RAP-A-TAP-TAP!


I smack my hand against the solid wood door. I won't risk touching that god awful knocker they request everyone to use. The thing is, I think I am the only one who visits this house after Aunt Jillian passed.


The door whines with a high moan. I see silver peer through the hazily dim-lit house. I see Jims face come out with his soft pale face peering into the light, which seems to always bother him at first.


"The Marie's and Mrs. Song gave me a bonus and the day off!" I smile.


"WHO THE FUCK IS AT OUR DOOR JIM?!" I hear my Uncle, Tom, screaming like a drunk at him.


"It's just Hodge, Dad!" He replies.


"WELL THEN GET THE FUCK OUT FOR A WHILE!" Tom yells at him.


He just comes out in his runners, jeans and a very hole-filled white t-shirt. Again, something my Aunt took care of for Jim. To boot, Uncle Tom drinks a lot. So, I figure he can use a good time out of the house. I smile as he closes the door and then laughs.


"Beats being home with you, asshole." Jim says laughing.


"Fair enough." I say.


"Hodge, I can't even say everything. But, he's getting worse."


"What do you mean?" I ask him.


"Well, he's not only shouting anymore.." He says quietly as we begin to make our way towards the down-town mall.


"Shit, what you mean?"


"Hey guys!" I hear a farmiliar girl call to us.


I turn to see Chreston, a mid-sized girl with some really wavy blonde hair. She always has her brothers watching over her somewhere. Most of the town believes that her family owns the local mob. I honestly can't imagine the adults being that way, they seem too nice.


"What's up Chress?" Jim asks.


He only ever called her Chress because he couldn't pronounce Chreston as a kid. I mean, it is a unique name. According to my Dad, her dad insisted on that name since they even were back in highschool, way before Chreston's Mom ever met her dad.


"Not much, saw ya'll, figured I'd see what yer up to?" She announces.


"We are going downtown." I say, slipping the yellow envelope into my pocket.


"Well, have fun. I'm meeting my brothers at the diner for lunch." She says.


Honestly her voice is so fake and aggravating I can't stand waiting for this conversation to end. What for most would feel like moments, feel like an eternity of torture for me. It's not that she has any bad things about her in particular, although I will admit that her voice, is like nails on a chalkboard.


"Well, enjoy then." Jim says.


By the time he turns to face me I have already begun walking again. He snickers. I can't help it, her voice is just sheer torture to hear. I swing into the trails. I know they say kids our age shouldn't use them, but how else would they get around in a hurry? I mean, the bus takes three hours when I could walk it in one. It's just not worth paying for, personally.


"So, as you were saying, Jim?" I ask.


"Right..." He sighs. "So, he started throwing stuff after I go to my room."


"Freaky."


"That's not all though Hodge." Jim says. "He's not yelling at me as much now.."


"That's a good thing right?" I ask.


"Normally, I would agree... But... he's been yelling at my mom... like she is standing in front of him." I can't help but stop as he finishes saying the sentence.


"Sorry I asked..." I sigh. "That's brutal. What're you going to do?" I ask.


"Well, I was hoping to ask your parents to adopt me.." He suggests and all I can do is grin.


"So, you'd be my best friend, brother and cousin!" I laugh.


"Well, I want to do this thing a cop told me about a few months ago." He sighs.


"Oh?"


"But I need to assign new guardians... or they will throw me into foster care." He adds to make the news even worse.


"So what does that mean?" I ask.


I can hear water that sounds like it is rushing. I find myself rather confused as there are only creeks out this way. I look at Jim and he gives me the sign to shush. I nod and we both crouch down. A rythmatic thumping is audible within the rush of waters.


"What could that be?" Jim asks.


"I dunno, but there isnt that much noise from the creeks." I say.


"Wait, aint we over by the train station yet?" He asks me.


"Well, somewhere by there by now." I reply.


"Ain't this where the coyotes and bears come out?" He tries to reaffirm his thoughts.


"You've got your cell?" I ask.


"No, Dad confiscated it."


"Take mine. Call 911, I'm investigating, keep me in your sight." I say.


"Right." He nods.


I sidle myself along the edge of the path me and Jim were just walking on. The thickets of the trees are full of tattered cloth and broken foliage. The dirt is scuffed heavily as if someone fell, maybe even got pushed down the bank.


"You're going to wanna get on the dialer. It looks like someone fell." I say aloud.


"ROAR!!" A bears roar sounds like it is echoing from just along the creek.


In that moment I cant help but feel my own heart sinking into my gut. Sharp spider webbed pains shoot across my stomach as i grab each sturdy branch and make my way along the stench of the muddy bank of the creek. It's been raining a lot and the smell reeks like manuer mixed with fish. I try not to gag.


It's this moment, I realize me and Jim may have just discovered something horrifying. I walk up to the side of the creek, where the water meets the usual ending of the beach, but start of the bush that holds the trail above the bank. I take a deep breath, realizing the flooding that is present.


I peer up the creek a ways, leaning over over it to the right. I can see something in dark and blood is staining the water around it. I shudder as I make my way for a better view of the source of the red staining.


"Jim, get the ambulances here!" I shout to my cousin as loud as I have ever been able to muster in my life.