The Schemer

The Monster That Died (not)

"Patience is a virtue. Not that you have either of them, Ash."

"You..."

"Hush. Are you familiar with the book 'Cujo', Ashwood?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"That's what I thought." Clara nodded, her gaze becoming dreamy. She stared at the wall behind Ashwood, not really seeing it. "Then allow me to retell the story just for you. At first, there was a monster. Every good story needs a monster, trust me. A ruthless one. He killed a waitress, named Alma Frechette, a woman named Pauline Toothaker and a junior high school studentnamed Cheryl Moody. I'm sure there were numerous other people, but I don't remember their names. The monster, he was not werewolf, vampire, ghoul, or unnameable creature from the enchanted forest or fromthe snowy wastes; he was only a cop named Frank Dodd with mental and sexual problems. A goodman named John Smith uncovered his name by a kind of magic, but before he could be captured -perhaps it was just as well - Frank Dodd killed himself. People of the town, they were shocked. But mostly just relieved because the monster which had haunted so many dreams was dead, dead at last. A town's nightmareswere buried in Frank Dodd's grave. Are you following me?"

"I am."

"Good. Even in this enlightened age, when so many parents are aware of the psychological damagethey may do to their children, surely there was one parent somewhere in Castle Rock - or perhaps onegrandmother - who quieted the kids by telling them that Frank Dodd would get them if they didn'twatch out, if they weren't good, and surely-"

"That's what my mother told me and my sister when we were younger. I mean, not that Frank Dodd would get us, but about horrible creatures lurking in the dark." Ashwood met Clara's narrowed eyes and gave her a wide grin. "I'm sorry. Please continue, Captain." 

"And surely a hush fell as children looked toward their dark windowsand thought of Frank Dodd in his shiny black vinyl raincoat, Frank Dodd who had choked ... andchoked ... and choked. 'He's out there', the grandmother was whispering as the wind whistled down the chimneypipe and snuffled around the old pot lid crammed in the stove hole. 'He's out there, and if you're notgood, it may be his face you see looking in your bedroom window after everyone in the house isasleep except you; it may be his smiling face you see peeking at you from the closet in the middleof the night, the STOP sign he held up when he crossed the little children in one hand, the razor heused to kill himself in the other... So shhh, children... Shhh... Shhh.' " Clara's voice lowered a volume, reminding Ashwood of the stories that youngsters would tell around the fire while camping, in the middle of the night. "But for most, the ending was the ending. There were nightmares to be sure, and children who laywakeful to be sure, and the empty Dodd house quickly gained a reputation as a haunted house and was avoided, but these were passingphenomena - the perhaps unavoidable side effects of a chain of senseless murders. 

But time passed. Five years of time.The monster was gone, the monster was dead. Frank Dodd mouldered inside his coffin.Except that the monster never dies. Werewolf, vampire, ghoul, unnameable creature from thewastes. The monster never dies. He remains in people's memories to haunt them for the remainder of their lives." The woman traced her lips with one finger. "It's different for heroes, Ashwood. Heroes rarely remain in our memory as vivid and colourful as villains. They simply disappear." She met his blue-green gaze and smiled. A one-sided smirk graced her long mouth. But Clara's eyes remained cold and calculating, detached from the lower half of her face. "It's a good thing I never have truly been a hero."

Silence. Complete and utter silence. Ashwood didn't say a word after Clara had finished the story. It extended for so long that the assassin started doubting her choice of words. Was it inaccurate? Too hard to understand? Was Ashwood too stupid to grasp the right meaning and interpret it correctly? Had she overestimated his intelligence?