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Text File | 1993-01-12 | 9.6 KB | 180 lines

Without Provocation
The Diseased Mind #1 @9702
Sun Jan 10 03:12:15 1993

(c) 1993 by T.D.Mind


                             WITHOUT PROVOCATION



  Things might have been different.  If he hadn't been working overtime that
week, he would have been home.  If they had decided to get Dobermans instead
of Newfoundlands.  If they'd even decide to keep a gun in the house despite
the young age of the children.  Any of those things might have changed
everything.

  But the reality is, he HAD been working late that night.  And they DID own
Newfoundlands, known for their docile and friendly personalities.  And they
DID have small children and thus had decided to have a "Firearm Free"
household until the children were older.

And of such small decisions is the world made....


******************************************************************************

  The date is just a few days after the Christmas of 1990.  The horrible
pressures of buying as much as possible for the children is over for another
year and now the job of paying off the bills and catching everything up has
begun.  Todd had worked late every day that week because of those bills.  By
Thursday he was beat but there would be a big paycheck at the end of the pay
period and that would make up for it.  Maybe this would help things between
Dennise and himself.  The constant bickering wasn't fun and it certainly wasn't
doing the kids any good either.   Those were the thoughts going through Todd's
mind as he drove home late that night.  Thinking of Dennise brought a smile to
his face as always; and, thinking of her, he stopped at the Carrs store
closest to their house to pick up some flowers or a plant.  Maybe this would
put a smile on Dennise's face.  A sight seen too infrequently, in Todd's 

opinion
n.


  Pulling into the driveway, the house is dark.  The front light over the door
isn't even on.  Damn her anyways for not leaving it on.  The constant
bickering hasn't all been Dennise's fault, obviously.  Todd is irritable too.
Well, she must have gone to bed early and forgot to turn on the outside light
when she went to bed.

  Funny, the door is not locked, that's unusual.  She might forget a light but
Dennise NEVER forgot to lock the doors.  As Todd enters, he becomes aware that
his life has changed irrevocably that night and he is only now discovering
that fact.  The living room is a shambles.  The top of the redwood coffee
table, which Todd has been meaning to attach to the base and always managed to
put off and never do, has been knocked onto the floor.  As a matter of fact,
the entire living room is trashed.  The television is still on but nobody is

in
the room except the dogs.  But there's something wrong with the dogs.  They're
both lying on the floor unmoving.  Todd calls to them but they don't respond.
In the eery light from the television, he can't see what the problem is but
his imagination has no problems conjuring up images of what might be the
trouble.

  Running through the house, Todd fears the worst.  And his fears all come true
as he reaches the door to the bedroom.  The lights are on and Dennise is on the
bed.  More specifically, she's tied to the bed.  She's naked and bloody from
her face down.  Her eyes are glazed with a look of screaming horror.
Unblinking, she stares at the scene that was the last thing she ever saw.
Looking away from her body, Todd sees what she was looking at.  Adam, the
oldest boy, all of 11 years old, is lying broken and bloody in the closet.
His eyes also hold the glazed look of death.  He apparently tried to stop what
was being done to his mom; but what can a boy of 11 do against someone strong
enough to overpower an adult woman?

  Looking back at Dennise, some of the details begin to penetrate Todd's
brain.  But everything is becoming disjointed.  Her nose is broke.  Where are
the other two?  Her nipples have been cut off.  Where are they?  There is so
much blood between her legs.  Where are the other two children?  Her wrists
are bloody from where she tried to pull them free of the handcuffs.  Where are
Tony and Donna?

  "Where are the other two?!"  Todd runs to Donna's bedroom, nothing.  Tony's
room is empty of occupants as well.  Turning on all the lights in the house
but those in the living room because the bulb in the lamp broke when it was
knocked over, Todd searches the entire house.  Nothing.  The two younger
children are gone.  Presumably taken by the same person that raped and killed
Dennise and beat Adam to death.  By the light from the kitchen, Todd can see
the dogs well enough to notice that both of them have had their throats cut.
They turned out to be as worthless for protection as he had always feared they
would be.

  Returning to the bedroom, Todd tries to free Dennise from the bed and
handcuffs but is unsuccessful because he and Dennise never owned handcuffs and
thus, Todd has no key.  "What happened, Dennise?  Who?  Why?  How could this
happen?"  Todd realizes, at the back of his mind, that he is in shock.

  Turning to Adam, he repeats his questions.  "Who did this, Adam?  What
happened?"  Todd sits on the edge of the bed, it is wet from the blood and
because the mattress has been punctured like Dennise's body.  The thought
crosses his mind that he should call the police.  And the thought flutters
away unheeded.  The only thing pigs have been good for in the past is busting
speeders and junkies on the street.  They've never been worth a shit, in
Todd's experience, for actually catching real criminals.  No, the police would
just get in the way and slow him down.

  Todd stands and reaches behind the dresser, taking not noticing the blood
water soaking his pants.  He pulls out a razor sharp calvary saber.  Vintage
1865.  A relic he had found in an abandoned farmhouse in California during
his collage days.  It's been restored and the edge is 38 inches of gleaming,
razor sharp, steel.  Walking to the living room, Todd sits in his chair and
looks at the dogs.  "Well, pups, what do I do now?"  Todd already knows the
answer.

  There is only one person he know's who would have taken the younger children
rather than killing them along with Dennise and Adam.  It's David, Dennise's
ex husband and the father of all three children.  It HAS to be...Rising, Todd
knows what he must do.  Todd leaves the house, sword in hand.

  Fifteen minutes later, Todd knows he's not going to find David or the other
children as easily as he'd hoped.  There is nobody home at David's house.
Todd kicks open the door and enters.  The house looks normal.  No easily
found clues.  Sitting in front of David's computer, Todd turns it on and
begins the slow process of looking for addresses and phone numbers.  By 1:30
in the morning, Todd is convinced that David is even more of an idiot than
he'd always believed him to be.  There was a diary of sorts in the computer.
In it, David had talked about his anger and frustration.  His overwhelming
desire to get Dennise back.  His fear and hatred of Todd were mentioned
frequently as well.  The last entry, dated 3 days before, detailed the breakup
of David's most recent relationship and his renewed desire to get Dennise back
no matter what he had to do in order to have his way.  David had written about
his recent conversations with Dennise and how she was having problems with
Todd and how they had been fighting a lot in recent weeks.


  Informative as the diary may have been, Todd was able to gain to idea as to
where David would have run with Donna and Tony.  Sitting in David's house, in
front of his computer in the dark, Todd feels tears begin to well up in his
eyes.  For the first time since he was 13 years old, Todd cries.  But it
doesn't last long and it's not satisfying in the least.  Wiping his eyes with
the back of his hand, Todd walks out of David's house.

*****************************************************************************

Excerpt from the Anchorage Daily News.  July 13, 1992:

Baltimore Maryland,

Todd Lybarger, former Anchorage resident is being held without bail
pending indictment for the murder of a Baltimore resident.  Mr. Lybarger
allegedly attacked killed Mr. David L. Darkone without provocation last Sunday
night at 8:27 pm.

According to witnesses, Todd Lybarger walked up to the door of Mr. Darkone's
house posing as a Cable Installer.  Tony Darkone (Age 7) and Donna Darkone
(age 5) answered the door.  At that time, Todd Lybarger grabbed both of them
and pushed them into the yard.  He then entered the house and locked the door.

The children ran to a neighbor's house.  Mrs. C. Cooper was home and called
the police.

Screams were heard from the Darkone residence and Todd Lybarger emerged from
the house several minutes before the police arrived.  Witnesses report that he
was covered in blood and that he sat on the porch smoking a cigarette until
the police arrived.  Once the police were at the scene of the crime, Mr.
Lybarger cooperated fully and was taken into custody without incident.

Upon entering the house, the police found David L. Darkone's body.  In the
word's of Sgt. R. Masterson, "We found pieces of Mr. Darkone all over the
house.  It was the most horrible act of butchery I've ever seen."

The District Attorney, Miles Strucken, has said he's going to push for the
maximum penalty in this case.  "Animals like Lybarger should be put down like
rabid dogs," he said in a recent interview.

This reporter agrees with Mr. Strucken.  When the good and decent citizens of
our fair city are the prey of foul beasts like Todd Lybarger, it makes one
wonder if maybe the death penalty isn't such a bad idea after all.