The Curse of 1977 (Book 2)

David sat in his recliner within the dimly lit living room of his three bedroom apartment, intently listening to, with his Pioneer headphones attached to his ears, the vaunted recording of an animal destroying a human being with such ferocity that it made David's body squirm.

Despite being seated comfortably, David was far from relaxed. The man had listened to the tape well over twenty times since he got home that evening, and not one time did he ever feel the urge to want to separate himself from its unrelenting hold.

David recalled what Alan mentioned about it sounding like it was from hell. And as hard as he tried to, David could not put a finger on what sort of creature it was that he could have been hearing. Every time he rewound the tape he expected to notice a different sound, but instead he got only the same thing over and over.

He wanted to give up and toss it all to the wind, but something malignant not only in the recording but in the occurrences over the past few days kept him relentlessly on the edge of his seat.Every animal attack seemed to possess one similar trait, the utter destruction of property.

He viewed photos of Leroy Cummins' house, the incident at the roller rink and the shelter, and they all wore the same demolished mask. David wasn't a naïve man, he knew full well that no ordinary animal could possess such great power to knock down solid brick walls, and yet there he was constantly rewinding the same tape in order to gain a visual of the beast that was playing tricks with his head. Soon, the very room he was sitting in became non-existent the more and harder he pressed the rewind button on the tape recorder.

"I said, it's time for supper!" David's wife nudged him on the shoulder.

David could have jumped to the ceiling from sheer shock at that moment before he spun around to see the woman standing above him.The man accidentally dropped the tape recorder to the floor as he took off his headphones.

"I...I was listening to this thing on here." He caught his breath.

Appearing completely lost, David's wife asked, "What thing are you talking about?"

David picked the recorder up from off the floor and sat it back on the table beside him. He then handed his wife the headphones. The woman wiped her hands clean on the rag that she had in her hands before she placed the headphones on her ears.

"Okay, now listen to this." David hastily pressed the play button.

He watched as his wife turned up her nose at the sound of the beast in the recording. He waited with bated anticipation for her to open her mouth and say something.His wife ripped the headphones from off her ears before handing them back to David in disgust.

"What was that supposed to be?" She griped with a frown.

"It's a recording of the animal that killed this rapist and murderer a few months ago." David panted. "I have reason to believe that this may be the same thing that's going around on this killing spree now."

Standing over him while shaking her head in dismay, David's wife said, "You never change, do you?"

Looking up at the woman, David shrugged his shoulders, "What do you mean?"

"Just like back in Chicago, you still bring your work home."

"Esmeralda, this isn't just work, this thing is running around the city eating people!" David beseeched.

Esmeralda snatched both the tape recorder and headphones away from him before placing them on the table beside David. She then grabbed his arm and proceeded to hoist the man up from out of his chair.

supper time. I'm not gonna let you drown yourself

sore legs, David capitulated, "Okay, okay, I'll take

paused to see why David was

how old I was today while I was running up the stairs." David humbly

Esmeralda only twisted her lips before taking her dishrag

fifty-six year

popped Esmeralda on the backside before he cut off the light in the living room and followed in behind his wife into the kitchen where a young woman and

David rolled up his sleeves and glanced at the miniature television set that was seated on the kitchen counter that was playing 'Chico & The Man'. From the onset the tiny family spoke Spanish back and forth to one another while Esmeralda served everyone plates full of sliced chicken breasts, rice and peas before she sat down next to David at the table.The banter carried on for at least ten minutes. David spoke to his daughter while the young woman fed her

"Papi, when are you gonna get that other TV fixed?" His daughter practically whined. "I'm tired of watching shows on that tiny,

get my first paycheck, that's when," David replied while eating away at a piece of chicken. "And speaking of paychecks, when do you plan on looking for a job, young

I told you, I'm waiting for Carlos to give me

slammed her hand on the table. "I'm glad we left Chicago just so we

"Mama, don't

tired of you making excuses for the likes of him. How can you defend such a man that

Rosa just blushed while hanging her head to her plate as she fiddled with her food with her

here in this city with that thing running around."

the animal for whatever reason." Esmeralda announced. "I

Rosa suddenly perked right

still

and poke at the food that was left in his plate while contemplating in his head. Every so often the television would grab his waning attention, but all in all the man's concentration was focused

Esmeralda, "Do you remember the Constino case from back home,

Esmeralda then placed her fork down onto her

his elbows onto the table and folded his hands. "I don't know for sure. But what's happening

"But, Papi, Vinnie Constino was a gangster." Rosa mentioned.

"Who told you that it was

"That's the talk around the neighborhood." Rosa

"What's prowling these streets could never be contained in a zoo." David stated in a listless

"So how does Constino

madman that went around targeting specific places in Chicago. He was never a random killer. He was very meticulous in his choice of slayings." David then rested his hands on his stomach. "Something is just not adding up in all of this. Why would this thing break

movie where certain smells caught the attention of this vampire that went around killing people in London."

sat and studied the young lady with downcast eyes, as if to

wife, David urged, "C'mon, Esmeralda, you heard it. What did you make

you mean, what did I make of it? It sounded like a wild