Byron Starr - Doppelgänger

Bob blushed, but regained enough of his composure to make a sarcastic reply. “Hell, I don’t know. I left my animal cards back in New York.”

Embarrassed, Bob retreated back into his room, and started getting dressed and gathering his camera equipment. He was just about to walk out the door when Jana came into his room. With the exception of makeup, she was dressed and ready to go. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

“I’m going to try and take a picture of this thing.”

“Let’s go then.”

Although the whole thing had been his idea, when they got in the van Bob started having second thoughts about the excursion. He didn’t want to admit it, but he really wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. He knew the chances of them getting caught by one of Sheriff Oates’ storm troopers was very high; it’s not like a white van with CURRENT EDITION stenciled on the side in long, slanted, one and a half foot tall red letters would be easy to miss. Of course, he also knew it was exactly what was on Jana’s mind. If they got arrested for violating the curfew, it would make her story all the better: Nationally Renowned Journalist Detained by Redneck-Fascist Sheriff.

But Sheriff Oates wasn’t really what Bob was afraid of, and he knew it. Something was out there killing people — something was out there killing people and he was about to go try to chase it down to get its picture.

Maybe I can get its autograph, too, Bob thought and chuckled to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Jana asked

“Oh, nothing.”

They pulled across the street without turning on their lights. Bob stopped in the parking lot of an old gas station. “It went behind there,” he said, pointing to the left of the building.

Jana opened the passenger door.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Bob asked

Jana waited until she was fully out of the car before turning to address him. “I’m doing my job. You know, investigative reporting,” she said in a voice that was more playful than her usual waspish sarcasm.

Nevertheless, the comment stung Bob’s pride. He started to say something, but he decided against it. Bob stepped out of the van and checked his camera for film. The camera Bob had with him tonight wasn’t his usual shoulder-mounted variety with all its lights, bells, and whistles. When Bob traveled, he also carried with him his little handheld video toy. It was lighter and easier to handle than his big one.

Jana led the way around the gas station. As she reached the corner of the building Bob half expected a hairy arm to reach out and grab her, but it didn’t. Bob followed her around the building. Nothing.

Jana turned to him and put her right hand on her hip and threw her head back, striking a pose that had probably been sexy about seventy pounds ago. “Bob, you got me all excited for nothing.”

Is she flirting? Bob thought, but was immediately distracted by movement behind Jana. “Look, over there,” Bob pointed.

Jana turned. “Where?”

Behind the gas station was a long tin storage building with ten large doors, each numbered one through ten on the door in white spray-paint. The movement seemed to have come from the direction of several metal garbage cans which were located the right of the building.

“Let’s go,” Jana said.

Bob started to protest, but Jana was already on her way over to the garbage cans. He jogged a few steps and caught up. He put his camera to his eye and took aim. As they drew nearer to the garbage cans Jana and Bob slowed down and started creeping toward the cans.

There was a faint rustling coming from one of the cans. At first Bob thought it was his imagination, but as he drew closer the sound was clearer. It wasn’t his imagination. But still they crept forward.

This is crazy, Bob thought. If that thing’s behind those garbage cans, there’s no way we can make it back to the van before it gets us.

There was a six-inch opening in one of the garbage cans’ lid. When Bob and Jana crept within about five feet, the lid of this can suddenly fell off with a clang, and out jumped a small emaciated black cat. The cat let out a frightened meow and launched itself in the opposite direction as fast as its little feet could carry it.

As scared as the cat was, it couldn’t have been half as scared as Jana and Bob. Jana screamed briefly, then put her hand over her mouth. Bob just stood there staring at the garbage can with his eyes wide open, surprised at how close he had come to wetting himself.

When the shock wore off, Jana stooped down, put her hands on her hips, and laughed. Bob was still red-faced and only let out a little choked laughter at first, but then he loosened up and joined Jana’s lead.

“Can you believe us?” Jana asked. Then added, “When we get back to the hotel we’re going to destroy that film.”

“It was silly, wasn’t it?”

They laughed for a little while longer, then started back to the van. When they were halfway between the storage buildings and the gas station, Sheriff Oates stepped from behind the building.

“Well, what have we here?” he said.

“Oh, hell,” Bob said

Jana turned to Bob. “No, this is perfect. He doesn’t have his Ranger buddy with him to do his talking. Just keep that camera rolling.”

Bob put the camera to his eye and followed Jana as she walked up to the sheriff.

“Sheriff Oates, I have some questions I’d like to ask you about the unsolved killings that have been going on in your county.”

The sheriff didn’t say a word. He just kept walking toward them, smiling.

“Do you think it is a person doing these killings, and if so do you have any suspects?”

“We don’t exactly know what we’re dealing with, ma’am,” Bill said, still moving toward Jana at a brisk pace. Something wasn’t right. Bob didn’t like the way Bill kept coming on.

Jana continued with her questions. “That’s not very comforting, Sheriff Oates. Don’t you think that it’s your job t…” Jana’s sentence was cut short by a hard upward swing. Swinging upward, claws that were unseen to both Jana and Bob made deep gouges from the side of her left breast to just under her chin; there the claws of the monster’s first and second digits gouged upward, piercing into her mouth from below. The beast then clenched its fist, bringing its fingers out of Jana’s mouth, the two claws splitting her upper lip in the process. With this firm grip, the Sheriff-Oates-thing pulled Jana to him. He opened his mouth grotesquely wide and clamped down on her face. His upper teeth were sunk into the left side of her forehead, and his lower teeth sunk into her face just to the right of her nose. There was a loud crunching sound as the beast brought its jaws together. Jana’s arms, which had been weakly struggling, shot out straight to her sides at first, then slumped.

Bob found that his muscles refused to cooperate. He watched the whole thing in stunned shock. The Sheriff-Oates-thing let Jana slump to the ground, then turned its gaze on Bob. It then crouched down on all fours preparing to pounce.

Finally, Bob’s muscles did something — he pissed himself.

Carl Price cruised down Highway 190 and noticed the Current Edition van parked across the street from the Pineywoods Hotel at Marvin Palmer’s old gas station. Bill had warned Carl, who was filling in for Chad on the night shift, not to leave his car without calling for backup, so Carl pulled up in the parking lot and used his door-mounted spotlight to look around the building. Despite Bill’s instructions, Carl was hesitant to call for backup, because he knew the person backing him up at nights was none other than the sheriff himself. Bill hadn’t been getting much sleep during the current crisis, and it didn’t seem to be helping his temper.