Hour Of Darkness

CH 3 - "The Encounter"

3...The Encounter...

The large two-story secluded home sat shrouded in darkness. A tall wood plank fence encircled the back yard and lush shrubbery complimented the front of the house. The gravel drive disappeared into the trees, hiding the house from the main road.

Clarice's black Jeep sat silently in the driveway.

Curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a fleece throw, Clarice clutched a bottle of wine in her hand and stared at the flames in the fireplace. Except for the firelight dancing up the walls, the room was dark.

The light of the fire glistened on Clarice's wet face. She took a long drink from the wine bottle, sniffed, then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She continued to stare into the fire as unbidden images snapped through her head like someone taking pictures.

Flashing squad car lights drenching the neighborhood in red and blue. Clarice running onto the front lawn in a panic. An officer catching her, preventing her from entering her parent's home. A body bag being wheeled out on a stretcher. Clarice struggling in the officer's arms, screaming for her parents and brother.

Clarice sniffed again as fresh tears swelled and burst. She took another drink from the wine bottle then sat forward on the sofa. She pulled the throw around her shoulders and stood up, the wine bottle still clutched in her hand. She swayed a little on her feet as she walked to the window and drew back a small portion of the heavy drapes.

A police cruiser was parked in the deep shadows of a tall fir tree, barely visible. As she watched, a tiny red spark glowed in the darkness then dimmed, followed by a wisp of smoke. She let the drapes fall back into place. The cops had been assigned to protect her in case the psycho who attacked her family came after her as well. But she wondered if they could protect her if it came to it. She wasn't sure if she even cared. If the madman who had killed her family really wanted to kill her too...he would do it, regardless of who was protecting her.

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Down the curve of the driveway, out of view of the squad car and concealed in the night shadows, the black street bike rolled to a slow stop. The engine turned off. A black boot touched the ground, crunched softly in the fine gravel that covered the driveway.

A black gloved hand reached down and withdrew a sawed off shotgun from a holster fastened to the bike.

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Wade Jenkins sat in the darkness of the squad car. His arm rested in the open window of the driver door, a cigarette held loosely in his fingers. He withdrew his arm and the tiny red cherry of the cigarette glowed brightly, briefly illuminating his face as he took a long drag, then dimmed as his arm returned to the window.

Wade stared at the large house, eyes alert but bored. Just his luck, stuck here babysitting when he could be home in bed with his hot new girlfriend, putting in some real quality time. An ache spread through his groin as his mind wandered for a moment.

He sighed, took one last drag off the cigarette, ground it out on the outside of the driver door then flicked it away. He reached inside his jacket and took out a cell phone. Dialed and pressed the phone to his ear.

The phone at the other end rang twice before a sexy female voice answered. "Hello?"

"Hey sexy." Wade drawled as he reached down and adjusted his crotch. Just hearing her voice was already making him horny.

"Hey baby." Her voice turned instantly sultry as soon as she heard Wade's voice. "What happened? I thought you were coming over tonight."

"Sorry." Wade offered. "Got stuck babysitting."