Dinosaur

1

Part 12

The national anthem never played in Kernersville because nothing ever happened there. No stadiums, no ball games. No arenas, no concerts. No tourism, no people. Riley Stephenson was one of few, and she knew it. Indeed, it would've been impossible not to. The population was right there on the town sign and it was her job as part of the Kernersville Town Committee to update it. That usually meant making the number smaller.3

Riley was 19 and close to graduating high school. It was obvious but never discussed that she would be moving away for college. Her parents weren't the discussion types.4

It was the weekend. One of Riley's friends from nearby Greensboro was coming to town. Riley had asked off work because she never really did anything while she was there anyway, and was paid accordingly. It was a big event.5

The friend was a boy. This wasn't as big a deal as you might suspect. The boy's name was Landon. She had met him at a summer camp when she was 14. They would never kiss.6

Landon arrived on Friday evening, and there was nothing to do. This did not change by Saturday. He slept on the couch, if you're wondering. Saturday evening, they drove around aimlessly. Many of the streetlights were busted. The town was old. There weren't many buildings. They stopped by a Harris Teeter. "Do you want anything?" she asked. He wasn't hungry. They went inside. They returned twenty minutes later with corn chips. They took the long way out of the parking lot. They had time to kill.7

"What's down that road?" He was trying to start a conversation. 8

"Nothing yet. They're building a new housing complex back there even though people are moving away from Kernersville." 9

"Wanna go down it anyway?" It was a pointless suggestion. The road was Harving Way. Riley put on her left turn signal even though the parking lot was deserted.10

Harving Way was the kind of road that made you drive cautiously. It was long and twisted mercilessly. It was hard to see around the corners. It was poorly paved and made your car rattle. It had a bite to it, like a copperhead. It wasn't very safe.11

Riley knew there would be a construction blockade, so it didn't surprise her to see the orange and white sign despite how suddenly it appeared on the road. It did surprise her to see that only half of it was standing.12

"Wha-who?" Landon didn't respond. The sign had been cracked down the middle. One half of it lay trampled on the asphalt. The other had been spraypainted.13

"What does it say?" 14

"I can't read it from here." Riley pulled up closer.15

Big, black letters. The scrawl of amateur graffitti. "Dinosaur."16

"'Dinosaur'? What is that, a gang?" 17

"Landon, babe, you know we're not cool enough to have gangs down here." 18

"Then who did this?" 19

"How should I know? No one sober, that's for sure." 20

"I don't-"21

Landon stopped talking because he heard a sound. 22

"Roll down your windows." 23

"Why?" 24

"I think I hear something." Riley turned the air conditioning off first.25

It was sort of an anguished rumble, between a roar and a howl. It was an angry, confused sound. Then there was a scream. The scream, at least, was definitely human. Riley rolled her windows back up. 26

"It's nothing, probably a stray dog." Landon had already convinced himself he didn't hear the scream. As she made an excellent three point turn, Riley thought she saw a red truck parked further down the road. She could've been wrong. It was dark down there and the road curved again.27

Part 228

Landon left that Monday. Riley was at school when he went. Riley didn't have a lot of friends at school. She thought she was above the small town, as did everyone else. Riley was closer to being right, but not by much.29

Of the people she counted as friends at Kernersville High, Riley liked Sheila the most. Sheila was from a big city and liked living in Kernersville. This was the reason they were not close friends. Sheila always read the Kernersville Times. Riley occasionally pretended to care.30

"Did you see the newspaper this morning?" Sheila always said this, and it was unclear whether or not she meant it to be a joke. 31

"No." 32

"Well, you should've!" Sheila usually talked in exclamation points. 33

"Why's that?" 34

"Someone's gone missing!" Riley was intrigued. 35

"Who?" 36

"Kelly Roberts." Riley knew better than to get too excited. 37

"She probably just got drunk and passed out at some guy's house." This was the kind of thing Kelly Roberts would do.38

Part 339

Riley had trouble sleeping that night. She was thinking too much. She was thinking about Harving Way. She was thinking about the red truck. It was hard to tell if it was really Mr. Swanson's truck or if she was just remembering it that way.40

Mr. Swanson was a scientist, a genetic engineer in fact. No one knew what he was doing in Kernersville, but he had been doing it for several years. He had a small lab where he supposedly did scientific things, but there was no evidence of that. No one ever talked to him, except the town preacher, who had to talk to everybody. The lab was in between the church and the Harris Teeter.41

Part 442

"Did you see the newspaper this morning?" 43

"No, did they find Kelly?" 44

"No, and someone else went missing." Sheila said "went missing" because that's how they said it in the newspaper. 45

"Who?" Riley was sincerely curious. 46

"Shane Kent." Sheila had somewhat of a crush on Shane. She looked devastated. 47

"I'm sure he'll be fine. I bet he went partying with Kelly." Riley didn't like Shane. 48

"I hope you're right. My mom says we moved here to get away from crime." 49

"I wouldn't think too much of it. If they thought it was a kidnapping, they'd've closed the school." 50

"I wish they would, I have a big english paper. I have to have a primary source and everything." 51

"What are you writing it on?" 52

"Down syndrome." 53

"Who's your primary source?" Talking to Riley usually took the form of question, answer, question, answer. She was no good at conversation. 54

"Mr. Swanson." Sheila wasn't good at it either. Riley paled, but not noticeably. 55

"Mr. Swanson, huh?" 56

"Yep. I'm going to go talk to him Wednesday after school." 57

"That's interesting." It really was.58

Part 559

Wednesday happened. So did Thursday. And Friday. They usually came in that order. Sheila hadn't come to school since Wednesday. Riley was worried. There were whispers in the cafeteria. Sheila was the 3rd person to go missing. School was to be shut down for all of the next week. There were no leads. The police in Kernersville were not well trained.60

On Saturday morning, Riley made up her mind to go to Mr. Swanson's lab. She parked her car in the Harris Teeter parking lot and went inside to buy a soda so as not to be suspicious. It was a Pepsi. The walk to Mr. Swanson's lab building was a short one. Riley tried to look natural.61

The lab building did not appear particularly scientific from the outside. It was a generic grey building with bricks missing and a door that didn't lock. No one locked their doors in Kernersville anyway, though they were all considering it now. There was no one inside. Riley stopped beneath the sign. It said "Swanson Laboratory." She went in.62

There was nothing in the first room but a desk and a door. The desk was dusty and had a piece of paper on it. The door was shut. Riley was uncomfortable because the lights were off. She picked up the piece of paper. It was torn out of a notebook. It said "Nothing in the world will stop me. I am the unknown deity the world has thirsted to worship. Nothing will stop me, will stop me, will stop me." It was written hurriedly in black pen. It was almost lyrical. Riley went to the door. She opened it cautiously.63

There came from inside the other room a loud noise, like something had fallen. Riley was startled. She shut the door quickly and ran outside. She still had the piece of paper in her hand. She hadn't seen anything.64

Part 665

Riley got even less sleep Saturday night. She wondered if Mr. Swanson would be at church the next morning. No one in Kernersville missed church without a reason. She kept reading the piece of paper over and over again. "Nothing in the world will stop me. I am the unknown deity that the world has thirsted to worship. Nothing will stop me, will stop me, will stop me." She hadn't seen anything.66

Part 767

The sermon that morning was about trusting God to protect you. The service always started off with everyone getting a small glass cup of wine and a piece of bread. This was the Eucharist. They were not supposed to eat or drink it until the end of the service, so everyone had to hold the glass and bread while the preacher spoke. It was especially awkward when it came time for the worship music. Anyone who wanted to raise their hands to the Lord had to be mindful of His Precious Blood so as not to spill it. Christ's blood was difficult to get out of the carpet. One time one of the elders joked that it was the preacher's way of reminding them to be patient. That wasn't the real reason.68

Mr. Swanson was there. He was listening more intently than most. The preacher's name was Sam Peppers. Sam Peppers was in the middle of telling the congregation how important it was to understand that every moment in history was organized and executed by the commands of the Almighty. "Do you think that Napoleon wasn't subject to God's will? What about Alexander the Great? Or Socrates? Or even go further back, back to the time when God was with his people in person. Go back even further, to the days of Adam and Eve. I know some of you may believe that there was no Adam and Eve, that we came from cavemen. I have to be honest with ya, that's bull. There were no cavemen, there were no neanderthals, there were no dinosaurs. There was instead the glory of the creation, the magnificence of--"69

Sam Peppers stopped talking because one of the women in the church had shouted. It was actually more of a loud gasp. The woman was provoked by Mr. Swanson, who had clenched his fist tightly, shattering the glass of Christ's blood. He did not appear penitent. He was glaring angrily at Sam Peppers. He had not noticed the glass breaking. One of the ushers rushed to Mr. Swanson's aid. He pried his hand open. It was difficult to tell what was Mr. Swanson's blood and what was the communion wine. It was a mess. Mr. Swanson had not yet taken his eyes of Sam Peppers. Riley's family hurried out of the church with most of the other families.70

Part 871

Riley called Landon that evening to ask him what to do. The conversation turned to how long the two of them had known each other because Landon had no idea what to do and was trying to avoid admitting it. They both reflected. There was momentary silence. It was a pivotal moment. They were secretly in love. Only Riley knew it.72

"I don't--" She stopped mid sentence. She was unsure what to say. Landon was unsure what to hear. She didn't tell him that she loved him. She knew she had to investigate what was happening with Mr. Swanson, and she couldn't tell him of their love if she could potentially die soon. It would be unfair. 73

There was no catharsis. Landon was confused. Riley was aloof. Riley was also determined, like a new soldier.74

Part 975

Riley was determined, but everything else was indeterminable. She did not know how to go about investigating (or implicating) Mr. Swanson in relation to the crimes she was sure he had committed. She concluded that she had to go back to Harving Way, preferably with a camera. And she had to do it at night. She tried not to think about it. She ended up not thinking about Landon instead. Harving Way was like heaven in reverse. Or maybe Paradise.76

Part 1077

The preparation for her drive to Harving Way was surprisingly lax given the potential fatality of the trip. She didn't pack a handgun or a Bible, even though her family owned both of those items. She didn't even bring a cross necklace. Instead, she brought a camera and her car keys. She only brought the car keys because she couldn't run her vehicle without them.78

Part 1179

It was dark, obviously. The night was hotter the closer you got to the ground, like the air was melting. Riley stuck her car keys into the ignition and started driving. She rolled her windows down, then thought better of it. She didn't turn on the radio as she usually did. She said to herself that this didn't mean she was nervous, but it probably did. She wished she had brought a knife, but she didn't turn back to get one. This would've made more sense if she was a fatalist. She pulled into the Harris Teeter parking lot because that was the only way to get to the street she intended to go down.80

Part 1281

Harving Way was malicious as ever. It sneered at her to let her know she was unwanted. The rocks on the road nipped at her tires like starving dogs. The trees around it were bare and scarce, but they hurled their shadows at her like fishing nets. The road twisted harder than it had before in an effort to capsize her. It was relentless. Riley had more trouble seeing around the curves in the road than she remembered having before. Her heart was beating so fast that she could feel it in her eyelids. Every part of her dreaded seeing the orange and white sign. She knew it would jump out at her, that she wouldn't see it coming. It still managed to shock her. 82

Riley slammed on her breaks to prevent running the whole sign over. It was impossible to navigate her car around the half-flattened sign. She opened her door cautiously and heard a dramatic howl and a fading scream. She quickly shut the door again. She got her camera ready and put her keys in her pocket. She kept the headlights on.83

Riley stepped over the crushed part of the sign and paused. There was another howl, this one more triumphant and human than the last. There was no scream. She walked towards the sound. There was no pavement here, but she was still within the grasp of Harving Way. It was more than pavement, it was it's own entity. There was a clearing ahead. If not for her cars headlights, she would never have been able to see what was in it. At first it looked like two teenagers having sex.84

Part 1385

Riley squinted to get a better look because she had no intention of going any closer. It was not two teenagers having sex, this was clear. For one thing, the body on top had a tail, the strong, curvy kind. The tail was green, as was the body. The first body's face was buried in the neck of the body below it. It was chewing. There was blood. Riley coughed to keep herself from vomiting. The body below was Sheila. The body on top heard her cough and looked up. Everything seemed too cartoony to be real, the features too pronounced, the mouth far too wide. It also seemed oddly familiar. The body started to come towards her, it's arms curled up inwardly to its chest, its power concentrated in its strong legs. 86

Riley didn't movie. She had trouble understanding what she was seeing. The dinosaur was bright green and streaked with Sheila's blood. It's scales were drawn on with black ink. The mouth was wide open in a dumbly happy expression, to the point of obscuring its eyes. There was a face in its mouth. At first, Riley thought the dinosaur had eaten Mr. Swanson. She didn't even consider running back to her car. She was too perplexed to think of it. She was trying to place the figure.87

The dinosaur was almost upon her. It finally stepped into the full light. Riley recognized the dinosaur's expression, finally. It was the smile of Rex, the cowardly tyrannosaurus rex from Disney's Toy Story series. She was right that the face in the mouth was Mr. Swanson's, though she had never seen him with a mouth full of blood. There was no look of humanity in his eyes. Riley began to back up towards her car. Mr. Swanson followed her. They took steps at the same time. It was almost a dance.88

Riley did not remember the flattened sign, so she tripped over it. She was able to catch herself before she fell completely, but it was enough. Mr. Swanson began to chase her quickly. She bolted towards her car, stumbling the whole way. As she got to the front of it, Mr. Swanson leaped into the air, higher than any man his age ever could've, and pinned her to her car hood. She was knocked unconscious. Her camera fell to the pavement and broke. Mr. Swanson looked around to make sure nothing was planning on stealing part of his kill and lowered his head to Riley's neck. Harving Way smiled in that sinister sort of way that a magician smiles when he really has cut your wife in half and knows he will be sent to the electric chair when he's discovered.