“Has it always been like this?” Murmured Pat as he gently shrugged his shoulder to point to the scene to our left.
I looked over to see the encampment which stretched down Hampton street as far as my eyes could see. Tents that were once every color of the rainbow seemed to all converge on the same dismal, grey hue.
“Nope, it’s definitely gotten worse” I answered, mimicking his quiet tone. I observed the tents with a mix of pity, curiosity, and regretfully, some disgust
The focal point of the picture, a homeless man laid completely flat on the sidewalk, using a dirty pair of Jordans as a pillow.
A few feet to his left, a woman was slumped over a tree, slowly drifting in and out. It wasn’t even 4pm.
Around the area I could see needles, caps, and small saline tubes, everything seemed to be covered with a layer of grime.
The feeling of emptiness was palpable from the group of tents. The people seemed soulless. Their chance at a normal, healthy life stolen by addiction.
We noticed a guy swaying back and forth directly in our path and braced ourselves for some type of interaction.
None came as he stumbled to the side and let us pass.
“I know it’s a little rough here” I said, but don’t worry it gets a lot better around my place.
“No worries, man. I’ve seen plenty of this back in Rhode Island” he replied nonchalantly
We continued the walk back, roughly tracing the coast of the city, Doyle, MA. We were close enough to see the beach to our right, but still several blocks away from touching it’s sand.
The grimy beach stretched in a crescent moon shape, separating the city and my neighborhood on the north side and the campus on the south.
“Christian!” My dad greeted me with a warm smile on his face as he put the newspaper down to give me a hug.
My dad was the city Mayor, as one could have guessed given his dress shirt, slacks, and personable nature. That man really lived the part.
“And you must be Pat” he said as he shook my friend’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. O’Brien” Pat returned as he shook my dad’s hand.
“I don’t see Jenna, she couldn’t make it?” My dad remarked with a sly grin.
Jenna Flynn was my childhood friend who I admittedly had a huge crush on since we met in elementary school
“Shut it, dad” I said sheepishly as I playfully punched his shoulder.
“Just in time for dinner” my mom called as she walked in from the other room, also to give me a hug and greet Pat.
“How was the first month of college?” My mom asked.
Pat and I glanced at each other for a second “It was pretty good Mom, super busy” I answered. Pat nodded in agreement.
“We’re doing thanksgiving food tonight” she smiled, knowing that was my favorite.
We quickly washed up and sat at the table.
“So how did you guys become friends?” My dad asked after a sip of wine.
“We actually met in class during the first week. It a new elective, ‘Myths and Legends of the Northeast’
“Ooh, spooky!” My dad remarked, amused
“Did they talk about… the Needle Man?” He asked as if he was telling a campfire story.
My mom shot him a dirty look.
“Thomas, not in front of our guest”
“Come on” he replied, “that story is obviously made up. People getting ‘shot’ with a needle by a complete stranger for no reason? Sounds like a junky trying to take even less responsibility for his actions.”
Pat and I watched uncomfortably as my mom replied, “Thomas, just drop it”
“Well, what do you boys think?” Dad asked gestured over to us.”Did you know him”
Unfortunately for Pat, he had just taken a large bite of Turkey. We waited for several seconds for him to chew.
“The Needle Man sounds pretty far-fetched to me”
My dad chuckled and mom relaxed a bit.
I shrugged and added “I don’t think we ever knew Percy since he was a few years older. He had a reputation of being a big partier in high school, but he never seemed to be into harder drugs”
“I’m sure there is a lot that guy did behind closed doors. I just think it’s far more plausible that he got caught messing with the wrong stuff and tried to make up a story to cover for it” dad continued
“I just think it’s easy for people to offload responsibility instead of just owning up to their bad decisions—”
“We get it dad” I interrupted, sensing a rant coming, “you pulled yourself up by the bootstraps, made a name for yourself by taking action, blah blah blah”
The three of us started laughing, dad glared at me for a second and and joined us too
Pat was quiet as I gave him a ride home in my dad’s Tesla. He lived on campus so the drive was pretty quick.
“Hey sorry about my dad” I started, feeling the weight of both Pat’s silence and the quiet electric motor. “He gets on his high horse about personal responsibility and all that shit sometimes…. But he really does mean well”
Pat was silent for a bit and then asked me “He doesn’t see addicts as people, does he?”
I look over to see a sad look on his tan face
“…I don’t know about that, but I think he sees them as very different people” I admitted.
“Do you have any addicts in your family?” I guessed.
I saw his head nod in my peripheral vision and felt my face grow red as I recalled my dad’s words at dinner. I even felt guilt wash over me as I reflected on judgements about the people we saw on the walk home.
Pat was the first friend I made after I started college. He was friendly and we shared many interests, but I always felt some distance between us.
His personality had a somber undertone, very dissimilar from most people our age. I was starting to understand where that might have come from.
“No way guys, check this out!” Jenna exclaimed as she stuck her phone between my face and my laptop, her dyed red hair draped over me momentarily.
“Um.. can I get two seconds to answer this question?” I remarked, pushing her hand away.
Pat, Jenna, and I were at a Tatte, a coffee shop on Campus, getting ready for our first round of Midterms. Jenna had just finished up her shift and decided to stay with us afterwards to study.
She moves the phone over to Pat while I finish balancing my chemical equation.
I look up to both of them looking at me with wide eyes.
I grabbed the phone to see a news report from just a few hours ago. The Headline reads
High School Teacher and young mother claims to have been attacked by the ‘Needle Man’, Dashcam footage captures the act.
I scroll down to watch the short video. Though it was dark and half of the frame was taken up by the windshield, I was able to make out someone being chased. The figure chasing her was tall and dressed in black. I thought I saw the white mask but couldn’t be certain. She was much shorter and wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. I could tell from the video that she wasn’t going to win that race.
“Holy shit, I guess he is real,” Jenna remarked.
“There’s no way! Did they say if she was a reliable person? Did she have any history of drug use?”
“The article said that she was clean as a whistle before this” Pat answered
“Friends and neighbors are adamant that Rebecca had no history of drug usage and rarely even drank alcohol” Pat read as he squinted at his own phone, which now displayed the article as well.
“That is super fucking creepy” I imagined what it would be like to get chased like that, knowing that one slip up could mean a lifetime of fighting with addiction. It could even be worse, there’s no telling what else could be in those needles.
I looked around at the coffee shop and noticed how eerie and quiet everything had gotten.
The several long tables were almost empty, save for a few people who looked just as shocked as we did. I furthered my gaze to the window to see the last scarlett rays of sun start to dip below the horizon. The imminent threat of nightfall brought another question into my head.
“Did.. they catch the guy or find out where he went?”
Jenna shook her head as she also began to instinctively scan the room with her wide eyes.
“It was near the high school where she was attacked, a home security camera saw him heading back the same direction he came from but that was it. It’s good that he was on the opposite side of campus but thats still a little too close for comfort”
“And still no motive?”
“Doesn’t seem like it, hey you think he has other drugs? I’m not too into H but I wouldn’t say no to weed or something…” Jenna finished.
My eyes widened for a split second and I made motion with my hand at my neck for her to stop talking. I glanced over at Pat. His brow furrowed slightly but no other response.
“Hey sorry about that Pat I was just trying to lighten the mood”
“No worries Jenna, it’s no big deal” Pat replied with a forced half smile.
We decided then that it would be a good time to pack up and head back home.
“Are you good to walk by yourself, Pat” I asked, still a little on edge. “ We can come with you, I’m sure the three of us could take this dude out, especially if we used Jenna for bait”. Jenna grinned and punched my arm.
“Nah I think I’ll be good, it’s just a few blocks”.
I insisted ”I think we should walk together, that story got me a little spooked and think we’re all just better off with a walking buddy”
He finally accepted. After Jenna and I walked Pat back to Stetson Hall, we began down the same path that Pat and I had walked to get back to my neighborhood on the north side of the crescent.
There was still that eerie stillness in the air. I had a feeling that the recent news had much of the city on edge, there was not too much foot traffic on our walk, save for the usual suspects.
I shivered for a second as we passed the homeless encampment in Hampton Street, imagining the Needle man’s tall frame jumping from behind a tent and sprinting after us.
Besides the creepy atmosphere, our walk continued uneventfully.
“So…you still don’t regret coming here instead of Cornell?” Jenna asked carefully.
“No, I love DU” I assured her. “They have a better Engineering program, I’ve already made a lot of friends here and it’s close to my family and…”
We both knew a big reason I stayed in Doyle was to be closer to Jenna.
“And it’s nice to have you around too” I admitted.
She smiled, reassured. “Okay good just making sure. Also, did I upset Pat back at the cafe? I was just joking. I hope he didn’t take that too seriously”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s just had some drug users in his family so I think it’s a touchy subject.”
“Gotcha, I’ll keep that in mind”
Jenna and I enjoyed each other’s company as we continued the walk back to her house. It was just a few minutes away from mine.
The silence in the air was ten times more noticeable now that I was by myself. My eyes scanned every corner of the road as I walked, my mind casting ghostly apparitions of a tall, masked figure hiding behind every fence and dumpster.
As I fumbled for my keys to unlock my door, I felt the feeling of running out of the basement after you shut off the lights; Imagining a hand grabbing at my ankles from the gaps in the stairs.
I heard a loud clap and jumped like a startled cat, just to turn around and see it was a neighbor closing their garbage bin.
I took one last glance outside and quickly shuffled inside, locking the door behind me.
I saw my dad the following morning as he stumbled down the stairs around breakfast time.
His mid-length brown hair was disheveled and eyes bloodshot. He was not in any condition to go to work but regardless, I saw him grab his brown loafers and slip them on by the door.
“Did you hear about Rebecca, Dad? It looks like the Needle Man was real after all” I asked curiously. He slowly nodded, but I couldn’t tell if he was answering my question or just dozing off.
“I’ve been up almost all night talking to different people about it. This Bastard has some nerve to come out again!” he growled.
“What are we going to do to stop him?”
“We reopened this case with the city detectives and we’re increasing the police presence around Doyle. This is such a bad time, just before the goddamn re-election.”
“Dad, two people were assaulted. Someone could have died”
“I’m sorry if that sounded selfish, but it’s not just about me. Whoever this Needle Man is, he needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. If we elect a new Mayor before catching him, he can easily attack again during the transition. We’ll be sitting ducks while the police and detectives adjust to the new administration.”
“Yeah I guess that makes sense Dad, good luck with everything.”
“Thanks Christian, and you stay safe okay? Try to walk in groups and be careful around night time. Also I just think it’s safe if you take the long way to campus from now on, don’t want to risk anything” He gave me a half hug and started out the door.
“Sure dad, don’t worry about me. I’ll be good” I cringed at his subtle hint that one of the addicts on Hampton street could be responsible.
“Hey, before you go-” He stopped halfway out the door.
“I highly doubt that someone on Hampton street would have the ability to stage an attack like this, it just seems too measured. I don’t see the point in focusing there”
He thought for a second “That’s a good point, I get that I have my biases but I can’t let that affect how we run this operation. I’ll keep that in mind” He walked back over to ruffle my hair and then left the house.
Some months passed by since the last Needle Man attack. The hysteria in Doyle started to die down and people returned to their normal routines; though there was a notable increase in police presence around the city.
I learned however, that there was no return to normal for his two victims as I read from an article I saw in a newspaper dispenser at the campus dining hall.
In both cases: Percy the Biology student and Rebecca the young high school teacher, were unable to continue their lives as normal. Percy had taken a leave of absence from school a few weeks after the first incident. He became reclusive and lost touch with friends and family. Paramedics found him in the middle of an overdose in a nearby town. He didn’t survive .
Rebecca however, was able to cope slightly better. She also quit her job shortly after, but was able to gain admission to the Quincy Rehabilitation Center. She reported that her recovery process was slow and steady but she had not relapsed once since being admitted.
Jenna pulled a chair out next to me as I read the final words from the article: “State investigators are still looking for the connection between Keith and Stanley. The whereabouts and motive of the Needle Man remain unknown.”
“That’s…horrible” Jenna remarked sadly as she finished reading the rest of the article.
“I know, and I don’t think the detectives have made much progress either. It seems like they’re more interested in throwing cops everywhere than actually finding a motive or solving the case.”
“Is…is there anything your Dad could do?” Jenna asked carefully
I sensed what she meant by her statement “Probably, Jenna. It just doesn’t seem to be that big of a priority, especially with elections coming up…This city is really fucking quick to turn a blind eye to people in that rung of society, no matter how they got there”
“Yeah Christian, but your Dad is this city he should have the power to-”
“Well I’m not my dad” I snapped. I immediately felt guilty at the harshness of my tone.
Jenna remained silent for a few seconds.
“I know you’re not, I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re good. I was planning to talk with him soon. Maybe there is something I could do to help.”
“That shouldn’t have to be your burden,” she responded.
“Yeah, I know. But if my influence could help change just one policy somewhere, I might as well try.”
She nodded solemnly.
Jenna and I finished our breakfast and were walking through the campus garden when we saw someone sitting on a park bench with his back turned to us. I could see over his shoulder, an extremely detailed drawing of a cloaked man with a ghostly white mask, holding an orange-accented syringe.
Curiosity got the best of me. “Is that the Needle Man?” I asked
He quickly turned around to reveal thick glasses and a head of unkempt curly black hair.
“Why? Do you know anything about him?”
Jenna answered, “Nope, what about you? This for art class or something”
He looked down for a moment and then looked back up “I’m looking for him”
My eyes widened, “are you fucking serious? Do you know what he can do to you? Don’t go playing around like he’s some made-up urban legend. Someone literally OD’ed not too long ago-”
“….Percy overdosed.” He said quietly.
My breath caught in my throat.
“Percy… Keith?” Jenna chimed in, “Did you know him?”
“We were roommates when it happened. I never got a chance to see the Needle Man but I saw his needle. I saw what he did to my friend. And I am going to find him”
“I’m sorry…” I started
“Don’t be!” He said, with a strange look in his eyes. “I can worry about mourning right after I find the Needle Man.”
“What do you plan to do when you find him?” I inquired, my curiosity piqued again. If anything, I figured he must have more information on the Needle Man that could be shared with my dad and the authorities. Any lead could help bring us closer to catching him before another victim was created.
“I just want to know why. After that we’ll see what I do to him”
I wondered how he was so sure he would not only be able to find the Needle Man but somehow get an interrogation out of their encounter.
“How do you plan on getting this guy to talk if you find him?” Jenna asked, before I could.
“Well… I haven’t gotten that far yet” he admitted.
I stifled a condescending laugh in an attempt to avoid upsetting him.
“What was your name by the way?”
“Tracy”
Tracy and I soon became friends after that. At first, I wanted to keep him around in case he found any important info on the Needle Man that could help with the case. Despite my initial agenda, I soon began to enjoy his company too; I found his eccentric personality endearing.
Many times, Tracy, Jenna, and I would hang out at the school library. We would do homework, while he researched any leads that might point us towards the Needle Man’s identity. Pat would always be invited, but seemed uncomfortable with Tracy’s obsession and would usually avoid meeting up with us when he was around. I understood and never tried to force them to be friends.
“Why would you want to inject someone with Heroin?” Tracy asked out loud, deep in thought as he rifled through his binders full of notes.
Jenna and I both looked up from our homework. He was louder than he thought.
“What makes you think there’s a reason behind it?” Jenna asked, as she lowered her book. “It could have been a random string of attacks, right?”
“That doesn’t really make sense, the attacks are too calculated.” I admitted. “There could even be multiple Needle Men. The police did report an accomplice”
Tracy nodded “He is far too precise. Smart enough to avoid police presence for months now. He obviously put a lot of thought into these attacks, I mean a gun that shoots needles?! It would take an engineer to put something like that together.”
“Yeah, good point,” Jenna agreed. “And if that is the case-”
“There is no way his victims were random” Tracy finished
“Did Percy have any enemies? Did he owe anyone money or something?”
“Well he was a stoner with a college student salary, so probably.”
Jenna added “But I don’t think a drug dealer is going to give out more drugs to someone who couldn’t even pay for the last load. There is nothing they would get out of that.”
I agreed, “And the amount of people talking about this now…I can’t imagine a drug dealer would want that kind of attention”
“Whatever the motive is, I’ll find out when I track him down.”
I stared at him for a few seconds. The eyes behind those thick glasses showed no hesitation.
“I don’t know if I can change your mind but please be careful”
Jenna also nodded quickly in agreement.
“Guys don’t worry about me, I’m not just going to stand there and let him stab me”
He stood up to display his matching jacket and pants.
“This material is similar to kevlar, when I look for the Needle Man, I am going to be almost covered head to toe in this.”
Winter came and went with no other reported attacks. Somehow, the case still remained unsolved. Doyle Law Enforcement seemed to be completely useless as well.All they seemed to be able to do was harass and intimidate people in some vain attempt to create a facade of control or competency. In reality, Tracy was making more headway on the case by himself than the entire force.
On the night of April 15th, Tracy claimed he finally found where the Needle man was.
“I think I know where he is hiding” Tracy said to me at the same Tatte we were at when we found out about Rebecca.
Tracy had a frantic tone as he pulled out and unfolded a large map of Doyle. It was difficult to see past all of the scribbles and drawings he had added.
This time, Pat happened to be studying with us as well.
“Look Tracy, I feel like it’s going to be dangerous to go out looking for him. At least call the police or someone. Let them know the info you found and they could do something.” Pat pleaded with him with visible shock as color left his face.
“Yeah, Tracy. I know what you’ve been through, but this is a stupid fucking idea. You getting killed is not going to help us…It’s not going to help Percy either”
“I just want to know why he did it,” Tracy replied in a choked voice. I need a chance to talk to him myself…and after that” Tracy lifted up his armored shirt to flash a silver 9mm handgun.
I backed up slightly in shock.
“Tracy, this is not how you-”
“So, here is where I think he’s located” Tracy cut us off to start showing us his map.
“I can’t do this right now man, I need to head home” Pat said nervously. I didn’t stop him.
Tracy nodded politely as he left and then continued “Okay so this is where West Ridge High School is. And directly south, we have my old apartment. Where Percy was attacked.”
I nodded silently, beginning to understand the pattern.
“Okay, so he attacked Rebecca from the North and camera footage showed him retreating south in the direction of Percy’s apartment.”
“Yeah?”
“And he chased Percy down from the direction of the high school, right? Well, since the police presence was heavy around my apartment that night, he probably retreated north, right?”
“So you think he might be hiding somewhere between your old place and the high school?”
“Exactly!” Tracy confirmed in an excited voice.
“Where do you think he is hiding then? The small college neighborhood over there?”
“Yes. The Grischa neighborhood. And I am going to look for him now. You can join me if you want.”
I thought about it deeply for a minute. “Sorry Tracy, I just don’t think it’s safe. Is there anything I could do to convince you to stay?” I asked one last time.
Tracy shook his head, his conviction holding firm. I gave him a hug. “If you need any help, I am going to call the police and send them to you okay?”
“Sounds good, thank you Christian”
I heard the clink of metal as Tracy opened the door to the coffee shop. And disappeared into the night.
Tracy went missing that night.