The Curse of 1977 (Book 2)

Chapter 26

David sat in his recliner within the dimly lit living room of his three bedroom apartment, intently listening to, with his Pioneer headphones attached to his ears, the vaunted recording of an animal destroying a human being with such ferocity that it made David's body squirm.

Despite being seated comfortably, David was far from relaxed. The man had listened to the tape well over twenty times since he got home that evening, and not one time did he ever feel the urge to want to separate himself from its unrelenting hold.

David recalled what Alan mentioned about it sounding like it was from hell. And as hard as he tried to, David could not put a finger on what sort of creature it was that he could have been hearing. Every time he rewound the tape he expected to notice a different sound, but instead he got only the same thing over and over.

He wanted to give up and toss it all to the wind, but something malignant not only in the recording but in the occurrences over the past few days kept him relentlessly on the edge of his seat.Every animal attack seemed to possess one similar trait, the utter destruction of property.

He viewed photos of Leroy Cummins' house, the incident at the roller rink and the shelter, and they all wore the same demolished mask. David wasn't a naïve man, he knew full well that no ordinary animal could possess such great power to knock down solid brick walls, and yet there he was constantly rewinding the same tape in order to gain a visual of the beast that was playing tricks with his head. Soon, the very room he was sitting in became non-existent the more and harder he pressed the rewind button on the tape recorder.

"I said, it's time for supper!" David's wife nudged him on the shoulder.

David could have jumped to the ceiling from sheer shock at that moment before he spun around to see the woman standing above him.The man accidentally dropped the tape recorder to the floor as he took off his headphones.

"I...I was listening to this thing on here." He caught his breath.

Appearing completely lost, David's wife asked, "What thing are you talking about?"

David picked the recorder up from off the floor and sat it back on the table beside him. He then handed his wife the headphones. The woman wiped her hands clean on the rag that she had in her hands before she placed the headphones on her ears.

"Okay, now listen to this." David hastily pressed the play button.

He watched as his wife turned up her nose at the sound of the beast in the recording. He waited with bated anticipation for her to open her mouth and say something.His wife ripped the headphones from off her ears before handing them back to David in disgust.

"What was that supposed to be?" She griped with a frown.

"It's a recording of the animal that killed this rapist and murderer a few months ago." David panted. "I have reason to believe that this may be the same thing that's going around on this killing spree now."

Standing over him while shaking her head in dismay, David's wife said, "You never change, do you?"

Looking up at the woman, David shrugged his shoulders, "What do you mean?"

"Just like back in Chicago, you still bring your work home."

"Esmeralda, this isn't just work, this thing is running around the city eating people!" David beseeched.

Esmeralda snatched both the tape recorder and headphones away from him before placing them on the table beside David. She then grabbed his arm and proceeded to hoist the man up from out of his chair.

"C'mon, it's supper time. I'm not gonna let you drown yourself in work like you did back there." Esmeralda adamantly stated. Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.

Clutching his sore legs, David capitulated, "Okay, okay, I'll take the tape back tomorrow."

Esmeralda paused to see why David was holding his legs. "What's the matter? She stared on.

"I forgot how old I was today while I was running up the stairs." David humbly responded. "Now I'm paying for it."

Esmeralda only twisted her lips before taking her dishrag and slapping David across the chest with it.

"Old fifty-six year old men don't run up stairs."

David only popped Esmeralda on the backside before he cut off the light in the living room and followed in behind his wife into the kitchen where a young woman and a toddler were already seated at the small kitchen table where dinner was being served.

David rolled up his sleeves and glanced at the miniature television set that was seated on the kitchen counter that was playing 'Chico & The Man'. From the onset the tiny family spoke Spanish back and forth to one another while Esmeralda served everyone plates full of sliced chicken breasts, rice and peas before she sat down next to David at the table.The banter carried on for at least ten minutes. David spoke to his daughter while the young woman fed her son a fork full of rice that he gladly took and swallowed.

"Papi, when are you gonna get that other TV fixed?" His daughter practically whined. "I'm tired of watching shows on that tiny, old thing."

"When I get my first paycheck, that's when," David replied while eating away at a piece of chicken. "And speaking of paychecks, when do you plan on looking for a job, young lady? We've been in

Cypress now for nearly five weeks and you still haven't even gone out looking."

"Papi, I told you, I'm waiting for Carlos to give me money."

"Rosa, Carlos is a bumb!" Her mother slammed her hand on the table. "I'm glad we left Chicago just so we could get away from him."

"Mama, don't call him that."

"Don't argue with your mother." David interjected himself. "We're both sick and tired of you making excuses for the likes of him. How can you defend such a man that up and leaves his woman and son?"

Rosa just blushed while hanging her head to her plate as she fiddled with her food with her fork like a child.

"Besides, I'm scared to walk these streets here in this city with that thing running around." Rosa mumbled.

"Your father brought home a recording of the animal for whatever reason." Esmeralda announced. "I can't imagine what he thinks he can get from it."

"Really," Rosa suddenly perked right back up. "Can I hear it?"

"No, we're still eating supper." Esmeralda struck back."

David as well used his fork to scrape and poke at the food that was left in his plate while contemplating in his head. Every so often the television would grab his waning attention, but all in all the man's concentration was focused upon one matter.

Without looking in her direction, David asked Esmeralda, "Do you remember the Constino case from back home, Esmeralda?"

Esmeralda and Rosa both stopped eating at that instant. Esmeralda then placed her fork down onto her plate and asked, "What makes you ask about that?"

Putting his fork down, David dropped both of his elbows onto the table and folded his hands. "I don't know for sure. But what's happening here sounds awfully similar to that whole case back home."

"But, Papi, Vinnie Constino was a gangster." Rosa mentioned. "This thing is an escaped animal from the zoo."

"Who told you that it was from the zoo?" Esmeralda stared at Rosa.

"That's the talk around the neighborhood." Rosa defended herself.

"What's prowling these streets could never be contained in a zoo." David stated in a listless tone. "No, this thing is from another place."

"So how does Constino come into this?" Esmeralda questioned.

Sitting back in his chair, David said, "Constino was a madman that went around targeting specific places in Chicago. He was never a random killer. He was very meticulous in his choice of slayings." David then rested his hands on his stomach. "Something is just not adding up in all of this. Why would this thing break into and attack a roller rink, a school with only five people inside and a women's shelter? What was it about these specific places that attracted the thing?"

"I saw in this one movie where certain smells caught the attention of this vampire that went around killing people in London." Rosa blurted out.

Both David and Esmeralda sat and studied the young lady with downcast eyes, as if to say their child had lost her senses.

Turning to his wife, David urged, "C'mon, Esmeralda, you heard it. What did you make of it?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Esmeralda haplessly replied, "What do you mean, what did I make of it? It sounded like a wild animal to me."

"But this same wild animal can bust down walls like they were made of cardboard. There has to be a common denominator in all of this. Where does it plan on striking next?"

"This is exactly why I hate it when you bring your work home." Esmeralda complained as she got up and went over to the sink. "You get so wrapped up in these cases that you begin to fall apart."

"What else do you expect me to do?" He tossed up his hands. "Either we're dealing with a crazed man- eater, or there may be someone that's controlling it."

"Perhaps a trainer," Rosa asked.

"Precisamente," David shouted out loud. "That's exactly what I'm thinking!"

"But who would be sick enough to do something like that?" Esmeralda sat back down at the table."

"Constino was sick. Perhaps Cypress has their own version of the demon, because according to people who live here, this all just began last year."

"I know one thing is for sure, I want that tape out of this place by tomorrow." Esmeralda obstinately stated. "We are a God-fearing family; I cannot stand to have any of that evil in this home."

"I agree with mama, Papi." Rosa spoke up. "I don't think I wanna hear it now."

"Oh no, you're the brave one in the family." David playfully teased the young lady. "You're the one who loves scary stuff like little girls' heads spinning around, and high school proms burning everyone up."

"Get away from me, Papi!" Rosa waved her napkin at her father in a humorous fashion.

"You two be careful before— It was right then and there that Esmeralda's words were instantly ceased by a strange commotion that was coming from the living room.

Every person in the kitchen, including the baby, all pointed their collective heads in the direction of the living room in odd and startled curiosity.

"I thought you said the TV doesn't work anymore." Esmeralda looked back at David.

"The wiring is burned out, so it shouldn't be working at all." David said as he got up from his seat and walked towards the living room with his entire family biting at his heels behind him.

Just as soon as they all made it to the living room's threshold, every soul stood absolutely still and petrified at the sight that their individual eyes were taking in. There was a living room, but everything inside of it was completely different. The furniture, the entire setting, even the very smell had all but been transformed before them. They all stood and looked as a television that wasn't theirs at all played 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.' Seated in front of the TV set was a white man with snow white sideburns who ended up cutting off the television before reaching for a magazine.

David and his family all looked on with wide open, dry mouths as the man that was sitting in the chair began pleasuring himself as if he wasn't even aware that he had company. For David, he had no words. All the man could do was just remain perfectly still within the scene that was playing out before him in his own home; for his own home was seemingly no longer his, but someone else's all of the sudden.

David could feel a hand clutching his left shoulder. The hand was shivering, but that was as much of a sensation that he could sense. The man couldn't even turn around at that point.

Before long, however, a smell, followed by the sound of flames igniting, sprung up from a bureau that was placed to the left of the Ortega's. Every member of the family began to back away as the man in the chair jumped up and ran over to the dresser only to have the small fire explode in everyone's faces.

David, Esmeralda, Rosa and the baby all screamed out in terror as the inferno burst through the living room and into the kitchen before eventually making its way out the window.

Before long, the entire fifth floor of the apartment building was engulfed in flames.