From the Dark

by K. A. Richardson

  ‘You should have done what was required. What I wouldn’t give to sink my dick into you right now – show you what a real man feels like. I might well do it – but not until we’ve had a little more fun.’ The sudden jerking movement of the knife against her shoulder made her jump. The tip of the blade cut into her jacket, piercing her skin with a sharp pain. He didn’t stop there. He pushed the blade further, his hand still on her arse as he held her steady. The pain grew in intensity and she gasped, knowing it was slowly sinking into her shoulder.

  23rd December, 2020 hours – abandoned abattoir, Leith

  Mark and Alex had left their brothers and sister at the rendezvous point with Pratt, knowing they would inform them of any updates. The panic was still sitting in Mark’s stomach like a weight, but having something to focus on was definitely helping. The fear that Duke had Toni was still there but this was a lead to catch a killer. That thought was giving him a spurt of adrenaline that helped him keep moving. If not for that, he knew he’d have ended up a puddle on the floor. I love her. The thought hit him suddenly, with the ferocity of a train, slamming into him and removing any semblance of doubt.

  Alex pulled the car up outside the abattoir they both remembered from being kids, and glanced at Mark, his eyes concerned. ‘You okay, Bro?’

  ‘I love her,’ Mark croaked, tears pricking his eyes.

  ‘I know. It’s a shit situation – Pratt has got it in hand. We’re here – we’re following a lead. Focus on the here and now – it’s harder done than said, I know, but I’ve been there. If you let it, the panic will overwhelm you and you’ll end up unable to do anything. Hold on to that feeling, Mark. We will get her back.’

  Mark nodded, pulling himself together and glanced at the abattoir.

  The small yellowing windows at the tops of the building were still solid glass, the wire mesh inside keeping them intact. The whole place was surrounded by temporary metal fencing. The street lights from the industrial estate lit up the area a little but inside the yard was still dark. The whole look was unkempt and messy.

  Mark nudged Alex, motioning towards one set of windows. They seemed to be brighter than the others – almost as if there was a light on inside. ‘Let’s go have a deek.’

  Alex smiled. ‘Ages since I heard that one. They use “gander” down in the north east.’

  Mark shrugged, lifting the fence post out of the concrete holder and leaving the opening ajar for them to exit back through when they needed to.

  Chapter 22

  23rd December, 2030 hours – abandoned abattoir, Leith

  The second they’d entered the abattoir through an unsecured emergency door on the far side, they’d both known something wasn’t right. The hairs had pricked to attention on Mark’s arms and neck, and he’d put his finger to his lips, telling Alex to stay quiet.

  They made their way down dark corridors, and the feeling of impending doom had increased tenfold. At the end of the walk-way, the wide doorway was covered by the remnants of thick plastic strips – he recalled that these were used to keep the inside area cool and free of flies.

  He and Alex stepped through the plastic curtain and were hit by the smell of death. Even though the room was freezing cold, the smell remained, dank and ingrained into the very materials the abattoir was made of.

  Mark had to put his hand over his mouth to stop any noise coming out. Alex silently made his way across the back of the room, and then vanished out of sight.

  Scanning his eyes left to right, and giving them plenty of time to adjust to the darkness, he had to accept that he couldn’t see Alex. The only thing he could do was advance in the opposite direction.

  The long, loud scream pierced his soul and he knew straight away that it was Toni. His instinct was to run forward, to find her and get her out of Duke’s grip, but he knew he had to be careful. The soft soles of his shoes were silent on the concrete floor as he slowly made his way towards the scream, doing his best to think with his head and not his heart.

  Mark shuddered, thinking about what Duke was doing to Toni. It didn’t bear thinking about. What he needed to do was get close enough to surprise Duke, then get Toni the heck out of there. Where the hell is Alex? Surely he needs to know the plan too? He couldn’t yell out, though – all he could do was move forward with his plan and pray that Alex picked up on what he was doing.

  All through the large room he was in were concrete pillars. They were support structures for the heavy metal beams in the high ceiling. The only light was coming from somewhere in front of the pillars and the dim glow from the small lights set high into the side of the building. It was barely light enough for him to make his way forward without walking into anything, but the dim glow was better than nothing.

  The further he got into the room, the brighter the glow from whatever light lay ahead.

  Another blood-curdling scream rang out around the old abattoir. The hairs stood up on Mark’s neck again. If he didn’t hurry it would be too late!

  He raced forward, moving at least three pillars from his previous position. It had the distinct disadvantage of making a little noise, even with his quiet shoe soles. He froze behind a pillar, controlling his breathing so it wasn’t gasping out of his lungs. Panic threatened to overwhelm him again. All he wanted to do was get to Toni.

  23rd December, 2035 hours – abandoned abattoir, Leith

  Toni could swear she saw a shadow cross the room at the back – not enough for her to see if it was a person or an animal, but it was a big shadow. Was someone there with them?

  ‘Help me, please,’ she groaned loudly – trying not to cry as Duke’s blade sank even deeper. The shadow moved again, closer this time. There wasn’t a sound in the abattoir except her breathing and Duke’s. His had grown deeper. She got the feeling for every millimetre he pressed the blade into her skin, he got more and more turned on. His erection now pushed against her leg insistently. He hadn’t seen the shadow – as far as he knew nothing was amiss. Whoever or whatever was skulking around in the dark corners, they knew she needed help.

  Toni cried out loudly, unable to stop the burst of fear and pain escaping. She really didn’t want to give Duke more ammunition to keep hurting her, but her mouth opened of its own accord. Never… felt… pain… like… this.

  She felt the knife blade hit bone and the painful pressure became even more intense. Duke pushed her from behind and pressed the blade harder. Something in her shoulder gave with a loud pop and suddenly the knife was in almost to the hilt. The pain was unbearable – she had stars dancing in her vision and had she been anywhere else, she’d have been swearing like a trooper and crying hysterically. But she ground her teeth and tried not to cry out – even as the pain pulsed in time with her heartbeat she refused to scream again, knowing her pain would somehow make him stronger.

  When Duke twisted the knife, however, all bets were off – her scream was long and loud, filling the echoey space and bouncing off the tiny plastic windows and the concrete floors. He pulled the knife out quite suddenly – and her blood instantly soaked her coat and jumper.

  She’d never realised before how exhausting pain was – this was probably only the beginning stages of the torture he would inflict and it was already too much for her. Toni let her head drop to her chest – I can’t take much more of this.

  More tears squeezed themselves out from her eyes, running rivers down her face.

  ‘Hurts, doesn’t it.’ Duke smiled at her, using the hand on her arse to knead the cheek he still had hold of. He jerked his dick against her leg, groaning loudly and she knew without him making any further sound that he’d just orgasmed. Eww gross. That’s disgusting. And holy fuck this hurts.

  Pain coursed through her body from the wound on her shoulder down her arms and back up again – it was a hot pain, and the longer it lasted the more she knew she was bleeding heavily. The damp area on her jumper inside the coat kept spreading downwards. If she’d been standing she figured her knees wouldn’t have held her up. Dark star
s continued to dance in her vision and for yet more seconds, she thought she might pass out.

  Toni was terrified – she could barely focus on anything but the pain in her shoulder and back. Duke was so close she could smell his sweat – and he was sweating despite the freezing cold in the abattoir. The smell was sweet and cloying. A wave of nausea passed over her. She swallowed hard to stop herself throwing up, trying desperately to slow her breathing so she didn’t faint.

  The shadow caught her eye again – closer again than it had been. She narrowed her vision in on a concrete pillar at the edge of the room. Is that a foot?

  ‘Help,’ she shouted, desperate to believe that there was someone in this hellhole other than her and Duke.

  A scuffling noise sounded, breaking the tension in the room. Even Duke cocked his head to one side, listening hard. From the look on his face, he didn’t expect anyone else to be in the factory. He took a step back away from Toni and tucked the knife in his belt. Sticking his finger to his lips, he tiptoed away from her towards the concrete pillar.

  Toni didn’t know whether to stay silent as he’d indicated or whether to scream. Deciding on the latter she opened her mouth and screamed long and hard – if she had seen a shoe she wanted them to know that Duke was coming.

  She heard another shuffle just as Duke approached the pillar – what she thought was a foot had vanished.

  Her breath caught in her throat and she waited, slowly releasing it as she focussed on the view of Duke’s back disappearing around the concrete pillar.

  There was a scream, like a wounded animal, and Duke flew backwards, landing hard on his arse, the knife from his belt skittering away into the darkness.

  Someone is there! Please let it be Mark.

  The shadow stepped out from behind the pillar, and Toni gasped – it was Mark.

  23rd December, 2045 hours – abandoned abattoir, Leith

  Mark had steeled himself for confrontation the moment he’d heard footsteps advancing from the other side of the concrete. He tensed, ready to lash out the second the person came around the edge of the pillar. When Duke’s face came into view, Mark used his full body to launch the punch that connected with the side of Duke’s jaw, sending him flying backwards to land on his bum with a loud thud.

  Duke glared up at him from the floor and Mark stepped out from behind the concrete pillar.

  Mark heard the slightest sound to his right – glancing over he saw Toni and his heart stopped in his chest. She was strung up on a meat hook, swinging softly and staring at him with her mouth agape. The distraction was enough. Mark realised Duke had got to his feet the second his fist connected with Mark’s nose, which exploded instantly into a mess of blood and pain. His nose hadn’t yet healed from the previous assault, and the pain was enough to make tears stream down his face.

  ‘Big fucking baby – didn’t your mother ever tell you that big boys don’t cry?’

  Another punch landed – this time to Mark’s ribs and he doubled over with a low gasp. Get a grip – do not let him land another punch, idiot! Remember your training.

  Mark straightened and twisted, the next punch glancing off his left shoulder. He kicked his right leg out hard, connecting with the side of Duke’s knee, which gave way. Duke hit the deck with a groan.

  ‘Fucking bastard,’ he spat, kicking his own leg out at Mark who stepped to one side so it didn’t connect.

  ‘Stay down. I’m warning you.’

  ‘Or what?’ Duke scrambled to get to his feet, and flew a couple of feet further back as Mark’s foot connected with his ribs with such force it physically lifted him off the ground for a moment.

  ‘Duke Bain – you are under arrest for kidnapping and assault. You do not have to say–’ Mark’s arrest statement was interrupted as Duke flew at him from the shadows, throwing punches rapidly and forcing Mark’s back into the concrete pillar behind him. Mark tried to fight back, but Duke was like a wild animal, kicking, punching, scratching. Mark felt the ring Duke wore dig into his cheek more than once, and tried to block the punches by fighting back. Mark’s head slammed backwards into the pillar as Duke grabbed both his cheeks and pulled him forward then pushed him back with force.

  Mark was dizzy – the force of the back of his head slamming against the concrete was so bad he knew the skin had split – his neck grew damp as blood trickled down. He didn’t register Alex grabbing Duke from behind and throwing him to the floor forcibly. Alex knelt on Duke’s chest and landed two heavy blows to Duke’s face, one to each side, knocking Duke out. He then turned him over, stuck his knee in Duke’s lower back and yanked his arms backwards.

  ‘He’ll have a job fighting now – you okay, Bro?’ Alex was out of breath and panting.

  ‘Yeah – I’ll live. Toni!’ Mark gasped and dragged himself back around the pillar, heading towards Toni.

  ‘See if there’s anything I can secure his hands and feet with, Bro? He’s going to wake any second and be full of hell.’

  Mark shot Toni a quick apologetic look as he looked quickly over the contents on the table at the back of the room he had been keeping her in.

  ‘Small back room,’ Toni’s voice sounded weak and she nodded her head towards an open doorway.

  Mark ran into the back room, finding cable ties in a packet on a small table there.

  He pulled a couple out and secured Duke’s hands and feet, Alex not letting up on the pressure until he was done.

  ‘Come on, leave him there. He’s not going anywhere. Let’s go get your girl.’

  ‘Toni,’ whispered Mark, looking into her eyes once he was in front of her.

  ‘Knew you’d come,’ she mumbled. Her face was pale, streaked with tears but deathly white underneath the smears.

  ‘How are we going to get her down without hurting her, Alex?’ Mark’s voice was desperate – I have to get her down. She must be in agony.

  ‘I honestly have no idea – we need the fire brigade I think. And ambulance obviously. Can you take her weight? Lift her up so it takes the pressure off the hook until the others get here?’

  Mark nodded. Staring into Toni’s eyes, he apologised once, then hoisted her upwards, supporting her weight with his own to relieve the pressure of the hook in her back. Her head lolled forward onto his shoulder with a soft groan.

  ‘I got you. It’s okay, you’re safe. I’ve got you.’

  Toni didn’t reply – her eyes fluttered closed and she passed out.

  ‘Alex – tell them to hurry. She’s passed out. My jacket is soaking – I think she’s bleeding heavily.’

  His brother approached, slowly feeling his way round her shoulders. He paused when his hand came away smeared in bright red blood.

  ‘I don’t think we can wait for fire. We need to stem this bleeding. Is she definitely unconscious?’

  Mark nodded once.

  ‘Then I say we get that hook out and assess where she’s bleeding from. It can’t do any more damage than it has already.’

  ‘Bro, take it slow, okay? She might not be completely out for the count. I don’t want to hurt her.’

  Alex nodded curtly. ‘Lean backwards slightly – when I pull this out all of her weight is going to be supported on you. You ready?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Mark ruefully, but he adjusted position so that he could better support the sudden weight difference.

  Alex twisted the loop outwards and bent his hand upwards as he pulled the hook out – he could hear her flesh tear and Mark saw his face go pale.

  ‘Jesus, this is disgusting. What kind of sicko does this? He must be warped in the head. Fucking freak.’

  Alex gave one last tug and the hook came free, Toni’s weight suddenly pitching Mark backwards. He couldn’t use his hands to break his fall, and landed hard on his left shoulder as he twisted to try and stop her hitting the concrete. His brother was at his side in less than a second, helping lift Toni off him and laying her flat on her back. Unzipping her jacket, Alex pulled both sides apart and Mark let out a loud cry as
he saw how much blood covered Toni’s front. It had soaked all the way down her jumper and down the waist band to her jeans.

  Mark lifted Toni’s jumper and T-shirt, exposing her bra and momentarily feeling embarrassed for her. He shook it off, though, knowing he had to get pressure on the wound which was still bleeding heavily. He looked up as Alex handed him the thin jumper he’d been wearing under his heavy coat. Without speaking, Mark pressed it hard into the wound on Toni’s shoulder and leaned forward, applying as much pressure as he could.

  He was terrified for Toni – her face was as white as the snow that had started falling outside just as they’d entered the abattoir. Her lips were blue – whether from the cold or the shock he didn’t know. Her breathing was shallow and rapid and her pulse was thready beneath the fingers touching the skin on her neck as he used them to hold the jumper in place.

  A loud groan started behind him that rapidly escalated into an animal-like screech – Duke writhed around on the floor fighting the binds that held him securely. He wasn’t getting away.

  A sudden thought hit Mark. How did Wright kill those boys – they were killed here. I’m sure of it.

  ‘Duke,’ he shouted over at the wriggling form on the floor, ‘Do you know Francis Wright?’

  ‘Fuck off, you filthy pig, I’m not telling you anything. I know my rights. I don’t have to tell you jack-shit.’

  ‘Read him his rights,’ Mark said to Alex. ‘Kidnapping, attempted murder, assault – anything else you think might stick.’

  Alex nodded, repeating the arrest rights in a loud voice. He’d just finished when a burst of noise came from the other end of the room and Pratt, along with all of Mark’s siblings, and another seven police officers came running in.

  24th December, 0110 hours – Edinburgh Royal Hospital

  Toni lay propped up in the hospital bed with cushions behind her – the steady beeping of the blood pressure and heartbeat monitors was starting to annoy her. She’d started to wake a few minutes before, but it was slow going, like dragging herself through mud. She only knew she was in a hospital because of the smell – that antiseptic smell that permeates the hospital corridors and wards was all around her.