Kincaid only saw the whites of the creep’s eyes moving in the darkness toward the foot of his bed. His own eyes took time to adjust as he tried to move, to do anything – even reach for his gun as the creep lifted the blanket revealing his feet.
In the morning, he would tell himself it was a dream. Surely, he had not seen the creep cut open his foot carefully removing each bone. How could he, even from the angle, it would’ve been awkward to see what the creep had been doing. Besides, there had been no pain. The morning revealed no scar. Nor had there been any blood on the sheets or the floor. It had to be a dream. At least, that’s what Kincaid told himself.
The creep, finishing the first foot, moved to the other. Anger turned into sadness as the creep began to replace each bone with something else. The dreaded helplessness filled his heart as his head lulled back waiting for the morning sun to make the night go away.
“You creep! I bet you ran background on her, didn’t you?”
Kincaid lifted his hands in front of him, “No, not this time.”
The radio squawked in their cruiser at a code which sounded like ‘582’. They both paused, Kincaid slowly reaching for it when someone else responded and he let his hand drop.
“Nothin’ big happens Thursday.” Tee, his partner, said in his thick creole accent as he leaned his head back and looked up at the roof of the car. “When’s da date?”
“Friday.”
“’Morrow? After quittin’ time?”
“Yes.”
“She know you a cop?”
“Yes.” Kincaid said not appreciating the interrogation.
Partners were like brothers or at least they could be. He and Tee had been together longer than any duo in the department and that held some gravity. Tee had mentioned that it was Kincaid’s willingness to try and get along with anyone that had been the factor of them being together for so long.
“She know you might be late?”
“Yes mom. She’s a nurse. She knows what it’s like to not be able to get out on time.”
“Don’t give me that shit. We’ve been together long enough. Bein’ a cop isn’t for everyone – twice true for cop’s wife.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Kincaid said, his eyes following a boy walking alone with the hoodie up. He looked at the dash to see the temperature and thought, it could go either way. That’s how September felt sometimes. It was close to quitting time so it was close to school being out. His eyes followed the kid to see anything out of the ordinary. “I don’t want to marry her. I just want to….”
“You do.”
Kincaid turned away from the kid in the hoodie to look at Tee.
“You don’t know it. You love being in love.”
Those words drifted with Kincaid as he crawled into bed that night. The old maroon sweater tossed on the chair next to his gym clothes still gave off a musty odor from this evening’s workout. He worked out so he could eat whatever he wanted. Sweat on top of sweat, maybe it was time to do laundry.
He did love being in love. Not that he would admit it. He had spent his high school years writing poetry. Poetry seemed like a way to express his need for love, but not a way to get a woman. The week he threw away his Pablo Neruda was also the week he got his first date. Single women don’t want love poems.
He rolled over on his bed to his nightstand and looked at the printout. She was 25. A few years younger than him. That was ok. He didn’t want to be like Tee who was pushing forty on his third wife. She had no priors. Four addresses in the last 3 years. Might be something, might be nothing.
He thought about her smile. Head cocked to the side as she tapped his badge and asked if it were real. Women liked the uniform. If she had been a thug, she’d be eating pavement. The flirting was nice. The name texted before he watched her walk away.
The number brought to the cell phone company. Routine call. Last name found. Background printed. He crumpled up the paper. Good thing he remembered to look at it before bed. If things went well, he did not want her finding it.
Kincaid’s eyes opened to the creaking door to see the creep’s silhouette in the dark doorway. Kincaid tried to find something to get a feel for the creep’s height. Something for him to get his measure in the morning as the paralysis took hold. The creep seemed short, but never stood close to anything that Kincaid could get a full measure. His head looked large on the small, almost cartoonish body. As he walked quickly, purpose and knife in hand.
Kincaid’s mouth went dry. He felt it bob open probably looking like fish pulled out of the water about to be cleaned. His breathing became short bursts.
Stabbing into his ankle, the creep cut from ankle to thigh. Kincaid felt a fiery pain surge through him. His hands clenched but could not raise them into fists. Tears came.
In the morning, he would decide it was stress. As he turned the light on in the bedroom before leaving, just as before and when he had first gotten up, no blood and no scar. What had the creep done with his bones? What had he put into his legs?
His fingers rubbing his eyes closed. Stress, he told himself. Closing his eyes, not wanting to accept that someone might be drugging and torturing him, he saw the creep in his mind’s eye. The toothy grin as he moved from one leg to the other.
“Dis kills me wit dis job.” Tee said tapping two sugar packets.
“What? The kid asking you every day if you want donuts?” Kincaid smirked as Tee looked at him.
“Nah, man. isn’t dat. Let him have fun. It’s waitin’. We come here every day waitin’ for da call. We don’t get called when dings are good. Only when bad. It givin’ me anxiety brotha.”
“How long have you been doing this again?”
“Comin’ on 15 years dis November.”
“Yeah, what about trying to transfer departments or maybe another job?”
“Nah, I like dis most days.” The radio squawked and Tee picked it up, “We on it.”
Two miles up the road, Kincaid took a hard turn. The sirens were mute. Best not to make a scene as they pulled up to the house. They heard the yelling before they got to the front door. Tee went first, knocking hard on the door.
“Hello Officers.” The door opened.
Tee looked the man up and down before reaching for his gun. Kincaid caught just a glimpse as the man turned and ran away. His knuckles were covered in blood.
“I got him!” Kincaid shouted charging past Tee.
Kincaid flew out the backdoor and over the fence following the guy. His chest roared like an engine. He could see the man’s tactic, and it wasn’t a horrible one. The man was going to run around the block to his car. He felt his legs move faster and stronger than they ever had. Maybe that time of the treadmill was paying off.
Knocking into a kid on a bicycle, the man kept going. Even as the kid was halfway back on his feet, Kincaid easily jumped over both the kid and the bike. When Kincaid tackled the man, their cruiser was in sight. He heard sirens in the distance. He assumed it was for an ambulance as he yanked the man’s hands behind his back.
The man was out of breath, panting wildly, as Kincaid walked him to the cruiser. Kincaid smiled. He was careful not to say anything. Other cops would mumble threats or something nasty to the guy. That had never been Kincaid’s style. The smile was gone by the time he got within sight of the house.
He closed the back of the cruiser door as the ambulance pulled up. The paramedics ran up, but seeing Tee’s face in the door, he knew it was useless.
“Nice catch.” Tee said as he walked up to the front door.
Kincaid nodded.
“You know when you turn 30, you won’t be able do dat no more.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Seriously dude, I ain’t never seen nobody jump over a fence like dat. It was like you had robot legs or something.”
The line wouldn’t return to him until the next day or two. When he was quiet and thinking about the creep. He rubbed his face feeling tired. What was happening to him?
“I’m sorry the date didn’t work out.” Elen said as she smiled into her phone.
“It’s ok.” Kincaid said laying on his couch, looking into his phone. “Work happens. I’m a cop, I get it.”
They smiled at each other until a small awkwardness crept in.
“This was good.” Kincaid said finally, “I’m glad we still kind of got a date.”
“Yes.” She frowned. “I should get back.”
He could see the small foil in front of her where her sandwich had been. Smiling as she rose to throw away her trash, he watched her body, thinking it would’ve been nice to see it in person. She paused, only neck to hip visible, before leaning down. She blew a kiss before hanging up, “Text me.”
Walking around the house, he checked every window and door. Everything was locked. The house seemed quieter after the last hour of talking. He looked unconsciously for any sign of an intruder.
He crawled into bed thinking of laying flour on the floor so he might catch a footprint. Maybe that was silly. But by the time he thought he should just do it; he was already too far into sleep for action.
“I bet if I ate any of your cookin’, I’d get food poisonin’ too.” Tee said as he looked down at the radar detector. “At least, we don’t do this alone.”
“I didn’t cook for the department.”
“Yeah.” Tee laughed.
Kincaid rolled his eyes. Looking for speeders wasn’t exactly their beat. The potluck, which Kincaid had contributed a dish, had taken out the traffic enforcement department with a bad case of food poisoning. A local newstation got wind of it. Kincaid, Tee, and a few others were reassigned temporarily to keep the speeders at bay.
“I can cook.” Kincaid said after a minute.
“Sure, you can.” Tee said. “How dat nurse?”
“She’s good. We’ve had a few little meetings. Nothing big.”
“No big date. She’s stingin’ you along?”
“Nah, we’ve hadn’t been able to do a date date. We’re trying for this coming weekend.”
“Ha! Love happens or it doesn’t. It’s all in da timin’. Perfect timin’ – anyone can get together.”
“Who cooked the food that made everyone sick?” Elen laughed as they walked hand in hand through the mostly closed downtown area.
“I don’t have any idea. Most of them are back now, thankfully.”
“Sounds like a tough week.” Elen turned to Kincaid. They could hear music coming from the small brewery up the road. “I bet it was your dish”
“My dish?”
“What did you cook?”
“Salmon.”
“Salmon! Now I have no doubt, you made everyone sick!”
“What?”
Her eyes narrowed. She investigated his face. He leaned in for a kiss when she drew back. Her hands on both cheeks as she looked deeply into his face. “You didn’t make salmon.”
“What?”
“No. Nothing so fancy.”
“I’m insulted.”
“No, you’re not.” She smiled.
“Then what did I bring.”
“You’re not exactly a chef.”
“No. I’d like to be.”
“You’d like to be?”
“Yes, sure. Why not?”
“You brought something simple.”
“Simple?”
“I’ve seen what you eat for dinner.”
“And?” Kincaid laughed.
“Probably a dessert. Something store bought.”
“I am appalled….” He said before smiling and nodded, “At how insightful you are.”
In the darkness, he lay awake listening to her gentle breathing. When he thought of it, he began to watch the door. It wasn’t that he had forgotten the creep. He simply had accepted it as a dream. No proof. No evidence. He was a cop. He worked scenes that investigators painstakingly searched. There just wasn’t any to find. No scar. No blood. There wasn’t even blood when the creep cut him open.
He heard the door creek. Turning his head to look, he saw nothing. But in the hollow doorway, he could feel the creep watching. But only that. Maybe Elen was a way to keep him safe. Or maybe she was in danger too.
Research for a cop is different. You have more access. Sometimes it’s a matter of the right words being strung together. Less obstacles to jump through. Different programs designed to put you on the right path.
Kincaid waited for Elen to stir. As he leaned over to kiss her, he flexed his hand, he wondered why it felt different. He paused mid-embrace to look at his hand before turning and looking at the empty open doorway.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He said as he looked for a scar.
She rose slowly and while he busied himself getting ready two hours early in the dark, she would pause and embrace him. Finally, he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back.
“What?”
“I need to go.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry. I just…”
“You’re fine.”
“I can’t wait to see you again.” He studied her face hoping she felt the same.
The department was busier than he had expected. The overnight shift wrapping up loose ends so they could leave on time. People waiting to punch out.
Kincaid thankfully found his desk unoccupied. The shared desk system was easy with separate shifts unless you came in early. He tapped on the keyboard turning on the screen before looking to see if anyone was paying attention.
The Wit App was relatively new. Kincaid had found it useful in the few times where he needed a picture to match the witness’s description. Bringing the witness into the station and following the prompts helped suspects get established.
He typed in the initial boxes with fake information. Fake witness address and name and number. Then he entered in the approximate height which wasn’t a horrible guess considering he was horizontal when he saw the creep. Then he typed in the body build before selecting one that would politely be called Big Bang Theory casting requirements. Except maybe the creep was thinner? Big head. Wide eyes. Small body. Was that right?
It wasn’t perfect. But he considered it was close. He thought about making the teeth look sharper. Was that real? Were the creep’s teeth sharp or was his mind just making them sharp?
“Hey bub, what are you doing in this early?”
“Someone has to do real police work around here instead of sleeping all night.” Kincaid said before turning around.
“How you doin’, Kincaid.” Josh waited for Kincaid to stand and give up the desk.
“Good, Josh.” Kincaid turned back to the computer.
“Making a sketch of one of the Roswell aliens!”
“Alright, well, I’ll see you later.” He could feel Josh pause, staring before relenting and turning around. Kincaid stared at the image. It did look like one of those old alien pictures. Was the picture accurate?
Kincaid typed a few notes in the margins of his sketch. Things about the teeth and the eyes that he didn’t want to forget. Then he right clicked, copying the image before pulling up the mugshot database to paste it in.
The circle began to form as the computer took the image of the creep and tried matching it. Kincaid leaned back in the chair looking over his shoulder. He didn’t see anyone. He thought to go get a cup of coffee, but decided it was best to not leave the computer. Josh had made him paranoid.
He pulled his phone out and played the same bubble popping game he had been playing for years. When the circle disappeared and a box appeared saying, “NO MATCHES FOUND”.
“I can’t believe you’re dragging me into this.” Kincaid said giving Elen a little nudge.
“You’ll love it.”
He smiled instead of asking outright how she would know. It was best not to argue. Just accept. As they walked through the double doors, the room felt more like a science laboratory. Each station appeared to have an oven and a fridge with cooking utensils.
“Anywhere that’s open.” The woman in front of the class said.
Elen and Kincaid found a station and talked while other people began filling in.
“Good evening, because of the holiday season upon us, tonight we’re going to learn how to cook a turkey. This is usually done once or twice a year, but it can be fun to do anytime and have leftovers for a week if you’re especially busy. Now, there’s a lot of good ways to season the turkey or brine it overnight before you cook, but we’re going to do the quick and easy way. We’ll also make a few sides while the turkey cooks.”
“I just go to my mom’s for thanksgiving.” Kincaid whispered.
Elen jabbed him with her elbow.
“Okay, so first we begin to prep the turkey. This is more than just seasoning, but we need to spread the legs open and begin to pull out any gizzards and….”
“What’s a gizzard?” Someone asked.
“It’s basically the turkey belly. You can eat them if you want, but most people just throw them away. There might also be giblets in a package in the turkey that we can use to make gravy. We need to pull it out first before we can prepare the turkey for cooking.”
Elen grabbed the turkey’s legs and pulled them apart. There was a large crack as she did it and Kincaid felt his stomach catch in his throat. He watched as she reached into the turkey. Flashes of the creep rushed his mind as Elen carefully pulled out the gizzard and found a small semi-frozen bag of giblets.
Pull them out to prepare the turkey for eating, Kincaid thought. Kincaid looked down at his legs and then his hands. Pull out what you don’t want so that what goes in is for cooking.
“When da last time you hit the gym?” Tee asked poking Kincaid’s belly.
“Uh, I’ve been putting it off lately.”
“Busy wit da lady?”
Kincaid smiled, but truth be told, he didn’t know why he hadn’t been hitting the gym.
“You don’t want to hear dis, but babies and cats get fat when happy. We no different. After thurty, the fat harder to lose.”
“Thanks partner.”
When Kincaid’s eyes opened, he saw the creep’s smile showing all his teeth. Kincaid couldn’t move. A brief reflective flash that he knew instinctively was a knife as the blanket was pulled back and Kincaid’s arm jerked forward.
Kincaid felt disconnected as the creep worked. He wanted to cry out, but felt a tired resignation, hearing a crack that sounded just the turkey had the week before. He met the creep’s eyes more than once. Seeing the glee, he closed his own unable to bare the sight.
When the creep was finished removing all his bones, what would happen next?
By morning, the feeling of dread had dissipated but not completely. He should tell somebody. If only because what if it wasn’t crazy. If he told Tee or any other cop, it would just lead to either more questions or someone looking at him like he was crazy. Nor would his family be a good outlet. His mother, half-crazy in a nursing home, was the only one who would’ve believed him. But even then, believe what?
He admitted to himself after thinking through people in the medical field that he was just eliminating everyone but Elen. He pulled out his phone and texted her.
LUNCH?
SURE, TIME?
WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU.
LIKE HOSPITAL FOOD? NOON?
C U THEN
“What are you saying? Is this a dream or do you think this is really happening?”
“I…” Kincaid looked down at the half-eaten hamburger. “These hamburgers are pretty good. Maybe I should grab a few for dinner.”
“Just because they’re hospital food doesn’t mean they’re healthy.”
“But it’s food in a hospital. Shouldn’t it…”
“You’re avoiding my question.” Elen, her no nonsense nurse demeanor coming out, placed her hand on Kincaid’s.
“I feel like it’s real, but I know it doesn’t make sense.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Sure. I know that. There’s no physical evidence. There’s no proof.”
“Why haven’t you done more like set up a camera or what did you say you thought about doing? Flour on the floor?”
“He doesn’t come regularly. It’s not like, he’s there every night.”
“But he’s there often enough?”
“Maybe I’m afraid of what that might mean if I do set up something for proof.”
“What….” Elen paused as the words came out slowly, “What do you think it might mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s easy to lie to yourself.”
“Than what?” Kincaid snapped. “Either I’m lying to myself or I’m crazy!”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Maybe this was a mistake.” He took the printout of the sketch that he had handed her before folding it back into his pocket. “Maybe it’s just stress or…” He started to rise when she reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Why not come by tomorrow afternoon and I can see about giving you an x-ray?”
“I…?”
“I’ve seen them done a thousand times. I know what to do and I’ve seen enough x-rays to be able to tell is something if wrong. We’ll just look at your legs.”
Kincaid looked down feeling grateful but strangely more afraid. “I’m sorry I raised my voice.”
“You’ll do it?” She held his hand. “You came to me. Not your partner or anyone else. Let me help.”
“Okay.”
Had he felt time pressing or was it the creep? Again, he thought of the turkey as his chest cavity lay exposed. The creep dutifully leaning over him working. The horrible part, as a tear rolled down his cheek, was the sound as the creep bent over him working.
Tee leaned against the cruiser watching as Kincaid walked up from the convenience store. Kincaid, holding a bag of food, turned his head to see what Tee was nodding towards. Leaning against the side of the building, a kid had his hoodie up blocking his face.
“What?”
“Don’t know. Got a feelin’.”
Kincaid walked up to the kid. No hesitation and didn’t even look to see if Tee followed. The kid tucked his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. Whatever the kid had, was in his hoodie.
“How ya doin’?” Kincaid asked.
“I didn’t do nothin’.” The kid said crossing his arms in defiance.
“What do you have in your pocket?”
“I don’t have to show you shit!” The kid said.
The back of Kincaid’s hand made an echo as it bounced across the kid’s face knocking the hood off. The kid slowly pulled out a lighter. Kincaid grabbed it then grabbed the back of the kid’s hoodie and tossed the kid forward onto his stomach. The kid scrambled to get up when Kincaid started to shout, “What else….?”
“You okay, pa’tner?” Tee’s deep and calming voice seemed to put Kincaid at ease.
“Yeah.”
The kid turned around and looked at them. “Watchu still doin’ here?” Tee said. As the kid started running, Tee turned to Kincaid, “What was dat about?”
“You had a feeling.”
“No. You’ve never done nothin’ like dat.”
“Kid needed a lesson.”
“I lost my temper today over nothing.”
Elen paused and looked at Kincaid laying on a hospital table. Her lips pursed together of all the things she could or maybe should say. In truth, her initial reservations about him were wrong. She was happy she had stuck it out. Maybe he’s just stressed. He wasn’t the slob she saw on those first video chats where she could see the dirty clothes and unhealthy food.
“What do you see?” He asked finally as she stared blankly at the x-ray on the screen.
Her eyes clicked back into focus.
“What?”
She looked the x-ray up and down. “I… I’m not a doctor. I just…”
“What?”
“I don’t really see anything that looks out of the ordinary.”
Kincaid’s shoulders slumped. Was it good that there was no proof? He was changing. He felt it. Maybe he was being prepared like a turkey. When the creep was finished, what then?
“So, it’s all in my head.” He said finally.
Elen’s finger touched part of the xray. A part of the bone that glowed a little brighter than the others. Nothing substantial. Nothing that meant she should say anything. After all, it was crazy talk. This was to try and calm him down.
“Kin, I think you’re okay. Stress does strange things to the body. Sometimes we don’t really know how or why, it just is. The mind is powerful. It might be good to get, I don’t know, some meds to help you take it easy a little. Something to help with the stress. Especially with Christmas around the corner, maybe it’s good to take the edge off a little.”
“What about a bone biopsy?”
Elen couldn’t help the laugh and instantly regretted it. “I think that’s a little excessive. Maybe try working through your stress first. I know you said you exercise, how’s that going?”
The word ‘excessive’ echoed as he walked down the basement steps into his makeshift gym. The poster on the wall, Rocky Boaboa with his arms lifted in victory perched in front of his treadmill. He touched the treadmill seeing a small layer of dust. He wiped it off before going upstairs and closing the door.
Wiping a few beads of sweat from his head, he rose and saw the thermostat was set to 74. Maybe he was coming down with something. He took off his shirt feeling his body begin to burn up.
He went to toss the shirt of the floor when he paused and put it in the hamper. He crawled into bed. Fevers create hallucinations, he reminded himself. Knowing that he was just as likely to hallucinate the creep as much as anything else.
He grabbed his phone to call Elen. She’s a nurse, maybe she can…. His thoughts trailed off. ‘Excessive’ she had said and laughed. Besides, feeling his body burning up even more, he probably caught something at the hospital.
As he laid his head back on the pillow, beads of sweat began to soak it. He took a deep breath feeling the exhaustion hit. Holding his phone, his hands shook as the door opened.
The creep walked slowly into the room. Kincaid tried to move, just to call someone, anyone. His hands trembled before going still. The creep bent over him smelling before opening his mouth to bite into Kincaid’s arm. The teeth grazing the phone case causing it to crack as it fell to the floor.
Kincaid’s mouth opened wide to let out a muted scream as the creep grinned his bloodied smile walking to the foot of the bed. Kincaid shook as he tried to remember his training. He was going to go into shock soon. He had to act. He had to do something. The creep paused at the foot of the bed. Their eyes locked. Kincaid felt the first bite and his eyes rolled up to stare at the ceiling.
Tee lit a cigarette waiting by the cruiser. Kincaid was always on time. At least except for the past few weeks. When he finally rounded the corner, Tee flicked the cigarette on the ground.
“I tried to call you.” Tee said as Kincaid walked up.
Kincaid pulled out his phone. Part of the case was cracked. He shrugged, “Didn’t see it.”
Kincaid nodded as he got into the passenger seat.
Tee walked around to the driver’s side. “I guess I drive t’day.”
“Let’s go.”
Kris Green lives in Florida with his wife, two-year old son, and new baby daughter. His first story was published in 2018 through Morpheus Tales. In the last two years, he has published ten short stories and two poems.