Winter Savior
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Alan pulled up to his home to find the Chief of Police, Donald Sullivan, leaning against his car waiting for him. Sullivan was an older cop, been on the force for over thirty years. Now in his fifties and hair graying in most places, he kept to office work mostly, not one to make visits like this. He waited patiently for Alan to get out of the car before he came forward, coming to the front, blocking Alan’s path to the house.
“Seen the news lately?”
His tone was deliberate. He had something to say.
“I don’t have a television,” Alan replied.
“Read the paper then.”
“What do you want?” Alan asked, walking past Sullivan and towards his front door.
“He’s back.”
The key was in the door. All he had to do was turn the knob.
“The murders are happening more frequently than before,” Chief Sullivan went on. “Sometimes in such a short time span and yet so far off from each other that we’re starting to believe that he isn’t working alone.”
Alan replied, still facing the door, “I’m assuming you want me to come back.”
“A lot of folks have died. People are getting scared.”
“And I’m supposed to be the shining knight who comes in and slays the dark dragon terrorizing the village folk?”
“Don’t be like that Alan,” Sullivan said. “You and I both know that you know this guy better than anyone. You see things differently than other people.”
“Saw, Chief.”
“What?”
“Saw. I saw things differently,” Alan clarified.
“Don’t give me that,” Sullivan said. “I thought you would jump at the chance to put this guy away at last. To get justice. To get—”
“Revenge?” Alan turned around to face Sullivan. “He took something away from me that no amount of revenge will ever bring back.”
The Chief looked to be getting somewhat irritated, “This isn’t just about you. People are dying at the hands of a madman and you can help us get that much closer to find him.”
“Can I?” Alan asked. “You’re forgetting something Chief—this isn’t we’ve been here. That I’ve played this game…His game. We were so close, and then he took them away from me. I spent every waking moment of the next two years trying to put together every piece of the puzzle, trying to figure out what we missed. I wanted to know what exactly kept that son of a ***** ten steps ahead of us. And you know what I found? Nothing. Ever since that day, the trail had gone cold. No more murders. No more of everyone living in a constant state of fear. Normalcy started to return to this world,” He started to shake his head. “But for me, there was nothing to return to. Everything I had in this world was gone.”
“Dammit Alan,” Sullivan exclaimed, somewhat heated now. “You think you’re the only one who’s suffered at his hands? Do you really think people have forgotten? That it’s all just become a distant memory in everyone’s minds but your own? It was a nightmare Alan. One that I’ve had to relive countless times over the years. I want to stop him. To put an end to this once and for all. We need you.”
“He took everything from me,” Alan said. “I don’t have anymore to give.”
He turned and started to open the front door.
“He’s going to keep killing,” Sullivan said to his back. “He’s going to keep taking sons and daughters, husbands and wives. What if one of your students is next, how will you sleep at night?”
Alan cared not to turn back to Sullivan, “That’s the thing Chief,” he said. “I don’t.”
As soon as Alan walked through the door, his wife called out excitedly that he’s home. He took off his jacket and hung it on the coatrack, looking towards his wife, a smirk on his face.
“What’s with the camera?”
“Honey, I wanted to record the special day.”
“Seven is a weird age to start doing it isn’t it?”
“Seven is a lucky number.”
A little voice cries out “Daddy” and his son Max comes into view.
“There’s the birthday boy” Alan said as he picks up his son and hoists him into the air. “Oh you’re getting heavier by the day.”
Dana turns the camera around so that she can get into the scene.
“Everybody smile for the camera!”
Alan pauses the tv. That’s enough for the night. He removed the cassette entitled ‘Little Man’s Seventh’ and placed it on the shelf.
