The room was dark but way down the hallway, there was a light. It seemed to be flickering and moving around. Staff Sgt. Richie slowly stepped inside, looking all around for signs of an attack. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see that this room harbored no danger. He motioned silently for the others to come in.
Richie found the basement door locked too. That is odd who locks their basement. Again he used the services of Jeff. A quiet click and they were inside of what looked like a fruit cellar as boxes of apples and oranges lined the walls. It was what was in the middle of the room seated on a chair that interested the two the most. The mummified body of a female....
"What the heck!" I said quietly. 'Well done again Jeff.' 'Lead on SS Richie and Jeff. Would you like me to stay back to cover our Rear? I have the buses' big torch so can l give board light to you two, and keep watch ..?' "Sshhh." whispered Jeff Strongly. Richie looked at me with a finger over his lips. 'There's that moaning again, behind those back left crates.' Whispered Richie. I pointed my big bus torch over the gruesome aspect of the mummified woman wearing a long dark dress covered in dust and cobwebs and in a rocking chair that I think was rocking gently, and then saw a small blurred movement behind the back left crates as Jeff had heard noises from. We all had guns drawn. As Richie and Jeff deftly stepped down the rickety old stairway with tight torches , Richie held up his hand as he put cross marks of three steps. Jeff slipped easily over those possible traps. Whilst they were so focussed I noticed another blur of movement headed thier way. "IN COMING", I yelled, "10 O'clock!"
OMG! What is it???? I wish I was there with y'all, helping out. But I know it's best for me to stay here and keep Bates occupied. BTW, I think he is beginning to get suspicious. Y'all better get out of there as soon as you can.
As if the mummified corpse had not sent sufficient shivers down our spines the site that awaited us at the bottom of the stairs simply mortified us. It was what was left of a man.. still alive but brutally emaciated, little more than skin and bone....
Frozen temporarily seeing the emanipated figure of a prone man, the black blur was now growling and stopped at the body of the prone man. It was a big black dog with its ribs showing through its skin. The big black dog moved in between us and the prone man, on guard and growling at us to stay away from the fallen figure. Next, it started howling with moans like we'd heard before. The big black scrawny dog then licked the back of the man's head and drooled onto his lips. Then we saw the dog had a vicious knife slash across its bare ribs. 'Good Boy, Sit!' I called, and it did with a slight wag of its tail. "Good Dog!" I called. More tail wags. "Don't shoot it." I called to my younger comrades. "See, it's been protecting its master, and look at the leaking pipe and rat carcasses about. That's a very good dog!" More tail wagging as I stepped down the stairs avoiding the ones marked as dangerous by SS Richie. I walked slowly and squatted 10' from the dog, a big male cross breed, who came up to me and licked my face. I rubbed the back of its ears and with the dog walked slowly over to the prone man whilst giving the good dog the last of my beef jerty. First impression was the stricken fellow had a severe blunt injury to the back of his skull. It had a red and pinkish hue, evidence of care. And God forbid, there was the mummified rocking corpse of the lady in black, covered in cobwebs, except for some rat tunnels, I guessed. It was like a scene from a nightmare movie. I shuddered. Jeff said 'That looks like a real diamond necklace she's wearing.' as he knelt down over the prone man checking his vitals which were faint. Richie kept guard as I took an extra heart pill. 'What's your prognosis Richie I asked. Text Fancy?"
I have seen some dreadful things in my soldiering days but this has left me bone jarringly numb. A second mummified corpse you saying Frank or has the original one upstairs taken wings and moved here. At that moment the door was flung open and Bates stood with a long knife at Fancy's throat.. move and I will slit her throat....
The dog emitted a low growl and stood closer to his owner. Bates looked at him and yelled, “Shut up, you sonabitch! Or I’ll cut your throat, too!” The dog growled a little louder. I felt the knife nick the skin on my throat. Then things happened in a blur. Sgt. Richie yelled, “Over here!” and dropped to his knees to get a good shot at Bates. Bates whirled around to face him. The dog ran full speed at Bates and jumped at the hand that held the knife. His teeth sank deep into Bates’ hand. Bated screamed and dropped the knife. The dog hung on to his hand tightly. Just then, someone yelled, “Police! Everybody freeze!” The policeman told the dog to let go of Bates’ hand. “Cujo, drop it.” Cujo immediately obeyed. Turns out that Cujo was a K9 dog and the injured man was his partner. They had been staying overnight at the motel and someone told them that Bates’ mother hadn’t been seen in a long time. They went to the house to check on her. Bates knocked the detective out and locked him in the basement with no food. He didn’t know how long he had been there but thought it must have been at least a week. Miss Dolly had become worried about us being gone so long and called the police. The police took Bates into custody. He probably will not go on trial because he is obviously mentally unbalanced. I hope he will get the help he so badly needs. Dr. Whatisname put a small bandage on my neck. I don’t think that was really necessary but it seemed to make SSgt, Richie and Frank feel better. Now the blizzard has abated, it’s nearly daybreak so let’s go get as much sleep as we can. We need to hit the road as soon as we can in the morning.
Looks like more police in suits are turning up. Sorry I got confused about the Mummy in the chair Richie. Turns out, I hear, speculation is she was his own mother. That's very warped I reckon, but with a sympathetic Judge he could get say only a dozen years plus in a Psychiatric Ward. There's no evidence he actually killed anyone, but just attempted murder? Not yet, but I'm sure a good term, but that's up tp the Mental Doctors and Judge. I figure he deserves 30 years, and where is that young Lady Lara? 'We should continue the search of the home' said Chief detective Mills 'and find that young lady Lara.'
So the mummified female was Bates mother. The emaciated man was a detective. The local sherrif has also found several submerged cars in the swamp behind the Bate's house. At least two contained skeletal human remains. One car belongs to a young woman who absconded with a large amount of money from her employer about six months ago while the other contained the body of a private detective sent to look for the fugitive female. I am betting that these two bodies will be traced directly to Bates. He may be mentally deranged but he deserves to get the electric chair not slum it in an asylum for the criminally insane for 10/15 years and then be released back into society as a sane man.....
When Bates was confronted with the evidence of the cars with corpses, he went berserk. He tried to grab the gun from a deputy's holster. He was shot by other deputies and died at the scene. The law officers continued their search of the house. They finally reached a room in the attic which was locked from the outside. They forced the door open and saw a comfortably furnished apartment. There was a young woman sitting in a chair watching TV. They asked her who she was. She said, "My name is Lara. Bates put me in here months ago. He has never harmed me. I think he is lonely and just wants someone to talk to. He is a very interesting person. He said he will release me soon." The officers told her all about Bates and that he had died. She was horrified at all that she heard. As they searched Bates' office, they found a will leaving everything he owned to Lara. He must have really loved her. She will be a very wealthy young woman soon. So we left the law officers in charge. The blizzard has passed and the roads are clear again. We continue our journey. We have to get Miss Dolly to her next concert.
That was a heck of a stop over. I wish Lara all the best and congratulate the Police for their fine work. So the next morning with the storm abating our convoy hit the road again. First, Dolly's kitchen truck made a great breakfast for all, especially for the Police who got served first. Sausage, bacon, eggs, cheese, toast, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, and top shelf coffee. Yum! So, on the road again. I think Dolly is working on a song about our journey. A country and western ballad. Her best men Jeff and Donald took lots of pictures of us, the buses, the police, the Bates motel, ... and of course Dolly herself and a few with Her, Richie, Fancy, Me, Jeff, Steve, 2 police officers ....with snow capped trees and the spooky motel in the background. My turn to drive Steve reminded me. I'm slow but sure. Seattle is only a day and a half away I hope.
..and their cholesterol count went thru the roof. That motel and spooky house should be razed to the ground. My dear old Mom has texted me that my dad is unwell so I may have to leave shortly as she wants me home asap...