Chapter 36

Missy ran towards the back offices, which were the ones that looked into the graveyard. She could hear Marks behind her, keeping pace with her, but she was already near the offices.

She reached the first open one and nearly dove in, slamming the door shut behind her. She quickly locked the door and moved behind the desk by the window. She aimed her gun at the door while at the same time calling for Jenkins.

"Jenkins, help me!" she screamed through the glass, praying that the detective, or any other police officer, was near enough to hear.

Outside the office she heard Marks approach and stop. She heard the rattle of keys and whispered a silent prayer before shouting, "I have my gun pointed at the door. I will fire Marks. Do not enter."

LINE

Nancy reached the window that Joe and she had crawled through, her heart racing.

"Jenkins! Help!" She called, praying that someone would hear her, "We need medics!"

"Did you find him? Is he alive?" Came a voice that Nancy didn't recognize.

"Who are you?" she called, trying to peer up through the window to see.

A young police officer came into view quickly and Nancy breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm Officer Jones. Jenkins already in the church. Did you find him ma'am?"

"He's with his brother…we need medics. Fast," Nancy said.

"Alright, I'll send them down just as soon as we get the all clear from Jenkins."

Nancy nodded, now all she could do was pray Frank was going to be fine.

LINE

The moment that Jenkins heard Missy shout, he was making his way inside. He was fortunate enough to have back up, as the uniformed officers had arrived with a warrant, but it really wouldn't have mattered. Jenkins was the first through the door, and making his way towards the back offices where he had heard Missy.

He reached the back hallway and braced against the doorframe. "Missy!" he called, glancing into the hallway. He couldn't see anybody, but that didn't mean anything in a hallway full of doors.

"Third office on the right!" Missy called.

Jenkins waited for the other officers to catch up to him before he entered the hallway. Jenkins took point, moving slowly through the office and clearing each room until he reached the one Missy was held up in.

"Missy, I'm outside. Open the door," Jenkins said.

A few moments later the door opened a crack and Missy peeked out.

"He's gone Missy," Jenkins said.

"Damn. What about Frank?"

Before Jenkins could answer, a young officer came in and calling, "We found the missing boy! He's in the basement!"

LINE

Joe pushed the lid off the freezer, and nearly lost his lunch. He was hit instantly with the smell of decomp and the sight of the body, he had to look away and take several deep breaths before he could even call for his brother.

"Frank?" Joe called, his voice a little choked, when he was finally able to look back into the freezer. He had to focus really hard on not looking at the body, a not so easy task.

"Frank, can you hear me?" Joe called again. This time he was rewarded with a moan coming from under the body. "Frank, hang on," Joe said, an urgent energy filling him as he ignored his disgust and lifted the decaying body out of the freezer. He carefully set it on the ground and went back for Frank. What he saw made him freeze in his tracks.

Frank was covered in blood and decomp from the body. There were insects crawling around the knife wounds that dotted his torso. His eyes were swollen shut and his mouth was stitched closed. His face was pale except for two fever spots on his checks. He was also still, very still. If it wasn't for the occasional head roll or the rise and fall of his chest, Joe would have thought he was dead. As it was, Joe wasn't sure.

The youngest Hardy boy reached out a shaky hand and ran it through his brother's hair, causing him to flinch. "It's alright Frank…I got you…" Joe murmured, trying to blink back tears while keeping his voice calm.

Frank shifted towards his brother's voice, but the movement caused him pain and he groaned. His eyelashes fluttered a bit, but he couldn't open his eyes.

"It's alight Frank. I got ya," Joe whispered, focusing on his brother's eyes so that he wouldn't have to see the other horrors.

"Joe!" Nancy called as she approached with the paramedics.

"Over here," Joe responded, never looking away from his brother.

Moments later, Joe found himself being pulled away from Frank by Nancy as the paramedics went to tend to his brother. Joe walked in a daze, allowing Nancy to lead him to the churchyard. Everything around him was a blur of color and motion. He could sense Nancy speaking to him, but he could hear or understand what she was saying. His vision was tunneled and his head was whirling.

The moment Joe reached the churchyard; he fell to his knees and vomited.