 My parents and I moved to Delaware when I was 12 years old. Anyone from Delaware should know exactly where this happened. Killen's Pond. For those of you not familiar with a pond, it's in one of the many state parks here in Delaware, with the normal things you'd find in any state park located beside a pond. Nature trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, paddle boats, etc. Killen's Pond is located about a mile and a half down the same road as the trailer park that my parents and I lived in, just past the high school. Now, what I'm about to tell you happened about 38 years ago when I was 15, and yes, I'm really that old. It was a hot summer's day in 1984, July 14th, to be exact. A Saturday. The morning started off pretty normal. I got up at 9, got dressed, had breakfast, said hi to my mom, then went outside to play. Back then, kids actually went outside to play with their friends, not glued to a TV screen or a phone like nowadays. I hopped on my bike and began riding through the park looking for my friends. I rode by Tommy's house and saw him and his brother Matt, the doula brothers, playing with their matchbox cars on the concrete patio outside their parents' trailer. I stopped by, played cars for a while, then we all decided to ride our bikes. Matt then ran into the house to ask their mom, came running back out seconds later and said she said it was okay. Let's get Heidi, I exclaimed. Now, across the street from Tommy's parents' place lived Heidi Cox, the most beautiful girl in the world. At least I thought so. Tommy walked up to the trailer and knocked on the door. I was too nervous. Heidi answered. After a few seconds, she turned her head and yelled inside, saying she's riding her bike with the boys. All right, be safe, her dad said. Then she grabbed her bike and joined the pack. That's what we used to call ourselves, the pack. We made a few laps around the trailer park and on our last lap around, Heidi slowed down just in front of Mitchell's parents' house and said, let's see if Mitchell wants to ride too. The three of us hit the brakes at the same time, turned towards Heidi and said in unison, not Mitchell, he's nice. She said, if he can't ride, then I'm not riding either. She stomped her foot, crossed her arms and pouted. Now, I believe this was the first time I let my hormones outweigh my rational thinking, a trait that I continued throughout my adult life. I'm okay with it. I said, trying to look good to Heidi. Of course you are. Tommy replied, knowing how I felt about her. All right, the Dula brothers said in unison, they were always doing that. Well, before Heidi could even get off her bike, Mitchell came running out of the house wearing a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads and gloves. He had those kinds of parents. He then hopped on his bike and joined us. Now, let me give you a rundown of each member of the pack and Mitchell. Tommy, who was 16 at the time, was a big kid, not fat, not muscular. He worked out constantly. He was the adventurous outdoorsy type into guns, knives, archery, martial arts, things like that. His younger brother Matt, who was 14 at the time, was the total opposite. He was slightly shorter than Tommy, very timid. Although he liked to hang out with Tommy when he did those things, he was too afraid to try himself. He liked gardening with his mom and writing poetry. Heidi, who was 15 at the time, just like me, was what most people would call a tomboy. I just called her beautiful. She was short, a little chubby, but the good kind of chubby. No disrespect to any of you ladies out there. Although she wasn't into guns and knives like Tommy was, she did climb trees, helped her dad work on their car and built stuff using power tools. And she drove me absolutely crazy. Mitchell, who was also 14 at the time, was really short and for lack of a better term, simply annoying and completely high strung. It's not that any of us didn't like him. It's just that he never knew when to stop talking. And he was incredibly smart. He would babble on and on about the statistics on this. The percentages of that. It was like a younger version of a reed from criminal minds. He was into bug collecting and astronomy. And then there was me. I was tall, skinny, with hair that looked like a cross between Don King, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Ross. I was and for the most part, still am a nerd. You know, thick black glasses, awkward, unattractive and clumsy, totally obsessed with Heidi writing song lyrics and listening to heavy metal music. Hey, guys, let's ride down to Killen's pond and ride the paddle boats. My mom said it was OK as long as I went with someone and you're all someone. Right. I can look for bugs and you guys can do what you guys do. What do you say? Want to go? Do you do you? Huh? Mitchell said really fast in a high pitched nasal tone. My God, Mitchell, please stop talking. Tommy said aggressively. OK, I'm sorry. What do you say? He said anxiously. We all just nodded our heads. We got to ask first, Heidi said. All right. Everyone go ask your parents and we'll meet up at the bus stop. Tommy said he was kind of the leader. We all did and met back at the designated area. Everyone was allowed to go. Now that the instructions and the setups are done, let me tell you what you all want to know. Now, in order to get to Killen's pond, we had to ride on the road. This was long before they put the bicycle path in. Tommy was first, then Mitchell, then Matt, then Heidi and then me. We got to the high school, which was about halfway between the trailer park and Killen's pond. When Mitchell yelled out, come on, guys, I know a shortcut and made a right turn into the high school entrance. We followed as Tommy turned around and did the same. We passed the swimming pool, rode through the student parking lot and onto the football field, passed the furthest goalpost to the woods behind the school. Mitchell then stopped, got off his bike and laid it down. As each one of us arrived, we did the same. Come on, Mitchell said and went to walk into the trees. Wait a minute, Tommy said, where are we going? Mitchell then stopped, we go through these trees and come to a fence, go over the fence, walk about 50 yards and we're at the campgrounds, then the picnic area, then the paddle boats. Mitchell stated, how do you know? Matt asked, yeah, we all said in unison. Oh, I got lost about six months ago. My parents rented a cabin for the weekend. I wandered off behind the cabin, found the fence, climbed over, walked a little further and ended up here. My dad whipped my butt when I showed back an hour later and told my folks what happened. I couldn't sit down all day. Mitchell said, let's go. I'm game, Heidi said. Me too, I stated, I really didn't want to go. But I didn't want to look like a wuss to Heidi. All right, the doula brothers said again. Mitchell went first, then Heidi. I pushed Matt playfully assigned to get behind Heidi. Matt followed me and last was Tommy. We walked a little ways and came to a chain linked fence about six feet high, climbed over it and began walking through the woods. Mitchell, the high strung kid that he was, then started running fast, leaving us behind. Come on, he yelled as he disappeared in the trees. Suddenly we heard what sounded like twigs and branches breaking. And Mitchell screaming for help. We all took off running in that direction. We came upon a small clearing to see Mitchell half submerged in the ground, only his torso sticking out. What the hell? Heidi said, stopping in her tracks. Tommy, Matt and I ran over to him. Wait, wait, everybody stop. It's a trap. Somebody put branches over a hole. They're trying to catch wild animals. I just read an article on this. Tommy said, we all stopped. Tommy was standing about three feet from Mitchell, who was crying at this point. It's OK, Mitchell, Heidi said. You're going to be all right. She then covered her mouth and started crying as well. Tommy then took off his shirt and turned to us and said, give me your shirts. I got a plan. We took them off, all except Heidi, obviously, and threw them to Tommy, who tied them together, making sort of a rope and said to Mitchell, I'm going to throw this to you. Catch it and hold on tight. We'll pull you out. Guys, he said to us, get behind me. Matt, you hold on to me. Mike, you hold on to Matt and pull. Hopefully the branches hold Tommy them through the rope. Mitchell caught it on the first try. Ready? Pull. Tommy said, we did. And Mitchell came out, sliding across the branches that were covering the hole. He stood up and we all hugged him. Glad he was all right. Where did that come from? It wasn't there before. Mitchell said, turning to look at the hole. I want to go home. Mitchell said, completely overwhelmed. I mean, who could really blame him? We all turned to walk back to the fence when we heard a small voice say, Hello, is anybody there? We all stopped and looked around. Hello, the voice said again, down here, help me. We all stared down at the hole. No way, Tommy said, as he began to pull the branches from over the hole. We all began to help. And after a few seconds, the hole was exposed. It was a big hole about six feet wide and about 10 feet deep. Maybe more. We all looked down. Help me, please. The trembling little boy said, crying. Oh, my God, Heidi said. We got to help him. Hurry, he'll be back soon. The kid said through his tears. Tommy then laid on the ground and said, Mike, Matt, sit on my back and hold me down. We did as Tommy threw the rope of shirts into the hole, extending his arms down as well. Grab it, kid. I'll pull you out. He said, jump. Suddenly, I felt Tommy's body move forward just a little as I assume the kid grab the rope. Tommy then began to pull the rope until we could see the top of the kid's head coming out of the hole. I extended my hand to him. He grabbed it, climbed over Tommy and out of the hole. He collapsed to the ground, shaking, shivering and crying. Matt and I then got off of Tommy as he stood up, untied the shirts and put them over the kid. We all huddled around him, kneeling on the ground. He was about nine years old, covered in dirt with little cuts all over his body. Can you walk? Tommy asked him. The kid nodded his head. All right, let's go then. Tommy said, the kid began to get up and as he did, we heard the sound of an old diesel engine close by. He's back. The kid said, trembling. Everybody hide. Tommy said softly. And we all took off running. Matt and Mitchell went left. Heidi and I went right. Tommy and the kid went left as well. Heidi and I ran about 10 feet and we hid behind a large tree stump. Under different circumstances, I would have been the happiest kid in the world. But not now. I was scared out of my mind. The diesel engine roared on as it idled close by. I felt Heidi grab my hand. I looked at her. I'm scared. She mouthed with tears in her eyes. Me too. We're going to be okay. I said back and I squeezed her hand. Suddenly we began to hear the loud cracking sound of twigs and branches being broken by something heavy stepping on them. I turned my head to see this monstrous man walking through the woods, carrying a large knife in one hand and a live chicken in the other. He was huge, about seven feet tall, incredibly fat and grunted when he walked. His face was aged and wrinkled. He wore old army boots, a pair of old dingy blue mechanics coveralls and a red hat. His hair was long and gray. Dinner time, boy. He said in a deep, wheezy voice as he raised the chicken in front of him and swung the knife cutting off its head. He passed Heidi and I, the faint smell of motor oil, old dirt and piss filled my nose. As he approached the hole, he realized it was uncovered and that his capture was gone. He screamed like a wild man, raised the knife towards the sky, dropped the chicken in the hole and took off through the woods, screaming, running and wheezing. Matt and Mitchell came running out of the woods shortly after. Guys, where are you? Matt asked, loud but in a hushed tone, Heidi and I then ran to them. Where's Tommy and that kid? Heidi asked. I don't know. Matt replied. Tommy. We all yelled. In retrospect, that was not a very smart thing to do. As we were yelling for Tommy and looking around, the piss smelling chicken killing mechanic from hell stepped out from the woods about a foot from the hole which sat behind him. He laughed a sinister laugh and started coughing like someone who'd been smoking for 50 years. I had one little piggy and now I got four little piggies. And what a pretty piggy you are. He said in a wheezy voice as he stared at Heidi. Here piggy piggy. He said, raising his knife and stepping towards us. Mitchell screamed. What do you want? I yelled and I stepped in front of the three of them. Aren't you the brave little piggy? He said and laughed again. What the hell do you want? I said. I want the boy. Bring him to me and I might let you live. He said, now where is he? He's right here asshole. We heard Tommy say as he stepped out of the woods and swung a huge tree limb directly at the psycho's head. The limb struck him dead smack in his face, knocking him back. He was teetering on the edge of the hole. Tommy then kicked him, hitting him directly in the chest and knocking him back first down into the hole. A loud thud was heard soon after, as well as the most sickening guttural scream that still haunts me to this day. The truck. Let's go. Tommy yelled as we all began running towards the campgrounds. As we arrived, we saw a beat up dirty Ford F 350. The engine was still running. Kid, you come with me. You forget in the back. Tommy said, we did as Tommy and the kid hopped in the cab. Hold on. He said as he put the truck in drive and peeled out of there like a bat out of hell. Dust, dirt and rocks flew everywhere. We followed the path that led back to the main road. Tommy then stopped the truck. I'm going to the cops. He said, hitting the gas, making a left and making a beeline for the police station. All six of us walked in. Tommy told the lady behind the desk what happened. They immediately took the kid in the back. And we never saw him again. They also impounded the truck. After giving her our names, addresses, and phone numbers, we were told to wait in the sitting area. After a few minutes, two police officers came out and escorted Heidi, Matt and Mitchell to the back. About 30 minutes later, the three of them returned to the sitting area. Then they escorted Tommy and I to separate interrogation rooms in the back. I told them this story. We returned to the sitting area, where we were met by our parents. Apparently the lady at the desk had called them while the officers were speaking to us. Two of the officers then asked my mom and Tommy's mom if it would be all right if we went with them back to the scene. Both of our moms agreed. Heidi went home with her dad and Mitchell went home with his mom. Matt stayed at the station. Tommy and I got in the police car and rode back to the campgrounds, got out of the car, and walked back to the hole. And it was empty, except for the knife and the dead chicken. The officers retrieved the knife and held it as evidence. We then drove back to the station, where we were told that we were free to go. Tommy and Matt went with their mom, and I went with mine. A newspaper article a few days later told the story of a nine-year-old boy found at Killen's Pond by five teenagers. It also revealed the name of the boy that was found, only as Bobby S. and showed a picture of him. It was the same boy we found. It also said that Bobby had been abducted from a mall in Boston three weeks ago and had now been returned safely to his family. Our names were not revealed, given the fact that we were all under 18, I assume. It only referred to us as the five teenagers. The five of us didn't talk to each other for about two weeks trying to get over the events that happened, I assume. When we did finally speak, we made a pact not to tell anyone that didn't already know that it was us that found the boy. Soon after, Mitchell and his family moved away, and Heidi went to go live with her mom in New Hampshire. I never saw her again. Tommy, Matt and their family stayed in the trailer park, as well as me and mine. Tommy joined the Marines just out of high school and was shipped off to bootcamp soon after. Matt got a literary scholarship to Princeton and moved out there when he graduated. I stayed local. I got a job at the grocery store in town when I turned 16. And I've been there ever since. My father got a job in North Carolina soon after I turned 18. Mom and Dad signed the trailer over to me. And I've been here ever since. Heidi still writes me from time to time. And I see Tommy on occasion when he's home on leave. I don't see Matt or Mitchell anymore. And as far as I know, the psycho mechanic was never caught. Now, the pact I mentioned earlier is something that I kept all these years until now because now I'm scared. You see, when I got home from work today, I found a dark blue continental 10 speed bike missing the front brake with the initials MPZ scratched into the frame just below the seat, leaning up against my front door. The same bike that I left at the edge of the woods 38 years ago.