Two nights later, after certain preparations, Simon told his parents he was going to sleep over at Alex's house and Alex told his parents he was staying at Simon's. It went against Simon's basic nature to lie to his parents and he hated doing it. The trouble with being twelve is that your choices are often limited. Because this was an important mission and could save lives he felt it necessary to deceive them.
He met his friend at the corner. Laser wore a backpack with their supplies in it and the two boys strolled the few blocks over to the nearest bus stop. They would have to transfer to reach their destination but they had all evening.
An hour later they got off the bus at a stop a couple of blocks from the man's house and cautiously, slowly walked toward it. Twilight was setting in and they kept to the shadows under the trees as much as possible. There was no point in anyone seeing and remembering two young boys and if they did it would be hard for them to give a description.
The house they sought was an older, two story place with a two car garage attached. It was pretty run down and seedy looking, and it looked deserted except there were a couple of lights on inside. They stood at the corner of the yard, in the shadow of some bushes.
Alex commented, "Looks like someone's home."
"Yeah, I can sense him moving around in there. Well, are you ready to do this, Laser?"
"Y-yes."
"Scared?"
"A little. But I'm with you so what can go wrong, Captain?"
"Alright, let's do it. When we get to the porch you stand over at the corner where he won't see you. Once I'm inside and have the situation secured I'll let you in. Okay?'
"Yeah. Let's do it."
Inside the house Elmer Guinn was preparing to watch a video he had made of his last conquest. The boy had been so beautiful, especially tied out naked on Elmer's bed with that look of terror on his face. Elmer loved inspiring that sort of fear, having such total control over someone, knowing their life rested in his hands. It was an heady, erotic feeling of power. He liked to video the boys for a while, tormenting them, telling them the things he had planned for them. It was even better than the actual sex, although that was sweet, really sweet.
Even as he placed the DVD into the player he felt himself stiffening from the memory of that boy. He had been disappointed that he missed the other little cutie at the mall but there was always tomorrow. It had been a narrow escape for him and he knew he couldn't go back there for a while and that meant driving to the next town and haunting their malls and parks. He didn't mind fishing other waters, there were plenty of good looking fish to catch.
The doorbell rang and his heart nearly stopped. He never had visitors. Could it be the cops? Taking a pistol from the bookshelf he walked to the front door. "Who is it?", he barked through the locked door.
"My bicycle wheel got bent and I need to call my dad to come get me. Can I use your phone, mister?"
Elmer's pulse quickened. It was a boy, and a young one by his voice. Now the prey was coming to his lair. He silently thanked the powers that be as he unlocked the door and peeked through the crack. He gasped at the sight of the beautiful kid who stood there on his porch. The boy was maybe ten or eleven and had that angelic, innocent look that he loved so much.
Opening the door he said, "Why sure, sure, son. Come on in. The phone is in the next room."
He showed Simon into the living room and suddenly he realized that he hadn't seen a bicycle.
"Hey, kid. Where's your bike? I didn't see it out there."
"Oh, well. Actually I'm afraid I lied about that. You see, it was the only way I could think of to get inside your house."
"What are you talking about? Who are you?"
"I'm talking about the missing boys, Elmer. You know, the ones you kidnapped. Who am I? I'm Captain Justice. Expregio tuindis!"
Elmer was petrified, literally. He was frozen in place, unable to move his arms or legs. Fear took him in its icy grip and he almost wet himself. Confusion and anger vied with each other as he tried to make some sort of sense out of this. He watched the kid walk away and could hear him opening the front door. Another boy came in, a boy who looked familiar, the boy who escaped him at the mall. What the hell was going on here?
The boys stood in front of him and Elmer wanted to scream at them.
Simon said, "Sit in that chair" and pointed to an armchair behind the man.
Unable to resist, the man eased himself down into it.
The boys put down the backpack and opened it. They took out surgical gloves and a digital camcorder wrapped in a plastic bag. The kid from the mall unwrapped the camera and told the other boy he was ready.
Simon's voice was thick with emotion as he asked the man, "What have you done with the boys?" He knew the answer before he asked and dreaded hearing it.
Elmer found he could move his jaw and screamed, "You fucking little shits. When I get up from here I'm gonna make you wish you'd never been born. I'm gonna...."
His lips sealed themselves shutting of the rest of the tirade.
"You listen to me, Elmer. You are going to confess everything and we are going to record your confession. We are in control here. We hold the power and believe me, I can make you wish you had never been born. Now, let's try it again. Where are the boys?"
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about. What boys? I ain't seen no boys. Now get out of my house."
Simon looked at him for a moment and then began to change. He started to grow taller, more muscular. His clothing changed to thick black fur as his face elongated and gigantic sharp teeth filled his mouth. The horrifying apparition reached out a clawed hand toward Elmer and traced a bloody line across his cheek.
Elmer tried to scream but he couldn't. Before him stood the greatest terror of his childhood, the thing that lurked in the closet and under his bed, the boogey man. To Alex's eyes Simon looked just the same. He didn't know what Elmer was so scared of, but he hoped it was something bad.
"Talk", said the monster in a deep gravelly voice.
"Okay, okay. Don't hurt me, please."
"Start with your name and tell about the last boy and what you did. Then the boy before that and the others. Talk!"
Elmer was only a few minutes into his story before Laser started to cry. Simon steeled himself and asked the Green Man to lend them the strength to endure this obscene tale a hellish nightmare.
"Okay, skip some of the details and tell where you buried their bodies."
"The basement. They're all in the basement, in trash cans, sealed up."
Several times Simon stopped the man to ask, "Are you okay, Laser?"
"Yeah, Captain. I'll be okay. Keep going."
When Elmer finished telling about the boys he had murdered in that town he started to tell about the others before that. Somehow it felt good to talk about it, to brag to someone. He had never been able to before. There were almost twenty in all, dating back several years. He told them where he buried them and where the pictures and videos were hidden.
Finally it was enough. The police would be able to identify the boys from the pictures and find their remains. That left only one thing more for Simon to do.
He returned to his normal appearance and whispered something that Alex couldn't hear. It was only a word but suddenly Elmer collapsed on the floor.
In a shaky voice Alex asked, "Is... is he dead?"
"No. Worse. He's in prison."
"I don't understand."
"I closed his eyes and ears. I stilled his tongue and paralyzed him. For the rest of his life he will be unable to see or hear. He can no longer talk. Imagine being deaf, in a dark room, by yourself with no one to talk to ever again, unable to feel anything. He's trapped with nothing but his thoughts and memories, and he can't die. The authorities will put him in an institution where they will keep him alive for a very long time."
"I think I get it. That's horrible, but if anybody ever deserved it he does."
Still shaken, the boys removed the memory stick containing Elmer's confession from the camera and placed it in Elmer's hand, first wiping any finger prints from it. They had touched nothing else in the house so were not worried about leaving any traces behind. Not bothering to close the door they headed back to find a bus stop and headed home. When they transferred buses they made a call to 911 and reported trouble at Elmer's address. The police would be able to handle it from there.