Chapter 2: One on One
A television set popped on and Captain Rousseau appeared on the screen, microphones pointed at him. An old man sat in front of it, rubbing his face thoughtfully. He had heard gunshots from the large Coleman place not too far from where he lived. Nothing ever happened much around here that got the medias attention. But hearing shots fired repeatedly had been enough to get him up out of his usual deep sleep and relieve his curiosity. He and his old husky wolf Tacopa had both made their way down stairs.
"Well, we've got one murder and a disappearance," Rousseau stated, "The disappearance is that of 9 year old Esther Coleman whom was just recently adopted by both John and Katherine Coleman. We are desperately trying to locate young Esther who had apparently committed the homicide then fled the scene," Rousseau continued. "But Captain," said the obnoxious voice of Lynn Garner, "If I may interrupt, Esther was supposedly killed by Kate Coleman herself and left to drown in the lake."
Rousseau stared at her as the press began to whisper among themselves. "It seems young Esther wasn't found in the pond," Rousseau replied, "The attack happened some few hours ago. Her body was not recovered." He heard dead quiet. "So you're saying young Esther just crawled out of the lake with a broken neck and wandered off by herself?" Lynn asked. Rousseau glared at her and cleared his throat. He then held up a picture of Esther. "Esther Coleman is still missing," Rousseau said into their cameras, "If you should see her, call 911 immediately. She is considered armed and extremely dangerous."
The old man whipped his head around as a small shadow appeared behind him. A small boy with a shoulder length brown bowl haircut was rubbing his sleepy eyes off, then looked at the man and smiled weakly at him. "Grandpa Gabriel" the kid asked in a gentle voice, "What are you doing up?" Gabriel chuckled to himself. "Tony, what are YOU doing up?" Gabriel asked. He then got up, and laughed gently. "Oh Tony, you shouldn't be up so late," Gabriel continued, "Save the midnight oil burning for us old folk." Little Tony laughed, running up to Gabriel and hugged his grandfather who hugged him back.
"C'mon, I'll take you back to bed and tuck you in," Gabriel chuckled. "I heard you wake up," Tony explained with big brown eyes, "you scared me!" "Sorry champ," his grandpa laughed, "guess I'm just starting to lose my marbles." Tony's face fell. "Don't say that, Grandpa!" Tony protested, "I get scared when you say that." Gabriel smiled down at him. "Tones, listen to me," Gabriel explained, kneeling to his grandson's short height "You don't have to worry about me going anywhere. I'm still very healthy. I could probably live to be a hundred."
As they hugged, Gabriel heard Tacopa start barking at the back door. They both looked up, hearing gentle footsteps. "Grandpa, who is it?" Tony asked. "Not sure," Gabriel said, "Tacopa, get over here." Tacopa kept barking and scratching at the door. Gabriel went over and hauled him away from it. "Tony, can you take him upstairs?" Gabriel asked the frightened child. "Okay," Tony said, tugging on Tacopa's collar, "c'mon Tacopa! Heel! Good boy." Tony and Tacopa climbed the stairs as the dog whined.
There was a light knocking at the door and Gabriel froze. He spotted a shadow move by the window. "Hello?" Came a frantic young female voice with a thick foreign accent on the other side of the door. Gabriel stood holding his breath, not knowing what to do next. "Is there anyone there?" asked the tiny voice, followed by more knocking. "Who is it?" Gabriel finally heard himself say. "Oh thank God sir, there is someone there!" came the voice again, "I need your help!" Gabriel heard the doorknob rattle and he grabbed it to keep it still. "Who are you?" Gabriel asked, feeling the doorknob keep rattling. Then to his surprise, the knob went still. "My name is Leena," said the voice, "I live a few houses away from here. I just had a bad fight with my husband John and….well…he beat me. He threw me out of my house and now I have nothing. I just need to use your phone. I'd really appreciate it. I'm very cold…so very cold."
Gabriel stood there against the door, hearing himself panting. He remembered what the TV had said. He peeked out of the peephole and saw no one standing there. He knew he had to play it safe. The voice sounded gentle and awfully young. It scared him to think of the possibility of having someone like that Coleman kid on the other side of the locked door.
"Can I please come in? Are you still there?" the voice asked again. "Yeah, I'm still here," Gabriel said, "but I can't do that right now." He then saw his front closet. He quickly went over to his closet and unlocked it. He then pulled out a long double-barreled shotgun and grabbed a box of shells from the shelf. He then quickly loaded them into his gun. "Why not sir?" the voice continued, "Please, I'm very cold." Gabriel picked up the phone on the counter and dialed 911. "Just hang on a sec," Gabriel said, "I'll be right with you." Gabriel then shot his head up, hearing quickened footsteps sounded off down his front porch. "Grandpa!" called Tony from upstairs. "It's alright, Tony" Gabriel called, closing the gun, "stay up there." Gabriel heard the line go dead after one ring. He then heard a loud crash from outside and the lights went out.
Gabriel grabbed the flashlight and stood in the hall where the backdoor and the front door met. Stopping for a moment, he started feeling a slight pain in his chest. He prayed he could fulfill his promise to his grandson.
"I've called the police!" Gabriel shouted, "And I have a gun ready! Do not force me to do something drastic!"
A shadow passed by the curtained back door window and Gabriel whipped around and fired at it, shattering the glass outwards. He backed up from the kick of the gun into the wall. Breathing heavily, he stared at the hole, cringing from the increasing pain in his chest. He stared in disbelief as a grayish colored scarred and bloodied hand reached into the window and unlocked the door. He tip toed forward, keeping his gun trained on the doorway. Without warning the door flew open from a swift kick and he fired at nothing. He dropped the gun and tried to keep his breathing normal.
Movement out of the corner of his eye made him look up. A small silhouette stepped into the doorway. Gabriel saw it was of a small woman. He saw her tied back black hair, her cold blackish eyes staring at him, her small mouth twisted shut and a limp in her walk. Blood dripped from fresh wounds all over her. He backed up stunned by her, only for her to march over to him and grab him tightly. He screamed loudly as she swung him into the desk where he kept his phone, knocking it over. He leaned against the wall, moaning as she grabbed him again and flung him into the living room where he crashed into a large cabinet filled with personal items. He fell back with the collapsed cabinet falling on top of him. He let out a pitiful cry as she stood there, watching his writhe in pain.
Leena gave him a sly smile and grinned. She then reached behind her back and pulled a long steak knife out. Gabriel's groaning turning into a high-pitched gasp. He then lifted his gaze past the little woman up by the stairs where Tony was sitting at the top of, silently sobbing. Gabriel mouthed the word "GO" to his grandson. Leena stepped in the way of them both, looking down at Gabriel almost sympathetically. She slowly cocked her head to the side and lifted the knife up to her mouth. Her tongue came out slowly and she licked the blade with her eyes fixated on him. She then grabbed him by the front of his clean dress shirt and lifted him up, raising the knife as well.
Gabriel screamed as Leena thrust the blade deep down into him, then quickly pulling it out. Gabriel started screaming and convulsing as she started repeatedly stabbing him. Leena laughed, watching him seizing and vomiting blood. Tony screamed and ran for the front door in his t-shirt and shorts making her look up. Leena smiled, pulled the knife out and raced after him. Tony made it to the front door as Leena grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back inside screaming. The door slammed shut.
Another blizzard howled as Tony's screams in the distance fell silent across the wilderness.