Chapter 6 Unbelievable Truths

A deer delicately lowered its head to a stream. The air was silent and the sunshine warm as expected of the autumn weather. Not so far away was an AK-47 whose holder had an eye fixed on the deer.

The bearded man carefully studied its movements; waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger. The deer slowly raised its head. The man's determined finger gently pressed on. It was only a matter of time before he could pull it and achieve his goal.

"Jerry, you need to see this fucking text your mom sent me!" a nasal female voice suddenly sounded.

The deer took off in fright while Jerry missed it with two of his bullets. He furiously took off his hat and glared at the middle-aged woman who rolled her eyes back at him.

Jerry pointed at where the deer previously stood. "That, there, would have been our dinner, Candace. I don't know how many times I am going to have to tell you to leave me alone every time I go hunting." his raspy voice was clear and thick of a Tennessee accent.

"You just tell your mom to mind her own business. I'm sick of her dictating shit in our lives." Candace fired back through her teeth.

"Go back to camp. I have to see if I can track that de–" Jerry paused when Candace suddenly pointed at something. "What?" he turned back.

"There's someone lying down over there." she answered.

Jerry narrowed his eyes, "Yes, you are right." he said looking at the legs behind a bush. "I'm going to have a look."

"I'm coming with you." Candace insisted but received a blank look. "I'm coming with you, Jerry."

"No use arguing with you. Come on, but stay behind me." he instructed.

Jerry positioned his gun forward and cautiously made his way to the person. His eyes searched for anything while his ears listened for new sounds. As he stealthily walked, he tuned out the sound of twigs and leaves crushing underneath their boots.

When they were finally close, Jerry held his hand up to Candace. He continued alone with his finger on the trigger. The buzzing sound of flies and stench already got him imagining the worst. When Jerry finally set his eyes on the person, his jaw dropped.

"Oh my God." he coughed.

"What is it?" Candace asked and joined him, then gasped, "Isn't that Muriel Cleveland?"

"Call 911." he hastily told her, completely ignoring her question.

As Candace spoke to the 911 operator, Jerry could barely take his eyes off Muriel. She had her throat slit wide open. Clots of blood stuck out in the flesh. Jerry cringed at the flies going in and out of her eye sockets. His rib cage stiffened and his stomach moved up. He coughed to keep himself from vomiting.

"They're on their way." Jerry heard Candace say.

Jerry coughed two more times. "Good, let's wait for them over there." he pointed.

****

Matt sat alone in his hospital room. A dark bruise occupied one side of his cheek. Fixed firmly on his broken nose was a bandage. He had a drip connected to his arm. His wrapped head throbbed around his eye sockets. Due to the pain, he kept his eyes partially closed.

The door opened to a man walking in. He had a rich ebony complexion and long dreadlocks. He was tall with a well built. Upon seeing Matt, his brown eyes brightened in relief, and he rushed to his bedside.

"Matt, thank God you're awake. I was worried sick, man." he said.

Matt watched him pull the bedside stool. Matt opened his mouth to speak when the door opened again. Two more men, dressed in suits, walked in. They flashed out their badges and the other man got up.

"Good afternoon, Matthew Daka. I am detective Elroy Daniels." one of the men introduced himself. "And this is detective Justin Fisher." he pointed at the other man with his thumb. "Who are you?" Elroy asked the man standing by the bedside.

"I am Matt's younger brother, Mark Daka." he stated.

"Well Mark, we would like to have a chat with your brother. Would you mind stepping out for a bit?" Elroy firmly requested while looking at Mark through his tainted sunglasses.

Mark furrowed at Matt but Matt gave him a slight nod. "Okay," he agreed and quietly walked out.

Elroy took off his sunglasses, unbuttoned his jacket and sat on the stool. His beady eyes stared right into Matt’s. Matt faced away unfazed by the intimidating aura around Elroy.

"Have you found her?" Matt voiced out and winced at the stiffness of his broken ribs.

Elroy jerked his brow up, "Who?"

Matt hardened his face at Elroy. "Muriel," he growled. "Have you found her?"

"Why are you asking about her?" Elroy eyed Matt suspiciously.

"Because she is the one who did all this." Matt blurted out only to hiss in pain.

Elroy and Justin exchanged baffled looks. Elroy turned to Matt and fastened his tie. "Muriel was found dead in the woods four days ago." he revealed.

Matt gasped, “What?”

"Ruth is missing." Elroy continued and observed Matt's eyes widen in astonishment. "I need you to tell us what happened."

Matt's eyes dropped as reality sank in. "Ruth," he muffled.

The detectives observed Matt frown and lean back in despair. Matt swallowed hard at the tight knot in his throat.

"Muriel is dead and Ruth is still missing?" Matt mumbled in disbelief.

Elroy leaned back and patiently waited for Matt to say more. Justin took out a notepad from his pocket and set his pen on a page. Matt ignored him but kept his eyes on Elroy.

"Detective, do you believe in monsters?" Matt whispered and glanced over to Justin before shifting his anxious gaze back to Elroy.

Elroy's traced his fingers down his gray mustache. "It depends on what you term as a monster." he replied.

"Muriel is the one who savagely murdered the Clevelands. She –" Matt paused, wondering if what he was going to say next was going to be believable. "She turned into a beast and started attacking all of us."

"What happened next?" Elroy asked as Justin wrote.

"She took Ruth to hell. I mean s-she... opened a gate to hell and dragged her into it." Matt recounted; shaking with anxiety as the vivid memory of Ruth screaming out his name flashed before his eyes.

Justin stopped writing and looked at Matt baffled. Both he and Elroy exchanged disbelieving looks and turned their attention back to Matt. His seriousness got them even more confused. Elroy leaned forward and looked Matt in the eye.

"Are you telling me, Muriel; a short old woman; tore William's head off, slammed Talia into a truck and beat you to a pulp?" he asked in disbelief. "A 6'2 former marine?"

"I know it sounds crazy but you have to believe me." Matt insisted with reeling eyes.

"Muriel, opened the gates to hell?" Justin chipped in, the sarcastic tone in his voice, thick.

"Look, I am not insane. I am telling you the truth." Matt glowered.

"Mr. Daka, we are going to do this all over again. I need you to tell us what really happened. Things are not looking good for you so you better start telling the truth." Elroy firmly demanded.

"Are you insinuating that I did this?" Matt blurted out appalled.

Elroy shrugged his shoulders. "The Clevelands were a wealthy family and with your record and all –"

"This interrogation is over. I will only speak to you when my lawyer is present." Matt darkly said.

"Daka," Elroy protested.

"Leave," Matt maintained.

"All right," Elroy got up and buttoned his jacket. "We shall see you soon." he threatened and both he and Justin walked out.

Matt remained feeling so suffocated with anger. He couldn't understand what was happening. One thing he knew for sure was that Ruth was in trouble.

"Ruth, what sort of mess did you get yourself into?" he clenched his jaw and averted his bloodshot eyes to the window.

An Indian nurse in the hallway spied on him slapping the air in frustration and then hissing in pain. She secretly eyed him for a while before darting away from his door. She tucked her black hair behind her ear and walked past Mark who was making his way back to Matt's room.

****

Three more days had passed and Matt was finally discharged from the hospital. He and Mark walked slowly to the parking lot. Matt no longer had the bandage on his head but one was still fixed on his nose. Mark pressed his car keys and the doors unlocked with a beep.

Matt pulled the front passenger seat door open and got in. He groaned at the soreness of his body. Matt was about to bang the door closed when a hand suddenly held the door open. Matt and Mark faced up at the Indian nurse baffled. She had her head down with her tensed eyes on Matt.

"Is there a problem, ma'am?" Mark asked her from the driver's seat.

"I believe you." she bubbled and anxiously looked around. "I heard everything you said to the police." she reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. "Take this and go to the place. She will give you the answers that you seek." she said and dashed away in a haste.

Matt watched her leave surprised. He took a look at the card and Mark peeped at it. 'Ask Mama Pragya' was written on it.

Matt flipped the card. It had a sketch of crystal ball with an eye in it. Feminine hands were positioned around it. Beneath the sketch was an address. Matt gave the card to Mark who reluctantly took it. He scratched his head of long dreadlocks as he read it.

"You're not seriously thinking of going there, are you?" Mark asked him.

"I need to find Ruth." Matt answered with seriousness.

"All right, I guess we're going there." Mark started the ignition.