Becoming...

by Jacob Rayne

  Luke was sixteen when Kate, one of the girls from the year above, began flirting with him. She was pretty with long blonde hair and curves like a porn star.

  Luke was painfully shy around girls (other than Bryony) and at first didn’t react to her advances.

  He fantasised about Kate in his spare time, in between his macabre games with the stray animals of Marshton and his and Bryony’s new favourite pastime of breaking into cars and taking them for joyrides.

  As Kate’s flirtations became more and more obvious he finally relented. He was getting nowhere with Bryony, so he decided to give it a go. As far as he could see, he had nothing to lose.

  ‘Hey,’ she winked at him as they passed on the corridor. Luke felt himself growing hard when he saw the miniskirt that almost showed off her pert arse. Upon seeing where his eyes had gone, she smiled and lifted the skirt a little, revealing a black lacy thong and an inch of perfect tanned buttock. She winked again. ‘Were you going to say anything?’ she asked, a naughty smile on her lips. Her pink lip-gloss sparkled in the light.

  ‘Y-yes,’ he said. ‘I was g-going to ask if you wanted to go on a d-date.’

  She smiled. ‘Bless you, stuttering like that. Are you nervous?’

  Luke kneaded the bottom of his t-shirt and stared at his shoes.

  ‘Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you.’

  ‘It’s ok,’ he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

  ‘I’d love to go on a date with you. Why don’t we go and check out the Murder House?’

  ‘Um… I,’ Luke began but couldn’t voice his thoughts on visiting the house that was the scene of the beginning of his hellish childhood experiences.

  ‘You aren’t scared are you?’ she smiled. It was a kind smile, but there was a challenge in it too.

  ‘No, well, I…’

  She leant in close. Her breath smelt of mint and stale cigarettes and the scent of a delicious perfume teased his nostrils. ‘I’m scared too,’ she confided. ‘But it’s good to be scared sometimes.’ She moved her mouth to his ear. Her breath was warm against his neck and gave him a tingle in his groin. ‘Besides, if we go up there we’ll be all alone. I might even let you fuck me.’

  Luke couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She stared him in the eye and nodded, as if to show she meant her promise. Then she planted a kiss on his lips. ‘I’ll meet you outside here at nine tonight.’ Before he could reply, she had turned and walked away, giving him a naughty wink over her shoulder.

  He had to pinch himself as this all seemed like a dream come true. He watched her walk up the corridor, picturing the feel of her naked in his arms. The throbbing in his groin intensified so much that he had to turn and face the wall to hide his erection.

  There was no way he was going to turn down this opportunity, even if it did mean revisiting the terrifying house on the hill.

  Chapter 31

  Darkness had descended upon Marshton when Luke snuck out of his bedroom window at half past eight.

  Everyone knew that Peth Vale was no place to be going, especially after dark, so he dressed in black to make sure any lurking psychos found it as hard as possible to spot him.

  He had doused himself in expensive aftershave and had gone to the trouble of buying a single red rose for Kate.

  His heart slammed against his ribs, as hard as if he was running from the murderous clown who had brought a premature end to his childhood. His voice felt weak and tremulous, and he spoke aloud in an attempt to get used to talking with the butterflies he felt building in his belly.

  He walked up to the school, chewing three sticks of gum on the way to make sure his breath was fresh. Kate was stunning and he didn’t want the slightest thing to put her off him.

  He felt on edge, partly due to the nervous anticipation of meeting up with Kate but mostly because he didn’t like to be out after dark in his home town.

  He moved into the grounds of the school. Checked his watch. Eight fifty. He could wait. Hell, he’d wait all night if he had to.

  He smoked in an attempt to banish his nerves. It helped a little but not as much as he had hoped.

  ‘Psst,’ he heard from behind him.

  If he hadn’t recognised Kate’s voice he would have jumped. He turned and saw her crouched down behind the low wall that surrounded the school.

  ‘Oh, hi,’ he said aloud.

  ‘Fucking hell, ssh,’ she hissed, beckoning him towards her.

  He crouched and rushed over to meet her. Hid behind the wall with her.

  ‘Are you trying to get us caught?’ she whispered.

  Luke looked puzzled, but followed her gaze to the security guard making his rounds towards the place where Luke had been stood not ten seconds ago.

  ‘Oh, sorry,’ he said, feeling like an idiot.

  She planted a wet kiss on his lips in response. It was too short for Luke’s liking, merely whetting his appetite for more.

  ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘There’s plenty of time for that later.’

  They dodged over the wall, hugging the corner of the gym building as the security guard played his torch beam over the place where they’d been hid.

  Luke’s heart was beating at a frantic pace. Kate offered him her hand. It felt warm and fitted perfectly into his. He could feel that her heart was racing too.

  ‘This is making me so horny,’ she said with a naughty smile.

  Luke was too nervous to feel the same way.

  Kate dragged him to some bushes where they hid until the security guard had left.

  ‘Let’s go up to the field,’ she said, leading him by the hand. They were both on edge in case the security guard made another appearance.

  There were a few floodlights around the playing field for when the school’s sports teams played late matches. Kate led him towards the solitary illuminated light.

  They moved into the edge of the light, just so it was bright enough to see each other.

  As Kate pressed her body into his he felt the warm curves of her breasts against him. His erection poked her in the belly. Embarrassed, he pulled his hips away.

  ‘No, I like it,’ she said, fixing him with a sultry stare. She grabbed his arse and pulled him forward so his erection pressed into her belly again. ‘Mmm,’ she moaned.

  Luke was unsure of how to proceed, but he moved his face towards hers. They clashed noses and both pulled away, laughing nervously. Moving forward more tentatively, he kissed her.

  They kissed softly at first, then harder. Her tongue probed in his mouth. He had been kissed before but never like this.

  ‘Wait,’ she said, pulling away.

  Great, I’ve blown it already, he thought.

  She saw the disappointment on his face and reassured him. ‘No, I just want to get my dress off,’ she smiled. Her eyes twinkled in the light from the floodlight. She slipped her dress off, letting it fall to the floor, and stepped out of it.

  Her body was clad in lacy black underwear and looked amazing. He enjoyed the curves of her neck, savoured the swell of her breasts and the flat expanse of tanned flesh that was her stomach. The black panties showed enough skin to be pleasing but concealed enough to leave something to the imagination.

  Luke pulled her in, relishing the smooth warmth of her buttocks in his hands.

  ‘Not yet,’ she said, pulling her hips away from him. ‘You take your clothes off.’

  He hesitated a moment, not wanting to reveal his pale, scarred body to her, but he reckoned the experience was going to be more than worth the momentary discomfort he would feel and fumbled his t-shirt off, getting his arm tangled behind him in his haste.

  ‘Relax,’ she laughed. It was a kind laugh and it put him at ease.

  He self-consciously held the t-shirt over the broad scar on his stomach for a second then let it fall to the floor.

  She looked him up and down. Saw the scar and winced. ‘Jesus, Luke, that looks painful.’

  Luke shrugged. He felt safe with her. She didn’t want to pry. S
he said nothing for a moment that drew out for an eternity.

  Once again, he thought that he’d blown it, that his gross, misshapen scar had ruined it for him.

  Then Kate smiled. ‘Hey, let’s go to Peth Vale after all. There’s a bed there. It’ll be more comfortable than this hard ground. We’ll be able to spend longer there too.’

  This sounded good to Luke, despite the delay that this would present. Her perfect body disappeared from his adoring gaze, once again hidden under the black dress.

  ‘Won’t be long till you’re seeing that again,’ she winked. ‘I’ll take the lot off next time.’

  Luke couldn’t help but grin at the thought. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips then smacked him lightly on the butt. ‘Are you going to get ready? I want to get there as soon as possible so I can ravage you.’

  ‘Me too,’ Luke said, throwing his t-shirt on as he walked away.

  This was going to be sweet.

  Chapter 32

  After leaving the school grounds they took the shortcut through the woods, headed towards the outskirts of town, and thus Peth Vale. As they cut through the graveyard they heard raised voices coming from the other side of the small church.

  ‘Just pissheads,’ Kate said, noting the look of concern that had momentarily graced Luke’s face. ‘They’ll probably not even see us.’

  Luke nodded. Leaves covered the path like bodies on a battlefield. They crunched beneath their feet as they walked towards the small church.

  The voices came louder, one of the youths snorting laughter.

  ‘Fuckin’ class,’ one youth shouted and joined in the raucous laughter.

  Luke and Kate drew level with the edge of the church. The path they needed to take lay off to the right. The youths were gathered around the gate they were planning on using.

  Unconsciously, Luke started to guide them towards the unattended gate to the left.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Kate muttered. ‘That’s the long way round.’

  Luke said nothing, just glanced towards the group of lads who were now looking at them.

  ‘It’s ok, Luke. They’re just pissed. They’ll be no trouble.’

  Something about her voice reassured him and he changed his path so they were headed towards the gate on the right. Kate held his right hand.

  The gang looked away from them and continued their conversation.

  ‘See,’ Kate whispered.

  Luke smiled at her.

  ‘Now let’s go get laid,’ Kate said, planting a kiss on the side of his face.

  They drew to within fifteen feet of the gang. They were still continuing their conversation, not paying any attention whatsoever to Luke and Kate.

  Luke counted six of them, all swigging from glass scrumpy bottles.

  One of them looked up and met Luke’s eye for a second then took a swig from his bottle and let out a belch.

  Luke and Kate took a few steps forward. Luke was smiling, proud to be seen holding hands with the luscious Kate. The chavs still didn’t seem interested in them.

  Then Kate shouted, ‘I was right. It is him,’ and the group of youths ran at them.

  Chapter 33

  The whore Alfred had picked up on the outskirts of his new temporary home gasped and wheezed for air as he dug his thumbs into her trachea. Smiling, he thrust into her harder and harder, making the car’s suspension springs creak beneath them.

  As he emptied his balls into her, his grip on her throat relaxed. She smiled as she greedily gulped in air.

  The smile disappeared when she saw the gleaming cleaver he pulled out from under the front seat.

  The blood spray seemed to cover every surface in his car and he knew he was going to have to get it hosed down to avoid undue attention.

  There’d been a twenty four hour garage on the road into town, so he’d go there once he’d finished with the hooker. He chopped her into fist-sized pieces, small enough that he could dispose of them without too much fuss.

  The meaty feel of the cleaver digging into her lifeless flesh made him feel like a god. He bagged up the pieces of bloody corpse then used a shred of old shirt he found in his car to clean the blood off his face and arms.

  At the twenty four hour garage he pulled into the car wash, opened the car doors and sprayed the inside of the vehicle until he was confident he’d removed all of the blood.

  He turned the spray on himself, gritting his teeth against the intense cold of the water.

  Then he dumped the bags of the hooker’s remains in the bin behind the butcher’s on the main street and set off back to his temporary abode.

  On the way, he saw a road sign with a familiar place name.

  Marshton. His home town.

  Alfred smiled as he remembered his previous rampage in Marshton. That had been his finest hour, no doubt about it. It was fate that he was here, a mere hour’s drive from the place where he had started his descent into madness.

  Chapter 34

  For a second, Luke failed to comprehend what was happening. Kate was grinning, but it was a cruel grin now.

  The gang were already upon them. Luke tried to raise his right hand to punch the nearest youth, but Kate still held it.

  He pulled his body round, swinging a left hook. The punch was off target, hitting the nearest lad in the eye and sending him stumbling back.

  ‘The fucking prick’s hit me,’ he shouted, unable to believe it. ‘You’re gonna wish the clown had finished you by the time I’m done with ya.’

  Luke pulled his hand free of Kate’s and flung a hard right punch that connected heavily on the tall youth on his way in. His legs buckled, dropping him onto the tarmac.

  The glass bottle flew from his hand but didn’t break. Luke stooped and picked it up.

  Jammed it into the face of the leering chav who was already throwing a wild haymaker at him. The glass shattered on the lad’s face, sending a stream of blood running down from his eye.

  He cried out and fell back, clutching the wound.

  ‘You fucking bitch,’ Luke shouted at Kate then he set off running.

  ‘Did you seriously think I’d want to fuck a freak like you?’ she shouted over her shoulder.

  The gang ran after him.

  Luke’s heart was pounding fast now, but he was trying to think clearly. He knew his way out of the graveyard. Knew that there was an exit that led to a maze of alleys that ran towards his home. If he could get there he was confident he could lose them.

  His confidence evaporated when he saw two big men flying towards him. They hit him hard, knocking him to the floor and making him cry out in frustration as one of his arms went dead.

  One of the men pinned him down. Luke punched him in the eye, making enough room to squirm out from under him.

  The second big man was pushing himself off the floor with his arms when he realised that Luke was escaping. Luke slammed his foot into his jaw as he ran past. The youth let out an angry cry and fell to the floor like he’d failed to do a press up.

  Luke ran for all he was worth, headed for the exit that led to the back alleys.

  Luke was a tough brawler. Since entering his teenage years, he had possessed a ferocious temper and refused to give up in a fight. However, he always did his best to avoid trouble.

  He had a solid punch, and a hard kick, honed by long hours of training at the martial arts school Norma had signed him up for. He also had a well-practised chokehold which he had used to tap out pretty much everyone at his gym.

  Still, everyone but the dumbest knew that fighting numbers was a good way to get your face rearranged. Two, maybe even three, he could have dealt with – on a normal night. But with his mind addled by panic, one arm hanging limp by his side and his legs aching and useless from the effort of running, he would be lucky to fight off one of the gang.

  So Luke did the sensible thing: he carried on running as he reached the back alleys.

  The gang pursued him. One caught up to him, but Luke shoved him to the floor, barely breaki
ng stride.

  Two of the gang gained on him. Luke pulled a bin down, so it lay across the alley as a barrier. The first of the two lads hit the bin and flew headfirst into a pile of bin bags. The second youth hurdled the bin and continued after Luke.

  Luke rounded the corner and saw four of the gang at the far end of the alley. The other three came from behind him. The last member limped into the alley, completing the gang.

  The two groups of four moved closer, trapping Luke between them.

  ‘I will kill you all if you hurt me,’ Luke said.

  All of the gang laughed then one of them punched Luke in the face. The others laughed, harder than before. Fists clenched, they crowded round Luke, eager to have a go at him. Kate had caught up and she was watching now with interest.

  He dropped the nearest one with a powerful right cross. Smashed the nose of the second under his clenched fist. Just as the gang moved in for the kill, Luke heard a booming voice over their taunts and jeers.

  ‘Leave him alone, you bastards.’

  The gang turned. Luke saw Tom, a lad from his year at school, next to one of the gates in the alley. A wooden baseball bat dangled by his side. He stood for a second that seemed to take an age to pass then the gang went for him.

  Like Luke, Tom dropped the first youth to near him.

  Though they fought bravely, there were too many of the gang. Luke was severely handicapped by his exhausted limbs. Everything seemed to happen too quickly for him to react.

  One of the gang managed to wrench the bat from Tom’s hands. It was downhill from there.

  Luke took a punch to the jaw which made his brain move in his skull and nearly knocked him to the floor. He countered quickly, punching the culprit hard in the ribs. He felt them give way as he connected.

  The youth fell, spluttering, but another took his place, swinging at Luke, who instinctively threw his arm up to cover his head.

  Tom shrugged off a punch to the face and knocked his assailant down. Seconds later, another of the gang hit Tom in the gut and he fell to the floor, three of them surrounding him.