The Hunter Inside

by David McGowan

  As they went up the staircase to the bedroom that the two boys shared, Joe was surprised that the kids did not ask him any more questions about their mother’s whereabouts. That was not normally the way of his children, who wanted to know everything from why the sky was blue to what a slow cooker was. The exhaustion brought on by their broken routine was evident in their lack of protest at being told it was bedtime.

  Another thing that surprised him was their getting changed into their pajamas quickly and without a fuss. They were normally as reluctant to go to bed as they were to get up in the mornings. ‘Now then,’ Joe said when they were firmly tucked into their bunk beds, ‘what’ll it be?’

  ‘Snow White, Snow White,’ Sean cried gleefully, suddenly energized. David looked on with a hateful gaze in his eye.

  ‘No, Red Riding Hood,’ he demanded.

  Joe looked from one child to the other. ‘Well, which do you want?’

  He was determined to keep a brave face for the children, and the way in which he asked the question made it seem like the most important thing in the world for the Myers family at that moment in time. His mind wanted to be somewhere else, thinking about Sandy’s whereabouts and whether or not she was okay.

  He tried to think of it in a ‘No news is good news’ kind of way.

  ‘Red Riding Hood,’ they both agreed, David getting his own way for a change. Joe wondered at their willingness to behave at a time when they could obviously play up, relieved by their quick agreement on whose choice of story they wished to hear.

  ‘Okay, let me see,’ Joe said pensively as he searched through the shelf that held some thirty books in range of easy access on the boys’ wall.

  Both children looked silently at their father, anticipating the story and trying to learn from his every movement how a person acts. Learning life.

  Meanwhile Sandy was making good progress on her journey. By the time Joe finished reading the story they were both asleep and Sandy’s journey was complete. After a further ten minutes cruising the small streets trying to find Melissa’s address, she pulled into the driveway exhausted.

  Seeing a light go on upstairs in the house, she was relieved that Melissa was home. Now all she had to hope for was that she didn’t have company. She lived alone and was a pretty shy person normally. But even if she were not alone Sandy was sure that Melissa would welcome her with open arms. She was thankful to have gotten this far in the first place and now all that she wanted to do was rest, dog-tired by the journey she had made straight through from Springfield to Jones Beach.

  She already missed Joe and the kids, and the jazzy tune that signified her arrival as she rang the doorbell did little to make her feel any better. Being out of the safety of a locked and speeding car made her nervous. She looked around as she waited for the door to be opened, taking in the tranquility of the scene. For now she didn’t know what the future would bring. She hoped that her stalker would get bored and leave her alone like he had the first time. Then she could get back to her life and her family. How she longed for that day to come. But for now she knew she must ride out the storm, and as she saw what could only be the shadow of Melissa Dahlia approaching the door, she pulled her tired and frowning face up into a smile, betraying the feeling of exhaustion that she felt weighing on every sinew of her body and soul.

  10

  The directions Bill Arnold had received were good ones. Within ten minutes he had forgotten all about the two men sat talking oddly at the roadside. He pulled into the lot of the Sleep-Easy Motel, noting the brightly painted buildings. In all honesty, they were a little too bright for him – rows of single storey strips split into cube-shaped rooms and sporting all colors of the rainbow which stood out under the illumination of fluorescent lights. They had, however, served their purpose of ensuring that he found the motel without too much trouble.

  As he stepped out of the car and walked towards the door of what looked like the main reception area, his relief at finding an end to his journey boosted him, and he fixed a smile on his face. It was mainly for the benefit of the attractive thirty-something brunette that greeted the ringing of the bell attached to the door with her own smile – a smile that Bill was sure had left many men either speechless, jelly-legged or both.

  He walked towards the desk behind which the woman sat.

  ‘Good evening sir, how are you?’

  Bill wanted to say ‘tired’, but maintained his composure long enough to make small talk with the woman before asking for a room.

  The reply was instantaneous, ‘Certainly sir, how long are you planning on staying?’

  ‘Erm, just a couple of days. Maybe more, but just book me in for two and I’ll get back to you if I decide on any more than that.’

  It was the first time Bill had been forced to actually think about how long he would be away from home, and it reawakened a feeling of nervousness, his displacement forcing upon him a sense of vulnerability. As he attempted to dispel this feeling, the woman behind the counter took the Visa card that he held in anticipation of her asking for it.

  She really is one fine looking woman, he thought to himself as she bowed her head slightly while swiping the card through the machine that would print a receipt confirming his payment.

  Her hair was shoulder length and hung straight and simple. That was the thing that drew Bill to her more than anything else, her simplicity. Classically good-looking women rarely feel the need to wear much make-up and Joanne (as Bill noticed from her also gaily colored name tag) was classically good looking with a capital ‘C’.

  Her deep brown eyes almost reduced him to a quivering mass as she held out the receipt for him to sign.

  ‘Please check the amount Mr. Arnold, and sign on the dotted line at the bottom. Thanks.’

  For a second he froze as he admired her looks, and a slight tinge of rouge appeared high on her cheeks before Bill took the slip of paper and mumbled, ‘Sure, sorry.’ Casting a cursory glance at the receipt, he signed it without registering its contents and handed it back, taking the chance to get one more look at her beauty unwatched while she matched the signatures using the back of the card.

  Joanne the Beautiful handed back the card, before standing and walking to a drawer about five feet from her original position. Bill watched her rear as she went, almost drooling over the counter as she stood with her back to him and looked through the keys before pulling one out and returning to the desk.

  ‘There you go sir, number Thirteen B.’ she said, smiling a smile which revealed once again to him her perfectly straight teeth.

  Great, Bill thought. Thirteen was another of his father’s superstitions and the ‘B’, his own initial, added an extra wave to the churning sea in his stomach.

  He took the key and thanked Joanne the Beautiful, before stepping out of the office and into the breeze. The chill in him grew as he walked down the row of small rooms, pausing at each to look at the number in the fading light as the time crept past 9pm.

  Bill found it unsurprising that the room was the last one on the row, but as he turned the key and opened the door, nothing mattered except having a relaxing shower and sinking between the fresh sheets.

  The room was adequate for Bill Arnold. As big as his lounge at home, it had all the comforts. A nice bed, TV set, and refrigerator. All within reaching distance of one another.

  He clicked on the lamp that stood on a small table next to the bed, and examined his face in the mirror. It held remarkable signs of the stress he was under, seemingly having double the amount of lines as it had the previous morning.

  Worry lines.

  He went into the small bathroom – which held a toilet, sink and shower – and removed his clothes. The least pleasant thing as far as Bill was concerned was being able to smell one’s own sweat. If the smell was bad to him then it must seem ten times worse to others who encountered him. He turned the knob on the shower and stepped in, the cold water prickling his skin before giving way to hot. He allowed it to work on his shoulders, fe
eling some of the knots slip away as the therapeutic qualities of the shower soothed him.

  As he took the soap and began to massage it into his shoulders, he allowed his mind to clear of thoughts of the situation he was in. All that he could think about was relaxing, cleaning himself up and getting a good night’s sleep.

  Tomorrow could look after itself.

  11

  ‘Oh my god, oh my god,’ Melissa Dahlia cried enthusiastically as she threw her arms around Sandy Myers. It was the first time she had seen her in… she couldn’t remember how long. ‘Wow, Sandy…how are you? What are you doing here?’ She had almost lost control of herself at the surprise of her best friend turning up on the doorstep unannounced.

  ‘I’m good Melissa, I‘m good’. The repetition did not reinforce the sentiment within her. ‘How are you?’ Sandy was forced to create a tone of excitement in her voice. The pleasure of seeing Melissa was tempered by the fact that she was exhausted and had not thought of a believable story to explain turning up unannounced at this hour of the night. All of her thoughts while she had been on her journey had been dictated by the unshakeable feeling that her stomach had been torn out; she missed home like crazy and it was a real effort to smile and be jolly in the circumstances that she was in. But these circumstances could not be revealed.

  ‘Come in, come in. Look at me, keeping you standing on the doorstep.’ Melissa stood to one side to allow Sandy to enter the house, already wondering just what was wrong with her. Despite their long bouts of separation they could always tell if the other had a problem or was upset, even when talking on the phone. The moment she had seen Sandy she had known that she was there for a reason, but Sandy had not answered her question about what that reason was. She looked exhausted, and Melissa decided not to press her for a reason; she would tell her when she was good and ready.

  Sandy walked past Melissa and into the hallway of the house. ‘Wow, this is a really nice place,’ she said, looking around the lounge and spotting their high school graduation picture hanging on one of the walls as Melissa ushered her towards a plush looking sofa.

  ‘Thanks, I’m glad you’re finally able to come and see it,’ Melissa replied with a tone of genuine happiness that made Sandy smile. ‘I’m not interrupting anything am I?’

  ‘No, no, of course not,’ Melissa said, a wide smile spreading across her face that Sandy was able to match. ‘Can I get you a drink?’

  ‘Yes please. Do you have any orange squash?’ Sandy needed refreshment quickly; driving all the way from Springfield without stopping had exhausted her and her mouth felt as dry she imagined the surface of the moon to feel.

  ‘Don’t tell me you’ve driven all the way here from Springfield?’

  ‘Yeah, I have.’ Sandy flopped down onto the sofa and instantly decided that she was never going to get up again. This was the best sofa in the world. She knew that if she closed her eyes for one minute she would be fast asleep.

  ‘You must be exhausted,’ Melissa said, then turned and walked through an archway decorated with a variety of small cactus plants on shelves to either side, into the fitted kitchen. She took a carton of orange squash out of the refrigerator before reaching into a cupboard above her head and extracting two glasses.

  ‘I am,’ Sandy replied, ‘I didn’t stop all the way here. My belly thinks my throat’s been cut.’ This quip from Sandy made Melissa laugh her old high school laugh. It was raucous to say the least. It had always amused her back then, and it had the same effect on her at that instant. Melissa put the squash and the glasses on the floor next to the sofa and sat down, putting her arm around Sandy as they both laughed uncontrollably for half a minute.

  Laughing along with Melissa made Sandy feel better and for a second she forgot the reason for being there unannounced at this late hour of the day. Just one second, but boy was it good to be there in Melissa’s house, away from the fear she had felt at home. She didn’t know for how long she would be away from these problems, or whether she would go to them or they would come to her, but for the moment she felt safe.

  If Melissa didn’t mind her staying on a couple of days then she could maybe sort herself out. Maybe her stalker would decide to leave her alone. That was what had happened after he had killed her parents, so why should that not be the case now? If he didn’t know where she was then he could not hunt her and he could not do her any harm. The only problem was that she didn’t know how long she would be able to stay away from Joe and the boys. She had a responsibility to them, and she knew that the longer she was away, the more upset the boys would be. For now, she thought they would be okay, but in a couple of days that would begin to change.

  As Sandy allowed her thoughts to flow, Melissa poured a glass of juice and handed it to Sandy. ‘Thanks,’ Sandy said, before gulping down half of the juice in one long swallow and issuing a relieved gasp. She placed the glass on the floor near her feet and reclined into the sofa’s soft caress.

  ‘I hate to ask, but do you mind if I stay here a couple of days? That is, if it’s no problem.’ The way in which Sandy spoke made it even more obvious to Melissa that there was a big problem. Sandy knew she was always welcome in Melissa’s home – no matter the circumstances – and Melissa wondered if Sandy’s vulnerability was due to problems with Joe.

  ‘Of course you can stay. It’ll be like old times.’

  ‘Thanks Melissa, I’m not sure we’ll be having any slumber parties tonight though; I’m beat.’ The relief Sandy felt at her arrival not causing a problem would only be bettered by the relief that an eight-hour deep sleep would provide.

  ‘Listen Sandy, you can tell me to mind my own business…’ Melissa was ready to probe, ‘but is everything okay? I mean, you look a bit green around the gills and you shocked me to death turning up out of the blue.’

  Sandy thought for a moment and decided to tell another lie. She was getting good at telling lies. Other people might have thought she was selfish to put her friend at risk, but Sandy didn’t feel selfish. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Sandy didn’t think a desire to stay alive could be considered a selfish thing. She would stay while things were quiet. If anything happened she would leave.

  Straight away, without delay.

  ‘I’m having a few problems at home. Joe and I have both been working really hard and it’s kind of getting to us both at the moment. I can’t keep up with it; just need a little break from the routine.’ Her ability to lie wasn’t good, and she was sure that her over elaboration would not go unnoticed by Melissa.

  ‘Well, okay. If you’re sure. But you can talk to me any time you need to. You know that, right?’ Melissa was not convinced that it was as simple as Sandy made it out to be; but support would be enough for now. Sandy could wait until she was ready to say something.

  ‘I appreciate you letting me stay like this. I know I kind of sprung myself on you.’ Melissa thought she made out a tear in the corner of Sandy’s eye and she hugged her. Sandy buried her head in her friend’s shoulder and composed herself while wiping the tear into Melissa’s sweater.

  ‘What are friends for?’ she said as they parted, and both smiled at the other.

  For now, Sandy’s problems seemed a thousand miles away, as she sat in Melissa’s lounge. Waves of sleepiness poured over her. These waves increased as the heat in the room began to take its toll and Sandy knew within five minutes of sitting down on the sofa that she would be able to stave them off no longer.

  ‘Do you mind if I go to bed Melissa? I feel like flaking out.’

  ‘Of course I don’t mind. Just go up the stairs and to the left. That’s the guest bedroom, and the bathroom is on the right.’

  ‘Thanks Melissa.’ Now all that Sandy had to do was get up the stairs; something else that may prove a problem as the pain in her legs, caused by holding them in the same position throughout her long drive, made stiffness encroach upon her mobility.

  Melissa laughed as Sandy rose laboriously and replied, ‘It’s no problem. Stop sa
ying thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow and we’ll catch up properly then, okay?’

  ‘Okay. Goodnight ‘Liss.’ Sandy hugged her again, before slowly ascending the stairs, too tired to take any notice of the framed New York skyline photographs that were placed at intervals on the stairway. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, almost tripping on the thick blue carpet, she was ready to go to sleep right there on the landing.

  The five yards she had left to travel seemed like five times more as she forced her aching legs to plough onwards towards the sanctuary of her best friend’s spare room. She would not bother with the bathroom; she didn’t feel that her arms contained the energy needed to raise a toothbrush to her mouth. She had been in too much of a haste to pack any clothes, or anything else for that matter. Tomorrow she would have to try and get some clothes, and shop for other items she would need while she was there, but for now she was pleased upon entering the room to feel a nice, secure air around her. It was an air that suggested good Feng Shui; her instant feeling was that she would be okay here.

  The room was small and homely. The huge army of teddy bears that almost covered the bed would protect her while she slept. Melissa had always had a love affair with teddy bears. Ever since childhood she had to have whichever one she saw and Sandy thought that the army she had for company was probably only a division of a much larger army that Melissa had set up to be a decorative comfort; not to fight.

  Sandy pushed half of the bears off the bed and onto the floor. She did not worry about sitting them all nicely as Melissa would have liked her to do; she was so eager to get into bed she did not even bother to undress. Her complete weariness meant she would not even think about ringing Joe until tomorrow. She didn’t want to wake up Sean and David; she knew that they could be a handful at the best of times, and they were more likely to be so with her away.