Wicked Deceptions - Amy Cecil Page 0,51
a highly distressed woman. He had difficulty making sense of her hysterical rambling but was able to manage to understand the following: murder, hatchet, and Bunny Man Bridge. Assuming it was probably another Bunny Man hoax, he didn’t take too much stock into the report, but protocol was to check out all incoming calls to the station that reported a crime. Something gnawed at him. He was told the prank calls about the Bunny Man Bridge came in on Halloween. This obviously was another prank. It had to be. But his gut told him to take it more seriously and check it out.
He gathered his things and called to Officer Shark to go with him, and they left the building. The storm had already started, and there was already about six inches of snow on the ground. It was a good thing the precinct had vehicles equipped for inclement weather. In the SUV on the way to the scene, Lt. Daniels told the officer about the call he had received.
“Do you think it is the Bunny Man?” Officer Shark asked.
“You know I don’t believe in all those Bunny Man stories. Those stories are just not true.” He scoffed. “I’m sure it’s either a prank or a random murder.”
“I don’t know, Lieutenant. Strange things happen around that bridge.”
Daniels gave him a sideways glance and then returned his eyes back to the road. He was not going to grace Shark’s comment with a response. He knew there were various stories about the legend and none of them had ever been proven. He replayed a couple of those stories in his head.
One story tells of the closure of a nearby insane asylum. The story says that a busload of inmates was being transferred to another institution when two escaped. A countywide manhunt ensued for weeks, but they were never found. They only found half-eaten carcasses of rabbits in the nearby woods. Weeks later, one of the escapees was found dead, hanging from the overpass. The other, who is now known as the Bunny Man, was never found. It is believed a passing train killed him and that his ghost haunts the bridge, killing random people who pass through the tunnel.
He quickly reminded himself there was one flaw in that story. There was no record of an insane asylum in or near Clifton, Virginia.
The other story, even more far-fetched than the first, tells of a deranged teenager who dressed himself in a white bunny costume, murdered his entire family, and hanged himself from the overpass. They say it’s his spirit that haunts the bridge, chasing down visitors with his ax and disemboweling them. When not committing outright murder, it is believed he uses his ax to chase off children, attack adults in their cars, and vandalize random property.
There were many versions of these two stories. Many even said the Bunny Man had committed murders not only in Fairfax County but also in rural Maryland and the District of Columbia. It is rumored that some thirty-two people have died at the hands of the alleged Bunny Man. Bullshit!
Lt. Daniels knew these tales have been around for over forty years, and people would believe just about anything, especially if there was some form of mystery to it. But Daniels was a level-headed sort of guy, and six months on the job in Clifton had taught him not to believe everything he heard.
Lt. Daniels quickly shook away his thoughts about the legends and continued to drive toward the overpass. When he approached the tunnel, he noticed there was indeed a body lying in the road, right in the middle. When he got closer, he noticed a large, wooden-handled ax leaning against the tunnel wall. When his headlights hit the ax, he could see dried blood on the handle and a pool on the ground.
“Happy Halloween,” Lt. Daniels said as he pulled the car up on the side of the road and cut off the engine. He glanced at Officer Shark and asked, “You ready for this?”
Officer Shark nodded, and they both proceeded to get out of the car.
Officer Shark looked around curiously. “Didn’t you say you told the woman who called to remain at the scene?”
Lt. Daniels looked around and soon realized he and his officer were the only two people around—not counting the dead body, of course. “I did tell her that.” Daniels pulled out his phone and called the station. He told his office assistant, Susie, to trace the last call he received at the