Dangers in the Dark

The Life of Jonathon Crane 15.4

Third Person POV

The Old Crane House

Boarded up windows and a securely locked front door, Jim and Harvey peered out of their car window at the building in front of them. The only sign of life from said building was the fact that a light was already on inside. If that hadn't been there, they would have probably barely looked around. It must have been deserted after the fire that killed Crane's wife occurred.

Getting out of the car, Jim shared a glance with Harvey before they made their way up to the front door, hands on their guns in case Crane really was hiding out here. Everything was quiet as they entered the front door but they didn't go any further. They'd at least give Crane a chance to hand himself over if he was here at all.

"G.C.P.D," Jim announced, as he knocked on one of the doors, informing any person there of their presence. "G.C.P.D." Jim knocked again, louder and harder, urging Crane to come forward and show himself. This was their best chance at finding Crane. He had to be here, he just had to. "We're coming in."

Harvey pushed open the door quietly only for the sound of clanging metal to occur from the next room. Guns raised, hearts beating faster, the two detectives rushed through to the other room only to find it already empty. Empty of people but not empty of clues. The back door was wide open which allowed the cold evening air to come flying through at them.

"Let's check out back," Harvey suggested.

They ran straight past Crane's medical set up which was laid out on what Jim presumed was their old dining room table and straight out of the back door. It took a moment for their eyes to readjust to the darkness but the sound of twigs snapping ahead of them led the way.

Seconds passed before the silence was broken by the sudden loud scream of a boy filled with terror and panic. This caused Jim and Harvey to run even faster towards the scream where they saw a darkened figure standing alone, staring down at a moving mass in front of him.

"Hands where we can see them!" Harvey instructed, his gun pointed at the figure, hoping that it would cause the man to see sense.

"Hands in the air or we'll shoot!" Jim added when the figure didn't move.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Crane responded, taking a few confident steps towards the police.

"Not another step," Harvey warned him.

"Afraid of your guns?" Crane continued before he raised his own and opened fire on the two exposed detectives.

While Jim ducked down behind a large rock, Harvey sidestepped into the shadows of a large tree. The gunfire didn't even stop there so Harvey poked around the tree and shot a single bullet that hit Crane in the shoulder blade, but still, he didn't fall.

"I have no fear," Crane smiled at the two men and continued to fire shots at them.

Bullets ricocheted past Jim's head as he and Harvey emerged from their hiding spots and opened fire, finally landing several shots at Crane who fell to the ground, dead.

Once they were sure he was truly down, Jim and Harvey approached, looking down at Holly's former biology teacher.

"You take him. I'll go get the kid," Jim told Harvey, praying that for Holly's sake they hadn't been too late at rescuing Jonathon.

Running over to a pile of straw that lay at the foot of a creepy-looking scarecrow, why anyone would have one that looked like that seemed insane to Jim, the detective noticed a twitching body withering around on the floor, his mouth open in a silent scream.

"Harvey, call an ambulance!" Jim called back to his partner, who had already taken out his phone to call in Crane's body. "Call an ambulance."

Moving over to the teenage boy's side, Jim tried to hold Jonathon still as he thrashed against his body, eyes wide and filled with such terror that Jim had never seen before in his life.