Shooting Towards The Moon

by Gray Compass

The Things We Don't Know

"Chief Stevenson?"

I looked to the car and back to him. It definitely wasn't his old truck.

"Good morning Todd. Do you mind if I come in?"

The old chief of police had a way of talking to you that made it practically impossible to lie, or even say no to him. He was just the kind of person that'd make you feel ashamed without even saying a word.

"S-sure- I mean, come in." I muttered, stepping aside from the door. The man tipped his hat as he made his way into the living room.

For the first time I noticed the mess that my house as a whole had become. There were dishes everywhere, dirty clothes and magazines littered the floor. I tried to push some of them out of the way, but it was a useless effort; the place looked terrible.

I looked to the coffee table where Luna and I were having breakfast and saw that our plates and glasses were still there with remnants of bread and eggs.

It didn't took very long for Chief Stevenson to notice that — that man had the eyes of an eagle — I guess that's something you develop throughout the years when you're the only detective of the whole county.

"I'm sorry sir, I didn't know you were coming- if I did I'd have-"

He placed a hand on my shoulder and brushed my worries aside.

"Why don't we sit for a little while? I just want to say a few words, no need to worry." I nodded slowly. We sat on the couch, which aside from an iodine stain, was clean. It was then when I saw that the chief carried with him a small box with a cross stamped on the lid. I instantly knew what that was, but I remained in silence.

"I won't lie Todd, I've been worried about you." He sighed, taking of his hat and scratching his hair. "There's just so many things happening in the town lately... I wish I had visited you sooner."

"Don't worry sir, I've been- ah, I've been adjusting a few... things too." I scratched my neck.

"I see." He looked around, his eyes stopping on the static-tuned television. "Having problems with the signal too?" He asked.

"Oh, that- yeah well, sometimes." I nodded.

"You're not the only one; they think the rust has finally worn out that old tv mast. Truth is; there's interference everywhere, and I don't believe the mast is causing it."

I thought of Luna, and the things she felt in the static; it made me shiver.

"Then what is?" I asked. The chief shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's a nuisance that's been troubling Bedford." He stopped to think for a second. "It's not the only complain though, just yesterday Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins came to my office — they were very concerned about their animals. It seems that one night, Mr. Hopkins was feeding his cows when he noticed that four of them were missing, he grabs a flashlight and goes after them, only to find their carcasses near the fence. No bite marks, no holes — and no blood in their bodies also."

"Jesus..." I muttered.

"And that's not all; the next morning their dogs tried to attack his wife, but he managed to lock them in the barn until a veterinary arrived. When they got back to the dogs, they were nowhere to be found. They had opened a hole in the wall — with their teeth — and escaped. Later that day one of his neighbors found the corpses in a pond, not only Hopkins' dogs, but also a horse, pigs, chickens, and even wild animals."

I remained in silence, thinking about all the times I ventured into the forest by myself.

"They ran all sorts of tests, but none of them found a thing. Those animals were perfectly healthy as far as we know, until they ran away to die. And that's just one of the things that's been unsettling everyone."

"I haven't seen anything weird around here for weeks." I lied.

"It's good to hear that, but that's not the reason why I'm telling you these stories. Todd, as a chief of police, and also as a friend of your family, it's my duty to warn you; unusual things are happening, it might just be a series of unfortunate coincidences, but it might also be something else. The fact that we don't know, is what makes me worry about your safety."

Suddenly, I heard a muffled bang upstairs. The chief looked at me and to the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Luna.

"The cat." I said. "I thought I'd be good to have some... ah, company"

Stevenson stared at the floor, one of his hands supporting his chin, the other one resting on his knee.

"Consider this Todd; you live in one of the most isolated properties of this county, it is very, very difficult to reach you. It's not up to me to decide what you should do with your life, but I just think it might be time for you to contact your mother. Billy was her son too, after all." The chief handed me the wooden urn; it was very light and minimalistic.

I touched that tiny cross on the lid, feeling the contours. I knew that sooner or later I'd receive an urn with Billy's ashes, but I didn't realized how surreal that'd be until I felt it in my hands.

My older brother, turned into dust, kept in a box.

Stevenson was a good person, I knew he cared about me, but he never knew how to proceed in situations such as these. He wasn't cold or anything, he was just a man that had seen way too much.

"I'm sorry..." He said after a long pause.

"No, it's okay. Thank you for bringing it, I don't think I could have done it on my own." I placed the urn on the coffee table as I hadn't decided yet what to do with it.

"You see Todd, Mr. Hopkins happens to be a preacher, he even had a bible with him when he went to my office. He is very... convinced that the devil is doing those things, to make us falter, to lead us into sin." For a moment Stevenson seemed to be telling that more to himself than to me.

"Do you believe him?" I asked.

"I don't know." He said. "Lately I've been seeing so much evil in the heart of people. And I'm not talking about Bedford alone, but the world as a whole. Some blame the devil, others blame the government, the corporations — you name it — it doesn't really changes the fact that something is wrong, and we must be vigilant."

I agreed with him. The chief let out a long sigh; that was the sign he had said whatever he wanted to say, and was done with words.

"Take care, okay?" He patted my shoulder as he stood up from the couch.

"I will." I said, following him to the door. It had started to rain outside, and the dark SUV glistened under the scattered sun light. "New car?" I asked.

"Oh that — I thought you'd notice — there's this company working with the city government to find a way to stop that disease from spreading to other crops. They made a 'donation' to the state; twenty of those. I got one."

"A company can do that? Which company?" I got a very bad vibe.

"Well, I guess they can. It's a chemical one, Borealis. Have you heard about it?" He asked, closing the door as he got in the car.

"N-no, I haven't... Have a nice day sir."

---

I locked myself in the house. I had an odd certainty that something wasn't right.

"Luna!" I called her. "Luna, where are ya?" I ran upstairs, bursting into her room. She wasn't there. I felt my head spinning.

"Luna!" I yelled, turning around to face the corridor. The door to my room was half-opened and a faint light flashed inside.

"Crap..." I pushed the door open. "W-what the hell! Luna!" Several objects had been scattered on the floor, creating an empty space in the middle of the room that went from the computer to the bed, forming a stripe. Luna was sitting uptight in the bed, her eyes looked empty as she stared at the computer screen, she trembled and muttered things, but her body was frozen in place.

"Jesus Christ!" I shook her. "Answer me!" As I looked around to the flashing screen, I saw what resembled a security footage, from different places which I recognized as being in Bedford, and others I'd rather not know. White chambers, blurred corridors with numbered doors, metallic shelves filled with surgical instruments. She was hooked into that thing, she was in there.

"T-they are n-near." She stammered. "T-take me out." A spasm ran through her body. I was panicking.

"W-what the fuck have you done!"

"Take me out!" She screamed.

I jumped from the bed and plucked out the computer cables. The connection between her horn and the static was broken. Luna gasped, collapsing on the bed crying and trembling.

I hurried to her side, Luna had buried her face in a pillow. I would try to calm her down, but I wasn't calm either. That was the scariest shit I had ever seen.

"A-almost... They almost t-touched me." She squealed. "I saw them. I remember..."

"I-it's okay, we'll be okay-" I said, touching her face. "We'll be okay." I repeated, lying down by her side. She sobbed, curling against my chest. I pulled her soft body closer, wrapping my arms around her chest. I had never been so close to Luna, and it felt so weird to be able to touch her.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't meant to do that... I just f-felt something, and it happened." She said. "They have her — my sister. I saw them, in the concrete caves underground."

"We'll find-"

"No Todd! You can't, you don't understand."

"Maybe I can't, but I know someone who can. And we'll find her — whoever they are — they're not taking anything from you. Not anymore."

I looked at the window behind us, hearing the rain as it splattered outside, and also Luna, as she breathed against my neck. The world was once noisy, but suddenly it was quiet.

I would find out about Borealis, and they would pay for it.

"I promise."

Comments

[0]

It's bad, because it is too good but it's slow enough that I aaaaah.

Please continue.

[Gray Compass]

8319760
I will.

[Tarevertusda]

What is your native language because I feel is not English?

[Gray Compass]

8321327
Nope, not English at all. I'm from Brazil.

Any grotesque combination of words?

[Tarevertusda]

8321727
Some grammatical mistakes but still a great story.

[Gray Compass]

8321754

Thanks, I'll make sure to revise the chapters soon.