5
October 7th – 8:30 AM
The streets sat damp, collecting wet leaves in the gutters. The air was cool and the sun hid behind the gray clouds, casting a delicate purple hue over the town.
A flock of birds screamed through the sky over the Becker’s farm. Aiden Becker was out in his front yard, raking up a pile of wet leaves.
The wind began to pick up slightly, injecting a chill into the air. Aiden flipped up the hood on his sweatshirt and covered his head. The front door to his home opened, and Brandon came walking out with his car keys in hand. He zipped up his jacket and walked down the sidewalk to his car.
“Brandon! Where are you going?” Aiden asked, laying the rake down on the grass.
“I just have to run into town for a bit.” Brandon seemed to be in a hurry.
“For what?”
“Look, I’ll be back in a little bit, alright?”
Brandon opened the car door, got in, and started the engine.
“Brandon!” Aiden yelled, rushing to the cars side. His brother looked up at him. “Why are you sneaking around? I mean, you leave at strange hours, you don’t come back for hours at a time, and you lied to the police about where you were when Carly was…”
“Stop, Aiden!” Brandon said, shutting the car door. Aiden knocked on the window, and Brandon rolled it down. “What?”
“What’s going on with you?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I’m your brother, man. You can talk to me. Did you…”
Brandon waited for his brother to finish the question, but he never did. “I’ll see you later.”
Brandon rolled up the window and sped off down the driveway, kicking up dirt. Aiden stood in the dusty cloud, watching his brother drive away.
11:00 AM
Ashley Penner drove up to the community center and parked her yellow Beetle it in the lot. She grabbed her purse and walked by a couple of idle police cars and into the building.
Bruce Slater stood in the hallway talking to a couple of officers. Ashley smiled at him as she made her way into the office.
Kristen and Laura were in the office - each sitting at their own desk. Kristen was on her cell phone speaking quietly. Laura stood up from her desk as Ashley made her way in. There were four carved pumpkins on her desk, creatively carved. An empty spot in the center split the four pumpkins into pairs of two.
“Hey, Ash. Where’s Mark?” Laura asked.
“He’ll be here.”
Laura handed her a folder. Ashley opened it and looked at the papers. “What’s this?” She asked.
“It’s the permit to begin erecting the booths and stands in the fairgrounds for the festival,” Laura said. “Since Carly is no longer with us, that puts you in charge. You need to sign the bottom so I can run this to the Mayor’s office today.”
“You got it.” Ashley grabbed a pen and happily signed her name. “When can they start building?”
“Today, if the Mayor approves. If they start today, it would only take until the end of the week to complete. Then we can bring in the decorators and assign booths.”
“Good deal,” Ashley said closing the folder and handing it back to Laura.
Bruce graced the office with his presence. “Alright, ladies, listen up.”
Kristen hung up her cell phone instantly, trying not to get caught at work.
“I just got done speaking with the police. There is no current threat to delay the festival, so that’s a plus. I’d hate to lose the festival for this year. People look forward to it,” Bruce explained. “With the recent tragic events, I would like to give the town a great festival this year. We have to remind them what Stewart Hollow is all about and known for. Maybe we can take their minds off of the murders for a bit.”
“You just want us to forget about the murders?” Laura asked, shocked at what she had just heard. “Ms. Cook worked here for over 10 years, and Carly was the sole creator of the festival. How can we just ‘take our minds off it’?”
“I didn’t mean for it sound like that, Laura. What better way to honor the deceased than with a great festival.”
Still in disagreement, Laura stood back and crossed her arms.
“Ashley, did you sign the permit?” Bruce asked.
“Yes.”
“Then Laura, would you please take it to the Mayor and get the approval. I want to start the construction immediately,” Bruce said, clapping his hands together once before leaving the room.
11:16 AM
The costume store was busy again. Kids were running around, and parents were trying to catch them. Brady stood behind the counter with his phone out, texting. His boss came around the corner of one of the isles, holding a pile of plastic masks. He slammed them down on the counter, catching Brady off guard. He slid his phone back into his pocket.
“Texting? Really, Brady?” he said with a lifted brow.
“Sorry, John. I was just…”
John Blankenship interrupted him, “You know what, I really don’t want to know. The less I know about my employee’s personal lives, the better. Look, can you check some prices on these items for me? All the stickers keep getting ripped off by these stupid kids.”
“Sure thing,” Brady said, starting to sort through the masks.
“Any big plans for Halloween?” John asked. He acted like the typical ‘cool’ boss, trying to be more of a friend to his employee’s than an actual supervising figure.
“Besides the festival? Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure we’ll find our way to Ruins Avenue.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s a house on Ruins Avenue – they say it’s haunted. It sounds pretty cool actually.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“This guy I know told me about it. I guess he use to go all the time with his brother through high school.”
“Well,” John laughed, “have fun with that.”
Brady chuckled and John walked away back down a crowded isle. At the other end of the isle, Brandon Becker stood. He was holding a package of Halloween decorations, but kept looking up at Brady. He’d stare at him then would look back down at the decorations. He did this for a few minutes, until a small line of people began to form at the counter. He put down the package, and left the store.
October 8th – 9:00 AM
The fairgrounds next to the community center were crowded. Pick up trucks were scattered everywhere with people unloading wood, banners and pieces of the booths. Construction had begun on the festivals home turf.
Bruce Slater was walking through the fairgrounds with Ashley and Mark by his side. He had a clipboard that he was jotting notes down on, picking apart everything he was seeing wrong.
“Ashley, do all of the festival volunteers know their jobs? I want to make sure they all know. Maybe we’ll have them come in for another orientation next week or something.” Bruce spoke, only half paying attention to what he was saying.
“I am pretty sure everyone knows, Bruce,” Ashley said, humoring him, and making a funny face at Mark at the same time.
“Well, send out a memo or something. Call them all to double check, will you?”
“I will do that.”
“Hey! No, no! I want the cider stands to all be next to each other! People shouldn’t have to go all over the place to get a freaking drink! Amateurs!” Bruce was yelling as he rushed off to a couple volunteers who were moving an apple cider stand.
Mark put his arm around Ashley’s shoulder. “Uh, I’m not sure, but I think Bruce might be a little too obsessed with this festival.”
“Oh, you are correct, sir,” she said.
“You don’t have to send me a memo. I already know my job.”
“Ice cream vendor is hardly a job, Mark. Switch with Brady or something. Do something different for change.”
“What does Brady have?”
“He’s suppose to dress up like a scarecrow and walk around, entertaining the kids.”
“Um, I’ll pass. I’d rather make kids happy with ice cream, than scare them to death.”
The two joked around until Bruce came back over.
“Uh-oh, party’s over,” Mark said, removing his hand from Ashley’s shoulder.
2:50 PM
Sheriff Carter pulled his cruiser up in front of the police station. He walked in and was met by a young officer.
“Sheriff.” The officer greeted him. He was fairly new, and Carter didn’t know all of the rookies by name yet.
“Yes, officer…”
“Dart. Jamie Dart,” the young man said, stuttering just a bit.
“What can I do for you, Jamie Dart?”
“Well, I have a theory I’d like to run by you.”
“About the murders?”
“Yes, sir.”
Carter nodded, and decided to give him a chance. “Come to my office.”
Carter sat behind the desk in his officer, and Dart sat across from him.
“You’ve been here about two month now, right?” Carter asked.
“Yes, sir,” Dart replied.
“What kind of work have they had you doing?”
“Mainly file work. I’m not getting much experience in the field, but I guess that’ll come in time.”
“It sure will. Have you been on patrol yet?”
“Once, back in September. I wish it were more often though. I’m always looking for that opportunity – that first big break, you know?”
“I know. We’ve all been there. So, what was your theory?”
Dart sat up in his chair. “Well, I was looking into the murders a little bit, trying to find a connection between Carly Simmons and Eleanor Cook.”
“What did you find?” Carter asked, giving Dart his moment.
“Well, the only obvious connection is they both work for the community center. They weren’t in the same group of peers – except for fellow employees. I’m talking about out of work. Carly was in her twenties and had her friends. Ms. Cook was elderly with no immediate family in the area. She kept to herself mostly.”
Carter was all ears and interested.
“So putting all of that aside, this is what caught my attention. The autopsy reports indicated that the victims possibly put up a struggle, right?”
“Yes, the coroners report mentioned maybe a slight struggle,” Carter said.
“The two deceased were female. One was young and lean, and the other was old and weak. That means very easy targets for a male killer – no struggle. He would have been able to come in and claim his victims with no problem.”
Carter was paying close attention.
“However, at the same time, the chosen victim’s would have been an even match for a female killer. Maybe someone roughly the same size, same build, the same weight. There might have been a slight struggle, as the report indicated.” Dart sat back. “What do you think, Sheriff?”
Carter pondered it for a moment. “It’s interesting for sure. A female killer.” He stood up. “Are you ready for an assignment?”
Dart stood to his feet.
“We don’t have much to go on right now. No clues, no suspects. We haven’t even made an arrest yet. We need to make the public feel safe and make it look like we’re making progress. Why don’t you go to the community center and interview the women who work there. It might end up leading to nothing, but at the same time, we may be able to grab something, anything from it.”
“You got it, Sheriff.” Dart excitedly said. He saluted Carter and left the office. Carter smiled and shook his head.
9:55 PM
Stewart Hollow sat in the night. With a cool and quiet wind blowing down Main Street, and crying cats in the alleys, the last costumer walked out of the North Hollow general store.
Inside, most of the lights had been turned off. Brady was counting the cash in the register. John walked by the counter, putting his jacket on.
“It’s getting colder out there. You have jacket, right?” John asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Brady responded.
“Alright, Brady, make sure you lock the front and back doors when you leave. Don’t make it too much longer, though, I set the alarm for a little after ten.”
“You’re leaving already?” Brady asked.
“Yeah. I can’t keep my girl waiting,” John winked at him. “I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”
“Yeah,” Brady blushed.
“You don’t want to make them mad.” John walked for the door. “You’ll be here in the morning, right?”
“Yeah, but I have to stop by the community center first. I’m working the festival this year, so I have to get all my information.”
“What is your job anyway?”
“Don’t ask. I have to dress up as a scarecrow.” Brady was obviously embarrassed by his specific involvement in the festival.
“You’re the mascot?” John laughed. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
John left and the store was dead quiet. Brady looked around at all of the scary masks and costumes staring back at him in the dimly lit store. He looked back down and finished counting the money.
Brady stepped outside and leaned against the wall. He lit up a cigarette, inhaled deep, and let the smoke ease back out of his mouth and into the night. He heard footsteps coming from his right. He turned, and underneath the streetlights, Brandon Becker emerged. He leaned up against the wall with Brady.
“I thought you would have come by today,” Brady said, taking another puff.
“I was with Aiden all day. I came by yesterday, but you were busy,” Brandon responded.
“I haven’t seen much of you.”
“Well, I’ve been kind of confused.”
Brady turned and faced Brandon. “You haven’t told Aiden yet, have you? “
“I haven’t told anyone.”
“I don’t think this can work then.”
Brandon looked at Brady with a sense of shame.
“Do you like me? Or do you not like me?” Brady asked firmly.
“Brady, this whole thing is new to me. I had a crush on Carly for almost seven years. Then you came, and…”
“You’re ashamed of yourself, aren’t you?”
“You must be too! You haven’t told any of your friends or family.”
Brady turned and faced forward, putting the cigarette back into his mouth.
“You just have to let me get to that point on my own. That is, if I ever even get there.”
Brady blew out more smoke and turned back to Brandon once again. “I hope you do.”
Brandon leaned in and kissed Brady.
Across the street, hidden in the dark shadows on an alley, Aiden stood. He watched in shock as his older brother, the guy he had looked up to all his life, kissed another man. Brandon’s secret life was starting to unfold. Aiden hung his head, disappointed and appalled.
The deep clearing of a man’s throat caught Aiden’s attention. He lifted his head quickly, glancing around to see if someone saw him standing there. There was nobody. He leaned out of the alley and noticed a dark figure sitting on a sidewalk bench about ten yards away. The figure sat with one leg resting on the other. He seemed to be watching Brandon and Brady. The man cleared his throat again, and Aiden cowered back into the alley.
The figure sitting on the bench turned and looked at the dark alley, but saw no one. He then faced forward again, watching Brandon and Brady.