Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

“Two more what?” Jim asked quickly. “Who are you talking about? Who’s not done?”

“What are you a fucking owl?” Pete yelled almost standing up before the guard shoved him back down. “What do you mean who? You know who you damn idiot!” Pete yelled springing from his chair. The guards swiftly stepped forward and grabbed Pete’s arms. They wrestled him back to his seat and stood waiting to pounce should he try again. Pete looked over his shoulder glaring at them before turning his attention back to Jim.

“You know who Jimmy,” he said meaningfully.

Pete was right. Jim did know who he was talking about but he couldn’t say anything in front of the guards. He might end up in here with Pete if he did. Instead he said, “There’s no possible way that it could be what you think it is Pete. The thing isn’t real. I’ve been trying to tell you that.” He paused to look at the guard to see what they were making of all this. They seemed to not care at all about what was being said but Jim knew they were paying very close attention to everything. If Pete really hadn’t said anything since being brought in this was a golden opportunity to find out what he knew. Jim understood now why it seemed so easy for him to get in. They wanted him to get Pete to talk. Unfortunately for Pete all he had to say would make him look even crazier than he already did. Before he could say anything else Pete started talking again.

“We called him Jimmy,” he said in a rough voice, “whether you want to admit it or not we called him and he came. He came for the ones who called him but we ran. We thought we got away. We thought we were safe. But, no, oh no, we didn’t get away. He just waited. He waited until the time was right. Now he’s back. No, we didn’t get away at all. He’s back now and he’s going to get us just like he got Rob and Tommy!” Pete was bouncing up and down in his chair by now. The guards were holding his shoulders but they didn’t seem to be doing anything other than keeping him from falling out of his chair. They threatened to get rough but Pete didn’t seem to hear them. He was focused on Jim.

“If it was him, why would he wait all this time before coming for us? Why not just come and get us the next night or the night after that? Why wait all this time?” Jim was still trying to figure out how to calm Pete down. Yes, they had called the creature but he’d never shown. So, if he’d never been there in the first place how could he come back? “It doesn’t make any sense that he would wait so long. C’mon Pete think about it.”

“Think about it!” Pete said sarcastically. “What do you think I’ve been doing ever since it happened? Why don’t you think about it?” He must’ve seen the look in Jim’s eyes because he started laughing. “You don’t remember, do you? You don’t remember that thing chasing us through the woods for hours. You don’t remember it disappearing then reappearing right in front of our eyes. You don’t remember us hiding all night long, playing mouse to its cat. You don’t remember that the only thing that saved us was the sun coming up the next morning. It could’ve caught us any time it wanted but it just toyed with us instead. That whole thing was just the preliminaries. This, what’s happening now, the deaths and heads and stuff, this is the finals! He’s back and he’s already got two of us. What do you think's going to happen next Jimbo? I’ll tell you what, since the proverbial cat seems to have gotten your tongue, we’re the only two left from that night so all this means is that we’re next. We’re the next ones to be killed. We’re both going to die!” Pete was straining against the guards grip and laughing hysterically by the time he finished. Jim could only stand across from him horrified at what he was seeing and hearing. He didn’t know what to say. He knew everything Pete said was crazy but deep down he knew it was true. They had been chased. They had been terrified that night and the only thing that had saved them was morning. Both Tommy and Rob had been there that night and now they were dead and not from natural causes like he kept trying to convince himself. The only explanation left was that the Goatman was coming to get them and there was nothing either of them could do about it.

“You know I’m right!” Pete yelled. “I can see it in your eyes! Time doesn’t matter to him! All that matters is that we called him and now he’s going to get us. We might as well bend over and kiss our asses’ goodbye!” his voice trailed off into insane laughter.

The guards were having a hard time holding him. They were shouting for other guards to come help. Jim turned and quickly made his way to the door wanting to get as far away from Pete’s insanity as he could. Other officers rushed in as he reached the door. Pete was still laughing as they grabbed whatever they could to try and restrain him. As he stepped out the door Pete quit laughing and called to him again. He turned even though he knew he shouldn’t and looked at the person who had once been his friend. “C’mon Jimmy, say it with me once more for old time’s sake!” he yelled as a smile spread over his face. Jim tore his eyes from Pete and began to shut the door but not before he heard Pete yelling, “Goatman, Goatman, Goatman! Come get me!”

Jim ran down the hall and out to his car. His hands were shaking so hard he could barely get the key in the ignition. Once it was in he didn’t turn it on, he just sat for a while trying to will his heart to slow its frantic beating. He slowly regained control and started the car. It roared to life but the sound of the engine did nothing to quiet the sounds in his head. Driving off he could still hear Pete yelling the words that had brought the Goatman after them all those years ago and that now would surely bring him after them again.

Jim started the drive back to his mothers’ house with every intention of getting some sleep before his date but when he came to the turn off for Jill’s house he took it and drove down her road. He knew he was going to see her in a little while but after his disturbing run in with Pete he didn’t really want to be alone right now. If he went home his mother would just want to ask all kinds of questions he didn’t want to answer.

He didn’t want his mother right now. He wanted Jill.

If he was going to talk to anyone he wanted it to be Jill. She at least might understand a little bit about what he was going through since she’d heard Grandma’s story. When he stopped in front of her house he was surprised to see Grandma sitting on the front porch.

“She ain’t here,” she said as he got out of his car. She didn’t sound too good to Jim. Now that he thought of it he hadn’t seen her at Tommy’s funeral either. She sounded tired. Not wanting to pry he just assumed she wasn’t feeling well. He couldn’t really blame her what with all the stuff going on. She’d been close to both Tommy and Rob when they were little. It was probably actually harder on her since she’d watched them grow all the years he’d been gone. When he’d dropped Jill off earlier he hadn’t thought to ask about her and now felt bad about it. She looked as if she might blow away in the wind if the screens hadn’t been covering the windows.

“She said she was going for a walk and would be back later,” Grandma said.

That was a little strange, he thought since he was supposed to be coming by in a little while to get her for their date. He knew he was early but he wasn’t that early. His disturbing conversation with Pete had taken longer than Jim had thought. The sky was beginning to darken and he worried for Jill’s safety. Trying to put the unpleasantness from out of his mind and wanting to find Jill he asked, “Do you know where she went?”