Skull Fire

I nursed my coffee as I turned back onto 71st Road. I had gotten so used to seeing the familiar scenes of my silly town I almost missed the small orange glow. I stared at it strangely, trying to process what I was looking at. I reached down and grabbed my radio.

“Dispatch, this is Officer Grady down in the 3rd district. I’m going to need some assistance here,” I called out.

“10-4, sending back up to your location,” she answered in a smooth calm voice. It didn’t match how dire I was pretty certain this situation would become.

“Get the fire department down here as well, we’re going to need a lot of manpower to get this under control,” I muttered back.

“10-4, sending trucks to your location now,” she added. I dropped my radio back in the car and walked further out near the cavern. The fire was bigger than it had looked initially. I stared at it in awe, feeling completely flabbergasted at the sight.

It wasn’t long until I heard the sounds of sirens and fire engines in the background. Soon, I was surrounded by people and could only watch as the firemen took control of the situation and aimed to put the fire out.

“Grady, what happened?”

I looked to see who had spoken and saw my captain standing there, his eyes locked on the blaze. The fire was putting up quite a fight.

“I don’t know, Sir. I was just doing my rounds and I saw the fire. I’m not sure how it started, I haven’t seen anyone around.”

We watched together silently as the fire slowly submitted to the water streams of the hoses. We walked towards the cavern as it filled with an ashy white smoke. I couldn’t help but cough against the thick air as we moved deeper inwards.

“Sir, I think you’re going to want to see this,” a fireman stated to my captain, while handing us both gas masks. I exchanged an uneasy look with my captain before we put the masks on. I found myself tensing unintentionally as we moved further in. I could see a black pile of something - the wood perhaps that started the fire.

“This is the starting point?” my captain asked. “Was it intentional?”

The fireman nodded, keeping his eyes on the black mass.

“Most certainly. The bodies are pretty charred too, I’m not sure we’ll be able to get identification in our labs here, we’ll have to ship them out of county.”

“Bodies?” I repeated. I looked again and noticed the black mass had some shape to it. The edges of what I thought were wood planks were more rounded and pale. There were rounder hollow sort of balls mixed among them as well and I recognized them as skulls. Bile rose in my mouth and I had to turn away.

“Document and bag everything. Ship it to the next county with an expedited form. I want results on this instantly. Can you tell how they started the fire?”

“These people are soaked in kerosene. I’m surprised it didn’t set off some kind of explosion,” the fireman answered. I started walking away, trying to catch my breath and come to terms with what I had seen. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would do such a thing, especially here.

“This is going to take a while, Grady. Why don’t you head back to the station and write up your report. I’ll get the rest of this settled here,” the captain stated, coming up alongside me now. I nodded, not trusting my voice.

I staggered back to my car and climbed inside. I wasn’t sure I was in the best place to drive but I knew I needed to get out of there. I put the car in reverse and drove out of the neighborhood. I tried to shake the image of half melted bodies out of my mind but the empty eye sockets of the burnt skulls kept appearing in front of my eyes.

When I reached the police station, I sat in my car for a moment. My arms felt heavy and I was exhausted but I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep. Instead I dragged myself back inside and sat down at my desk. I pulled open a report form on my computer and started typing away - trying to include as much detail as possible. Reliving it made me want to vomit again but I held it back.

I sat at my desk the rest of the night watch as the news story of the fire unfolded. It didn’t really give me any information I didn’t already know but I couldn’t get the incident off my mind.

Around 3am my captain burst through the doors. His face and hands were smeared with black ash and his eyes looked heavy. I stood up and moved towards him, following him back to his office.

“What happened? Do we have suspects? How many bodies were there?” I demanded. The questions were pouring out of me. Even when my captain raised his hand, it was hard to stop.

“The firemen are guessing around six bodies in total but we won’t know for certain until we get the forensic files back from the autopsies. We have no suspects. It’s clear that this was intentional and kerosene was the accelerant but that’s all we know. The most we can do now is hope for more answers when we get the reports back.” He threw himself down in the chair and it groaned under his weight. I had more questions, I wanted more answers but it was clear the captain had no more to give me. I nodded and moved back to my desk.

I awoke with a start and realized I had fallen asleep on my keyboard. My arms were stiff from the position and my face was sore. I could feel the growing start of a headache.

Officers were running around the office like some sort of war alarm had gone off. I stood up in a panic and felt a new throbbing in my head.

“What’s going on?” I asked Morgan as he passed by me.

“That fire started up again, only it spread faster. We need to evacuate the town,” he explained. I ran outside towards my car and prepared to drive back to the scene and help with the evacuation. I could smell the smoke from a few miles away and when I reached Metropolitan Avenue I could see that the fire would reach the nearest houses within the hour. People were already loading up their cars and following police orders to leave.

I pulled up to my captain’s car and several others. I searched the crowd until I found my captain.

“What happened? How did the fire start again?” I demanded. He didn’t spare me a glance but instead kept focused on the work the firemen were doing.

“We aren’t sure. We had just finished gathering all the bodies out and trading shifts to watch the crime scene for further investigation. It was only open for about an hour this morning. I have no idea how someone got in, lit the fire this extreme and got out with no one noticing.” He took off his hat and scratched his balding head. I searched my brain for ideas but my mind felt like mush. “Go follow Harrison and the others to make sure everyone within a 10 mile radius gets evacuated.”

I nodded and headed back to the streets to follow orders. When I found Harrison, he told me to go monitor until near 69th and make sure everyone was headed out safely. I didn’t hesitate. I jumped in my car and raced against traffic. When I arrived it was clear most of the area had already been evacuated except for a few straggling people who seemed to be refusing to leave their homes. I pulled up next to another cop car and parked.

Owen was in the middle of a heated conversation with an elderly lady holding tightly to a big orange cat. The cat looked furious and as if it wanted to claw its way out of the lady’s arms but her grip was surprisingly strong.

“I’m not going anywhere! This is my home and you can’t make me leave it!” she barked. I could feel Owen’s irritation.

“Ma’am, this is your safety. There is a fire happening nearby. This would only be a temporary leave until we can get the fire under control,” he explained. The woman scoffed.

“I know your kind,” she said, waving a wrinkled finger. “You’ll say anything to get me out so you can take over and resell my home! I’ve lived here for 52 years and you ain't getting it until I’m good and dead!”

Owen sighed.

“Ma’am, if you don’t leave with us now, that time might come earlier than you think. No one is trying to possess your home or take it from you,” he explained.

“Move along sonny,” she shouted with finality before slamming the door. Owen turned and when he saw me he gave a dramatic eye roll. I shrugged.

“Where should I start?” I asked. He pointed across the street and up the path.

“Start at 1508, head east. Most people are out but we still have some, like this lady,” he said thumbing back at the house, “that refuse to exit. Captain wants us to stay here and patrol until he gives us the all clear for the fire.”

I nodded and moved along up towards the houses he pointed out. I started knocking on doors and came across a row of empty houses. As I turned the corner I saw a man darting out of my vision. I picked up my pace and aimed to follow him. As I passed the bushes I saw nothing and when I turned onto the second street - still nothing. Ahead of me there was a person riding a bike but they were too far away to have been the man I saw.

I started knocking and investigating in the house on the corner, I moved through with caution, keeping my gun at the ready.

“Hello, this is Forest Hill police, come out with your hands up,” I announced. Silence. I moved through the hall and down towards the bedroom before calling out again. Again, nothing. There was no sound and the house felt hollow.

I walked out and headed towards the second house. I made my way inside and started inspecting the kitchen. I called out again but there was no one.

Before I could make it further into the house there was a loud scream. I moved quickly back outside and saw the man on the bike had stopped. His bike was discarded on the ground. He stood in shock, wide eyes, staring at something that I couldn’t see. I ran to him quickly and when he noticed me, he pointed me forward. I turned to see that tucking out of the bushes was a woman's head and arm. Other than light dripping around the torn pieces of flesh, there was no blood, obviously they had been placed here for someone to find.

“Sir, do you know the residence here?” I asked, raising my voice to gather his attention from the sight. He turned to look at me as if really seeing me for the first time.

“Yeah, the Johnsons, um,” he shook his head like he was trying to shake out the memories, “Kelly and Vic Johnson.”

I started towards the door while calling into my radio.

“I need back up at Nansen Street and 69th. I have an 11-44 and possible suspects.”

“Wait!” the man called out. “I’m not a suspect! I found the body!”

I turned back towards the man and did my best to calm him.

“Relax, please, Sir, what is your name?” I asked.

“Dorian Michaels, I live just down the way. I don’t know how that is! I would never - I couldn’t,” his voice started to shake and his words became more unclear.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Dorian. Help is on the way, I need you to stick around and give your statement. Alright?”

He nodded but continued to breath heavily, unable to continue speaking. I moved back to the body and started looking around. I put on gloves and moved through the bushes. I found a piece of paper stuck in the neck of the woman’s head. I pulled it out and unfolded carefully. The note only had three words on it but it shook me to my core.

When I turned around, other’s had arrived. The man was being interviewed by another office. I watched as my captain got out of the car. I moved towards him and he met me in the middle.

“What is it, Grady?” he demanded.

“This man discovered these body parts. The family here had been evacuated but they could still be suspected. I noticed a man running through this street but I was unable to find him. We need to send out a search - he might have more information. And sir, I found this stuck on the woman’s … neck.”

I handed him the note. He read it and glanced up at me.

“I am coming,” he repeated. “What the hell does this mean?”

I shook my head and felt a rising panic.

“I don’t know but I’m guessing this is only the beginning.”