Cane

by Dwayne Gill

  The humming of the power tool turned into a growl from her position inside, and she could now approximate its location. Near the outer wall, it originated from one of the cages. To her left was the killer’s living area, but he wasn’t there, and nothing looked disturbed. His lanterns were in use, scattered in areas she’d not seen before. They seemed to illuminate more of the barn than usual; she saw a lot of the women now.

  Kristy walked toward the sound, careful not to alarm any of the women. She wanted to announce that help was on the way, but she remembered the frightening sound of the women screaming in chorus and thought better. The noise was getting louder, and she finally saw the source. She nearly screamed when she looked inside but caught herself.

  Someone had emptied the cage. On the floor a circular saw sat upside-down, the blade facing upward. It was secured to lumber fastened to the floor to prevent it from toppling. The blade was knee-high.

  Spread eagle, above the saw, hovered the Blue Rose Killer. Someone tied his arms and stretched them out so he rested his weight on his hands; he was in a permanent push-up position. The bonds didn’t allow him to slide his hands, forcing him to remain posed. If he relaxed his arms even slightly, he would fall onto the rotating blade beneath him.

  Kristy saw his arms quivering from fatigue from where she stood but wanted to get closer. She nearly tripped on the extension cord leading to the saw but regained her footing. She heard Blue Rose grunting and sniffling. He must’ve been in this position for hours, and she doubted he could hold himself much longer.

  Whatever the case, he wasn’t a threat anymore, but Kristy wanted something more. She walked around the cage until she saw his face, which was a bloody, swollen mess. His confident, creepy smile was gone, replaced by terror. Blood dripped from various places, including his mouth, and he struggled to breathe. He appeared to be pleading with her, with his eyes, desperate for any chance to extend his life.

  He seemed to be trying to speak. Kristy considered walking away before hearing anything that would burn into her memory. She already had her share of traumatizing experiences to deal with.

  His head was nodding, like he sought to point at something. She glanced down and found a piece of notebook paper on the floor, now partially covered by dirt. She picked it up and looked. Names. Women’s names. She counted eleven, and beside each, a date and location. The locations occupied multiple lines, detailing states, towns, and noting landmarks. These are burial spots, she thought as she read through them. These may be other missing women whose bodies were never found.

  Had the killer found a conscience? Faced with death, did he have a brief flash of humanity?

  He moaned pitifully, still struggling to speak. It appeared to take all his strength to utter one sentence. “The man said…you choose.”

  It all made sense to her now. The killer revealed the information to save his own life. The man on the highway spared him in exchange for the names and locations on the sheet of paper and left his fate to Kristy. She could almost appreciate the killer’s will to live; he held himself up this long hoping to be spared. Like him, she also fought for her survival when it seemed bleak. I deserve to live, though, she thought.

  Kristy smiled at him. She didn’t want to say any snarky last words to torment him; that wasn’t her nature. She stepped to the rear of the cage, where he knelt forward over the saw. She stepped toward him, placed her foot on the small of his back, and applied pressure. He screamed but she couldn’t hear him; she was in her own place. He resisted, as she knew he would, so she added weight until his strength failed. Once the saw ripped into his flesh, she removed her foot. The blade continued its assault on Blue Rose’s body as she walked away.

  Revelation

  It was over an hour before the first cop arrived. Kristy tried to help the women inside while she waited; she offered them water and cut the ties of the ones secured to pillars, but none were responsive. She waited for help to arrive, fearing that moving them or trying to force the issue may do more harm than good. Kristy was waiting outside on the tailgate of the killer’s beat-up pickup when the policewoman, Ellen Barkley, arrived. Barkley seemed almost as shaken up as Kristy when she looked inside. She helped the women right away, though there wasn’t a lot she could do until paramedics arrived.

  Kristy gave the list of names and locations to Barkley, who thought it likely that it named victims of his past, perhaps even before he used his signature blue rose. Barkley looked up a few of the names and confirmed her theory.

  Kristy was mostly honest with Barkley; she detailed her escape and chance meeting with the stranger on the highway. She even showed Barkley the IV and sticky note he left behind. The only thing she omitted was her role in the death of the killer. Barkley appeared shocked, but seemed to believe her, though she didn’t press for all the details; she focused on the women’s survival.

  Two hours later the place swarmed with police, firefighters, and EMTs. The women inside were the priority; it took a while to get them loaded into ambulances. Not all would live; it was a miracle so many had survived this long.

  After they secured the women into ambulances, the police investigated the barn. Kristy pondered what went through their heads when they discovered the killer atop the saw; she wondered if they’d suspect her involvement, though it was unlikely. Before the paramedics ushered Kristy into her ambulance, she noticed metal poles with yellow flags sticking out of the ground in various places outside the barn. Curious, she asked Barkley about them.

  “Looks like your mystery man marked these as burial spots too. The ground was disturbed and had pieces of paper lying on top that said, ‘Dig Here.’”

  Barkley told her that if each of the marked places represented a buried body, then every known victim of the Blue Rose Killer would be accounted for. Thirty-two total, including the women recovered today.

  Kristy considered the strange man on the highway. She thought about how scary he looked, how dangerous his movements seemed, the eye in his truck, his lack of emotion. Yet, he saved her, saved the other women, and gave lots of families closure by his actions today. Kristy encountered two monsters on the same day.

  As she lay on the gurney and drifted to sleep, she had one fleeting thought:

  Perhaps it took one monster to stop another one.

  Last Word

  I hope you enjoyed this short story featuring one of the main characters in my novel coming this summer, Written By Blood.

  Check out the other short story featuring Daniel, another main character in my coming series. It’s called Daniel’s Darkness, available on Amazon, but free when you sign up to my mailing list.

  If you enjoyed this story, I’d be grateful if you’d post a short review on Amazon. I read all the reviews personally. Your support and feedback make a huge difference.

  Please visit my website and subscribe to my mailing list.

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  Thank you,

  Dwayne Gill

  About the Author

  Dwayne Gill is a new author that was born and raised in Louisiana. There he lives with his beautiful wife and his yellow Labrador Retriever and will have his first child in August 2018. The first book of his series “Written By Blood” releases in the summer of 2018.

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