Sheriff Bradford watched Jimmy shuffle his way to the
four-wheeler. Jimmy's head was bowed and his eyes were focused on
his feet as he walked.
It was such a shame seeing a boy he had known since
he was knee high to a grasshopper grow up to be a killer, but the
sheriff had to admit that he had known that it would only be a matter
of time before Jimmy snapped. The kid's father had turned into the
town's drunk after his mother passed away under questionable
circumstances. This sort of situation would mess up any kid, but
especially one like Jimmy.
The sheriff had kept a close eye on Jimmy ever since
he started dating Priscilla, the mayor's daughter. What she saw in
Jimmy was a complete mystery to him. Jimmy was always out here at
the camp hunting and trapping. A mighty fine girl like her deserved
a man with a steady job and a good head on his shoulders, not a boy
who was only good for doing odd jobs around the town. He had known
Jimmy would slip up one day. Now maybe she could find a more worthy
suitor.
The sheriff stumbled over a large rock on the ground.
Jimmy cracked a smile when he looked back at the sheriff and stifled
a laugh. The sheriff's face grew red and he smacked Jimmy across the
back of his head.
“Get on boy, we've got a long ride ahead of us,”
he growled at Jimmy. After Jimmy mounted, he climbed onto the
vehicle himself. He took a gulp of the beer he was holding and then
shoved the key into the ignition and drove off. The bumps and
craters along the way jostled his bladder. By the time he reached
the edge of the forest, he knew that it was time to 'break the seal.'
The sheriff slowed the vehicle to a halt and felt
Jimmy bump up against him.
“I need to go and empty the tank,” the sheriff
said as he dismounted the four-wheeler. He quickly finished off the
beer he was holding and discarded the can into the grass. After he
traveled a few feet, he stopped and turned back toward Jimmy. “Oh
and don't go anywhere.” He clamped down one end of a pair of
handcuffs over Jimmy's wrist and attached the other cuff to a bar on
the vehicle.
As the sheriff entered the woods, he glanced back at
Jimmy, but all he saw was the red glow of Jimmy's cigarette hovering
in the inky darkness. The sheriff shook his head and stumbled into
the forest. As he was relieving himself, he heard something moving
through the woods. He swiveled his head and strained his eyes, but
couldn't see anything. He felt something warm on his foot and turned
his attention back to the task at hand. He discovered that he had
missed his mark and urinated on his foot and leg.
“Shit,” he cursed under his breath. He finished
up and shook out his foot and pant leg. In his inebriated state, he
forgot about how dark it was and he was sure that if he went back now, the lad would mock him. There was nothing the sheriff
hated more then being mocked. He could hear it now, “Hey sheriff,
looks like you need to work on your target practice.” Jimmy's
mocking laugh and cruel tone echoed through his head. The sheriff's
eyebrows pointed into a heavy 'v' and he clenched his jaw. He had to
do something about this and it needed to be quick.
He looked frantically around for something to sop up
the mess he made. He grabbed a handful of leaves and attempted to
wipe down his pant leg, a task which only seemed to exacerbate the
situation. He now had a long dark brown streak and ground in leaves
in addition to the urine on his light colored trousers. He picked up
the flashlight off the ground and headed deeper into the woods, in
search of something to aid him.
The snap of branches caught his attention. He looked
around, shining his flashlight around the woods, but observed nothing
out of the ordinary. He slowly turned back around, resting his hand
on the holster at his side. Another minute passed, but his search
proved fruitless.
“Holy shit! Help!” Jimmy's exclamation echoed
through the forest. The sheriff pulled his gun from its holster and
stumbled through the woods back toward the vehicle. Jimmy's frantic
cries grew louder and then came horrific shrieks of pain. The
sheriff reached the edge of the forest and saw it. His veins turned
to ice, the hair on the back of his neck stood straight up, and his
knees began to knock against each other. He stood at the forest's
edge, frozen with terror as he watched the beast tear into Jimmy.
The creature was larger than anything he had ever seen and it
illuminated the area with a crimson light. The sheriff put a hand
over his mouth when he heard the snapping noise of Jimmy's arm as the
creature's massive jaws clamped down on it. Jimmy's wails of anguish
filled the air. Jimmy twisted and writhed trying to free himself
from the beast. His head twisted and fell in the direction of the
sheriff. Their eyes connected and Jimmy stretched out his remaining
arm toward the sheriff, his fingers spread out and dripping with
blood.
“Please help me!” he cried.
The sheriff took a step backwards and bumped into a
tree. After a few moments he managed to finally tear his eyes away
from the Jimmy and the monster. Amongst the shadows he could make
out the outline of a large boulder. He stumbled his way to the rock
and took up refuge behind it. After a few moments Jimmy's screams
died down and the night was silent.
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