by R E Swirsky
"I used to live here," he said. He stopped in front of the fireplace and felt around under the opening for the release lever.
Tommy was about to open the fireplace, then he wondered if he really wanted to have her watch him reveal the secret room. He moved back near Sarah and picked up another strip of cloth.
"It's probably best if you can't see what I am about to do." Tommy wrapped another strip around Sarah's eyes.
"There were some horrible things that happened inside this house," Tommy said as he finished tying the blindfold. "Terrible things. And I am not talking about the murders that happened in this room. There are far worse things than murder."
Sarah, now bound and gagged, could only listen as Tommy spoke.
"I'm so ashamed to even be here, but it's something I have to do."
Tommy stood up, walked over to the fireplace again and found the release mechanism. He slowly pushed the fireplace back and revealed the secret room. He stood there, stared into the darkness and shivered. His memory tortured him. He could again feel the horror that Tim's voice represented as it had drifted out from the darkness on that terrible day.
Tommy felt suddenly all alone, and the terrible truth rose up from the deep and swelled like the behemoth that it was. In that dark room, only a few feet away, was the weight on so many friends’ minds and hearts. He wanted no part of that truth. But who else was able to rise up to make sure that there was no more hurt?
"I can't," he said aloud. He turned away from the fireplace and looked over at Sarah on the couch.
"You probably already figured out who I am and know that my brother and I killed our parents in this house."
Tommy saw Sarah jump at his words. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew who I was."
Tommy moved back next to Sarah and knelt down on the floor in front of her again.
"I don't know why, but I am not sure if I can finish this. You weren't supposed to be here and things don't seem so easy anymore."
He reached his arms out to touch Sarah, and then pulled them back. "I don't even know who you are." He crossed his arms across his chest. He felt uncomfortable about having invaded what was now her home. He looked at her and studied her features, looking for a reason.
"Maybe it's best that way," he said finally. He shook his head and wiped his eyes on his sleeve.
Tommy looked up past the couch to the room behind the fireplace and pointed. Sarah couldn't see him point through her blindfold.
"It's all in there… what he did. My dad. It's all there. Right in that room. And how many victims are still in there? I'm scared to find out." Tommy stopped talking and stared into the dark cavity beyond the fireplace.
"He sodomized them, you know? My teammates. My friends. Brought them out back to his shop and did awful things to them, and I feel so very humiliated for not knowing it was even happening. It hurts because he was my dad, and I really loved him so much. I never knew… I just never knew it was happening until it was too late."
Tommy started to cry. He reached up and placed his hand on Sarah's knee. He needed to touch someone to feel human.
Sarah flinched.
"I'm sorry," Tommy responded and pulled his hand away. "It's just everything is so wrong right now." He was hurting inside and needed to explain. "I left my brother up..." He couldn't finish the words. "I ran away. Just when he needed me, I ran away."
Tommy tried not to cry. "I've never ran away before. But I did this time. I ran away and left him up there. And then I come here and I am hurting you now."
He looked about hoping to hear some word of comfort, but Sarah could offer none.
"I am so sorry. So sorry. I shouldn't have tied you up. I don't know what's happening to me. I don't like this at all."
Tommy stood up and stared into the dark room. He could almost see shadows inside, and he shuddered as he was sure he could see them moving around.
"And it's gotta stop. The hurt, I mean. My dad's dead now. He can't hurt anyone anymore, but what's in that room continues to hurt. Until it's all gone, the hurt will stay because they all know it's still out there. Pictures and video recordings of them all, and secretly they cry… they know it still exists."
Sarah grunted in response.
Sarah's phone suddenly began to ring, and Sarah turned her head towards the phone on the end table. Tommy shook his head, "We're not going to answer it."
The two of them listened until the ringing stopped. Tommy sighed and returned his focus to what happened to so many of his friends.
"They don't talk about it at all, you know. None of 'em. But that doesn't mean the hurt’s not there. I'm afraid, I really am. I don't even know who they all are, and the truth, is I don't want to know. I am so scared right now, and once I walk inside that room I'll find out who they are. I'd really rather not know. Do you understand?"
Sarah gave a soft nod to Tommy, but he wasn't convinced she understood a word of what he rambled on about.
Tommy sat for a few moments and breathed in the silence. It spoke volumes of the pain he felt. He reached up and removed the blindfold he had just put on her. She looked back at Tommy, and Tommy could see she was very confused. She tried to comprehend what he had just told her. She followed him with her eyes as he stood up and once again, walked over to the fireplace and stared into the dark space beyond.
"My name is Tommy."
CHAPTER 90
Dean rushed out to his cruiser and left Simon's lifeless and mutilated body in the chair inside the darkened living room. He was worried about Sarah now. He called the number Sarah gave him, but there was no answer. The call went to voicemail. He didn't leave a message and instead called his dispatch back in Bluffington to request that a car be sent over to Sarah's house to make sure she was okay. He asked that he be updated immediately after the car arrived at her house.
Dean then called the Calgary City Police and explained the situation with Simon. Simon was dead. He was he killed after being brutally tortured by Gerald. There was only one reason in Dean's mind why Gerald would torture Simon so severely: to find out where Sarah lived.
To say that Gerald was "not a very nice guy" was the biggest understatement Dean had ever heard.
Dean sat in his car and looked at his watch. He knew he would be tied up here with Simon's body until long after the City Police arrived. He wished he could just leave and get down to Sarah's immediately, but he knew he couldn’t head back to Bluffington until all the details were captured.
CHAPTER 91
Tommy was still standing at the entrance to the secret room when the doorbell in the front hall rang out. Tommy skipped quickly back over to Sarah and put his hand softly upon the gag he had wrapped around Sarah's mouth. He whispered in her ear.
"Were you expecting someone?"
Sarah shook her head hard from side to side.
The doorbell rang again and a quick, repeated knock on the front door followed.
"Shhh," Tommy instructed Sarah. "Maybe they will go away."
Tommy looked around the room and thought about running up and pulling the fireplace closed, but he didn't dare leave Sarah alone. She had been cooperating up until now, and he wanted it to stay that way. He leaned over to the front window and slipped one hand between the shears to create a small opening so he could see out to the front of the property.
"Shit!" Tommy said softly as he spotted a police car in front of the house. There were no lights flashing on the car. It was parked directly in front of the house, and Tommy could clearly see it was empty.
Tommy looked back at Sarah and decided not to tell her it was the police in case she would scream to raise alarm.
"Let's just be quiet until they leave," he suggested.
More minutes passed by and the doorbell rang once more. Again, it was followed by another set of knocks. The knocks were much more persistent this time.
Tommy wiped at the sweat that had begun to collect on his forehead. He held hi
s breath and kept one hand gently pressed over Sarah's mouth. He looked out the front window again and breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the officer walk away down the sidewalk and climb back inside the police car.
The police car remained in front of the house for what seemed forever to Tommy, but it finally drove off, and he removed his hand from Sarah's mouth. He desperately wanted her to trust that he didn’t want to hurt her, but he was unable to let his guard down.
Tommy rechecked her bindings and walked about the room nervously. He knew he should be getting on with finding the tapes in the secret room, but he felt truly ashamed at having tied Sarah up. He was still not sure what he should do about it.
Tommy finally moved back towards Sarah and removed her gag.
"Listen, I just can't do this with you sitting here looking like this. I need to know you're going to be okay."
Sarah nodded back.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I want to know you believe me."
Sarah nodded again. "I believe you," she whispered.
Tommy was not entirely convinced.
"Listen to me," he said. "I'm just trying to protect my friends who were hurt. Abused."
Sarah frowned, and Tommy could see that she was actually listening and attempting to understand what he was trying to say.
"One of my best friends committed suicide a few months ago."
"I am so sorry," Sarah replied. "But, I don't know what that has to do with..."
"My father was molesting him," Tommy said. "And I never knew."
"Oh my," Sarah said. She sounded sincere to Tommy.
"But it's really much worse."
Tommy could see Sarah's mood had softened. His own panic level had abated, and he now sensed that she almost seemed to be showing a sincere compassion for him.
Tommy continued to share with Sarah about what he was about to do and what he had already done. Tommy even confessed to Sarah that he was the one stirred up everything and caused her house to be broken into just before she moved in. He apologized deeply, and his anguish increased since he had no intention of ever causing her any harm. Now that he saw Sarah, he knew he committed a terrible violation of her, and Tommy didn't want her to be yet another victim. Sarah seemed to understand. He believed she was no longer completely terrified of him, and he sensed a small sliver of trust as she listened and asked her own questions.
Tommy talked for a while, and Sarah listened. As Tommy shared his pain and his fears regarding what he and his friends had suffered, Sarah spoke up and began to share some of her own pain. She even offered up her real reason for being so terrified when she had first spotted Tommy in the room. She was terrified of Gerald, and even as she looked at Tommy and screamed, it was Gerald whom she feared.
It didn't take long before Tommy was satisfied, and he knew he would be able to continue his task. He again apologized to Sarah for everything he had done up until now, and he told Sarah that he really needed to put the gag back on her. Sarah almost smiled as she told him it was ok. Tommy sensed that she understood.
He secured the gag. Tommy wanted to thank Sarah for understanding, but he couldn’t find the words. He could only manage a smile before he moved forward to the secret room to finish what he came for.
CHAPTER 92
All Bobby had wanted to do when he left Ricky on watch out by the river was to go home, grab a quick bite to eat and get back out to the river before Tommy and Jason arrived. His mother had other plans from the moment he stepped in the back door. She was home early and demanded that Bobby go grocery shopping with her.
Bobby was beyond upset when they arrived home to see Ricky standing at the back door. His mother continued to dump on him after Ricky left. She told him he wasn't going anywhere as supper would be ready soon.
The supper amounted to a simple soup and sandwich. On any other day, his mother's beef vegetable soup and tuna sandwich would have made him smile. He loved her soup, but tonight it lacked all flavour. Maybe it was his discomfort from having his mother ban Ricky from ever coming around again. She had no right to tell him who he could keep as a friend!
Bobby watched his mother with disdain. She puttered over at the sink, cleaned up the dishes and wiped down the counter where he sat, before he was even finished eating. It irritated him when she did that; it suggested he was a slow and sloppy eater. She would always give him her funny leer when she picked up his plate and wiped underneath it while he was still eating. Bobby took this as a warning to make no mess now that the counter was clean.
Bobby had always wanted to ask his mother, "Why wipe the counter before I'm done?" but never dared. He knew what the answer would have been. She always wanted to have control, and she always found it, sometimes in the simplest of ways. Today, she stepped it up a notch. She was out to control who he could see and who his friends could be.
The soup tasted awful, and Bobby suddenly pushed it away from him across the counter spilling it over the side. A trail of soggy vegetables lay strewn across the freshly wiped counter. He was sure his mother heard every single vegetable as it hit the surface of the counter. She turned rapidly towards Bobby with the wet and dripping washcloth gripped tightly in her hand.
"I'm not hungry," Bobby said and frowned.
His mother pulled her chin in and scowled.
"Look at that mess!" she chirped. "I just wiped that, Bobby!"
Bobby felt the tension inside of him overflow. He wasn't used to such elevated emotion within himself. He certainly never stood up or responded after his mother picked at all of the little things he did, but tonight she pushed him past his limit.
Bobby spun around on the stool and turned his back towards her. He crossed his arms across his chest and wanted to scream.
"Bobby! I want you to clean that mess up! You hear me?"
Bobby kept his arms crossed and stubbornly refused to acknowledge his mother.
"Bobby!" she shouted again. "It's about that damned boy, Ricky, isn't it?" she demanded.
Bobby just lifted his shoulders and kept his back to her. He was purposely unresponsive.
"That boy is just no good! I don't want him around here anymore. Is that why you are acting like this right now? Well, I want you to stop this nonsense right now. Turn around and finish your soup!"
Bobby couldn't take it anymore.
"No!" he shouted, uncrossed his arms, spun back around and stood up. He stared up at his mother's horrified face and rubbed his leg fiercely with the heel of his hand.
His mother stuttered in surprise at Bobby's sudden outburst. “You... It's soup! Bobby… That Ricky boy. He's just a terrible boy!"
"He's my friend!" Bobby shouted. "Stop talking like he's bad! He's not!"
"Bobby! You listen to me..."
"I'm not listening! Ricky's my friend, and he's not bad! You can't tell me who I can have as a friend!"
Bobby jumped off the chair and moved towards the back door as his mother watched in shock at Bobby's defiance.
"He's the only friend I have left!" Bobby shouted. He slipped out the back door and left his mother staring out the window at a loss for words.
CHAPTER 93
Tommy had just stepped inside the small secret room when he stopped and popped his head back out to see Sarah on the couch still bound up tight. He thought he heard a thumping sound. It was a very loud thumping sound. He studied Sarah, wondering if she was the source, when he heard it again.
"Sarah!" an angry voice suddenly screamed from outside of the house. It was a terrifying voice filled with a dark rage of fury.
"Sarah!" it screamed again. "I know you're in there!"
The thumping and pounding began again. The angry newcomer began to beat his fist firmly on the front door.
Tommy remained half in and half out trying to decide what he should do. He looked across the study to Sarah, and from where he was all the way across the room he could see she was shaking to a point nearing convulsions.
She was in absolute terror over the thumping heard coming from the front door. She twisted and turned her head about, looking back toward Tommy. Her eyes were filled with the utmost horror he had ever seen in real life. Although she was gagged, it was as if her terrified eyes screamed and pleaded to Tommy for help.
The thundering sound at the front door returned once more with a fury. Tommy was indecisive as he listened to the pounding of the man thrusting himself at the door to gain entry.
"Jesus Christ!" Tommy whispered.
Tommy froze half in and half out the secret room. Tommy heard another thundering crash and he knew the door was breached. He jumped inside the room, closed the fireplace and locked himself in.
CHAPTER 94
Bobby cried as he shuffled along the front walk down Founders Road. He felt a hurt deep inside from hearing his mother talk that away about Ricky.
"If she only knew what happened to him, then she wouldn't talk that way," he whispered to himself. He knew that wasn't the truth. If his mother knew what horror befell his friend, she might go even farther to suggest that Ricky was dirty and contaminated. This dirty boy, just by being his friend, would taint the pure image of her son.
Bobby ran as best he could down the road and began his search for Ricky. He wasn't just Bobby’s friend; Ricky had become Bobby's very best friend. He didn’t even look at the Oliver house as he shuffled passed it. Finding Ricky was the only thing on his mind, and he knew Ricky should be out by the river. If he had looked at the Oliver house, he would have seen that the front door was breached and lay askew on its side.
Bobby tried not to cry as he thought about how he talked back to his mother. He had never talked back to her that way before and feared the punishment waiting for him at home. He decided he wouldn't even think about going back home at all until it was dark. He would stay out late tonight if only to make her suffer. But he had to find Ricky first. Once he found Ricky, they were going to wait for Tommy and Jason to arrive, even if it took all night.
As fast he could move with his weak leg, he trundled forward down Founders Road and was soon back onto the river path behind the houses where he immediately spotted Ricky standing out on the suspension bridge.
Bobby smiled and waved to his friend.
