Black Matter

by G D Parker

  Tommy found a waterfall at the top of a stream some two miles away. He could still hear the sirens, and part of him prayed that the guy was ok. He had felt he had no choice. Suddenly, a light bulb switched on in his head, Fuck, the police know where I am!

  He scrambled away in panic and headed towards some hills that he could see in the distance. He decided he’d need to spend the night there. His feet were causing him tremendous pain, but he had to keep pushing through. There was no way he wanted to get caught.

  The fields were boggy with a thin frost laid over the top that crunched as he stepped. Tommy needed to keep to the edge in order to stay out of view as much as possible, but this meant that the terrain wasn’t the best, as this was where a lot of moisture and debris had accumulated.

  The boggy ground became increasingly worse with each step, squelching as he trod. One of his shoes got sucked off his foot by some thick, boggy mud that stunk of rotting cow shit and piss. He had to go and retrieve the shoe, as continuing barefoot was in no way an option. Putting the shoe back on was agonising, as it was already two sizes too small, so forcing it onto a wet foot caused it to be even tougher and more painful.

  Tommy finally made it to the bottom of the hills. He came across a large fallen tree that was rotten but good for cover whilst he caught his breath. He leaned against the tree, facing out into the fields in the direction he had come from, so he could at least keep an eye out for any movement.

  Whilst resting, he took out his mobile and connected the stolen power bank to put some charge into his phone, so he could access Google Maps and plan a route out of this situation. Both phone and power bank were wet through, but surprisingly still worked. Whilst his phone was charging, he buried the packaging from the power bank, in an attempt to leave as little trail as possible. Little did he know there were dogs on his scent.

  Once Tommy’s phone had charged sufficiently, he turned it on and waited. It took some time to boot up, but once it had finished loading, he was inundated with text messages from his worried family. He had several missed calls from his work, which to Tommy was now irrelevant. He checked Google Maps and could then see his location. He was at the bottom of Pen y Fan, the famous Brecon Beacon mountains. There was a main road close by, the A470, which was the main artery back to the city, so he needed to avoid that. He decided he was going to follow that route off-road instead, but he needed to rest and regain some energy first.

  Out of curiosity, he checked the online news, and low and behold, he was the main headline. He read through the article twice, and his brain hurt from having zero memory of any of his actions. Anxiety hit his chest, as though a brick had been thrown at him, when he learned that there was a hunt for a murderer.

  There was a statement from a Detective Valentina, who strongly urged the public to not make contact with Tommy McGregor, as he was a danger, and she assured the public that her team were close to his arrest. Heat rose inside him, and mixed emotions of fear, anxiety, hurt and loss flowed through his body.

  All of a sudden, Tommy had one of his headaches. It was extreme and caused him to cry out. His face went purple, his vision was completely white, and there was a constant ringing and pounding in his ear drums. He dropped to the floor in absolute agony, the pain causing him to throw up. Then suddenly he came around, and he felt fine, completely normal, or as normal as things could get for him right now.

  He shrugged it off for the time being and continued to read articles about the police hunt. There was a section about the PST and the use of police dogs, which made Tommy think, They’ll be using my scent.

  This of course caused major concerns for Tommy, so he decided it would be a good idea to smother himself in cow dung. He made his way over to a large field with cows, climbed through a fence and searched for the dung he needed, which didn’t take long at all. Without hesitation, and in complete desperation, he proceeded to cover himself. The dung was in his hair, all over his clothes, on his hands and even on his face. It stunk, causing Tommy to throw up a few times, until he moderately got used to the smell.

  Tommy went back to the large fallen tree and made up camp for the night using fern leaves and grass from the fields. It was going to be a very long and freezing cold night, which was made even more unpleasant with the cow dung smeared all over his body.

  The sun was beginning to set. It projected beautiful colours through the sky, and Tommy imagined that was what heaven would look like. Part of him thought he would most probably be in that special place sooner rather than later, with no idea if he would last the night.

  It was freezing cold and the temperature was noticeably dropping rapidly. Tommy gazed out into the distance. The sun was gone by this point and the moon lit up the area. The wind started to pick up, so he had to reposition himself to try and stay out of it as much as possible. That’s when he noticed the lights in the distance.

  These lights were clearly high-powered torches, and Tommy made the immediate assumption that it was the police hunting him down. The cold made it difficult for Tommy to start moving. He had no energy, his entire body was sore, and his feet were rapidly deteriorating.

  The PST were getting close. The dogs were still on the scent and were moving in the right direction. Valentina had called it a day for herself and had checked into a nearby hotel as soon as a relief team had turned up. She had instructed them to call her the moment there was any news. The team continued, and the dogs were intelligently pursuing the trail and were amazingly still on point. Tommy may have masked his scent, but the trail left behind was still there, and Tommy staying where he was proved to be a failing decision.

  After another hour, the team were incredibly close. The dogs had stopped and were circling an area. One of the dog handlers cautiously approached the area, and Tommy stood up from behind the fallen tree. He was still, there was no emotion on his face and he was in a strange state.

  ‘Don’t move, Tommy McGregor! Call the DI!’ the officer said, turning to an officer that was standing behind him. The moment the officer’s eyes left Tommy, Tommy was gone. The PST could see Tommy’s figure in full sprint down through the field, heading towards a road. They all made chase, with the dogs in hot pursuit.

  10

  Tommy made it to the main road. He was still in his trance and there was nothing that was going to stop him. He ran like he had never run before, his painful feet pounding the tarmac as his over-tight shoes crushed him, without even a flinch. His breath was steady, as though running was no effort - there was no thought process in his mind.

  He came to a layby where there was a man parked with a motorbike, the engine idling. The motorcyclist was wearing black leathers and a black helmet, and he had his back to Tommy. Without any hesitation, Tommy crept up behind and smashed the man over the side of the helmet with a large rock, which instantly knocked him off his bike, causing him to fall to the floor. Tommy quickly removed his helmet, while the man held out his hands as a form of defence. Tommy stared at the motorcyclist, then dropped the rock onto the poor guy’s head, the sound of his skull crushing from the impact.

  Seconds later, Tommy was off down the road, the engine roaring between his legs, leaving the lifeless guy in the layby - he had literally been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Never having ridden a motorbike before, Tommy was a natural whilst in his trance-like state. It was as though he subconsciously knew how to ride a powerful motorbike. The bike roared as Tommy sped down the road, travelling at over 100mph. He was heading towards the city, still with no thought in his mind whatsoever.

  After thirty minutes, Tommy stopped outside a house, got off the bike leaving the engine running, and walked up to the front door. With the black helmet on and the visor down, he rapped loudly on the door with the knocker - whoever was on the other side of this door would most probably have been concerned. The door opened slowly and a middle-aged woman peered her head round with caution. She observed at Tommy standing in front of her. He removed his helmet but did not say a word.
He just stood there staring straight ahead with no emotion.

  ‘You can’t be here, Tommy. You need to leave now, or I will call the police! You have some front turning up after what you did to Taylor!’ She was angry, but Tommy didn’t even blink and walked straight past Taylor’s mum into her house, knocking her to the floor.

  ‘Tommy, stop! I’m calling the police!!’ Her hands shook as she fumbled with her phone in an attempt to dial 999.

  ‘What emergency service, please?’ said the operator on the phone.

  Taylor’s mum was frozen in fear as Tommy stood in front of her with a large shiny kitchen knife. Taylor had heard the commotion and was running down the stairs. She also froze on the spot at the sight of Tommy standing aggressively, ready to kill.

  ‘Hello, what emergency service would you like?’ repeated the operator.

  Taylor’s mum stood there silently, and Tommy lunged forward, plunging the knife straight into her face. She fell to the floor, holding the wound as blood poured between her fingers. She didn’t scream, as the shock of what had just happened took over. Tommy then stabbed her in the chest with a hard thud, removed the blade, then drove it in again. Taylor screamed, and Tommy simultaneously turned to Taylor, leaving her mum on the floor gasping for breath and choking on her own blood as it filled her mouth.

  Tommy threw Taylor onto the floor next to her mum. He stood over them both, staring down with a black evil in his eyes. Taylor covered her face, scared stiff of Tommy’s next move. He knelt down with both knees on Taylor’s chest, crushing her. Taylor gasped for breath as his full weight pressed down hard. He took the knife and started to carve a word into her forehead. Taylor screamed, but her chest was constricted by Tommy’s weight. He then stuck the knife in her right shoulder, stood up and casually stepped over them both. Taylor laid on the floor covered in blood, breathing erratically. Her mother was laying next to her, motionless, lifeless. It was clear she was dead.

  The motorbike engine roared, then echoed down the street as Tommy sped off at full throttle. He weaved through the traffic. Other road users sat on their horns and flashed their lights, but he continued through the city at a dangerously high speed.

  Tommy stopped outside his apartment. He stepped off the bike and just let it fall to the floor. He made his way up to his front door and kicked it open with tremendous force. He walked in, went into the lounge, got undressed and laid down on his sofa, closing his eyes.

  Tommy came round about ten minutes later, feeling like he had a hangover. His feet were now so sore, he couldn’t even put any weight on them. His arms ached, his lungs were burning, and his legs were completely numb. He tried to move, but the pain was too much. He looked down at himself and saw that he was covered in blood.

  He tried to sit up. ‘What the fuck?’ He was confused and had no idea how he had got to where he was.

  The last thing he remembered was being by the fallen tree, and now waking up in his apartment was freaking him out. Panic and fear flowed through his veins. He had no explanation for anything. Was everything just a bad dream? he thought to himself. Even if it was, he had no idea how he came to have blood all over him.

  There were footsteps on the laminate floor leading from the front door to the lounge area. In walked Anderson, whom Tommy had nicknamed “The Freak” looking smug and somewhat pleased with himself.

  ‘What the fuck are you doing in here?’ shouted Tommy.

  ‘What do you mean, what? You’re a psychopathic murderer and I’m handing you in!’ Anderson pulled out his phone, dialling 999.

  ‘Police please.’ There was a pause whilst Anderson was transferred through to the police department.

  Tommy tried to get up but couldn’t. His body had given up and so had his mind. He was finally defeated, and he just rested his head.

  ‘Yes, I have an individual under a section 24a citizen’s arrest.’ There was a pause. ‘I have Tommy McGregor.’ Anderson then gave the address. ‘No, I’m not in any danger. He’s not going anywhere.’

  Anderson hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. He folded his arms. ‘I don’t think they’ll be long, considering this is such a high-profile case.’

  ‘What are you doing?’ asked Tommy, his voice pleading.

  ‘Like I said, I’m turning you in, and my guess is, you’ll most probably never be released.’ Anderson looked terrifyingly self-satisfied to Tommy.

  Minutes later, the sound of police cars could be heard, and it was obvious they were approaching fast.

  ‘I have no memory of anything,’ Tommy said with sadness in his voice.

  ‘Well,’ Anderson paused, staring into Tommy’s eyes, ‘you wouldn’t would you-’

  Before he could finish, police stormed the apartment. Anderson held his hands innocently in the air Tommy was immediately dragged off the sofa and aggressively thrown to the floor; the pain was intense and caused him to yelp as they put handcuffs on him and read him his rights.

  ‘You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?’

  Tommy had nothing to say and was escorted to the police van, dragging his feet. On his way out, he looked back at Anderson, who waved with a smile. He saw armed police. Who do they think I am? Tommy thought to himself. How has my life gone so wrong so fast? His mind then went numb. All he wanted was the world to swallow him up and for him never to return.

  At the police station, Tommy was checked in once again. This time, he knew he wasn’t going home for some time. He was practically carried into his cell. It was clear he was in need of serious medical attention, but no one even acknowledged this. Must be how they treat real criminals.

  One of the officers turned to Tommy. ‘Valentina will be here in the morning, and she can’t wait to meet you!’ He then shut the door on Tommy.

  As soon as the door shut, Tommy couldn’t hold back the emotion no longer and he sobbed. He wished he was dead and started to think of ways to make that happen. His whole life had been turned upside down, and he had lost absolutely everything. He wanted to see his parents and to explain to them that he wasn’t the person the media were making him out to be; that he wasn’t the one shaming the family and the people around him; that it wasn’t him. Sadly, he felt he was the only person who knew this.

  The cell was cold, grey and plain with a few markings on the walls, and a shitty thin blue blanket was all he had to give him comfort. He was in so much pain, it agonised him. There were stabbing pains in his stomach, most probably from hunger. He wished he had his phone, so he could go through the IPEA to see how bad his condition was.

  A thought then occurred to him this was when everything had started to happen. It had all begun not long after he’d had that procedure. He wondered if there was a link, but his mind didn’t have the capacity to even comprehend such ideas at that moment. He knew this was it now, his life was over, and when given the first opportunity, he would end it.

  The next morning, Tommy was woken by the sound of the cell door opening. An attractive woman walked in and sat on a chair, which an officer had brought in for her, next to where Tommy laid. She explained who she was.

  ‘My name is Anita Fowler, and I‘m your brief. I’m the one who is going to try to protect you as much as possible, but the only way I can do that is if you are completely open and honest with me and don’t hold anything back. If you lie, I can’t defend you. If you tell me the truth, we will look at different defence options and ways around this situation. Do you understand?’

  Tommy didn’t even smile. His current situation was dire, and the pain from his rotting feet was killing him.

  ‘Yes, I’ll be honest, but you won’t believe me. No one will.’ Tommy’s voice was weak and he felt nauseous.

  ‘Well, you need to trust me and give me the opportunity to defend you. Have a think about everything. How are you feeling?’ Anita asked with some concern.
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  ‘I’m in so much pain.’ Tommy pulled the blanket back. He managed to sit up and remove his socks, causing him agony as thick, dead skin peeled away from his flesh. He let out a loud cry.

  ‘Oh my God!’ said Anita. ‘You need to go to hospital.’

  Tommy’s feet were so swollen, his little toe was hidden on one foot, and his big toe on his other foot was black with the nail missing. The skin covering both feet was green with puss oozing out from the areas where the skin had peeled away - the smell was rancid.

  ‘How has no one picked this up?’ Anita asked, and Tommy just shrugged.

  She left the room with a seriously concerned look on her face. In no time at all, Tommy was transferred to Heath Hospital and was kept there under 24/7 police guard.

  Unfortunately for Tommy, he was not in a good way. The infection was causing him so much pain, the doctor had to prescribe him morphine. He was given Erythromycin via a drip, and his big toe had to be amputated. This not only had a physical effect on Tommy, but also left an emotional scar.

  The fact that he’d had the IPEA procedure helped the team identify everything that was wrong with Tommy within minutes. All they had to do was download the report and then provide the necessary treatment. A copy of the report was also provided to Valentina, as this could be used as fundamental evidence.

  The two police guards watching over Tommy never said a word to him. They didn’t ask if he was okay or offer to provide any assistance. Why would they? He could sense the hatred oozing out of their pores. In their eyes, Tommy was a cold-blooded killer, but the medical team on the other hand treated Tommy as they would have treated anyone else.

  DI Valentina attempted to pay Tommy a visit. She wanted answers, and as far as she was concerned, this monster shouldn’t be given the time of day. However, the doctor looking after him wouldn’t allow this to proceed until Tommy’s condition had significantly improved.