I’m a receptionist. But not just any old paper pusher you’d find at your local dentist or doctor. No, I take care of the front desk at our town’s local police station. Much more intense.
Which one? Yeah, nice try. I don’t need anyone else harassing me on top of the regulars we already see on the daily. Plus, you’re not going to want to visit after you hear what lurks in these parts.
The station was already up to its neck in paperwork on this particular week. You see, multiple bodies had been found in the woods. Every time a new one was discovered the workload increased. We weren’t too worried about these corpses at first. I know it sounds crazy when I put it like that. How can one, (let alone the police force), not be concerned about dead people popping up?
Well, the strange thing was, these bodies were old…incredibly old. Like, really fucking old.
I’m talking ancient people from centuries past. Mummified remains if you will. Kind of like the ones you see on the Discovery Channel in the early hours of the morning. Granted history wasn’t our forte, we brought in all sorts of experts from around the country. Scientists, archaeologists, an array of carbon dating academics. They all stopped by to throw in their two cents on who these people once were.
Naturally, quite a bit of buzz began to stir around town. Unfortunately, excitement of this calibre always brings the crazies out.
“Andy?”
I looked up from my computer to find an elderly lady at the front desk. I didn’t recognise her. How did she know my name?
“Hello mam,” I chimed. “Can I help you?”
She leaned forward.
“Andy. Andy McMillan”
She knew my full name? I realised there must be some connection. It was a small town after all. What this link was though, I had no clue.
“I’m sorry, have we met?” I asked.
It looked like my question caused tears to well up in her eyes. They did look familiar. She struggled to push the next words out.
“Rose Dawson”
I gave her a blank stare. I knew the name. In fact, I knew that name very well.
Rose Dawson was the name of the girl with whom I shared my very first kiss. Although, this was close to ten years ago. I hadn’t seen her since school ended but I knew she was still living nearby. For a brief second, everything seemed to click into place.
“Oh! Are you Rose’s grandmother?”
There were definitely tears this time. I tried again.
“…Rose’s mother?”
The salty water started to stream down her face.
“It’s me Andy! I’m Rose Dawson!”
I must have given off the impression that I thought she was nuts. The lack of words coming out of my mouth didn’t help either. I mean, can you blame me? She sounded completely loony. The Rose Dawson i knew was the same age as me. I knew that as a fact.
The old lady doubled down.
“Listen to me Andy. You have to get people out of this town. All of those bodies in the woods. I know what happened to them. It happened to me. I saw it!”
I attempted to diffuse the situation. This lady was quickly getting frantic and confused.
“Mam, it’s alright, I need you calm so we can help”
She put a hand to her head.
“Stop calling me mam! It’s me, Rose!”
I pressed a button beneath my desk to call for some assistance. It looked like we were going to have to get in touch with a nursing home about a runaway patient. My fellow officers arrived and whisked her into the office. I told them to try and track down the real Rose to see if she could come in. There had to be a lead there.
The station’s entrance was quiet once again. I sat in the silence. It made me sad to think that one day I could deteriorate to that level of confusion.
Ten minutes passed before the phone broke into a shrill ring. I snatched at it.
“Hello?”
It was the boys from the office. They hadn’t had much success with her either. She was still claiming to be Rose Dawson and they hadn’t managed to track down the real one yet. Sounded like it was going to be a rough afternoon.
That being said, she had elaborated on her story a bit more. She claimed there was a creature roaming the outskirts of town. Something about not looking into its eyes. The boys wanted to know if she’d mentioned any other names which they could try to track down. As I went to explain that she somehow knew my name, a voice interrupted.
“Excuse me.”
I glanced up from my desk and found another elderly person looking back at me. This time a man. A very old man. It looked like his skin was vacuum sealed to his face. His skeletal frame was clearly visible.
“Sorry just a minute!” I blurted.
I relayed the little information I had back to my co-workers and hung up. The old man smiled sweetly, waiting patiently. I turned my attention back to him.
“Sounds like you got quite the pickle there.” He chuckled.
“It’s been quite the day…quite the week actually.” I sighed.
With a quick shake of the head, I caught myself before I trauma dumped on this civilian and changed topic.
“Sorry, how can I help you sir?”
“Oh, don’t mention it. I apologise for bothering you! I was just wondering if you could point me in the direction of the main strip. I’m from out of town you see.”
Now this was more my speed. I briefly provided clear and direct directions to the town centre. He seemed very appreciative, thanking me for my time with kind green eyes. It felt good to see my job was doing something for the world. A nice break from the earlier chaos.
Just before the gentleman exited the foyer he stopped.
“I hate to pry my dear boy, but what was this talk on the phone of a creature in the woods?”
I threw a dismissive wave.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Just a disturbed citizen.”
He nodded with a grin.
“Not some urban folklore I should be aware of?”
He seemed harmless enough and didn’t seem like the type to run around spreading rumours. I decided to tell him.
“Definitely not one I’ve heard of before. Poor lady thinks there’s something in the woods that can age you just by looking at it!”
He laughed.
“I wouldn’t spend too long looking into that one if I were you…Not worth the little time you have left”
I wasn’t sure if that was just a friendly comment or a threat at first. He threw up a hand to bid farewell and staggered out.
I turned back to my computer only to be faced with a black screen. It must have gone to sleep when I was distracted. Low-power mode to save energy. I wished I had some energy after my exhausting week. I felt like I’d aged sixty years.
I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the screen’s glass and realised…I had.