Friday Challenge Entry #9

For the Friday Challenge.

The kid, the boy, and the creature

Detective Jack Harper sat silently watching the smoke from his cigarette make lazy trails in the air as the man across from him tried to stop shaking long enough to light his own. Once the nervous man had inhaled a few drags Jack flicked the switch for the tape recorder on the table.

“It's Wednesday September 16 1959, the time is now 3:48 am. Detective Jack Harper taking interview statement of..” Jack briefly paused the recorder again as he looked over at the man with an air of derision. “What did you say your name was again?” he said to the nervous man.

“Tom...Tom Parker, but everybody just calls me 'the kid'.” he said between rapid drags on his smoke.

Jack was about to turn the recorder back on but was interrupted when Officer Pratley stuck his head in the room.

“Hey Jack. You gonna be okay here alone with tough guy here? I was thinking about checking out the crime scene if you don't need me.” he said hoping the older detective would let him go. If the others hadn't been exaggerating about how bad it was he may even have a chance to get a few pics gruesome enough to send to one of those true crime magazines.

Jack waved the younger officer off without a word, hoping to get back to this interview and back home before dawn. He impatiently pressed record as soon as Pratley shut the door.

“As I was saying, this is Detective Jack Harper taking interview statement of Tom Parker. Mister Parker in your own words please describe the incident for the record.?” Jack said as he finally took a good look at the young man.

What he'd taken for at first as an unkempt and careless appearance was dashed once he studied the kid.
Every piece of Tom's clothing was torn in some way, as if by a wild animal. Jack found himself staring at the kid wondering what he'd witnessed when Tom begin to speak.

“I was walking Becky Brown home when I saw the boy. He was standing in the middle of the street like he was trying to get hit. So I made sure Becky was at her door before I ran out to get him. To keep him from getting hit you know?” Tom said as a thought occurred to him.

“Oh God, I don't even know his name. How will his parents ever know what happened to him?” Tom said looking at Jack desperate for an answer, any answer.

Jack stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and moved to pull another one from the pack as he mulled the question over for himself. He'd been at the crime scene before he'd been ordered come to the station to take the witness statement. And it was something he'd wondered himself. No reason to worry the kid he thought to himself.

“We already have a tentative ID on the boy.” he said hoping to ease Tom's mind. “His parents are going to be notified within the hour.” Jack said as he watched the kid visibly relax.

With that solved, Tom continued his tale.

“The boy stood still as a statue right until I touched him. Then he jumped back all sudden-like and started whispering about this weird creature.” Tom said shivering at the thought. “He kept moving away every time I got close, so to keep him from getting hit, I started herding him toward the sidewalk. Once he was there things got worse, so much worse.” Tom said

“Why did it get worse then son?” Jack asked leaning back in his chair interested in hearing the answer.

“Because that's when he stopped talking about the creature, and when it showed up.” Tom said as he blew a lungful of smoke across the table.

“Did it now? And what did the creature look like, a great big beastie with dripping fangs and talons I suppose?” Jack asked jokingly thinking that he was being put upon and this was all some bizarre prank.

Tom looked back at Jack with a hurt expression on his face, the shock of what he'd seen evident on his face.

“That's the thing, the worst part of it. The boy, he was the creature.” Tom said, letting his hands fall down to his sides. “I watched as he came at me like it wasn't even happening at first. The boy had one of my arms in a vice-like grip and was clawing at my face with the other one.” Tom said recounting what had happened.

“You have to understand it was either him or me.” Tom said visibly shaken by what had come next.

“When I saw the truck coming down the street, I broke his grip and I waited. I waited until the last second and dove in front of the truck praying that he'd follow. And he did.” Tom said letting out a deep breath as he finally relaxed.

Jack tried his level best to not to leap across the table and strangle the kid. Instead focusing on getting Tom to admit what he'd done.

“You're telling me you killed the boy; I mean, defeated the 'creature'?” Jack said calmly as he watched Tom shift uncomfortably in his seat.

“No, I never said I defeated the creature. And if you had been paying attention you'd know that we're all alone in this building. Not another soul around for miles.” Tom said as he leaned forward to take another cigarette from the pack.

“Fine, given that you're a nutjob, what does the fact that we're alone have to do with anything?” Jack asked as he placed one hand on his gun, just in case the kid tried anything.

“Well you see I had so little time getting used to the boy's body that I barely had any time to have fun before I was forced to take this one. And with you, I plan on taking my time.” Tom said as he dropped the cigarette to the ground and advanced on the detective.

Jack had drawn his gun and fired all six shots before the kid even took a step. He stood shaking with a mix of shock and awe as he watched the kid's body crumple to the ground in a lifeless heap.

“Oh God what have I done?!? I need to get someone here.” he said as he flipped off the recorder and sat back down in his chair.

“After all I can't spend too long in this body, it's positively ancient.” said the thing wearing Jack as it reached for another cigarette and calmly waited for the others to return.