let him go!” Mary demanded. Moving closer, shuffling footsteps over even rhythmic strides.
“Oh, I don’t think that will do detective Holloway.”
Mary’s fear jumped a notch, she was sure she herd a suppressed laugh behind that statement. She rolled off the counter and into the hallway with her shotgun.
“Ahh ah ahhh.” The barrel was pushed harder into Brian’s ear
“You don’t want this young man to die do you?” Mary got angry and a little less scared and said.
“Your not walking out of here free as a bird.” and Mary regretted saying that, She saw the man behind Brian shrug.
“Yeah I guess your right.” The blast blew the left side of Brian’s head on the wall and the slide was locked back. The man came into view as Brian’s body fell and Mary was so close to blowing the smug smile that graced the man’s face right off with her shotgun. Her trigger finger twitched and then relaxed. The man tossed the empty gun on top of the dead boy’s body. At Mary’s motioning Jensen and Coleridge came out of hiding with gun’s trained on the man. He slowly put out his hands and as Jensen covered him, Coleridge slammed the man against the wall and cuffed his hands behind his back. Mary noted that this man made no attempt to resist arrest and had a faint smile on his face throughout his arrest. Coleridge punched the man in the back and even then he smiled.
“You fucker.” Coleridge said to the man.
“Jacob. That’s enough.” Mary said.
Mary walked the man to her cruiser and once he was safely in the back seat she turned back to the other officers.
“Alright. I need you guys to call in the coroner and get this mess here cleaned up. I’ll take him to the station. When you guys are sure that they have it under control, meet me back at the station. This is going to be one hell of a debriefing.” She got back in her cruiser and began driving back to town, searching her glove compartment for tissues.

“What do you mean we’re not going to make it?” Mary asked. A small chuckle and that calm voice that accompanied the clattering of the cuffs he wore.
“You, detective don’t believe in the supernatural do you?” Mary glanced back at the man.
“Your hardly supernatural. Your just a guy with screwed up brains and a twisted sense of living. Now tell me, why we’re not going to make it to the station.”
The man laughed and then said.
“Because that’s not the way the story Gossssssssssss.”
Mary looked into the rearview just in time to see a tail slide through the mesh to her side of the car. She looked over to the passenger seat and saw a large black snake with burning yellow eyes coiled there in the seat. It darted up and struck her in the side of the neck. Mary’s vision instantly blurred and her muscles seized. The cruiser swerved back and fourth and then went careening off the left side of the road, bounced up over a ditch and came to rest on a large metal beam that wavered but didn’t fall from the impact. The black snake poured out of the broken passenger side window and slithered past the metal beam and into the underbrush. The metal beam was connected to more metal beams and fixtures that formed a billboard. The billboard was adorned with rolling hills and a portrait of a family standing in front of a happy home. Large green words read “Eden Hills, God’s Country.” The snake slithered back towards town. All of Mary’s sins came back to her, and the billboard was the last sight she saw before she died in agony.

The End