Anthony walked in toward the attendance office very slowly and tried not to draw any attention to himself. Unfortunately, that was not accomplished very well as the attendance office was on the other side of the school building. He immediately saw his assistant principle that he had gotten to know very well through his campaigning, Mr. Anderson.

“Well, Mr. Pierce, finally showing up to school today, are we?” he said very slyly.

“I just got here a little late,” replied Anthony, still breathing hard.

“A little late?” scorned Mr. Anderson. “You realize that you will barely make it half day? Just because your father won the election again doesn’t mean that you can just skip half a day of school, Mr. Pierce.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” said Anthony.

“Well, don’t think that I will excuse you just because your father is governor,” said Mr. Anderson.

“Is that all, Mr. Anderson?” asked Anthony as he emphasized his name.

“No, actually,” said Mr. Anderson in a somewhat chilly tone. “There was a man by the name of Roger Daniel’s who called earlier today and wanted to talk to you. I said that you would go to see him after school today. He said that he had contacted your parents in advance and that they would take you to his house. It sounded as though he was a family friend.”

“I have only heard the name once before,” replied Anthony. “That was my father’s old opponents assistant campaign manager from four years ago. Why would he want to talk to me now?”

“I don’t know,” said Mr. Anderson in a somewhat cautious tone. “I will contact your parents and see if he did indeed call them to confirm a meeting with you.”

“Thank you,” said Anthony.

Anthony went off to his class that he figured out was the Advanced Placement European History, a class which he was not failing, but he wasn’t passing either. He couldn’t figure out why the teacher, Mr. Westland had such high expectations when he was barely actually teaching much of anything during the actual class time.

“Ah, Anthony, you finally decided to show up,” said Mr. Westland as Anthony entered the classroom. “One of your friends will get you up to speed on what you missed thus far today.”

Anthony listened as Mr. Westland in his normal way rambled on about what he hated about the subject they were studying. This one was one of the most ludicrous. The previous night, they had just read or were supposed to read about the advancement of literature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Mr. Westland was especially rambling on about why he hated the literature type of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Anthony wondered why he hated it so much, but he did.

Once class was over, Anthony went to the restroom as he always did before lunchtime. The restroom that he went to was the one that was directly beside the back exit. When Anthony was finished washing his hands, he realized that he forgot his lunch back at home, so he just decided to go get lunch at the McDonalds, which was less than 400 meters away.

When he got to the restaurant, he saw that there was no one really there, but he proceeded inside anyway. He didn’t mind that he was the only one there, and it would speed getting food up a lot. He went to the cashier, and ordered hamburger, and then ate it and left the restaurant quickly in order to get back to school on time.

When he got to the street that the school was on, he noticed a hooded man walking towards him. Anthony didn’t think anything of it because it was cold out, but he would soon find out that he would later regret that. When he got closer to the man, he could actually make out the face of what appeared to be a middle aged man with scars on either side of his face.

When they walked by each other, the man grabbed Anthony’s neck and pulled him over towards him. Anthony fought, but the man covered Anthony’s mouth so he could not make a sound. Anthony’s hands were unable to do anything, and the man broke both of Anthony’s legs. Anthony finally gave up struggling, and the man stopped torturing him. It all happened in a few seconds, and since there was not really anyone around, no one knew what had happened. Anthony then fell unconscious, and the man picked up his body, and brought it with him.

When Jameson Pierce got home from his meeting with his campaign manager, he went home to greet his wife and his son, Anthony. However, as soon as he walked through the door, he was shocked at what he saw. When he opened the door, before he could saw anything, his wife, Julie, ran up to him with a hysterical look on her face.

“Well, hello Julie,” said Jameson. “Listen, sorry about this morning. After Anthony said his piece, I got to thinking that both of you did have a point, and that I was behaving insensitively. Speaking of Anthony, where is Anthony.”

“That is the problem, Jameson,” said Julie, who seemed very choked up. “He apparently went out of the school for lunch, and then never returned. Assistant Principal Mr. Anderson called us to ask if he ran home, saying that he had arrived late and that someone had called before he got to school wanting to talk to him, saying that the man wanting to talk to him had called us, which he hadn’t.”

“Settle down, honey,” said Jameson comfortingly, even though he was extraordinarily worried. “I’m sure he’s alright.”

“He didn’t show back up at school!” said Julie in hysteria, then she calmed down a little. “I called the police, and the entire school staff is looking for him. Mr. Anderson also said that when he talked to Anthony when Anthony arrived at school, he was acting very moody.”

“Well, that is probably because of the fight that occurred this morning,” said Jameson worriedly. “That means that he may have only ran away.”

“Are you saying that’s a good thing?” asked Julie.

“Absolutely not,” said Jameson. “However, if he indeed ran away, and that is my suspicion, then we shouldn’t worry about the possibility of kidnapping, at least not yet.”

“Shouldn’t we be out looking for him?” asked Julie, with tears in her eyes.

“Not yet,” sighed Jameson. “We are in too much of a state of hysteria to go out looking for him right now.”

“What should we do, then?” asked Julie, trying to figure things out.

“We should call more people and see if they can go look for him,” said Jameson. “Nightfall will be in a couple of hours, so we better hurry. The most likely place he would have gone to for lunch is McDonalds, because it is the closest place to the school, and he could get there and back in time before his next class would start.”

“Well, then I would say call McDonalds to see if he did go there,” said Julie. “I will do that. You call up some friends of your campaign to see if they can help us look.”

Governor Pierce and his wife then went like lightning to make the phone calls. Julie used her cell phone to call McDonalds, while Jameson used the landline in order to contact his campaign aides, especially his top campaign manager Helen Bowling, and her husband, Nicholas Hardy.

“Well, Nick and Helen said they will keep a lookout, and Nick is actually going out to search, but they are the only people who actually could right now,” said Jameson.

“Well, when I contacted McDonalds, apparently they had already heard about Anthony going missing and sent some people out to look for him,” said Julie. “He had been there at lunch and they saw him leave the restaurant, so they were as puzzled as we were.”

“Well, let’s hope someone finds him,” said Jameson.

After that, Jameson and Julie went to sit next to each other at their dinner table, but in silence. Jameson tried to comfort his wife, but it was difficult seeing as in technicality there was no one to comfort him. They sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity, but was really about an hour, until there came a knock at the door. Jameson jumped up before his wife could even react and ran to the door.

He opened the door to find his old friend turned cop Patrick Giles standing with his son, Anthony, who was beat and scratched half to death. Julie jumped forward and grabbed her son before Jameson could even react. Jameson noticed how inexpressive his son was, and that brought about some questions in his mind, but he didn’t think about that. He was just so relieved that Anthony had been found.

“Where was he,” asked Jameson.

“I found him in a roadside ditch,” revealed Patrick. “He appeared to be left for dead. He never said a word to me the whole time, and he was unconscious when I found him.”

“I’m just relieved that you actually did find him,” said Jameson. “How much do you want?”

“There is no charge in this case my friend,” said Patrick. “The satisfaction of knowing that I brought the family back together is thanks enough.”

“Goodbye then, Patrick,” said Jameson. “Now I can be well rested for my meeting with President Brown tomorrow.”

“Oh yes,” said Patrick. “Well, good luck tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” said Jameson as Patrick went on his way back home. Right as Jameson was about to close the door, Patrick turned around and walked toward him.

“Uh, one more thing, Jameson,” said Patrick more questionably. “Did you hear about the news story regarding the death if your rival this election. It has the whole United States baffled, and at least we found your son so as not to distract from the murder.”

“What murder?” asked Jameson.

Patrick stepped back up to the door and whispered closely to Jameson. “You better check on your son just for a second and then come out here with me. I have some very important items to present you with.”

Jameson questioned what Patrick was even talking about, but he did go in to see how his wife and son were doing. He went upstairs where he heard Julie talking to his son. As he went upstairs he noticed that Anthony was saying absolutely nothing. When he got to the bathroom where Julie was cleaning off some of the blood that was on Anthony’s face, he noticed that Anthony looked barely awake.

“How is he doing?” asked Jameson, looking at his son.

“I don’t know,” replied Julie in a worried tone. “Anthony hasn’t said a single word to me.”

“Patrick said that he never said a single word to him either,” said Jameson. “He must be shaken up by the whole experience. I don’t blame him either, because from what Patrick said, he was supposed to be dead. Why don’t you lay him down after you finish cleaning him off.”

“I’ll do that,” said Julie as Jameson went downstairs to rejoin Patrick outside again.

Once he got downstairs, Jameson went outside to join Patrick once again, and this time shut the door behind him. “Okay, Patrick,” said Jameson. “What is all of this about?”

“This morning, while you were celebrating your victory, Charles Baker was found dead and his body mutilated right outside his house,” said Patrick. “Nobody knows why he was killed, but they are doing forensic tests on the body. He was decapitated, so it will take a few days for them to come out with actual final results.”

“Do they have any suspects in the murder?” asked Jameson.

“Not in the actual murder,” said Patrick in an official tone. “However, there is some suspicion that you were somehow involved in the murder of Charles Baker.”

Jameson took a step back. “That’s ludicrous!” he cried.

“That’s what I told them,” replied Patrick in an understanding tone. “I have called your Lieutenant Governor Jane Greebes to come here and discuss things over with you as to what evidence is stacked against you.”

Jameson took another step forward in somewhat offense. “What, are you arresting me?” asked Jameson, in an offensive tone.

“Not yet,” said Patrick. “However, I am asking you to keep an ear open for anything dealing with this. Mrs. Greebes will have a personal meeting with you tomorrow going over any further developments.”

“That would be great,” said Jameson somewhat sarcastically. “Should I tell my wife that I am a suspect?”

“Not yet,” replied Patrick. “There isn’t enough evidence to classify you officially as a person of interest, but unofficially you are. She has enough stress that unless you become an official person of interest you should keep it from her.”

“I see,” said Jameson slowly. “Well, thank you for letting me in on this little bit of information.”

“I will do the best I can to try and keep this scandal away from you,” said Patrick comfortingly.
Patrick then waved goodbye as he went off in the dark to go back home, and Jameson just stood there for a moment, not knowing what to think. He realized that if anyone got anything on him, regardless of the fact that he was innocent, he knew his political future would be over. He also was worried about the fact that they didn’t seem to have a suspect for who kidnapped Anthony, and somehow Jameson had a small inkling in his mind that told him that Charles Baker’s murder and his son’s kidnapping were in some way connected. He would think about that after he went in and made sure everything was alright on the home front.

Chapter IV:

Bad Dreams

Jameson walked inside and upstairs to Julie and Anthony in Anthony’s bedroom. Anthony had already gone to sleep and he was being watched over by Julie, while Jameson crept into the room quietly to talk to his wife. He noticed she was crying quietly, but it wasn’t a sad or depressed cry, but rather a cry of worry and despair.

“It’s alright, Julie,” said Jameson, leaning down to comfort his wife. “Anthony is back.”

“I know,” said Julie, wiping the tears from her eyes. “It’s just I can clearly see that it was no random act of violence that Anthony got kidnapped. It was because he was your son!”

“I understand that,” said Jameson. “There are other problems at hand, though. I am not at liberty to tell you, but just understand that there are other problems.”

“Tell me tomorrow morning then,” said Julie. “I am tired, so I think I will head off to bed.”

“I think I’ll do the same,” said Jameson.

With that, they went to bed and went to sleep, though it was not as good of sleep for Jameson as it was for Julie. He kept wondering who would frame him for the murder of his former challenger Charles Baker. He had to figure out with his campaign manager what was going on.

He went to sleep that night and it was a more restless sleep. He woke up at some point in the middle of the night, and went to check up on Anthony. When he got to Anthony’s room, however, Anthony was not in his bed. Jameson’s immediate thought was that he must have gone to the kitchen to get a drink or something. So Jameson went down to the kitchen to check up and make sure Anthony was indeed down there.

When he got there, however, he didn’t see Anthony, or at least he didn’t think he did. As he got to the bottom of the stairs, he saw that there was what appeared to be Anthony standing right outside the door. Jameson then went over to the door and opened it to let Anthony in. When Anthony got in, he walked over to the kitchen and turned to around facing the refrigerator, apparently oblivious to Jameson’s presence. Jameson then walked over towards Anthony and began to speak to him.

“Anthony, are you okay? What were you doing out there?” asked Jameson, which he would later regret.

As Anthony turned around, Jameson immediately took a step backward and nearly fell over the chair because of seeing Anthony in the light. It definitely at first glance looked like he was Anthony in normal light, but a Jameson got a closer look, there was something wrong. Anthony’s skin seemed all wrinkly and almost scaly, though he couldn’t tell for sure because it was still dark. But that wasn’t what caught Jameson’s attention. He stared at his son’s face with horror. Anthony’s eyes stared at him with a red glow, as though he was yearning something of his, and his teeth were longer than Jameson had ever known teeth to naturally be. His ears were also more pointed, almost like an elf in a fictional movie, and his overall appearance almost looked animal, including his fingernails, which at the moment looked more like talons than necessarily nails. Jameson then fell down and went unconscious.

When Jameson woke up the next morning, he was in his be comfortably next to his wife, who was still sleeping soundly. It was early morning, but the sunlight was starting to peer through the clouds. Jameson then got up and went to check on Anthony in his room, and see if he still looked like he did in the middle of the night. When Jameson got there, Anthony was fast asleep, and there was nothing different about him. Jameson figured out that it was just a nightmare brought on by the fact that he had so much stress on his mind.

Jameson noticed that he was feeling a little weaker than normal, and it wasn’t that he was feeling sick, it was more that he was just feeling weak, and a type of weakness that he had never felt before. He went to get a drink, but that didn’t seem to help. He got a piece of toast, and he still felt just as weak. He was also feeling lightheaded and dizzy, and he couldn’t understand why, but he just had to get on with the day.

Jameson and Julie were keeping Anthony home from school that day because of his ordeal the day before and they wanted to make sure that he was alright physically and emotionally. It was important that he had both a sound body and a sound mind before he went back to school. However, Jameson also couldn’t stay home for much of the day because he had to go to that meeting with Jane Greebes in order to work out what was going on with Charlie Baker’s murder.

He ate breakfast before anyone got up, and he left a note explaining where he had gone, but not why he had gone. He got in his car once he was finished writing the note, and drove to Jane Greebes house in order to stop any rumors from spreading throughout the news and to try an avoid a scandal. It was obvious that Jameson didn’t actually commit the murder, but what he had to prove was that he did not authorize the killing of Senator Baker.

When he got to the large house of Lieutenant Governor Jane Greebes, Jameson got out of the car and walked slowly to open the door of Mrs. Greebes. He got along with Jane alright, but her husband, Robert Greebes, didn’t like Jameson at all. He seemed to think of Jameson as an overrated politician who had spent too much time as governor and had lost sight of what it really was to be a real person. Jameson just took this in stride as he knew that Robert just held the grudge of Jameson beating Jane in the primary election for governor.

He knocked on the door, and the person who answered was indeed Robert. “Hello, Governor,” he snarled with a chill in his voice. “I assume you are here to meet with Jane?”

“You are correct, Robert,” said Jameson politely. “Can I come in?”

“Oh yes,” growled Robert. “Come into the kitchen and she will be with you right away.”

Robert went to sit down at the kitchen table and waited for Jane to arrive. He had forgotten how large their house actually was. It was almost a mansion, and the family was small, with Jane and Robert never actually having kids. Jane walked into the kitchen holding a folder and binder with a bunch of papers in it.

“Well, Governor, it looks like you are in trouble,” said Jane with a smirk on her face.

”I heard all about it from my friend Patrick, but how is anyone connecting it to me?” asked Jameson. “I hadn’t even heard about the murder until Patrick told me about it late last night after my boy was found.”

“Well, I was very shocked and doubtful at first, Jameson,” said Jane. “However, I have reason to believe that it could have been possible for a letter.”

Jameson then got up, not able to believe his ears. “What do you mean?” he asked, exasperated.

“I have recovered a letter that you apparently sent to a certain suspect whose name I cannot release for security reasons,” said Jane. “Nevertheless, Jameson, absolutely nothing is confirmed. I would go home and tell your wife about this now.”

“Aren’t we going to discuss how we can avoid a massive political scandal?” asked Jameson worriedly.

“I’m afraid that the evidence seems to be against you right this moment, Jameson,” said Robert in a somewhat threatening tone. “Do what my wife asks.”

Jameson Pierce then walked out of the room without saying another word and drove back to his house. However, the whole drive he was questioning how he would approach the subject with Julie. She seemed on the brink of an emotional breakdown, and Jameson was just afraid that something like this could really push her over the edge. When he got back to his house, he walked very slowly up to the door before unlocking it and going in. When he got in there, he noticed that Julie was sitting there with her hands over her face and crying.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jameson comfortingly.

“It’s Anthony,” said Julie, wiping the tears from her eyes. “He is very ill, and he is barely responding to anything. He is almost dazed, with not saying much more than a grunt.”

This struck Jameson as very worrisome. “Well, if he isn’t better in a couple of days, then we better get him into the doctor,” he said. Then he took a little pause before he began to talk about the issue of his scandal. “Honey, I know now may not be the best time to bring this up, but there is something of great necessity that we need to discuss,” began Jameson, then Julie looked up. “You remember hearing about the Charles Baker murder on the news I am sure.”

“Yes,” said Julie very slowly. “What about it?”

“Well, you remember of course that Patrick was the one whom brought Anthony home last night. When he did, he asked me to go out there and said there was something of urgency to discuss. He told me about the murder to which I had been oblivious to, and explained to me something that hasn’t been able to escape my mind. There is someone who claims that I was involved in the murder of Charles Baker, and when I went over to Jane Greebes’ house, she said that she had unconfirmed evidence that I was indeed involved.”

“Well just say you weren’t!” Julie yelled.

“I am afraid that it isn’t that easy,” said Jameson. “The evidence needs to be confirmed before we make any drastic moves. She will call me when it is.”

The rest of the day for the most part was spent with Julie worrying about both Jameson and Anthony while Jameson looked through his papers and contacted people that may have been able to help him out with the case. In any case, there was not much said between the two of them for the rest of the day. Anthony’s condition did not improve over the course of the day, and it was clear that he was very ill. They put him to bed, and Julie was so exhausted by that time that she went to bed herself. Jameson wasn’t as tired, but when he went to bed he opted to sleep on the sofa.

Jameson woke up the next morning remembering that he had remembered a couple of bad dreams that night. The one he remembered the best, and the one that terrified him the most was very peculiar. He remembered walking outside on the streets, and walking to the downtown area, and seemed to remember meeting someone, though he couldn’t remember who. He remembered then attacking the man in the dream, first using his hands and then he couldn’t remember what he did to him. After he had finished attacking the man, he seemed to recall talking with the corpse of his now dead rival Charlie Baker, whom he remembered had his head sewn back on. He tried not to think of the details of the body, but it was hard to get it out of his mind.

He went upstairs to check on Anthony and Julie, but before he could get up there, he heard someone knocking at the door. He went over to the door, wondering who could be at the door at this hour in the morning. He went over cautiously and slowly, because he knew that anyone who was coming to the door that early couldn’t have any good news, and even a long term politician like Jameson Pierce could only take so much bad news. He proceeded to open the door, and saw Patrick in his formal police uniform with the police cruiser in the back with the lights flashing, and he knew it meant only one thing.

Chapter V:

The Lunatic

“Governor Pierce, you are under arrest for the murder of local doctor Albert Watkins,” said Patrick in a very formal and stern tone, as though he had never met Jameson before.

“Patrick, what are you-” Jameson began but he could not finish before Jameson interrupted him.

“You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?”

“What are you talking about, Patrick?” asked a bewildered Jameson.

“First of all, you will address me by using the word ‘officer’,” said Patrick refusing to look at Jameson. “You, Governor Pierce, were seen at exactly 2:30 last night manhandling local doctor Albert Watkins. His body was found at exactly 7:35 this morning lying on the sidewalk next to his office this morning with a slash through his neck. He had been dead for four hours. He bled to death in the night.”

“I assure you I have nothing to do with this,” said Jameson.

“Mr. Pierce, I have the orders to arrest you now,” said Patrick softly. “And I mean to do just that. If you resist, I can put up more charges on you. Right now, you are going to be charged with first degree murder.”

“On what? The fact that I was lying on my sofa at 2:30 last night?”

At this point, Patrick finally looked up at Jameson and talked as though he had been his friend before, but with a tone of disappointment. “Jameson, someone showed me video evidence, and I have to take you in. I didn’t want to believe it myself, but the evidence forced me to do my duty. I hope you will eventually forgive me for that.”

Jameson stood there for a second, not sure of what to think, and then let Patrick put him in the police cruiser without any argument. He knew that, presented with the evidence, Patrick had no choice. If he was the officer on duty, then he was just doing his job. Jameson knew that he would be in jail until a proper trial was held, and that Lieutenant Governor Jane Greebes would then take over as governor. He didn’t know what kind of evidence there was against him, but he didn’t think it had anything to do with the death of Charlie Baker.

The two of them didn’t talk for mostly the entire time, and it seemed very awkward to Jameson. He wasn’t sure if it was the end of his friendship with Patrick, but the arrest certainly didn’t help matters at all. He looked at his hands, which he had willfully let Patrick handcuff, and remembered that he had not told Julie or Anthony that he was going to be gone to prison. He was sure, however, that Lieutenant Governor Jane Greebes and her jealous husband knew and were ready to pounce on the job.

When he got to the jail, he saw that there were storm clouds coming and it was about to rain, which meant that he would be confined to his cell block with whomever he was sharing with. “Here we are, Jameson,” said Patrick. “One of the officers will take you from here.”

“Thanks, friend,” Jameson said in a sarcastic tone. Then Patrick turned around right as he was about to get in his police cruiser and had one last thing to say.

“Listen, Governor, you have my prayers and blessing in the hopes that all of this turns out to be nothing but a political scare,” he said. “I, however, do have a job to do, and I mean to do it.”

Then he left, and though Jameson was hurt by the fact that his own best friend arrested him, he would later thank him for it. A guard came out to get Jameson and take him inside to put him in the jail. He knew who the warden was, and hoped that because he was governor, the warden would go easy on him. However, that was not to be the case.

As soon as he got inside, Jameson was met with ten guards and the big and tough warden. “Governor, I am glad to see you,” said the warden tauntingly. Jameson was being taken to the warden’s office. “I am going to tell you now that I always thought your policies dealing with police officers were crap, Pierce, and now you will get to see why. We have the lowest budget for law enforcement in the country, and you will experience that.”

“I didn’t do anything,” growled Jameson as the guard that took him inside sat him in the chair.

The warden then looked around at the surrounding officers, and then back at Jameson. “Officers, if you could excuse us for a moment,” said the warden. The officers then proceeded to leave the office in a straight line with the last one shutting the door behind him. “Pierce, I hope you know that I have been looking forward to this for a long time.” He then walloped Jameson in the face with an extraordinary force.

“I thought I outlawed torture,” said Jameson as he regained his composure.

“You aren’t governor anymore, though,” snarled the warden. He then began to beat Jameson with an incredible amount of force that eventually led to Jameson lying on the ground, bruised and bleeding. “I hope you realize that you are no stronger than your son is when being beaten.”

Jameson looked up with his face bleeding and bruised. “What do you mean?” he snarled, wiping blood from his lips.

“I arranged for the kidnapping of your boy,” he snickered and continued to bruise and beat Jameson. “You are a prisoner now, Pierce, and I am going to enjoy having you here.”

A guard then came into the room and hoisted Jameson off of the ground and dragged him out of the room. Once out of the room, Jameson stood up and let the guard take him to his cell, which would hopefully be empty. He was afraid that if he had a cellmate that he would not last long in the prison, and he had never been in a spot where he had to physically defend himself. However, the guard came to the end of the hallway of cells, and stopped right in front of one that had no barred windows or even a simple barred door, but rather completely shut out from the rest of the world. This was solitary confinement, and Jameson was terrified as the guard opened the door.

“Solitary confinement?” Jameson said nervously.

“Yep,” said the guard, opening the iron door, and revealing that there was a man inside there

already. “You have company, Billy.”

The man was sitting in a corner, and didn’t turn around after the guard spoke to him. The guard threw Jameson to the ground in the cell, and shut the door before he could do anything. Billy didn’t do anything when the guard shut the door, and he had made no acknowledgement that Jameson was even present. For the time being, Jameson was alright with that, but it was kind of eery. He wasn’t going to make conversation until the opportunity presented itself.

Jameson walked over to the opposite corner from Billy’s and sat down staring away from the wall, looking at the ground. He never even got his one phone call that all prisoners were supposed to be allowed. He guessed that whoever this Billy guy was didn’t get it either, and that he should have fired the warden years before. He looked over at the cot and realized it was only one, and that one of them would have to sleep on the ground. It was still mid-morning, and Jameson had not had anything to eat all day, and figured he probably wouldn’t get much the entire day. For that, he decided to make conversation with Billy, or at least try. Billy actually spoke first, but continued to face the corner making it impossible for Jameson to see his face.

“Governor Pierce, right?” he said in a scratchy voice, with a somewhat grim tone in it. “Well, just letting you know, the food here is the worst thing you will ever eat.”

“Why did the warden beat me up so much?”

“The same reason he does that to everyone,” said Billy in a mystic tone, and still with a very scratchy voice. “He hates people, and he finds that being the warden in a prison is very convenient for being able to take that hatred out.”

“He arranged for the kidnapping of my son yesterday!” said Jameson, who was raising his voice and getting angrier while forgetting his own pain.

“It wouldn’t be the first time I’m sure that he kidnapped someone,” said Billy. “He is an infamous child abuser, and he has been able to get away with it by bribes for decades.”

“Well, as soon as my innocence is proven I am firing him and putting him in prison!”

“You assume that your innocence will be proven. This law enforcement system is corrupt, and there are many innocent prisoners in this prison, but none of them are ever proven innocent.”

“What about you?” asked Jameson, who was actually getting interested in Billy’s life.

“I’m guilty, and one of the few who are,” answered Billy. “I murdered a man five years ago in cold blood because I caught him having an affair with my wife. What did you do?”

“Well, Billy, I did nothing,” replied Jameson. “My former friend Patrick, who is a police officer came to my door early this morning and told me that he had video evidence that I killed some doctor last night that I had never even heard of.”

“Why don’t you tell me what has happened in your words over the past two days,” said Billy. “It might help to get it off your chest, and we literally have nothing better to do.”

“Well, you’re right about that,” said Jameson, and he figured that it might help just to discuss it with someone. “Well, it started on Wednesday. I had won the gubernatorial election by a landslide, but our family was arguing a over the discussion of politics at the breakfast table. My wife stormed out of the kitchen and into her room. Then my son Anthony and I had a more thoughtful discussion, in which he did have a point. However, at the time I was too mad at my family so I stormed out to have a meeting with the people involved in my reelection campaign.

“Well, the people there were saying how glad they were that I won, and then said how I should make a presidential run in four years. I already had told my family and a few friends earlier in the morning that I was going to run for president in four years, so we started plotting out how I was going to go about doing that. We mainly agreed on the fact that we were going to run a strictly positive campaign that wasn’t tearing down the other guy.

“Well, once the meeting was over I went straight home to greet my family and apologize for how I had acted earlier in the morning. When I got home, however, what I saw was my wife in a state of hysteria I have not seen since my mom watched my dad die, and my son was missing. I had to act as a comfort to her, even though I was just as worried as she was. We made some phone calls and then waited for what seemed like days, but was really only a few hours until Patrick brought Anthony home.

“I didn’t get a chance to relish in the fact that my missing son had been found, though, because Patrick had a little discussion with me first. He told me that I was a suspect in the murder of my opponent Charlie Baker. Now, I had not heard until then that he was murdered, and he told me not to tell my wife about it, so I didn’t.

“This all left me with a restless sleep that night. I remember a vivid nightmare that night though. I dreamed that I got up in the middle of the night and went to check on Anthony in his room, but he was not there. I then, in the dream, proceeded to walk down to the basement and see if he was maybe in the kitchen, he was not, and I started to panic. Then I saw a figure that appeared to be my son outside, so I let him in. When in there, I saw that it definitely looked like Anthony, but he was more monstrous looking. His skin was almost scaly, and his fingernails looked like talons. His ears were pointed, and his teeth were more like fangs. His eyes terrified me the most, which looked at me with a red glow, and I passed out in my dream. The next morning, I woke up peacefully in my bed by my wife, but I felt very weakened.”

“Wait, stop right there,” said Billy, then he stood up. Jameson looked up at Billy, and he saw a man with his face almost mutilated from scars and bruises, and his hair was mostly gone in the front. He walked towards Jameson with a limp on his left leg, and Jameson noticed that one of his arms was missing.

“What happened to you?” asked Jameson.

“The warden happened,” replied Billy. “But that’s not why I stood up. When you described your son in your nightmare, I remembered a similar occurrence in my past, only it wasn’t a dream. It was real, and I didn’t pass out, but rather ran to the church.”

“What are you saying?” asked Jameson.

“You were not dreaming, Pierce, and your son’s appearance was real. You are dealing with something beyond your control, and I have a feeling that I don’t want to be around you tonight.”

“It’s not like we can do anything about it,” replied Jameson, confused as to what Billy was implying.

“You said you felt weak last night, right?” said Billy. “Well, continue the retelling for yesterday.”

Jameson took a deep breath, and then began again. “Well, not much happened that day. I went over to the Lieutenant Governor’s office to go over any evidence that we thought anyone had obtained in framing me for the murder of Charlie Baker. Well, it turns out there was evidence and it was likely that I was going to be arrested, so I stormed out of there quickly to run home and tell my wife, who was already distressed with Anthony’s kidnapping and sickness. She was furious when I told her what me and Patrick had discussed and went to bed right after checking on Anthony. I slept on the sofa that night, and went to bed soon after her. I checked on Anthony before I went to bed, and he looked very sick. I worried about him all night.

“I had another very restless sleep last night. It was another nightmare, almost more terrifying though. I dreamt that I got up and went outside, downtown I guessed. I dreamt that I saw my opponent Charlie Baker, and he had his head seemingly sewn back on his neck, but in the dream for some reason I was not afraid. I also remember someone coming up to me, though I don’t remember who, and we began to fight. I forget what exactly happened, but I woke up soon after that, and then I saw Patrick at my door.”

Billy stood there for a moment without speaking, and bent down to look at Jameson’s neck, then stood back up and spoke again. “Jameson, I think we need to find a way to get out of here now.”

“That would be wonderful if it were possible,” said Jameson. “These walls are made of stone, and the door is made of cast iron.”

“The walls aren’t the sturdiest in the world,” replied Billy. “Because you cut funding to the renovation of prisons, it was never done.”

“It will still take days to dig out from this prison.”

Billy went over to the far wall, and looked on the ground for something to dig with. “It better not, because I think we will both die come nightfall, and you will kill me the same way you killed Dr. Watkins, as a vampire.”

Chapter VI:

Escape

Jameson stood there, watching Billy look for some way out. Then he broke out in laughter. “A vampire? Are you serious?”

“Very, Governor Pierce,” said Billy. “Now, will you be serious and listen to me. It wasn’t Jameson Pierce, popular governor who killed Dr. Watkins last night. It was Jamie Pierce, deadly undead creature.”

Jameson then got frustrated. “There is no evidence that I did kill Dr. Watkins last night. The only evidence that I have heard about is a video someone apparently took, and if I was a vampire, that would not have shown up on video.”

“Have you actually seen the video? Did Patrick ever actually see it himself?” taunted Billy.

“I don’t think so,” replied Jameson, who still acted like Billy was crazy but was actually getting worried.

“Then how do you know you actually did show up on the video?” said Billy, who turned around to face Jameson. “We are both in danger if we don’t get out of here by nightfall.”

“I don’t believe you about actually being a vampire or anything,” said Jameson.

“However, I will help and try to escape.”

“Jameson, if I am correct in my assumption, and I usually am, you will actually be semi-conscious tonight,” said Billy. “You will, however, not be able to control yourself.”

“You’re crazy,” said Jameson as he walked over to Billy.

“Have it your way,” sighed Billy. “Just help me break open this wall.”

“Very well,” said a frustrated Jameson. “And how, exactly, do you plan on breaking down a stone wall?”

Billy looked around the room, and sighed. “The only thing we really have in this room is the cot, and that isn’t strong enough.”

“It is the only thing that we have,” said Jameson, suddenly determined.

Jameson walked over to the cot, and picked it up. The cot had it’s legs made of metal, and though it was only iron, it could break open at least a little of the stone. “Come here and help me pull some of this iron off, Billy,” said Jameson.

“Let’s hope this works,” replied Billy, unsure of the plan.

Billy pulled off one of the legs, and Jameson pulled off another. Then, Billy directed Jameson to a place he thought looked weak enough that they could get through some of the stone. Jameson found a little crevasse that looked like he could get some stone out of, and Billy found another, and they began to pull on the stone as if they were using a crowbar. Eventually, they were able to pull some stone out and there was a little hole of daylight. Then they stopped pulling for a couple of minutes. Jameson noticed that Billy stepped away from the light as the sun shined through.

“Well, we got the first part done,” said Jameson while still breathing heavily. “Now, you have been here longer, how many guards are usually posted?”

“Well, Pierce, I actually don’t know what the latest number is,” replied Billy. “The last time I attempted an escape, there were four guards at one time.”

“What do you mean ‘the last time I tried to escape’?” asked Jameson.

“Well, I have tried to escape from here at least twenty times, and succeeded seven,” answered Billy. “I am a master of escaping, and every time of escaping, successful or not, I chose the night as a time I actually leave. At this point, it is necessary that I leave at night. I have been in this confinement for three months, and I have barely seen light in all that time.”

“How do you plan to get out of here before nightfall then?” asked Jameson testily.

“I’m still figuring that out,” said Billy. “You definitely need to get out before nightfall and lock yourself somewhere.”

“I am not a vampire!” said Jameson, raising his voice again. “I am a falsely accused mayor who was arrested for political reasons!”

“Listen to me at once!” said Billy, equally as loud. “If one of us doesn’t get out of here before nightfall, then both of us will die.”

“If I am a vampire, then how am I supposed to got outside?” asked Jameson. “And since you said you can’t handle the sunlight right now, then how are we supposed to get out of here?”

“Well, it is possible to dig a tunnel,” said Billy slowly.

“I can see that going nowhere,” said Jameson. “I guess since Patrick took me to jail this morning, I guess I can handle the daytime.

“Just because you came out in the morning, that doesn’t prove you're not a vampire,” replied Billy, sitting down in a corner again. “The sun wasn’t out fully, but it is now. Neither of us can go outside, but for different reasons. We still need to find a way out of here. My thinking of breaking out through the wall was a little hasty, and maybe we should wait to make our move during the

“Well, I think you’re crazy, but I think you are necessary to get me out of here,” said Jameson with a slight grimace. “For the sake of argument, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, let’s say I am one of the undead vampires you speak of. I don’t feel any different right now.”

“That’s right,” said Billy as if he was remembering something. “I forgot. It takes four days after being bitten to fully turn into a vampire. You can still be out in the sunlight, though your reflection won’t show up anymore.”

“Can I handle a cross?” asked Jameson, almost mockingly.

“Absolutely not, and that goes for running water as well,” replied Billy. “Well, let’s continue to break out of here, but we only need to make the hole in the wall large enough for you to get through.”

“Thank you,” said Jameson politely.

“We have to have an understanding, though,” said Billy. “You must get me out of here by Saturday if I help you get out.”

“How will I protect you from the sunlight?” asked Jameson.

“Just get me at night,” said Billy.

“I thought I was a vampire,” said Jameson smiling. “You are just trying to scare me. Funny, but it won’t work.”

“Okay, then,” said Billy, changing his tone to sounding almost as though he was resenting Jameson.

“Just help me get out of here,” said a frustrated Jameson.

They then picked up the iron bars and began to pull on stone and opened up a hole in the wall that kept getting bigger. Billy kept standing to the side as the hole kept getting bigger. Eventually Billy just fell back as the sunlight was coming in so strong. The hole looked big enough at that point that Jameson could physically squeeze through. He looked out the hole to see what kind of coverage there was guarding outside. All he saw was one guard that was not looking over towards them. That made sense because they were on the side of the jail building.

“I’ll come back for you sometime, Billy,” said Jameson, then he began to crawl out of the small hole.

“You are a vampire, Pierce, I just hope you don’t find out the hard way,” said Billy mystically.

Jameson walked out of the hole and looked over at the guards. They seemed unknowing as anyone, and it was almost annoying how easy it was. In a way, it seemed almost too easy for Jameson. He saw that Billy was putting the stones back into the wall as he hid in the shadows so that the guards didn’t see him. Jameson then crept to the back of the building, and looked around at the fence.

The fence was made of barbed wire, but he would have to risk it in order to get out. He noticed that it had to be still mid morning, and he hoped that his wife wasn’t too frantic yet. He had nothing in his possession that could cut the wire, and that would mean he would have to climb without making too much of a mess in terms of blood, and he couldn’t make a whimper because of the inevitable bleeding that would take place. He saw another guard that was pacing back and forth in front of the fence, and he looked around for something that could knock him out so he wouldn’t be trying to stop him from escaping as he was climbing. He found a medium size but heavy stone lying on the ground beside him.

Jameson picked up the stone quietly while hiding in the shadows on the side of the prison. He peeked around quickly to get his point of reference for throwing. He only had one shot and he had to do it right. He saw how the guard was walking back and forth but never actually stopping, which made things slightly more difficult. Jameson then hid back in the shadows and thought about how to aim it right. He decided that the only way to do it correctly was to actually attempt to throw it right.

So he peeked his head around and looked at the guard who hadn’t seen him yet. He raised the stone above his head in a ready throwing position. He then pulled his arm behind his back, gaining some momentum before he let go of the stone. He watched as the stone flew through the air and glided across the sky while keeping his fingers crossed. The guard then seemed to notice the stone, but it was coming too fast for him to react. Jameson watched and actually thought it was going to hit him squarely in the head, but as the stone hit the guard, it wasn’t in the head, but rather in the arm. The guard then let out a yelp of pain, and pulled out his shotgun, ready to fire.

Jameson didn’t stop to think about what to do, but rather just did. He sprinted almost as the stone hit the guards arm to the fence and began to climb. It was a pain that he had never experienced before, as the barbed wire dug into his skin and caught on his clothes to rip them apart. Once the guard was done yelping in pain, Jameson noticed that other guards had arrived to assist the guard in whatever ways he needed. Jameson climbed faster as he noticed gunshots were being fired around him. His clothes were almost completely ripped as he got to the top of the fence.

At the top of the fence, he looked down at the ground which had to be six feet below at least, and knew that he had to jump right away, but he hesitated. As he was thinking about jumping, one of the gunshots hit him in the shoulder, and the force caused him to fall to the ground. He could feel the blood coming out of his left shoulder and it was pain even worse than the barbed wire of the fence. He saw the guards running toward him and they opened the gate. Jameson then picked himself up and began to run back to the city.

He found that the guards did not try to just chase him all across the town, but they decided to get in their police cruisers and drive after him. Jameson looked around as he was running for a place to hide, but it was hard to find somewhere. He couldn’t just go back to his house, because that would be the first place they would look. He saw then that there was a police cruiser right behind him and he ran into a small area of woods that he saw on the side of the road.
In there, he saw that it was actually larger than he thought, and he slowed to a walk in order to catch his breath. He looked around for a little while, while listening for anyone possibly coming to look for him. He simply looked around for anywhere he could possibly stay for the rest of the day. He hoped his wife wasn’t panicking, and that his son was doing better. He would have to spend the rest of the day until nightfall in the woods, and he found a perfect little alcove in the side of a hill that he could stay for the day and night. He thought that it was deep enough in the woods that the police would look elsewhere. He just had to wait until the middle of the night.