BURN, BABY, BURN

by Jake Barton

  As Gary shifted his position to perch on the edge of the bed, Donna saw a glint of metal; he’d dropped the handcuff key. It lay in full view, but tantalisingly just out of her reach.

  Paula lay face down and Donna was unable to attract her attention. Celine shifted around and Donna saw with mounting exultation that Celine could reach the key if she could only manage to extend her arm. Donna looked full into her face and felt her hopes subside. Celine appeared catatonic, eyes bulging and, despite the chill, beads of sweat covered her brow. Donna managed to touch her elbow with the tip of one finger, but she made no response. She was out of it.

  Gary reached round and fondled Donna’s breasts, his fingers rough and aggressive. She shuddered at the contact and saw him smile at the reaction. She closed her eyes, blotting him out, and felt the mattress shift as he rose to his feet.

  As he moved away, Donna looked for the key, but it wasn’t there. Either he’d noticed it and picked it up, or his movement had dislodged it completely and it had slipped off the bed and was now completely out of reach. Donna groaned inwardly as her faint hopes of salvation subsided once again.

  Gary walked to the open door and went out into the corridor. In a moment, Donna heard him shifting furniture in the room next door where Marcus had his quarters. She tried to rouse the others, but Celine was still in some kind of a trance and Paula ignored all her efforts, staring at the open doorway and groaning quietly.

  Donna watched Paula’s face change as Gary returned. As Paula’s eyes widened in horror, Donna forced herself to spin round as far as she was able to see what had prompted this fresh alarm. Gary was holding a huge butcher’s knife, one of those with a flat heavy blade that a chef would use to crush garlic. Donna had always had a morbid fear of knives and the sight of this weapon confirmed the impression she’d had for some time. Gary had no intention of leaving any witnesses behind him.

  As if she’d voiced her thoughts aloud, Gary came directly over to Donna, waving the blade rapidly to and fro in front of him. He jabbed a thumb at the prone figure of Marcus behind him. "Look what I found in his toy chest. I think you should be the one to do the deed."

  "What?"

  "Why kill him, of course. Plucky little Donna saves the day."

  "With my dying breath, of course."

  "Exactly."

  "And you?"

  "Oh, I’ll be long gone by the time the Dibble get here. I was never here. Just you three and the wicked Marcus Green. I’ll slip quietly away, swim back to where I left my bike and go home to await the tragic news. Chief mourner all over again."

  He reached across and shook Paula’s shoulder. "Time to say goodbye," he said grimly, raising the knife high overhead.

  Marcus came off the floor like a wraith, his speed astonishing. Gary had barely turned when Marcus was on him, the fingers of one hand clawing at Gary’s throat. In dragging Gary off the bed, he caught Donna a glancing blow with the length of branch that Gary had discarded, which he held in his other hand.

  Donna was stunned momentarily and when she was able to focus her eyes once more she saw Marcus hitting Gary’s head repeatedly with the branch. The sound of each blow, like beating a wet carpet, made her shudder. The branch was blood-saturated and Donna could clearly see, even by the dim light from the paraffin lamp, that Gary was already dead.

  Shards of bone from his skull glistened with each blow from the club that Marcus continued to wield with no diminution of effort. His lips were drawn back in a snarl of pure hatred and Donna could see the broken stumps of his teeth.

  "Stop it!" Celine cried in a voice only one step from total despair. "For God’s sake stop."

  Marcus raised his head and dropped the sodden branch on the floor. He stood tall and walked to the cabin doorway, looking out into the darkness. When he returned, he was completely calm as if the recent events had never happened.

  "No sign of a boat," he mused, "But only a matter of time." Although he faced the bed where they cowered, Donna wasn’t certain whether he was speaking to them or merely thinking aloud. He walked over to the bed and smiled broadly at the expression on Celine’s face. Seizing her by the hair, he pulled her face round and kissed her lips with his ruined mouth, his blood dripping onto her breasts.

  "Stop? I’ve hardly started. Your late father over there, he was right about one thing. It’s time to say goodbye now. I’ve enjoyed your company, but all good things must come to an end."

  Donna felt Celine’s left hand reaching out for her own and took hold of her slim fingers. She was as cold as ice, shaking with terror. Grinding her teeth, her eyes bulging with fear, her fingers withdrew for a moment, and then returned, scrabbling at Donna’s wrists with a desperate urgency. Donna was confused until she felt the pressure on her wrists lessen and realised that Celine had managed to palm the handcuff key and that Donna’s shackles were released.

  She froze, uncertainty flooding through her, as Marcus walked away. Donna was free, but remained rooted to the bed, too fearful to confront him. Marcus returned almost immediately, carrying a metal can. He was limping slightly and his face was swollen and covered in drying blood, but otherwise he was apparently uninjured. Donna was only too aware that his strength would be more than a match for any feeble efforts she could muster.

  Marcus unscrewed the metal screw cap on the tin, and the pungent aroma of paraffin filled the cabin. Donna screamed as his intentions were revealed and Celine shrank back against the far wall. Paula lay motionless, eyes staring, her arms twitching uncontrollably. Marcus walked closer, splashing paraffin throughout the cabin, and as he reached the bed, he smiled.

  It was the pure evil of that smile that released the anger she had stored inside and gave Donna the strength she’d been seeking. She shifted her position slightly, still trying to maintain the impression that her hands were pinioned, and her fingers touched cold steel. Adrenalin flooded Donna’s system as she felt the butcher’s knife, dislodged from Gary’s grasp when Marcus attacked him, within her grasp.

  When Donna struck out, Marcus’s speed of reaction was so swift that the blade caught him only a glancing blow, opening a deep gash on his scalp. He bellowed in pain and stepped back a pace. Donna leapt from the bed and swung the knife in great swathes before her, driving him backwards and hacking at his defending hands. When his back touched the cabin wall, Marcus sprang at her, bloody hands raised, ignoring the knife, intent only on knocking her aside. All Donna’s years of martial arts training came to the fore. When attacked, go to meet the threat.

  Reversing her grip on the knife, she took a step forward and plunged the blade at his face. Once again, his speed of reaction was amazing, but even so he was unable to completely evade her desperate thrust. The point of the knife entered his open mouth and as Donna transferred her weight forward, the blade pierced his cheek, pinning him to the oak beams of the cabin wall.

  Marcus thrashed about like a fish on a barbed hook, lacerated hands scrabbling at the handle of the knife, but was unable to remove the blade that secured him to the wall in the manner of a hunting trophy.

  Appropriate.

  His eyes met hers and he stopped struggling for a moment. Donna shivered at the intensity of his hatred.

  She turned her back and walked stiffly, spine erect, to the bed where she struggled with the shackles still holding Paula and Celine captive. Once she released them both, they stood in a solemn group, each supporting the other. Marcus no longer struggled, but stared across the cabin, eyes blazing. The three women averted their eyes as they shuffled past, unable to face the naked rage on the face of Marcus Green. Paula and Donna linked arms, supporting Celine whose long period of captivity had robbed her limbs of movement.

  "You should have killed me, Donna." His voice was a distorted rasp and the effort of speech caused a fresh outpouring of blood from his mouth, but the meaning was clear. Even now, he was a threat.

  Donna tried to persuade her legs to keep on walking, but his words had robbed her of movement. It was Paula who broke t
he spell, letting go of Celine and whirling to stand directly in front of Marcus. His expression was almost amused, still defiant and without any semblance of defeat.

  "You’re right," Paula rasped, her voice cracking. "She should have killed you when she had the chance."

  She stooped and picked the paraffin lamp from the floor, holding it out at arm’s length. For the first time, Donna saw a suspicion of fear slide across the face of Marcus. Paula savoured the moment, and then before Donna could move, hurled the lamp against the far wall.

  Flame flickered across the mattress then burst into a wall of flame. Donna took an involuntary step back; grabbed Paula’s arm and they lurched for the cabin door, Celine’s feet trailing between them.

  As Donna gained the blessed sanctuary of the cold night air, she glanced back for a moment and saw the face of Marcus for the last time. Silhouetted against the flames, his face was in shadow, but she felt his eyes on her and shivered with a deep chill that had nothing to do with her nakedness.

  Paula reached out for her and they walked stiffly to the shore. Huddling together for warmth, they saw the far bank lit up like a fairground, and a single lamp bobbed up and down heading in their direction. Donna fixed her eyes on the boat, and kept them there even when the cabin roof fell in and she saw the resulting explosive shower of sparks reflected in the tranquil waters of the lake. The heat was intense and they took a step or two forward and waited in the shallows while the trees behind caught fire and the flames illuminated the lakeshore.

  ~ Epilogue ~

  Donna has decided she will go back to work tomorrow. She’s been off for three months and while nobody had pushed her, she feels it is time to start again. The panic attacks are under control, more or less, and she needs to get away from Peg’s suffocating kindness.

  Dexter told her Kate has asked to see her. Donna needs to think about that – still not sure she is ready for the world in which Kate Davies spends her time. Kate had made the right decision and sent Dexter and a band of rescuers to the place where the captives were being held, but Donna often reflects on how it could have all been so different if Kate had come to a different conclusion.

  Paula and Celine have moved away. Donna doesn’t know where they’ve gone. Nobody does, and that’s the way they want it. She saw them once before they left and Paula told her she couldn’t sleep at night and needed to get away.

  Donna could understand that.

  Dragging the lake turned up the remains of thirteen bodies, all female. Some had been reported missing; others are still as yet unidentified. All victims of Marcus Green. There may be more. They’re still looking, but it’s a big lake.

  Donna’s panic attacks started up again when Dexter told her they’d only found one body in the cabin.

  Gary Rudd.

  Gary’s motorbike turned up the following day in Knutsford, blood splashes covering the tank and handlebars.

  Marcus Green is still out there. Somewhere.

  Donna could see the fear in Paula Dobson’s eyes when she said she had to get away. Paula knew if Marcus still wants to find her, then one day he will.

  Paula and Celine have to live with that fear.

  Donna isn’t sleeping that well herself.

  The End

  Acknowledgements

  Burn Baby Burn received editorial recognition from Harper Collins UK and was voted into the top five. I'd like to thank all of you for your support.

  I'd also like to thank the author Poppet for her help.