The “Well District” (12/01, 9:15 am)

[Hollis Brown]

Yellow crime scene tape has been wrapped around the area around the old brick well and the white sign. The town sheriff, accompanied by the deputy with the shaved head, is talking once more with Dr. Nora Green, who is standing doorway of her sulfur-yellow colored house. She is wearing a purple coat, white dress pants, and a pair of boots that are caked with snow.

The deputy, who has a shaved head, watches the woman in silence while the sheriff speaks. Their conversation is too quiet to be heard from far away.

Unlike before, there are no gawkers and observers. There is a chilling silence surrounding the area. Snow continues to lightly fall and collect on the sheriff and deputy's clothes.

[Jackson_Lee]

With a thermos of coffee in hand, Jackon sat on the rear step of the ambulance. He faced the well. "Damned cursed thing." Jackson uttered to himself before taking a sip of his strong coffee straight out of the thermos. There wasn't a whole lot Jackson could do at the scene. He didn't work on dead people, so he waited for the coroner to arrive. Jackson turned his gaze to Dr. Green. He felt rather sorry for her. She was rather over-worked for a town the size of Stakeford. Jackson was glad he didn't go on to get his MD, though he had a similar scope of knowledge as most ER doctors.

[Cliff Alset]

Cliff gazes out the window of his vintage Volkswagen Beetle as he slowly heads through the light snow toward the well district. All is quiet save for the sound of the wipers clicking back and forth. Up ahead an ambulance is parked, facing outward from the old brick well. Cliff wanted to come out here two weeks ago after receiving the mysterious message. He was to paranoid to do so. With the note still stuffed in his overcoat pocket, Cliff pulls over to the right side of the street and comes to a stop. He sees the old well has yellow police tape around it. "Oh God. Now What?" He reaches down to set the parking brake and is suddenly surprised he had put on different colored socks this morning. "How the hell did I manage this? Look at that---one red; the other blue! Damn, I gotta get more sleep." Cliff looks up and notices someone has turned sharply from the rear of the ambulance, and now stares toward Cliff's car.

[Cameron Johnson]

Cameron walks up to the scene and the look of shock and awe on his face is unmistakeable. He looks as though he had a bad meal, his face visibly pale, his right hand clutching his gut as if to keep it from flowing out of his body. He turns to his side and vomits. The puke is an off red color looking as if it is a mix of his Campbell's tomato soup and the egg rolls he had at the POS gas station he had before his 12 hour drive back to Stakeford. He sees a man leaning on the ambulance and hopes he didnt notice Cameron's vomiting episode.

[Jackson_Lee]

Jackson had heard the crunch of snow under tires and presumed a vehicle approaching. Setting his thermos down, he peered around the side of the ambulance, facing away from the well out to the VW Beetle that had pulled up. "Just an on-looker, I guess," Jackson said to himself as he turned back around, reaching for his thermos for another swig of coffee. No sooner than he grabbed his thermos when he heard the sounds of vomiting. With a sigh, Jackson set his thermos aside and reached for his medical bag inside the ambulance. Once the bag was in hand, he moved to where he heard the vomiting. Jackson found the man who vomited, and cautiously approached, while slipping on his latex gloves. "Are you alright?" Jackson asked calmly, his Kiwi accent showing faintly in his speech, as he eyed both the pile of the off-red vomit and for possible visible signs of distress on Cameron's face. It was obvious he didn't look well. It was more than the pale face he had, it seemed to Jackson. "Do you need a doctor?" Jackson asked, setting his medical bag down as he stepped closer to Cameron.

[Cameron Johnson]

"You don't sound like you're from the states there fella." Cameron paused to wipe the film of vomit off of his face. "You also look familiar, have I seen you somewhere?" Cameron seems to be visibly straining to remember where he had seen Jackson before. His face becomes relaxed and he smiled with a bright gleam in his eye. "Ah yes!" "I remember now!" "I saw you at Porker's the night I got that dreadful phone call. My mom, dad, aunt, uncle and 2 cousins were on their way to a concert in Texas and they almost made it." Cameron's voice began to waver but he continued, "they were killed on the highway. A drunk driver swerved into the lane of oncoming traffic and the semi in that lane swerved to avoid him. The semi's tanker came detached and hit the car my mother was driving. The tank was full of gasoline and it caused their car to burst into flames. I guess I'm just not ready for another fucking funeral. I thought by now they would have caught the killers. Fuck." Cameron starts to sob uncontrollably and reaches for Jackson to give him a hug.

[Cliff Alset]

Cliff slowly approaches the crime scene. He overhears some of the conversation between Cameron and Jackson. With some reluctance he asks, "I don't mean to pry, but did someone say, 'killers'? Is there more than one out there?"

[Jackson_Lee]

"I'm sorry to hear that, mate." Jackson said in a reassuring tone to Cameron, gasping softly at how suddenly Cameron reached out for a hug. He was suddenly reminded of his own tragic loss, the death of his wife back in New Zealand. Related feelings nearly broke the surface, but he forced those feeling down, bottling them up tight. Clearing his throat, Jackson said. "C'mon, lets get you to the ambulance so I can check you over, yeah?" Jackson asked in such a way that it wasn't so much a request as it was an order. Jackson had looked up to Cliff who approached with reluctance. Jackson gave a shrug in reply to Cliff, "I don't know mate. If there is, the problem is much larger than we realize. Unless he's talkin' about who killed his family... even then I still don't know."

[Cameron Johnson]

Cameron shrugs and tells Jackson, "Well I suppose visiting an ambulance wont hurt that much, unless you stab me with a fuggin' needle or some shit."

Cameron looks over at Cliff and says, "Hey man, dont go giving this town more than it can handle now. I dont know how many killers there are but lets just hope there's only one. I dont know how this place could deal with two. Hell, does the police force even have enough man power for that?"

[Jackson_Lee]

Jackson helped Cameron into the back of the ambulance, motioning for him to sit on the gurney as Jackson went to work. Jackson strapped a blood pressure cuff around Cameron's arm. Sticking the earpiece of his stethoscope into his ears, Jackson puffed up the blood pressure cuff as he then asked, "I don't think we've been formally introduced, mate. I'm Jackson. And you're right I think. The police are in... far over their heads." Jackson said with a pause, while listening carefully to Cameron's pulse for any irregularities.

[Cliff Alset]

Cliff turns his head and stares at the well surrounded by the yellow tape. A sudden humming sound fills his ears. He folds his arms as if the chill in the air was haunting him. All sounds around him begin to fade. The deep, low humming intensifies. The trees nearby begin to wave as if they had a life of their own. The bright, yellow tape vibrates. The well begins to glow. A sense of confusion and terror is welling up in his mind.
He tries to close his eyes, but his unable to do so. "Ahhh... oh
God..."

[Hollis Brown]

THE "WELL DISTRICT" IS NOW CLOSED

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