Inanimate

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Inanimate Page 15

by Deryck Jason


  “I don’t understand Doc. What are you getting at?”

  “Simply put, we believe someone was in Connor’s room last night and they took Connor’s dolls. We don’t know who that person is yet but myself and Doctor Crass both believe the murders are linked to the death of Andy Williams. Sort of like revenge killings.”

  Oates looked like he had been put squarely under the spotlight despite the fact MacNamee could not see him.

  “Revenge for what? Andy Williams’ death was accident!”

  “I don’t think that matters Sheriff. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that your first double murder in God knows how long was at the site of Andy Williams’ first stop in your town. Not to mention the fact that your main suspect is the spitting image of one of his son’s dolls, a doll that was stolen along with others.”

  “Ok. Say what you’re saying is true-that someone or something was taking revenge for a tragic accident-by your logic I should expect more bodies…”

  MacNamee was quiet a moment before answering.

  “I believe so, yes.”

  “Well you see Doc; this isn’t easy for me because I don’t have any suspects to chase. I don’t even want to involve people in this until I know who or what I’m looking for.”

  “With all due respect Sheriff, I think you do know what you’re looking for.”

  “Doctor MacNamee, I understand what you’re getting at but if I invest time and manpower into looking for a killer doll I could be ignoring the real killer. And any blood that is shed while I’m wasting time won’t be on your hands, it’ll be on mine! You have to understand I have a lot at stake here.”

  “I know it’s hard to believe Sheriff and trust me I do understand. I was only convinced an hour ago myself. But it’s entirely your call; it’s all up to you.”

  Jimmy relaxed on the couch as his lunch was brought to him on a TV tray. Sitting down beside her boyfriend Lucy realized she hadn’t called on Jessica.

  “Jess! Dinner!”

  When no response came from upstairs she tried to call again but Jimmy interrupted her.

  “Don’t worry sweetie, I’ll go get her, you just eat.”

  Despite Jimmy’s earlier comment about her niece, Lucy didn’t mind him being around her, he would never do anything bad to her. Besides, she didn’t really want to see that doll again. Jimmy put his tray on the floor and headed upstairs to summon the little girl down for lunch. He figured letting Lucy eat while he went upstairs (despite his hunger) was the easiest selfless act he could do to get back into her pants. Even though the act was not selfless, he knew Lucy would appreciate the gesture. Walking nonchalantly down the hall Jimmy didn’t notice the pretty layout of the hallway, which was a nod to Lucy’s artistic side. This was simply one more thing Jimmy didn’t care to learn about his girlfriend. Lucy was pretty, that was simply all Jimmy cared to know about her. Anything else he could pretend to know about, just so long as it got him laid.

  “Jessie!”

  Jimmy called out in a high-pitched voice, as if talking to a small, excitable dog. Pushing open the door he tried calling her again from the doorway. Jessica sat, ignoring him, engrossed in her tea party.

  “Jess, lunch!”

  The right to call her Jess was normally reserved exclusively for family but Jimmy called her it anyways. Still in his high pitch he called again.

  “Lunch sweetie!”

  After another zero response he used a little more force.

  “Come on now, don’t be a little brat!”

  As frustration set in his voice returned to normal.

  “Fine! You can starve for all I care!”

  Turning to walk out he stopped; thinking better of it. What would Lucy think of him if he came downstairs empty handed, he was only just getting out of Lucy’s bad books and he actually wanted to “get some” today. There would be no chance of that if he couldn’t even persuade a seven year old to come down for lunch. Marching over to the little girl he stood over her.

  “Jessie I’m not going to ask you again!”

  The empty threat rung in deaf ears and his frustration got the better of him.

  “Look you little bitch...”

  Yelling, he grabbed for her arm. This volatile act would trigger a reaction. A reaction he did not expect. Betsy and Jessica turned their heads towards him in unison, as if one mind. However, Betsy’s was the face that frightened him. Letting go of the little girl’s arm he stood up rigid, looking down curiously at the doll that reacted so quickly to his assault. While Betsy’s eye’s followed his, her body (as if it was a separate entity) swiveled round to match the alignment of her head and she stood up.

  “What the fuck?”

  Jimmy gasped as he took a step back, being matched move for move by the doll. Suddenly Betsy stopped still. Jimmy copied, transfixed by her actions. She outstretched her arms and tilted her head a little. As a glint of red flickered in her eyes, Jimmy’s stare was instantly broken by a slam behind him. Jolting round, he saw Jessica standing in front of the closed door. She smiled fondly at Betsy.

  “I don’t like you…neither does Betsy…but she’ll still play with you…”

  Jimmy turned rapidly back to Betsy, who lowered her arms and smiled.

  Lucy decided to have one more bite of chicken before she waited for the other two to come downstairs. She always felt it was best to eat hot things hot. Picking up the fork with a little piece of oven cooked chicken breast on it she blew gently to cool it down. A dull thud beat down on the floorboards above her causing her to stop what she was doing and look up. The TV tray clinked as she set it down beside her and headed to the foot of the stairs. Calling up first for her niece, then for Jimmy, her tone was representative of her feelings’ for each of their safety. After no response she walked slowly up the stairs, changing from her usual jog. Cautiously moving down the well decorated hallway, the sound of the strange thud coupled with the lack of response made her wary, and therefore slow walking down the hall. Pushing open the bedroom door she saw nothing strange, except for a lack of Jimmy. Jessica was sitting with her dolls, seemingly still enjoying her tea party. Stepping into the room, something felt off in the air and as such Lucy remained cautious.

  “Jess?”

  “Yes Aunt Lucy?”

  “Did your Uncle Jimmy come up here?”

  “Yes”

  Lucy glanced around the room, still girly in its decor. Although Lucy was in her twenties she never quite got out of the pink motif.

  “Where is he?”

  Jessica lifted her head and pointed across the room.

  “He’s in the toy box.”

  Lucy’s head spun round to the toy chest the size of a small coffee table, a remnant from Lucy’s youth still covered in stickers. Lucy kept this as a memory of times past and also for some of Jessica’s toys. Always neat, Lucy liked to keep things stored away tidily. But now, there was nothing neat about this situation. Lucy turned back to her niece in confusion.

  “What?”

  “Betsy didn’t like Jimmy so she put him in the toy box!”

  Lucy looked down at Betsy (heart rate pounding) but the doll didn’t flinch. Convincing herself this was some elaborate joke conceived by Jimmy to frighten the wits out of her she decided she had to check it out. Aiming her body squarely at the box she moved closer. She looked at the box; there was no way a grown man could fit in there. Deciding she had had enough games for today, she was just about to turn around and demand Jessica tell her the truth when she spotted something. At first she thought it was paint but, looking closer, she was horrified. Blood leaked from the corner of the box. Her body frozen, Lucy’s eyes sailed up to the top of her childhood toy chest; stopping her gaze on tiny hand prints in blood around the handle. Confusion turned to fear as little tears streamed involuntarily down her pretty face. She was drawn to the box now. She had to find out what was in there. Moving forward one step at a time her brain tried to picture a best case scenario, but unfortunately there were very few of those
. She grabbed the handle and quickly glanced over her shoulder, spotting Jessica still enjoying her tea party.

  “Jessica, this had better be a joke!” she said desperately.

  “I would never lie to you Aunt Lucy.”

  Lucy didn’t know what to make of her niece’s behavior; instead she tried not to think about it and pushed on with opening the box.

  “Just like taking off a Band Aid” she thought to herself.

  Fear told her to open the box as fast as possible. Tears dropped, dodging sniffles on their way to the carpet as Lucy screwed her eyes a little in preparation, and pulled up hard. As if pushed by some invisible force, the sight repelled Lucy’s body to the floor where she landed on her hands and knees, vomiting profusely. She only got a little glimpse of what was inside but that was enough. The sight she just witnessed was now flashing into her mind. The brutal image of Jimmy, bloodied and contorted, stuffed into the little wooden box, his face frozen in horror. The full sadism of Betsy was lost on Lucy however. The fact that there was no blood on the carpet meant he was bludgeoned after being stuffed in the box, but Lucy was in no frame of mind for forensic analysis. Wiping her mouth after one last hurl her maternal instincts kicked in. She looked up to the table, hoping to see Jessica so the two could flee but the little girl was not there. Turning the other way, still on her hands and knees, she saw Betsy standing in front of her. Behind Betsy, Jessica stood giving her a mildly sympathetic look before turning and walking out the door, closing it firmly behind her. Lucy tried to call to her niece, but her throat was so hoarse through vomiting that only air came out. Not that it would have done much good; Jessica simply left her alone with the murderous doll. Betsy smiled menacingly and walked towards Lucy, who was still sobbing on her hands and knees. Grabbing her by the hair and pulling her head towards her, Betsy jammed her little porcelain arm down Lucy’s throat and splayed out her fingers. Lucy’s gag reflex kicked in but she had nothing left in her stomach to bring up. She tried desperately to fight off the maniacal doll as her brain was slowly starved of oxygen but Betsy was too strong. Using up all her strength, Lucy fell to her back and thrusted the doll sharply upwards in an attempt to release her hold. Unfortunately for Lucy, her fate was already sealed. As soon as Betsy thought she might have been overpowered by the push she gripped some flesh before her arm was wrenched out. That torn flesh was now bleeding profusely, filling Lucy’s throat with blood, effectively drowning her. Crawling to the door in vain, Lucy coughed blood while desperately trying to steal some precious oxygen from the air. Calmly, Betsy walked to the tea party table and picked up the little steel chair she was sitting on. Lifting it with ease she carried it back towards Lucy. Rolling onto her back, Lucy tried one last time to fight off the demon doll but it was no use, her energy had been completely sapped. Scaling the pretty blonde’s toned body; Betsy raised the chair above her head with both hands, allowing only one last splutter from the dying young woman before she drove it down into her face. Two legs pierced either side of the mouth, and two pierced just above the eyes with so much force they also pierced the hardwood below, nailing Lucy’s head to the floor. Twitching as Betsy dismounted her, Lucy’s brain sent the last of its signals down her body.

  In Room 101 of Hallcombes Psychiatric facility Connor Williams sat on the end of his bed with his eyes closed. His little fist was clenched. Slowly he opened his eyes and smiled. He was proud of what he had just accomplished. But he knew the day was early, his work today was far from over.

  CHAPTER 23

  Stephen Benchley didn’t particularly enjoy jogging, however, on a day like this, when the sun was out, he didn’t mind it at all. There was just enough of a gentle breeze to keep him happy as he glided through the Staunton suburbs, on the lookout for pretty girls in passing cars. Taking the corner of Maple and Oak wide his thoughts drifted. He wondered why towns named streets after trees. He could understand naming them after people but he never thought trees made any sense. Actually, he wished Staunton would adopt a grid system for its streets. If they did that (he thought) things would be so much easier to find. But he knew the mayor would never go for it, Staunton was to remain quaint for the tourists and Stephen hated that. Moving onto Birch Street he recoiled again at the name but, before he could go into another rant inside his head he noticed a little girl sitting on some steps clutching a doll. He took no notice and jogged past, but a realization suddenly hit him.

  “That’s Lucy Ellis’s niece and she looks upset.”

  Suddenly Stephen’s head was filled with other thoughts. Since he had had a crush on Lucy since high school, he would do anything to take her away from “that douche-bag” Jimmy Collins. Taking every opportunity he could to score a brownie point here and there he decided he was going to try and console the girl, hoping Lucy would catch a glimpse of his sensitive side. Still jogging, he broke the cardinal rule of runners in that you never turn back on yourself. Softly approaching Jessica on the steps outside her auntie’s house, he knelt down beside her.

  “Hey darlin’” he said quietly. “Why so sad?”

  “Lucy had an accident.”

  “Really?” said Stephen, intrigued by the prospect of saving the day.

  Jessica nodded.

  “She’s in her bedroom”

  “Hmm” mumbled Stephen, keeping his perverted thoughts in his mind, away from the little girl. “And where is her bedroom?”

  “Upstairs, at the end of the hall.”

  Stephen shot up like a horny superhero.

  “Ok little girl. Stay here ok.”

  As he headed up the garden path he smiled, excited at the prospect of saving the day here and possibly “getting some” from his high school crush.

  “Where are you now Jimmy? Douche bag!” he said out loud as he walked up to the front door, confident no-one would hear him.

  “Hello?”

  Stephen called out as he entered the house, finding only quiet. With little concern for Lucy’s actual wellbeing Stephen was simply thrilled to be in her house, taking his time to look at pictures in the entrance hallway. He looked at various pictures of Lucy, which adorned the spacious foyer.

  “Fuck you’re sexy” he muttered while looking at a particularly eye pleasing picture of Lucy at the beach in Mexico.

  As if sniffing up pheromones in the air Stephen closed his eyes and took a quick whiff beside the picture before he headed upstairs.

  “Lucy?”

  He called out again as he moved down the hall, still taking his time to admire the pictures on route to the bedroom. Pushing open the door his eyes surveyed the room, finding nothing but an odd smell. He had to admit he would have thought Lucy’s room would have smelled better than this (it did when he imagined it in his mind at least). He noticed the vomit on the carpet and recoiled, starting to think this was more serious than he originally anticipated. Clothes were scattered across the floor, which was odd because apart from the vomit on the floor and the tea party set the room seemed very neat.

  “Lucy?”

  He cried, more forceful this time while scanning the room for signs of life. After a minute of visual searching, his eyes rested on the toy box and the tiny handprints around the handle.

  “Is that blood?” he said out loud as he reached to open the chest, stepping back a little as he did.

  With a cheeky flick of his wrist he got the lid open, the sight of Jimmy’s contorted body made him cry out while jumping back in fright. As if retreating from a lion, Stephen’s feet fumbled for the floor. Accidentally slipping on the vomit slick, he fell over into the wooden closet behind him setting it off balance. The weight of whatever was inside pushing against the doors; was set off balance too and Stephen soon found himself on the receiving end of a naked falling body coming hard out the closet on top of him. He screamed out, confused and terrified, it all happened so fast. He tried to push the body away from him, turning to face it in the process. His second corpse today was even more horrifying, Lucy’s once beautiful features lay ravaged in f
ront of him, eyes torn up, mouth ripped open and covered in blood. In fact, the only reason he immediately knew it was Lucy was thanks to the perfume she always wore. That tantalizing, designer scent used to drive him crazy in high school. Now, thanks to a new association with the scent it would be driving him crazy another way. With his strength he pushed her off and with one last horrified look he tried to get to his feet. In his desperation he slipped on the vomit again and almost lost his balance for a second time. Instead, choosing not to stop moving he stumbled over Lucy’s corpse on his way out the door. Running to Jessica, pale and raving he knew he needed to call someone.

  “What the hell happened in there?”

  “Betsy didn’t like Jimmy. So she put him in the box. I think Lucy was just for fun.”

  Confused, Jimmy shook his head madly.

  “Who’s Betsy?”

  Jessica smiled and held her doll out in front of Stephen.

  “Say hello, Betsy.”

  Betsy smirked at Stephen, and without moving her lips uttered a single word:

  “Hello!”

  Her voice was polite yet grainy, like singing from a gramophone. Stephen stood up.

  “No. Bullshit! It can’t be!”

  While ranting in fear he was even more in shock when Betsy’s face turned into an evil scowl.

  “No! Jesus Christ!” Stephen exclaimed as he turned and fled, looking for the nearest phone.

  Dr. Greg MacNamee talked in the hallway of Hallcombes to a pretty nurse. He had been so preoccupied with Connor that he had not been looking after his other patients nearly as much as he should have been.

  “Thank you nurse Archer” he said as he was presented with the medical files she had prepared for a patient.

  Taking them from her, he noticed she was still standing there, looking into his eyes. With a dry smile he repeated his pleasantry, but this time with a little ad lib.

 

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