The Girl Must Die: A Suspense Thriller With a Supernatural Twist

by Peter Repton

  ‘He is bloody lucky I am not a queer otherwise he may have woken up with a very sore arse!’ Snake cracked up at his own joke and doubled up laughing. Sammy laughed too then the mirth passed from his eyes, and the pure evil was back again.

  ‘I could have killed Kempston when we had him back then. But I wanted him to suffer the accusation of being a murderer and all the trauma of being hunted. I could also have killed him at the same time as I killed his wife but it was much more fun to incriminate him for her murder too. But enough of the talking it is time for you to die Yank,’ Sammy said.

  Nick screamed, struggling in the chair.

  ‘No. Please no, let me go. I have nothing to do with any of this.’ Sammy stepped behind the chair grabbing Nick’s long hair at the crown, then placing the wicked blade behind the back of Nick’s neck, he started sawing back and forth. After three strokes blood spurted out all over Sammy and his clothes and sprayed the nearby kitchen wall. After just four more quick strokes Nicks' head came away from his shoulders amid an absolute torrent of blood. Sammy threw Nick’s severed head into the corner, turning to look at Snake who nodded and said to him.

  ‘That was tasty, but there is a police car coming down the hill what should we do now boss?’

  55

  Paul and David raced in the police car down the narrow country lane with tall hedges and big trees lining the way. The sun was setting in over the west, and they could see a huge thunder cloud moving up towards them from the south. The towering anvil of the thunderhead looked dark and menacing in the failing light. Driving around a sharp bend, they came to the brow of a tall hill and could see far across the Wolds. They passed over the peak seeing a cluster of farm buildings lying at the foot of the hill just over half a mile away. David pointed and said with excitement.

  ‘Look there is Chisel Face’s trike parked in that farmyard. Sammy must be there too.’ Paul hit the brakes pulling over onto the grass verge much to David’s dismay.

  ‘What the hell are you stopping for, the girl Lucy and Sammy will be in there too.’ Paul shook his head, grabbing his phone.

  ‘We know at least one of them has a gun, and there are three of them. I have to call for armed backup; it is standard procedure. Remember what happened to poor Danny. We are not going to do anybody any favours by getting ourselves killed.’ David listened as Paul called Chief Inspector Ford to organise some armed backup. Ford answered on the first ring and Paul explained the situation. Ford listened intently and said.

  ‘I will be with you in ten minutes with armed officers. These bastards have killed one of my men. I am told that the helicopter is now available, but you must stay put,’ then he added.

  ‘Only if the killers leave do I authorise you to follow at a safe distance. Feed directions back to me.’ Paul was explaining his plan to an angry David when a huge flash of lightning lit up the almost dark sky. Five seconds later a huge clap of thunder shook the car. Paul glanced at his watch, seeing it was almost nine forty-five and only just over two hours to go until midnight. Rain fell heavily and the farmhouse was becoming much harder to pick out in the gloom.

  ‘They are just sitting there in the car,’ Snake said to Sammy, ‘Why don’t the bastards come?’

  ‘Because they sense a trap. The police know we have weapons. I assume there will soon be more of them. This storm will help us. I am going to ride to where we have the girl. I know they will not be able to resist chasing me. When they do follow me, you two get the hell out of here. Come and meet me by taking the alternative route to the old barn. We will take them on there as it will soon be show time.’ Chisel Face and Snake both nodding agreement took up positions at either side of the window. Snake clutched the shotgun. They peered out towards where the police car was parked as Sammy wiped clean and then sheathed his zombie knife, before leaving through the back door and mounting his huge motorcycle. Sammy kicked it into life.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ David said.

  ‘It was only a rumble of thunder,’ Paul replied. Crashing thunder and driving rain were now making it difficult to hear anything.

  ‘No, it was a different sound, much different,’ David insisted, squinting to try and see better in the gloom. Then he saw the beam of light streaking out from behind the farmhouse. A figure on a large chopper motorcycle with the headlamp on raced across the farmyard. The bike shot out of the gate with Sammy on it, his long black hair streaming behind him.

  ‘It’s him, yes it’s him. Sammy is making a run for it, quick get after him,’ David yelled slapping Paul on the arm. Paul hesitated. His orders were to stay put, but if he did Sammy was going to get away. Headlights appeared on the road leading to the hill far behind them accompanied by blue flashing lights. Paul hit the accelerator, the wheels spinning before gripping the wet road and racing away. Chisel Face and Snake jumped onto the trike heading out through another gateway from the farm. The police team came into view over the hill. Jack Ford and Wilson were in the lead Jaguar car with two armed police officers. Four armed police officers followed behind in the second vehicle. It was a large black Range Rover 4x4. Finally bringing up the rear were two uniformed coppers sitting in a police car with Bob and Lisa. Jack saw the trike race off and spoke on the police radio to the armed police in the middle of the convoy.

  ‘That’s one of the bastards that killed my boy on that bike, and he has a gun. You guys follow him, and we will go straight on and give chase to the leader. If he raises a weapon you know what to do.’ The pursuing Range Rover cut off the main road racing after the two Hells Angels on the trike. The Range Rover accelerated rapidly after them. Ford turned to Wilson saying.

  ‘I received a phone call from the official chapter of the Satan’s Servant’s motorcycle gang today. They saw the video of Sammy on YouTube and they are saying he is a renegade and nothing to do with them. The caller said Sammy thought they were into Satanism because of the clubs name. He also told me they have shut down lots of illegal motorcycle gangs over the years. Sammy is a mad dog and not worthy of their colours. Sammy created his current crew from other Satanists. He also said that ninety-nine percent of motorcyclists operate within the law and just enjoy messing with motorbikes, women with big tits, bowling and drinking beer. Sammy is part of the one percent, a criminal. Sammy the Satanist. Yes, it has a certain ring about it but I don’t think it will be replacing Bob the Builder anytime soon,’ Ford laughed for the first time in weeks.

  Sammy with a clear lead, raced away, but Paul was a trained police driver and threw the car around the curves in hot pursuit as well as many rally drivers could have done. David hung on the door handle as Paul spun the car around the next turn. The chase continued at breakneck speed for well over ten minutes. Then they spotted Sammy turning off the country road and up a side track about three hundred yards ahead of them. Paul was following him doggedly as they bounced along the rutted road until a large barn came into view. The police car then skidded to a halt alongside Sammy’s bike.

  Sammy had disappeared inside the barn. Paul was still enraged at the memory of Danny’s death and he charged in first.

  David was hot on his heels. It was dark in the barn, the only light coming from five large candles that sat on an upturned oil drum. Fixed upright on this drum stood a three-foot tall upturned crucifix. What lay beyond the cross stopped both men dead in their tracks.

  Lucy Higgins was hanging upside down in the very same manner as David’s wife, Sarah. Her legs were spread apart. Lucy's feet were nailed to upright wooden posts that supported a stairway. Lucy's outstretched arms were also nailed to a plank of wood. Large black nails protruded from both hands. David saw a tube inserted into her neck. Blood was flowing quickly from it onto the floor. David lurched towards her intent on helping Lucy. He heard a loud crack. Out of the corner of his eye, David saw Sammy hit Roberts over the head. He thought it was with a pick axe handle. The power of the blow dropped Robert’s like a stone. Sammy then grinned at David. He was now wearing a bright scarlet robe with the hood up and
started running towards him, swinging the pick axe handle back for another strike.

  ‘We meet again at last Kempston! This will not take long because I said you were no match for me.’ Sammy yelled as he swung the club fast like he was trying to hit a home run. David ducked the blow and stepping inwards, raised his elbow as he spun around, smashing Sammy hard in the solar plexus. The intense blow took most of the air out of Sammy, and he buckled, winded. David then hit him again with a hammer fist blow hard on the top of his shoulder before springing away. Sammy came at him once more. David backed away from him, tripping over something on the floor behind him. As he stumbled, Sammy smashed him hard on the side of the head with the pickaxe handle. David slumped with the shock of the blow.

  Falling to the ground David saw it was a box of dialysis needles he had tripped over. The blow was hard enough to make him see stars. Within moments Sammy was upon him. Sitting on David’s chest, something bright flashed in his right hand. It was lit up suddenly by a brilliant white light shining from outside the barn.

  David saw in horror then the long bladed knife the likes of which he’d never seen before. It had a sharp pointed tip, three inches behind this it narrowed to show a barb and a long serrated blade. Sammy changed his grip and now held it dagger style in both hands. He raised the knife high to strike down shouting out with malevolent glee.

  ‘I win, I will exalt him. I will exalt my Master.’ Sammy plunged the blade down.

  David was not quite sure exactly what had happened next. But in an instant Sammy was gone. Instead, Andrew Wilson was sprawled right across him. Wilson rolling off him picked the long knife up off the floor. Sammy had dropped it with the impact of Wilson crashing into him. Wilson glared with wild green eyes at David and yelled.

  ‘You take care of the girl. I will take good care of that bastard.’ Wilson ran off after Sammy through the back door with the zombie knife in his hand. David first moved to check on Robert’s who was bleeding from a deep cut on the top of his head. Robert’s was conscious, sitting up now.

  ‘You will be OK Paul it is only a scalp wound; they bleed a lot. Give me a hand to free Lucy. She has already lost an awful lot of blood.’

  A large silhouette appeared in the barn door lit up by the intensely bright light outside. Jack Ford stepped in followed by two armed police officers. Roberts looked beyond them as he moved to assist Lucy, spotting Lisa and Bob outside. The police were preventing them from coming in.

  ‘Jesus Christ look at that poor girl. Robert’s are you alright man. You are all covered in blood,’ Ford barked. Paul nodded, and Ford continued, ‘We were bloody lucky to find you. Wilson spotted what we thought was a helicopter searchlight in this crazy thunderstorm. We followed it here. I have no idea what it is outside, but it is not a bloody helicopter that is for sure.’ The radio in his hand crackled, and he answered it as another loud clap of thunder rolled across the sky.

  ‘Ford here, what was that you said I couldn't hear you above this bloody racket?’ he listened, nodding his head before speaking aloud, ‘That was team two. They have apprehended one of the other bikers. The one that was driving, it appears they went off the road and crashed. One of them jumped up and pointed a shotgun at my officers. One of the Police Marksmen put a three bullet burst into his forehead from his Heckler and Koch MP5. The biker gave them no alternative but to open fire.’ Ford let out a long sigh then said.

  ‘Good! That’s one less court case to worry about.’ The bright light outside shone more intensely. The two armed policeman, Lisa and Bob moved back away from it. Ford walked out to join them, and his jaw dropped as the bright beam of light changed first into a ball, then it flattened like a lens, and a figure appeared within it. Bob Staples fell to his knees and bowed his head down to the ground. The armed police pointed their weapons at it, but Ford motioned for them lower them. The light had led them here, so he assumed whatever it was, it had done it with good intentions. Then Jack spoke in a tremulous tone. With a touch of awe in his voice as he saw the huge cigar shape above the light, he asked.

  ‘So who or what the hell are you then?’ The shape shimmered, changing its colour to blue, and a soft voice said.

  ‘I am Raphael; you were guided here to try and save David and the girl, Lucy. I cannot intervene myself to help him, but he must complete his task to save you.’ Ford took a few seconds to think then nodded before speaking again.

  ‘So you are the source of Kempston’s insight then? You are the one I called an ET who told him all about the Tsunami and volcanoes?’

  ‘Yes, it was I,’ the shimmering entity affirmed.

  56

  David ran, trying to release Lucy from the crude inverted cross. She was deathly white and when he checked her pulse and it was almost non-existent. The first thing he did was to clamp off the dialysis tube at the end as it was dripping bright red blood. David saw that about four pints of Lucy’s blood were all over the floor.

  He glanced around, seeing a claw hammer with the aid of the bright ball of light shining outside the open barn doors. The claw hammer was daubed with blood and lay a few yards away. It was next to the steel barrel with the five lit candles adorning it. David turned, shouting to Paul who was standing next to Lisa rubbing his head.

  ‘Paul over there look, get the hammer. This is going to hurt her like hell. But I have to get her off this damn cross to try to save her. She has lost an awful lot of blood.’ Paul fetched the hammer, passing it to David. Just then another very bright ball of light appeared outside the barn. They all stared in amazement as another figure started to materialise. In the same manner, as Raphael did a short while before in the farmyard.

  The newly arrived transparent shape shifting thing, surrounded by a deep red tinge, spoke in a harsh voice.

  ‘Stop that. The girl must die,’ he commanded.

  Ford shouted back at it in anger.

  ‘Who the fucking hell are you then?’ the figure appraised him for a second or two as if never challenged before and then replied.

  ‘I am known by many names. But today I go by the name of Belial.’ Paul upon hearing this pushed past Lisa, striding forward and shouting,

  ‘I know of you. You are the essence of evil!’

  The new arrival was stunned as it shimmered in the glow around it, speaking again as if confused by Paul’s outburst.

  ‘What a strange creature you are, yet so naïve, do you have any idea of what I really am?’ the red entity asked. Roberts said, ‘Yes, I do. I read about you many years ago. You are one of the four Crown Princes of Hell,’ Paul spat out the words.

  ‘Am I?’ The entity asked, ‘So who might be the other three then?’ Paul stuck out his chin saying.

  ‘They are Satan, Lucifer and Leviathan.’ Lisa nodded in understanding as she recognised the names from her bible studies. Belial answered in an evil voice filled with malice.

  ‘You humans really do like to complicate things as much as you can, don’t you? Fancy names for imagined entities when there are only my colleague and me here at work in this region. Oh yes, all those names you have used have applied to me throughout the ages, but I am the only one. My friend Raphael as he likes to call himself these days had also gone by the name of Gabriel and Michael when he wanted to in the past, but he too is the one and the same.’

  Everyone’s eyes were on him now except David’s who was removing one of the nails by hooking the claw of the hammer into it, and leaning backwards to put pressure on the nail. Belial continued his constant shape changing. His voice was now colder than ice.

  ‘The trouble with Raphael is he likes you humans and he has often tried to save you from yourselves, but he cannot intervene. Since your creation, you were cursed with a killer gene that no other creature possesses. You have incredible greed. You will kill without mercy to get what you want even if you do not need it.

  And many years ago we decided you would get erased as a species. But Raphael insisted on saving some of you, hoping to breed it out of you over time. But he has
always failed. You let him down time and time again. I know he told one of you that you were his champion and the human race would get saved if you defeated mine. But he never actually tells the whole story. He always misses some of the details out.

  The actual deal we struck for a bit of fun on my part was that if he won the challenge, he could save just twelve of you, six couples only. The same number as the last time. We agreed he could have one more try to erase the killer gene but all the rest of you have to die. He never lies, he still will have saved the human race, but only twelve of you will prevail,’ Belial paused to see just how hard his words had hit and Ford was the first to speak.

  ‘This whole thing is crazy. I must be losing my mind. Things like this don’t happen out here on the Wolds of Lincolnshire. I feel like I am in a blockbuster disaster movie that should be taking place in New York or Los Angeles. But UFO’s and Satan out here on the Lincolnshire Wolds, it just does not make sense.’ Belial laughed at this and said.

  ‘It did not make sense either to the people that stood on the hills outside the small town of Bethlehem, or to the people that were living in the desert near Mecca. When Raphael or Gabriel as he was then tried to guide you to your salvation. Those events did not take place back then in Rome or Babylon did they?’ Belial then pointed again at Raphael who now seemed as if he could find nothing to say and Belial continued with his revelation.

  ‘You see this is just an eternal game between the two of us. It helps us to pass the monotony of sowing and reaping throughout eternity but you don’t know the full story. Throughout time Raphael has given his insight to a variety of humans, usually high priests, prophets, oracles and the like. The advice is always to be good and mote often than not there are commandments involved. Like thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not steal. But despite all your flawed religions you always ignore him. All the wars and greed still continue because as I said you have a killer gene that needs erasing. There is a grand cycle that I will reveal to you now only because I am in a good mood. My task will soon be complete, and this cycle is very simple. First, there is creation, followed by maintenance and then dissolution, this is the core rule of the universe, and it applies to everything. This includes all of the stars, the sun, you and everything else. Everything is created by the Creator.