VD-49

Chapter 8: Havoc Wreaked

Jude pulled over next to the road and stared at the steering wheel. "What do you think's going on?" Damian asked. "Some type of drug gang? Taking Gavin because he snitched on them?" 

Jude slowly shook his head. "It's something else, Damian." He shivered. "Something unnatural." 

Jude could feel his friend's worried gaze on him. Damian must have thought he was crazy. 

They drove back to the station in silence. 

***

When they arrived, they found Aidan surrounded by others, including an elderly woman, Leah, whom Jude knew to be his mother. She was gently sponging his forehead where a wound pulsed with blood. Aidan was animatedly talking to the other people, his hands moving as he spoke. 

Jude looked beyond Aidan and the group of people and caught a glimpse of the havoc that had been wreaked. The prison cells were at the end of the hallway, past the main room for visitors and the offices, including his. Jude could see the white specks of snow blowing in from where the prison had been wrecked. Judging by the amount of white specks that blew in, an entire section of the prison's wall must have been destroyed. 

Aidan spotted Jude and Damian and stumbled over to them. "It was insane," he babbled. "It was quiet and then suddenly the whole building shook and there were these animal-like screams and then I went back to check and then this random wood beam came at me and hit me square in the forehead." He pointed to his bleeding head. 

Jude had almost been unable to keep up with what the man was saying but he could picture the scene in his mind. 

Before Aidan could start another rant, Jude spoke." Go home, Aidan. "

Aidan's mouth opened and closed like a fish's. "Home?" he finally squeaked. "But-" 

"No 'but's except yours going home. We'll handle this. Go home. Take care of yourself." 

Aidan looked ready to fight but once Jude raised his eyebrows, he gave in. He and Damian watched the man walk out, his mother following him. Leah looked back once but said nothing. 

Jude walked to the prison cells and whistled as he saw the damage. 

Not only a section of the wall had been destroyed; the entire wall had been ripped apart. Damian shivered as a gust of wind brought in a flurry of snow. There had been no bom, no explosion of any kind. It seemed like the wall had simply been destroyed by hand. As if each brick had been ripped loose of the wall and thrown aside. 

A trail in the snow lead to the Fiore Woods a few hundred meters beyond. Jude stepped outside, on the trail but Damian grabbed his arm. 

"Bad idea, Jude." He pointed to the looming dark clouds that seemed to be racing for them. "You walk into those woods during a storm, you have little to no chance coming out alive." 

Jude shrugged his grip off. "You think I don't know that? But we have to go after them. Now that Gavin's not supplying strychnine anymore, don't you think the town's in danger? You think whoever needs that drug won't resort to horrific methods to procure it for themselves?" He gestured to the fragments of the wall on the ground. "Because I do." 

Damian fidgeted for a while before sighing. "Fine. But I'm coming with you. There's no way you're going into the Fiore Woods alone." 

***

Both of them went home to pull on their thickest clothes. Jude made sure to pack an extra set of clothes and dry food, just in case. He armed himself with his pistol and glanced at the sheathed knife on his bookshelf. It was a gruesome weapon, a massive knife with serrated riffs on the edge of the blade, ensuring maximum damage when you push the knife in and pull it out again. Jude couldn't even remember why he had it but he packed it anyway. 

Damian met Jude outside the police station where the trail lead to the forest. 

"You ready for this, partner?" Jude asked. 

Damian nodded, a cocky smirk on his face. "Who in their right mind is scared of a hike through the woods?"

Jude let out a breathless, little laugh; his heart was pounding faster than he would have liked. "And off we go." 

Just as they were about to take their first step, a voice called out. "Wait! Sheriff! There's something I need to tell you!" 

Jude and Damian turned to find Leah hobbling towards them across the snow.