Lums

A chill filled the autumn air. Swirls on the water were reminiscent of the ripples in time. The darkness was punctuated by electric lamps surrounding the Lums Pond State Park in Bear, Delaware in New Castle County. A splashing sound stirred up with the dredging of the cage. Dozens of human remains appeared but there was no sign of the cage.

The Daily Delaware covered the latest news. Reporter Usala Farrah was investigating the macabre goings on at the park. The leaves crunched under her boots and the October air breezed through her hair. She pulled her hoodie tighter, and zipped it to the top. She met with a member of the park personnel at the site where the remains had been uncovered.

“Yes, we’ve had twenty-four bodies surface, including the three found today,” State Park Ranger Ray Bulliard said. His sausage fingers tapped at his smartphone while Usala interviewed him.

“How does the park plan to prevent the twenty-fifth body?” Usala asked.

Bulliard sighed. He looked up from the phone. “We’re doing….”

“Everything you can,” Usala completed the oft-repeated refrain.

“You're a smart newspaper lady. Yes, we’ve got all kinds of instruments and tools to help stop the ‘incidents,’” Bulliard replied.

Usala smiled and shook his hand. “Thank you for your time. Do you mind if I look around the grounds?”

“Of course not. It’s your world,” Bulliard said with a smile.

She looked at the water, and the ground. The leaves had begun to change. The sunlight kissed the red and gold foliage. She kept walking. She snapped photos of the few lines in the sand where the dredge pulled from the pond.

Suddenly it occurred to her to take down the tag number on the blue and gold license plate of Bulliard’s truck. A snap of a digital picture produced something in Usala like a mixture of curiosity and relief. She drove back to the Daily offices. She faced an associate editor, Jania Lenden.

“I found this vehicle with the decal of the park with the license plate at a pork processing site in Sussex County,” Usala pointed out.

“When were you in Lower Slower Delaware (LSD)?” Jania asked derisively.

“Never mind. Do you remember the story about the hogs in the farm house in Laurel being fed mystery meat?”

“Oh, yeah. You think—”

“Yes.”

“No!” Jania exclaimed.

“Yes. Someone’s using a machine to tip over boats and drown people. They capture them in a crab pot device and then cart them up from the pond. From there, they haul the bodies down state and sell them to farmers to use as feed.”

Usala said all of this to the editor-in-chief Sade Zimmer, too.

“I believe you, I’m not going to doubt you or hit you with too much skepticism. I just have a few questions to ask you; what about the police? The families demanding remains? When did they get past the television crews and our best journalists? Witnesses?”

“I figured the police had nothing to do with it as they would have stopped the murders after the fourth or fifth death. The television newscasters and our journalists just covered the fact the bodies were mounting. Most of the families are too grief-stricken to confront the park. Some have been irate, and demanded to shut down the place altogether. There were no witnesses because the contraption is underneath the surface. It just looks like the boat got rocked too much by heavy winds.”

“Okay. You have my word. I trust you to see this through. I’m giving you two days. Be safe. If you’re not back in two hours today, I’m sending the cops over there,” Zimmer said.

Usala returned to the pond. Jania came with her. They both wore heavier jackets, sweaters, blue jeans and non-slip boots. Usala rented a boat and they explored the waters.

“We’re not experiencing anything out of the ordinary,” Jania said. Then, a jolt rocked the boat. They looked at each other. Their eyes wide, they sought to hold onto anything. Like two figurines in a child’s toy boat in the bathtub, both journalists flipped over into the water. As experienced swimmers, they fought against being trapped. Then, Usala saw it: a pot with an opening and a mechanical arm reaching towards Jania. Usala swam with intensity. She grabbed Jania’s arm and struggled to keep her from falling into the pot. With all of her power, she tugged Jania away from the arm and managed to swim herself. She reached land with Jania who was unresponsive. Usala performed CPR and Jania sprang back to life.

“Yeah. Yes. Uh-huh,” Jania yelped, gasping for air and understanding everything Usala had said on a personal level.

Their wet clothes clung to them as ready pasta sticks to the wall.

“C’mon we’ve got to get back to the office,” Usala announced.

“You better come with me,” Bulliard said with a baton in his hand standing over the women. He took them to the station where Usala had first met him.

Now, he stood with Deputy Rudolph Doan with a pistol. He was slightly taller than Bulliard and he folded his arms over his chest and grinned.

“You two ladies…I thought at least one of you was smart,” he looked at Usala. “Now, where we’re going to where nobody knows.” Both women struggled against their captor, but ceased their efforts at the muzzle of Doan’s firearm. Bulliard bound and gagged the two women, and forced them into a room behind the utility closet. It was just a clean white brick space with shelves and a dim light. Bulliard brought two chairs and tied them back-to-back.

“You ladies just sit tight…literally!” Bulliard laughed at his own cruel joke.

The two women looked around the room. Usala noticed Bulliard left his smartphone. Her only hope was to use the emergency function on it.

Usala shimmied over to the phone and reached it. She edged closer with every ounce of power she had left. It was left on a ledge in the room, but she knocked it to the ground.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Bulliard said and pointed at the floor. “Did you try to use my phone? What a pity. You’re going to have to learn,” Bulliard proclaimed.

He undid their ties and shackled them to two seats bolted to the wall.

“That should take care of you both,” he assured sardonically.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be back soon enough.” After he shut the door, he saw Deputy Doan with his hands cuffed and a bright light shining in his eyes.

“This is the police! Put your hands in the air and step away from the station.”

Sade ran up to the police line as it was being taped to a tree. Detective Daisy Rokinski entered the station. With her pistol extended, she searched the premises. More officers flooded into the space. Daisy saw a glow coming from the hallway and heard muffled screams. She moved with purpose towards the sounds. She freed the two women.

“Thanks,” Jania said.

“We’re appreciative of this,” Usala said.

“I know,” Detective Rokowski affirmed.

In fresh clothes and ready for their close up, Usala and Jania stood in front of cameras next, happy to be alive.