MIDWEST MYSTERIES. BY SAMUEL PETERSEN

From quirky to hardcore...the midwest is ripe with mystery!

Expose yourself to the lifeblood of the heartland and

the people who make it unique.

*These are fictional accounts and storylines*
**Some scenes may be disturbing**  

(This work is copyright protected and is intended for private, individual, and in-home use. Any public, not for profit use must contain the creator’s name and website: Samuel Petersen www.theearthstars.com.)

©2017

(12-26-2017)
CAROL’S CREEPY NEIGHBOR

A crackling radio station alarm played its siren song as Carol Johnson’s tired eyes fluttered open. Her brain throbbed as the cadence of Bruno Mars tickled her hearing.

“Babe...10 more minutes?” her husband Bob asked as his large, hairy hand sleepily rubbed her face and hair. “Can you get the kids ready? Thanks.”

She sighed quietly, closed her eyes, then tapped the snooze button. She brought her hand to the edge of the comforter in preparation for rolling out of bed. Carol bought as much time as possible before throwing back the covers. In near paranormal fashion, she seemingly levitated out of bed in her full-length, silky pajamas. A massive, lioness yawn graced her face as she zombie-walked to the bathroom.

“Don’t forget Gary’s retirement party at 7:00 tonight,” she reminded him with tired steps. “You can swing by the house at 6:45 and just pick me up...I’ll be ready to go...we won’t need to dress up, it’ll be casual.”

“Yeah, yeah...ok,” he mumbled as she closed the door to get ready.

The warm shower soothed her 47 year-old-body as an endless stream of water steamed out. Carol’s mind raced with plans for the day. She’d been out of work for over a month and was desperately looking for a job. Unfortunately, human resources employment was a dime a dozen in the Twin Cities. Secretly, she loved the time-off as it allowed her to have more time with her two boys. Bryan and Chad were 10-year-old twins and ever since being laid-off, she felt like they’d grown closer.

With her and Bob both working, she felt aloof from him and the children. His sales job often sent him away on weekends; however, they did have a sweet relationship. Rarely arguing and often resolving conflict in less than a day, the two enjoyed each other’s company.

Carol was lost in thought when all of a sudden she heard (and seemingly felt) a thunderous fart. Shaking back to reality, she wiped the steam away to see Bob sitting on the toilet.

“Sorry,” he waved at her while giving a courtesy flush. “Oh shoot I just flushed...step back!”

Carol quickly stepped away from the shower head as it became scalding for 5 seconds.

“Really…” she rebuked him, “you couldn’t wait 10 minutes?”

“It was an emergency,” he chuckled. “Must’ve been the tater tot hotdish last night.”

“No,” she smiled while rinsing out the shampoo from her hair, “my hotdish does not cause that much intestinal distress. It’s all that darn hot sauce you pour on it.”

“Well, maybe…” he conceded as a spray of Febreeze swept through the air.

Carol turned off the shower, slid open the glass door, and then grabbed a towel. Bob went to tug at the towel when she instantly slapped his hand away. They both giggled like kids as she started to dry off.

“What time are you picking me up for the party?” she asked him as a reminder.

“Uh...what party?” he responded.

She stopped drying her hair and glanced at him while he sat on the toilet with a giant smirk. Carol studied his face for a moment and then glared at him with a pretend angry face.

“6:45...on the dot, because it’s casual,” he recited with military tone.

“Good, you were paying attention,” she smiled.

“I always pay attention to you...it’s just sometimes I don’t comprehend what you’re saying,” he joked.

“The struggle of man…” she teased him back, “is how to use their limited brain cells.”

“Ouch…” he held his heart.

“Too much information...mental overload,” she spoke like a robot while doing the motions as she climbed out of the shower and walked mechanically back into the bedroom.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” he said while flushing the toilet and jumping in the shower.

Eventually, Bob made his way downstairs as the twins were eating cereal at the table. Carol was on the computer doing some employment research.

“How are my champs today?” he asked Bryan and Chad while going to the cupboard for a bowl.

“Good,” they responded in unison.

Carol watched as her 6’5”, husky husband sat down with their sons and ate breakfast together. She smiled when she thought about how much they all loved each other. Getting back to her job search she looked out at the neighbor's house. Mr. Frank Dobiak was a secluded 63-year-old man. They didn’t know him very well, but anytime Carol saw him she got the willies. He was widowed and always mean to anyone he happened to bump into on the sidewalk or near his yard. He was tall and slender with severely wrinkled skin from years of smoking. Frank always wore the same type of outfit...an old fashioned pearl-button cowboy shirt, blue jeans, and a plain white baseball cap. One day she saw him up close and it was stained yellow all around the brim, which almost caused her to gag. After that encounter, she really tried to avoid him at all costs.

It snowed heavily last night and she was appreciating the beautiful scene outside her window. Her neighbor's house was rundown and an eyesore for everyone on the block though. She hated that they lived right next to him and that particular house. There was no fence between the homes; however, they talked about saving up money to put one in. Something caught her attention though as she noticed some unusual footprints and markings in the snow leading up to Mr. Dobiak’s backdoor. Just as she was leaning in closer to study them a hand caressed her shoulder.

Jumping and letting out a slight scream, Bob released his hand from her shoulder, “Holy crap, what were you doing?”

“You scared me half-to-death,” she told him while her heart was pounding.

“I was trying to get your attention and you didn’t respond,” he started to explain. “I was saying that with the snow, I better get going. Traffic is going to be terrible on 494...not that it isn’t every day...but especially today!”

“Oh, ok...I can walk the kids to the bus,” she stated.

“What were you doing?” he asked while leaning in for a kiss goodbye.

“Oh, nothing...I was just admiring the snow,” she told him.

“Hmmm...you may want to rethink that whole, man’s brain cell thing...it looks like you got something going on here,” he lovingly winked at her.

“GO...DRIVE…” she talked like a caveman, which caused her kids and husband to laugh.

“6:45,” he shouted while heading out the front door.

Carol smiled as she asked her kids, “Are you guys ready to head out soon?”

“Yes mom,” said Bryan.

“I need to brush my teeth quick,” Chad told her.

“Did you brush your teeth already?” she asked Bryan.

He looked at his brother and then said, “Yes…I already did.”

“Ok...not convinced, why don’t you brush them again,” she responded.

“Mom…” he started to plea.

“Do it,” she smiled, “and be a happy brusher.”

“You’re weird mom,” stated Bryan as both twins stood up to go brush their teeth.

“We leave in 5,” she yelled while they were running upstairs.

Carol brought the dishes to the sink and started rinsing them off. She loaded the empty dishwasher with what little needed washing. The foggy window in front of her brought thoughts back to the unusual tracks in the snow. She grabbed a towel and wiped the top portion dry. As streaks ran down she leaned closer to study the tracks. To her surprise, there were actually two sets of footprints coming out of the garage. About halfway, it looks like someone fell down as there were large, crazy indentations all over the snow, then only one set of footprints leading up to the house.

“That is weird...and super creepy,” she whispered to herself.

“MOM!” the twins shouted in unison.

Carol once again jumped and screamed as her children scared the crap out of her.

Trying to recover, she asked, “Are we ready to go?”

They laughed at her and said, “Yes.”

The three grabbed their jackets and headed outside. Bob was nice enough to do a quick shoveling of the front walk before heading out. They took a left at the end of their walkway and headed down the sidewalk towards their bus stop. They passed Mr. Dobiak’s quiet house as Carol intently studied it. Her twins were singing and skipping in the fresh snow as she noticed smoke rising from the small metal chimney on top.

They made it to the end of the block just as the long yellow bus pulled up.

“Have a great day guys,” she told them while they boarded. “Oh wait...I almost forgot to tell you. We’re going to a quick party tonight around 6:45. If you guys want to go over to the Thompson’s after school, we’ll pick you up around 8:00 tonight...K...love you guys.”

Slightly embarrassed at their mom for stopping them mid-board, they said, “Fine, we’ll go to the Thompson’s after school.”

Carol walked extra slow back to the house as her thoughts drifted to the disturbed snow in Frank’s backyard. All the windows were covered and there wasn’t a peep emanating from the junky home. The shades were dirty and duct tape held up some of the cracked siding and frames. She shuddered at the idea of what the inside of his home looked like.

Trying to be casually sneaky she walked along the edge of her home so she could get a closer look at the upheaval in the snow, which was temporarily frozen in time. It was gnawing at her as she stared at the scene. Shaking her head in determination, she decided to venture into his yard.

With a few slow steps toward his yard, she made sure he wasn’t anywhere near. The only uncovered window was the one on the back door itself. It was fogged over from the heat inside. Keeping a quick eye on the house she boldly continued her trek into his yard. Her heart was racing at the thought of being caught and how stupid she would feel; however, her curiosity was stronger than her senses at this moment. Step-by-step she watched his house while making her way. Finally, she arrived at the multiple sets of footprints, which began at the garage. One was large, so she figured that was Franks. The other, however, was petite and smaller. Carol had never witnessed anyone visit the old man, so this raised her suspicions even more.

A few steps in she noticed little red balls next to the smaller footprints. She removed her glove and wiped the snow away from it. At this point, she was so wrapped up in the footprints and little red balls, she completely forgot to keep an eye on his house. Picking it up, she quickly threw it in disgust as she discovered it was blood.

“HOLY CRAP!” she yelled abruptly as her eyes were drawn to the sight of mass turmoil.

She ran with reckless abandonment as she searched for any more signs of blood. It looked like someone had fallen and struggled in the snow. Then the single set of footprints must have been him carrying the person inside. She saw several spatterings of the little blood balls until horror struck her as she witnessed a giant frozen glob near the end of the struggle. Carol reached for her cell phone when she realized it wasn’t in her pocket. She was breathing heavy and with shaking hands, her only thought was on calling the police.

In her distress, she looked up at Mr. Dobiak’s house to see a circle of the fog from the back door window had been wiped away. Fear gripped her entire body as droplets slowly dripped down the glass.

Hysteria steamrolled over Carol as she frantically ran to the back of her home. The door was locked as she quickly fumbled for the keys. With haste, she opened it and ran to find her cell phone. For some reason, she didn’t think about using their home phone as she was so fixated on finding her cell phone. Carol searched and searched, but couldn’t find it. All of a sudden she remembered it was upstairs. Bolting for the staircase, she felt a rush of cold. Stopping dead in her tracks, the stricken woman slowly turned around to see the front door wide open. Taking a deep swallow, her hands started shaking as her body was instantly overcome with a hot flash. The entire house was eerily silent. In her moment of panic, the wretched sent of stale cigarettes punctured her nostrils.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked the most disgustingly hollow voice she’d ever heard.

Carol was frozen out of fear as a bitter handkerchief was violently smothered over her nose and mouth. Fight or flight set in as she instantly struggled against the much taller man. Elbows and kicks railed against his thin body as she threw herself back. He lost his grip as she was able to fight him off for the moment.

“GET OUT...THE POLICE ARE ON THEIR WAY!” she screamed from the top of her lungs. Unfortunately she didn’t have time to call them yet; however, she was hoping that would scare him off.

He didn’t say a word as she ran to the kitchen for a knife or any kind of weapon. Her breaths were heavy and scared. Carols mind was blank with rage and panic. Just as she grabbed a knife from the counter, her hair was savagely yanked back and then ruthlessly smashed against the window above the sink. Cracks webbed their way up the glass as her eyes fluttered and everything went dark.

Several hours later, Bob was driving in his car. At 6:34 pm, he spoke to the Bluetooth, “Call Carol.”

The phone rang and rang until a voice message picked up, “You’ve reached the cell phone of Carol Johnson...I’m occupied at the moment, please leave your name, number, and a short message and I will return your call as soon as possible...thank you.”

Bob hung up and asked the Bluetooth to dial Carol again. He heard the same message as he left a voicemail for her this time, “Hey...I’m going to be there around 6:50 pm...traffic sucks right now. You’re probably getting ready, so I’ll be home as soon as I can...love you.”

The lights of Bob’s SUV lit up the driveway as he called his wife one more time. Just like the previous times it eventually went to voicemail. He honked the horn a few times to see if she would come out. After waiting for a moment, he ran inside to see all the lights off.

“CAROL!” he yelled with a hint of irritation. “ARE YOU READY TO GO!”

There was no response as he took off his shoes then ran upstairs. She was nowhere to be found as the house was completely empty. He remembered the kids might go to the Thompsons so he decided to give them a call. Bob thought maybe Carol might have headed over there for some reason.

After turning on several lights, he called them, “Hey, this is Bob, are the kids there?”

Mrs. Thompson replied, “Yes, they came here directly after school.”

“Oh, ok, that’s good,” he said with a bit of relief. “Hey, is Carol there too?”

“No,” she replied. “We’ve haven’t seen her.”

Bob’s worry grew as this was extremely unlike Carol.

“Ok, thank you,” he said while hanging up.

He took a moment to sit down and think at the kitchen table. He was quiet as he wondered where in the heck his wife could possibly be. Taking a deep breath, his face turned sour as he caught a whiff of something very unpleasant.

“Is that cigarettes?” he asked himself with an irritated voice. “Carol doesn’t smoke…”

Suddenly he turned around and looked at the darkened house of his neighbor. Carol was always complaining about him flicking cigarette butts near their home. Without another thought, he quickly got up, headed out the door and ran to Frank’s house. He pounded so loud on the front door, it echoed through the cold night.

With cold, visible breath, he shouted, “Mr. Dobiak, are you home?”

There was no motion or movement inside the house as he continued to pound. Finally, a light turned on the inside of the house as Bob took a step back from the door.

The door slowly creaked open a crack as Frank yelled, “What the hell do you want...I’m sleeping!”

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” he swallowed out of nervousness, “it’s just that Carol seems to be missing and I was wondering if you saw her today at all?”

He became visibly angry as he shouted, “No I haven’t...now get off my damn property before I call the cops!”

Bob gnashed his teeth together as his own version of anger boiled to the surface, “HEY YOU JACKASS...I’M LOOKING FOR MY WIFE!”

The door swung open as Frank Dobiak stepped out onto the same landing as Bob. The scrawny and disheveled neighbor was slightly taller than his younger and stockier counterpart. Bob didn’t back down as the two were in a standoff.

Resorting to idle threats, Mr. Dobiak yelled, “I’m going to sue if you don’t leave my property this instant!”

Just before leaving, Bob took a deep breath to calm his nerves, when the same smell he noticed inside his own home overtook his senses.

“Were you in my home today?” he asked the rude man who was now retreating inside his home.

“No...I wasn’t...now leave or I’ll get my gun and show you how mad I can get!” he annoyingly stated.

Bob was suspicious as he walked backwards down the stairs...glaring at the house the entire time. Making his way to the end of the walkway, he looked around the darkened neighborhood. He pulled out his cellphone and noticed it was now after 7:00.

From inside, Frank Dobiak watched him leave. He huffed and snorted as he watched Bob go inside.

“Annoying neighbors,” he said to himself with a scowl as he walked into his kitchen and poured a cup of coffee.

The dirty and cracked thrift store mug dripped as steam rose from within. He sighed while taking a sip and tapping his foot on the ground. He turned off the lights so the house was completely dark. With memorized steps, he made his way to the basement door. He pushed softly on the paint chipped wood as it creaked open. The old steps bent and moaned from wear as he cautiously worked his way down. The cold cement didn’t phase his neuropathic feet. He groaned deep from his throat and cracked his neck from side-to-side. He felt the black air for a chain to the light. Making contact he gently pulled it. The room illuminated as he stood there in his blue jeans, pearl-button cowboy shirt, and stained, plain white baseball cap. He took a loud sip from his mug and then smiled. Swishing the dark brew around his mouth, he lowered his eyes to the ground. In an act of dominance, he spat the tainted coffee on the floor.

Carol felt something warm splatter against her body as she was jolted awake. Her vision was blurry, however, she could tell the musty smelling room was bright. It was silent as she tried to move her body. Something was wrong as her whole body was sore and restrained. Suddenly coming to her senses, she frantically moved about but was unable to budge. A shadowy figure appeared above her and just stood there.

The pendulum light bulb distorted her senses as she finally heard a deep smokers-cough break the still.

“Where am I?” she asked.

There was no answer as Carol eventually heard soft sobbing across the room. She blinked her eyes several times as her vision started to return. The shadowy figure moved from the light as she saw a young girl sitting on the ground with her hands behind her back. She was bleeding from her head and shaking in the cold basement.

“Quit your sobbing,” yelled a man’s voice as he kicked the girl, who was no more than 13 years old.

“Stop it...what the hell is going on here!” yelled Carol.

“Well...the way I see it,” he squatted down in front of her, “I just got myself a two-for-one deal.”

Carol was shaking and afraid as she looked up to see Frank Dobiak’s twisted smile staring her in the face.

“You sick basta…” she started to yell before being slapped in the face.

“That’s a warning!” he shouted at her, “The next time I won’t be so nice.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked with a shaking voice.

Disregarding her question, he said, “I’m going to give you 10 minutes to decide who dies first.”

“You’re sick…” Carol shouted with disgust.

“Welp...before you make your decision since you’re the guest of honor,” he taunted her with sick giggling, “I’m going to let you know, it will be painfully slow and torturous.”

“Just let us go!” screamed Carol.

“Oh no, no, no...I can’t do that...I don’t want to do that,” he rubbed her head. “I like doing this...why would I want to let you go?”

“Please…” she started sobbing, “I won’t tell anyone…I promise.”

“I doubt that highly,” he responded as if he’d heard that phrase a million times. “You’ve got nine minutes.”

Carol began crying uncontrollably and shaking her head as her captor chuckled and sipped from his coffee mug.

Meanwhile, Bob went home and rushed through their door. He was pissed at his neighbor as he slammed the door, then ran from room to room. His heart was racing and rage was building as he made his way to the kitchen and stood over the table. He picked up one of the chairs and quickly slammed it back down.

“What is going on?” he asked himself in frustration.

He knew something wasn’t right as he reached for the phone to call 911. Bob walked to the sink, however, before dialing he looked at Frank’s house one more time. Staring out the window the phone slipped from his hand as it crashed to the ground. He slowly brought his fingers to the window as he caressed the cracks in the broken glass.

“WHAT THE…” Bob’s face scrunched as he noticed a light coming from Mr. Dobiak’s basement. “OH HELL NO!”

Back inside the basement, Frank continued to sip his coffee as he told Carol, “One minute left...who’s it going to be...you or the girl first?”

“I have money...please...I’ll give you money, just let both of us go!” she pleaded.

“30 seconds,” he said while walking over to the dryer. “Lady, no amount of money will bring me the pleasure like doing this does.”

He opened the dryer door and pulled out a small and rusted saw. Terror gripped her soul as she saw him hold it against the light bulb.

How on earth did her day go from job hunting and a retirement party for Bob’s co-worker to her final seconds in the basement of a serial killer?

TO BE CONTINUED...