G.I. Joe: Agent Blue Jaye and the Beasts of Lakeside

Chapter 6

Ben Hart sat apathetically on his chestnut colored couch, flipping through the channels on the television in his small home in South Lakeside, Vermont. Stopping on a history program, Ben uncaringly dropped the remote down next to him. A fleece blanket and small pillow rested in a crumbled ball beside him where he had fallen asleep the night before. Ben had taken the day off work after having spent the majority of the night at the police station giving his statement.

Ben tried his best to focus on anything other than what had happened, but he could not shake the horrific events that had unfolded the previous night. His mind kept going back to two things, the glowing green eyes that he had seen deep within the branches of the tree, and the short but polarizing call with Flint. During his time at the police station, Ben told the police everything he knew which, after he sobered up, realized wasn't much at all.

He told the truth, that he had a few drinks and was outside when he heard a loud crack in the tree. After another large crack, a large shape jumped down, attacked the boy, and jumped over the hedge fence. It took only a few seconds and despite having been a few feet away, Ben admitted he didn't get a good look at the killer.

He did mention the glowing green eyes he saw in the trees. Remembering the looks on the police officers' faces, Ben knew they didn't believe him. Over and over, the police asked if what he saw could be a man or woman, and if so, could he remember what they were wearing. It wasn't as if the police were trying to force him to think a certain way, they just didn't believe that it could have been anything else other than some crazed person hiding in the tree.

Ben closed his eyes, and again, the two green eyes returned and stared back at him. In the end, he told the police he didn't get a clear look at whoever had killed the boy. He saw a large shape, and whatever attacked the boy was extremely powerful and athletic.

The facts that Ben did remember clearly was after the attack. Once Ben saw the extent of the boy's injuries, he immediately ran to assist. Ben relayed to the police how he applied the tourniquet but left out the part when he called his cousin who had been dead for the past thirteen years.

Ben was still in disbelief that Alison's number had worked and was even more surprised that the person who answered was Flint. Alison must have given Flint her phone at some point. Maybe she relayed a similar message to Flint that she wrote for Ben. If you ever need help, please call me. In this life, in the next, and the next, we will always be there for each other. Thinking back on the time that Alison and Flint had been together, and the love for his own wife, Ben could understand why Flint had kept her phone all these years.

What would happen now, Ben asked himself? Should he call the number again? No, he thought, that may cause more attention than he would want. Ben had even started to wonder if calling the number in the first place was a good idea. He sat fearing he might have started some sort of official chain of events. Ben desperately reviewed his options.

Should he try to find Flint on his own? Though a good idea, he had no idea on where to start. After a few moments of contemplation, Ben decided that for him and his family, it was best to just move on. He would put his faith in the police that the killer would be found and prosecuted. Ben took a deep breath and, satisfied with his decision, decided it was time to start putting the pieces of his life back together. Then, the doorbell rang.

Ben did not recognize the person who stood outside his front door. The man was tall, older, probably in his sixties. He had a broad forehead, and his high chiseled cheekbones cradled two dark eyes, highlighting his Native American heritage. The man wore a tall black cowboy hat, adorned on the left side by a beaded medallion of an eagle's head in front of a blue star. Two long eagle feathers ran out from the back of the medallion, lying along the left brim of his hat. In addition to the hat, the man wore a sandstone duck quilted all-weather jacket, blue jeans, black cowboy boots, and a turquoise belt buckle. A giant Bowie knife hung sheathed to his left thigh. Ben felt awkward standing in his doorway wearing only a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.