Possessed

Chapter 4

"What the hell?" Jane shouted as Darren ran forward to meet the two men that had burst into the diner.

"Daddy?" Shelly said as her eyes fell on the body.

"Oh no...." She whispered, sinking to her knees. The man that was carrying the dead woman set the body on the ground, sharing the same grim look as the other man.

"Frank, what in God's name happened?" Darren asked furiously, talking to the man that had entered the diner first.

"Teddy found her on his way back from work." The man, Frank, replied in dismay. "I heard Teddy calling for help. I was outside the cemetery, talking to Bill. The sheriff's on his way."

"And you didn't see anyone suspicious around?" Darren questioned, now talking to the other man, Teddy. "No one close to the body?"

"No, sir." Teddy replied with a frown. "The only people around were Frank, Bill and I."

"I hate to interrupt." I said, with the only calm voice in the room. "But what the hell is going on?"

All eyes fell on me.

Even Shelly's, who was on the ground, silent tears streaming down her face.

Darren let out an exasperated sigh before answering.

"It's happened again...." He said quietly.

"What's happened again?" Jane questioned, stepping forward. "Why is there a dead body in your diner, Darren?"

Darren's gaze fell back to the body.

"I think you both better sit down." He said, so softly I almost didn't hear him. "I think we need to explain the situation."

Jane and I nodded in unison, before sitting in the exact same spots we had dinner in.

Darren met both of our eyes before he spoke. He had a sort of shimmer in his eyes, as if he didn't want to talk about what he was about to talk about.

"It all started at the end of last year-"

He was interrupted by the front door of the diner creaking open.

We all jumped to our feet.

And that's when the sheriff strode in.

He was a built man, maybe in his late thirties. He was tall, with dark brown hair that was cut close to the scalp. His eyes were the colour of concrete and his lips were pressed together in a thin line.

But that's not what struck me as odd when I gazed into his cruel stare.

What I thought was odd was the large, jagged scar that started from the left side of his face and ended at the bottom of his jaw line.

"Eric." Darren said as he walked forward to shake the sheriff's hand. "I'd say it's a pleasure, but...you know...."

Eric took Darren's hand and gave it a firm shake before speaking. His voice was a lot softer than I thought it would be.

"How many people have seen the body?" Eric asked in a calm tone.

This time, Teddy spoke. "I found the body, sir. The only other people who have seen it are Frank, Bill, Darren, Shelly and those two." He finished, pointing at Jane and I.

The sheriff stepped forward and extended his hand, which Jane and I both shook. "Eric Walman." He said, before I introduced myself and Jane.

"I'm guessing you're both new in town. You two don't look too uncomfortable around a dead body." He stated, as if it was a fact. "Why is that?"

"In our line of business, we've seen a lot of strange things." I replied.

"Well, I'm sure you'll both think this as unusual, given the circumstances." He said.

"Circumstances?" Jane asked quizzically. "What's so unusual about this dead woman?"

"It's very unusual." There was a cold glint in his eye before he finished speaking.

"Because this is the fourth body we've found this month."