by L. J. Fox
Layne was so fast that Andy was starting to lag. He could hear himself puffing as he laboured for breath. He had considered himself very fit, jogging regularly and bike riding when he could, but he was struggling to keep up with her. Again, he wondered what on earth was going on. She ran on and around the right side of the lake where he sensed her starting to slow the pace. Suddenly she screamed out so loudly that Andy almost fell backwards in fright. The sound split the quiet evening.
“HEY! GET AWAY FROM THERE!”
Her voice was loud and angry, screaming out into the darkness.
There was a movement ahead of them on the side of the path, a rustling noise and then footsteps running away further down the path. Andy strained his eyes, but he couldn’t see what was happening, other than realising that a person had just run away. By the time he had caught up with Layne, the shadow of a figure was sprinting off away from them. He leaned forward to catch his breath and was about to ask Layne what was going on.
Then he heard the sobbing.
Layne had moved quickly over to where the sobbing was coming from. Andy made his way over behind her and it was not until he was very close that he could see a girl sitting on the grass beside some trees. She was quietly sobbing, covering her face with her hands, and Layne was crouched down beside her with her arm around her. He could hear gentle, soothing noises and sounds Layne was making. It was at that point that Andy realised an attack must have happened. He looked up at the dark empty path where the assailant had disappeared. There was no hope of catching the culprit now. He would be long gone.
“Andy. Could you please phone 000?” Layne asked quietly.
“Yes. Of course.”
Andy walked away a short distance and made the call. He then went to stand at the driveway so he could direct the police and ambulance to where Layne and the girl were.
Layne comforted the girl and spoke quietly to her. The girl told her that her name was Rachael and that she was a second-year student. She had been walking home from a girlfriend’s apartment, through the park when someone had grabbed her around the neck from behind. She had not known he was behind her until just before he grabbed her. He had dragged her onto the grass next to the tree they were sitting under and had sexually assaulted her. It was hard to understand her at times, as her voice trembled, and she kept sobbing.
It was very dark, but she thought he had a hoodie over his head and half hiding his face. Rachael was shaking and very traumatised. She complained about a sore shoulder and when Layne moved her top aside to see, she could see blood from a crescent shaped wound. Rachael explained that her attacker had bitten her.
Layne comforted Rachael until the ambulance arrived and took over. The police asked Layne some questions and asked if she would come down to the police station the next morning to make a statement.
Chapter 14
After the ambulance and the police had left, Layne looked back at the scene and she could see the police tape segregating the crime scene and a policeman who would remain there overnight. She walked back toward Andy’s apartment with Andy and when they reached the glass door where it was light, she stopped and faced Andy.
“I think I had better go back to my room now. I am really exhausted. Poor Rachael. It will be hard not to think of her tonight.” Layne said to him.
“Yes. A sleepless night coming up. I’ll walk you back. There is no way you are walking anywhere alone now.” He said in a firm and definite voice.
Layne smiled to herself. She was more capable of protecting herself than he was, but she loved the way he was so eager to protect her. They turned and started the walk back to her room. Again, they were aware of how dark the night was. Someone quiet could easily sneak up on the unexpected on such a dark night.
“Layne. How did you know what was going on in the park? You could not have heard anything. We were too far away.” He looked at her puzzled.
She hesitated. What could she tell him? It was a fair question.
“Well … I … thought I heard something. Must have been coincidence. What good timing that was?”
She gave a small laugh, trying to pass it off as a lucky coincidence.
He didn’t answer and she didn’t think her explanation was very convincing.
“Did you see the guy who attacked her?” he asked.
“No. I knew he was there when we first arrived on the scene. I heard him get up and run off, but I couldn’t see any detail. Rachael said he had a hoodie on over his head which masked his face.”
She shuddered, thinking of the attack on poor Rachael.
“Do you think he is a student?” Andy asked.
“I don’t know.”
She hated to think that one of the students they met with and passed in the corridors every day could be a rapist. It could even be someone they knew. They had reached the door to her accommodation block. She stopped and turned to face him.
“Thank you for a great evening … before the attack anyway. I really enjoyed the pizza and cards. Can we do it again sometime?” she asked.
“Of course.”
He stepped closer to her and she realised he wanted to kiss her again. She lifted her face up to meet his and their lips touched. It was a tender and gently kiss, and she lost herself in that moment. He withdrew and smiled at her, then walked off into the night.
She watched him walk away. She had told Andy the truth that she had not seen the rapist when he ran off after attacking Rachael, but she had smelled him.
She knew his smell now.
Chapter 15
The police had asked her to stop by the police station at 10am to give her statement. She wasn’t looking forward to this as she knew there would be questions and she was not sure how to answer them. All she could do was give the same reasoning that she had to Andy the night before. It was all well and good for her grandparents to expect her to appear normal and not let on about her gifts, but in the face of something serious like what had happened last night, she felt she had no choice but to act. At the time she had not even thought about it, she just reacted. Given the time again, she would still try to help Rachael.
She met with Detective Sergeant James Baring at the front desk and he took her through to his desk in a back office. He seemed like a friendly and efficient guy perhaps in his forties. Dark hair that was greying and thinner on the top. She tried not to wrinkle her nose at the smell of cigarettes on him. She could also smell that he had cleaned his teeth and ate mints to mask the smell of the cigarettes.
“Ms Harrison. Thank you for coming down this morning. As you can imagine, this is an unfortunate incident and any help you can give us would be appreciated.”
“Yes. Of course.” She answered. “Can you tell me how Rachael is?”
“She spent the night at the hospital and her mother took her home early this morning.”
Layne nodded, pleased that Rachael had the support of family.
“What I would like to do is ask you a few questions first, so we can determine what you saw, and then I’ll ask you to write your statement and sign it. Is that ok?”
She nodded.
“May I call you Layne?” he asked.
She nodded again.
“Your boyfriend was here and finished his statement an hour ago.” He said casually.
“He’s not my boyfriend. He is just a friend.” Layne answered quickly. Too quickly she realised when the policeman looked at her sharply. He had a notepad open in front of him which was clearly notes taken during his discussion with Andy.
“But you were having pizza, wine and playing cards with him?” he asked raising his eyebrows.
“Friends do that too.” She replied calmly.
“Ok. Can you tell me in your words the events of last night, starting with you and your friend playing cards?”
Layne hesitated for a moment and then started her narrative.
“I guess it was about 10.30pm or so and we had been playing cards for a few hours. I thought I heard a scream … a w
oman scream. It sounded distant but still distinctive.”
Layne paused and thought. She wanted to be as truthful as possible.
“It sounded like a terrified scream or someone in pain, not like a spider scream.”
She looked at the policeman to see if he understood. He nodded slowly, listening and thinking.
“Your friend didn’t hear the scream?” he questioned.
“No. Apparently not. I have always had good hearing.”
“So, what happened next?” he asked.
“Ok. Umm … I ran outside and Andy was following. I ran down to where I thought the scream had come from …”
“How did you know to go in that particular direction? I believe it was very dark last night.” He interrupted her.
“I didn’t know. Not exactly. I just ran towards where I thought the scream had come from. Sound travels at night. I thought I could still hear some noises as I was running so it made it a bit easier to work out the direction.” She looked at him and he nodded.
“Just off the track near the lake I could see dark shadows and I could hear sounds … ”
“What sort of sounds did you hear?” the policeman interrupted again.
“Well … it was only faint, but I could hear laboured breathing which I guess must have been the attacker, and I could hear soft cries.” Layne shivered at the memory of the attack.
“I think I yelled something at him, and he turned around and jumped up, then ran off.”
“Did you see his face or his clothing?” the policeman asked.
Layne thought hard for a moment trying to relive that moment.
“No. It was dark, and I could just see his silhouette, you know, his shape. I think he had dark clothing on, maybe shorts, and by the sound of his feet running off down the path, I think he had runners on.”
“Why do you think he had shorts on?” he asked.
“Just a guess. I interrupted him while he was … was … still attacking Rachael. He hadn’t finished the job, had he?”
She looked across at the policeman for confirmation, a bit embarrassed at talking about the intricate details with a stranger. The policeman’s brows furrowed. He didn’t understand what she was getting at, so she tried to clarify.
“Well … he had not ejaculated had he? There was no semen, so he had not finished. Yet, he ran off with no sign that he had to pull his trousers up. It was a hot night, so I think he had shorts on.”
She finished her explanation and sat back, a little embarrassed of the topic. The policeman stared at her for a minute. He blinked a few times as if clearing his head.
“How do you know there was no semen? He could have had a condom on.” He stated.
Layne couldn’t tell the policeman that she would have known from the smell if the man had ejaculated or not. She was a farm girl, after all. She knew about these things.
“The way he was breathing in a laboured way makes me think he was not finished.”
She looked at the policeman, daring him to explain any different.
“Ok. I understand. Good deduction. He could well have had shorts on rather than trousers. It is possible he had a condom on whether he finished the act or not.” He stated.
Layne nodded.
“One other thing … “she added. “He is wearing Polo Blue from Ralph Lauren.”
Chapter 16
Talk of the attack on Rachael was all over campus. Girls were warned not to walk alone at night on campus or anywhere around town, and to ensure they locked the door to their rooms at all times. Where Rachael had been attacked was not actually on campus, but next door, almost half-way between where she stayed and where Andy resided. The thought of an unknown assailant potentially being among them and the possibility of him attacking again was terrifying.
Instead of switching off her sense of smell, she found she was trying to detect the smell of the attacker wherever she went, especially in the cafeteria or walking down the corridor where there were dozens of people. This had its down-side and she found so many unpleasant smells that at times she felt sick to the stomach and couldn’t eat lunch at all.
The attacker could be someone from the town and not a student at all. It could even be someone from further away that chose the location due to the proximity of the university. What would she do if she did detect the attacker? Make a citizen’s arrest? Tell the police that she knew he was guilty because he smelled the same? She still was determined to seek out the attacker and work out how to inform the police after. Girls were still in danger while this deviate was on the loose.
Layne spent some time with Andy when time allowed in the following weeks after the attack. Sometimes they walked into town together to a cafe and Amity occasionally joined them. It was now autumn and Melbourne had put on some wonderful warm weather without it being as hot as it had been in the previous few months. The leaves on the trees were turning warm colours of red, orange, bronze and gold.
Layne usually cooked for Amity and herself, after it became apparent that Amity had no idea how to do anything other than boil a kettle and cook toast or two-minute noodles. Layne had enjoyed cooking and her grandmother had taught her well. She enjoyed this time of the night because Amity, being forever the clown, joked around and made cooking fun. Layne also felt she was teaching Amity a lifelong skill.
One night Andy helped her and they cooked a feast for the three of them of lamb koftas, couscous tabbouleh with Greek yoghurt. They ate in the dining area of the common room, and after dinner, Amity announced that she had a visitor and disappeared off to her room. Layne looked at Andy and shrugged. She had no idea who Amity would be seeing but it wouldn’t surprise her if it was Gregory. Amity was just as enamoured with Gregory as she had been. She still attended gym to be near him and tried to sit near him in classes. He was polite to her and didn’t seem to mind her hanging out with him, but Layne could not see any romantic overtures at all. Layne was surprised Amity had not mentioned her visitor to her during the cook. Amity was not the best secret keeper in the world and would have been very excited if her visitor was Gregory. How could she keep that one to herself?
Layne had bought a soft rug for the floor despite Amity’s disappointment that it was not purple. Instead, Layne had bought a natural camel coloured faux fur rug. Although a small space, Andy and her decided to sit on the rug and play cards. It was their little fun routine whether at his accommodation or hers, sit on the rug and play cards.
“Do you know how to play Go Fish?” Andy asked.
“I think so. Let’s do it.”
They played for about twenty minutes when Layne paused and listened. Andy noticed the change and opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong. She quickly held her finger up to her lips to signal not to speak. He knew this signal. This was not good. She quietly reached across to her desk and took a pen and notepad. She wrote a message and showed Andy.
Gregory is at the door listening.
Andy frowned at the message and again went to open his mouth to ask why the notes were necessary, and again she stopped him and pointed to the notepad. Andy took the pen and wrote.
How do you know? Why are we writing?
I can sense him. He can hear us even when we whisper.
Andy raised his eyebrows. How on earth could he hear them when they whisper and how on earth could she know that?
Is he still there?
Yes
Andy frowned and shuffled the cards so the listener would not be suspicious.
“Must be your turn to deal” he said.
Layne took the cards and dealt the seven cards each. They continued to play for another five minutes. Andy could tell by the look on Layne’s face that Gregory must have left the door. He looked at her questioningly. She gestured toward Amity’s room to indicate that Gregory was now in that location. There were so many questions Andy had for Layne but to write them all down would take him all night. He took the notepad and wrote again.
Can we talk now?
She nodded negat
ively. Andy pursed his lips in frustration. What the hell was going on? They continued playing cards, but Andy could see Layne was distracted and he thought she appeared to be listening to what was going on in Amity’s room, even though he could not hear anything at all. He wondered if Layne was losing her mind, or maybe he was. This was not making sense at all.
“I win again.” He said, and Layne faked a laugh.
They both felt that every move they were making was engineered to play a role for the listening ears. Andy thought for a moment and then took a chance. He wrote:
What are they doing next door?
Their eyes met and it was as though the secret was out. He knew she could hear next door. She wondered briefly if he was aware of anything else. Moments ticked by. In the quietness and closeness, he leaned across to kiss her thinking that it was a fun and quiet thing they could do. She pulled back suddenly, shaking her head negatively. Don’t do that. That shocked him and he stared at her for a minute trying to understand what had just happened. She grabbed the pen and notepad.
He will know.
Andy read the note and blinked. He gave a big sigh and stood up. Looking down at Layne sitting cross-legged on the rug, he spoke in a deliberately loud voice.
“BULLSHIT!”
Then he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 17
Layne lay in bed thinking about Andy and what she should do. She did not run after Andy as Gregory would have known she was doing that, and she felt he would have somehow followed. Andy also needed to calm down a bit. She knew she had upset him, and she understood why. She felt guilty and in retrospect, she could have handled it better. He obviously thought she was making excuses for not kissing him. She had hurt his feelings. If only she could explain it all to him, but she couldn’t do that. Maybe she could give him a cut down version of the situation. How much could she tell him? Her grandparents would be furious if she told Andy anything at all, but it looked like he was already aware of some of it anyway.