July 16, 2020
The sheriff's truck pulled up in the driveway, followed by another patrol car. An older man stepped out of the truck and put a wad of tobacco under his lip. He scratched at his white mustache and adjusted the overalls strapped around his shoulders. From the passenger side of the truck, another man exited, to which Sarah assumed was a deputy. One more deputy came out of the patrol car, amounting to three lawmen standing in Sarah's driveway.
She quickly unlocked the door and felt herself burst with tears of joy. The twenty minutes to half an hour that she had waited had felt like an eternity. In the city, an officer could show up at her door in a matter of minutes. Out in the county, life was much different.
Sarah limped out to the driveway, feeling the bruise on her leg from being pulled down in the backyard.
"Hold on there, ma'am," The older man said, holding up both of his hands. "Don't hurt yourself."
She wiped away the tears from her cheek and peered behind her, seeing the worried faces of her children staring back at her.
It's where the fun begins.
Her gaze shot back to the older man, feeling comfort in his company. "There's... there's something trying to kill us. It chased me and my daughter and tripped me and I told her to get inside and lock the door. I didn't know what to do so I ran away and ran towards the shed trying to find something to defend myself with and heard my voice at the door. So I ran to the door... and... and... and." Sarah stopped to catch herself to catch her breath while the older man placed his hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"It's okay, ma'am. It's okay. We're here now," He said gently.
Sarah closed her eyes and practiced breathing in and out slowly. Courtesy of the therapy she had taken, that Edward never knew about.
"Now let's start again, slower," The man said with a smile. "What's your name?"
She felt her lips trembling and looked back to her children once more. The look on their face was a look she hated to see. It was a look that she had seen all so often with the fights her and Edward would have. That look made her feel like a failure. She had failed her children.
"Sss...Sarah," She replied.
"Sarah," The man smiled. "That's a lovely name. My name is Wayne Sharpe, the sheriff of Matthewsville." He pointed to the two men standing behind him. "This here is Deputy Carver and this ugly son of a bitch is Deputy Smitten."
Sarah looked to the two deputies. Carver was the younger of the two and had balding light auburn hair. Compared to Smitten, Carver was definitely the far more attractive one. Smitten had greasy light blonde hair that was hanging slightly above his shoulders. If it weren't for the fact that he was a deputy, Sarah would have mistaken him for a redneck.
The sheriff turned to see Sarah's gaze upon Smitten and chuckled. "See? I told you he's an ugly son bitch."
Smitten looked at the sheriff with his mouth half open, revealing his yellowish brown crooked teeth. "Not very nice of ya, sheriff," Smitten said with a country accent.
"I promise, what he lacks in looks, he makes up for in intelligence, believe it or not," The sheriff chuckled.
Sarah gave him a weak smile before she let her eyes drop to the ground. It wasn't a time she could be happy. Someone was threatening her and her family. They destroyed her property, killed an animal in her yard, and chased after her and her daughter.
"Miss..."
"Porter," Sarah said.
"Miss Porter, would you mind if we stepped inside?" The sheriff asked.
Her eyes looked back up to him, seeing that same comforting smile. "Yes, absolutely," She gestured her hands toward the door. "Please," She finished.
Sheriff Sharpe took off his campaign hat and nodded his head. He gently placed his hand on Sarah's back and followed alongside her to house. Lillian and Isaac had retreated to the living room where they sat on the couch, close by one another.
"Good morning to ya," Sharpe said to them. Both kids shyly replied, "Good morning," back to the sheriff.
The sheriff set his hat on the back of the arm chair and took a seat in it. Sarah took a seat on a two seater couch that sat by the fireplace while the two deputies elected to stand behind Sheriff Sharpe.
"And what might be both of your names?" Sharpe asked the kids.
Lillian held her sheep close to her face, tucking it away from the sheriff's view.
"Lily, it's okay honey. This is Sheriff Sharpe. He's here to help us," Sarah said.
"Lily? That's a lovely name," Sharpe said. "You know somethin' Lily? My wife loves lilies. I buy her a vase of them every year for our anniversary and she adores them. Do you like lilies?"
Lillian nodded her head and revealed a large grin under the sheep covering her face.
"I like them too, Lily. They're pretty little flowers. That must be how you got your name."
Lily's grin got even wider than it already was and she let out a small giggle. "My name is Lillian!" She yelled joyfully.
"Lillian? That's even more pretty!" The sheriff said happily. He turned to Isaac, who's expression was still one of terror. "And what might be your name, young man?"
"Isaac," He replied.
"Isaac, eh? So you must be good at math?"
Isaac gave him a puzzled look. "Math?"
Sheriff Sharpe chuckled. "Yeah, you know, like that Isaac guy that discovered calculus and did all that math stuff. You know, Isaac Newton?"
"Oh, yes, right. Like him," Isaac said, hardly breaking a smile.
Sharpe still kept his wide smile and looked back to Sarah. "Now, I know that there's probably a lot on your mind right now but I'm going to need you to take a moment to collect your thoughts and start at the beginning."
Sarah meditated on her thoughts again. Where even was the beginning? First there was the broken glass and laughter.
No.
First it was the person staring at her through the daycare window a few weeks ago.
No.
It was when they first moved in, when she heard noises from the forest. Even then, she knew something was watching her. She thought she was paranoid and was just hearing things but now that she thought back to that day, maybe there actually was someone watching her. Maybe there was someone watching her and her whole family this whole time. Only now, they were done watching.
It's where the fun begins.
"It started yesterday," Isaac said.
Sarah looked over to him, her head resting in the palm of her hand. She exchanged a brief glance with Isaac before he turned back to the sheriff.
"It started when I was home alone, yesterday morning."
The sheriff nodded his head and pulled out a small little notepad. "Continue," He said softly.
Sarah watched as Isaac's eyes lowered to the floor, terror in his face. "I was home alone, playing my guitar upstairs when I heard my mom come home."
Sarah looked at him curiously. She wasn't home yesterday morning.
"At least I thought it was her," Isaac continued.
"Thought it was her?" The sheriff asked.
"Yeah, thought it was her. Only, it wasn't her. She was... wrong."
Sharpe looked over to Sarah. "Ma'am. Mind clearing up some confusion for us?" He asked.
She looked at Isaac, almost unable to speak. Something got into their house yesterday. Something was imitating her. Just like outside.
"I..." Sarah choked. "I wasn't home."
The sheriff wrote in his notepad and looked back to Isaac, who still had his eyes looking to the ground. "Did you see this imitator in person?"
"Yes," Isaac replied. "It looked just like her. Only, it looked more... well... flawless."
Sarah wouldn't take that as an insult.
"What did she want?" The sheriff asked.
"Nothing. She... err... it just said it wanted to say 'hi.'"
"That's all? This imitator just said hi and left?"
"Well, umm, no. It gave me a pack of cigarettes and then left."
The sheriff snorted and continued to write in his notepad. "Do you still have these cigarettes?"
"Yes," Isaac said. "I'll go grab them."
He jumped from the couch and swiftly disappeared behind the doorway leading to the stairwell. Lillian paid little attention to the conversation and played with both of her sheep.
"Do you have any twins? Doppelgangers you're aware of? Anything of the sort?" Sheriff Sharpe asked.
"None," Sarah said. "I have a sister but we hardly look similar."
The sheriff kept silent and flipped the page of his notebook to continue writing. The sound of stomping echoed down the stairwell and they were soon joined by Isaac once more. He handed a white pack of cigarettes off to the sheriff. They definitely didn't look familiar and Sarah knew he didn't steal them off of her or Edward.
"Interesting," The sheriff said, inspecting the box. "There's no brand on here."
Isaac nodded his head and took his seat next to Lillian. The sheriff looked in the box and struck Isaac a curious look. "There's nineteen in here. Can I assume the other cigarette is used?"
Isaac's face turned a light shade of red and he nodded his head in embarrassment. The sheriff handed the box to Deputy Carver and picked up his pencil and notepad once more. "So an imitator entered your house and gave you a pack of cigarettes?"
"Yes," Isaac said.
"And what happened when you consumed one of the cigarettes?" The sheriff asked, leaning forward in the seat. "I only ask because you only used one. They must not have been very appealing."
"I began choking on them," Isaac said.
Sarah felt tears swell up in her eyes. She didn't know. Why didn't Isaac tell her? A sense of panic hit her. They tried killing her boy. Her family was in danger and Edward was off miles away, probably half gone in a bottle of booze.
"Then I started hearing voices. Lillian's voice and some man's. I... I don't know whose voice it was but I saw him."
"A man came into the house? What did he look like?"
"I... I don't know. All I saw was his silhouette and that he stood taller than my doorway. I..." Isaac pressed his on his head and clenched his teeth.
"Easy now son," The sheriff interjected. "Thank you. You don't need to go any further."
"I saw a rope," Isaac said.
"A rope?"
"Yes. It was hanging from a tree in the tree line, right in front of my window."
The sheriff turned to Smitten. "Check it out, would ya?"
The deputy smiled and walked back out the front door. "Did you see anyone by the rope? Was it the same man that came into your room?"
"No. No, I didn't see anyone," Isaac paused. "It all felt like I was in some kind of dream. It felt like I was dreaming but I was still there, if that makes sense?"
"Sure."
"And I woke up from it but the rope was still there. The cigarettes were still there. I don't know, maybe I hallucinated most of the things that were happening."
"I see," The sheriff said. "Did anything else happen after you awoke from this 'dream?'"
"No. I don't think so at least."
The sheriff smiled at him and finished jotting down whatever notes he was putting in his notepad. "Thank you Isaac."
Isaac leaned back on the couch and continued to rub his head. Sarah wanted to hug him, to ask for forgiveness for not being there for him - for not being able to protect him when he needed her most.
"Miss Porter," The sheriff looked at her ring finger. "My apologies. Mrs. Porter, would you be able to fill in any gaps?"
"Well, everything was as normal as a typical day could be. Me and my husband, Edward, got home from work later in the day. I made us dinner and we just enjoyed our meal."
"You and daddy were yelling at each other," Lillian said.
Sarah cleared her throat and felt embarrassed. "Yes. I suppose me and my husband were having an argument."
"Do you have these arguments often?" The sheriff asked.
"What? No, we hardly ever... it doesn't matter. It was a simple little bicker, nothing more," Sarah said defensively.
"Sorry Mrs. Porter. I'm only trying to get every detail."
She cleared her throat and counted in her head to calm her breathing. "I know, I know. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, ma'am. You have nothing to be sorry for."
Sarah gave him a faint smile before thinking back to her previous night. "Me and my husband bickered when all of the sudden the window in our dining room shattered. The room became icy cold and it sounded like hundreds of people were in the room with us, laughing. We sealed off the window and put our old baby monitor in there but didn't hear anything else through the night."
"Were there any objects among the shattered glass?"
"None," Sarah said. "It was like someone but a bomb next to it. It exploded all over the dining room. All over the dining table and chairs, all the way to the opposite wall."
"Was there anyone around? Anyone standing outside of your window?"
"Not that we could see."
The sheriff rubbed his mustache. From the way he was thinking, Sarah assumed that he already had the case figured out.
"Tell me then, what happened this morning."
"Somebody killed a deer!" Lillian yelled.
The sheriff looked to Sarah with one brow raised, as if ensuring that it was the truth.
"Yes, we saw a deer outside by the fence," Sarah looked to Lillian and Isaac. "Children, could you go upstairs for a moment?"
"But mommy..."
"Please sweetie," Sarah said to Lillian.
"C'mon Lily," Isaac said, gently grabbing her hand. Sarah wiped away a single tear from her cheek and watched as her children disappeared behind the doorway.
"It was slaughtered," Sarah said to the sheriff. "Mangled. Violated. Brutalized."
The sheriff looked to Sarah, no longer taking notes. His expression went from a comforting grandpa expression to one of equal terror.
Sarah looked at her hand trembling. How she wasn't fully shaking, she didn't know.
"I don't know what it was, what they were. There was several of them coming after me and my daughter. I don't know how but they pulled me to the ground and I told Lily to keep running, to lock the door. I ran for the shed and heard the imitator trying to talk to my children. I don't know what was happening, or what they want." Sarah felt a flurry of tears roll down her cheek.
Sheriff Sharpe put down his notepad and shot her a remorseful glance. "Me and my boys are going to take a look around the property and after we leave, I'm gonna call in a few more lawmen from other towns to come help us get a more thorough look of the surrounding land. In the meantime, Mrs. Porter, I'd suggest thinking about finding a friend's house to stay at with your family or renting a hotel in town, somewhere where there's more people."
Sarah felt taken back by that. She had already considered leaving all together but to hear it from the sheriff almost all but cemented it.
"Can you catch these guys? Will we have to be gone for long?"
The sheriff gestured for Deputy Carver to search around. He slowly stood up from the arm chair and stretched out his back before looking back to Sarah with the same concerned look she had been growing accustomed to all day.
"From what you and your son have told me, I don't think you or your family are going to want to come back here. I'd recommend getting some family or friends to help you move out as soon as possible."
"But can't you find these criminals? Do you know who they are?"
The sheriff looked at Sarah for a moment and slightly bowed his head."Mrs. Porter, what you're dealing with isn't a gang of criminals. In fact, they're not even human."
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