The Beast of 1977 (Book 1)

Nearly two hours later Linus found himself face to face with Leroy Cummins' house once again. He sat inside his cruiser moping over the gut-wrenching fact that there were dead human beings gathered inside just a day earlier.

Upon finishing all of the paperwork that he had set aside the day before, Linus needed to escape the disorderly confines of the station. As luck would have it, he chose a murderer's homestead to find solace.

In his head, it was all like putting together a thousand piece puzzle in the dark; no matter how hard he tried to gather everything mentally, nothing seemed to connect, the emotions and memories kept slipping through his fingers like water.

Linus pulled the keys out of the ignition, got out of the car and sheepishly stepped forward to the front door. The sharp wind seared straight through his heavy coat, leaving his chest nearly frostbitten. In vivid color he recalled the sights and sounds of men carrying body bags out of the home one by one.

There the man stood at the front door of one of Cuyahoga Falls' wealthiest former residents. He remained face to face with the door as if it were supposed to open at the very sight of him before he suddenly remembered that just about every door to the home was locked, which meant that only an exterior tour would have to ease his inquisitive cravings for the time being.

He stepped down from off the doorstep and made his way around to the back of the house where the wind just happened to be even more spiteful than it was up front.

Upon reaching the spacious backyard the flapping of plastic could be heard loud and clear. The hole in the wall was covered with two large layers of plastic that were nearly coming apart at the seams, thanks to the severe wind that was pushing against it.

"Hey there, buddy!" A young, white highway patrolman hollered from the other side of a chain-link fence.

Linus spun around to see the man hop over the fence with his right hand clutching his sidearm that was still lodged in its holster.

"You can't be here, mister!"

Linus ever so carefully pulled out his badge from his pants pocket and held it up for the patrolman to see in plain sight.

"Detective Linus Bruin," he called out in a stutter. "Cypress Police!"

The officer stared closer at the detective before removing his trigger happy hand away from the butt of this gun.

"I'm sorry, sir." The officer humbly blushed, scratching his thin, blonde mustache. "I thought you were another reporter or another kid trying to get in there again."

Slipping his shield back into his pocket, Linus said, "Don't mention it. I didn't mean to intrude."

"You're not intruding." The officer waved. "It's just that last night, after all the others left from here, we got some reports of some kids running around, trying to get in. The little bastards even tried to tear down the plastic you guys put up."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah," the officer panted heavily. "Hey." He gazed on at Linus. "You're that guy that—

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Officer—

"Oh, Officer Stamp, sir," the young man smiled.

"Officer Stamp. I'm gonna tell you the same thing I've told just about everyone else that wants to give me kudos. I got here too late."

"Yeah, maybe, but at least the guy is gone."

Linus turned around to face the mildewed plastic. "Just how many times have you guys been out here since last night?"

"Um, I think about maybe seven times or so."

"Seven times," Linus gasped. "Yeah, this place is real famous, or infamous. We kept getting calls from folks that live near here saying that they keep seeing kids peeking in there."

Linus turned, cracked a cynical smirk and asked, "Folks that live near here?"

"That's

"I suppose those same folks that saw those kids just happened to miss

Officer Stamp uncomfortably lowered his head and mumbled, "I guess

"I'm not beating up

Officer Stamp glanced at the house before saying, "I still can't believe that it was Leroy Cummins of all

"That's what

you want to go in there? I mean, we can

Linus paused, trying to remember why he even bothered to drive completely

"Uh...that's okay." He took a nervous glance of the

the scene of a crime always haunts a person." Stamp remarked while taking a peek over Linus' shoulder. "I'm still having a hard time figuring out just what in the world

Linus turned around to see the paw prints, along with traces of blood still lined in the snow on the ground. Every other second the spark of a large animal's face would appear before his

forth with his hands in his coat pockets, Stamp said, "God help us all

"If you saw what it did to Cummins, then I guarantee that not

"I still can't believe what it did to the Sanders down the

"Were you

"The mother and girls were

"How do

often, she would call the police on

Linus twisted his lips

"Well, all I know is that those girls didn't deserve any of what they got the other night. You think you're safe, and then...then something

exhaled before looking back at the house and then turning back to Stamp. "Tell me something, besides snooping kids, have you or your comrades noticed anything out of the ordinary

He took his hands out of his pockets and folded his arms. He then peered deeply into Linus' eyes

nervous to utter. "I'm not supposed to say anything about it. I'm sorta sworn to secrecy on the whole subject. But since you're the one that cracked the case, I guess

all he did. He didn't budge or even blink. All he could do was stand and wait for the man to speak; and the sooner Stamp explained the

they said they saw a naked, colored guy sitting in a corner, talking to himself. When they asked the guy what he was doing there, the guy

All Linus could do at that point was continue to stand. To say that he was frozen in place would have been cliché. He was drowning within himself, trying desperately

his throat, Linus asked, "You say

"That's

"Maybe he escaped through the opening where the animal

"That's what they figured, too, but they remembered that the officers before them had boarded that opening shut before leaving yesterday afternoon. The guy just

back and watched Stamp's mustache bristle in the blowing wind before asking, "Would it be okay if I

Grinning, Stamp answered, "You can go anywhere you need to,

you said that." Linus grinned back while heading

followed. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything, it's just that I don't want you

Smiling from ear to ear, Linus said out loud, "Company? Hell, I'd rather you bring the entire Cleveland

Both men got into their respective vehicles and took off down the road. For Linus, what seemed to keep his foot so light on the gas pedal was the harrowing fact that he

a few minutes later, both lawmen arrived at the Sanders' residence. Unlike Cummins' home, the Sanders' house appeared even more sinister in Linus' eyes. He threw it all up to the fact that young lives were

walk any faster. Every so often Linus would turn around to see if anyone else was near or around the

"Let's get inside before the mother-in- law sees us." Stamp urged, pushing against the front door

snatch his brooding eyes away from the empty swings just to look at the young man in front of him barge his way

of fresh blood stung his nose. Linus shut the door

"There's nothing worse than that 'day after a

asked. "Someone said that the animal took a dump somewhere in here before it took

while listening to the furnace suddenly kick on.

the stairwell. "Neither of them stuck around