I was twelve years old when the first boy was taken, they found him a week later at the old mill his body was slit down the middle and cut open to reveal that he had no internal organs he was also missing his head. They had to identify him by his finger prints, my father was the police chief and was unfortunately the first one on the scene. That night he came home and pulled me into a crushing hug, for a split second I began to push him away but the wetness on my shoulder told me he needed this more than I did. They assumed the pedophile who lived in his neighborhood did it, but 1 day after his execution another boy went missing. He was found with his head but his eyes, teeth, and ears had been removed, and like the other boy he was slit down the middle and opened revealing his internal organs were also missing. Panic began to set in for the entire town, everyone was on edge.
It wasn’t until the 3rd boy that things began to escalate. When they found Ronnie he was just 2 days shy of his 8th birthday, if it wasn’t for his shoes they would have never identified him, his entire upper half was missing. Eventually every kid in our small town was homeschooled. My mother was a teacher and we easily adjusted to this new life style, but school and work was what had been keeping our minds off of my little brother Henry. He passed away last year after his 7th birthday, a drunk driver drove through the school cross walk 2 minutes after classes were let out. I was 10 feet behind him heading to cross the street.
I heard the screech of tires and saw the truck barreling straight for the kids and teacher in the cross walk, I began to run and scream but by the time anyone noticed it was too late. I watched as my brother, 5 other kids in his class, and the cross walk guard were struck by the truck. I ran over to henry but immediately jumped back in horror and passed out on the spot. His head had been run over and it exploded leaving brain matter and human pieces on the back left tire, everyone that was hit was pronounced dead on the scene.
I will never forget it, the scene was something that will haunt me until the day I die. We all took it hard, but my father hasn’t been the same. The guy who hit them was completely fine, but he fled the scene. When they found him two days later he was hanging in his closet. I think the fact we never received justice made it even harder. Focusing back on my mother’s lesson we quickly finished my work and I was left to work on some homework she had given me. My father was rarely home, his job kept him busy and when he was not working he stayed at our cabin outside of town. Coming home and knowing Henry wasn’t here was almost too much for him.
He had been stopping by a few times every day to spend time with us, but after the kidnappings he began to spend a lot more time at home. But there was something off about him, he began to ask me about certain kids from the school. Normally this wouldn’t bother me but he began to ask about height, weight, physical appearance, etc. After I asked why he wanted to know such specific things, he told me he is trying to ensure there isn’t a fourth boy that gets kidnapped. They had found a pattern and were seeking out boys that matched the profile to alert their parents.
I felt stupid for even questioning my dad, but the kidnapper wasn’t done yet. It wasn’t until the 6th boy was taken that things changed. I guess the reason I am writing this is because I am horrified. My father had been working overtime and one week after the 6th boy had been kidnapped my life changed forever. My father woke me up in the middle of the night, a thunderstorm had been going on since I went to bed. At first I was confused and didn’t understand what was happening.
“Rob wake up buddy”
I felt my body shaking and I groggily opened my eyes, and saw my dad sitting on my bed. Even though it was dark I could see his teeth showing due to his smile.
“Dad, what is going on?”
I asked while sitting up.
“Get dressed I have something to show you”
He replied almost giddy. He stood up and headed towards my door.
“I will be waiting in the truck”
With that he shut the door. Doing as I was told I got out of bed and began to get dressed, looking at the clock on my bedside table it read 2:25 am. That is definitely strange. Looking out the window at the raging storm I decided to grab my big rain coat. I headed downstairs and saw my mom passed out on the couch, I grabbed a blanket to cover her up and noticed her fist were clenched and she was cold?
I grabbed two blankets and covered her up before heading outside. Hopping into his work truck we headed off. After about 20 minutes we reached our cabin. Looking at my dad confused I asked.
“what are we doing here?”
Without answering my question he said.
“Come on lets go, you will find out shortly”
Following him inside it was just as it had always been, a fire was going in the fireplace and the news was on mute but still playing on the tv. He headed towards the back room and pointed to the couch motioning for me to sit.
“Close your eyes, I have a surprise for you.”
This is it, I just know I am finally getting a puppy. I waited for a few moments until I heard his foot steps returning, but it sounded like another pair of footsteps was with his but the second pair sounded wet like whomever was walking had shoes caked in wet fresh mud. I sat waiting for the puppy to be put into my arms, but instead I heard something much much worse.
“Rooobb”
It sounded like the voice of someone who hadn’t spoke in years. It was raspy but sounded wet like liquid filled their throat. Jumping up I located the source of the sound. I was frozen in shock, maybe it was fear. What stood in front of me was a monster, but the horrible realization came to me when I noticed his clothes.
“Hhh..henry?”
My father moved to sit by me on the couch. Turning towards him still in shock I asked in a shaky voice.
“Ww-hat did you do?”
He gave me another big smile and replied with a voice that was too calm.
“I brought your brother back.”
That was all it took. Suddenly I regained control of my body and darted out of the cabin screaming bloody murder. An off-duty police officer just happened to have a cabin down the road and was driving by when I caught his attention. After I briefly told him what happened he called for back up and rushed inside. The next few hours were a whirlwind. After they took me to the station, I answered a few questions and due to the nature of this case they quickly got me dinner and a place to relax while I waited for my grandparents. They had to break the news that my mother was dead, my father had strangled her. I lost both my parents in one night.
I found out my father had a mental breakdown after Henry died. He kidnapped and murdered all of those boys and used different parts of them to bring my brother back to life. His head was made up of at least five different boys, now I know why he was asking those questions. My father has been in prison for 10 years, but I received a frightening call today and maybe that is the reason I wanted to clear my conscious and write this. The prison called to let me know during the transport of my father to a different max security prison he somehow managed to escape, that wasn’t the call that scared me. It was the one I received in the middle of the night, it was my father. He told me he was coming for me, I am the reason he was caught after all.
Even that did not scare me, it was the voice I heard in the background. That same raspy wet voice from before.
“Wee aarree ccommingg fooorr yoouu rooob”