Eyes of The Soul

By Curtis Holmes

Lucifer launches an attack against mankind by summoning the most notorious murderers of all time to return to earth from hell to take possession of some of the lost people of the world. These evil entities range from the first murderer of the world Cain, Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer, John Wayne Gacy, Albert Fish, and the Führer Hitler, along with Colin Dunhart, whom the City of New York called the Carnivore. These evil entities are able to manipulate the flesh of the people they take possession of and become who they once were. By the sixth month of the sixth day at the sixth hour, the transformation would be completed, and the body could not die.

New York City Homicide Detective Samuel Griffen is in hot pursuit of these murderers. Detective Griffen has the ability to see these evil spirits for who and what they are. This ability he inherited from his family's bloodline of Nephilim. Not only can he see these evil entities; he has the ability to destroy them, because his eyes are the source of his power. Yet he still has weaknesses and strengths like any other man, which he struggles to conceal. Will Detective Griffen be able to stop the greatest evil in history before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Newman Springs Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781636924359

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Eyes of The Soul

Curtis Holmes

Copyright © 2021 Curtis Holmes

All rights reserved

First Edition

NEWMAN SPRINGS PUBLISHING

320 Broad Street

Red Bank, NJ 07701

First originally published by Newman Springs Publishing 2021

ISBN 978-1-63692-434-2 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63692-435-9 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Feast

Tribulations

Extrasensory Perception

Vicissitudes of Life

Experimental Strategies

A Winter’s Breeze

The Underground People

Days of Pass

Tomorrow’s Past

Anatomy of Death

Reflections of Mein Kampf

Prologue

Planets glow from a distance, a comet flares a line of light across the heavens, space debris moves off on a course of its own.

A silhouette of a figure drifts within the noir of space.

Within the darkness of space,

an ancient evil exists, this

evil with the force of hatred

for humanity, that could move

the earth off its axis, this

evil has names spoken by

many: Abaddon, Apollyon,

Diablo, Michtlanteculti,

Satan, and Lucifer.

Lucifer gave the darkness its sinister aura, and as this darkness descended upon the earth, a tornado formed and began to move across the land.

Within this monstrous twister, this evil voice could be heard: "I am Lucifer! The sun of the morning, the first angel created, made from the very source of the Creator.

"What is man? Nothing, but flesh and blood formed from the very dirt of this earth! I, Lucifer, have exposed man’s sinful nature from the very beginning of his existence, and I shall again.

I will expose man’s worthlessness before the heavens. I shall bring forth a legion of the damned upon this land, and a man shall turn away from his God!

As Lucifer declared this, the tornado killed and destroyed everything in its way. And as the twister picked up speed, Lucifer began to scream in a forgotten language, last spoken over a thousand years ago, in the year of 36 BC, and said, Ernie Arr htrof!

If translated from the Book of the Dead, it would mean Come forth.

A mist appeared, and an age-old killer materialized whom the world knew as Cain.

Chapter 1

Feast

From 1971 until 1972, Mr. Colin Dunhart, better known as the Carnivore, was the monster responsible for killing nine young boys in several public schools throughout New York City. The media labeled this maniac the Carnivore because of the way he mutilated his victims as if he were some kind of animal.

Medical examiners found that some of his victims had their testicles and genitals bitten off and brutally forced down their throats.

The Carnivore had the city in a paranoid frenzy for months, and true to New York City’s reputation as the city that never sleeps, everyone was on high alert, from the mayor down to the school crossing guards. The police commissioner ordered an increase of police presence around public and private schools. School principals instructed their teachers not to allow any students to wonder the hallways by themselves. School security guards made extra rounds on the various floors, checking bathrooms, stairwells, and any unoccupied classrooms. Some school entrance doors were locked and chained, and school visitors were double-checked and verified before being allowed on the school grounds. But even with all of the extra security measures the city had taken to ensure the safety of their children, the Carnivore was still able to claim yet another victim: an eight-year-old African American boy who attended Edgar G. Crice Elementary School in Holis Queens named Anthony Parson.

On March 15, 1972, Mrs. Sarah Corwin, a fifth-grade schoolteacher at Crice Elementary, was on her way back to her classroom after her lunch break. While heading toward her classroom, she neared the boy’s bathroom. The door suddenly opened, and a man stepped out into the hallway, nearly colliding with her and startling her at the same time. But she maneuvered around him and said, Excuse me. As she passed him, she noticed that he didn’t utter a word in response to her politeness. His silence aroused her curiosity, so she peered over her shoulder at him. What she saw really frightened her because he was just standing there looking at her with such a ferocious expression of hate on his face.

His eyes looked glassy in a twisted kind of way. His features were contorted with fury. The mere presence of him raised the hairs on the back of her neck. She increased her pace and walked toward her classroom while reaching inside her purse to find her classroom keys. Nervously she pulled them out, but they slipped out of her hand, landing on the hallway floor. The noise of the keys broke the eerie silence in the hallway that seemed to surround the presence of this stranger. The noise that the keys made, while hitting the floor, caused the nerves of Mrs. Corwin to scream to attention. She bent down as quickly as she could to retrieve the keys.

While still glancing back at this peculiar-looking man, she noticed that he wore the school’s maintenance uniform, but she couldn’t place his face to anyone she recognized, especially since she noticed that he had some disfigurement about his mouth with a skin disorder to match. But what drew her attention to his hands was the way he was squeezing the mop bucket handle, as if he was having muscle spasms in his hands.

Oh Jesus, she whispered.

She rammed the key into the door lock as fast as she could and opened the door and rushed inside. She hurried over to her desk to get on the phone, immediately calling downstairs to the school’s security desk. As she waited for someone to answer her call, she realized that she didn’t lock the door behind herself. Fear overcame her, and her whole body shuttered as she waited for the strange-looking man to crash into her classroom at any moment. But as she stared at her classroom door, the phone came alive in her hand.

Hello… Hello … Security desk. Whom can I help? asked the security guard, Richard Kemp.

Oh, I’m sorry. This is Mrs. Corwin from the third floor. Could you please come upstairs? There is a strange-looking man up here on the floor who really doesn’t look like he belongs here.

Sure, Mrs. Corwin. I’m on my way as soon as I hang up.

Mrs. Corwin eased herself to the door, locking it while looking through the glass partition part of the door to get another look at the man, but he was gone. By the time Mr. Kemp made it upstairs, Mrs. Corwin was standing in her classroom doorway.

I’m so glad you made it up here. This guy was so weird-looking.

So where is he at? asked Mr. Kemp.

I don’t know. He was here a second ago. After I hung up the phone, from talking to you, he was gone.

So what happened that caused you to be so concerned about him?

While I was walking back to my classroom, after my lunch break, I neared the boy’s bathroom. This man came rushing out nearly knocking me down. I said, Excuse me, but he never uttered a word. So I looked back at him, in case he didn’t hear me, and he was just standing there looking at me like he couldn’t find anything more pleasurable than to wring my neck.

How does he look?

Rather tall, about thirty years old, white guy, replied Mrs. Corwin. Oh yes… I forgot to mention that he wore the school’s maintenance uniform.

Well, that explains why he would be coming out of the boy’s bathroom.

But I’ve never seen him before, explained Mrs. Corwin.

He’s probably new.

I guess so, but I tell you, Mr. Kemp, something is really weird about this man.

Whatever the case, I’m going to see if I can find him to settle this matter.

That will be just fine, Mr. Kemp. And thank you for coming up here.

Don’t mention it.

Mr. Kemp checked a couple of empty classrooms on his way to the boy’s bathroom while the students passed him heading back to their classrooms chattering in endless amusement. Once in front of the bathroom door, he knocked to get the attention of anyone inside before he stepped inside. He opened the door to discover the gruesome remains of Anthony Parson, whom the Carnivore had torn apart.

*****

Detective Mark Anderson and his partner Walter Boone from the Seventieth Precinct, the homicide unit in Queens, were assigned to investigate the series of murders at several public schools throughout New York City. The detectives arrived at Crice Elementary within minutes of receiving the call of the Carnivore killing again.

While on the school grounds, Detectives Anderson and Boone searched for any potential witnesses or evidence that could link the suspect to the crime. But after speaking to Mr. James Riusby, the school’s principal, they learned that a Mrs. Sarah Corwin, a fifth-grade teacher, had gotten a good look at the suspect. That’s the break they were looking for.

They arrived at her classroom. Boone knocked. Mrs. Corwin looked up from her desk and waved for them to come inside.

Yes, may I help you?

Hello, Mrs. Corwin. My name is Detective Anderson, and this is my partner, Detective Boone. We would like to ask you a few questions about what happened at the school today. We were told by Mr. Riusby that you had gotten a good look at the suspect.

Oh yes, of course. I am sorry I can’t offer you gentlemen a seat. But from the looks of you two, it’s quite obvious that you have outgrown the fifth grade.

They all smiled in agreement.

It’s okay. We can stand, replied Detective Boone. We won’t be long.

Mrs. Corwin, it’s our understanding that you got a look at the suspect, Detective Anderson implied.

Yes, I did. As she said this, a shiver came over her that both detectives noticed.

Are you all right, Mrs. Corwin?

Yes. Just a little shaken up over how close I was to this lunatic.

Could we get you something to calm you down a little? Some tea or coffee? asked Detective Boone.

Yes. Coffee would be fine. Thank you.

Where could I find the teacher’s lounge? asked Boone.

On the first floor, replied Mrs. Corwin.

How do you like your coffee? he asked while heading toward the door.

Light and sweet, she said.

He stepped out of the classroom and walked toward the boy’s bathroom, where uniformed officers were still conducting a search of the area.

Well, Mrs. Corwin, while my partner is on his way to get your coffee, I’ll start the questioning, and I’ll fill him in later on whatever he missed. Detective Anderson pulled out his notepad. Let’s start from the beginning, when you first saw the suspect.

Halfway through the questioning, Detective Boone returned with Mrs. Corwin’s coffee.

Thank you, Detective Boone, she said as he passed her the coffee.

You’re welcome. So where are we at?

Well, Mrs. Corwin was just finishing up with how she almost ran into the suspect in the hallway.

Detective Anderson took a minute to pause with his questioning while Mrs. Corwin took a few sips of her coffee.

Hmmm… That was good. I’m ready now.

Were there any distinguishing marks on the suspect that you can remember?

Yes, he has some kind of skin disorder.

Like acne? asked Detective Boone.

No, it seemed worse than that. I saw several large reddish-looking boils along his jawline, and his lips had some type of deformity about them…like he couldn’t really close his mouth, and his teeth were larger or something.

Like a cleft lip? asked Detective Anderson.

Yes. Sure, I would agree with that ’cause that alone made him look even more weird.

Anything else? Detective Anderson asked.

Yes. When I looked at the mop bucket that he was holding, he was squeezing the bucket handle like his hands were having some kind of muscle spasm.

After writing down everything that Mrs. Corwin had said, Detective Anderson looked over to his partner, Boone. Anything you want to ask?

Yes. Mrs. Corwin, did the suspect say anything to you?

No, he didn’t. Not a word.

Detective Boone nodded his head in a gesture of approval of her answer. Is there anything else you can remember that you haven’t mentioned?

No, I can’t say that there is. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more help.

That’s okay. You did fine, replied Detective Anderson.

The detectives offered their hands to Mrs. Corwin.

Thank you for your assistance, said Anderson as he shook her hand. And if there is anything else you may remember, please don’t hesitate to call us at this number. He handed her his card.

I sure will. And thank you again for the coffee.

*****

On their drive back to the Seventieth Precinct, Boone let his partner know that he checked the back and side doors to the school, and all of them were chained up from the inside, so they could rule out the idea that the suspect had sneaked inside the school unnoticed.

Once back at their desks, they went over some of the medical examiner’s reports that mentioned that the wounds found on Anthony Parson had been compared with other victims of the Carnivore. Where saliva was found around the bite wounds, and periodically, a sharp instrument was used to remove some victims’ body parts, such as James Crosby, age seven, who attended PS 182 out on Long Island. The Carnivore had cut off his scrotum and brutally forced part of it down the boy’s throat. Then there was Tommy Coles, age nine, who went to PS 103 in Manhattan. The Carnivore had used his teeth to rip the boy’s genitals off.

The detectives agreed that the Carnivore used disguises to gain entrance to the schools so that he could search the school grounds unnoticed and without drawing any unwanted attention to himself while searching for his next meal.

*****

Law enforcement had diligently sought to capture this maniac for months, but on April 23, 1972, their break came when the Carnivore claimed his ninth victim by the name of Billy McFarland, a bright and energetic child of eight. Young Billy was in the third grade at PS 119 in the Bronx. Billy was the son of a fireman, by the name of Kenny McFarland Sr., who worked out of Ladder 28 in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Billy’s mother, Mrs. Susan McFarland, worked at Beth Mayors General Hospital as an X-ray technician on Staten Island. The couple had demanding jobs that required a lot of their time and energy, but they both found the time to spend with their children. They took turns attending PTA meetings, doctor’s appointments, and quality time that their children needed from their parents. However, their daughter Vanessa required a little more attention than her little brother Billy. The fact she was a teenager and was starting to explore life. On the other hand, Billy was an altogether different matter. He always found ways to entertain himself. In school he was always joking and clowning around. From one joke to another prank, endless moments of laughter were Billy’s main objective during his day. Although he was also a straight A student and came home with excellent report cards, which made his parents proud, because of his zest for learning was equal to his joy of laughter. That’s why he was labeled the classroom clown, because of his overwhelming desire to make everyone laugh.

Everyone that met the family, from the neighbors to the teachers, always said that Billy had his father’s good looks, from his sky-blue eyes to his reddish-brown hair, with freckles to match. Billy had his mother’s smarts that he was blessed with, accompanied with an irresistible smile that most people found hard to say no to.

Today, while Mrs. Jenkins was up at the chalkboard writing the day’s lessons, Billy was in the back of the classroom, up to his old tricks again, entertaining his pals by giving his impersonation of The Abbott and Costello Show. His performance stirred up a lot of laughs that caused Mrs. Jenkins to turn around. She looked toward the back of the classroom to where she believed the noise was coming from. Billy McFarland, Terry Combs, Brian Henderson, and Linda Sommers stiffened up and looked ahead as fast as they could. Mrs. Jenkins took another couple of minutes attempting to catch the individuals responsible for making the noise in her classroom before she turned back around to continue writing her lesson on the chalkboard, but as soon as she did, the chuckles started up again.

Billy saw that their laughter was becoming too loud, so he began making hand gestures to his pals to keep the noise down. None of them wanted to get caught by Mrs. Jenkins, a.k.a. BJ, because she had her own reputation of being a stern and no-nonsense type of teacher. Word around the school was that she used to work at Parkwest Junior High School before she got suspended for beating up an Amazon of a girl who had jumped on another female student. It was said that Mrs. Jenkins had dislocated the Amazon girl’s shoulder. So upon her arrival at PS 119, the students gave her the nickname BJ, which was short for Beat Down Juveniles, although no one ever called her that to her face. Nevertheless, it spread throughout the school. Even some of the teachers were aware of her nickname, but they never mentioned it to her.

As Mrs. Jenkins continued to write, she could still hear the laughter coming from the back of the classroom, and from the sounds of things, Billy McFarland was the center of it all.

Yes, she thought to herself, Mr. Entertainment himself. Well, I have a show to put on for you!

Just as she finished writing and turned around, there he was with his hand held high in the air in an attempt to get her attention with an innocent expression on his face that she was all too familiar with.

Yes, Billy, what do you want?

Can I go to the bathroom?

Sure you can, but you make sure when you return, that noise in the back comes to an end.

Billy tried to protest his innocence, but she looked at him with a frown and said, Do you understand me, young man?

Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, Billy whispered.

Billy strolled up to her desk and picked up the boy’s bathroom pass off the hook attached to her desk and headed toward the door.

Billy.

Yes, Mrs. Jenkins?

Wait one minute.

She got up from her desk, walked past Billy, and stepped out into the hallway. She looked up and down the hallway to make sure she didn’t see any strange-looking individuals lurking around. After stepping back inside the classroom, she told Billy, Don’t play around in the hallway. Use the bathroom and come right back to class. Do you understand? she said in a stern voice.

Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, Billy replied.

While Mrs. Jenkins was talking to Billy, a lone figure stood in the shadows of the boiler room of PS 119 in the Bronx, listening to the daily activities of the school, staring up at the ceiling, looking past the ceiling, remembering the days of his beginning as he whispered the sadistic melody of a song sung to him as a child:

Hush, little baby, don’t say a word,

Momma’s gonna buy you a mocking bird,

If that mocking bird don’t sing,

Momma’s gonna ring the ding-a-ling, ling.

If that ding-a-ling turns blue,

Momma’s gonna put you in the zoo,

Zoo la you,

Momma wants to put the animal in the zoo,

Zoo ah you, zoo for you,

An animal like you belongs in the zoo,

Zoo la, la, zoo la, la,

Zoo, ooo, zoo, ooo, just for you.

*****

Mr. Nathen Lehan, the school’s janitor, was coming out of the employee locker room when he heard someone singing in the boiler room as he passed by. At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but he stopped to listen, and indeed, it was someone singing.

That is odd, he thought. Who would be in the boiler room at this time?

He hoped it wasn’t Robert, the new maintenance worker who had started last week, because he had just been caught sleeping on the job the other day. He was lucky that Mr. Horning, the maintenance supervisor, wasn’t the one who had caught him ’cause he would have been fired on the spot. Mr. Lehan’s curiosity got the better of him, and he wanted to know who it was, so he eased the door open and he held on to his utility belt so he wouldn’t make any noise.

As he stepped inside, it sounded like a child was singing, but the closer he got, he was finally able to see that it wasn’t a child, but a man standing, staring up at the ceiling while singing.

Excuse me, sir, Lehan said. Do you work here?

The stranger didn’t answer. Lehan then touched the man’s shoulder to get his attention. The man spun toward Lehan and grabbed him around the throat with amazing speed and strength. Lehan, barely able to breathe, began beating on the man’s shoulders, face, and arms, struggling to get free. That was when the man snatched the large metal wrench out of Lehan’s utility belt and rammed it down his throat, breaking teeth, tearing gums and the inner flesh of his throat, and killing Lehan instantly. The man tossed Lehan’s body to the side like a mannequin. After removing Lehan’s clothes, the stranger made his way upstairs.

*****

Mrs. Jenkins returned to her classroom after she checked the hallway to make sure there were no strangers lurking there, but she was unaware that, at the very moment she stepped out into the hallway, the boy’s bathroom door was just closing. Mrs. Jenkins stepped out of the way so Billy could pass. Young Billy strolled down the school’s hallway, peering in other classrooms at his pals and making funny faces at them.

Billy pushed the bathroom door open and skipped inside, unaware of the horrors that awaited him. Colin Dunhart was in the last stall of the bathroom pretending to be cleaning it. When Billy entered, Colin felt a twinge in his hand that held a rag soaked in chloroform.

He looked at Billy and thought, Pleasures of the flesh…

He squeezed the rag and whispered, "So powerful, so silent.

Billy said, Hi, to the maintenance man when he entered the bathroom. After he used the urinal, he went to wash his hands. As he turned around to leave, Colin seized the moment to sneak up behind Billy. He grabbed Billy and picked him up high in the air with such a powerful embrace that it caused Billy to drop the boy’s bathroom pass that he held in his hand.

The pressure of the Carnivore’s embrace crushed Billy’s windpipe before the toxins in the chloroform could take effect. While Billy lay limp in the Carnivore’s arms, Colin leaned his head down toward Billy’s face and bit down hard, ripping off part of Billy’s nose, and then slowly began feeding on the rest of him.

*****

Mr. John Horning, the school’s maintenance supervisor, was on the third floor checking light fixtures and looking for any signs of graffiti etched on the school’s walls, because in the past several weeks, the school had been experiencing a lot of vandalism. As he passed the boy’s bathroom, he heard something fall on the floor. His first thought was that he had finally caught someone in the act of destroying school property, and as far as he was concerned, they would pay severely.

Just as Mr. Horning crept toward the bathroom door, Mrs. Jenkins became very annoyed because she had told Billy to use the bathroom and come right back to class, and by her watch, he was way overdue. She stood up and asked the class to continue writing. While she stepped out into the hallway and looked toward the bathroom, she saw Mr. Horning with his ear to the door. She called out to him to see what was wrong, but he held up his finger and indicated for her to be quiet. Now she knew that Billy was up to no good. This irritated her, and she swore that he wouldn’t get off the hook this time.

Mr. Horning eased the bathroom door open, and he came face-to-face with madness.

The Carnivore was squatting over Billy’s body, and blood was all over the bathroom. Mr. Horning’s eyes drifted from the man to the body of the boy lying on the bathroom floor. Mr. Horning could see that one of the boy’s eyes was missing and that chunks of flesh were torn away from his face. He watched in shock as the man used a knife to slowly cut off the boy’s testicles.

Mrs. Jenkins called out to him again, but this time the Carnivore heard her and knew he wasn’t alone. He raised his eyes toward the door, and Mr. Horning looked into the eyes of madness. The Carnivore snarled at him like an animal being disturbed at feeding time. Drool slid out of his mouth, down his chin, and dripped onto the floor.

Mrs. Jenkins neared the bathroom, reached out to touch Mr. Horning on the shoulder, and asked, What’s wrong?

He immediately turned around and said, Call for help!

That’s when the man appeared in the doorway of the bathroom and plunged his knife deep into Mr. Horning’s chest cavity.

Mrs. Jenkins let out a scream louder than an express train whistle. A scream that sent chills down to the marrow of anyone’s bones. Within seconds, the hallway was full of teachers and students looking to see where the scream had come from.

Mr. Henderson, a teacher from Room 301, looked toward the boy’s bathroom and saw a man standing over Mr. Horning with a knife in his hand. He shouted at the man, What the hell do you think you are doing? Stop right there!

He and several other teachers started walking toward the man.

The Carnivore stood there for a moment, like a predator defending its kill. Then he pushed Mrs. Jenkins out of his way, sending her stumbling to the floor, and then ran down the center stairwell.

Mr. Henderson and two other teachers ran after him.

Mrs. Susan Bonds, a teacher across the hall from Mrs. Jenkins’s classroom, ran over to help her up off the floor. They both rushed over to try to assist Mr. Horning, who was bleeding an awful lot.

Mrs. Jenkins quickly kneeled down to perform CPR because he seemed to be struggling to catch his breath.

Mrs. Bonds called out to Mrs. Silverman, who was rushing some students back into their classrooms, Mrs. Silverman, please call for help! We are losing Mr. Horning!

I will call right now, she said as she rushed into her classroom and got on the phone.

Hello, security? Yes, please, we need help up here!

Hold on, replied security guard Richard Ford. What’s wrong?

Mr. Horning has been stabbed up here on the third floor by some man. We need an ambulance now!

I’m calling as soon as I hang up with you!

Please hurry!

He dialed 911 and told the dispatcher what had happened and requested that they send an ambulance.

Security guard David Foster was standing nearby with another security guard. Mr. Ford told him to stay at the security desk and let the police and EMS workers in. He and the other security guard ran upstairs.

Mr. Henderson and three other teachers were close behind the Carnivore as he ran down the stairs. Colin saw two exit doors. He grabbed the door handle on the right, pushed it open, quickly made it down to the next landing, and stood in the shadows.

Mr. Henderson saw the door slowly closing. He called out to the other teachers, He went this way, and they all ran out onto the floor.

The Carnivore made it down to the ground floor. When he emerged in the hallway, he made a left toward the back exit doors of the west wing of the school.

*****

On the other end of the school, Mrs. Pamela Weiner, the school principal, was having a staff meeting with a few second-grade teachers when they all heard the horrifying scream. Mrs. Weiner excused herself from the meeting to see what the problem was. She stepped into her outer office and asked her secretary, Mrs. Ann Coleman, to call the security desk and find out what was wrong.

The phone rang once, and a voice at the other end said, Security Desk.

Foster! This is the Principal’s Office. Mrs. Weiner is interested to know what those screams were about.

I regret to say that Mr. Horning was stabbed upstairs, replied Foster.

Oh my god! By whom?

I don’t know, but Mr. Ford is on his way upstairs now, and the police are also on the way.

As Foster was explaining the situation to Mrs. Coleman, he looked up and saw a man walking toward the back of the school. From the looks of him, Foster could tell that he was just another maintenance man, but the way he walked was sort of suspicious. Foster called out to him, Sir! Sir! Excuse me, sir! May I have a word with you? But the man kept walking.

Mrs. Coleman, on the other end of the line, kept asking, What’s wrong? Who’s that?

But Foster had no time to explain.

Sir, please stop!

That’s when the Carnivore began to run. Foster dropped the phone onto the receiver and took off after the man.

Mrs. Coleman hung up the phone and hurried in to tell Mrs. Weiner what had happened to Mr. Horning, the maintenance supervisor.

*****

When Mr. Ford arrived on the third floor, Mrs. Jenkins was performing CPR on Mr. Horning and Mrs. Bonds had a panic-stricken expression on her face. Mr. Ford kneeled down to assist Mrs. Jenkins as best as he could, but he could see the large hole in the center of Mr. Horning’s chest and that he was losing a lot of blood. Mr. Ford took a handkerchief out of his pants pocket, wrapped it around his hand, and pressed it against Mr. Horning’s chest in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

*****

Downstairs, Mrs. Coleman interrupted the staff meeting to inform the principal of what had happened.

Excuse me, Mrs. Weiner, Mrs. Coleman said as she knocked and opened the door at the same time. She was hurrying to relay the message that the security guard had told her to tell Mrs. Weiner.

Mrs. Weiner, please come. Mr. Horning has been stabbed upstairs on the third floor.

Oh my! Mrs. Weiner uttered while holding her hand to her mouth. She got up as fast as possible and headed out the door with the other teachers behind her.

*****

Mr. Henderson and the other teachers realized that they had lost the intruder somewhere on the second floor. They stopped at the security desk and found it unoccupied. That’s when the school’s entrance bell rang. One of the teachers went to see who it was and was greeted by the police and the EMS workers. They were told that the incident was on the third floor.

The Carnivore ran through the double doors, down a few steps, and came upon the steel doors that were chained and locked. The Carnivore ran back up the few steps and quickly squatted down behind one of the doors that was ajar. He pulled out his knife and smiled while he waited.

Mr. Foster came through the exit door in a half run. The Carnivore sprang up and buried his knife into Mr. Foster’s right eye. He screamed in agony. The Carnivore pushed him down the stairs, then came up behind him, pulled out his knife, and cut his throat from ear to ear. He took Mr. Foster’s keys off his belt and removed the lock and chains from around the handle of the entrance doors.

*****

When Mrs. Weiner arrived on the third floor, it was nothing but pandemonium. Blood was all over the hallway floor. Some teachers and students stood in the doorway of their classrooms looking on as Mr. Horning lay on the floor, barely clinging to life.

Mrs. Jenkins was still attempting CPR with the assistance of Mr. Ford and Mrs. Bonds.

The floor was now crowded with the teachers who had come upstairs with Mrs. Weiner from the meeting. Seconds later, the police and EMS. workers arrived and began working on Mr. Horning immediately.

Mr. Ford and Mrs. Jenkins stood back so the EMS workers could have more room to work on him. But while Mrs. Jenkins was staring at the performance of the EMS workers, something caught her eye at the bottom of the boy’s bathroom door.

Mrs. Weiner turned to ask Mrs. Jenkins what had happened, but she saw that Mrs. Jenkins’s attention was elsewhere. She followed Mrs. Jenkins’s eyes and saw that she was looking at the bottom of the boy’s bathroom door. At first glance, she looked closer and noticed that there was a stream of blood flowing from under the door.

Mr. Ford looked at the principal and noticed why she was looking at the bottom of the door also. He motioned for the police officers to come over and, without making a