Whispers Beneath the Pines

by Whispers Beneath the Pines

  Kevin hobbled past The Prick and gave the limp man a gentle kick. The Prick's eyes opened wide as he grabbed Kevin’s ankle. Without hesitation, Kevin lifted the shovel above his head and dropped it once again on The Prick’s face. Heart pounding, blood pumping, Kevin swayed before steadying himself on the car boot. He had to make a break; he had to get in the car and go. But where? And, where was Eve?” Where the fuck is she you prick,” he yelled as he stood there gun in one hand, shovel in the other. “Tell me where she is,” he yelled again, eyes darting everywhere. His hands began to tremble and tears flooded across his face, he had lost her, let her down, fell asleep. Why had he drifted off when he should’ve been helping his loved one? “Argh,” he yelled. He yelled again and again until his voice refused to yell any more. He had to do something, get help, get the Police.

  Staggering towards the driver’s door he stepped aside The Prick’s still body, leaned the shovel against the back door and pulled the key from his pocket. He closed his eyes as he inserted the key in the lock. “Please work,” he whispered as he turned, he smiled as all the doors unlocked. He grabbed the shovel and threw it over the top of the driver’s seat on to the back seats before easing himself in. Carefully, he placed the key into the ignition, there was no way he was going to drop it or lose it now that he had come this far.

  There had to be a clue as to where Eve could be. He opened the glove box and dragged out the contents, he turned the ignition and turned on the reading light; an old newspaper flopped out of the compartment. He threw it to the floor and continued rooting at the back of the box. He found the locking wheel nut and two small books. He dragged them out, two passports, he opened them up. German. Gerhard and Ilse. Another pair of victims. He threw the books to the floor; the glove box was now empty. He stretched his head around and spotted a bag on the back seat. Leaning over, he grabbed the lumpy handle and dragged it over his head and onto his lap. Again, he rooted through the bag and his hands fell upon a small bottle of flat cola. Without hesitation, he unscrewed the bottle, placed it to his lips and drank until he almost choked. A few drops slid down his windpipe and caused him to cough. He screwed the cap back onto the bottle and placed it on the driver’s seat. He looked in the wing mirror, The Prick still lay there but now his left hand was flinching. There wasn’t much time, he had to leave. One more delve into the bag and he was seeking out the closest cop shop.

  He felt around and came across a square lump of plastic, The Prick’s phone he hoped. Pulling it through the items of clothing he was looking at a satellite navigation system. “Please turn on," he whispered. The gadget failed to respond. A charger lead dangled from the cigarette lighter, he hoped it would be for the sat-nav. It plugged in perfectly. The engine was ticking along nicely and the air conditioning began to kick in. He glanced at the fuel gage, a couple of notches above reserve. Hopefully enough to get him out of this hell hole. The light on the sat-nav came on.

  The gadget beeped at him, all the commands were in Turkish; he looked at it blankly and an address flagged up. It was his only option; he clicked on the address and watched as the gadget calculated the route. Eight kilometres. He pressed a couple of buttons hoping to pin his location, he thought of Rachel still out there, alive and drugged. He had to come back, he needed to lay his friends to rest, tell the truth of what happened and get justice for them all. More than anything, he needed to get Eve; he would follow the route and see where it took him. The route was clearly mapped out, a route that snaked in and out of other snaking routes.

  He reversed, making sure that he didn’t drive over The Prick’s body. He couldn’t do what they did, harm and maim; torture and abuse. He would get his justice when the truth came out. Kevin struggled with the gears and the positioning of all the commands of the left hand drive but he was moving the car. It was happening, he was escaping. He continued to do a turn out of the clearing and towards the dirt track. The sat-nav spoke in a high voice, in a language he could not understand. It was a seductive female voice, his only option was to try and watch the route on the little screen. He was on his way out. He put his foot down on the accelerator and felt the car pull away.

  Chapter 42

  The door creaked open, Eve’s pulse quickened. She tried to wrench the binds once more but they remained firmly in place. A figure emerged from the darkness; Mehmet. The young man looked back at the house and crept towards Eve as he held his index finger to his lips. He kneeled down and untied the scarf that gagged her.

  She gasped for breath; fresh air was something she had always taken for granted. She looked up at Mehmet, hesitant to speak in case he lashed out. His eyes remained focused on hers as he reached into the back of his waistband.

  “No please,” Eve whispered as she looked away and wept. She imagined a knife or a gun. Had they been ordered to get rid of her? Was she of no use as a defunct person?

  Mehmet grabbed her cheek and pulled her face back towards him as he held up a bottle of water. “Drink,” he whispered. He held the bottle up to her lips and tilted it up. The water was warm but it was much needed. She gulped and gulped not being able to get enough. As she gulped he tipped the bottle up higher, overwhelmed by the flow she felt a gushing of liquid flush into her lungs. As she coughed violently, Mehmet drew the bottle away. She inhaled hard and coughed sporadically. “Thank you,” she whispered. He nodded his head once in acknowledgment and placed the cap back on the bottle before placing it by his side. For a moment Eve sat and stared at his silhouette in the darkness. The whites of his eyes had a tiny glint every time he turned towards the door. A light, maybe a low powered outside or security light was on. He picked up the scarf and reached towards her. “Please, I need the bathroom,” she paused. He stopped and placed the scarf on the floor beside him. “Please, I need to go to the toilet,” she whispered. Her full bladder was causing her pain every time she moved. He stood, walked over to the door and looked outside once more.

  “I will sort it,” he said.

  Eve watched as Mehmet fumbled around by the tools, he moved things off the shelf and rummaged behind the bench before emerging with a bucket. “Thank you. You need to untie me,” Eve said.

  “I can’t, I would like to help but I can’t. You don’t understand. It is not just you that is the prisoner.”

  Damn. Eve hoped he might have been the one to give her a break. The moment she saw it was Mehmet she had hoped that he might help her. She fidgeted on the floor, realisation just hitting her on how humiliating it would be to use a bucket to urinate in with Mehmet watching.

  “You could help me. We could get out of here together," she said.

  “You don’t understand. I’m in big trouble but I swear I didn’t know this was going to happen, I would never have done that to Selina,” he said as he stepped in front of her with the bucket.

  “You haven’t hurt anyone Mehmet. Don’t let them make you a murderer.”

  “I didn’t know they were going to do what they did. The plan was to steal from the Villa while you were out on the trip. I am even ashamed of that now,” he said as he turned away. Mehmet held his hand to his head and began to shake. He grabbed his hair and started to breathe deeply, hitting his head as he thought.

  “Mehmet, look at me. While I'm alive I can tell them that you didn’t kill anyone. If anything happens to me, they will blame you though. You have to help me to escape.”

  “What have I done?” He said as he continued to tap his head. Eve watched the sweat beads running down his face as he passed the light coming through the open door.

  “It’s not too late, we can help each other.” Mehmet did not respond. “I have a little boy, his name is Harry. If you don’t help me Harry will never know what happened to me.” Eve paused; Mehmet scraped his hand through his damp hair. “I want to become a teacher one day, I work in a school but I've always dreamed I’d become a teacher,” she said. She closed her eyes for a second hoping that for one moment he could see her as a human being, one who feels pain and love, one who has
a life and a son who depends on her, one who is kind, gentle and would be missed by the children she helped everyday in her job. “The children at school love me, they need me too.”

  “You don’t understand,” he said as he continued to rub his fingers through his hair.

  “I do understand,” Eve replied as she looked at Mehmet before allowing a tear to run down her face. “I understand that you are not an animal like the others. It doesn’t matter that you wanted to steal our stuff, that doesn’t make you an animal. What has happened to me and to my best friend Selina; that is the work of animals. You are not a killer. I see a good person in you,” Eve said as tears started to flood down her face. Her nose became blocked up and mucous began to slip down the back of her throat causing her to cough and splutter. “Please just help me, please. You cared for Selina too, I know you did. Do what is right for her.”

  Mehmet looked away. He leaned down, grabbed the bucket and threw it to the floor. Pacing back and forth, he murmured Turkish words to himself.

  “I’m sorry Mehmet. I’m sorry. I know this is hard for you too,” Eve cried.

  Mehmet turned, snatched the bucket from the corner of the room and paced towards Eve.

  “I know you care,” she cried as he stepped in front of her and kneeled down. He put his right arm under Eve’s arm, lifted her towards him in what felt like an embrace and yanked down her shorts followed by her torn swimsuit. He pulled the damp lycra down and used his hands to fumble for the bucket. Eve sobbed as she heard the plastic scrape the floor. Her head was buried in Mehmet’s hot chest, her face suffocating in his damp sweaty tee-shirt. She felt her swimsuit come down and her backside become exposed. He then dropped her onto the bucket before releasing her from his chest and pushing her backwards into a sitting position. The rope around her ankles was now so tense she felt it burning through her ankles but the worst burning was the degradation of her predicament.

  “I do care, which is why I help you. I bring you water because I know you need it. I help you toilet because I know it’s not right to allow you to sit in shit. I can’t do anymore,” he said as he turned away, pushed the door closed and stood facing it. “Please do what you have to do and quickly because if I am caught here helping, I will probably get hurt too.”

  She sat there, needing to go but holding on. He was there, next to her, he would hear her go. Accepting this was the way it was going to be she emptied her bladder and began to sob once again.

  “Have you finished?” He asked.

  “Yes.”

  Mehmet turned and walked back towards her. He kneeled down, gently lifted her under the arm once again and reached for the bucket.

  She felt Mehmet pull up her torn swimsuit, followed by her shorts before he grabbed the bucket. Eve flinched at the muffled bang at the door as she was nestled into Mehmet’s tee-shirt. His arm weakened and he dropped her hard onto the stone floor. Sadik stood before them and stared at Mehmet. Eve shuffled back. “Please don’t hurt me,” she wept. She watched as Mehmet once again began nervously running his fingers through his hair.

  Chapter 43

  The car juddered over the rocky ground and the sat-nav continued to chatter away. He stared down at the screen; he was only about half a kilometre away from something that looked like a road. The road was pinpointed in red and that road was his aim. The sat-nav paused as it recalculated the route. “Where do I go?” Kevin shouted as he slammed his open hands on the steering wheel. In the rear view mirror he saw movement, The Prick was getting up. He watched the man struggle to his feet before shaking his head. The man felt his nose, his forehead and then his cheek. Through dazed eyes, Kevin stared into the mirror that reflected The Prick’s eyes. He began to stagger towards the car. Kevin placed his foot on the accelerator and followed the dusty road. As soon as he straightened his leg, pain seared up his shin and throbbed at the knee then continued to shoot up to his thigh. The headlamps flickered all over the place, with every bump he was faced with more shrubs, trees and stumps; the narrow road was difficult to stick to. Patiently he followed the winding dirt track.

  The sat-nav pinged then the voice returned. He checked the mirror again, he was going too slow. The Prick was catching up with him. His stagger was now straighter and his speed had picked up as his level of consciousness improved. As Kevin navigated a cluster of twists and turns he heard the bushes scratch against the side of the car. He slowed down; he had to preserve the car. Without the car, there was no way out and Eve would be gone forever. The road took him to the left, then a sharp right. He smiled as he got the hang of driving on the rough terrain at night. Glancing back in the mirror he spotted The Prick again, he was getting closer. He reached down and pushed the little knob that locked all the doors. If The Prick did catch up, there was no way he would let him in. The sat-nav kept waffling, the air conditioning blasted and the lights on the screen kept flashing. The sexy voice then made a horn sound; all part of this weird sat-nav voice that The Prick had selected. He fumbled for the volume button as he reached a short straight. Music blared out; he’d missed and accidentally turned on the radio. His heart pounded. Why was such an easy task proving to be so tricky? “Maybe it’s because I’ve been friggin shot in the leg,” he replied to his own question.

  At the end of the straight there was another turn, a sharp right with a steep drop, the car took off down the hill before it levelled off and ended up hitting a clump of spiny bushes. Kevin stared out of the windscreen. Reverse, he had to reverse out. He checked the mirror, no Prick.

  Kevin flinched as a pair of bloody hands began clawing at the driver’s window. In his one hand The Prick held a sharp rock. With all The Prick had, he drew his arm back and began to slam the rock into the window.

  Kevin extended his leg to the clutch to select reverse; the pain forced him to recoil. Crash, glass sprayed all over his hair and body then The Prick’s hand reached in and pulled up the knob that unlocked all the doors.

  Chapter 44

  Mehmet stood and faced Sadik, Both silent, they stared at each other. Eve shuffled, trying hard to edge the top of her swimsuit down to cover the bottom of her breasts. She watched as Sadik reached for something in his pocket; she stopped, held her breath and stared. He pulled out a torch, she exhaled. He flicked the torch switch and lay it down on the bench to her left. Both men stood there in silence. She watched as Mehmet slouched in front of Sadik and began to walk towards the door while muttering in Turkish. Sadik spoke; Mehmet ignored him and continued towards the door. Sadik grabbed the back of the young man’s tee-shirt and dragged him back. Eve felt a draft on her face as the young man was hurled towards her. Mehmet slammed arms first into the wall; he turned then stood against it. His hands rose to the air, a mark of defeat.

  “Mehmet, please help me,” Eve pleaded.

  “Him, help you,” Sadik laughed. “It looks like he’s already been helping you,” he said as he walked across to Eve and pointed to the zipper on her shorts.

  “I needed the toilet.”

  “And little Mehmet helped.”

  Mehmet looked away and began to mutter once again in Turkish.

  “I see he was a gentleman then, if you believe that. The little sapik, dirty boy or as you say pervert.” Mehmet grabbed the lad by his raised arm and flung him once again towards the door. Mehmet held his hands up and backed away towards the door. As he left he glared at Eve and shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Please help me. Please Mehmet, help me,’ she thought, hoping that he could read her desperation and take pity on her. He could help her. He could call the police and end it all. Eve fiddled with the rope. She leaned over to her shoulder to try and wipe away the itchy cold mucous that had stuck to the top of her lip; she had hope, there was always hope. Mehmet wiped the sweat off his brow with his arm, then turned and left the room, leaving the door ajar.

  The torchlight shone past Eve’s face, hi-lighting the gap she was looking out of earlier that night. Sadik stood tall above her. What was his story? She had seen him co
sy up to Celile, she had seen Celile cosy up to the man in the bushes. She had sensed their tension. The old woman; who was the old woman to him? Her age would say mother, even grandmother if she was young when she had children.

  “Who is the old woman, the one in your house?” Eve asked. Her question was met with silence. “You don’t want to talk, I get it. You keep me here, you stand and stare at me, but you don’t want to talk.” Sadik stared at her, hesitant to reply. Now he was alone with her, he had an awkwardness about him, a vulnerability. “Celile. Is she your wife or is she with the other man?” She watched as his head shook, the man turned and kicked the door shut. He took a couple of slow steps towards her before stopping and scratching the stubble on his chin. He began to pace and scratch more. “Well, is she your wife? You seem close.” Eve had to push him, find out his weaknesses.

  “No,” he paused. “Just shut up, shut the hell up,” he yelled as he darted towards her and kneeled in front of her. She felt his fast breath on her shoulder. He snorted as he inhaled. Her nerve endings prickled and she felt goose bumps emerge on her bare arms. Her head began to pound as blood pumped through her body.

  “She is his then,” she continued.

  “Shut up,” he yelled as he drew his hand back and slapped her hard. Another slap, just another slap. She had become immune to slaps. She knew now that she had touched a nerve. She had found Sadik's weakness and it was Celile.

  “You like her, don’t you? I can see she likes you too,” Eve whispered. “You can both get through this; you can take her away now, go far away and be happy together. Let me go and we can all live.”

  “I said shut up,” he yelled as he grabbed the scarf and began to straighten it out.