by Lauren Algeo
‘Mm hmm,’ Brewer mumbled.
It was no such thing. Even the most controlling government couldn’t have created something as twisted as a hiker. They might have used them from time to time maybe, but not dreamt them up. He pictured that person more like the mad scientist who’d given life to Frankenstein. The Grand had said no one had given them their power though; they’d just been born with the abilities. Genetic monsters.
They reached the subway station and Mitch advised what tickets to buy. The station was fairly quiet, being mid-morning, and they took up a position at the end of the platform to wait for the train. Brewer could hear the low rumbling in the tunnel and it reminded him of the day he’d pulled Georgie back from a hurtling train, saving her from the hiker’s grasp. He closed his eyes but couldn’t stop the onslaught of painful memories. He had to get a handle on this before they got near a hiker or he was in big trouble.
When he opened his eyes again, Mitch was staring at him with concern. ‘You ok man?’
‘Just felt a bit faint,’ he lied. ‘Should have had a proper breakfast instead of just coffee.’
There was no need to tell Mitch that he wasn’t at his mental best. He’d only start probing with more questions about Georgie and make it worse.
‘We can grab something when we get there, I’ll need some…’ Mitch started only his voice was drowned out by the train screeching to a stop alongside the platform.
They got on and sat opposite each other. Brewer tucked his rucksack between his feet and leant back. The train was hot and stuffy, and he could feel a light sheen of sweat on his forehead. There was a lead sensation in the pit of his stomach.
Get yourself under control, he scolded.
He hadn’t expected to react like this on his first job since Georgie. He’d thought he was stronger than this. It turned out years of facing hikers hadn’t hardened him as much as he’d believed.
‘This woman could just have been crazy.’
‘Huh?’ He’d almost forgotten Mitch was sitting in front of him.
‘Beth. She could have killed her fiancée during a huge bust up,’ Mitch said.
‘Maybe.’ Brewer sat up straighter to focus himself. ‘It seems very unlikely though. According to reports, they were happy and in love, and looking forward to their wedding. Besides, it’s not a very common way for a woman to kill.’
‘What do you mean?’ Mitch asked.
‘Stabbing someone to death is a very hands-on method. It takes huge force to administer wounds like the ones Graham suffered. In my experience, a female killer would have been more removed. Drugged him in his sleep or something, maybe suffocation or even poison. Stabbing is very brutal and lacks emotion.’
‘In your experience?’ Mitch repeated. ‘You sound like you’ve encountered tons of murders?’
‘I have. I used to be a Detective Inspector for the Metropolitan police in London. I left a few years ago to hunt hikers.’
Mitch’s mouth dropped open. ‘No kidding! You were a detective? Why didn’t you tell me straight up?’
‘It’s not really relevant any more,’ Brewer shrugged.
‘Yes it is,’ Mitch insisted. ‘You must still have connections and things we can use. What about your old badge? Do you still have a gun?’
‘We don’t carry guns in the UK,’ Brewer said.
He remembered the day he’d walked out of the force and left his badge behind. Mitch had mentioned connections, however the only person from his old life that he was still in contact with was Marcus. He’d already used him too many times for help when he was working with Georgie, and he hadn’t spoken to him since the night before their ill-fated trip to the Grand’s house. For all Marcus knew, Brewer was dead. He’d pretty much said goodbye to his old friend that night in the pub.
‘There are no contacts left either,’ he added. ‘I’ve mainly been doing this on my own.’
‘That sucks,’ Mitch sighed. ‘We could’ve tried to work with the police here to get more people after these things.’
Brewer didn’t have the heart to tell him the police would likely laugh him out of the station if he went in spouting stories of assassins that control your mind. He’d been laughed at himself.
‘Probably a good thing.’ Mitch bounced back to chirpy in a split-second. ‘We can’t trust everyone on the police force. There’ll be eyes and ears everywhere to feed back to the big bosses.’
Sure there would. Brewer gave a half-hearted nod to appease him for a little while.
They continued the rest of the journey in silence, changing trains once along the way. Brewer checked his rucksack to make sure he had everything. He would need to wash a couple of his spare t-shirts and socks but that could wait until he found a launderette, or he could make use of the sink at a new motel.
‘We’re here,’ Mitch announced as the train braked slowly at a station.
Eddington did not look how Brewer expected. It was in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by train tracks. They stepped off the train and he checked all around. It didn’t look as though there was anything there. The station itself didn’t even have a car park or ticket office.
‘Are you sure this is the right one?’ he asked.
‘There’s only one. Come on, I think their place is near the national park.’
There wasn’t any other transport around so they set off on foot.
‘What’s the plan?’ Mitch asked after a few minutes.
Brewer had no idea. ‘We find their house, I guess. See if we can pick up any hiker activity or at least confirm if there has been some.’
‘How?’
‘We can talk to people who knew them. See if Beth had been acting strangely over the last few days. The hiker had to have been working on her for a couple of days to make her do what she did to someone she loved so much.’
‘Did you do it?’ Mitch asked quietly. ‘Is that what happened to your wife?’
‘No!’ Brewer snapped. He spun sharply to glare at Mitch. ‘How many times do I have to tell you? Mine was a car crash that didn’t happen. My wife died of a brain tumour!’
‘I’m sorry, man!’ Mitch held his hands up. ‘It just sounded like you knew what this woman had gone through. I thought maybe you’d been ashamed about what had really happened.’
‘I do know what she’s been through,’ Brewer said with a clenched jaw. ‘I’ve seen this scenario on dozens of occasions. I’m going to say this one last time. The hiker failed with me, I have never killed anyone.’
Brewer’s hands were balled into fists and his breath seethed out between his gritted teeth. He’d never wanted to hit someone so much in his life. How dare this jumped up kid accuse him of something like that. Not his Karen. Mitch’s ignorance was too much and he knew nothing about…
Brewer froze. The hairs on the nape of his neck rose swiftly and his entire body stiffened. Through his anger, he’d heard something. He hadn’t heard it for a little while but there was no mistaking that sound. The tell tale whisper of a hiker’s presence.
‘I said I’m sorry,’ Mitch was whinging. ‘I didn’t mean…’
‘Shut up!’ Brewer’s tone was forceful enough to stop Mitch’s mouth mid-sentence.
He concentrated hard on trying to pick up the noise again. He hadn’t wanted to fully believe that hikers were alive over here but now there was no escaping the fact. There it was again, just a light sigh at the back of his mind. The hiker wasn’t close but it was there.
‘What?’ Mitch looked around bewildered. ‘What’s wrong?’
Brewer took a deep, shaky breath. ‘We’ve got ourselves a hiker.’
Chapter 4
‘Slow down!’ Mitch called from somewhere behind Brewer.
He’d been struggling to keep up for the last couple of miles but Brewer had no intention of letting up. It wasn’t his fault if the kid couldn’t walk at a fast pace for a few miles. He blamed the baggy jeans and bulky trainers for weighing him down.
They were too close to ease off now.
The hiker had been getting steadily louder and he could almost make out some words now. It sounded like a female.
Brewer was confused as to what it was doing. Was this another suicide after Beth, or had it taken on a new job already? Surely it was too close to the previous one for that? That wasn’t the way they worked. The Grand would never have let them kill again in the location of the first murder. It should have been long gone by now.
It would be too much of a coincidence to have another job in the same place the very next day. Unless, now the Grand was dead, the remaining hikers over here were going crazy and killing at will? They might not be doing jobs at all and every killing was just for their sick pleasure. With no structure in place the results would be devastating. The body count could rise dramatically across the country.
‘We’re not far now!’ he shouted over his shoulder.
‘I still can’t hear anything,’ Mitch whined.
‘I told you, you won’t.’ Everything he said to the kid seemed to go in one ear and straight out the other. ‘You can’t hear them unless you’ve experienced it first hand.’
The hiker’s voice was suddenly crystal clear in his mind. ‘She’s been sleeping with him all along.’
Brewer slowed down to give her his full attention.
‘She always wanted to steal him from you.’ The voice was light and sickly sweet, almost child-like.
It seemed strange to hear a hiker with an American accent, however he wasn’t too surprised. He hadn’t expected them all to be British if they had been breeding over here too. He couldn’t quite place the accent – it wasn’t strong and there was no distinctive twang to identify a state of origin.
‘She’s nearly got him all to herself.’
Brewer looked at their surroundings as Mitch finally caught up to him. They were at the bottom of a street, lined with nice, neat houses.
‘I can’t tell which direction they are,’ he said. ‘They’re very close now though.’
His eyes darted along the tidy front gardens and ornate lawns; this must be what suburbia looked like. Mitch glanced around with a sullen expression on his face. He didn’t look impressed with the trip so far.
‘There’s nothing here,’ he moaned.
‘There is a female hiker here,’ Brewer insisted. ‘She’s whispering to someone, most likely a young woman from her tone and method of torture. She’s telling her that her boyfriend is sleeping with another girl, I’d guess someone she knows well.’
‘What?’ Mitch burst out laughing. ‘You’re crazy! I can’t hear any of that.’
It was pointless trying to explain to him again. ‘That is what’s happening whether you believe it or not,’ Brewer sighed. ‘If you want to come with me, I’m going to search around this neighbourhood, otherwise feel free to go home.’
Mitch kissed his teeth and sulked some more but he followed Brewer as soon as he started moving again. They walked at a slower pace down the pristine streets, sticking out immensely in the surroundings. There was no one around to be suspicious though. The residents were probably all peeping out from behind expensive curtains at the two scruffy strangers wandering the pavement outside.
‘She’s somewhere in this street,’ Brewer announced a few minutes later.
The hiker sounded so close he could have been standing beside her. He checked the nearest houses but it was hard to tell which one held their victim. He narrowed it down to one of the three on the right hand side.
The pavement was lined with leafy trees and he stood in the shade of one to peer up at the houses. Mitch leant against the tree trunk behind him.
‘She in there?’
‘One of them,’ Brewer nodded. ‘I think the left one of the three.’
‘What’s she saying?’ Mitch asked.
‘That the woman needs to put a stop to what’s been going on.’
‘How?’ Mitch looked curious now, as if he was finally accepting what Brewer was saying.
‘I don’t know yet, she hasn’t hinted at a plan.’
They stood silently for a minute while Brewer listened. He was right – the vessel was a young female. The hiker mentioned that she had to end it before she went away to college. The boyfriend and friend shouldn’t be allowed to continue their fun behind her back while she was gone. Then she began slipping a plan into the mental onslaught.
‘She’s revealing it,’ Brewer whispered.
‘What?’ Mitch demanded and folded his arms across his chest.
Brewer didn’t reply, he was too focussed on what the hiker was suggesting.
‘You know exactly where she is right now, don’t you?’ She was saying in her syrupy sweet voice. ‘She’ll be in the gym working on that figure of hers, like she does every week at this time. Then a sauna afterwards.’ The hiker gave a chilling chuckle. ‘I wonder if he’d like her so much without that perfect body?’
The girl must have been getting hysterical, or trying to resist, as the hiker’s tone changed in an instant. ‘Don’t be so naïve!’ she snarled, with no trace of the previous girlish concern. ‘Everyone is laughing at you behind your back. You’re going to be humiliated about this for life!’
There was a pause and the sharpness softened a little. ‘Now, now, there’s no need for that. Just a quick trip to the gym and this will all be over.’
‘Quick,’ Brewer waved an arm to Mitch. ‘Give me your phone.’
‘Why?’
‘I need the internet and it’ll take too long to get the laptop sorted. You have internet on your phone, right?’
‘Of course,’ Mitch snorted.
‘Hurry up then!’
The speed in which Mitch dug his phone out of his sagging jeans pocket was not as urgent as Brewer wanted.
‘What are we looking for?’ Mitch asked when he was finally ready.
‘Find the nearest gym or leisure centre to here. Would there be more than one in this area?’
Mitch shrugged and tapped at the keypad on his phone with short clicks. ‘There are two,’ he read from the screen. ‘One about a kilometre away and the other nearly four.’
‘We’ll have to wait and follow her.’
‘Follow who? You’re not very good at sharing what’s going down.’ Mitch narrowed his eyes accusingly.
‘Sorry, I got caught up in it all.’ Brewer gave him a brief recap of what the hiker had been saying to her vessel.
‘She’s going to kill this girl at the gym!’ Mitch’s eyes were like saucers. ‘What, right now?’
Even from the one-sided conversation, the girl seemed more than upset enough to be persuaded by the hiker. She could have been working on the girl for hours, even a day since the murders.
Brewer nodded. ‘Yes, I think so.’
To affirm his point, the front door of the house to the left of where they were standing burst open. It smacked the frame loudly and sent Brewer and Mitch diving for the cover of the bushes in front of the neighbour’s house. Brewer gestured for Mitch to stay still and keep quiet.
He watched as a girl emerged onto the pavement and marched towards a car parked by the kerb. She was about eighteen years old, with short blond hair and a slim build. She was wearing a pink t-shirt and blue jeans, and had no jacket or bag with her. He only caught a glimpse of the side of her face before she turned away to get in the car, but he could see how upset she was. Her face was red and puffy from crying and there were black mascara tracks on her cheeks. Her hair was dishevelled and he could see her body hitching from quiet sobs.
The girl climbed into the driver’s seat of the red Chevy Aveo and sped off with a squeal of tyres. There was no sign of the hiker following her. She could have been parked in the next street over or following on foot. Maybe she’d already been in the back seat of the car, waiting for the girl to give in to her plan. Brewer waited in the shadows just to be sure, with an impatient Mitch hounding him.
‘What’s going on? Should we go after her?’
‘In a minute,’ Brewer said. ‘We need to make sure t
he hiker has gone too.’
‘Oh yeah. Do you think the hiker has its own car?’
‘Maybe.’ Brewer listened intently but there was nothing to hear. The hiker had temporarily stopped her mental torture. ‘We need to get to that gym.’
‘Which one?’ Mitch asked.
‘The closer one. If this other girl goes all the time it must be pretty near.’ It was a gamble, the friend might not even live around there, but they didn’t really have any other option. He had to find out what the hiker was doing, if it was killing whenever it felt like it with no Grand around to stop it.
He led Mitch in the direction the car had driven off in. They were at a disadvantage being on foot, although they had directions to the gym on Mitch’s phone. They might be able to get there in time to stop it. How they could do that, he had no idea. They had no weapons aside from his ability to block them from his mind, which might be enough to buy him some time to try and talk the girl out of whatever the hiker was intending. He’d done it before; this girl might be as strong as Georgie had been.
They half-jogged the mile to the gym. It turned out to be a small leisure centre with a swimming pool, sauna, and steam room alongside the gym. They found a position in the car park opposite, where they could view the entrance to the building. Brewer noticed the girl’s red Chevy parked haphazardly in the corner. This was the right place. She must have raced inside as soon as she’d arrived.
The hiker was being eerily quiet. Surely the girl wouldn’t do anything alone, without more persuasion?
‘What do we do now?’ Mitch asked.
Brewer kept forgetting he didn’t know what was going on. Mitch was panting hard after the run there and had a spattering of sweat patches on his t-shirt. The kid was so far turning out to be useless.
‘We need to wait and see what the hiker’s going to do. It’s silent at the moment but they’re here somewhere.’ He gestured to the girl’s car, realising that Mitch hadn’t even clocked it.
‘Oh, ok.’ Mitch glanced down at the ground and kicked at some pebbles with the toe of his trainer. ‘I thought we were going in to save them?’