He awoke later that night as gentle hands prodded and probed him; he was shaken from a deep sleep and suddenly sat bolt upright. “What is it?” He panted, “Is it the baby?”
“No relax, everything is fine, it’s just time.”
“Time for what?” He asked half listening, just relieved that her health wasn’t in danger.
“He said that I can tell you now.”
“Who said? Tell me what?” He snapped grumpily, “You’re not making any sense.”
“No, not that way,” she said. “That won’t work, we’d never get enough and how am I supposed to get hold of that much anyway?”
Duncan suddenly heard his wife holding a conversation without him, “Prim,” he said fearfully, “Who are you talking to?”
“Huh?” She said turning to him.
“Oh God, is it him?” He whispered terrified, “It is, isn’t it, but how is this even possible?”
She turned to him as though talking to a child, “How do you think genius?” she said cruelly, “He’s inside me now, inside our baby.”
“No,” he stated firmly as he began rocking forward on the bed, his knees drawn up to his chest in primal comfort.
“Yes, only this time we are going to do things properly,” she said, with a voice that wasn’t quite her own.
Duncan looked deeply into his wife’s eyes and couldn’t find her there; her once cute and pleasant face was now harsh and cold.
“Now I’m in much deeper than I could ever get with you Duncan,” the voice said, “No more battling, no more bargaining, no more compromise,” it laughed deeply and hollow. “Now I wear the pants,” it said looking down at the feminine form, “Well of sorts.”
“And when the baby’s born?” Duncan asked, his mind shot and his heart broken.
“I’ll rip my way out of this bitch and tear the guts right out of her,” the voice spat.
When the police broke down the door after some twenty minutes - after being alerted by neighbors who had heard the screams - they found Duncan Murray sitting in a pool of blood and gore. The first officer through the door was young and new to the force and he had promptly emptied his stomach contents over the crime scene. His older and more experienced partner had led the younger man outside to maintain a perimeter and seal the scene. The older officer was a sergeant and had seen much in his twenty year career, but even he had found the scene too disturbing and had taken early retirement not long after. He found himself having to secretly visit a psychiatrist after the events of that evening. He’d had to pay for it out of his own pocket, as it wasn’t the done thing on the force to admit that you needed such help. He had seen a lot of brutality in his time, as well as his fair share of bodies that had suffered varying degrees of sadistic violence. It wasn’t just the murdered woman that stayed with him, and it wasn’t just the blood or the violence that woke him in cold sweats for the rest of his days.
The coroner had told him a couple of days later that the poor woman had been pregnant. The man, Duncan Murray, the husband and father no less, had torn that woman’s body apart. He had ripped her stomach to shreds, cleaving the organs free and discarding them across the floor. Until the day he died he would remember that man’s distant monotonous voice.
“He’s in here somewhere,” the man had said looking up with pleading eyes that were quite mad. He was holding handfuls of bloody gore that were once the insides of his wife.
“He’s in here somewhere.”
5.
BLACKWATER HEIGHTS
“Jesus Christ!” Martin exclaimed when they were both standing safely outside of Duncan’s room.
“Right,” Jimmy chuckled with a crackle of life in his eyes.
“I think I read about that guy in the papers. I think it was just reported as just a guy that went nuts and killed his pregnant wife.”
“What else could it be?” Jimmy smiled.
“Hey, I’m not saying for one second that I believe him, but he was so calm and matter of fact about the whole thing. Aren’t you shocked by his story?”
“Oh I’ve heard Mr. Murray’s tale many times before,” Jimmy answered coolly. “I’ve heard all of their tales. That’s why I thought that you might be interested in the most fascinating of them, you know, for your book.”
“Hey, I’m not saying that I’m not interested, it’s just kind of a lot to take in. I mean I’ve never been around people, you know, like that before.”
“They’re people too you know, just people with more interesting stories to tell.”
Martin watched as Jimmy’s eyes twinkled; he could swear the elderly janitor was having a grand old time. He couldn’t tell if the older man was delighting in sharing the asylum’s tales or delighting in shocking him with them.
He looked down at his watch; unbelievably he was still only two and a half hours into his shift. His heart sank involuntarily as he realised that the night still had plenty of time to shock and terrify him. Not to mention the fact that Jimmy seemed in no mood to stop now.
“Do you need to take a break?” He asked hopefully.
“Oh I’m as fit as a fiddle my boy,” Jimmy smiled “Come on, I still have such things to show you.”
Martin followed as Jimmy shuffled off down the long gloomy corridor. They were soon engulfed in the shadows of the limited night lighting levels. The large windows barely let any illumination through their bars as the world outside was currently encased in a thick fog that the moon could not penetrate.
Suddenly Martin stopped dead in tracks; there was a strange tapping sound coming from somewhere above. “Jimmy,” he hissed, not knowing why he was whispering, “Jimmy.”
The elderly custodian turned back grinning, “I’m sure that’s just the pipes. It’s an old building, you’ll soon find that this building will talk to you after dark. The wind can whistle through the gaps and sound like whispers in the night.”
“For a minute there I thought that it might be…” Martin left the thought hanging.
“Horace and his tapping cane? Not to worry Martin I’m sure that Horace doesn’t rise this early in the evening,” Jimmy smiled as he walked away.
“How long have you been here Jimmy?” Martin asked as he hurried along the corridor to catch up.
“Some nights it feels like forever,” Jimmy said with an odd inflection in his voice.
Suddenly he seemed older to Martin; the bare light of the overhead fluorescents caught his face and aged it terribly, and his back seemed stooped as though it carried the weight of the building on it. The inadequate lighting created dark hollow shadows under his eyes and they sank deeply into a fleshless skull.
“Come,” Jimmy rumbled through a low growl, “The night’s wasting,” he said as he opened the next room.
6.
TWO BLIND MICE
Dr Samuel Dietz stood in his office overseeing the new arrival. His personal space was large and luxurious; there was no expense ever spared at the institute, especially when it came to his own comfort. The Heaven’s Reach Institute for the Blind rested amidst the verified air of snow covered mountain tops. The roads were only accessible for around nine months of the year and it was cut off from the world for the remaining three. The mountain roads became too dangerous for even snow born vehicles to attempt. There was a helipad at the rear of the institute for emergency usage if medical necessity demanded evacuation. Otherwise Dr Dietz was God of all he surveyed and his word was gospel.
The institute could home up to 17 permanent residents, but there were currently only five, with four other members of staff. His guests paid a modest fortune for the privilege of staying at the institute. Dietz knew that many of his business’ inhabitants were from wealthy families who had neither the time nor the inclination to look after them. He offered a solution to their problems, one that tucked their burdens far away from sight and guilty consciences.
He looked out of his office window that framed the beautiful mountain view to the car below. It would be the last weekend that he would be able to accept a new resident, as the weather had already worsened considerably and the roads would be impassable come Monday. In fact he’d had to pay the driver considerably over the odds to make the trip today, but his prize had been worth the expense. Sarah Conner had certainly merited the costs involved in bringing her to him. She stood below, arching her back to alleviate the stress of the long drive. She was a Nordic beauty set within her perfect environment. She was naturally blonde with piercing crystal blue eyes and cheekbones that could cut glass. Dietz ran his hungry eyes over her limber frame; she was a woman of extraordinary physical and financial splendor; she was perfect for his appetites. His selection and admission process were flawless and only the best and brightest were ever chosen. He paid a lot of money to an army of researchers and investigators to find his prey and it was a sound investment. According to her file her family were distant and none too interested. The bulk of her estate was held in a trust under her own name and inaccessible to anyone else. Her psychological profile indicated a perfect blend of vulnerability and loyalty, with an underlying lack of a father figure and a desire to please. The only slight problem was her beauty which seemed hauntingly familiar. He knew that his own weakness had almost cost him everything not so long ago, and he had sworn to himself that he would never allow his own dark desires to put him in jeopardy again.
His plans were mind numbingly simple in origin, but brain twistingly difficult in practice. He would select those most vulnerable to his own blend of medication and psychological manipulation and become the one figure to which they owed everything. Set within his isolated walls he would become their sole purpose for living; he would plant himself deep into the roots of their lives and become the one thing that they could not live without. After that, it was a simple case of having their wills altered and for him to become their sole beneficiary. He had been pulling the scam on the elderly during his previous life as a residential home owner. But, it had become more and more difficult to manipulate those whose senses and functions were failing as their minds drifted away and could no longer remember the hard work that he had put into them. He had toyed around with the idea - which he still thought was a solid one - before settling on a residential home for the blind. He made sure that his patients were vulnerable, often unsure of themselves, and emotionally under-developed.
He watched the car pull away and disappear back beneath the blanket of thick snow that had begun to fall once again; the white blanket sealing him and his guests from the rest of the world, and its prying eyes.
He wandered out from his office and down the sweeping dark oak staircase that dominated the atrium. The institute was a large wooden building that looked more like a ski lodge than a hospital. The log walls blended in perfectly with the snow covered surroundings. There were several luxury hotel standard bedrooms, but these were mainly available to the staff and one was kept as a showroom to any potential sighted inquirers. He’d always figured that it would be a waste of valuable money to spend on decorations that his guests could never appreciate. Their rooms were sparse but comfortable enough for his needs, and theirs had never entered much into his equations.
“Ms Conner,” he greeted his new arrival warmly as she entered on the arm of one of his nurses.
“Dr Dietz,” she replied in a tone to match his.
Expert ears
, he mused to himself as he evaluated her. He had found that some stereotypes were true and that some of his guests really did have extraordinary hearing.
“Please, it’s Samuel” he enthused, “We’re all friends and family here.”
“It smells so beautiful here and it sounds just so peaceful,” she added.
“It will be everything that you are looking for I’m sure,” he added solemnly.
Her face beamed with loveliness and he found himself drifting away into her eyes again. She had removed her sunglasses when she’d entered through the large imposing front doors. Her eyes were simply to die for; if they were really windows to the soul, then hers was one of serene beauty.
He shook the thoughts away from his rapidly clouding mind. He had spent so long with his desires held in check only to have them slip their leash and wreak havoc upon his world. She had been lovely of eye too. Sarah even reminded him of her; same high sharp cheekbones, same natural radiant glow, that halo that separated her from the herd.
Annie Brie had managed to entice the monster from his cave and had paid the price with blood and pain. She had been another of his potential prize picks; wealthy and removed, and full of possibility. He had felt the attraction from the very start. It wasn’t that uncommon for him to have felt the familiar tug, but it was uncommon for him to act upon it. He had enjoyed her company more than the others, his actions and words were somehow less forced and scripted when he was with her. He had felt the connection grow and bloom into one of a future pregnant with hope. He had known that she had felt it too and he had known that she had wanted him to take her. She had desired him to overwhelm her in a way that only the special ones did. To submit to his will in a show of worship and subjugation. He had fought against his desires for so long, but in the end he was only human after all. When he had made her wait as long as he was able to, he finally decided to give her the reward that she had so patiently waited for. He had come to her bedroom on a dark and stormy night with a passion that burned deeply within his dark heart, only for her to betray him. After months of her teasing, she had denied him at the last; denied him his prize and his will. She had tried to scream her lies, but he had choked the betrayal from her mouth with iron hands clamped around her throat. The red mist had descended and he had taken her after all, just not in the way that he had originally intended. Eventually when he had recovered his senses he had found himself standing over the bloody ruin of what had been Annie, her crystal blue eyes now dark and empty. When reason had returned, so too did his own powerful sense of self-preservation. His staff were loyal to a point; he could not operate without some degree of knowledge held by them, but nudges and whispers were held at bay by healthy pay checks and bonuses. He knew that there was no-one in his employee who would be prepared to overlook the rape and murder of a resident, no matter how much he paid them. He had scrubbed and cleaned the body with medical precision, then he had fashioned a noose and hoisted her body with the tied bed sheets and hung her body from an oak beam to hopefully hide the strangulation marks of his own hands. The investigation had been thorough enough - at least on the surface - and the institute was eventually cleared of any neglect. That verdict by the local courts had cost him pretty much everything that he had saved over the years and rendered him broke again. Annie’s family had been mercifully absent from the proceedings, and her parents hadn’t put up much of a struggle at the decision, and life had slowly returned to normal again.
But now there was Ms Sarah Conner standing in front of him with the same glow, the same halo that hung over her head singing praises of the special and the chosen.
“Let me show you to your room,” he said, gasping slightly as her feather light touch took his arm.
He led her up the staircase much to the chagrin of the nurse he left behind. Her face was creased with annoyance and he made a mental note to punish her with punitive duties later on.
“It feels so big and open here,” Sarah smiled as they walked.
“Well don’t worry, the whole building is designed around the needs of our guests. The layout here is specifically catered for easy access and memory. Within a day or two you’ll soon be up and around without the need for assistance.”
“The air feels different up here.”
“It’s the altitude. It’ll take you a few days to adjust so no mountain climbing until then,” he joked and melted at her smile. “Well, here we are,” he opened the bedroom door and led her in.
The room was one of the better ones at the institute and he was not unaware that it was also the same room that Annie had stayed in before her. Perhaps it was divine intervention after all.
The large four poster bed was dark and hand carved; the bed linen was pristine white and soft. The flow of the room was unencumbered by clutter and furniture with an oak dresser and matching wardrobe. The flooring was hardwood strips and devoid of anything that could trip. The throw pillows were of varying textures and materials, and there were differing potpourri pots around the room, all to help with orientation.
“It feels lovely,” she mused as she faced the window and closed her eyes against the warming sunlight.
Dietz watched her silhouette in awe as her radiance burned brighter. He felt the tugging of his own personal darkness, the long buried desire stirred in his grave and dug his way towards the surface.
“I’ll leave you now to get settled,” Dietz said in a strange choked voice as his heart pounded hard against his chest.
Once back within the confines of his safely secured office he sat and tried to impose his will against the rising tide of mutiny from within. With the door secured he opened up the large dark cabinet and snatched up the remote control. The TV screens shone with tantalizing promise. The cameras were safely hidden in every bedroom just in case they were ever checked by the outside world. Four of the rooms were currently empty as the residents were taking part in classes, using the TV room or congregating elsewhere. The fifth room however was now occupied with his newest acquisition.
He turned the screen on and his breath caught in his throat as he watched his princess slowly undress as she waited for the water to warm in the ensuite shower. Perhaps it was fate after all; perhaps she was sent to him as a reward for his good behavior. The incident with Annie was now a little over two years in the past and he had been well behaved ever since. Of the seventeen residents that had passed through his doors, he had managed for the institute to become the sole beneficiary in three wills. The rewards had totaled a little over £800,000 and were currently being siphoned off to swell his personal account.
He watched as Sarah stood gloriously naked before him, her figure glowing with an angelic light that seemed preordained for his eyes. He had been so good for so long now, so patient and enduring. His thoughts turned to Annie; after all he had gotten away with her death. The enquiry had ruled it a suicide and the fuss had been negligible and manageable.
The snow continued to fall heavily outside in thick clumps and he purveyed his kingdom, now isolated, now cut-off completely from the outside world. Perhaps it was time to reward himself after all, to seek out the life and love that he so richly deserved.
----------
The next two months swam by on a cloud of hope and a prayer of promise. As Sarah settled into her new life at the institute, she became more than he ever thought possible. In his mind they shared the first gentle soft probing of the meant to be. The careful exploration of virgin territory and the hazardous jungle of burgeoning emotions. He knew that she felt the same tug as he did, the same desire that he shared for her. She would never come right out and speak her mind; it was not the way of the chosen. Her thoughts were sent in a whisper of a thought and the ghost of a smile. They shared many intimate moments despite the surrounding people. They were never alone, but they were always alone and entwined together in his mind and he knew that the same thoughts ran through hers. He began to grow concerned as the weather started to clear unseasonably early. The snowfall grew lighter and less frequent and the signs of spring edged closer on the horizon. He began to feel time slipping away from him, as soon, the outside world would intrude again. A fresh influx of residents, services and a staff change would soon be upon them and the magic of their isolation would be broken. During the harsh winter months, the huge institute building contained just 10 people rattling around her quiet corridors; five residents and five staff members. It was a high enough number to operate, but a low enough number to feel alone amidst the white weather.
He had taken to spending his days within her company; always close by her side, whether it was in the classroom, dayroom, or TV lounge. He was always constant in her presence and she was never far from his thoughts. He would often stand behind her, feeding on her scent and desperate to reach out and just brush her velvet skin with his fingers. His nights were spent with her image in front of him on the TV screen in his office as he watched her sleep. He was proud of both of their restraint; he knew that it could not be any easier for her than it was for him. He always marveled at her ability to maintain her distance from him with the pleasant friendly smiles of the casual, never allowing her burning desire to surface. He greatly admired her powers of self-control, but with the season rapidly fading he had decided that tonight was the night to rewards themselves.