The BIG Horror Pack 2
Page 132
“Heinz!” shouted Jessica again. “I can see why your wife left you. You’re not a man. You pick on young girls and innocent, unsuspecting women. Why don’t you come out here and try picking on some of these men?”
“Shut up, bitch! I took care of those men at the stables, and no women are innocent. They are all whores.”
“Did those police officers even see you coming, or did you jump them from behind like a coward?”
Silence.
Jessica laughed cruelly. “That’s what I thought. You’re such a loser, Heinz. No wonder Blake Price doesn’t want to know you.”
“Don’t you do that…don’t you talk about him. He’s my friend.”
“Friend? Blake Price hates you. He thinks you’re pathetic.”
“No! Shut your whore mouth.”
“The only whore was your mother.”
Heinz let out a scream. Something flew out of the darkness straight towards Jessica. Howard nudged her aside just as the metal spike embedded itself in the mud, jutting into the air like a javelin.
Jessica turned to Sergeant Young and grinned. “Heinz isn’t armed anymore.”
Sergeant Young nodded and looked at her admiringly. Howard was also impressed. Jessica had obviously hoped her taunts would drive Heinz out, but disarming him was still a decent result.
“Good work,” Howard nodded.
“About time things started going right.”
“Come in here, whore, and I’ll kill you.”
“Why would I do that? I think I’m going to send these men in to get you.”
“No!”
Jessica faced Sergeant Young. “I’d rush him now, while he’s unfocused.”
Young nodded and his men ran inside the abbey. There was shouting, but no sound of a struggle. After a few moments, Howard thought she heard pleading.
One of the officers headed back out of the abbey and hurried over to Sergeant Young. “He legged it up to the bloody roof soon as he saw us coming.”
Just as the officer said it, Howard saw the shadow of a man on top of the square tower.
“I don’t want my officers going up there,” said Sergeant Young. “We’ll wait him out.”
The officer nodded and went back inside the abbey.
Heinz began shouting from atop the tower. “I will not be imprisoned again. I am a great man and I will do as I please.”
“What the hell is he doing up there?” asked Howard.
“Losing it,” said Jessica. “He’s trying to re-empower himself.”
“I would rather die than let you whores take me back to that place. I am not insane. I do not need a hospital.”
“There’s no word for what he needs,” muttered Howard.
Jessica remained silent, staring up at the silhouette of Heinz.
“I will not be beaten and humiliated. I judge the slags and harlots of this world, they do not judge me. I was put here to do great work, but if my work is finished, then so am I.”
Jessica hissed and spun around. “Get Price here now,” she said to Sergeant Young.
Young nodded.
Two minutes later, Blake Price arrived at the scene.
“He’s going to jump,” said Jessica.
“How are you sure of that?” asked Howard. It seemed like you couldn’t be sure of anything when it came to Heinz.
“Believe me. He’s so deluded that he’s romanticised death. He’ll embrace it long before he allows himself to be imprisoned.”
“I see,” said Blake. “Can’t say I wouldn’t like to see that.”
Howard sighed. “Mr Price, I know this man has done terrible things to you, but if we take him alive then we can continue to punish him for his crimes. Killing himself is the easy way out.”
Jessica added her opinion. “The more time we have to study people like Heinz, the more chance we have of protecting future victims. Heinz is mentally insane, and there are biological reasons behind that which we cannot learn if he is dead. Nor can we learn any information about the missing girl he claims to know about.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “Believe me, as much as you think you know about killers, I know more; but I came here to help, so what would you have me do?”
“Talk him down,” said Jessica. “Just like you said you could. Be his friend.”
“You want me to play nice with the man who raped my wife?”
“Yes.”
Blake shook his head and walked off in disgust, but he did so in the direction of the abbey. He approached the square tower and shouted to Heinz. “Hey Richie, what you doing, buddy?”
There was a long silence while the silhouette of Heinz flickered and shifted atop the tower. Howard felt his fists clench while he waited for the author to put their plan into action.
“Blake? Blake Price, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“W-why…what are you doing here?”
“I came to see you, of course.”
“They…they said you weren’t my friend.”
“Of course I’m your friend. You’re my biggest fan.”
“I am your biggest fan. I’ve read everything you’ve ever written. Even that one with the vampires, Twinkle.”
Price let out a strained laugh. “Yeah, that isn’t one of my favourites. So, how you been? Why don’t you come down and we’ll catch up?”
It was working, Howard saw. Heinz truly believed Blake Price was his friend.
“They locked me up in a bad place after what I did for you.”
“After what you did for me?” Price couldn’t hide his anger for a brief moment and Howard held his breath as he waited for things to unravel.
“Yes. I fucked that bitch of yours with a bottle of your favourite whiskey. I told her to let you be free. She was holding you back, Blake.”
Howard put a hand on Blake’s shoulder. The author was trembling with rage. “You’re helping us catch this son-of-a-bitch,” whispered Howard. “Just remember that, Mr Price. Everything Heinz says, he’ll pay for, I promise.”
Blake nodded. “I know what you did for me, Richie,” he shouted up, “and I appreciate it.”
“You’re glad I did it?”
Price looked like he might vomit, but he said, “Y-yes, I’m glad you did it. My wife was a bitch. She…she…she deserved it.”
“Then why didn’t you reply to any of my letters? Why did you move away to this horrible little town?”
“What letters?”
“I wrote you hundreds of letters, Blake. Hundreds.”
“I…I never got any of them. I sent you letters, too. Did you not get them?”
Heinz sounded confused, like a little boy learning that Santa wasn’t real. “I…I didn’t get any letters. You definitely sent them? You’re not lying?”
“I wouldn’t lie to a friend, not my number one fan. You know what I think happened? I think those bastards, the police, kept our letters from each other. They didn’t like us being friends.”
“They don’t understand us, Blake.”
“Come down here and we’ll make them understand.”
There was a pause before Heinz finally answered. “No, I can’t come down there. They’ll get me. You need to come up here.”
Howard looked at Blake and shook his head.
Blake took a series of deep breaths. “You sure you won’t come down here, Richie? I’d like it if you did.”
“If you’re really my friend, you’ll come up here.”
“Okay, I’m coming up.”
Before Howard could stop him, the author was marching into the abbey. Two minutes later, he appeared on top of the square tower, fifty feet in the air and trapped with a serial killer. Howard suddenly understood what having guts looked like.
8
Here was the man who had ruined Blake’s life and destroyed his family. Only now, years later, had his wife even begun to put back together the pieces of her self-esteem. This man—this monster—had broken into their home and filled it with nightmares.
Blake nodded. “Yes. I’ve been imagining this moment a lot.”
“Me too. It’s so good that you’re here.”
Blake didn’t want to waste any time on top of the rain-soaked tower. The wind was so strong it was capable of whipping them both off. “You need to come down, Richie. They’ll shoot you if you don’t.”
Heinz shrugged his bony shoulders. “Let them. I’m not afraid of dying. If my work is done, what do I have to live for?”
Blake cleared his throat and tried to keep himself from gagging on his own words. “You have our friendship to live for.”
“I haven’t seen you in years. How do I know you won’t disappear again?”
“I promise. Now that we’re together, they won’t ever keep us apart, but only if you come down now. If you stay up here, they’re going to split us up again.”
Heinz looked torn. He glanced over the edge of the tower.
Blake took a step towards the man who raped his wife.
Heinz straightened and looked at Blake. “Why won’t they leave me alone, Blake?”
“You really don’t know? You hurt all those women.”
Heinz flapped his arms and shook his head indignantly. Blake stepped back. “They deserved it, Blake. They were all whores, like the ones you write about in your books. You kill the whores in your books, but people love you for it. Why do they hate me?”
Blake couldn’t believe he was having to explain why murder was wrong to a grown man. “The women in my books are victims, not whores. I write about bad men who need to be locked up.”
Heinz’s expression darkened. “Like me?”
“No…not like you. You’re sick, Richie. You can’t help what you do. Let them help you. You could get out one day and have a real life. Don’t you want that?”
Heinz looked down at the police assembled below. “I had a life once, before they locked me up. They punished me for what I did to your wife. I tried to explain it was what you wanted. You were never home and you ignored her calls all the time. I used to follow you, I saw. She was holding you back, irritating you.”
“Yes, you’re right, I used to ignore her a lot. I was a bad man back then…a bad husband. I’m trying to be better now.”
Heinz looked at Blake with pity. “She’s got inside your head. You don’t get it, do you? Did you ever get it, or have you been lying to me this whole time?”
Blake felt the situation slipping out of control. It was only a matter of time before Heinz figured out that Blake was just telling him the things he wanted to hear. “Where’s the girl, Richie? You said you knew about a missing girl.”
Heinz scowled. “Chloe Tanner? She’s rotting in the ground where she belongs.”
“She has a family, Richie. Give them some peace. Let them have her body.”
Heinz was trembling. He looked ready to fly off the waterlogged tower like a firework. “They raised a whore. They don’t deserve peace. One day, I’m going to come back and get their other daughter.”
Blake did his best to stay calm. He had to keep Heinz talking. “Richie, listen to me. In my books, I always tie up the loose ends, don’t I? I can’t finish a book without letting the readers know what happens. How would you have felt if I left all my books with no endings?”
Heinz shifted his feet. “I…wouldn’t like it.”
“Exactly. I always give away the secrets by the end. The killer always takes pride in all his crimes. Do you really want to leave your own book without an ending? What if you died of a heart attack this very minute? What would become of your work? It would be incomplete.”
Heinz swallowed, his thick Adam’s apple bobbed and glistened in the rain. Then he grinned sheepishly. “I don’t know where I buried her.”
Blake frowned. “What?”
“It was some wood in some town, but I have no idea where. I was just driving around, looking for a girl. It was late, dark. When I picked her up and killed her, I had no idea where I was. Somewhere on the M5, maybe, or the M6.” He began laughing. “I have no fucking idea where I buried the little whore. All I remember is that I buried her nice and deep where nobody will ever find her.”
Blake closed his eyes for a second and took a few long breaths. “So you really don’t remember? Do you think with time, you could?”
“No. Why don’t we talk about something I do remember, like how your wife screamed when I shoved the bottle in?”
Blake flinched. “Why are you doing this, Richie? We’re supposed to be friends.”
Heinz tilted his head, suddenly taking on the mannerisms of a hungry snake. “I thought we were friends, but you don’t get it. I think that you did get my letters.”
Blake didn’t break eye-contact with Heinz. If he couldn’t say where he’d buried Chloe Tanner, then this whole situation was pointless. There was no point keeping up with the ruse. “You’re right,” he said. “I did get your letters. I got every single one of them and I used them to wipe my arse; but first I read them to all my wife so we could both laugh about what a pathetic loser you are.”
Heinz exploded. He flew at Blake with his hands outstretched, reaching for his neck. Blake was ready and shoved Heinz hard in the chest. The psychopath went tumbling towards the edge of the tower, but managed to right himself against the stone crenulations. He spun on Blake and attacked again. This time he landed a heavy fist under his chin. Blake felt his knees give out and slumped against the edge of the tower. Heinz continued his onslaught, driving a kick into Blake’s ribs, knocking the wind out of him.
“I’m your biggest fan, Blake,” hollered Heinz, “and you betray me like this. Do you think you’re better than me? Do you treat all of your fans like they don’t matter? Are we beneath you?”
“No,” said Blake. “Just the bed-wetting sociopathic ones.” He pushed himself up and barrelled into Heinz, shoving him back against the crenulations. They wrestled and punched at one another at the edge.
“I should have killed your bitch of a wife. Maybe then you would understand.”
Blake managed to land a fist on Heinz’s chin. “You’re a fucking lunatic. There’s nothing to understand. You’re just another mundane psychopath taking their anger out on women. You know how many men I’ve researched that are just like you? You’re not special. You’re nothing.”
“I’ll kill you!” Heinz managed to clamp down on Blake’s shoulder with his teeth, tearing into flesh. Blake cried out and shoved Heinz away from him.
The two men then stared at each other from opposite ends of the tower.
“I’ll kill you,” repeated Heinz.
“You only pick on girls, remember?”
Heinz snarled and ran at Blake who ran to meet him, and the two clashed in the centre. Blake swung his fist but was knocked dizzy by the top of Heinz’s head smashing into his nose. He felt his nose burst open in a gout of blood.
Heinz tackled Blake to the stone floor and mounted him, raining down fury with his fists. Blake tried to cover up, but several blows managed to get through. Each one sent his consciousness a little deeper into the background. Eventually his arms dropped to his sides and he could no longer defend himself. It was then that Heinz dragged him up by his hair, got him on his feet, and shoved him towards the edge of the tower. He felt a rib crack as his front collided with the stone wall.
Heinz spun Blake around and got in his face. “I love you, Blake. Your books speak to me. They were written for me. We are connected.”
Blake spat blood and laughed. “I didn’t write them for you. I wrote them for the money.”
Heinz raised his fist and struck Blake between the eyes. He moaned and flopped lifelessly, but Heinz kept him standing. Then he grabbed Blake under the arms and lifted him onto the wall. “Time for your big finale, Blake. It’s like we’re coming full circle. If only you’d been at home that day, instead of your wife, things could
have been so different for us.”
Blake tried to speak but his words came out as an incoherent slur. He was only half-conscious, but he understood that Heinz was about to shove him to his death.
“Heinz, step away from the author before I autograph your face with my gun.”
Heinz spun around. A few feet back, Blake could make out the hazy image of a woman; the same one who’d had sent him up here in the first place.
“What do you want, whore? Have I not beaten you enough for one night?”
“I’m still standing, ain’t I?”
While Heinz was distracted, Blake slowly slid himself off the crenulations and slumped to his knees. There, he took deep breaths and repeatedly blinked to try to get his focus back. He managed to see that the woman had a gun drawn on Heinz. Heinz, so far, was keeping his distance.
“You won’t shoot me,” he said. “You want to know where I buried the girl.”
“He…he doesn’t know,” shouted Blake from the floor. “Shoot him.”
Heinz didn’t turn around, but kept his eyes on the woman. “Or do I know? No way to tell, is there?”
The woman glanced past Heinz at Blake. “We’re going to get you out of here, Mr Price, but we need to know where Chloe Tanner is.”
Blake managed to drag himself to his feet. “J-just shoot him. Shoot him. He doesn’t know.”
Heinz spun around. “You can’t help it, can you? You have to take the side of these whores.”
Blake snarled. “The only whore here, is you.”
Heinz exploded again, like a predictable bomb. He rushed Blake, tossing him towards the crenulations. Blake grabbed the half-naked psychopath around the waist and held on tightly. The combined momentum took them both onto the stone wall. Heinz tried to throw Blake over, but Blake held strong, and as Heinz shoved him they both tumbled down.
They both went over the edge.
The woman atop the tower shouted out in panic. “Mr Price!”
9
Jessica raced forward as Blake and Heinz disappeared over the walls of the tower. The author had wanted her to shoot Heinz, had said the killer held no knowledge of the missing girl, but she had to finish things by the book. She had to do things clean, but that had all gone out the window when Heinz and Price went off the top of the tower.