Bloody Skeleton Series #1 The Monster in the neighborhood

13-Plan

Mikey half expected Marie to laugh in his face, make fun of him, and shove him out of her room, but as he told her about Jerry, she sat up and listened.

If he wasn't scared out of his mind, he would have said how not normal it was, but his mind was filled with what they'd seen in Jerry's basement. Jake had put on the flashlight on his phone before they'd even thought of it, and with the light and all their faces crammed together so they could all look through the musty, tiny window. They'd almost run out when they'd found Sugar. Harry had thrown up on the other side of the lawn. Ned had to rip up some of the overgrown grass to cover it and hope that if Jerry found it, he'd assume it was some animal.

Then they'd found the jars, and Ned had pointed to one corner. 'What's that?' the flash was turned in the direction. 'Those look like...Old Man Jones' clothes. He always wears that kind of shirt.'

Then they'd all thrown up in the corner and knew that if Jerry found it, he'd know somebody had snooped around. Mikey hadn't even bothered to point out that Jerry would suspect him first.

Maybe that he was a kid would make him seem not worth the retaliation, but the memory of that iron grip in the morning told him otherwise.

If they didn't find a way to get Jerry arrested quickly, it'd be very bad for Mikey.

'What now?' Marie's voice cut through his thoughts like a bread knife. 'What are you guys going to do now? Did you take pictures to show Harry's dad?'

The look on his face made her wince.

'Nobody's going to believe a bunch of kids. If you'd at least taken pictures, they might have done a search or something to make sure, but with just Ned's note, you guys have nothing. The accusation isn't even something you can just laugh off now. You're accusing somebody of murder and animal cruelty, you need really hard evidence. Oh my goodness, of all the times to not be an overthinking nerd!'

'We just didn't think of it. We can still get pictures, we can go there again and take pictures.'

Marie threw herself flat on her bed, staring at the ceiling with her arms spread out and short hair fanned out. 'I can't believe this. And that lunatic is in our kitchen.'

'Yeah...'

When they were both younger, passers-by used to think Marie and Mikey were twins. She was taller than him now, but when they were younger, they were the same height, and even now there was still that very strong resemblance. One look at each of them and the natural conclusion was that they were related, but sometimes it was that they were twins. Very similar in too many ways.

Now, as most twins claim, the same thought occurred to them at the same time, Marie shot up from her bed, and Mikey shot up from the ground. Their eyes lock and at the same time they both said in low voices.

'That lunatic is in the kitchen with Mom!'

Breathless, they rush out of Marie's room, almost tripping down the stairs.

'Mom!' Marie called, bursting into the kitchen with Mikey behind her.

Their mom was leaning on the small island close to the dining table and holding a mug.

'Dad! You're home.'

Their dad was seating at the dining table, beside Jerry.

Beside their dad, Jerry didn't look so intimidating, especially because he was sitting and quiet.

'Hey, guys,' the dad said. 'We were just about to call for you.'

Mikey had his eyes on Jerry, he didn't like the idea of eating with him.