Little Red (23 page)

‘Sir?’ the tapping on the door was drowned by the chatter in the corridor.

‘Excuse me Sir’ a little louder.

‘Sorry, I was miles away, what is it?’

The woman approached him and handed him a file. He received it and began flipping through the array of information.

‘What am I looking at?’

‘It’s for Mr Crawley, just things he had requested Sir’

‘Okay, I’ll see that he gets it, thanks’ he placed the file down upon a spare table and collected his cup of coffee. The
liquid had begun to lose its heat and Jack swallowed it in one gulp. He needed something to do, a pro-active task to keep his mind ticking over. He decided to call Doctor Brough for an update from the Forensic Team. The file was picked up as he spoke with Sal, he tucked it under one arm and carried it to the receptionist.

‘Ca
n you get this over to Nathan Cawley please, just ask my driver to deliver it for me….thanks’ he had whispered over the conversation with his phone.

***

The room harboured a distinct odour. Megan was unsure of the smell, but she recognised it from somewhere. She attempted to shout for attention, the gag obstructed her words. His new girl sat strapped into the chair. Her hands and feet were bound to the wooden
structure, she rocked in an attempt to wriggle free. The room was in darkness, her eyes burned as she tried to focus in on her new surroundings. The Wolf stood at the closed door, his ear placed against the wooden divide as he listened to her whimpers.

Fear……I applaud you!

He began to excite himself at the thought of having spare time to kill. They risk he ran last night had paid
off, it could have gone the other way and ended up with him being caught. But he chose not to dwell on his actions, after all, his new girl was a closed door away. His belly grumbled to remind that it needed fed. He now looked forward to another activity, the eating of a small animal.

The squeal had lasted only seconds as the rabbit’s throat was torn open. It had kicked and scratched all the way from its cage in the large shed, to the kitchen where the killer stood. The blood gushed from the wound, running down his chin and dripping upon his bare chest, matting the hair that lay upon his skin. He drank violently, sucking as much as he could from the hole he had created. The creature hung limp from his hand, he raised it to the sky and caught the droplets with his mouth. His heart raced with excitement, the rush overwhelming him. He needed another, he wanted more crimson life within his body. The dead animal was placed in the fridge upon an empty shelf and he made his way back outside. The cage was heavy and awkward to move, he fumbled with the frame and managed to squeeze it through one open door. He had decided to move the hutch as a complete rather than dragging his food in individually. The occupants ran back and forth as their home was dropped to the kitchen floor. The top was lifted ajar and his large hand pushed inside, he felt their smooth bodies under his fingertips.
Come on…..where are you? I’m not going to hurt you.
The words repeated in his head as if he were sending them a telepathic message. He felt the fur, he gripped tightly, the small teeth nipped his finger, he pulled his hand free, the rabbit was clasped in his fist.

The lid gave a thud as it closed shut, causing the animals to scatter in fear. He turned the creature to face him in the
light, its tiny eyes were wide with terror. The blood from his previous kill was drying upon his mouth, he swiped his lips with his tongue. The rabbit looked into his eyes, the beast within revealed itself as he grinned, the sharp teeth stained red in his mouth.

***

Nathan contemplated calling Jack to see if he could hurry an update along. He grabbed the phone from the bed and searched for the number. The phone began to ring as he located Jack’s details.

‘Hello’ he answered

‘Nathan, its Jack’

‘Ironic, I was just about to call you’

‘Great, look, there’s a package on its way to you now,’ the sound of cars passing were heard in the background. ‘My driver will deliver them to you once he has dropped me off. There’s a file in there that you requested from one of the girls in the office, anything you would care to update me with?’

‘File……I’ll let you know when I see it’ confused by what could be on its way.

‘Nathan, when Malcolm, my driver, gets there, don’t hang around. Get in the car and he’ll bring you to me’

‘Where is it you’re going Jack?’

‘Sal called about five minutes ago. She’s halfway through completing her report, she wanted to know if we wanted to come down and get a sneak peek before it’s published……I said yes, of course!’

‘Great, I’ll see you there’

‘Will do, bye’ the call was ended.

Nathan felt the familiar excitement enter his body. Fears of being room-bound slowly began evaporating as he darted towards the wardrobes and got dressed. He pondered over the details that were being sent to him
, attempting to remember if anything had been requested. He couldn’t think at the time.
Just have to wait and see I suppose.

***

The door was opened from the other side, the figure entering through the wooden frame. The girl watched as he moved to her side, blocked by the long cabinet. They were in darkness together, her and the guest. Silence filled her ears, she forced herself to listen harder, attempting to pick up any noise from the room. The ringing sensation began to deafen her and she shook her head to break free of the irritating pitch. The muffled growl came from behind, she tried to turn to face it, her binds restricting her. The growling neared her, the scraping of boots coming closer. She moaned as the rope around her wrists cut into the skin. Its breath warmed her ear as it sat behind her, faint cries of
no
came from the gag in her mouth. He placed his nose to her cheek and sniffed her scent, the wolf mask remained on the hanging rack. He pushed his tongue from between his lips to taste her fear, the tip connecting with her skin.

Her temple connected with his nose and sent a sharp pain through his
skull, his eyes began to leak tears. She had swung as hard as possible, striking a sensitive part and causing him to stagger rearwards.

‘You BITCH……you FUCKING BITCH!’ he screamed as he headed for the door. He slammed it behind him and stormed up the stairs to the kitchen. The four carcasses lay upon the table as he entered, the blood pooling beneath them. He moved to the bathroom, his feet thudding on each stride. The light came to life and he witnessed the damage caused by the new girl. The slow trickle of blood escaped his left
nostril, he touched the area where her head had connected. His nose felt tender, the tingle sensation appeared when he placed his fingers upon it.

‘Stupid……stupid, stupid,
stuuuuuuuuupid!’ he bellowed at the reflection.

The eyes glared back at him, reddening with rage.

‘You fucking idiot!’

You made a silly mistake

It’s your fault, your fucking stupid fault!’

You aren’t quite there yet…..are you

‘I’m close enough….closer than you’

Noooooooooooooo
you’re not

‘I’ll show you…..I’ll fucking show you’

Go on then….do it, make your mark…..use those teeth and leave your mark

‘I will………remember, I’m the Wolf now…..me!’ his fist connected with the glass and it created a spider web of cracks as he stormed out of the room.

‘I’ll fucking show you!’ he growled.

The room came to life as the light was switched on, the girls eyes blurred from the sudden blinding. She stared straight ahead, trying to focus on the guest. His boots offered little noise as he paced towards her. The palm of his hand connected with her cheek, her head was thrown to the side as the slapping sound stung her ear. Her skin tingled as the tears ran down her face. The bloody handprint was sprawled across the side he struck, the remaining life that had pooled under his feast.

Do
it…..leave your mark

Her hair was gripped and he forced her head backwards, the sudden thrust startled her. She moaned and cried for him to stop, it was too late. He sunk his teeth into her cheek and tasted the fresh blood as he ripped the soft skin. He clenched his teeth tighter and felt the flesh rip as his teeth sawed away. The warm liquid gathered under his tongue and he swilled it within his mouth, swallowing the puddle of her life. She begged, louder this time, as the attack numbed her face. Her tears stung the opening in her cheek, the salt finding the torn muscle. He turned and exited, leaving the light on for her to see the red splattered on her arm and the floor.

‘There’s my mark……….I warned you, I
am
becoming!’

***

Nathan was greeted by Jack as he climbed from the Mercedes. They shook hands and walked toward the entrance of the Morgue. Nathan had left the package in his room, not opening it and deciding to go straight to Jack’s location. There was a slight breeze as the door closed behind him.

‘Sal?’ no answer

‘She’s probably down the hall again’ Jack stated as they moved. Nathan, once again, took in the surroundings of the aged building. The echoes from their shoes filled the corridor. Jack tapped his knuckles upon the door and was asked to enter, they obeyed the request.

‘Jack, how nice to see you’ greeted Sally, her body covered with a white suit, her face hidden with a mask and goggles.

‘Morning Nathan’

‘Morning’ he replied sheepishly

‘Here, I advise you place these on….it’s a bit pongy!’ she pointed towards a box of face masks. Nathan pulled the elastic straps and placed the white guard over his nose and mouth, the straps tore several strands of grey hair from his head as they were released. He flared his nostrils, retaliating to the pain.

‘Follow on boys’ she ushered with a wave of her gloved hand.

They moved towards the corner of the room. The oil drum found at Mr Breen’s residence, sat upon a table. Under the table was a deep trough
made of plastic.

‘I’ll give you the run-down of the procedures we took’

‘Fire away’ mumbled Jack

‘Firstly, we dusted the drum. The obvious results came back…..nothing of interest. So we decided to drain the contents. Problem was, the stuff inside could have been so badly corroded that tipping it out would have damaged it….so’ she moved to the side of the barrel.

‘We placed this trough under the drum, to catch the liquid. We then punctured a hole in the lid and one at the bottom, just here’ her finger aimed at the slow trickle of brown water.

‘The liquid inside started to drain, the hole in the top allowed to empty without bubbling or curdling any more…..good isn’t it!’

‘Fabulous, what else?’ quizzed Jack

‘Easy tiger, I’m getting to it’ she hissed.

‘We allowed the contents to drain for several hours, as you can see it is still flowing as we speak. The liquid had curdled more than we had hoped’

‘What was the liquid?’ asked Nathan, intrigued by the process

‘Water, old water….and decayed flesh, mixed with an array of stomach acid and broken down muscle, slash, organs!’ her hand moved diagonally across her body upon issuing the word
slash.

‘Jesus, he put the whole body in there!’

‘Two whole bodies’.

‘Two?’ Jack stood wide eyed
.

‘That’s why I
wanted you to come down as soon as possible Jack. When the contents had half emptied we began removing what we could see and grab a hold of, come on, I’ll show you’.

They followed her into a side
room, upon the table lay a variety of objects. They stood around the large square table and gazed at the items.

‘This is what we pulled first’ the skull starred back from the white surface
.

‘That’s what I saw when we opened it!’ confirmed Jack

‘It is. You can see where a blow had been taken, just here, at the back of the cranium’ the small hold held several cracks as the bone had splintered.

‘Any ideas on what type of weapon was used?’ asked Nathan

‘Hard to say really, judging by the size of the impact it would appear to be a rounded object, possibly a ball hammer or piece of piping’

‘Right, so the impact area is at the back of the skull, that would indicate that they were hit from behind, taken by surprise?’ Nathan threw a couple of ideas into the
mix, it helped him to create a picture of the attack in his mind’s eye.

‘Yes…..very likely actually’ agreed Sally. She placed the grey object back onto the table and moved to the next.

‘This one was at the bottom of the barrel, we only just discovered it this morning’ the second skull had been shattered in a larger area, the jaw was dislocated on one side.