Half Life

by Heather Atkinson

  “Your stubbornness may have saved your life,” said Paige.

  “I think so. I didn’t hear from him for a few days after that. I knew he was sulking but there was no way I was going to apologise. Then he turned up at my flat with a bunch of flowers and an apology, which I accepted. I thought it was just a stupid joke that got out of hand.”

  “How were things between you after that?”

  “Fine. We did normal stuff together; the cinema, meals, that sort of thing. I’d almost forgotten about the cemetery incident. Then one night he was driving me home after a party when the car suddenly broke down.”

  “Another ruse?”

  “Yes, although I didn’t realise it at first. He said the battery had run flat and he didn’t have his mobile on him to call anyone. We’d broken down by this big old abandoned house. The Charming’s house.”

  “The site of the multiple murders?”

  “Yeah. I thought it looked familiar at the time but it was only once we were inside that it struck me where we were. I wanted to leave immediately, I was freaked out but he said we had no choice. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere at night. He said he’d walk to the nearest village at first light to find a phone, so I agreed to stay. What else could I do?”

  Paige nodded in agreement.

  “It was like the house had some weird effect on him. He walked through the rooms where the murders happened. Do you know the story?”

  “It was a bit before my time but I‘ve heard the legend. In the nineteen seventies the owner, Doctor Charming stabbed his wife and parents-in-law to death before cutting his own wrists. No one knew why. The house has been derelict ever since.”

  “Well Alex knew every detail of those murders.”

  “Mrs Charming, Alice her name was, died in here,” he said, leading me into the kitchen. “Dr Charming really went to town on her. The police report said it looked like she’d been attacked by a wild animal.”

  I felt sick at the eagerness on his face and followed him reluctantly into the large desolate living room.

  “He got his father-in-law in here. He was watching TV on the couch and they think when he heard his daughter’s screams he got up to investigate. Dr Charming came through from the kitchen covered in blood. The two men fought but the father-in-law was an old man and was overpowered easily.”

  He took my hand and led me to the stairs while I followed. I couldn’t believe this was real, I thought it was a dream and soon I’d wake up. All the time Alex talked, never stopping his horrible monologue.

  “Last was the mother-in-law. Dr Charming really must have hated her because she was hacked up the most, torn to pieces, in here,” he said, leading me to the bathroom doorway. He took my hand again and led me to the master bedroom. “When they were all dead Dr Charming laid down on the bed that he’d shared with his wife for eight years and opened up his wrists.”

  The whole house was empty, the family’s belongings long ago having been removed but there was a strange atmosphere, as though the former residents still lived there and were due to return at any moment. It felt like we were intruding upon their privacy.

  I snatched my hand out of his grip and ran back down the stairs, just wanting to keep running but the pitch blackness outside kept me indoors.

  “You set this up didn’t you?” I demanded angrily. “You sabotaged the car so it would break down right where you wanted it to so I’d be stuck here.”

  “Of course I didn’t.”

  “Don’t lie to me. What’s wrong with you? First you try and get me into a graveyard, now here. Why?”

  “I’m just trying to keep you entertained.”

  “You consider the slaughter of an entire family entertaining?”

  We argued and he spent the rest of the time in that house sulking. The moment the sun came up he walked to the village to phone a friend who came out to jumpstart the car. Alex was still in a mood when he dropped me off at home. Once again I didn’t see or hear from him for a few days and to be honest I was relieved. I’d found out what he was really like and it wasn’t pleasant. Then he phoned me. He wanted to meet up, so I agreed.”

  “Why? After everything he‘d done?” said DI Paige, trying to keep the incredulity from her voice and failing.

  “I just wanted to say goodbye properly. Things felt…unfinished.”

  “So what went wrong?”

  “We arranged to meet at a nearby café. He apologised, said it was a stupid prank that he took too far. He was so much like the Alex I thought I knew that I started to wonder if I hadn’t gone over the top.”

  “Did you take him back?”

  “No. On that I was adamant. I told him it was over. He was nice about it, understanding so when he offered to drive me home I said yes. It was broad daylight and there were lots of people about so I felt safe.”

  Mercy broke off to take a sip of water, her hand shaking and spiky heels tapping harder on the floor.

  “Are you alright to continue?” said Paige.

  Mercy nodded. “I just want to get it over with.”

  “Okay. In your own time.”

  “He was his nice chatty self until we were just a couple of streets from my house. Then he suddenly veered onto another road.”

  “Where are we going?” I said.

  “You‘ll see,” he replied in an eerily calm voice.

  “Stop the car and let me out right now.”

  “No,” he said quietly, staring out at the road with dead flat eyes.

  I tried to open the door but he put the central locking on. When I saw he was driving us out of town into the countryside I started to panic.

  “Alex take me home, please.”

  “No.”

  I wrenched at the door again, even tried to wind down the window but it wouldn’t budge. I pulled my mobile out of my pocket but before I could use it he snatched it from me and smashed it against the dashboard.

  “What are you doing?” I cried.

  Silence.

  “Please Alex, talk to me. Where are we going?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  That was all he’d say. When he pulled up outside the Charming house I knew I was in serious trouble. I was in the middle of nowhere with someone who was clearly deranged and it was starting to get dark. I’d never felt fear like it. We just sat there in the car for ages in silence. He stared out of the window, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

  “Alex?” I said gently, still hoping to reason with him.

  He reached under his seat and pulled out the biggest knife I’d ever seen. When he looked at me again his eyes had the same dead look and I knew then that this was the real Alex. The one I’d fallen for had been an illusion.

  “Get out,” he said in that same creepy monotone.

  I spotted my chance. The moment he released the central locking I opened the door and ran but I had my heels on so he caught up with me easily and pushed me over. I tried to fight him but he put the knife to my throat.

  “Get up,” he said quietly.

  There was no anger or even fear in his voice. In fact there was nothing, which was more frightening than had he shouted. He marched me up to the house with the knife pressed to my throat so hard I felt a trickle of blood run down my neck. No one was around, there were no cars. It was just me and him.

  He shoved me through the door and I fell, hitting the floor hard.

  “Alex, what are you doing?”

  He stood over me, staring down at me as though I was nothing. His eyes were cold and he looked as though he was capable of anything.

  “I want to see what’s inside you,” he said quietly.

  “What do you mean?” I screamed.

  He indicated my stomach with the knife. “I want to see what’s inside you.”

  When he raised the knife into the air I kicked him. I was panicking so I’m not sure where I hit him but he fell backwards. I ran for the front door but he grabbed my legs and the next thing I knew I was back on the floor. He rolled me on
to my back and raised the knife again. I lashed out with my feet and the heel of my shoe caught him in the face. Blood burst from his nose and he dropped the knife. I snatched it up and stabbed him over and over until he stopped moving. Then I ran outside. Thank God a car was passing. They nearly crashed when they saw me run out in front of them covered in blood. The driver called the police and the rest you know.”

  Her story told, Mercy slumped back in her seat, exhausted.

  There was a long drawn out silence as Paige regarded her thoughtfully across the table.

  “What do you think he meant when he said he wanted to know what’s inside you?”

  “Who knows? He’s a lunatic.”

  “You stabbed him thirteen times and not one of those blows hit anything vital. Did you do that on purpose?”

  “I’d like to say yes but I can’t. It’s all mixed up in my head. All I can remember thinking when I was stabbing him was that I never wanted him to get up again.”

  “He lost a lot of blood. If the ambulance had taken any longer you might have got your wish and you’d be facing a murder charge.”

  “Murder?” she exclaimed incredulously. “I’m the victim here.”

  “So far we’ve only your word for that. There were no witnesses and Alex isn’t well enough to make a statement yet. In fact everyone we’ve spoken to says what a nice normal man he was before he met you.”

  Mercy was on her dignity. “And who is everyone?”

  “His mum.”

  “Well she would say that, wouldn’t she?”

  “His friends, other relatives, they all say the same thing. He was fine then he met you and he started to go downhill. Missing days at work, becoming withdrawn and moody. His mum suspected you’d got him into drugs, although the urine samples you both provided prove that’s not true.”

  “I don’t believe this. He was acting weird because he’s a psychopath. The mask was starting to slip and I was unfortunate enough to be around when he flipped out. And if this is all down to me then how do you explain these?” she demanded, indicated the injury to her throat where the knife nicked her and the defence wounds on her arms.

  DI Paige’s eyes narrowed. “We’re still processing the scene. Let’s see what forensics turns up before we take this any further. Interview terminated.”

  With that DI Paige got to her feet.

  “Hey, what happens to me now?” frowned Mercy.

  “You’re free to go, just don’t leave the area. We will need to talk to you again.”

  “He’ll come after me, I know he will,” she croaked, eyes filling with tears.

  “I wouldn’t worry about that. He wont be going anywhere for a while.”

  “Please, you have to listen to me. He’s dangerous. If you let him back out on the streets he‘ll try to kill me again.”

  “Like I said, you don’t need to worry about that yet,” said Paige before leaving.

  Mercy looked so stricken that the WPC’s face softened in sympathy.

  Alex lay in his hospital bed, his body a map of wounds and bandages, praying he would be back on his feet soon. Mercy had really done a number on him and it was vital he finish what he started. Once again he attempted to sit up but he was gripped by an agony so acute that he slumped back into the pillows, defeated. He was so frustrated he couldn’t stand it. Mercy was still alive. It was his own fault, he’d underestimated her. He’d seen a pretty, dainty little woman and thought she would be a pushover. Next time he wouldn’t make the same mistake. Now it was vital he concentrated on getting better so he could get rid of her once and for all.

  Then he heard it. The click clack of high heels growing closer and closer. Panic flooded his body and he looked around for assistance but it was night and he couldn’t see anyone.

  Mercy appeared in the doorway of his private room, a smile playing on her lips. The blip of Alex’s heart monitor speeded up and his hand groped for the call button. In two strides Mercy was by his bedside and she snatched it out of his reach. Then she switched off the heart monitor that was beeping frantically with Alex’s terror.

  “That’s better,” she smiled sweetly.

  “I thought you were locked up,” he gasped.

  “Why should I be? You’re the one who tried to kill me.”

  “And if anyone knew what you really are they would too,” he spat back with more bravado than he felt.

  “And what am I?”

  “A vampire,” he breathed.

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Is that what you think? Oh you silly boy. I’m not one of those preening idiots. Vampires are so vain. You know, they actually enjoy all the films and TV programmes made about them. Unbelievable. One day everyone will realise they really do exist and start hunting them down with stakes.”

  “A werewolf then?”

  “No. They’re almost as daft as the vamps. We are something else entirely, something your limited imaginations have yet to comprehend.”

  “We?” he said nervously.

  “Me and mum and dad. There are others.” She picked up his casenotes from the end of the bed and started flicking through them. “You have a heart defect. You kept that quiet.”

  “I don’t like to talk about it.”

  She sighed and threw the casenotes back down on the bed. “Oh Alex I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I should never have let you get so close but I liked you. You‘re the nearest anyone‘s got to finding out what we are. How did you know there was something different about me?”

  “When we were in bed together I realised I couldn’t hear your heartbeat. When you fell asleep I checked your pulses; wrist, neck, thigh. I couldn’t find one. Then I saw it moving about inside you.”

  “By ‘it’ I take it you mean the real me? Of course you’re right. This body is just a way of hiding what I really am,” she said, indicating her attractive form. “But I’m afraid I’m in big trouble with the family. They’ve told me I’ve got to silence you once and for all.”

  Alex’s face turned even whiter. “I wont say anything, I promise. I’ll confess I went mental and attacked you.”

  “Oh poor Alex, I’ve already told the police that. They think you’ve slowly been deteriorating mentally. I told them you drove me to inappropriate places at night to scare me. DI Paige wasn’t as easy to convince as I thought she would be but the crime scene will prove my story, after all you really did try to kill me. The Charming house was an ironic place to take me to.”

  “So that was you?”

  “Not just me. Mum, Dad and Granny too. We were a lot wilder back then. Now we’re much better at controlling our homicidal tendencies. How did you find out?”

  “I was researching the Charming murders for the book I’m writing. I found a crime-scene photo, taken just after the bodies had been discovered. You were stood by the barrier the police had set up around the house, watching. That photo was taken forty years ago and you still looked exactly the same. At first I thought it could be a relative but then I noticed your parents stood with you.”

  “That was very careless of us, allowing ourselves to be photographed like that. I have to ask, why did you take me to the graveyard?”

  “The Charmings are buried there. I was hoping to elicit a response but I couldn’t get you inside.”

  “We don’t like graveyards. So many of our enemies dwell within them.”

  “Vampires?” he said hesitantly.

  She tutted and rolled her eyes. “What is it with you and vampires? You would be most disappointed if you ever met one. No, not them. There are so many other creatures in this world that you don‘t even know exist. My presence in the graveyard would literally have caused some of the dead to rise.”

  Alex’s heart thudded then fluttered sickeningly, causing a stabbing pain in his chest. He knew he needed medical attention but had no way of reaching it.

  She regarded him with her head cocked to one side, concern on her face. “Are you experiencing some pain?”

  “No. I’m okay,”
he lied, causing her to smile knowingly.

  “Did you intend to kill me the first time you took me to the Charming house and gave me the tour?” she said.

  “No. I just wanted to gauge your reaction.”

  “And what did you see?”

  “Sadness and a little regret. You are sorry for what you did.”

  “I admit I am. It was cold and cruel but that’s what happens when we lose control. I haven’t killed since, which is a huge achievement for a creature like me. Killing is in our blood and comes very easily to us. I’ve been good for so long but thanks to you I am about to fall off the wagon.”

  His eyes filled with tears and he tried to shout for help but she clamped a surprisingly strong hand down on his mouth, silencing him.

  “Ssshh it’s alright. No pain, I promise. I’m not called Mercy for nothing. Everyone will think your weak heart just gave out and there’s only one way I can think of achieving that. You’re going to get your wish. I’m going to show you what’s inside me.”

  Alex’s eyes widened with terror as Mercy drew herself up to her full height, amid a great ripping, tearing sound.

  “Crash,” yelled one of the nurses on the nightshift when the alarm rang in Alex Carter’s room.

  They all raced to his bedside and the student nurse stopped in her tracks, her hand flying to her mouth.

  “Oh God.”

  The patient was flat on his back, mouth wide open in a silent scream, dead eyes fixed on some invisible horror.

  A sound outside the room caught her attention and glancing into the corridor she saw nothing. However she swore she could hear the click clack of high heels and a soft feminine laugh.

  THE END

  RED ROSES

  Rosie is furious. JD has been gone for over an hour now. He said he wouldn’t be long, he was only nipping to the corner shop. She stands sentinel by the window, waiting to see her husband push open the garden gate and stroll up the path, however her anger is fuelled by fear. She shouldn’t have let him go out alone, it isn’t safe yet.