The Bloody Trail

Okay, Okay I know: It has been a VERY long time.

BUT! I have been traumatized!!

I know I have mentioned that I have been getting up really early to run and get a workout in. The routine has been; meet my sister a mile down the road twice a week, run, go to my dad’s gym, lift weights, hit the bag, swim or do whatever we feel like. On the off days I do it all by myself.

July 7, last week…..I left my house around 6:15 am for my morning run. I go by myself and have a great workout. I head towards home around 8:15 and see my friend. She tells me the police caught the serial killer or else she would have something to say about me going by myself and she really wishes I would take something with me like a knife to protect myself. I tell her; she is such a good friend and thank you so much for caring and I think CRAZZZY boy how lucky I am to have such a great friend and neighbor. I also told her how at one point…….((close to home)) I did get a little freaked out because of the song I was listening to “Killer on the Loose” by Thin Lizzy. Or maybe it was our talk from yesterday about the serial killer and the combination of the song the talk and the fact we really don’t live too far from Gaffney where the serial killer lived……Yicks!!!

We laughed at my silliness and I went home.

9:30 AM ~ I get a text message from Melissa, my friend next door: “Forensics next door 2 me.” …….then another message……”Police, fire trucks and a whole bunch of everything you would believe the cars & people – wonder what is going on”

We Figured someone was hurt and that was really too bad. I go about my day. After all, I had a birthday party to plan.

11:00 A.M ~ Another message from Melissa. “They are still there”

1:00 PM ~ We leave the house. I pass the police that are hanging out at the house in question up the street. I stop and ask; “What happened?” I am told “AHH nothing really, just a little domestic thing.” I say, “Wow! This is a lot for a domestic thing.” “I hope no one was hurt to badly.” The cop says, “No, don’t worry.” This is routine.” I say “Oh! Wow! I didn’t know.” "Okay"

I text Melissa and tell her everything is okay ~ this is all routine. She texts back and say “Oh! Wow!”

We have our party ~ come home around 7 and drive past the house in question and see: yellow police tape, more police cars, police vans, lots of police stuff……

WOW!!

We have dinner, talk about the day and what could be happening up the street……… the phone rings…..it’s my brother….I let it go and figure I will call him back as soon as we are finished …..Mark’s phone rings……It’s my brother….Mark says….”UMM It’s Bill…..It must be important.”

They talk…….

Matthew and Stephen are getting themselves ready to go out for their run.

Mark catches them as they are going out the door and says with alarm……”Hey! Wait! Your not going…….”

He looks at me and says……..”You’re finished running alone.”

What?!?!?! What are you talking about?????? WHY???

He tells me there has been an attack on our street……….an ATTACK!!??!!

“What kind of attack? What are you talking about? This street is beautiful town USA. Nothing ever happens on this street except dogs…..or a lost cats…….What are you talking about???? This is the street people don’t lock themselves in at night. We leave our keys in the car……….We leave our doors unlocked ……….what do you mean an ATTACK???

Mark tells me what Bill said:

A man…….(( he does not live in our area)) was attacked…….WITH a MACHETE! A MACHETE!!! Writing it gives me the creeps!! This was a Hispanic man, no one has seen before, ends up on one of our neighbors door steep……..Hatched up, bleeding profusely…The woman calls 911!!! This guy says he was attacked by someone he did not know on our street…..OUR STREET!! He said he didn’t know why, who or anything………He was just attacked with a MACHETTE!

The police investigate………They find there is a blood trail……..A BLOOD TRAIL……on our street!! Leading one tenth of a mile down the road to another house…….2……TWO!! houses from my house!!

YICKS!

We are not told much about this crime. We have been told; the attack happened inside this house one tenth of a mile down the road…….2……TWO!! houses down from my house!!

We know now this house was being used for drugs…for drugs…..on my street!! …The police pulled 3….THREE…van loads of marijuana out of this house. The police where seen by people on the street taking out grow light…fertilizer…computers…and other things needed for marijuana growth (( I don’t even know what that could be……..I have trouble with tomatoes!!))

As of last week; the guy that was attacked with the MACHETE! was not expected to make it. We don’t know what happened to him....We really don’t know much about what was going on there except the house was being used for drugs and we do not think anyone lived in the house. No one ever talked to the people in the house……they didn’t speak English….they only waved and rushed inside. We only saw Hispanic men coming and going rarely from the house.

….The grass was never cut, for a brand new house there was never even so much as a flower in the new yard. Now we know why…….They where to busy taking care of what was inside the house.

The police told us… This was a big crime. They will catch who ever did this. They said they could not find the owner of the house and to watch out for any strange happenings in the area. YICKS!! Strange Happenings in the area……like men walking down the street sliced up from a machete attack….

This area is very quite...People move to rural areas to be left alone….to run early in the morning and feel safe…to raise their children in a friendly but not so talkative neighborhood. We live here to be safe and live our lives in the bubbles we have created….It has really been very nice!

Everyone is on edge…..People are not going out as much…..you don’t see people walking their dogs…running…or doing the normal things you see in a neighborhood.

For one week I stayed inside in the early morning ……..not working out…….not doing anything….I got up, got dressed and sat there thinking….Okay, I will just get in the car and go to my parents house…I can run around their neighborhood….I just sat there….. waiting….to afraid to go outside, to get in the car, to go down the street.

After 3 days of this I thought……okay I will sleep in this week and start Monday. I can give it a week and then things will be okay. Happy with that and thinking the rest will be good……..

I waited until Monday.

Monday comes…..I get up early…..but still don’t leave early. I force myself to get my shoes on, find a good song on Matthew’s IPOD and go out the door. I start running…I have an hour and think that is okay…..I feel a little creped but think…..It’s okay……I’m okay…..everything is fine…I go to the dead end turn around……past my house and up the road….I pass my friends house and then see circles in the road with arrows leading up to the house in question……then I follow circles and arrows .1 mile down the road to the house that helped the man that was sliced up with the machete….((YICKS!!)) I force myself to keep going…….I run, stop, turn around look behind me, turn the music up, run, stop, turn around look behind me, turn the music down …….think okay I know I learned how to take away a knife from an attacker…..but I don’t think we covered Machetes…as a matter of fact I don’t think Mr T thought about teaching us how to take away a Machete from an attacker……mmmmm……maybe I should ask him about that……….I review in my mind taking away a knife, a gun, someone chocking you, okay how do you break elbows again…..yeah, that’s right…run, turn around look behind me, turn the music up, stop, turn around look behind me, walk, turn the music down ……make myself go 3 miles like this the whole way… I go past my old Karate instructors house…….think maybe I could just run up and down his drive way…..gee I miss karate…..hope I can go back soon……review in my mind the moves I should know..…

I have enough of the whole thing and head home…go past the house in questions, past the circles, past the arrows leading to the houses… I run, stop, turn around look behind me, turn the music up …

YICKS!!

I can’t wait to get in the house…I see Mark and say “GEE!! That was creepy!!” Mark says he wishes I wouldn’t go by myself any more……think that is a good idea.

Tuesday I wake up Stephen to go with me…..Show Stephen the circles and arrows and notice the blood staining the road leading .1 mile to the house where the man went for help. Stephen and I only make it a couple of miles it is early for him and the blood trail has both of us freaked out.

Yesterday, I was brave enough to get in my car and go to my mother’s neighborhood. I’ll keep you posted on the progress!