Murders at Bear Lake

Chapter 1

The moon was shining bright on this mid-October night. The air was crisp and cool, while a soft wind whistled through the trees with a sound that could send chills up your spine. Everything had a shadow that night. An owl hooted into the night calling for its mate, and small animals scurried through bushes and leaves to find a hiding spot. Crickets had gone silent, because they were not alone; something else was in the woods as well. There was a shadow that stood within the trees. As the moon shone through the trees, something shiny could be seen. It was a knife with a reddish tint to the blade. As it dripped, it left a small puddle of blood around the leaves on the ground. Suddenly, the shadow was gone, and all was calm for the time being.

It is a good thing that the moon was shining in the night, because a stranger came strolling down the road. His car broke down, and his flashlight batteries had given out about a mile back. The moonlight was what the stranger was relying on, in order to see. Brad Jones was the stranger, and he felt as though he had been walking for days. He walked along a two-lane road, which ran down through the woods, and the trees that ran along each side of the road were very tall and looked as though they could touch the stars. As Brad looked straight ahead, the trees looked like they went on forever.

As Brad walked down the road, he came upon a sign at a dirt road that read: "Willow’s Ridge—One mile ahead. Bear Lake—Half a mile to the right." Brad thought to himself, Well, I don’t need to go to Bear Lake. I need a place where I can get some hot food and some coffee. Brad was wearing his jacket and he was glad that he was, because it had gotten quite chilly outside. On his back was his backpack, which he had packed light with some personnel items along with some sweaters and jeans. His most precious item was a picture of his parents. They died last year in a car accident, where they were hit by a drunk driver. It is not fair at all the sorry excuse for a person lived, while Brad’s parents had to suffer and die. But on to happier thoughts—Brad could remember when his mother would be talking to her friends, and she’d say, “Brad is the spitting image of his father.” Of course, Brad’s response was always the same. “Mother please, you are embarrassing me.” His cheeks would always turn a rosy pink, and he would turn away. There is no doubt that he looked like his father; tall, slender, with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. If looks could kill, you’d probably think you were dying just to look at him.

Brad finished reminiscing about the old times. As he drifted back into reality, a noise caught his attention. As he walked cautiously, the noises caught his attention again. Something snapped, like small branches under something or someone’s feet. He was getting nervous, and was undecided whether it was animal or human. His voice did crack a little when he asked, “Hello… Is anyone out there?” No one answered, but the snapping continued like it was following him. A cold chill ran down his spine. The hairs on the back of his neck stood out. His pulse began to race. Brad got scared, scared enough to where he thought his heart was going to jump out of his chest and run away without him. He kept walking, and then he picked up speed. Soon he was running as fast as he could. Everything was silent except for the sound of his shoes hitting the pavement, and the noises that kept coming after him. Suddenly, the noises stopped as fast as they had started. Brad had turned to look behind him but there was nothing there, so he slowed to a walk. Tired and out of breath, he tried to hurry to get to town. He thought he was being silly for getting scared over some noise. He brushed it off like a deer, but deep down inside he still wondered.

As he walked, he came to the Willow’s Ridge town limit sign. Thank heavens. Finally a town, Willow’s Ridge. Now, if I could just find a place to eat and to sleep, Brad thought to himself. As he walked into Willow’s Ridge, the town didn’t seem very big, but at least it had more life to it than the road he just came in on. He couldn’t help but think of the noises that were out in the woods. How unnerving that was, to think that somebody or something was following him, chasing him even. But, why? He thought to himself, Yeah, I guess it was just a deer. But unfortunately, it was not a deer. In fact, it was someone watching… watching very closely, and waiting from a dark place within the woods.

As Brad walked down through town, he noticed a flashing, glowing sign in the distance. As he got closer the sign read: "Jack’s Diner… Open 6 AM-10 PM." That was just what he needed. He opened the door to the diner and went inside. A sweet smell of food hit him right in the face. There were quite a few of the town folk in there eating when Brad walked in, and he could not help but notice how they all stopped eating long enough to stare at him, then went back to eating and talking amongst themselves. Brad noticed how nice the place looked. The floor had a white and black checkerboard pattern, the walls had pictures hanging on them, and there sat a jukebox in the corner, playing some old song from the past. Not a bad looking place, he thought to himself, as he walked up to the counter and sat down. He put his backpack on the floor at his feet, and waited for the waitress.

He still looked around admiring the place, when he looked toward the coffee maker and saw the waitress walking up to the counter.

“Good evening, sir. Would you like to have a menu?” the waitress asked.

“Yes please,” Brad replied with a slight smile, while noticing her name tag that said, Heidi. She gave him a menu, and he flipped through to see what they had. He couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was. She was probably about five foot six, maybe seven, and petite. Her hair, even though pulled back, was long with small curls at the bottom, and was blond like golden sunshine. Her eyes were sky blue, and looking at her, Brad thought to himself, If dynamite were to come in small packages, I bet she would be one heck of a boom.

“Have you decided on anything yet, sir?"

“Sure, I’m going to have the cheeseburger with everything. Run it through the garden as some people say, and with fries. Please add a nice, hot cup of coffee to please,” Brad answered while handing the menu back to the lovely waitress with the bright eyes and a glowing smile. He looked around, taking in the sights of the diner. He was not thinking of how nice the building construction was either.

“It’s coming right up, in just a few minutes,” the waitress answered with a smile and a glance at Brad, as she turned away to get some coffee for this stranger. After Brad received his coffee, he took a sip and could feel the warmth travel all the way down to his stomach.

“Thanks,” Brad said to the waitress, as she handed his order to the cook, then went to clean some tables that had been vacated. By the time the waitress got her cleaning done, a little bell was heard: “DING-DING!” Then, the next thing you heard was the cook yelling, “ORDER UP!” The waitress turned to put Brad’s food down, and he was gone! A few minutes later, he came from the bathroom and sat down on the stool, and gazed at his food.

“I thought you had gone,” the waitress said with a worried look.

“No ma’am. I just had to wash up,” Brad replied with a smile.

“I haven’t seen you around here before. You new in town?” Heidi asked, as she took a washrag and started wiping the counter clean.

“Yeah, I just got into town not long ago,” Brad replied.

“Do you have a place to stay yet?” she asked while refilling his coffee cup.

“No, not yet. Being that I just got into town, I haven’t had a chance to look,” Brad said. “By the way, my name is Brad Jones.”

“Well, my name is Heidi, as you can see from my name tag,” Heidi said.

They both laughed as Brad finished up his dinner. Heidi gave him his total so he could pay.

“Okay, Brad. Your total is going to be $3.75,” Heidi said. Brad reached into his pocket and pulled out a $5 bill.

“You keep the change,” he told her, while he watched a smile stretch across her face. It made him feel good to make someone else happy for a change.

“Thank you, Brad,” she replied. “If you would like a place to stay, I know of one that is not too far away from here. When you go out the door, turn left and around the corner of the building. Go about two or three blocks down to Lander Avenue. Turn left, and walk just a short way until you come upon a huge white house. That will be the Willow’s Ridge Inn,” Heidi told Brad while pointing toward the direction of the window, along with a big smile when she was done.

“Thanks, Heidi. I’ll probably see you tomorrow,” Brad said with a smile, as he grabbed his backpack and swung it over one shoulder before turning to leave. One last glance followed by a smile and a "see you later" wave of his hand, then he went out the door of the diner, turned left, and headed toward Lander Avenue.

He walked three blocks from the diner, passed some old buildings and a stoplight. Street lamps were lit along both sides of the street. A few cars went by, and a couple of town residents came walking out of the local movie place. As Brad continued to walk, he came upon Lander Avenue. He turned and walked at least two blocks, then came upon a three-story white house that had its porch lights on. He stood for a moment, and stared at the house thinking, Wow, there it is. Willow’s Ridge Inn. There were black shutters neatly beside each window. The sign in the front yard had the bed and breakfast’s name engraved into it. Because it was dark in some places of the yard, it was a little hard for Brad to see exactly what was in the yard, but he could see the shadows of the trees, and they were pretty big. The place looked like it could have been maybe a plantation house at some point, and had maybe been there for hundreds of years. However, it was in a class of beauty all of its own.

As Brad walked up the walkway, he felt as though he was being watched. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up again. He stopped for an instant to look around. There was no one, so he turned back around to go up the stairs to the front door when, all of a sudden, before he knew it, “WHOOF-WHOOF!” Brad about jumped out of his skin. It was a little, light brown Yorkie with a bow on top of its head, that just stood and stared at this stranger that was in his territory. How could something so small sound so loud? The dog stuck its small tail up in the air like it was the size of a pit bull, and stood its ground.

“AHH! Scare the heck out of somebody, why don’t ya!” Brad yelled. Just then, the front door opened, and a little old lady with white hair came outside. She looked like she was in her 70s or more.

“Well, Tiger, are you scaring people again?” The little lady said. “You just stop that right now, or mommy’s going to spank you… That’s mommy’s little baby,” she said, while smiling and cuddling the little dog in her arms like it was an actual human baby.

“I’m sorry, young man. My Tiger is very protective of this place and me,” She told Brad with a bright smile, as though she was proud of her little protector. Brad smiled back at the elderly lady and her dog while adjusting his backpack on his shoulder.

“It is quite all right, ma’am. Tiger just gave me a scare, that’s all,” Brad said with a smile while holding one of his hands up against his chest, like he was trying keeping his heart from coming out. He gripped his backpack, and adjusted it to where it was more comfortable on his shoulder.

“Are you looking for a room?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am. I just got into town and—,” Brad tried to finish.

“Don’t you worry. I’ll get you fixed right up,” the lady said. “Come on in, and I’ll find a room.” They both went inside, out of the cold, and walked into a room that was on the right side of the hallway. There was a small table in the corner of the room that had some papers neatly stacked on top, and there were two chairs where they could both sit down.

“My name is Brad Jones.”

“Well, my name is Sabra Stanley, but just call me Mrs. Stanley,” she said smiling. “It is nice to meet you, Mr. Jones.”

“Call me Brad, please.”

“All right Brad. Here is a room key for number 12, which is on the third floor. It will be $50 a week,” she told him with a smile.

“That will be fine, thank you,” Brad said, while handing her the money for the week. He started down a long hallway to where the staircase sat. He adjusted his backpack a little better, and thought of how quiet and peaceful this place is. So warm and cozy this place felt, as he started to his room.

He went up the stairs to the third floor, finding his room on the front side of the house. He opened the door, and cut on the light to see that in his room, there was a twin bed, a small desk in front of the window, and the bathroom door. He put his backpack down beside the bed, and made sure the door was locked. He checked out the bathroom, and started running a bath. He noticed there were a few wash cloths hanging on a rack on the back of the door. He undressed and grabbed one of the wash cloths, got into the tub, and slipped down in it slowly, enjoying every second of this. The hot water felt so good on his chilly body that any of the spots that were cold like his feet were not cold anymore. As he lay in the tub soaking, he started thinking about Mrs. Stanley. He thought of how she was so nice, and she had only charged him $50 a week for the room. That’s not bad, considering that a motel would have been a lot higher in price.

After he finished his bath, he got out and dressed quickly, for he thought he had heard a noise at the door. He walked over to the door, opened it slowly, and saw there was a note that had been taped to his door. It was from Mrs. Stanley, which said, “Hey, Brad. I forgot to tell you that there will be breakfast downstairs in the kitchen, at 7 AM.” Brad closed the door, and locked it again once more. There was a clock radio beside his bed, so he cut the radio on. The time was 11:30 PM. It was definitely time for bed, and as his eyes grew heavy, he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Brad woke up relaxed and refreshed. He got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen, and there he saw Mrs. Stanley.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” she asked while stirring the eggs and cooking the bacon.

“Yes, ma’am. I slept like a baby,” Brad replied with a smile.

“Well, good. You might want to put something warm on if you’re planning on going outside,” Mrs. Stanley told Brad. “It’s rather chilly, being that it’s still early and all. The weatherman said it is supposed to warm up a little bit today, just enough to be comfortable.”

“Oh, I’m pretty warm, Mrs. Stanley. This is my favorite pullover sweatshirt,” Brad replied. Mrs. Stanley scrambled some eggs and fried up some bacon, so Brad sat down and ate. When he was finished, he complimented Mrs. Stanley on her cooking. She had a grin on her face from ear to ear when she left the room. Brad left the kitchen, and went out to the front porch. It was light outside now, so he was able to see that the shadows that he saw the night before were just the giant weeping willows trees in the front yard. The birds were singing from the trees and the sun was rising. It sure was a beautiful day. Mrs. Stanley came out of the door to let Tiger do his business. Tiger looked around and smelled the air. The air did have a sweet and kind smell, fresh if you will. All of a sudden, Tiger saw a cat in the bushes. He let out a bark and took off after the cat. Brad didn’t know a cat could get away so fast. He just laughed and went on down the steps, and headed for the sidewalk.