The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Completely deflated, Bruin dragged himself past the murder scene on his way back into the living room to find Fitzpatrick holding a tape recorder. He then watched as his partner pushed the rewind button and allowed the recording to play.

Everyone that was gathered in the living room stood and listened with disgusted faces as Cummins huffed and wheezed to a Chicago song playing in the background. It wasn't too difficult for everyone to figure out what the man was doing in the recording.

"Damn shit." Fitzpatrick growled as he placed the machine back down onto the glass table without stopping the recording.

"Hey, Jones," Bruin motioned to the floor, "there's a thing of Vaseline beside the couch there."

"Where's the fellow that he snatched yesterday?" One of the other officers asked.

"Maybe he's downstairs." Bruin miserably replied before starting for the bedrooms.

"I guess it makes sense in a way," Fitzpatrick mentioned while gawking about the sophisticated living room, "he's been using his own vehicles to snatch people."

"We've got a live one down here!" A voice gleefully shouted out from the basement.

Like little boys on summer vacation, both Bruin and Fitzpatrick raced through the living room, into the kitchen and down the basement stairs to see fifteen naked, dead bodies lying all over a bloodied floor, and one living, naked person curled up in a secure ball, holding her thin hands together as tight as she could while her blue eyes bulged out of her head in a horrific manner.

"Someone get Donaldson down here, now!" Bruin feverishly screamed as he got down to his knees and attempted to tenderly hold the woman in his arms.

"It's okay, honey. It's all over now." He gently reassured the girl while taking off his coat and wrapping it around her shockingly warm body.

Right around the corner at the top of the stairs was a plump, blonde white female officer. The woman came rushing down the steps only to stop midway at the sight of the sadistic death that took hold of her eyes.

"Shirley, come here, we need you to take her upstairs!" Bruin yelled.

But Donaldson appeared too afraid to make another move forward. She slowly began to back away until she stumbled against one of the steps behind her.

"Get your ass down here now, Donaldson!" Fitzpatrick furiously gestured with his left hand.

The petrified woman skittishly stepped down the stairs and approached the young lady on the floor. From there she coddled the woman in her arms like a child.

"Talk to her, Donaldson, she's a baby girl!" Bruin urgently ranted.

"Hold on...sweetheart, we're gonna get you out of here real soon." Donaldson stammered while caressing the woman's long, brunette hair.

With his hands shaking, Bruin stood back up and surveyed every corpse that was lying on the floor. Each body, including the young woman's, had deep puncture wounds to the stomach area.

Their pale, distraught faces told the story of their final moments of life. Handsome, young black men and pretty, young white women were all scattered from one end of the basement to the other. Even the overwhelming stench of the room couldn't tear the officers and detectives away from the bludgeoning sight of all the death that stared ever so lifelessly right back at them. Every moment passed by in surreal slow motion.

"There's Calvin over there." Fitzpatrick pointed straight ahead.

and watched as the medics helped the young lady from

and saying to an officer beside him, "Smiley, contact the Cohen

one by one. After he had overturned each corpse onto its stomach, he coldly stated out loud, "Forced insertion wounds

the hell is this fellow that Cummins took yesterday?"

Bruin noticed even more black fur that was located next to the steps. "Yep, it came

from out of Bruin's hand and sighed, "Linus, forensics fucked it all up last November when their supposed bear attacked those Jamaican guys. Everyone down at the lab was in such a hurry to get home for the holiday that they would have said an elephant did it. This fur

that to Cummins?" Fitzpatrick stepped up beside both men. "C'mon, Brice,

was a pack of wolves, that's not too uncommon

"There's only one set of paw prints tracked in the

"Well, let's only hope that this Mercer

"If he did end up escaping, he did so a naked man." Fitzpatrick said. "His clothes are still upstairs on the couch. I'm gonna call

Right then, the bizarre roars of an angry animal shot out from upstairs. Every officer and detective that was in the basement pulled out their weapons before racing back

the sounds that they were hearing were coming from the tape recorder that

room and listened

"Is that a bear?" Fitzpatrick's face turned

"I've never heard a bear sound like that before." One of the other officers

of wood came into earshot, which was followed by

"That's not all." Another officer pointed

the window to see news vans and reporters

you're the big TV star here." Fitzpatrick sarcastically

nosey reporters, or anyone else for that matter, but it was his case, it had been for the past

detective stepped outside onto the icy porch with

Bruin, is this the residence of the B.O.D. kidnapper?" A male reporter asked with a

described a black male in his early twenties accepting a ride from a man that fit our description. Upon our arrival here this morning, Leroy Cummins the Third was found

"Wait a minute, Detective, are we talking about the same Leroy Cummins that owns Cummins' Chevrolet here in town?" A female reporter questioned in a

"That is correct." Bruin shook his head. "We discovered sixteen bodies located in Mr.

any survivors, Detective?" "Just one, so far," Bruin stated. "One Gloria Cohen

about this person

to locate Mr. Mercer. We're only hoping that he managed to escape and is on his

was found dead.

Bruin held his tongue for a few seconds before

rumors that an animal, possibly a killer bear, murdered Cummins.

not at liberty to discuss Cummins' cause of death at this point, but, we are working in conjunction with Cuyahoga Falls' authorities and informing residents to

back into the frigid confines of

that quick?"

too. Look at this." Fitzpatrick said while holding