They Heard a Scream

I answered a booming knock at the door to find a tall, well-built police officer with a shaved, blonde head and a square jaw. The wire extending from his radio, and the gun in his holster made him seem every bit a part of the machine he served.

"I'm here because a resident reported a disturbance last night. Said she heard someone screaming.  Mind if I come in and take a look around?" the cop asked. My roommate, Marie, was noticeably distressed, despite the fact her stash of marijuana was already hidden safely under the DVD cupboard. I couldn't hide the panic from my eyes either.

"Nah, come on in," I said. Marie sat stiffly on the recliner, and let me answer most of the questions while she let her nerves settle.

"You have any weapons on the premises?" asked the cop.

"Yeah, just a decorative sword and some throwing knives in that closet there." He opened the closet to find the weapons caked with dust. I hoped my honesty would earn his trust. "We don't have any firearms, though." I eyed his gun anxiously. "They frighten me," I continued with a nervous chuckle. Satisfied, he closed the closet and entered Marie's room. He found nothing there but dark clothes and horror memorabilia. When the cop searched my room, however, he was noticeably taken aback by how cluttered it was. I never got around to clearing out the drive-through bags that littered the floor.

"Oh man," the cop said. "You need to clean your room."

"That's true," I said mirthfully, trying to hide my offense at his comment. What business was it of his, really? It's not like anything illicit was buried underneath.

"Has that window always been open?" he asked, pointing to my window.

"Yeah, most of the time."

"But you didn't hear a scream?"

"No." He watched me carefully as I answered.

"Okay," he nodded, walking back to the living room. My nerves began to get the better of me as well, so I sat on the couch beside Marie's recliner while the cop addressed the both of us. "So let me just come right out and say I know there's drugs in here." My heart skipped a beat, and I saw the blood rush to Marie's face. "Now the good news is that I don't care. Just between us, I think it's a bullshit law and a waste of taxpayer money.  More importantly, though, I don't have a drug warrant because that's not the reason I came here.  One of the residents from this same building reported a scream around three o'clock in the morning, and none of you heard it?"

"Could be someone turned a movie up too loud," I said, turning to Marie.

"I was asleep from, like, ten to six-ish. Only got up an hour ago," she said.

"So whoever called must have lied?" asked the cop, looking at me. "Just called 911 for yucks?" I threw my hands up and shook my head.

"I wish I could help you, honestly. Neither of us heard anything." I spoke as sincerely as possible, just wishing he would go away. He stood silently for a moment, looking over Marie and myself.

"Okay. Y'all have a nice day." At last, he showed himself out the door, and I followed swiftly the lock the door. Marie smiled with relief and exhaled a long breath.

"I'm glad he was cool about the drug thing," she said. I nodded, not looking directly at her. "I mean, I didn't hear anything. Did you?"

"Nah, no way," I said. "You know I would have said something if I knew I could help."

"That's true," she said. Thankfully, she didn't catch my slip of the tongue. After all, if I couldn't tell her, I most certainly couldn't tell the cop - a stranger. How could I account for what I saw last night after being woken up by that horrible scream, just below my second-story window? Who would believe me if I described the unimaginable creature that dragged the poor, bloodied girl under the streetlight? That towering monster with ashen skin under black wings. Its saurian snout housed jagged teeth, and its fiery, glowing eyes reflected the light like the eyes of a jaguar. I was paralyzed when it looked up at me, and I prayed the darkness of my room shielded me from the gaze of this stone-grey dragon. Perhaps it didn't see me, or perhaps it didn't care. I could hardly guess. Who would believe me?