Interview with Rogelio, who murdered his neighbor, Maria, for supposedly killing his pregnant wife, Daniela.

  Officer M: What was your and your wife’s relationship with Mrs. Maria Santiago? Were you more than just friendly neighbors?

  Rogelio: We were close like family. My wife, Daniela, and I trusted her, and we treated her as if she were a favorite aunt. Maria was helping my wife deal with a difficult pregnancy. She had experience of being a midwife and knew a lot about the right kind of food my wife should be eating.

  Officer M: What kind of foods?

  Rogelio: Lots of whole grain and vegetables organically grown. Maria had her own garden where she grew a lot of what she ate. She would also give us baskets of her fruits and vegetables. She became our midwife and took charge of my wife’s care, while I went to work.

  Officer M: Where do you work?

  Rogelio: I’m an accountant and I’ve a small office on Saturn Boulevard. I work long hours, sometimes even after business hours. So, it was a comforting thought to have Maria around to help Daniela out around the house.

  Officer M: If Maria was so trusted, then why did you kill her?

  Rogelio: I didn’t know it was her.

  Officer M: Alright, how about this—walk me through the events that led up to the murders last night.

  Rogelio: Last month, Daniela fell sick; she became anemic and had a fever. I took her to the doctor, but they found nothing wrong with her. They prescribed her some medicine for her iron deficiency anemia. But she didn’t get any better; her condition worsened. So, I started work from home to be closer to her and keep an eye on her.

  Officer M: Was Maria still visiting your house?

  Rogelio: Yes, she was and sometimes she stayed overnight. It was during the times that when Maria was over, my wife wasn’t able to sleep well. One night, I woke up to her moaning in pain, and she was sweating so much, and her skin was burning hot. So, I got her a cold wet towel to cool her down.

  Then, I noticed something. Something came up from under the bed on my wife’s side. It was a long and slender tubular organ like a snake’s tongue, and at its tip were fangs, and it hooked itself to her wrist. It pulsated as it drank her blood. I grabbed the closest weapon I could find—a back scratcher—and struck the thing with it.

  The thing let go of Daniela's wrist and slithered back under the bed. I looked underneath the bed and I found myself face to face with a creature with red eyes. It let out a furious screech before it fled the room. A few days later, Daniela got better and during that time Maria didn’t stay the night, but she did come over to check how things were. I noticed that Maria looked unwell; she was pale and a little gaunt as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

  Officer M: Did she stay over last night?

  Rogelio: Yes, she did. And guess what? The creature came back again. It hooked its tongue on my wife’s neck and started draining her blood. I woke up to Daniela moaning in pain again. This time I kept a knife in a drawer in the nightstand. I slashed the tongue with it and then I dived under the bed and started stabbing the creature. And once I knew it was dead, I called 911, but I was too late… (sobbing) Daniela was already dead by the time the paramedics came, and they couldn’t save the baby either.

  They asked me how she had lost so much blood, and I could see on their faces that they thought I was the one… the one who did it. The one who killed my pregnant wife.

  Officer M: Judging by the blood you had on your clothes and the knife you were holding; I can understand how they came to that conclusion.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Rogelio: But it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me! It was the thing—that creature—under the bed.

  Officer M: They checked under the bed, Rogelio, but there was no creature. Instead, they found Maria. Dead. Stabbed forty-two times.

  ***

  Interview with Seraphine, an alleged member of the cult, Keepers of the Blood Tree, and was suspected of being involved in the abduction of two-year-old Caleb.

  Officer M: Let’s start from the beginning. How did you meet the Wilkersons?

  Seraphine: I answered their call for a caretaker for their little boy, Caleb; they posted it online. I have had some experience working with kids in the past. I worked as an au pair for a year in Paris. They liked my references and my resume, so they hired me right away.

  Officer M: Were you already a member of Keepers of the Blood Tree at the time you were hired?

  Seraphine: I attended a few gatherings of theirs, but no, I wasn’t a member and I’m not one right now.

  Officer M: But you’re close to their leader, Good Charlie.

  Seraphine: He was an old school friend of mine. I don’t deny there was a strong connection between us, though we never did anything about it.

  Officer M: Never?

  Seraphine: (laughing) Yeah, okay, we fucked a couple of times. What? Is that a crime now?

  Officer M: There’s nothing to laugh about. A family is grieving. They lost their kid. And you’re laughing…

  Seraphine: I’m laughing because you’re asking stupid questions.

  Officer M: Listen here—I’m going to put you away for life for your part in the boy’s abduction. Tell me right here, right now what happened to Caleb Wilkerson. Where is he?

  Seraphine: I didn’t kidnap Caleb. You already nabbed your perpetrators. They were the ones caught on the home security cameras. Not me.

  Officer M: Yet they knew how to disable the alarm system and knew exactly where Caleb’s room was. All three kidnappers happened to be your fuck buddy’s followers. Keepers of the Blood Tree.

  Seraphine: I don’t know how they knew, officer. I really don’t. But I’ll tell you this—Caleb’s in a good place now. He’s become part of something great and ancient.

  Officer M: What do you mean? Is he dead? Alive?

  Seraphine: You know that big, twisted tree in the valley? It’s about a mile towards East from Good Charlie’s camp.

  Officer M: No. What’s so special about it?

  Seraphine: Good Charlie and his friends worship this tree. They say it’s older than Methuselah. It’s more than tens of thousands of years old.

  Officer M: Have you seen it?

  Seraphine: Of course, I have. It’s a sight to behold! You could see all the faces of the souls within its beautiful body. That’s where you’ll find little Caleb. Tell his family that he’s in a much better place now. There’s no reason for them to grieve because he’s not truly gone. He’s going to live for thousands of years.

  ***

  Interview with two witnesses of a slaughter that occurred during the night at a homeless campsite in the valley.

  Witness 1: I was in my tent, quietly reading. I’ve a book light that I finally found the batteries for; I traded a scarf for them. You know, I just couldn’t sleep unless I read something like a bedtime story.

  Officer M: Okay, let’s get back to the story. You were in your tent…and then what happened?

  Witness 1: And then that’s when I heard like an animal prowling through the camp. It’s got heavy footsteps, man. Like THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Take a hammer and strike it on the ground, and that’s what those footsteps sound like. I shut off the light and held my breath as it brushed up against my tent.

  Officer M: Did you peek outside to see what it was?

  Witness 1: Oh, hell no! Are you crazy? What was I going to do if it tried to eat me? Throw my book at it? I hid right under my blanket. I heard it rampage through the camp. People were screaming… I was too petrified, nearly scared me to death. I only came out after it had left. Oh, man, poor Frank…he was my neighbor. Nothing was left of him but his feet in his sneakers that were left behind.

  Witness 2: I saw the beast.

  Officer M: Do you know what animal it was?

  Witness 2: It was no animal, officer. No animal that we know of.

  Officer M: Any idea what it could be?

  Witness 2: It was very tall, like fifteen feet tall. It looked like a man but with the head of a goat and long arms and bent like a praying mantis.

  Officer M: Okay… are you being serious?

  Witness 2: Three good people were eaten by this thing. I am dead serious, officer.

  Join my Discord:

  For news and updates on future works, .