Signs of a Disturbance

Chapter 2: Found Footage

Monday Morning / Breakfast Hours

McCorkle Residence

Sheriff Don Harrell pulls his cruiser onto the McCorkle driveway; the horses on the range flock to the gate in curiosity. Phil McCorkle, the property owner, emerges from the barn and approaches the deputy with a smile and a handshake. The two have a conversation about the unexplained event that occurred a month prior; this leads to Phil acknowledging the existence of a DVD with security footage of the incident. He explains that there is a temporary issue with producing it; "a group of people claiming to be police officers broke in, tied us up, raided the house and confiscated the disc;" fortunately Phil's security footage is stored offsite which makes obtaining another copy possible, it just takes some time to be received. Don inquires about the possibility of there being a recording of the evening the residence was robbed and is met with good news. Phil disappears into his house for a moment, returns with a DVD and hands it to Don. In return Don hands Phil his card and tells him to inform no one else about the incoming security footage under no circumstances; Phil agrees. They shake hands again and part ways.

Back in the cruiser Don calls dispatch to check for any previously dispatched calls to the McCorkle resident. Dispatch confirms that there was a silent alarm reported a few weeks prior; "when the police arrived they found the McCorkle's tied up, and upon their release they informed the deputies that the suspects impersonated the police. No arrests have been made yet." Satisfied with the confirmation Don checks the time and then heads to the station to view the footage of the McCorkle invasion. As he drives in silence, the memories of the event with Brenda Ignacio replay in his head. As he drives through the forest he becomes lost in a trance and sees Brenda walking through the forest next to the road. He immediately pulls the vehicle to the side of the road and sprints after her.

The woods are quiet and empty as Don wanders about in a confused state; he realizes that Brenda is nowhere to be found, and that it was next to impossible for him to have seen her where he did. Don comes to the realization that she would of have to been floating over a cliff! Dissuaded from the search because of a feeling fatigued, the deputy returns to his cruiser to continue on his way to the station. When he turns the car on he's shocked at seeing the time. It was mid-afternoon; he'd somehow lost four hours in the forest. When he finally reaches the station he's joking questioned by a colleague about his whereabouts: "What happened? Did you get abducted?" Frustrated, but managing to maintain his cool, Don retreats to the media room closing the door behind him.

His mind races as he struggles to recall anything from the past few hours. The only memory that he could retrieve was of him walking through the empty forest regardless of how hard he tried; he could recall everything before seeing Brenda and everything after returning to the vehicle. Frustrated and losing his composure Don inserts the DVD into the VCR and watches the footage in the attempt to force his thoughts elsewhere.

The video was shot from an elevated vantage point that provided a partial view of the Ignacio residence. Two vehicles can be seen coming into view; they approach slowly with their headlights off and creep to a stop directly in front of the barn. Five darkly clothed men with mask reveal themselves from the vehicle; four quickly rush the door and bash it open with a sledgehammer. They enter the house while the fifth stays outside. The straggler can be seen pacing back and forth with a noticeable gait as he lulls in wait for the others to return. Exactly four minutes and twenty-six seconds pass before the others exit the home. They then all rush back to the vehicles, but instead of there being five masked suspects as it was when they arrived, there are now six! He studies the footage for hours and is able to identify a few other clues; when he finishes he retrieves the disc, tucks it away in his locker, and heads home to catch some rest before the night shift. His drive is short and uneventful. When he gets to the house he swan dives onto his bed and buries his face in a pillow. He's asleep in no time flat.

Monday Evening / Late Night

Wilson Residence

The horses in the small stable are going frenetic; they are bucking, kicking and neighing loudly in desperation. Carlton Wilson, the property-owner, and his son, Newton, rush outside to check the situation. When they enter the stable both of them are assaulted by the vilest smell imaginable. After turning on the lights they find the dogs defiantly cowering in the corner; they are terrified and adamant against following and order given. Knowing that these are some boisterous and fearless dogs, Newton escapes to the house retrieving his shotgun and his father's pistol. He races back to the stable in time to see a figure advancing from the dark shadows of the pine trees; he tosses his father the pistol and aims his rifle into the darkness.

As the horrible smell grows stronger, the animals grow even more terrified; the dogs piss in the spots they lay, and the horses shudder while violently kicking behind them in an attempt to flee. The two hide behind cover not knowing what to expect; they occasionally peek from behind cover to see if they can spot anything. Suddenly the lights go out and the smell hits them fair and square. Whatever it is, it's in here with them; and something heavy can be heard stalking through the structure. One of the horses lets out a horrifying bellow; it is the sound of death. The two men rush to the end of the stable and find a hideous creature mutilating the murdered equine. Scared beyond belief they open fire on the alien wounding it, causing it to climb the railing and bound into the darkness. The two continue firing into the darkness until they exhaust their loaded ammunition. The lights flicker back on and they are able to clearly see the injuries of the horse. Highly disturbed by the encounter, Carlton hurries to the house to reload his pistol and call the Sheriff. His son and the dogs follow closely behind. They lock and barricade themselves in the house, then wait for the authorities to arrive.

Meanwhile / Same Time

Don Harrell's House

Don is startled awake by the disturbance call broadcast over his radio; the location is the Wilson residence on Woodlane Drive. He checks his watch; it's 11:25pm. He is sluggish, and ignores the call until the next wave of information was pushed: "Caller reports that a large and smelly creature attacked and killed one of his livestock. They shot and wounded the creature causing it to run away..." With that information he hops up, grabs his gear, and rushes to respond to the call. Memories of his encounter and the smell of the creatures resonate strongly in his thoughts. Overwhelmed with fear he pushes forward and races to the scene.