Dawn of the Dreads

Excerpts from (Chapter 2)

Before going to the meeting spot she walked the paved trail for joggers and smoked her joint with conviction. Its potency heightened her senses.

Trains in the distance seemed closer. She heard children’s laughter at the bottom of the hill. She even heard the cricket’s nightly songs as if they each had bullhorns. “Damn, Wu got dat fire”, she thought!

Dawn plucked the end of the joint in the grass and watched the last of the smoke rise until it dissipated about eye level. That’s when she caught a shadow lurking from tree to tree.

Tall and dark, with no face!

She looked at her watch…6:47!

“If that is for me, they are early”, she thought! Dawn snapped into stealth mode. She back tracked about three trees and jumped as high as a fleeing leopard. She perched herself on a thick branch about halfway up the tree and watched the shadowed figure obviously confused search the darkness for her whereabouts.

As it grew near it was obvious to her that it was a man. A large man! Every ounce of her body was at attention but hunched her back to keep still in her stance to avoid detection.

The figure is now in range. She drew her gun…safety off, “click”. She cocked it and aimed.

The figure then sniffed the air then crouches and looked away from her and darts out of view. Dawn pulls her arm back and looks in to the direction the figure was last seen. She initiates extreme silence. Other than the trains in the distance, there was no noise.

Then as sudden as she heard it she swung around 180°. “Fucking squirrels!” she thought. An acorn bounces on the dry leaves.

As she searched the grounds, she feels a slight bounce on the same branch she is perch on. A strong scent of leather and natural cocoa butter invades her nasal cavity.

The voice was deep. His blade was sharp. “Madam Dawn, its peace I come in.” ”Please no melee!” He withdrew the 12’’ blade from her neck and stood aback.

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...from (Chapter 6)

Dawn retrieved the envelope from her secret pocket in her jacket. She unsealed the envelope to reveal a neat stack of pictures. The first picture was very odd. It looked like a wooden box or maybe a coffin. It wasn’t an ordinary coffin. It reminds you of, those old vampire coffins from the movies.

The next picture was of the same coffin with the lid off. It startled her a little when she saw its contents.

Bones! And they were clearly human.

The next picture was the same but slightly different. So was the next, then the next.

A quick flip through the first ten or fifth teen pictures revealed the progression of a decomposing body in the coffin.

Dawn noticed the waitress’ nephew coming her way with a tray of food. She turned the pictures face down on the table. She smiled at the cook as he approached with her food.

“Eggs scrambled with cheese, turkey bacon, grits and toast from Texas!”

The cook said with puppy dog eyes and a smile that revealed his inner thoughts.

“I hope this doesn’t mean I’ll have to tip twice?” Dawn quipped.

“I just had to see what pretty woman was out here asking about the same cook?” ”Enjoy your meal.” He said while backing away.

The first forkful of eggs melted between her tongue and roof of her mouth. The taste was so addictive that she finished breakfast in record time.

Guilt haunted her as thought of her diet. Then she looked around to see if anyone was staring.

Dawn sipped coffee and went back to the pictures. Somewhere between picture 15 or 16, the figure had skin appearing. But the coffin was gone and replaced with a shabby bed.

Dawn flipped through a few more to see another progression revealing itself. Picture after grueling picture, a reversed decomposing was visible.

As she flipped the skinny figure began to change positions. It was at this point the Dawn realized that the naked figure in the pictures was a woman.

The last picture made her swallow her coffee down the wrong pipe. She began to choke and gag at the sight of her mother asleep in her home.

It didn’t register as quickly to her that her mother is the corpse from the beginning.

A tear escaped as she blinked and stared out the café window. Thoughts of fear and anger, mixed with a rage that had been deep within.

Dawn unfolded a twenty she had stashed within her cleavage threw it on the table and stormed out.

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