#Gary Ramirez | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fixfoxnox · 1 year ago

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In The Dark (2)

Description: Roach begins to understand what he's been seeing in the forest.

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: Violence, Gore, Implied NSFW

Roach could only describe his past few nights in the park in one way: strange. They'd been strange.

Since the murder happened, since he'd come back to work...he'd noticed things. Well, more like a thing. The shadow in the woods, the creature that looked like a large wolf at times and something completely different at others. Everything had been strangely different.

On Roach's routine checks at different stations, any time he had to get out of his vehicle it was like everything was silent. He could feel himself being watched. He'd begun to pick up that the silence was a sort of calling card for the creature. Something so feared in the forest that every creature knew it was best to keep silent. Oddly enough, Roach didn't feel that fear.

He felt...protected? Was that the word for it? He couldn't be sure. It was a mix of things, a mix of things in the gaze of the creature as it watched him from the trees. He'd met its eyes a few more times, even gone so far as to wave at it. It never moved.

It had taken a spot in Roach's mind, wormed in beside his normal thoughts and worries, wormed in beside everything else that he used to see as his life. Now there was the creature. Roach wondered often if he'd see it the next night. He thought about it as he lay in bed in the mornings, trying to get some sleep before his next shift. He wondered what it was, where it had come from, if it had always been watching him. He didn't think that was the case. Surely he couldn't have been so oblivious to its presence.

He hadn't told any of his friends about the creature. He knew how they'd react. They'd all look at each other carefully before glancing back at him, worry in their eyes. He knew they'd think he was crazy and he knew that the piece of amethyst that sat neatly on his desk would do nothing to prove what he'd seen, to prove what he'd been seeing. He knew better than to tell them.

So he kept it to himself. He kept the creature and his suspicions that the man who'd died on that small back road had died at the hands of the creature who'd taken to watching him. They didn't need to know. No one needed to know.

"So when do you guys think the big man is gonna stop double booking us?" Roach asked the question casually, hardly looking at any of the men standing in the small station's kitchen. He was packing his lunch up for the day, meticulously putting everything he'd brought into his little cooler.

He could hear a bit of shuffling before one of them finally answered. "Well, uh, to be honest, I'm not sure that it's ever going to stop."

Roach paused at the words from Logan. He tried to take in what they meant, as he carefully lowered the last of his things into the cooler. Finally, he turned toward the group, observing their sheepish faces carefully. "What?" He asked finally, "What's going on?"

"Well," Jackson shared a glance with Ramirez, "boss is still shaken by the murder, how close you were to the guy. He's talking about permanently doubling up the shifts. Hiring a whole new daytime group."

Roach blinked at him, "That's...does the park even have the money for that?" He looked between the group.

Jackson shrugged, "I guess so. I mean it would make sense, most of the funds were going into building the swimming areas at Picket Lake. Now that that's finished...I guess some funds have opened up."

"So," Roach crossed his arms, "That means I'm gonna be stuck seeing more than just Jackson daily."

Logan snorted, "You know we brighten your day."

"My night more like." Roach received a quick flip of the middle finger from Logan at the words and some snickers from Jackson and Ramirez. He turned and closed his cooler fully. It was lifted into his arms and, as a group, they all moved out of the kitchen and toward the front of the building. "I can't believe a single murder is finally getting more Rangers hired," Roach shook his head, "Guess all the other people who have died weren't good enough."

Ramirez gave a snort, "More like not high profile enough. You know I've already seen like three people on TikTok make true crime videos about this?" Roach shot his friend an incredulous look, "Seriously! Roach you're TikTok famous as "the park ranger" who found the guy."

"Better "the park ranger" than my actual name. I'm already fighting off local news," he pushed open the front door to the office, pausing for a brief moment to let Logan catch up with him. "Jackson, any places to check out?"

"Not that I can see," Roach watched his friend plop into his seat in front of the cameras, "All cameras are up, no sign of anything out of place on the footage."

"Good," Roach gave him and Ramirez a wave as he held the door open for Logan, allowing his friend to step outside before him. He gave a quick call of, "Let's hope for a quiet night," before stepping outside fully and letting the door swing shut behind him.

As usual, he and Logan gave a quick talk checking who would take which side of the park before saying their goodbyes and climbing into their respective trucks to set off for their drive-throughs.

Roach couldn't help but give a deep sigh of relief when he finally set off down the winding roads of the park. He loved his friends, but after the bomb they'd just dropped about the likelihood of the shift doubling? Roach needed some time to himself to think.

He knew it was a logical choice. A natural progression for their park. The four staffed full-time Rangers plus the two part-time Rangers they had just weren't going to cut it eventually. It likely never should have been just them in the first place.

Still, something about knowing that his duties would be cut in half, knowing that his nighttime solace was being somewhat invaded? It made it much harder for him to be happy with the change.

He wondered, briefly, if Logan in his nightly drives had also been witness to the creature. He wondered if the amethyst he'd been given wasn't as special as he'd believed, but rather a gift of a creature trying to create a good relationship with the park's caretakers. Something about the idea made his lips tug down into a harsh frown.

It really was odd, he couldn't understand why he would feel so protective over something as simple as a creature in the woods. For all he knew, it was something completely normal like a wolf or a bear. For all he knew, the creature was simply a figment of his imagination, something his mind had created to make the dark of the night less frightening after the murder.

He gave a deep sigh at the thought and focused his attention back on the road. He could consider whether he was crazy or not later, for now, he needed to focus on work.

The night had been fairly quiet, just the usual monotonous drive and occasional checks at different frequent stopping points. He'd only been forced to actually talk to people once so far, pulling over next to a couple who'd set up a blanket in one of the rest areas. They weren't too happy about being forced back into their car, but after the guy threatened Roach, he felt much less bad about threatening to arrest and fine them if they didn't comply. Things had gone rather smoothly after that.

He'd noticed, to a bit of his disappointment, that he hadn't seen the creature yet. Usually, the creature would be at nearly every stop that he made, watching him as he shined a flashlight around the usual stops to make sure no one had gotten out of their vehicle. Today there was nothing.

He tried not to be too disappointed by it. It was difficult, though. Especially as his mind tried to tell him that this was proof his brain had been playing tricks on him. He was doing his best to fight the thought off, he knew he hadn't been imagining things, but if there was anything that his mind was good at, it was trying to convince him that he'd lost it.

He couldn't focus on that, though, not when he noticed the fresh tire marks pulling into Mammoth pull-off once again. A harsh sense of deja vu hit him as he pulled off onto the road and brought his radio up to his mouth, "Jackson, I'm on Mammoth pull-off. I think I may have someone down here, anything on the cameras?"

There was a long pause before the radio crackled again, "It's not good, we can see the guy on his camera. Roach proceed with caution, he does have a gun. I'll send Logan toward your location for backup."

Roach gave a low curse to himself, "Right, keep an eye on the camera yeah?"

If the man had a gun and was out of his vehicle, Roach knew for certain that he was dealing with a poacher. That's just the way that it was. It meant that he was going to have to arrest the man which hardly ever went smoothly.

He turned the sharp corner of the Road, finding himself in the same place where he'd found the body only a little over a week ago. This time, though, he could clearly see the man that Jackson had mentioned on the cameras. He rolled his truck to a stop, making sure to grab his radio and gun before popping out of the vehicle.

He'd watched the man hurriedly climb back into his own, but he wasn't quick enough and, before he could drive away as he'd so clearly been trying to do, Roach was knocking at his car window.

As soon as the man rolled down the window, Roach recognized him. He was a repeat offender, an older man who'd already done jail time twice for trying to hunt the bears and wolves in the park. This was his third offense which meant that he wouldn't be getting released so easily.

"Mr. Shepherd," Roach greeted the man, leaning against his car door to peer inside of the window, "What brings you out to the park tonight?"

"Just taking a nice drive. Thought it would be good to get away from the wife for a bit." Roach tilted his head at the man and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They both knew what this was, this was all just play in hopes that the other would make things easy for them.

"Right," Roach tapped his hand on the car door, "Any particular reason you got out of your vehicle?"

"Car troubles," Shepherd gave a weak chuckle, "Damn thing stalled out on me."

Roach watched him for a long moment before taking a step back from the door, "Mr. Shepherd, would you mind stepping out of the vehicle for me?"

"Oh uh," Shepherd tightened his grip on the steering wheel, "What for?"

"We saw the gun on the cameras," Roach shook his head at Shepherd, "We both know why you were out here. We both know what has to happen now. I'm asking that you make it easy for me."

There was a long pause as the two men stared at one another before, finally, Shepherd started to carefully open his door. Roach stepped back, allowing the man room to fully step out of his vehicle. Roach waited for him to shut the door before motioning to the truck, "Turn around for me, please."

Shepherd complied with his order, turning away from him slowly. Roach stepped forward, pulling the pair of cuffs from his belt. He rarely had to use them, but all of the rangers had been equipped with them for things like this.

He undid the cuffs, but the second that his hand touched Shepherd's skin and the man whipped around, slamming his fist into Roach's face and sending him sprawling to the ground.

Roach's jaw ached, but he was quick to try and respond, beginning to push himself from the ground. That was stopped with a swift kick to his back, knocking the breath from his lungs and forcing him back to the ground again.

He was roughly turned over then, Shepherd straddling his waist before slamming his fist into Roach's face once then twice. On the third hit, there was a sickening crack that rang through Roach's sinuses and rattled his mind. Blood seeped down his chin and, despite his best efforts, he could do nothing to stop Shepherd from grabbing the gun at his belt and pushing off of him.

"I'm not going to prison." Roach could see through the haze of his confused mind as Shepherd flipped the safety on his gun off. "No one else knows it was me who did this. They'll just think it's the guy who killed someone up here last week."

The man sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Roach and his hands shook a bit as he aimed the weapon. There was a quiet moment where Roach just stared blankly at the gun, his mind trying to wrap around the idea that he was going to die there with his own weapon pointed at him.

It was as Roach was thinking this and as Shepherd kept repeating that no one would know that Roach noticed it. The silence.

It came on quickly, the entire forest seemed to quiet at once. There was something else with it now, a tension, a terrible tension that seemed to lurk dangerously. It began to wrap around Roach, and, despite the fear that seemed to be creeping up his bones from the sudden presence, he had a feeling that the tension and the anger weren't aimed at him.

"I can't go to prison," Shepherd's words sounded final and Roach could see as his resolve tightened and his hand stopped shaking as much. He stepped forward and Roach could see his finger inching toward the trigger. He squeezed his eyes shut.

There was an almost deafening screech that broke through the air, forcing Roach to crumble inward on himself and slap his hands over his ears, desperate for some sort of block from the disorienting noise. The noise stopped and there was the sound of running feet before Roach could hear Shepherd scream.

His eyes flew open then and he watched with wide nervous eyes as a creature covered with dark fur all over dragged the screaming man away from Roach. The only light-colored hair on the creature was dotted around its face, white fur that resembled a skull and was soon stained red as it stopped dragging Shepherd and darted down to dig its teeth into the man's chest.

Roach didn't know what he was looking at. It was something similar to a wolf, but much much larger. Much larger and much more threatening. There was something else, it looked wrong. It was a wolf, right? It had to be. And yet, something deep in Roach's bones screamed at him that something was wrong. That the creature he looked at was nothing that he'd ever seen before and that he needed to fear it. Roach didn't fear it. He just watched.

He just watched as the creature, after turning Shepherd into nothing more than a gurgling puddle of blood, leaned down and sank its teeth into his throat before ripping backward, sending blood spraying across the ground and fully ending the life of the man beneath its grasp.

There was a long moment of silence before the creature's gaze slowly turned to Roach. They locked eyes for a moment. Roach's heart picked up speed, though he wasn't sure if it was from fear or something else. The creature took a slow measured step toward him, its head lowered toward the ground. The way it walked was almost predatory, as though it was trying to keep slow to prevent him from bolting. Roach stayed still, he had no plans to run.

Suddenly another pair of headlights pulled up, tires screeching as the brakes were hit. The creature took off into the woods and it was gone as quickly as it appeared. The sounds of the forest returned. Roach collapsed back against the gravel of the road, his body feeling just as heavy as his mind.

He could hear Logan calling out his name and he distantly registered his friend sliding to a stop next to him and dropping to his knees to feel along his face frantically. Roach barely registered the feeling, his mind only focused on the memory of glowing eyes piercing into him with a feeling he couldn't quite place.

The memory refused to leave his mind.

"No fucking way, no fucking way!" Jackson crossed his arms and gave Roach a harsh glare, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Roach rolled his eyes and tossed his jacket onto a nearby chair, "I'm here to do my job. You know, like I do every day."

"Don't you have a fucking concussion?" Ramirez was the one to ask, raising a careful eyebrow at Roach, "Should you even be driving right now? Dude, how did you get here?"

"I'm fine," Roach insisted, shoving his hands into his pocket. "It barely even hurts."

"Barely even hurts," Jackson snorted, "Roach, you got the snot beat out of you by some dipshit poacher, were almost killed, then watched that guy get fucking mauled by a giant wolf. You shouldn't be here!"

Roach shuffled on his feet for a moment. He knew the men were right, of course, he did. He'd been put on a two weeks rest after the incident, but after three days he'd found himself bored out of his mind and way too antsy. He didn't like not coming to work. He didn't like not having things to do.

"I just," he shrugged lamely, "I don't want to go back home. Okay?"

He could see as Jackson and Ramirez seemed to soften at his words. Logan didn't let as much on as them, but Roach knew him well enough to pick up his all too similar reaction. There was a brief pause between the group before Jackson gave a sigh, "Listen, if you're going to be here, you're at least not going on the drives."

"But-"

"No buts," Jackson gave him a brief glare, "You're still hurt, you still have a concussion. You can sit here with me and watch the cameras and, in the morning, I'll drive you home. I'll pick you up again tomorrow night."

Roach didn't exactly like the setup, but he also didn't have much choice but to agree with his friend's conditions. It was either that or go back home and spend another boring week or so by himself with nothing to do. After a long moment, he gave a deep sigh, "Fine."

"Hey uh," Ramirez turned to Jackson, "I rode out yesterday, isn't it my turn to sit and watch the cameras?"

"It would be," Jackson clicked his tongue, "But I'm Roach's best friend so I have to stay here with him. It's a whole thing." He gave a quick and patronizing pat to Ramirez's shoulder, "Maybe next time champ."

"Pussy."

"And what of it?"

"And you guys are sure I have to stay here," Roach plopped down into one of the seats at the camera desk and shot his friends a playful grin, "I mean if something happens Jackson won't do shit. One weird noise and there'll be a Jackson-shaped hole in the wall."

"Just for that," Jackson plopped into the seat next to him, "I'm definitely leaving you behind when Bigfoot tries to break in here."

"You two try not to get too sick of each other," Logan called out to them playfully as he pushed his body against the front door, opening it wide enough that Ramirez could step past him and out into the nighttime air, "I'd hate to come back to Jackson murdered."

"Hey! You don't think I'd be able to stop him?"

"Nope!"

The words sent Roach into a fit of laughter.

"This is so fucking boring," Roach leaned back in his seat and groaned, "How the fuck do you do this all night?"

Jackson snorted and flipped through the cameras again, "You keep yourself entertained. I have some word searches and crossword puzzles if you want something like that." Roach glared at him lightly, he only received a laugh from Jackson in return. "Oh come on," his friend shot him a glance, "this is the good part of the job. I have no idea how you do the nighttime drives. Shit is creepy as fuck."

"It's not that bad," Roach span himself in his chair for a moment, "it's kinda calming, to be honest." He thought for a moment, wishing that he was in his truck now, driving through the part like he normally would. "Just you and the forest."

"And whatever creepy stuff is lurking in the forest," Jackson pointed out quickly, "like that giant ass wolf that saved you."

Roach tensed for a moment. He wasn't sure quite how to respond. He'd hoped to keep the existence of the creature to himself, but both Jackson and Ramirez had seen it on the footage and saved it to show to both Logan and the police when they arrived.

He knew it was for the best, after all, no police were likely to believe him if he just told them a giant wolf came out of nowhere and mauled the man before leaving. Still, something about knowing that his friends were aware of the creature's existence...it made him feel oddly protective.

He supposed that there was something oddly nice about having something like that for himself. Something that only he knew about, something almost like a guardian angel watching over his shoulder, protecting him during his time in the parks.

Roach opened his mouth to respond to his friend, prepared to try and change the subject when, suddenly, the entire building around them went dark. The two were plunged suddenly into a blinding pitch black.

Roach could hear his friend curse for a few moments before a flashlight was flicked on, lighting up the room well enough that they could see. Roach was able to dig for his own flashlight then, twirling it in his hands calmly as Jackson picked up his radio.

"Ramirez, Logan, this is Jackson. Roach and I have lost power at the main station, so no camera access for right now. We'll see what we can do and I'll let you guys know if we manage to get it back on." He clicked off of the radio and a few moments later there was a crackling noise followed by sounds of confirmation from both Ramirez and Logan.

"Right," Jackson gave a groan, "One of us is going to have to go outside and check the breaker."

"I can do it," Roach was quick to volunteer. He was desperate to do something other than sit in the seat watching cameras all day. If it meant going outside for a few minutes to see if he could reset the breaker? Well, he would take anything.

"You sure?" Jackson raised an eyebrow at him as he stood from his seat, "Swear you won't get confused and shock the shit out of yourself?"

Roach snorted, "I'll take the choice to save you from having to go out into the creepy darkness. Wouldn't want you pissing yourself." He snickered a bit as Jackson shot him the middle finger.

It was as he was making his way through one of the hallways toward the back door that he heard Jackson call out to him, "I hope you do get electrocuted out there asshole!"

Roach flicked on his flashlight as he stepped outside and made the quick trek around the back of the building. He wasn't frightened by the dark of the nighttime, instead just shivering at the cool breeze that hit his skin and enjoying the sounds of crickets buzzing around him.

He was quick to locate the breaker and pull it open, shining his flashlight around the little box until he found the problem. "That's weird," he muttered the words to himself before pulling his radio up, "Jackson it looks like the fixture for the lights was pulled out. Should only take me a second to get them back up, but I'm gonna stay out for a bit longer and see if I can secure them."

He received a quick word of acknowledgment from Jackson before his radio was discarded to the ground. He stuck the end of his flashlight in his mouth, freeing up both of his hands so that he could start fiddling with the wires.

He was careful as he worked, trying hard not to shock himself as he pushed the fixtures back into place, reattaching each of them slowly. He could see as some of the lights in the building began to come back on and he was feeling quite satisfied with himself.

It was as he was working on the last fixture that he noticed the silence around him. He knew immediately that he wasn't alone.

Slowly, he stepped away from the breaker box. He didn't go far, instead, he just stepped close enough that he could remove the flashlight from his mouth and shine it carefully toward the edge of the woods.

He moved it in long slow sweeps, trying to find the glow of eyes that would normally greet him. He was met with nothing and, for a long moment, he wondered if perhaps he was imagining things. If perhaps his hearing was just failing him.

It ended when Roach found hands wrapped around his waist.

He yelped, his flashlight falling from his hands as he was turned and shoved harshly until he was pressed tight with his front against the building and his back against a very large very warm body.

His breathing grew heavy for several moments, panic taking over him. It stopped when a low rumble of a voice met his ears. "Calm. Calm." The voice sounded gravely and harsh, as though it wasn't used often. It sent a shiver down Roach's spine and, in combination with the soft hands tracing over his waist it managed to calm him down.

He tried to turn his head, wanting to get a sight of whoever or, as his mind provided keenly, whatever was pressed up behind him. He was stopped by the man burying his face into his neck and taking several excited deep breaths. Roach could feel himself going hot, embarrassment and a sweet buzz pulling under his skin. He stuttered over himself, trying to figure out what to say.

"I, um, I don't-" he gasped as he felt a tongue swipe across his skin. It didn't feel like a human tongue. It was rougher, a bit longer than it should be. His mind seemed to snap something into place and he found himself asking in a breathy voice, "Who are you?"

A pair of teeth scraped against his neck. They were sharp and Roach had to resist the urge to press back against him. He knew they would bite through his skin so easily, drawing blood and sending it spilling over his tongue. The thought had him feeling light-headed.

"Yours," the man answered with the simple word, pressing closer and closer to him, "Yours."

Roach felt weak at the words. His head was fuzzy. He didn't understand what was happening. "Mine?"

"Mine," the man responded slowly, "Mine." Something about the words seemed to ring to him as meaning different from the way he'd said them. It was like the man was claiming him as his own.

"I don't," Roach leaned further back into the man's arms, enjoying the feel of hands running across the skin of his stomach, "but who are you?"

There was a quiet moment as one of the hands on his stomach trailed down to slip into his pocket. A moment later and the piece of amethyst from his pocket was being held up for his eyes to see. "Me.

"Ours." The man nuzzled close to Roach again, before reaching down to pass the stone to Roach and wrap their hands together. There was a moment of soft silence as Roach registered what the man was trying to tell him.

"You-"

Just as soon as the man had appeared and he was gone. The sudden disappearance of his presence left a chill laying over his skin. He felt too cold and too alone.

"Roach?" He turned to meet Jackson's gaze with wide eyes, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah," he cleared his throat, trying to get rid of any of the remaining heat from his system, "I was just about to come back in."

"Well," Jackson gave him a small smile, "come on it's too cold out here."

"Right behind you."

Roach looked down at the amethyst in his hands as his friend started back inside. He knew what the man was trying to tell him, but he just didn't know if he could believe it.

He gave another last glance into the woods, feeling a warm gaze on him. There was still no noise.

He slipped the amethyst back into his pocket and ducked down to grab his flashlight before starting back toward the back door of the building. He stopped in the doorway and glanced back into the woods. When he did, he spotted them, the glowing eyes watching him.

He knew there was no question when he saw them. He gave one last look before disappearing into the building, an odd sense of warmth passing over him.

The man was the creature. The creature was the man.

Roach wasn't sure how it was possible, but there was no part of him that doubted it was the truth.

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