Boogeyman - Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4

Chin felt the words on the screen swimming in front of his eyes. He rubbed them furiously and clicked to the next picture. He had spent most of the afternoon searching through April's information. Phone records, credit card bills, the works. Unfortunately, nothing had come up unusual. Chin had been frustrated. But his cousin seemed to be able to read his mind once again and had brought him lunch from a nearby cafe. He needed to remember to get her something as a thank you.

Steve and Danny had down to the morgue to check in with Max a couple hours after they had arrived back. Steve's steps towards the elevator had been determined. He was obviously angry that this young promising girl had been killed so brutally. Even Danny had stayed quiet. They were both lost in their own thoughts. The murder was a very sobering thought for them all.

Kono had spent her time with the neighbor in one of the interrogation rooms, talking with a sketch artist and describing what the man they had seen looked like. It was an older neighbor and Kono was worried that she wouldn't be a reliable witness as on the way over to headquarters, she seemed as if she were forgetting various facts about her own life. But after a conversation with Steve, they decided to go ahead and risk it. It wouldn't hurt and who knew, maybe they would get an accurate description.

After one of April's neighbors had finished with the sketch artist, Chin had taken the results back to headquarters and began a search in facial recognition to find the man. According to the neighbors, the man had come to April's house quite a few times in the past but hadn't been seen in the past month or so. They described him as having short brown hair, almost a military crew cut but not quite, and a tough build. The neighbor said that the man never seemed to be a threat to April and she had hugged him many times.

The computer once again let out a whine to alert him that yet another photo had come up negative. Chin looked at his watch. It was late, almost eight thirty. It had definitely been a long day.

He looked up and glanced around. Steve still sat at his desk, typing something out. He looked at some paperwork every few seconds before returning to his typing. Chin stood up and grabbed his keys from the side desk drawer and turned the light on his desk off.

Steve looked up as he knocked on the door.

"Heading out?" Steve asked. Chin nodded.

"I figured I would take a chance on somewhere I think Cody is then head home for some sleep." he explained.

"Just remember what I said Chin. Cody may not need your help. Don't disrepair your friendship with him by pushing too hard." Steve reminded him. Chin nodded and looked away, knocking on the door frame and turning to leave.

H50

Cody was only half asleep. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since he had decided to go back to Oahu. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw shady images. He saw the terror in his mother's eyes as she took her last dying breath.

Sleep in Los Angeles had never gotten easier. At first he hadn't ever been able to sleep because of the ominous closet door staring back at him. Within the first week, he had removed the closet door from his bedroom. Even at his dorm room, he had taken the door off and stored it in the back of the small space. At first, people were wary of him, thinking he had lost his mind. But the few friends he had made that had found out his past, agreed with what he was doing and saw it as a way he was coping with what had happened.

Turning over on the couch, he let his arms fall heavily to his sides. The old house was quiet, absent were the settling noises, the wind outside, any other noise to signify life. Cody didn't like it. He hated being alone with his thoughts.

Instantly, he sat up straight. A creak from upstairs caught every bit of his attention. It was NOT the house settling. Silently throwing the blanket lightly on the back of the couch, he set his shoe covered feet on the ground, planting them solidly. He was thankful that he had kept his shoes on. There was no way he was letting his guard down anywhere near this house. It seemed as if all he could hear was his own breath.

Standing up, he held his breath as he pinned his eyes on the ceiling. The moon shone in a few windows, disappearing behind storm clouds as they past by to join their brothers and sisters to make one giant storm. A few rumbles of thunder surrounded the house. Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the front entryway where his tool bag was. He opened the zipper quietly, keeping his eyes on the stairs. Feeling around, he grabbed his crowbar and pulled himself to his feet.

He approached the stairs anxiously, his hands gripping the crowbar so tight that his knuckles turned white. His heart beat at an even quicker pace, almost as if it were trying to tell him to turn and run. His breath came out shakily but he pushed his feet forward. They were quiet on the hardwood floor and sunk into the carpet of the first step.

The upstairs hallway didn't look any different than it had earlier that night. Lightning lit up the long stretch of carpet, illuminating the various items that were decorating the floor of the upstairs.

Cody cursed himself not having thought to grab his flashlight before beginning his trek. The crowbar felt heavy in his hands. He willed himself to stop shaking. He gripped the top of the railing and pulled himself to the top of the landing. It was quiet. Breathing deeply, he started down the hallway. Starting at the guest room, he gripped the door knob and turned. There was an ominous creaking noise as the door eased open.

The only things in the guest room were a bed, a desk, and a dresser. The bed was freshly made up and the only thing covering surfaces was dust. He didn't remember much about the guest room. There had been the usual sleep overs that had overflowing guests assigned to the room or there were relatives that spent the night and stayed in there. He had no recognition of the last time.

Content that the noise hadn't come from the guest room, he closed the door and glanced back down the hall.

Please don't! Please leave us alone!

Cody squeezed his eyes shut as the words passed through his brain. They were in his mother's voice, the words that he remembered hearing her cry as he hid in the closet. He shook his head roughly, trying to rid himself of the gruesome memories that persistently popped up.

"Coooddddyyyyy."

His head popped up and his eyes widened considerably. Everything around him turned into a small whine, the only sounds were the heavy, fast paced beats of his own heart. He slowly turned his head to the side, his body firmly planted where it was. It almost felt like soemone was watching him but he was petrified to the spot. He eyed the corners of his vision, his breath speeding up.

Gathering the courage, he turned.

The door to his childhood bedroom was open slightly.

Chills planted themselves firmly over his bones. He couldn't move. He knew for sure that he and Lucas had shut the door firmly. It was always hard to open in the first place. Everything told Cody to turn and run. Run down the stairs, out the front door, and never look back.

He tried to convince himself that that was eight years ago Cody. He wasn't scared anymore.

He gripped the crowbar tighter with both hands and braced it against his thigh. He moved forward. Lightning flashed once again, shadowing out all the objects in the room. He entered the room hesitantly, keeping his eyes moving. Nothing out of the sort.

His confidence in what he was trying to accomplish was dwindled as he noticed the small crack in the closet door. The inside seemed to be darker than the night atmosphere around him. His heart sped up as he approached the open door. As he eased the door open, and paled. In the light of the slightly illuminated outside, he noticed a human shaped cubby on the floor of the closet, as if someone had been waiting on top of the various junk in the space until a specific time.

But what time?

Chills went racing down his spine as he felt eyes on him. He looked back towards the door. A complete black form stood in the doorway, ever limb accentuated by the light of the downstairs that curled up the stairs. Cody almost dropped the crowbar. His chest tightened.

"Lucas? Is that you?" he asked. He could hear his voice waver slightly.

The figure didn't move. Not an inch.

"This isn't funny." Cody ordered.

The shape took a step forward, crossing the line into the bedroom.

Eight years of alertness had seemed to prepare him for this moment. His eyes darted from the figure to the bed, working out in his brain how he could get past the form. The form seemed to read his mind and a split second later, it moved quickly into the bedroom. Cody skid around him and jumped on the bed, narrowly missing a stumble just waiting to happen. He got out of the room, feeling the figure following him.

He tried running down the stairs but was shocked as a heavy forced hit him from behind. He and what he could only assume was a man, tumbled down the stairs. The crowbar was lost somewhere between the fifth step down and the bottom of the stairs.

Cody's head cracked against the tiled entryway and he curled in on himself, grasping his head and crunching his eyes shut. His thoughts swirled as the pain in his head swelled. Uncurling, he carefully opened his eyes to see the man standing up carefully and leaning over him. Cody got his first full glance in the light of the evening lights that automatically came on when the lower floor of the house was dark.

The man was tall, almost over six foot, and he wore all black. He could see the muscles in the man's arms, suggesting that nothing got past the man, nothing physical that was.

But the scariest of all was the mask covering the man's face. It was completely black. There were no eye holes or nose/mouth holes. It was just black. It brought back way too many memories. The man knelt next to him and Cody felt gloved hands grasp around his neck. His air was quickly cut off and he tried desperately to breathe. Nothing.

He reached up and yanked on the man's hands but they only got tighter. Lightning flashed, much like the stars and white circles were flashing in his vision. This was it. He didn't even know what was going on.

His legs flailed up and down as he tried to dislodge the man from on top of him. As his energy began to wane, he took one last glance around the entryway for something, anything that would help. Reaching out a hand, he felt a glimmer of hope as his hand rested on the fabric handle of his tool bag.

It was normally extremely heavy, filled with drills, saws, nuts and bolts. But in a fit of strength, he grabbed it tightly and swung.

The man let out a grunt as the bag connected with his head, sending him sprawling off to the side. Cody wasted no time in pulling himself to his feet no matter how difficult or dizzy that was and latched onto the door handle. The locked turned easily in his hand and he darted out the front door, not taking a single second to look back. He ran down the front driveway and took off down the private drive, his chest hurting with each breath. He was frightened that at any moment, the man would appear in the lightning and reach for him again.

His feet pounded the pavement as he listened to the gravel under his shoes, unconsciously waiting for the sound of a second pair of shoes. There weren't any. He looked behind him, searching for any sign of movement...

...and ran right into Chin.

H50

Chin had pulled his truck into the empty drive and parked, waiting for a decision to form in his head as to what he should do. He had gotten out of the truck and began to walk, thinking that the decision would come to him if he gave it time.

He wasn't prepared for a completely distraught Cody to run headlong into him.

Cody began struggling, punching Chin in the chest and screaming, anything to get away. Chin tightened his grip and the two lost their footing, falling to their knees. Chin gritted his teeth as a particularly sharp rock dug into his left knee.

"Cody! CODY!" he yelled.

Cody seemed to recognize the voice and his struggling slowed.

"He's in the house. Chin he's in the house." Cody half cried half whispered. He clutched Chin's shirt and bawled. Chin looked from the top of Cody's head to the long drive. He began to get up but Cody tightened his grip on Chin's arms, holding him in place.

"Don't leave me. Please don't leave me." he whispered.

Chin hesitated but let himself stay rooted to the ground, tightening his grip on the distraught Cody.