Chapter 80

Craig arrived at work just past ten. He parked his kombi in a shaded parking and sat back in his seat. Ferris was gone, and he was next. At least he knew the faces responsible for Ferris's death. He had to get them to remove the curse, but he did not have the same amount of time as Ferris, because his case was far more severe. The curse that they have put on him was spreading quicker and more violently. Craig tried to figure out how to approach the situation without going to jail for murder. He had to find out where they lived, but what then, would he knock on the door and simply tell their parents that he was there to kill their children or would he try to lead them away before taking his chances? He was dealing with a delicate matter, but he had to do something. Craig did not want to do things the violent way, but he doubted this crowd had the ability to reason. He wondered if Pamela was in the office. If she was, then who would she be this time? Would she be the sweet old Pamela he knew or would she be the demon he had seen in the pub before he got beaten up?

Craig locked the kombi and headed for the building entrance. He knew he could not say anything about Ferris to his work colleagues because they would ask him how he knew Ferris was dead and why he did not report it to the police. It would be best to leave it to the police to inform the company of their deceased colleague, which would not be too long from now. They probably already discovered his body of flies and maggots.

Craig got out of the lift and headed for Rodger's office. He had to inform him that he was back and pretend that nothing happened. If Rodger would ask about his late arrival, he would just have to say that there was a geyser leak in his house, an old excuse that worked every time. He also needed to see if Pamela was in the office. If she was, he feared that he would not know how to deal with the situation.

Craig entered the room where Pamela usually sat. Her desk was neat and clean. Craig was relieved to find her chair pushed underneath the desk. She was not joking about not coming back to work after all.

'Morning Rodger,' Craig said when he walked into Rodger's office.

'Morning Craig', Rodger said looking up from his laptop, 'what happened to your face?' He frowned.

Craig sighed, 'Got mugged last night.' He lied.

'What happened...where?'

Craig had to think on his feet. He was more concerned about the curse on his body that he almost forgot about his face. 'Ah, my fault, stupid mistake though. Last night after work I decided to chill next to the beach, you know, clean my head a little.'

Rodger nodded, although not really convinced, 'yeah.'

'The biggest mistake I made was to sit in the kombi playing with my phone, totally absorbed by it for a moment. I did not realise I was being approached. A young fellow snatched it out of my hand and ran off. I quickly set after him. Eventually, the little bastard disappeared behind a small brick building near the beach. When I came around the corner, I was in for a huge surprise. I was outnumbered by quite a few young fellows. Anyway, they kicked the shit out of me.' He felt guilty for lying to Rodger, but at least his story was not a complete fabrication of the truth. He had been outnumbered after all.

'Oh my God, that's terrible,' Rodger said shaking his head. 'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Craig said. 'Won't make that stupid mistake again. It could have been far worse you know.'

'I doubt it though,' Rodger said. 'This is unheard off in the West Coast. We don't get cases like that around here. Now and then we would get petty crime, but never would they mug people. Strange though. Something wrong with the kids today.' He shook his head. There was a deep furrow between his eyes.

'I know, times have changed. Where's Pam?' Craig asked although he knew exactly.

'Your guess is as good as mine. She didn't come in this morning. No phone call, nothing.'

'That's strange,' Craig said. 'Did you try her cell?'

'Jip, straight to voicemail.'

'Well, I hope she's alright,' Craig said. He knew she was not Pamela anymore, but he could not say anything about that to Rodger.

'I'm sure, she's fine. Probably had too much to drink last night, and she's still sleeping it off. Maybe she lost her phone. You know the youngsters of today. We were young too Once Upon a Time.' Rodger smiled.

'Yeah,' Craig chuckled. 'Never stole from people when I was young though. Anyway, Rodger, I've got enough work to keep me busy for the next five years. If I don't get started now, it will be six.'

Rodger laughed, 'Yes. Shout if you need any help. By the way, what's happening with Ferris? He's still not back?'

'Nope, I've spoken to him last week. He didn't sound too good. The doctors still don't know what's going on with him, but I hope they find a solution soon,' Craig said feeling a stab of guilt for leaving Ferris like that this morning.

'That's terrible. Well, keep me in the loop,' Rodger said.

'Will do,' Craig said and walked out of Rodger's office.

Craig looked at his Inbox and noticed the e-mails flying in, one after the other. Fortunately, there were junk e-mails in between, but most were work-related. It did not really matter anymore. He had a feeling he would not have his office for much longer. He would either lose his job or die from the same curse that killed Ferris.