Written by Veluan, Thu Oct 8 4:18:21 US/Pacific 1998
Part 18
Within a few minutes he got up and walked towards the burning remains of the cottage. The fire spread a light on the nearby trees. Mack saw a piece of paper nailed shut agains a tree.
"The shadow" it said. He stared bitterly at the paper and heared people coming. He looked at the tree where Firebrow tought him about the tool fear. He climbed in it and looked down. A couple of policemen ran towards the cottage. Three firemen came with a device containing a watertank. The all watched the flames helplessly. Water was sprayed over the fire and it went out, all was dark again. The firemen left the scene a couple of minutes later and left the policemen alone.
Mack could hear their conversation. An old, fat one started. "Probably a gas leak. This was the place of that weird old guy, wasn't it?"
A younger cop went through his curly hair with his right-hand. "Euh, yeah I think you're right."
The policemen were silent and watched the smoke curl up into the air above.
"Found any bodies?" the old one said.
"No, but he could have been blown to bits so bad that I couldn't find him."
"Don't be dumb." The old man turned around. "We'll put a message up and ask if anyone has seen that guy, if they don't he's probably dead." The old policeman walked away.
"Come on!" he commanded to the younger cop, who turned around and followed him.
"No wonder that Shadow-guy isn't
caught." Mack said to himself. He dried his tears and thought hard.
Firebrow's body wasn't found, but that didn't make him less dead. That
son-of-a-shadow did it, but who is he? He must have placed some sort
of explosive mechanism, but he must have placed it very quick, because
Firebrow was only gone for an hour. Why am I thinking he, Mack
thought, the Shadow could also be a she. Who could the Shadow be.
Are there any suspects?
Jessica?
George?
Annie?
Fred?
Phil?
James?
Frank?
He was jumping to conclusions. Why would Annie or George do
it? They liked Firebrow and were victims of the Shadow themselves,
but maybe it was a fake assault. NO! He was starting to get paranoid.
Jessica then? She asked to stop the Shadowhunt, but only because she cared, she said. No, Jessica wasn't likely. Fred was behind bars, so he couldn't. Phil? Nah. James was a git, but he was just a..git. Frank, hah, that guy doesn't even go outside his house. No, Mack didn't know of any motives, heck he didn't even know everybody in this place. It could just as easy be someone he didn't know. Boy, he was crap as a detective of the supernatural, he was chasing...shadows.
Mack slowly climbed out of the tree, he was going undercover. The Shadow, who he or she is, thinks that he's dead too. Tomorrow night a new Shadow meeting, who was going to be there besides the Shadow? And where? In the woods, but there were a lot of woods, what was a spot in the woods that was suiteable? Mack took out the map he found in one of his pockets. He thought of Frank's book that got blown up, a shame he could really use it at a time like this. He browsed through the woods on the map. Not much except the monestry. Why not the monestry? It sounded like a decent meeting place for psycho's.
Firebrow wrote something on the monestry, Ruines, St-Fransiscus, Weird Well. That was it. What did Firebrow mean with weird well. Mack wished more then ever that he was alive. He heared footsteps and quickly hid behind a tree.
It was Jessica. She stopped looked at the remains of the cottage. She cried and ran away again. Mack felt sorry for her, but he couldn't show himself. For the moment she had to think that they both died in the explosion.
The woods
Mack sat against a tree. He looked up to the moon. He felt cold and alone. Tomorrow he had to meet Fred again, he said that he would help him. He needed all the help he could get. He didn't have a clue how to catch the Shadow. He got up and tried to look at the map using the pale moonlight.
"The town is that way." Mack pointed and talked to himself. He put the map in his pocket again and walked in the direction he pointed. In the town there must be something useful in his shadowhunt. Mack was confused, but determined to hunt that Shadow down, now it was personal and he had the advantage of being 'dead'.
The Yellow Whale
Mack stood at the door of the little shop, no alarm. Mack stepped back and kicked the shopwindow in. With no remorse he entered the dark shop. There was a small stand for hunting. Mack walked towards it and saw a shotgun. He grabbed it and took some bullets. He loaded the gun and saw a big knife used for cutting up fish. He grabbed it and put it in his pocket, the point of the knife went through his trousers, but Mack didn't even notice, he was in sort of an trance. With the shotgun on his back he left the shop trough the broken window. He slowly walked into the woods again. When he was far enough from the village, he climbed up a tree and sat down on a branch. He leaned against the stem of the tree. Slowly he dozed off and found a little bit of rest. He was going to need it.
If you have any comments, you can email Veluan at gjvdmeer@tref.nl.
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