GARGOYLES chapter 6

Chapter VI                    

                   
                   Scott slowly starts to awaken.  As he rubs his eyes he is surprised to see that he is on the couch and still dressed.  ‘Damn must have dozed off.  I better get into the shower and get dressed for work.’  As he glances at the clock he sees it is 5:38, ‘wait a minute, I slept the whole day.  Didn’t even call into work, I’m really going to hear it tomorrow.  I hope this doesn’t cost me my job.’
                   As he heads to the bathroom to take a shower he realizes that he hasn’t eaten since yesterday.  In the shower he starts thinking about last night.  He goes over every detail and decides that there is nothing strange or abnormal about last night.  That UFOs and Bigfoot do not exist accept in the minds of the uneducated, the superstitious and the foolish.  He also decides that he will tell Tom that as far as he is concerned it is over as far as he is concerned.  While drying off he again remembers that he hasn’t eaten in 24 hours.  He decides he will go to the Pizzeria for some dinner again.  He also decides to walk even though it is 9 blocks away.  ‘It’s pretty warm tonight, and maybe the fresh air will tire me out some.  I need to get back on my regular schedule and get up early tomorrow for work.  I hope I still have work!  George is going to have a field day with this.’
                   Scott pulls on his jacket and grabs his gloves as he walks out of the apartment.  He slowly starts walking up Paerdegat Avenue towards the pizzeria.  He always laughs when he sees the street’s name.  It is Dutch and translates into “horse’s ass”.  After a couple of blocks he gets an uneasy feeling.  The hair on the back of his neck is standing up.  He doesn’t know why.  He spins around but there is no one behind him.  He looks up and down both sides of the street, but there is no one there.  He starts to walk again, and realizes that he is walking very fast now.  This is the same feeling that overcame him two nights back on Pearl Street.  As he reaches the avenue he slows down.  Here there are people everywhere and the street is lit up by all the shop windows. 
                   Walking down the block he ducks into Tony’s Pizzeria where he orders 2 slices and a coke.  As he slides into a booth he wonders about that strange feeling he had on the walk here.  He laughs at himself and his new found paranoia.  “This spook shit is really getting to me.”  He then proceeds to devour the two slices and then orders a third.  “Nothing beats pizza and a cola.”  Before heading home he goes into a local newsstand and buys a newspaper.  The headline catches his eye…..”PARTIALLY DIGESTED VAGRANT FOUND”.
                   As he skims through the article it refers to the body of a
homeless man that was found earlier that morning in the Wall Street
area.  The reporter says that an unidentified informant at the coroner’s office told him that the man body showed signs of being partially eaten.  The police however were denying the story.  They only commented that the man died of natural causes.  Scott folded the paper in half and tucked it under his arm.  As he walks home he begins to get that same uneasy feeling.  He cannot figure it out, so in attempt to forget about it he starts to go over in his mind the events of the previous evening.  He runs through everything but cannot come up with an answer.  As he turns the corner of his block he sees Tom leaning on his car in front of his house.
                   “Where have you been?  I’ve been waiting for you for the last half hour.  I’ve got something I want to show you.  Let’s go up to your place.”
                   “For your information I was out having dinner.  I hadn’t eaten since yesterday and was hungry, any more questions?”
                   “Yeah, yeah come on let’s go upstairs.  I have something here that will amaze you.  I think you will want to see these pictures.”
                   Scott starts to protest, but then turns and leads Tom up to his apartment door.  After unlocking the door, he ushers him in first.
                   “OK, Tom what do you want to show me?”
                   “Here look at these.”  Tom hands Scott some pictures as he walks into the living room.
                   “What’s this?”
                   “It’s the pictures I took last night.”
                   Scott starts to look through them.  “Tom I can’t make anything out.  What good are these?  Everything is dark and blurry.”
                   “Scott remember what I said last night?  This is not a regular camera, there wasn’t enough light to take pictures with a regular camera, besides the flash would have alerted our quarry.  This camera uses a special high speed film.  But all the pictures will still be shadowy but they are images of last night.  Just look close here.  See the outline here.  It’s a figure, but look here there seems to be wings on its back.  Almost like a giant bat.  What’s scary is this picture.  See here!  It is looking directly at me as I photograph it.  The eyes look like they are glowing.  Do you think it can possibly see in the dark?”
                   Both stood there staring at the picture. Two reddish glowing eyes were staring back at them.
“Wwwhat do you think it is Tom?”
                   “I don’t know Scott, but it is more then a little spooky.  This is the strangest thing I have ever seen.  Where’s your phone I want to call Torricelli and find out if they did an autopsy on the body yet.” 
                   “On the wall in the kitchen.”  Scott mutters as he continues looking at the pictures.  Scott spreads them over the coffee table and just stares at them.  He overhears Tom arguing with Torricelli on the phone in the kitchen.  Then he hears the phone being hung up.
                   “What did you find out?” he asked Tom as he came back into the room.
                   “They did do an autopsy.  It seems that the coroner thinks our John Doe was killed by a pack of wild dogs.”
                    “What!  That’s ridiculous, I have never heard of a pack of wild dogs attacking anybody in New York let alone killing them.  Have you?”
                     “No, but I guess it could happen.  There are packs of dogs throughout the city.  I guess if they get hungry enough….but Torricelli says the coroner claims that the bite marks are consistent with a large animal or animals.  He also says that the man must have been asleep at the time.  That the body was badly bitten and clawed, and here is the scary part.  The body was partially eaten.  It had to be dogs we don’t have any lions, tigers or bears in New York City.”
                   “I don’t believe that for minute.  That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard!  Dogs do not hunt and kill and eat people!”
                   “Agreed.  That body fell off the roof of that old building.  No dog or pack of dogs could have or would have dragged the body up there.  Tonight we are going back and we will go into that building and check it out.”
                   “What are you nuts?  I’m not going in there with a pack of killer dogs on the loose.”
                   “I thought you didn’t believe this cockamamie story.  Plus, don’t forget about the pictures we took.  This is something bigger than just dogs gone wild.”
                   “Yeah that makes me feel a whole lot better!  Its not dogs gone wild, its some strange bat-like creature that has wings, can fly and eats human beings.  I feel like I’m living in the Twilight Zone.  Ok, what time you picking me up?  I guess I got a death wish.”
                   “Pick you up?  What are you kidding, I’m not leaving, and I’m going to catch some sleep here on the couch.  It’s already almost 10:00.  We’ll leave in about 90 minutes!  Go get some rest.  I got a feeling we are going to need it.”
                   “OK boss,” Scott answered as he walked into the bedroom to lie down for a while.