The Black Pathway

by Mark C Sutton

  “Alan, will you please return my messages as soon as you can. I need to know where you are, and why you didn’t turn up earlier.” Spoke Kate, into her phone. When she’d finished leaving the message, she flung the phone down onto the settee. Maybe he hasn’t stood me up after all. Perhaps he’s been in an accident or something? Or what if Alan’s wife has somehow found out about the pair of us? She could be on her way around here right now, hell-bent on having it out with me, for all I know, considered Kate. No, Alan’s too careful to get caught out. I bet that his bottle has gone… can’t stomach any more cheating on his precious Deborah. I shouldn’t have bothered getting involved with him, I guessed that it might come to this sort of… Kate’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the front door.

  “Ah, finally, he’s here.” Kate said out loud, with a feeling of relief. Steady on… it could be Deborah… nah! It’ll be Alan. He’s probably just been held up or something, probably at college, thought Kate. She got up from the sofa and walked through the lounge, into the small hallway. She reached the front door and opened it, expecting to see Alan. But there was no-one there.

  Kate stood on her front doorstep, and looked up and down the road where she lived. There appeared to be nobody about. Kate frowned. That was definitely someone knocking on my door, I definitely didn’t imagine it. A thought crossed Kate’s mind; maybe Alan was playing some sort of practical joke on her.

  “Alan? Are you out there, Alan?” She called. There was no reply. “Alan, come on, if you’re out there, can you just drop it with the stupid pranks? It’s too fucking cold to be stood out here on the doorstep.” Kate went on, but her plea was met with silence. She walked up the front pathway, to the gate. Again, Kate looked up and down the road. It was empty. “Alan? Alan?” She called. Nothing. I give up. I must have imagined that knock on the door after all. Weird, thought Kate, before heading back down the front path, and into the warmth of her home.

  Kate Williams went into the lounge, and sat back down on the settee. Let’s try calling Alan again. Kate reached for her mobile phone; it was no longer on the sofa.

  “I don’t understand. This is where I threw it down.” Puzzled Kate. She looked towards the floor, in case the phone had fallen off the sofa. It wasn’t there. Kate ran her fingers along the gaps between the settee seats, thinking that the mobile might have slipped into them. When that produced no result, she stood up, and pulled the seats away from the sofa. There was nothing underneath them. Kate got down onto her knees, running her hands along the back of the settee. Again, there was no sign of the mobile phone.

  “I didn’t pick it up again after I threw it down… did I?” She said. “Or did I? No, I’m sure that I didn’t.” Kate stood back up, and scanned the lounge floor once more. She sank back to her knees again, this time looking underneath the sofa. The mobile phone wasn’t there. Kate was just in the process of getting back to her feet, when someone knocked on the front door again.

  This time, Kate ran through the lounge and the hallway to the front door, yet when she opened it, once again there was nobody there. Kate lost her temper.

  “Hey! Whoever you are out there… and I know you’re there somewhere… if you knock on my door one more time, I’ll be calling the coppers.” She shouted. Her voice echoed a little around the empty road, followed by a stubborn silence. Fucking kids… I bet it’s those fucking kids… the ones that are always hanging around down at the bottom of the street, outside the telephone box… the little bastards, guessed Kate. “If I find out who you are, I’ll string you up, you annoying little toss-pots.” Kate warned. She stood on the doorstep for a few more moments, before going back inside again, this time slamming the front door behind her. Kate bounced, angrily, back into the lounge. She turned off the light in the room, and then peered out, from behind the curtains, staring at the road outside. Come on… just try it again, you smelly little street rats… I’m waiting for you this time. Kate stood at the window, peeking out from the gap in the curtains, for five minutes, ten minutes, a quarter of an hour. Then she gave up her vigil.

  “It’s probably past their bedtime now. Tossers.” Said Kate, as she switched the living room light back on. She was just about to resume her search for the missing mobile phone, when Kate heard its ringtone begin to play, from somewhere in the distance. “What the fuck?” She muttered. Kate walked in the direction of where the ringtone was sounding. This led her out of the lounge, down the hallway, and into the kitchen. Kate flicked at the kitchen light-switch, which failed to come on. “Fucking light-bulbs.” She cursed, continuing forward, towards the sound of her ringing mobile phone.

  Kate followed the ringtone, and found herself at the fridge. She pulled open the door. Her mobile phone was inside, on top of a pizza box.

  “How the hell did it get into here?” She asked, reaching for the phone. Kate pulled it from the fridge. It was Alan calling. She put the phone up to her ear and answered the call.

  “Alan? Where are you?” She asked, in a stroppy voice.

  “I’m upstairs.” Came a whispered reply. Then the line went dead. Kate froze for a few seconds. Whatever Alan’s up to, he’s freaking me out now. This joke has gone on far enough. Thought Kate. She walked away from the fridge, back through the darkened kitchen, and into the hallway. Kate reached the bottom of the staircase and looked up to the upstairs landing.

  “Alan!” She shouted. “Alan, stop fucking around, and get down here now!” Kate ordered. A little jingle came from her mobile phone, indicating the arrival of a new text message. Kate opened up the phone’s inbox; there was a message from Alan, that read,

  I’m in your bedroom. Hurry up. I want you. X. Kate grinned for a moment. The saucy bastard… she thought, but then something else crossed Kate’s mind, hang on… how the fuck did Alan get inside the house? She decided to ask him, by shouting up the stairs.

  “How did you get in here, Alan?” Kate wanted to know. There was no reply from her lover. Another message pinged into Kate’s phone inbox. It was from Alan again.

  Come upstairs, and I’ll reveal all. But only if you reveal all to me, first. X. Kate giggled, and shook her head.

  “Alright, Alan. I’m coming to get you!” She shouted, before climbing the stairs. “I hope that you’ve got a good excuse for being so late, too. I thought you’d stood me up…” Kate Williams continued. She got to the top of the stairs, and walked along the landing, to her room. Before Kate went inside, she undid a couple of buttons on her blouse, revealing a fair bit of cleavage. A warm, pleasant sensation began to spread between the top of Kate’s legs. She entered the bedroom…

  Chapter Sixteen

  Mary Broderick had been waiting all night to take issue with her new boyfriend, Alex Crennell. The opportunity came when Gary Ackley left the pub table in order to buy another round of drinks, and the scary-looking, blonde-haired young woman called ‘Shark’ wandered off to the ladies toilets, at the same time.

  “What the fuck is going on, Alex?” Mary spat. “You didn’t mention anything about Gary and… that woman… walking the Black Pathway with us. I thought that we were going on our own!” Alex tried to placate his girlfriend with a smile.

  “Hey, what could I say? Gary said that he wanted to come, too. He loves getting out and about. He’s my best friend, Mary. I couldn’t turn him down.” Replied Alex. Please, Mary, please just say that you don’t want to do that fucking walk any more… I’ll be able to get out of it too, and without losing face. Fuck it if Howard Trenton has got one over on me. I don’t really care now… the more I think about it, the more I’m actually dreading three days spent out in the freezing cold, surrounded by fucking mountains… “You do still want to come, don’t you?” Alex enquired. Please say ‘no’. Please say ‘no’, Mary…

  “Of course I still want to do the walk, Alex.” Mary replied. Alex felt his heart sink. “It’s just… it’s not Gary. I like Gary. But Shark? She’s weird. And why is she called Shark?” Wondered Mary.

  “By all acc
ounts, she’s a bit of a biter.” Smirked Alex.

  “A biter?” Mary replied, puzzled.

  “Yeah, you know… a biter. In bed. She likes to, well… bite.” Alex said. Mary shifted uncomfortably on her seat.

  “Oh. I see.” Mary commented, her face flushing a little red in colour.

  “So, you’re still okay about doing the Black Pathway then? Because if you’re not happy about Shark joining us, we could always put it off until…”

  “Yeah, I’m fine about it.” Answered Mary, waving her hand. She sighed. “The more the merrier, I suppose.”

  “Exactly!” Exclaimed Alex, wearing a false, enthusiastic expression. “Exactly.” He repeated, trying to convince himself that walking the Black Pathway was going to be even more fun now that Gary and Shark were also on board.

  ***

  Kate Williams entered her bedroom, which was bathed in darkness. She reached toward the light-switch and pushed it. Light filled the room. Kate looked towards the bed, expecting to see Alan there, but the room appeared to be empty. Kate turned towards a large wardrobe at the other end of her bedroom.

  “Are you still playing your games with me, Alan?” She asked, smiling. “Come on out, Alan. I’ve got a treat for you.” Teased Kate, unbuttoning her blouse a little more. She walked slowly over to the wardrobe. Behind Kate, a skinny figure slithered silently out from under her bed. Kate reached the wardrobe, and stroked one of the handles on it. “You asked me to reveal all, Alan.” Said Kate. She looked down at her breasts, which were practically hanging out of the blouse that she was wearing. “Well, one more button should do it. Would you like to see?” Kate wanted to know. A muffled sound came from within the wardrobe. “I take it that’s a ‘yes’ then?” Smiled Kate Williams, and she pulled the wardrobe doors open. Immediately, Alan Lane, his head covered with a transparent plastic bag, fell forwards, almost knocking the woman over, before his whole body crashed to the ground. Kate jumped backwards, and looked down at her lover, who was face down on the carpet. His hands and feet were bound, and the bag that had been shoved over his head, before being tied in a knot under his chin, was filled with blood. Kate Williams screamed, but no sound came out. A skinny hand had come from out of nowhere and was now covering her mouth.

  Kate tried to scream again, but couldn’t. She was pulled backwards by someone standing behind her. It was Howard Trenton. He drew close to Kate, breathing heavily into her ear.

  “Alan will be dead in a few more seconds.” Howard whispered to Kate, who recognised his voice immediately. “He’ll either bleed to death, drown in his own blood, or suffocate from the plastic bag… whatever way that you look at it, he’s fucked. Shall we watch him die, Kate?” He asked. Kate suddenly began to struggle; she tried to run forwards, breaking from Howard’s grip, whilst at the same time attempting to bite at his hand, which was still covering her mouth. This was met with Howard tightening his grip on Kate even more. His other arm wrapped itself around her stomach, squeezing hard. Kate would never have guessed that Howard was so strong; it felt like she was being held by a man twice his size. “Try anything like that again, and I promise, Kate, I’ll make your death really, REALLY fucking painful. Do you understand me?” Asked Howard, his mouth close to Kate’s ear. The woman nodded slightly. “Good, good. Now, shall we watch Alan die?” Howard repeated his question. He felt one of Kate’s tears running over the back of his hand. “Fucking hell, Kate, I thought that you were made of tougher stuff than that.” Laughed Howard. “I mean, just look what a cold, hard bitch you were when you dumped me, out of the blue, last night… man, that hurt, it really did. I’m the one that should be fucking crying.” Continued the teenager, and he laughed again.

  Howard moved forwards a little, pushing Kate with him, so that they were standing right over Alan Lane. Howard kicked out slowly with his foot, pushing it against Alan’s shoulder, rolling the older man over, so that he was lying on his back. The college lecturer stared up through the blood-splattered plastic bag at Kate and Howard,

  “Look, Kate. Alan’s turning blue. That’s a good sign. It means he’ll be out of his misery really soon.” Howard whispered. Kate tried to turn her head away from the sight of her dying lover. Howard pulled his hand even harder against Kate’s mouth, and could feel the shape of her teeth against his palm. “Look at him, Kate, or I’ll crush your mouth so hard, your teeth will start cracking.” Howard threatened, in a soft, almost gentle voice. Kate turned back towards Alan, and Howard eased the pressure on her mouth. She was forced to watch as Alan Lane took his final breath, sucking some of the plastic bag into his mouth as he did so, turning it red. And then he died.

  “It’s done.” Whispered Howard. “I’m going to take my hand away from your mouth now, Kate. But before I do, I need to know that you’re not going to try and scream for help, or anything like that… because, Kate, you’ve got a choice here. You can either behave yourself, do exactly as I say… hey, you might even win yourself a reprieve if you’re a really good girl! Or… well, you can play me up, not comply with my wishes, piss me off… and that, my dear, will cause me to drag this whole, nasty business out for a very long time. I’m not in any rush to get out of here, Kate. No rush at all. I’m quite happy to stay here, with you, all night, if needs be. Now… are you going to behave yourself?” Asked Howard. Kate nodded, and Howard Trenton slowly took his hand away from her mouth.

  Howard continued to hold Kate from behind. Now he had both arms wrapped around her.

  “You can talk to me, if you want to, Kate. It’d be nice to hear your thoughts on what’s just happened to Alan here tonight. Me personally? Well, I think that it’s shocking, I really do.” Said Howard. He giggled to himself. “Just look at the poor man. He’d probably spent all day looking forward to seeing you, to getting around here and fucking the arse off you… and who can blame him, eh Kate? Man, I’ve been there, and it was sweet…”

  “Why?” Asked Kate, quietly.

  “What? Did you ask something just then, Kate?” Replied Howard.

  “Why?” She repeated.

  “Oh, do you mean why did I kill Alan? Why am I doing this to you, now? Is that what you mean, Kate?” Said Howard, his lips almost touching Kate’s ear. She nodded in response. “Because it’s what I do.” Howard informed her, and with that, he let go of the woman, then pushed her onto the bed. Howard remained standing, looming over his terrified victim. “You see, Kate, Alan wasn’t the first person that I’ve done this sort of thing to, and he won’t be the last, either.” He beamed. Howard puffed his skinny chest out a little. “Do you know how many people I’ve killed, Kate?” He asked. Kate shook her head.

  “Eight. Well, nine, including Alan here. Or maybe it’s more than that… I can’t remember…” was Howard’s answer. Kate closed her eyes for a moment in terror, and then opened them again. More tears flowed down her cheeks.

  Howard Trenton sat down on the edge of the bed. He smiled at Kate.

  “The first person I killed… I was only about thirteen when that happened. It was a sort of accident. But the ones after that, they weren’t accidents at all. They were deliberate. The first few, they were scary, because I wasn’t sure if I was capable of doing what I wanted to do or not. I was scared, Kate, just like you’re scared now. But do you know what? It turns out, I was capable of killing after all, and I never really looked back. It’s a shame about Alan though… he just got caught up in the cross-fire and…” suddenly, Kate lashed out, as hard as she could, with her leg. Her foot, which was clad in a leather boot with sharp heels, slammed into Howard Trenton’s chest, knocking him straight off the bed. In an instant, Kate shot up from off the bed, past Howard, who was lying on the floor, winded. She pulled at the bedroom door, just as a bony hand gripped at her ankle.

  “Come back, Kate. You’re not going anywhere.” Said Howard angrily.

  “Help!” Screamed Kate, as she slid backwards, towards Howard. She went to scream for a second time, but it was too late. Howard was up and right behind her again, h
is hand clamping down across Kate’s mouth.

  “Now, what did I tell you? Didn’t I warn you not to play me up, Kate? Didn’t I?” Asked Howard, as he dragged the college worker back onto the bed. “You shouldn’t have done that, Kate. It was a really stupid thing to do, because now everything’s going to be so much more painful for you.” Said Howard, and he grinned as his whole body slowly locked around Kate’s.

  ***

  Howard lay on the bed, next to Kate, watching the morning sun begin to filter through a gap in the curtains. Looks like that bad weather held off, after all. Good. I’ve got a lot of work to do today, thought Howard. He slowly pulled himself away from Kate’s frozen body, and sat up in the bed. Howard turned to his former lover, who stared up at the ceiling.

  “You look beautiful.” He commented. Howard ran his fingers through Kate’s hair, which was covered in frost and ice. The hair began to crack as Howard stroked it. He moved his fingers across Kate’s eyes, pushing the eyelids down, so they were forced shut. “Goodbye, Kate.” Said Howard, and he leaned forward, kissing the woman’s frozen forehead. Then he pulled the blankets up, covering the large, gaping wound across Kate William’s throat. Howard got up from the bed, and searched around on the floor for his pile of clothes. He glanced over at the body of Alan Lane, and smiled. “What a night, eh Alan? What a night.” Remarked Howard. He got himself dressed, and when he’d finished, Howard walked over to the curtains and opened them, letting in the daylight fully. Mary and Alex will be setting off on their little jaunt soon. Time for me to join them, thought Howard, looking out of the window. In the distance, he could see the moors and mountains. “Time for me to join them.” Said Howard Trenton, out loud.