For Joey being a full head shorter, and much younger than most of his officers, he carried himself well and demanded the respect of his counterparts. The self-appointed leader of these sheriffs had a much more level head.
He wore what the police officers would have worn if this city was once again whole. A wide-brimmed hat that didn’t fit quite right covered his head with a bright, polished badge set in the dead middle. The uniform he wore wasn’t made for him, obviously, but he’d decided to wear it anyway. He had rolled up his sleeves, and cut off the pants so they didn’t drag when he walked. Still, it was comical, but no one ever made fun of it.
“Sheriff,” I said.
“You know, as many times as you say that, doesn’t mean I understand it,” Joey frowned, quickly changing to a stern look of disapproval. In fact, no one apparently recalled the term “sheriff” or “police” or whatever, even though it was knitted into their uniforms. “You need to stop.”
“Then just do what needs to be done,” I said back.
“No.”
Joey’s self-righteous attitude refused to bury a bullet between my eyes. Whatever was stopping him also halted the attempts of the other officers, though I had no idea why.
I lay down on the bed, eyeing the cracks in the ceiling. There was a solid fifty-five cracks in the concrete above, and I counted them regularly. One rather large one split the wall near the barred windows, and on occasion I’d chip away at it with my bare fingers. This only earned me bloody fingertips. The cell was escape-proof, refusing to let me leave and end this pitiful life.
“Well, why not? I murdered them, right?” I asked.
“Did you?” Joey asked.
“Didn’t I?”
“I’m not going to play these games Jackson.” Joey never directly labeled me with whatever they’d discovered on that day.
I didn’t get it. I was either innocent or guilty. Yet he kept asking me, like I would eventually declare my intent that day, like he could wait out my silence.
“Sure you are. It’s all you got,” I laughed.
Joey leaned through the bars and clasped his hands tougher. He seemed to be in thought, holding a deeper secrecy that the others lacked. From what I’d learned of him over the past few weeks, he was a decent person, maybe even good. But he kept me locked up here instead of granting me my final release, which was maybe the worst thing anyone was willing to do to me.
He didn’t allow others to come see me; the crowd from the city was only allowed to hurl insults through my barred window. Even Frank wasn’t permitted inside the jailhouse. I heard he walked with a limp now but had a never-ending smile. No attempts were made on my life and I could only assume that was thanks to Frank as well. The mob must have understood that leaving me here in this jail cell was better than a quick release of death.
Even though there were no rules or laws that governed Joey’s actions, he still held onto something that didn’t truly exist anymore. Maybe he’d wanted to be a policeman before the forgetting, or maybe he was one. But he seemed too young, and the clothes didn’t fight right.
“You know, you don’t have to watch over me,” I sighed.
I’d never admitted guilt, never would. But I never discredited Frank’s story either. It didn’t really matter. It wouldn’t lead me back to Olivia, wherever the poor girl was, or was buried. They never found her. Frank probably hid the body. That dirty bastard.
“Not today,” Joey stressed.
“Sure thing,” I replied.
There were only two days left anyway. No one had the faintest inkling that the timer was intertwined with my fate. My time was short enough to not worry about what Joey’s intentions were. As soon as that timer struck zero, my turning would commence, and whatever would happen, happened.
“Hmm…” Joey responded. He drew in a breath and let out a long sigh. “Well, sooner or later, we all answer for our sins.” He departed without another word. His words carried a heaviness, and it was like he wasn’t directly saying them to me.
“Maybe…” I said out loud to my empty cell. Maybe Frank and the rest of the mob could answer for their sins.
The rest of the day was uneventful as usual. A few people below my window shouted hateful comments every few hours, but they didn’t carry weight anymore. Soon enough, day became night, and lightning struck repeatedly in the center of the city. The thunder said my name between each boom.
Joey had lit a few candles in the hallway, and they flickered in the deep of the night. Three of the four sheriffs sat and conversed only a short distance from my cell. Focusing in on the only thing I could hear, I listened to their gossip.
“…so, Lynn saw one apparently,” one of them spoke. I couldn’t remember what his name was, but he had a very distinct voice. I called him Big and Dumb, because that’s what he was. “Said it was bleeding, had cuts all over the body. Real scary shit I guess.”
“I heards that too,” Bobby spoke up. “It looks humans I guess. But nots like us, you knows. I don’t evens knows.” Bobby’s diction was so broken it was hard to understand him. Yet his story was something else.
“Damn it, Bobby! Can you speak clearly?” the dumb one announced.
“Shut ups, Andy!”
“Andy…” I sighed. The big dumb one was Andy. At least one of my questions had been answered before the end of it all.
“Calm down, Bobby,” Joey added. “It’s definitely strange though, isn’t it? Just what the heck are they?”
“Where you think them coming from boss?” Andy asked.
“So, Lynn was the only one who saw it?” Joey asked, avoiding the initial question.
“Yups. No one elses yet,” Bobby piqued up.
“Okay,” Joey exhaled audibly. “Just keep an eye on her. She’s notorious for this type of stuff.”
“Shes a liars, huh boss?” Bobby scuffed.
“Not a liar. But likes to fabricate certain things.”
“Fabricates…?” Andy asked, dumbfounded.
“It means she likes to twist her words,” Joey answered.
“Twists…?” Andy said, still dumbfounded.
“Never mind. Just keep an eye out, for everything. I’m going to catch some z’s for a few. You just keep those doors locked. I don’t want anyone coming in unless it’s an emergency. And you wake me first, you understand me, you two?”
“Yes sirs,” Bobby said without hesitation.
“Sure thing, boss,” Andy followed the order.
I knew Bobby would leap at the opportunity of burying a bullet into me, but the leash that Joey had on him was nearly remarkable. Both deputies followed his law with the upmost willingness. Joey was a natural born leader who would have done far superior things if ever given the chance.
“Good. You know where I’ll be if you need me,” Joey said as he departed. He slept in the cell adjacent to mine. In that way, if something broke out he would be right there to defend me, in his odd sense of lawfulness.
“Sherriff,” I nodded in his direction as he walked past my cell. He didn’t say a word, barely even noticed I existed. Instead he walked on, entered the cell, and lay down on the bed, falling asleep shortly after.
“Sleep well, Sherriff,” I whispered.
Something flashed outside my cage, out in the world. I rose from my bed and leaned against the bars, looking toward the Downtown area. There was something at the tower, something with the timer. It was flickering, like it was dying. Then it shut off completely.
Chapter 18: It Begins
“Uh, Sherriff?” I asked. My voice carried from my barred window to his.
“I see it, Jackson,” Joey said. Apparently he hadn’t fallen asleep after all. I heard him get up, pace back into the hallway, and find his deputies once again. I didn’t pay attention to what they were discussing. I remained focused on the tower shutting down. Whatever it meant, somehow I knew it wasn’t something good.