There were times where Bryonie had stayed over.
Times where Leah had fallen asleep while Bryonie was still awake.
Leah could even remember moments where Bryonie was acting weird in the morning. Weirder than usual.
There was a sick, sick feeling inside.
Like she knew deep down it must have happened.
Even though she’d give anything to believe it didn’t.
“Hey!” Bryonie called cheerily as she approached with Finn on the beach. “What are you up to?”
Leah forced a smile. “I just wanted to see how you guys were doing.”
“How are we doing, Finn?” Bryonie said chummily, grabbing his arm.
“Ah – great,” Finn laughed.
“Yeah, sorry I put you through that shit earlier,” Bryonie said. “I’m fucking crazy.”
“She’s totally crazy,” Finn grinned.
“Well, I’m glad you guys made up,” Leah said mildly.
“So are we all heading back together then?” Finn asked.
“Yeah!” Bryonie beamed, seizing up Leah’s hand.
Leah released its grip.
“You know what, Finn,” Leah said, “I really need to talk to Bryonie alone.”
“What?” Bryonie gushed. “Why? Finn can stay. Finn’s awesome.”
“No, you’re awesome,” Finn said into Bryonie’s ear.
“Please, please,” Leah murmured. “You know it’s … it’s about Darien. So…”
“Oh,” Finn exclaimed, putting his hands up in the air. “I read you. Loud and clear.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll see you back on the ship then.”
“Okay,” Bryonie said anxiously, not wanting to let go of him. “See you soon…”
Finn smiled and waved.
He trudged away.
“So,” Bryonie said, her head bopping up and down. “What’s Darien like?”
“Wait,” Leah said calmly.
“What?”
“Just … wait.”
They watched Finn as he moved further and further away.
He looked back a couple of times.
Waving.
Grinning.
Leah could feel Bryonie’s impatience.
“Just. Wait,” Leah said.
So they waited.
Then Leah’s face changed. “What’s this shit I hear about you fucking my Dad?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Even though she was quite a distance from where they were, Taylor could still see Bryonie and Leah talking on the beach. Leah did not seem happy. At all.
“What are you looking at?” Darien asked, stepping beside her.
He handed her a new glass.
“Nothing,” Taylor muttered, turning away.
Darien looked past her. “Admiring your dirty work maybe?”
“Darien, I don’t know what you mean,” Taylor said innocently.
Darien directed his gaze back where she wanted it. “I think I underestimated you, Taylor. You’re quite cunning.”
“You don’t know what I am.”
“I don’t?”
“You don’t have the slightest idea.”
“Well, I think you’re beginning to warm up to me. How’s that for a deduction?”
“Keep fishing, bozo.”
Taylor stepped away from the ledge. She walked across to the nearest pool and followed it round till she reached the diving board.
She turned and looked at Darien slyly.
Darien sipped his drink.
Taylor stripped herself bare.
This was it, she thought as she climbed the ladder. He’s going to be my answer.
He’ll fix everything.
One foot after the other. Until she was on top the board.
“Wait for me,” Darien said below. “I’ll catch you.”
He climbed down into the water and moved to the centre of the pool.
His eyes gazed up at her.
“Shall we count to three?” he asked.
“Why wait?” Taylor replied.
She dived off the board, spinning through time. Spinning through the air.
Falling into oblivion.
Falling into his arms.
She was all he desired.
Exactly as she wanted.
Taylor ripped Darien’s shorts away in the crashing of the waters, wrapping her legs around his cock, thrusting herself into it.
For all his strength and prowess, Darien seemed completely taken by surprise. As though no woman had ever dared to force herself on him.
They fucked together, with his back against the pool’s wall. His hands all over her body.
In many respects, she was nothing to him. His mind was nothing. His body. His sexuality. It was like a meal for her to eat up.
And while she sure that what Darien was feeling for her was anything but love, she knew that she was giving him what he wanted. What he craved.
And in return she would be able to use him.
Much sooner than she would think.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The room Finn was staying in was three times bigger than the room Agent Malone had been given. She’d forced Colton to lead her to it, which had them climbing the stairs all the way up to floor three just below the roof. Once inside she closed the door and motioned for him to sit down.
He reluctantly complied.
“You’re making a big mistake,” Colton said. “Finn is a stand-up guy.”
“He’s a killer. We have proof.”
“If you have proof then why do you need to search his room?”
“Because you can never have too much proof.”
She moved across the room.
Colton went to stand up.
“Stay,” Agent Malone ordered, waving her gun at him.
Colton let out a sigh and Agent Malone slipped round further into the room.
She stood at the edge of the bedroom doorway. Pushed it open with her foot.
This was it.
This was where he lived.
She could feel the killer’s presence lurking within every crevice of the room. Sure enough, things were spotless now. The bed was made. The carpet was vacuumed. The clothes were put away.
And yet Agent Malone knew it inside herself.
This was a murder scene.
“What proof do you have against Finn?” Colton called out to her. “How do you know he’s your man?”
“I know what he is,” Agent Malone seethed.
She opened the top drawer and poked her head inside.
Fresh shirts. Folded shorts.
Briefs.
She fumbled through the clothes.
“I’m telling you you’re wrong about him,” Colton sang out.
“Yeah?” Agent Malone grumbled. “How’s that?”
Colton’s voice was too low that she was unable to hear.
Agent Malone bent down on her knees and ripped open the bottom drawer. Empty.
She looked underneath the bed.
Nothing.
“Colton?” she called.
“Yeah?” he said back.
“Don’t go anywhere, remember.”
“I’m not.”
Agent Malone stood back up. She opened the closet doors.
Let her hand search around the jackets.
Felt around the top of it.
Still nothing.
She closed the doors.
Her eyes shifted towards the bathroom.
“Do you need a hand?” Colton asked, peering into the room.
“Back the fuck off,” Agent Malone cried, running at him.
Colton staggered backwards.
“I’m sorry,” he protested. “This just feels really weird. Since I haven’t done anything.”
“We’ll see about that,” Agent Malone said. “Go on. Get into the kitchen. I haven’t finished searching this place.”
“As you wish.”
Colton walked back round through the main part of the room
.
Agent Malone glanced back into the bedroom again. That bathroom door.
Just a little ajar.
Something stepped in. Told her to stay away. She wasn’t ready for it. She couldn’t handle it. She should call Davis and Trudy. They needed to be here with her. They needed to see this before she did.
“I can put the kettle on if you want,” Colton called out.
“You do that,” Agent Malone called back.
She went into the bedroom again.
Walked across the carpet to the bathroom door. Pushed it open with one hand.
Sarah’s eyes fluttered.
The brightness was too much.
Then of course, she saw the shoe on top of the toilet.
She wandered in towards it.
Yes.
Yes, Sarah.
It was a baby’s shoe.
And it was one she recognized.
The foot was still in it.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A muffled pop vibrated through the deepened waters of the outdoor swimming pool. It was either a pop, or a thud. Somewhere else it may have sounded like a gigantic bang.
Taylor surfaced, waiting for the water to fall outside her eyes.
Darien’s body gently moved in beside her.
“Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what?” he said, still showing affection.
“I don’t know,” Taylor muttered. “Sounded like a pipe exploding.”
“Hmm.”
He tried kissing her neck.
“Okay, okay, I get it,” she said, backing him away. “You can go on forever. I think it’s time we got out.”
“As you wish.”
Darien climbed out to the edge of the pool helped Taylor out.
She glanced back at the bar, noticing the bartender was still present.
“Get me a fucking towel,” she shrieked, trying to cover herself.
“Oh shit, of course,” Darien said.
He rushed round to where some fresh towels were waiting and hurried back, covering her up.
“Thank you,” Taylor said. “Now fetch me my clothes.”
He did as he was told.
She walked round slowly to where he was so as to shorten the distance.
As she began to get dressed, Darien moved away.
She barely had enough time to get her bra and under garments on before the paranormal bitch emerged from the steps. Taylor looked at her with a grimace, and then moved away to pull her top on.
Melissa came round to where she was.
“Have you seen Finn?” she asked.
“What?” Taylor replied.
She stepped in front of her. “Is he up here or not?”
Now Taylor could see her clearly.
There was blood on arms and face. Her left cheek was splattered with it.
The gun was in her hand.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Taylor demanded.
Darien moved round from the opposite side of the pool. “Is there a problem?” he called.
“I’m looking for Finn,” Melissa called back.
“He’s not here,” Darien called back. “Hey – is that a gun –?”
Taylor turned slightly. “I got this Darien. Stay where you are.”
“No, I’m coming –”
“Stay where you fucking are!”
Darien remained still.
Taylor turned back to Melissa. “What’s happened? Did you shoot someone?”
Melissa swallowed. “I really must be … I have to find Finn.”
“He’s around. But he’s not here.”
“Okay.”
Melissa turned. She began walking towards the steps.
Taylor stopped her. “Is shit over now? Can I go home?”
“No, you just wait where you are,” Melissa ordered.
“Hey!” Taylor said nastily. “I’ve done my part, now you –”
Melissa went to lunge at her in retaliation, but instead lost her balance and fell backwards into the pool.
Darien hurried over. “What the fuck is she doing? Bringing a gun here?”
“She’s not my cousin,” Taylor said. “She’s a fucking undercover cop.”
“Oh shit…”
Melissa swam across towards the ledge.
She looked half out of her mind.
“Taylor,” she said. “Give me my gun.”
“What?”
Taylor looked down.
She hadn’t even realized she was holding it.
“Give me my fucking gun,” Melissa shouted. “Do you want me to tell everyone how you were having sex with Leah’s Dad or –”
Taylor stood up…
Put the gun to Melissa’s head…
Pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It was dark now. Pure. Serene. Atmospheric. The crickets buzzed. And the oceans waved. My shoe landed on a burger wrapper which was about to blow away into the wind. Another one went by me. A soda can rolled across the ground.
They’d been eating. Their dinner most likely. I could see their faces, covered with breadcrumbs. The sauce sticking in the corners of their lips. Eating. Like animals. It reminded me of a new word I just learned – a disgusting word. A word so revolting that even as an adult man I was repulsed. The word I’m referring to is a type of meat. Long-pig. I have eaten it myself. It’s a natural occurrence that takes place after a kill. I never thought of myself as a cannibal though, as I never ate it in human form. As a human, I have eaten fish though. It comes cheaply around these parts. They call it flake. I’ve eaten flake and I’ve eaten long-pig, so I guess that makes me a cannibal both ways.
Or maybe I’m just an animal.
Like the animals I’m about to kill.
I lowered my head down towards the ground and banged my hand loudly on the side of the van.
Talking.
Commotion.
They’re moving about.
I calmly stepped round to the back as the driver’s door opened behind me. I could feel the face peering out.
“Who’s there? Identify yourself.”
I’d be doing no such thing.
I was even still wearing the shark mask. The one I’d bought earlier at the aquarium this afternoon.
It was a good fit.
I liked how it looked on me in the mirror.
And they wouldn’t know who was hurting them.
They wouldn’t be able to see my expression, or my emotion, or what was going through my head.
That was one advantage I had.
They, on the other hand, had guns.
“Come out with me,” the woman’s voice said. “You take one side. I’ll take the other.”
“Okay.”
I breathed in deeply. The air was so crisp.
The second door opened.
I watched as their shadows moved across the ground. I could see the tips of their guns and where they held them.
“If someone’s there, we’ve got you surrounded,” the woman cried shrilly.
The man stopped where he was.
Then he sneezed.
I guess that was my cue.
I stepped round in front of him and knocked the gun out of his hands in one clean swoop. Before he could collect himself further, I punched him in the stomach and let him drop to the ground.
I picked up his gun just as the woman’s shadow covered me.
“Drop it,” she said.
I raised my hand slightly.
My gun was pointed at her partner.
“Shoot me and he dies,” I said.
“You shoot him and you die!” she squealed.
“A bullet won’t kill me.”
I shifted slightly. Stared at her through the corner of my eye.
“Alright, alright,” the woman said moving her gun above her head. “What do you want?”
I laughed at her.
And I know how it must have sounded.
Like nails on a chalkboard.
&nbs
p; A sick. Twisted. Grinning mouthful of teeth.
I must have sounded so evil.
But I was just laughing same as always.
Before she even had a chance to lower her gun again, I’d shot both her partner in the head, and her in the stomach.
As she fell screaming, I loosened the gun from her fingers and tossed it aside across the pavement.
She looked up at me.
Terrified.
“You out here alone tonight?” I asked her.
She seemed bewildered a moment.
Then nodded.
“I know about your partner on board. Don’t worry. I’ll handle her. But … there’s no one else out here? No one I have to be worried about.”
“You – you’re him –” the woman trembled.
“I’m who?”
“You took Sarah’s little boy.”
I chuckled to myself.
The woman winced in agony as I aimed my gun at her.
“I took yours too, Trudy.”
They were the last words she got to hear.
PartThree
NIGHT
CHAPTER ONE
Bryonie could put herself anywhere. Name the day. Name the year. Name the time. If Bryonie was alive, there was a chance she’d remember it. And perhaps that remembering wouldn’t be as real as what was in front of her, but it was still more real than it should have been.
Her mind was going back again. This time not so far. Only a couple of months. The scenery though, the setting – it was completely different to this world.
They were in the backyard at Leah’s house, and there was a barbeque cooking. Clusters of people had gathered carrying glasses of wine and nibbling on snacks. Music was playing somewhere back in the house. Kids were running about.
It was Leah’s 22nd birthday. Aunts and Uncles were present. Grandparents. Cousins. And a whole lot of her friends.
Bryonie remembered Leah giving a speech just before lunch was served.
“Thank you all for coming,” Leah said with an infectious smile. “I know twenty-two isn’t a big deal – not like twenty- one and you all shouldn’t be too much bothered for me getting a year older. I promise I won’t drag you all out on my twenty-third birthday, at least.”
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