I panted heavily and quietly in my room. I had had enough crap. I was done… I pulled out the small pistol from under my pillow and walked out of my room. I moved slowly through the hallway and ended up going down the stairs. It was dark… I should have been asleep by then but my limit was far passed. My entire body was shaking at the idea of it, but I didn't have a choice anymore. I was doing for my life and my Mom, who wasn't home that night. When I got down the flight of stairs, I entered the living room where my Dad was. He was on the couch staring at the small television screen. Beer bottles along with vodka lay about the room. My Father looked at me with eyes of fire.
"What the hell are you doing out of bed," he barked. I didn't respond to him. I only had one thought on my mind. Or maybe I wasn't thinking at all. The only true thing I understood was that I had a goal to accomplish. "Answer me, Boy. Do you want another beating?" I stood there and pointed the gun at him. He processed it for a moment in his drunken head then said, "really now? You're going to shoot your old man?" He laughed at the thought. "As if you had the balls! You come out of your bed to shoot me. No… No, you're going to give me that gun!" I still had him at gunpoint. "Give me the fucking gun!" He picked up an empty bottle and through it past me. I could hear the bottle shatter behind me. He then walked quickly up to me. "I said give me that moth-" before he could finish his sentence, I pulled the trigger and got his chest. I stood there and watched as my Father's lung collapsed. I watched him die…
"Can you please tell me how a 16 year old boy manages to get a gun and shoot his Father?" I looked at the officer.
"I had a friend lend me it. It was his Mom's gun." The Officer squinted at me.
"Why did you do it?" I sighed at the question and lifted up my shirt, showing her the bruises and cuts on my body. She almost looked away in disgust.
"He abused you?" I nodded twice and quick. "I see. So how long has he done that to you." I thought about it for a moment.
"About three years," I said looking at the table.
"Damn," she said. "So you killed him to free yourself - I see now. Was he abusive toward your Mother?"
"Yeah." I paused. "It wasn't always like that. Before all this started happening, my Father was the nicest person you would ever meet. Me, my Dad, Mom… We did everything together. We watched movies, played games, went to events and spent time a lot with the family." The Officer readjusted herself to get comfortable in her chair. "One day, my parents, um...separated into different bedrooms and stopped really having conversations like they used to. Something happened to him that changed him." The Officer then cleared her throat and scratched the back of her head nervously.
"What happened to him?"
"I never got to find out." Someone walked into the room suddenly. It was another Officer. He had long black here and a thin shaped head with brown eyes and glasses. His teeth were straight and clean.
"Can't you see I'm in the middle of-"
"Sorry to intrude, Sir! But I need to tell you something." The Women shook her head and sighed.
"What is it?"
"Seth's Father had his bedroom locked when he got shot. I need to know if Seth knows where the key is." The Women turned to me quickly.
"Do you know where your Father's key is, Seth?"
"I have no clue. After my parents separated, nobody was allowed into his room. He always locked it and hid the key somewhere." The two Officers overlooked me for a short moment and resumed conversation with each other.
"We can't even break the door down and the window is sealed and boarded," the man said.
"Is there a way we can pop the door down?"
"Wait, I thought this was a Homicide investigation. Why do you need to get into my Dad's room," I asked sharply.
The male Officer answered back, "the more we can explore into this investigation, the more we can do to determine what to do with you. Besides, your Mother wants to see the bedroom herself."
"I didn't know Police took requests." The male Officer smiled at me.
"Think of it as order maintenance. We don't do many cases like these so we're used to mostly helping people out. I consider this helping.
I went over to Seth's house to join the investigation. I flashed my badge and made it into his house. I notice quickly that there was a S.W.A.T. unit in front of his Father's bedroom with rifles and shotguns. "What the hell is going on," I asked frantically.
"We have orders to shoot this door down." I was almost lost in that statement.
"You're kidding, right? Since when do you get orders to shoot up a door."
"We can't get it open." Three of them lined up parallel in the hall and faced the door. After raising their weapons, they aimed the sights and fired at the door. Loud bangs of gunfire filled the house for a short time then stopped. The door knob fell to the floor as metal fragments and the door opened slightly inward. One of the S.W.A.T. units looked at me.
"You're clear to move in." Their weapons were lowered and they broke the parallel formation. I didn't respond to what they said to me. I stared at the newly opened door and blinked a few times to get my senses straight and then I slowly approached it. At first, I tried to peer through the gap in between the door and frame, but there was hardly any light except the one emanating from the gap and even so, my body blocked it. So, I gently pushed the door open and flicked on the light. At that moment, I stopped. What I saw was absolutely insidious. Notebook paper was hung all over the room. Scribbles and drawings of things were stress-fully put on each paper. The paint under the papers on the wall wasn't visible at all. The paintings originally on the wall were also covered in the papers and concealed from the outside world. I looked up and realized that the ceiling was just the same. I noticed a desk in the right most corner and moved over to it, stepping on and over even more pages. When I got to desk, there was even more pages. Two of them though caught my full attention. One of them had a symbol on it - a circle with an "x" marked through it. The other one, a picture of a tall man in a suit. An unusual man with long arms that nearly touched the ground and had no expression visible on its face. No… it didn't even have a face. It was just a blank canvas.
"Holy shit," I said softly. Another investigator walked through the door and paused.
"Holy shit," they repeated. "What in the world is this hell?" I turned to them. It was my partner, Jess. She was wearing a ponytail and her red hair shimmered in the light. Her eyes glowed a vibrant green and her mouth was it's light pink, natural color.
"Welcome to the party," I said as jokingly as I possibly could. She quickly moved toward me.
"Ken, why is there a S.W.A.T. team here?" I shrugged.
"I didn't bother asking." She got close to me. She was shorter than I was but I still looked up to her. I tensed when she neared.
"I noticed some bullet holes when I came in," she said. It was amazing that she saw that before I did.
"They shot the door open." She chuckled.
"What, the police couldn't break it down themselves?" I looked at the door and almost missed why that was. The inside part of the door had metal seals on it. Jess moved past me towards the desk.
"Watch out for the tall man," I said. Jess picked up the the paper I was referring to and shoved it in my face.
"Really now?" She sat it back in place and tried to open one of the desk's drawers. "Shit, this is also locked. Say, maybe we can get those guys to shoot at this thing too." I smiled.
"Yeah, and destroy evidence in the process!" We continued exploring the room. We found alcohol, more pages, a diary which ended up being evidence, and some porn magazines. Though, for some kind of reasoning in my mind, I felt that we were missing a bigger part of the story. Something was strange. I couldn't piece it together…
My Mother took me to my Cousin's house and told me we were going to stay with him for a while. I didn't have a say in the matter. I had court coming in my future so this was a way to ease my mind. Though, my Mother didn't hardly said anything to me. I didn't know if she was upset or confused. I felt that maybe she was angry. Maybe a little bit sad. I felt that I shouldn't say anything about it though because I did kill the person she originally fell in love with. She did tell me that I wasn't going back to school anytime soon. I didn't care about school anyways. I had just killed a man that used to be my father. I didn't know what would happen to me. I have no understanding of the criminal justice system so I had no idea what my sentence would look like if I was heading behind bars. Out of all the feelings in my mind, however, I was proud to rid of that terrible man. The was a sense of relief and happiness. I was almost at near bliss with the world around me. That was something that I always wanted. Something that I had often dreamed of.
But that day that we moved in, I could feel a cold chill run up my spine. I went to bed when the time came. I had no alarms to set and nothing to worry about the next day, so I stripped to my underpants and hopped into my bed. I pulled the warm and heavy blanket over me and curled up into a ball. I shut my eyes and entered a deep sleep. That's when I ended up at a funeral. My Father's funeral. I was a part of a circle that surrounded my Father's newly buried body. But I was with some strange people. The people around me were in dark black robes and wore white masks that concealed everything but their eyes. One man in particular caught my attention. His hair was short and black. He was wearing some kind of sun glasses. Even though I could make out those details, everything was fussy. It was hard to get a clear image of the man. He looked back at me and smiled wickedly. It almost seemed like he was laughing.
Suddenly, the sky above me turned red and the clouds became grey. The people around me turned into blood and ash and the dark man disappeared. And then the dirt over my Father's grave turned into light and vanished. My Father's coffin became visible and a strange symbol replaced the things on his gravestone. The coffin started to rise above the ground. I panicked and backed away quickly. I almost got a feeling to flee but had instead froze in place. The top of the coffin blew of ragingly and shot into the sky. I almost didn't notice that it was about to hit me and when I did notice, I jumped out of the way, nearly getting myself killed. I looked back at the surfaced coffin and saw something beginning to emerge from it. I thought at first that it was my Dad… until I was able to see the head. A completely, blank faced creature was rising from what was my fathers grave. The more it rose, the more details I could make out. It was unnaturally tall. It wore a black suit and a bright red tie. As it emerged more, I could see the arms… They were long. Really long. The red hue that overwhelmed the world couldn't hide its pure white skin.
After it fully rose, my heart stopped. It turned to me and looked at me. No face… No eyes, nose, nothing. And then, black tentacle-like things emerged from its back.
I awoke the next day realizing that I was sleeping. "None of that was real," I told myself. "Everything's good. Everything is okay." I got dressed and ready to face the day ahead of me. I never had a dream that was so lucid before. "You are going to be okay."
I looked into that strange symbol using old police records. I didn't think it would work. I came across the "Zii Carpenter" case and was almost to shocked for words. Three words came in my head at that moment. "The Buzz saw Murderer". One of the Countries most deadly serial killers in record. My partner entered my office. "What do you have?"
I looked up at her and said, "you won't believe it." She looked at me intrigued.
"What do you mean?"
"There's a link to another case that came a while back. Have you heard of the Buzz-saw Murderer." Her mouth slightly opened.
"No." I shook my head and pulled out two photos. The first picture I showed her was from the case we were currently working with.
"This is from the Father's bedroom." I pointed out the circle with an "x" marked through it and then pulled out the next picture. "This photo comes from the "Zii Carpenter" case. It was the same symbol carved into a tree under a mutilated body impaled on a tree. "The 'Zii Carpenter' case stemmed a few years back in 2009. A student going to a school called Donna Shepard joined a cult worshiping something known as 'The Tall One'. After they do a prayer they wake up the next day and one-by-one, each of the members of the cult gets murdered by someone with a buzz saw. There is a record of thirty-two killings. Zii Carpenter was the one of few people that ever survived long enough to tell police about everything."
"He died?"
"He disappeared without a trace. We have long assumed that he is dead." She looked confused for a moment.
"So, you're saying that there's a link? How? This is just a Father being shot by his son."
"No… I think there's more to it - I just have to see it."
"Good luck," she said. "If you need me, I'm heading home. I'm assuming you'll take care of things. Have a good night." She turned away from me and walked out of the room. I was left to ponder. To ask the millions of questions that were on my mind. I kept searching through the records. I was thinking that there might be a connection between the Father and the Buzz saw murderer. However, the only link was the symbol. That was all. I had hit a dead end. I wanted to believe that there was a connection. I ran over it in my mind over and over again, but I always came to the same conclusion. "A boy killed his father and that's it. There's nothing more do it." So, I put away the other case file to review the evidence. That's when I remembered the diary. Maybe I should say that it was a journal, but I don't think it matters. Anyways, I pulled the diary out and began flipping through the pages. As I kept flipping, a started to see more of those drawing about half way through. After the drawings stopped showing up, I began to read it.
The Father wrote, "I saw it again. Same thing as before. Tall, in a suit, faceless. I feel like I'm losing my mind. There's just no way I can tell Kathy about it. I just can't. Today, I told her that it would be best if we separated bedrooms. I don't want her to see what I see. I love her too much to have her hurt like me. I wouldn't handle it. I need help. A doctor maybe, but I would sound crazy. I don't want my Son to have a Dad that can't handle what's real. I don't know what is real anymore. I can't handle it. I CAN'T! I CAN'T! I CAN'T!" I flipped another few pages and began reading.
"Maybe I'll find something," I thought.
The page said, "I hit my Son today. I didn't have any control. Like I was someone else. I never have hit my Son. I also recently struck Kathy. I think it best to lock my bedroom and stay in it. I don't want to hurt anyone. Not my family." I flipped a few more pages.
"This is weird," I though heavily. Never have I seen anything like that. But it entered its peak when I read the third time.
"Today was different. I heard something. It sounded like some kind of tool. It was right outside my window. I couldn't see it though because I sealed the view of my window. I don't want to know what's out there. I swear, though...I think it was a buzz saw…" Chills ran up my spine.
"What the hell," I whispered. I got a strange feeling that it wasn't over yet. I continued to flip through each page until the writing stopped. Then...I read the last page the Father wrote on.
"Seth, if you ever read this. You need to hide. You're in danger. Very horrible things have been happening to me. You're next. Because of me, your life is at stake. Listen, you need to show the world. I know you're young, but you can do this. I have bought a video camera for you. It's in my drawer in my room. The key is in the living room light. Take it, unlock my desk drawers, find it, and document everything. Don't stop! People need to know what's out there. You'll know when the time will come use the camera. Remember that I love you. I didn't want to hurt you. At least you'll be free from my grip. Tonight, you will kill me. I saw it in my visions. It'll be quick and you'll be happy. But don't let the tall man win. I love you…" I gently put the diary down and realized that I was holding my breath the whole time I was reading, so I exhaled loudly and rubbed my eyes. I needed a break. So, I would give the message to Seth after the funeral. I wanted to see what he had to say...and see if he had heard any buzz saws at the time.
