Chapter 31

Lynnette opened the door and ever so sluggishly heaved her carcass out of the stall in which she had
confined herself for the past hour or so. She hadn't been using the bathroom that long; it took her only
a minute and a half for her to do her business. Rather, she kept to herself for as much and as long as
she could.

With as little energy as she could assemble the young woman pulled herself towards the sink and
washed her hands. She lathered her hands in the soapy, warm water seemingly forever until the water
began going cold on her. She then rested her wet hands on top of the sink and watched with lazy eyes
as the sudsy water gradually dissolved into the drain.

Lynnette did everything she could not to lift her head, but the restraint was evaporating with every
passing second. Fighting against her own neck muscles, the woman gradually raised her head. Her
eyes soon then connected with the mirror, a gesture that caused her stomach to tumble.There before
her stood a foreigner, someone she didn't recognize. Glassy, red eyes, matted down, uncombed hair,
black dirt marks layered on both cheeks. Every feature disgusted her to the point where all she could
do was wobble back and forth as if she had no control over her own body.

Lynnette then began scanning her surroundings, from the all-white tile, to the seven stalls, all the way
to the five sinks where one was layered in dried up, pink soap solution. The putrid stench of period
blood hung lightly in the bathroom like a soft whiff of air that lingered about in a warm breeze.The song,
'Leaving on a Jet Plane' by John Denver started to play on the intercom outside the bathroom.

Lynnette couldn't help but to stand still at that moment while the tune that she had heard some times in
the past but paid no attention to caused her mind to drift off into a daze.All she did was stand at the
mirror and stare at her reflection while allowing images of her child to flood her brain. No matter where
in Cypress she ran, there Isaiah was. Lynnette could hardly stand to be around the boy for more than
thirty minutes at best, and yet she couldn't get him out of her throbbing head.



Abruptly, through the door rushed a young, black woman who was wearing a pair of shades, two afro
puffs that were wrapped up in a green scarf, a silk turquoise blouse and a pair of tight, green polyester
pants.

Immediately, Lynnette composed herself before pretending to wash her hands in the sink before
her.Huffing and puffing as if she had been running from something or someone, the woman went for
the very first sink.

"You won't believe de night I've been having." She said in a Jamaican accent.

Lynnette only smirked before shutting off the water and reaching over and snatching several sheets to
dry her hands with.

"Dese men today, dey are animals." The woman continued on. "I swear, all a woman has to do is dress
a certain way and dey act like dey just escaped from de zoo or someting."

Tossing the wet rags into the dumpster, Lynnette turned and began for the door. "Yeah, I know what
you mean." She nonchalantly replied.

"Would ya happen to have a smoke?" The woman jumped right into Lynnette's face.

Feeling inconvenienced, Lynnette reached into her back pocket and took out a cigarette before
reluctantly handing it to her.

"I'm sorry for asking, but I need to calm my nerves before I hit de block again."

Lynnette then took her lighter and lit the tip of the cigarette before saying, "I know what you mean."

Taking a long drag, the woman asked, "You work, too?"

Appearing stunned, Lynnette said, "No, no, I'm just saying, I know how it feels to do what you gotta do."



Tapping one of her open-toed shoes on the floor, the woman sighed, "Yeah, I've been doing dis now for
fourteen years, and it still doesn't get any easier."

"For fourteen years?" Lynnette's eyes blew up. "But you look so young."

Smiling, the woman said, "Don't let my looks fool you, sweetheart, dese streets will age a girl real
quick." The woman then extended her free right hand. "My name is Karyn."

Lynnette shook Karyn's hand right back. "Lynn." She replied in a dry pitch.

Taking another soothing drag, Karyn said, "I tink I'll stay in here for a while. It takes a moment or two
before my...man, comes looking for me."

"Girl, you'd better get you a gun for his ass."

Karyn inhaled another puff of smoke. "I have other ways of keeping him in line." She then stared hard
at Lynnette. "You have very lovely hair. Did anyone ever tell you dat you could be a model?"

Blushing, Lynnette responded, "Those days are far behind me."

Karyn took her hand and lightly brushed it across Lynnette's unkempt hair. It not only unsettled the
young lady to have a total stranger touching her, but not being able to see Karyn's eyes through the
large lenses of her shades only caused her to step back an inch or two.

"Don't be shy, my love, you have exquisite features." Karyn smiled before turning around and looking at
herself in one of the mirrors. "I, too, once had lovely looks, but someting happened to me."

"What?" Lynnette found herself asking for no specific reason.

"I fell for de wrong man. Soon after dat, I could see everyting come at me like a hurricane." She
explained in a somewhat mournful demeanor.



"Believe me, I know something about wrong men, but that doesn't mean I knew what was going to
come my way." Lynnette turned her head in repulsion.

Karyn then turned around, tossed her butt to the floor and said, "Everyting dat I never imagined would
happen, ended up happening."

"Just how do you mean?"

Karyn then began pacing the floor. "Babies being taken away in de middle of de night," she carried on
in a woeful manner. "Children being slaughtered inside of schools of all places. "I've even seen giant
waves from de seas come and invade land."

Lynnette just stood and listened to the odd woman as if her life depended upon it. All that Karyn was
saying sounded like the ramblings of a person that had been walking the streets all night, non-stop.
She was possibly doped up on all sorts of drugs just to stay awake or bear her profession, she
pondered. But within the woman's sayings Lynnette could hear something that she had never heard
before from another human being. There was an uncanny desperation in her voice that sounded so
familiar, almost as if Lynnette had heard it all before. There was something in Karyn's character, in her
every movement that caused Lynnette to tremble right there before her. And she felt that if she had
even attempted to put a finger on it then it would frighten her further to the core.

Karyn then stopped right in front of the mirror and peered straight at her own reflection asking, "Have
you ever been in love with someone before, my dear?"

Lynnette shut her eyes at that second. Just hearing the question float off of Karyn's tongue sent such a
violent shiver down her already quivering spine.

"You don't have to answer." Karyn said. "Dere was a time when I was in love with such a wonderful
man. He was so sweet and kind to me at first."



"Aren't they all...at first?" Lynnette balled up her fists.

Giggling, Karyn replied, "Yes, dey are. But dis one was one of a kind. He showed me so many tings
and wonders I had never experienced before. He promised dat he would take me to places far from
home."

"Honey, all men make those silly promises, just to get into our panties."

Spinning around, Karyn remarked, "No, no, dis man really could do such tings." She then approached
Lynnette face to face. "He was so tender in his speech. So thoughtful in ways I never imagined a man
could be."

All Lynnette could do was just listen. Inside, she wanted to tear out of the bathroom as fast as possible.
Just hearing the words come out of Karyn's mouth was like feeling a thousand bees bite at her all at
once. But for the strangest reason the woman couldn't budge. The last thing she wanted was to have
Isaac's image boil up insider her mind. But Lynnette could not move.

"Everyting was lovely, dat is until I met his family." Karyn's voice, without warning, dropped. "I had
known his family for years, but I never had de chance to meet dem, especially his sister. Once she
stepped in, dat was when de man I loved changed right before my eyes."

Lynnette wanted to hear no more. She didn't want to identify with Karyn any longer; she wanted to
leave the woman's presence post-haste.

"You probably tink I am high on drugs right now, don't you?" Karyn asked.

"I...I don't know." Lynnette stammered in place.

Karyn then grabbed Lynnette's hands and held them as tight as she could. Lynnette tried to pull away,
but Karyn's grasp was entirely too firm.



"I am in my right mind, my love. Maybe tomorrow you will understand better. Maybe tomorrow."

Karyn then let go of Lynnette's hands before taking off her sunglasses to reveal a pair of hazel eyes
that were steadily turning white.

Lynnette began to cry, not only from the wicked sight, but also from the terrifying fact that she still could
not move a single muscle in her body. It felt like she was being restrained.

"Tomorrow is almost here." Karyn's voice began to plunge into a growl.

At the snap of a finger Lynnette abruptly opened her eyes to find herself lying on the same bench that
she had been occupying for the past two days. She struggled to catch her breath while listening to the
lady over the loud speaker announce bus destinations.

Lynnette then sat up and coughed before glancing behind her at the women's bathroom. She stared on
at the door for nearly an entire minute before wiping the sweat from off her forehead and turning back
around.

The bus station that she was in had only a few people either walking around or standing at the ticket
line. John Denver was still playing over the speakers in the station.

"Attention! Attention, please! At 9:30, bus 213 will be leaving for Philadelphia! At 10:25, bus 304 will be
departing for Atlanta, and at 12:40, bus 202 will be departing for Phoenix! Thank You!"

Lynnette listened closely to the woman as if her words meant life and death to her. She then
immediately jumped up from off her warm bench and headed straight for the line where three people
were already standing in front of her.

Lynnette couldn't keep her eyes off of the women's bathroom door. Every so often a white woman or an
old black lady would go in and out. The young woman had no belongings to carry with her, so keeping



her hands stuffed inside her pants pockets was the only solace she had to grasp to.It was an illusion,
and yet Lynnette realized that it was much more. She didn't want to think of Isaac, or even the rest of
her family, which included her own son. She just wanted the world and everyone in it to vanish and
never return. It was such an unrelenting urge that she would at times actually device ways to eliminate
certain people out of her life altogether.

"Next!" An older white lady said out loud from behind the ticket counter.

Lynnette jumped back to her senses and approached the window where the woman was patiently
waiting.

Fidgeting inside her own pockets, Lynnette said, "I'd like a ticket to Phoenix, please."

"Okay, that'll be one hundred and nine dollars."

Lynnette's warm skin crawled at that moment. She continued to root about in her pockets as if she
were trying to give off the impression that she had the money. Meanwhile, the lady behind the window
sighed while shuffling some papers from side to side on her desk.

Lynnette began to perspire the longer she searched until she at last found some money. Then, like she
had just stumbled upon gold, Lynnette yanked out a wad of bills and some coins and hurriedly handed
it to the lady.

The woman took the money and counted. When she was done counting she gave Lynnette a blasé
expression, as to say the young lady before her knew better.

Lifting up the bills, the woman stated, "This is only fifty-eight dollars."

With a dried out mouth, Lynnette responded, "Is it? I could've sworn that was all of it."

"We need the whole amount or else I cannot give you a ticket."



Lynnette continued to rummage through her jeans while keeping an eye on the women's bathroom
behind her.

"Listen, can't you just give me the ticket and I'll mail you the rest of the money?" She desperately
entreated. "I'll give you my address once I get to my destination."

"Ma'am, I cannot give you a ticket without the proper funds. That's the rule."

Lynnette pulled her hands out of her pockets and drew closer to the window to where she was able to
place her hands on the ledge.

With eyes beginning to water, Lynnette implored, "You don't understand, I have to get out of this state.
Someone is hunting me down."

"If that's the case then you need to contact the authorities."

"But they can't do anything!" Lynnette slammed her hands on the ledge.

The lady behind the window turned her head in weariness for a moment before looking back at
Lynnette.

"Ever since yesterday, I've watched you walk this station like it were a park. I've watched you sleep on
that bench over there. Honey, I see young girls like you in here all the time."

"I'm not a hooker." Lynnette openly wept.

"Okay, okay." The lady said. "But I've been working here for seventeen years, and I've seen young girls
come in and out of this place looking to get out of town. Honey, you're in some kind of terrible trouble,
and right now, you need to go home."

"But I can't go home. I keep on having these nightmares."



"And you really believe that going all the way to Arizona will solve all of your problems?"

Lynnette only paused in place at that instant and allowed the woman's words to sink into every pore of
her rigid body.

"Look...that's all the money I have." She gulped. "I don't have anything else in this world."

The woman studied Lynnette's face with such a painstaking precision that Lynnette actually thought for
a moment that her worries would be alleviated.

Leaning forward, the lady said quietly, "Look around you."Lynnette turned around and observed the
humans that were milling about the bus station in their own various ways."Each one of those people
has a place to go to. Whether they're coming or going, they all have a place to be. No amount of
money you have or don't have will ever get you to where you should be, young lady."

Lynnette slowly turned back to the woman behind the window and stared hard at her before wiping the
tears from her eyes.

"Now, you give the right amount of money, and I'll be more than happy to sell you a ticket to Phoenix, or
anywhere else you desire to go. But right now, I believe you should go back home."

The anxiety that blanketed Lynnette's body was gradually sifting away. The lady behind the window slid
her money back across. Without another word Lynnette took her money back and gingerly walked
away.

She stumbled past one person after another before she came to a payphone. She took a quarter with
the money she had and inserted it into the slot, she then dialed.

The line she was trying to connect with was busy. After so many attempts the woman hung up the
phone and simply hauled her body away like a defeated, battle-weary soldier.



Perched up above her in different spots throughout the terminal were televisions, all of which just
happened to be tuned to multiple channels. The set that hung above Lynnette's head somehow
managed to catch her attention. It was the nightly news break giving an hourly weather report. Lynnette
stood and looked up at the weatherman pointing at the various cities and states throughout the country
with a dismayed frown on her face. Phoenix had a high of 110 degrees.

"Here in Cypress it's a balmy 76 degrees with light winds. A chance of showers in the next couple of
days is a possibility."

"Thank you, Fred. Now, a word from Channel Seven's station manager, Rudy Ward."

"Thank you, Gene. Good evening. Tonight I would like very much to discuss a situation with you, my
fellow Cypress citizens. A situation that has been on this station manager's mind for quite some time
now. That situation concerns the recent animal killings that have been plaguing this city for the past few
days.

Now, I know a lot of people are speculating that the thing or things is just some wild, endangered
creature that somehow got loose from a zoo, or just happened to creep in through Ohio's borders. But I
happen to believe that this may be something a lot more, dare I use the word, bizarre.

Last November, and just this past February, Ohio was plagued with the same sort of animal attacks.
And as of yet, no one has been able to pinpoint just what species of animal these things are or where
they even emanate from. I've heard stories of Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, but unlike those
tall tales, we happen to have a very seriously real issue here.

The loss of innocent life is something we all take to heart. The murders at Topaz and those at the
women's shelter were all tragic and ghastly events. And yet, our police force seems to be clueless as to
how to ascertain just where this beast could possibly be. Something that can kill seventeen women and



children in one night cannot be too hard to find. And let's not overlook the murders at the skating rink
as well.

These slayings are not just the random doings of some sort of wild dog. I believe it to be much more
than the eye can see. Especially since no one can even gain a glimpse of the creature. No, my friends,
this station manager happens to believe that we have a much more serious matter here.

Never before has our fair city been in such peril. Never before have we experienced the grip of fear the
likes we are undergoing now. If the police are not able to protect us from this enemy, then what, might I
ask, are we the citizens supposed to do? As I speak, there are vigilantes running wild in our streets
doing the work that the police should be doing. I personally fear for these people's lives. They have no
earthly idea just what they may be getting themselves into.

This invader that has besieged our city is a foreign enemy. It is an enemy the likes we've never seen
before or will never see again. I personally do not believe in the concept of evil; I believe that both man
and beast are inherently able to be reasoned with. But there is something here in Cypress that gives
me great pause. Something that we as citizens of this great city must be willing to accept as fact, and
that fact is we are not only under siege, but fear is our greatest enemy. For Channel Seven, I'm Rudy
Ward. Until we meet again."

Lynnette's entire being melted to the floor at that stage. She felt as though she were the only person
inside the terminal anymore.

"Attention, please! In five minutes we will be shutting off the air unit! I repeat, in five minutes we will be
shutting off the air unit! Thank you!" The lady over the loud P.A. system announced.

Just a few feet to her immediate right was the exit. The full moon outside shined bright on one of the
buses that had passengers boarding one by one. Luggage was being loaded into the lower
compartment of the bus while people of all sorts, including some women with their small children, all



climbed into the waiting vehicle. A couple of people passed Lynnette on their way out the door. Some
even bumped right into her as though she wasn't even there at all.

Once she was through taking enough abuse, Lynnette as well exited through the door and ventured out
into the moonlit night that awaited her with such fervor.


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