The Maple Town Murders Part 2.Jacks Return (standard:horror, 4430 words) [2/3] show all parts
Author: Richard J Cobain	Added: May 26 2003	Views/Reads: 2741/1935	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A year later the killer returns to the town to once again wreak havoc on its innocent inhabitants.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

place he had fallen from was out of bed. It was the telephone that was 
ringing. "Every night the same fucking dream" he muttered to himself as 
he picked up the phone. "Yea" he mumbled groggily "this had better be 
important". "Chief, it's me James". James Remington was Charles's young 
and only assistant down at the police station. "What do you want at 
this ungodly hour James?". "A body's just been found in the forest 
chief, i think it was Jack". "What" screamed Charles "I think Jack has 
come back to Maple Town". 

Jack watched them from his position. Unknown to him he was standing in
the exact same place that George was hiding on the night he had died. 
Jack had tried to block that night out of his memory so many times but 
it was stuck there for good and he shed a tear every time he thought 
about his dead son. They were standing over the body talking, about him 
presumably. "How flattering" he whispered sarcastically. The young one 
looked like he was ready to shit bricks in his opinion and the older 
guy looked like a hardass. The girl's blood was still on the knife, he 
wiped it off with his sleeve. "Don't want to catch any germs now do i?" 
he said and began laughing to himself. He could kill them both now, 
maybe he should but something inside told him to let them go for a 
while anyway. "Lucky boys" he whispered to the trees with a smile on 
his face. 

Charles arrived on the scene about fifteen minutes after the phone call.
James was cutting the girl down from the tree. They placed her into a 
body bag and stood over it unsure of what to do, say or feel. "So you 
think he's back Remington?” "I'm afraid so chief". A very uncomfortable 
silence followed. "Why is he back now James? And where has he been all 
this time?” "I don't know chief". Then James shifted uncomfortably, 
"did you hear something chief?" "No James, just your imagination". "I 
guess so" he said but he wasn't convinced. "Anyway James we better get 
this body out of here before the news get here and have a fucking field 
day". They picked up the body and began the trek out of the forest. "Do 
you get the feeling that we're being watched chief?". "It's just your 
fucking nerves Remington, now get a hold of yourself?". "You would have 
shat yourself if you had seen all the body's last year". "That was 
atrocious, i hope i never see anything like that again". "I guess so". 
"Anyway enough with the chit chat let's get this body back to the 
station because the sooner we do that the sooner we can start trying to 
catch this monster". "You're right chief", "i'm always right 
Remington". They dragged the body back through the forest but Remington 
couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched. It was the 
longest walk of his life. 

As a full moon shone over Maple Town in the dead of night the sound of
digging could be heard coming from the local cemetery. Jack was hard at 
work. "We're going to be together again George", he was saying. Dig, 
dig. "All we need is fire to cleanse our sins and the blood of a 
virgin, then we can walk hand in hand into the gates of heaven without 
fear my son". "They weren't supposed to find the body George, but i'll 
get it back". Dig, dig. "Whew this is tough" he said and stopped for a 
while. The tears began to fall once more as he looked up at the moon. 
"It's so beautiful" he whispered, "so beautiful". He picked up the 
spade and began digging again. "Soon George" he was saying through the 
tears, "tomorrow night on your anniversary we'll be free". Dig, dig. 
"Soon now son". He began to laugh now and soon he became hysterical. 
And as the laughing became more hysteric the digging became more 
frantic. He worked hard never ceasing under the bright light of the 
moon. 

When they got back to the station they placed the body in one of their
cells for the time being. "Remington", "yes chief", "I've got a 
positive ID on the girl, Mary Hendry from Maple Terrace". "You're going 
to have to go over there at first light to give her parents the news". 
"Someone's got to do it James", "I know chief". "Now go home and get 
some rest, i'm going to stay here for a bit longer to follow up some 
leads". After James was gone home Charles sat down in his chair and lit 
a cigerette. The last time he had smoked was after the murders last 
year. "Why is he back?" he asked himself, but not finding an answer he 
just leaned back in his chair and inhaled deeply "This town's never 
going to be the same again" he sighed at the empty room. After a while 
the phone rang "hello" he said picking it up. Just silence on the other 
end and then he was cut off. "Damn crank callers" he muttered and 
slammed the phone down getting back to work. 

Jack had rang to make sure that someone was there. He had seen the young
one leave but wasn't sure if the other had left or not, he was sure 
now. And as he stood outside the station looking at the moon with his 
trusty knife in hand he knew it was time to move. He turned the handle 
on the door, it opened. Remington hadn't locked it when he left. "Silly 
boy" he smiled as he stepped inside from the cold. Charles became quite 
cold all of a sudden, there was a draft coming into the room from 
somewhere. He pulled his jacket tighter around himself got up and 
looked outside into the hallway, no-one was there. "Remington" he 
called, "are you there?". No answer. He walked a few steps down the 
hall and stopped. He realised that his face was dripping with sweat. 
"I'm going to take some fucking time off when we catch that bastard" he 
mumbled and went back inside his office leaving the door slightly open. 


Jack walked slowly down the corridor, he could see only one room with a
light on and so knew where Charles was. He was about halfway to the 
room when he heard the door handle turning. With not a second to spare 
he opened a nearby door, which turned out to be a storage room and got 
inside. He heard the cop call for Remington, then he came down the hall 
a few feet and Jack could see him now through a chink in the door. The 
man looked terrified. Jack laughed quietly when he heard the man 
talking about catching him. "You'll get your time off old man" he said 
to his knife. "You'll get all the fucking time off you can handle". He 
watched as the cop went back to his office wiping his face with his 
shirtsleeve. His hands wrapped tightly around the knife handle, 
squeezing and squeezing. 

Charles got back into his office a nervous wreck. This case was really
disturbing him. He lit another cigarette without knowing it. He looked 
at his watch and found it was 2.56. He was getting pretty tired after 
all Remington had gotten him out of bed on account of the body. "I 
better get some sleep" he muttered, "long day tomorrow". He put the 
cigarette out in the ashtray, placed his head on the table and 
unfortunately for him was asleep almost instantly. 

Jack stepped out of the storage room walked up to the cop's office and
stood outside listening for more movement. There wasn't any. Another 
piece of good luck, the cop hadn't closed the door. He opened it very 
slowly and quietly and peered inside. Charles was sitting with his back 
facing the door and his head was resting on a large desk. He was 
asleep. Jack grinned, this was his lucky night. He stood where he was 
for another minute just to make sure and then entered the room. He 
walked up to the desk; the old guy was beginning to snore now. Jack 
stood over him with the knife raised in the air. He loved this feeling. 
He had so much power, he was totally in control. He could kill him now, 
five seconds from now, five minutes from now or not at all but he 
didn't like the last choice. "You have to die my friend" whispered 
Jack, "so i can be free" and saying that he brought the knife down 
again and again and laughed as the cops blood soaked the carpet floor. 

James woke early the next morning and drove the short journey to Maple
Terrace to inform Mr and Mrs Hendry that their daughter was dead. It 
was the hardest thing he ever had to do and his heart broke when he saw 
the way their faces changed when they recieved the news. Mr Hendry took 
the news badly but Mrs Hendry completely broke down in her living room. 
James never saw anything like it. They begged him with their eyes wet 
from tears to see the body and although it wasn't usually allowed 
before the post mortem was done he just couldn't refuse them with faces 
like that. He took them in his car to the station and they arrived at 
about 11 o clock. "Charles" he called as he entered through the 
unlocked door. But he got no answer. He took them to the cells but the 
body was gone. "Where is she?" cried Mrs Hendry, "yes what's going on 
here?" asked a very distraught Mr Hendry. "I'm very sorry" apologised 
James "i had better ask the chief about it". He brought them to 
Charles's office and stopped when he noticed that the lights were still 
on. He drew his gun for the first time on the job and warned the 
frightened couple to stay put. He opened the door slowly and looked 
inside. "Oh Jesus Christ no" he gasped. The office was covered in the 
blood of his boss. It was all over the desk and floor but there was no 
sign of the body. James fell to his knees and vomited. Mrs Hendry 
becoming hysterical rushed into the room and screamed at the sight of 
the blood. James was trying to tell her to get out when she fainted. 

Mrs Henry eventually regained consciousness and after a few glasses of
brandy she had calmed down sufficiently. He took them home and left 
them with the promise that the monster that did this would be caught 
and that they would be notified straight away when it happened. He 
drove back to the station and began the very morbid job of cleaning his 
boss and friend's blood off the floor. "He always said I'd get this 
office over his dead body" he wept with tears of remorse and hurt in 
his eyes as he scrubbed the carpet. About five minutes later the phone 
rang. "What is it" he answered impatiently. Then his eyes popped wide 
open. "George's grave has been dug up, what the fuck is going on around 
here?” 

He got to the cemetery about twenty minutes later and met the grounds
keeper at the front gate. James placed "do not cross" tape around the 
entrance and then asked the man to show him the disturbed grave. 
"That's fucking disturbed all right" he snarled angrily as he looked 
down into it. It had been totally unearthed. Jack's spade was visible 
nearby next to the mound of dirt. "He dug that by himself?" James asked 
in astonishment. "Yup, must have" replied the grounds man. Jack had dug 
into the whole six feet of earth and then cracked open the coffin with 
the spade and dragged the body of his son out. "So the dead girls body 
is missing, Charles's body is missing and now George's body is missing, 
what does he plan to do with them?" growled a frustrated James. The old 
man just stared into the grave saying nothing. Something then caught 
James's eye. "What date is it today, isn't it the twenty fifth?" he 
asked the old man. "Yup the twenty fifth". "Look at the head stone man, 
George Peterson born 17th of April 1986, died 25th of October 1999". 
"Don't you see, it's his one year anniversary today". "So what does it 
mean" the old man asked confused. "I don't know" replied James, "but it 
does mean something". With that he left the old man standing over the 
open grave and scratching his baldhead in bewilderment. "Something's 
very wrong here" he spoke but there was no-one to hear him. 

James got back into his car, put his hands over his face and cried for
the first time in years. Things were getting way out of control. "What 
is he going to do to us?" he sighed with desperation. "When is he going 
to stop?". There was going to be a widespread panic when word got round 
of Jacks return, (if it hadn't got round already) and they would be 
looking for James's head now that Charles was gone. He was in charge 
now and he was alone. "What would you do chief?" he cried "what would 
you do now?". With the tears streaming down his face he placed his head 
on the steering wheel and actually went to sleep. But it was a troubled 
sleep filled with horrid images and screaming. When he woke the first 
thing he noticed was that the sun would be going down very soon. He 
looked at his watch, it was 7.25. "Jesus Christ" he exclaimed, I've 
been asleep for the whole day". But his head felt clearer now and he 
knew what he had to do. He checked his gun to make sure it was loaded. 

"I think i did you a favour you heavy bastard" mumbled Jack as he
dragged the cops body through the forest. "Judging by your size it 
wouldn't have been too long before you died of a heart attack anyway". 
He dropped the body on the ground with a thud and sat down under a tree 
for a rest. It was 3.32 by his watch, "what a busy night" he puffed as 
he shone his flashlight around in the darkness. He had been here plenty 
of times before but only now did he realise what a spooky place this 
forest actually was, a really spooky place. He got to his feet with a 
tired sigh, lifted the body with a groan and got him on his back with 
some trouble in a piggy back style. "Lets get moving buddy because the 
sooner we get you to the where we want to go the sooner i can get some 
fucking sleep". With his flashlight leading the way and the dead cop on 
his back he trudged on through the dark, dark forest. 

After his wife had gone to sleep on the couch due to the tablets he had
put in her tea, Mr Hendry went down to his cellar opened a very dusty 
wooden box and lifted his hunting rifle out carefully. He stayed 
looking at it for some time. The bastard who killed his daughter wasn't 
going to get away with it, not if he had anything to say about it. It 
was time to take matters into his own hands, literally. It was 7.15 by 
the clock down here, which he guessed was pretty accurate. "I've got a 
damn good idea of where to find you, you son of a bitch,” he said to 
himself as he ran up the stairs. 

"It's so nearly complete now" said Jack with tears in his eyes as he
worked. In just a short time all his work and waiting were going to pay 
off. As he circled the clearing with the heavy barrel in his arms 
letting the precious clear liquid fall to the dirty ground he was 
practically bursting with anticipation. He looked up at the sky and saw 
to his delight that the sun was going down fast. "Excellent" he smiled. 


James skidded his car to a halt close by Jacks old house. As he got out
he looked at the house as if for the first time. It looked as if it 
knew something that he didn't and would go to the grave without telling 
him. He never noticed how sinister it looked before. He thought he 
heard a gunshot come from the forest but he wasn't sure. "Just my 
imagination" he said to himself and shook his head, he was going to 
need all his concentration if he was going to survive the night. He 
pulled his gun out of his holster, clicked the safety off, took a deep 
breath and ran into the forest. 

Mr Hendry entered the forest about five minutes before James. It was his
first time being in there but he knew if he entered it from the Maple 
Lawn side and kept going straight he would find the place eventually. 
It was beginning to get dark now and he was wishing he had brought a 
flashlight when a bird suddenly flew in front of him startling him, 
with a cry of fright he pulled the trigger on his rifle as he fell 
backwards and with the loud noise of the shot sent many more birds 
flying around him. He fell to the ground clutching his chest "Jesus" he 
panted repeatedly. 

James was making good progress into the forest when he slipped on a
fallen branch and came down hard with a cry a pain. His ankle was hurt 
quite badly, sprained at the least and possibly broken judging by the 
pain. He tried to get up and carry on but the pain was too bad. "Damn 
it" he roared in desperation. He was just making another attempt to get 
moving when a piercing scream shattered the silence of the forest and 
sent a chill through James's body. He had never heard anything so 
utterly terrifying before. It appeared to have come from the clearing. 
Getting to his feet ignoring the throbbing pain in his ankle he hobbled 
forward using the branch he had fallen on as a crutch. 

Mr Hendry could see the edge of the clearing; he stopped moving and made
sure that he had bullets left. Having done this he walked through the 
last bunch of trees with his gun raised. Nothing could have prepared 
him for what he saw. He screamed with all his might. The dead and badly 
decomposed body of a boy lay inside a circle of twigs under a tree in 
the center. But that wasn't the worst. His daughter and the missing cop 
were strung up on two make shift crosses. Their skin and been cut off 
giving them a hideous inside out look and their clothes lay in a bundle 
beneath their feet. "Dear God no" he cried as he ran to his daughters 
cross. Her eyes had also been ripped out. Mr Hendry fell to his knees 
with overwhelming grief. "She used to laugh and play" he was screaming 
through the tears. He didn't hear Jack sneaking up behind him. 

James heard another scream now as he neared the clearing. The first one
had been of fear but this one had definitely been of pain. "What the 
fuck is going on up there?" he asked himself, as he slowly made his way 
forward. 

After Jack had killed the crying man he knew it was time to get started.
He took a lighter out of his pocket and lit the long trail of gasoline, 
which he had spread around earlier. "Burn" he shouted, "burn and let 
the fire cleanse my sins". The fire took hold with alarming speed and 
the whole clearing was blazing with flames in a few minutes. He cut 
deep slits into his arms with his knife and collapsed on the ground 
with a sigh next to his son. The flames were getting closer by the 
second. "We're free George, free at last". He began to laugh as the 
fire took hold of them. 

James couldn't believe the speed with which the fire grew. One minute he
saw a small trickle of red in the trees about twenty feet in front of 
him and the next minute the fire was raging all around him scorching 
his skin. He dropped the branch he was leaning on and forgetting the 
pain ran for his life back through the smoking forest. At first he 
thought he wouldn't make it but after a while he realised that he was 
outrunning the blaze  and then he stopped. He could hear something else 
besides the roar of the fire. Deep within the forest someone was 
laughing that he was sure of and it might just have been his 
imagination but he also thought he heard a child laughing too. The 
blood drained from his body and he ran for all he was worth to get away 
from the burning fire and the hellish laughter. 

THE END 

Richard J Cobain 


Tweet