by Stuart Keane
He spoke with a strange accent that Shay could barely decipher, and a hungry, leering expression spread across his face. “Hey, beautiful. Where have you been all my life?”
Shay rolled her eyes. “Tell me, arsehole. Has that line ever worked for you? Ever?”
The man glanced down from Shay towards the floor like a primary school pupil being scorned. “No,” he replied. “I don’t get much of a chance to interact with people.”
Shay looked at the forlorn man; he was pathetic. He had all the charisma of a peanut and seemed to be socially inept to a massive degree. Was anybody going to miss this man if she killed him? Hell, chances were that even his own mother had kicked him out of the house for being a sad act. She needed something more, something tangible. She needed a proper victim.
Turning, she headed back towards the exit.
She gazed back over her shoulder. “Never mind. Being a total loser has its perks, and today, it just saved your worthless excuse of a life.”
The man continued to ogle her, dribble oozing down his fluffy chin. He remained speechless, his vacant, child-like stare plastered with a gormless look as Shay took her leave into the cold air outside.
Taking another look around, Shay took in her vast surroundings. There weren’t many people passing through the park at this time of day, most likely due to the brisk temperature. She looked into the distance and, once again, the Diana Memorial Playground gates drew her inquisitive gaze. A fiendish, evil thought crept into her mind.
Hurrying along, she scanned her quiet surroundings once more. Despite being near the city centre the streets seemed surprisingly sparse. Making her way through the main park and towards the playground, she took a brief vigil. To her left, the surface of a rounded body of water stood adjacent to the impressive structure of Kensington Palace, which sat behind its own protective fence. No wildlife or animals were present, the beautiful decorative benches surrounding the water were empty, and the entire region seemed devoid of any type of movement or life.
I must be in Kensington Gardens, she thought.
Perfect.
She followed the main route of the park around to her right hand side, her feet crunching on the gravel path. The surface of the grass glistened with a harsh, white-frosted hue. In a small copse of trees to her left, she saw the outline of a huddled figure lying covered in semi-frozen cardboard boxes and ragged, multi-coloured blankets. She paid the vagrant no real consideration.
Shay made her way through the trees, and noticed a slight drop in temperature. She remembered the park from its long hot days in the summer months, its elegant green beauty home to a hive of activity, and thriving hustle and bustle. Right now it seemed that the whole area had been cast under some kind of winter spell. The plain, frozen branches of trees hung over the pathways like ghastly fingertips, inviting the unknown wanderer into their evil clutches.
Shay smiled. She admired the macabre, it would provide the perfect setting.
Rounding the next corner, she spotted an old, unused wooden bandstand. Hanging around the podium were a small group of youths laughing, smoking and drinking. Typical rebellious teenage behaviour.
Their appearance was fairly normal for the time of year. All of them were wrapped up in thick winter coats, woollen hats and gloves. Even from a distance, she could tell that their presence was more jovial than threatening, a couple of the youths could be heard ribbing each other and laughing between themselves. Shay made a mental note of their placement but paid them no other attention.
Attempting to circle around the rear of the bandstand, she managed to flank the group without any of them spotting her, and even if they did, they didn’t make a point of it.
The park pathway continued to crunch underfoot as she marched forward; a woman on a mission. The area opened out into a large open space. To her right was a fenced area that was completely empty. A series of wooden ramps and concrete jumps indicated that during the summer months, the area would have been used as a communal skate park.
Behind the skate park, she spotted two figures in another enclosed area, playing basketball. It was a little difficult to check their age from where she was standing, but they looked a few years younger, and smaller in stature than the other group that she had previously encountered.
Approaching slowly, heading along the perimeter of the court, she weighed up the threat. The two boys were no older than about twelve years old. The taller of the two boys was mixed race and not particularly large, the other boy was wiry and looked particularly puny in comparison to his friend. Shay stopped at the entrance to the basketball court and watched the boys playing. Their resilience was impressive despite the near Arctic conditions.
The larger of the two boys sprinted forwards while bouncing the basketball, easily sidestepped his friend, and launched the ball into the air. It hung in motion for a brief second before slamming downwards, through the chain-link basket. The boy threw his arms in the air in triumph.
“Ha! How many is that now?”
The smaller boy groaned in defiance. “About seventeen - one. To you.”
“What can I say? You suck, I’ve been giving you chance after chance.”
Both boys stopped and turned as they suddenly realised that Shay was standing at the entrance of the court, watching them from distance. Both boys stared for a moment, a little confused as to her presence before shrugging, turning to each other and laughing. The larger of the boys threw the basketball to his friend.
“Right, ten more minutes and let’s head home.”
His friend nodded an affirmative and began bouncing the ball and running towards the other end of the court.
Shay listened intently. Ten minutes. That’s all you have, you have to decide which one and you have to decide now.
She stared at the two friends for a brief moment before it struck her.
Kill them both. One hit, counts as one target, Odette can’t argue with the necessary.
As she was about to descend further into the court, Shay heard a sound from behind her that made her stop dead in her tracks.
The sound of a child laughing.
Snapping around, she saw the toddler about twenty feet away on the other side of a metal fence. En route to the basketball court, she hadn’t noticed how she’d circled around to the other side of the Diana Memorial Playground. She recognised the previous gate in the distance, on the other side of the area. She slowly approached.
The child was no older than about five, and he was dressed up in a light blue snow suit, red boots emblazoned with a picture of a smiling blue train, and a matching set of blue mittens, hat and scarf. The boy was giggling away happily as he played, gripping tight to a playground roundabout as the figure of a man repeatedly spun him around, firmly but not too quickly.
Shay felt her heartbeat thunder inside her chest cavity, and she groaned. She shrugged and slowly walked towards the playground. The chuckling from the delighted toddler continued to filter through the air as she approached. It was music to her ears.
Shay stopped about fifteen feet from the child, her eyes on the man beside him. Taking a quick glance around her, she appeared to be in the clear. The man sensed her presence and slowly turned to face her. He was a handsome man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He wore a thick, black jacket with a matching hat and glove set, similar to the boy.
He smiled. “Hey. Just thought I’d bring the boy over to the park for an hour.”
Shay approached, feigning a smile and attempting to give the man her friendliest look. “He’s gorgeous. What’s his name?”
“Thomas,” the man replied.
“That’s a lovely name,” Shay replied, approaching the boy. “Just like Thomas the Tank Engine.” She pointed to the boy’s boots. “You’re a gorgeous Iittle man, aren’t you? I can see you like Thomas.”
The boy smiled at her, somewhat coy with the stranger at first. Despite the plume of cold mist that escaped his mouth, the innocent smile lit up his face. Perfection personifie
d.
The man stepped forwards. “I don’t get as much time with him as I would like. The wife and I just went through a messy separation. I only have access to him once every two weeks, so when I do, I like to bring him down here to play. Some people might say I’m insane in these conditions, but –”
Shay raised an eyebrow, interrupting the man. “Trust me, you aren’t insane.”
The man frowned, and then giggled uncomfortably. Shay gestured towards the man with her gloved left hand. “Excuse me, where are my manners. My name’s Shay.”
She suddenly realised her own mistake at giving the man her name as he held out his own hand. Like lightning, she pulled her right fist from her pocket, adorned with the knuckleduster that she had retrieved from her altercation in the subway two days previous.
The man had no chance to react as the solid stainless steel connected with the bridge of his nose. Cartilage immediately snapped upon impact and searing pain ricocheted through his skull, blood immediately sloshing down the back of his throat. The man began to fall to his knees. Wasting no time, Shay hit the man in the side of the head, the knuckleduster stabbing at the man’s temple with a dull, solid clunk. He hit the frost-covered playground immediately, head first, his cheekbone shattering as his face connected with the frozen, solid concrete. His ragdoll arms flailed behind him.
Shay spun around. The toddler stared at her, mouth agape and wide-eyed. They both stood glued to the spot for a brief moment. As Shay stared into the deep blue eyes of the child, she noticed the absence of any feeling of guilt or remorse. She only had one burning thought racing through her mind, and it was totally consuming her thoughts.
The challenge.
The boy stared at the ground, his gaze lowering to his fallen parent. “Daddy?”
The man didn’t respond.
Shay addressed the boy, a horrifying look in her eyes. “Thomas, there’s nothing you can do for your daddy, it was an accident. Come over here to me.”
The boy continued to stare at the fallen man. A solitary tear ran down his cheek and he swallowed the lump in his throat, both actions new to him as a small child. The boy tasted the salt as it crept into the corner of his mouth.
Shay stepped forwards.
The boy suddenly turned and attempted to flee. His lurching movement sent the roundabout spinning just as Shay planted the sole of her foot upon it, throwing her completely off balance and toppling her to the ground on her left. The pain of the impact with the concrete shot up her arm as she landed on her shoulder with a wicked slap. Cursing, she sprang back to her feet and sprinted after the child.
Less than four steps later, as she gained ground, she reached the swing set just as the boy was passing below its overhanging bar. As she shoved the seat of one of the dangling swings forward, the chains creaking loudly, and it swung violently in its predetermined arc, the solid plastic impacting directly with the back of the small boy’s skull.
Thomas crumpled forwards, his arms outstretched before him as if plummeting head first down a slide. The soft skin of his chin scraped along the ground, tearing flesh and opening up a deep cut. Dark blood immediately splattered the ground.
He screamed.
Shay didn’t hesitate. From behind the boy, she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and yanked him backwards, his legs swinging on the air. His attempts to struggle free were completely futile. Dragging the boy backwards a few feet, she positioned him below the swing seat that she had used to knock him over.
Pulling him to his feet, she wrapped the chain of the swing around the boy’s throat, twice, and pulled it taut. The boy immediately went limp, suspended by his own weight, his arms hanging by his sides, his feet kicking thin air. Lifting him by his legs, she screamed in exertion as she pushed the swing over the top of the frame, still attached to the boy’s throat.
The seat and chain snagged the top of the steel crossbar, followed by the limp body of the child. Switching sides, she pulled the seat from the other direction. As momentum and gravity acted in harmony, the seat and the body plummeted towards the ground. A sickening crack echoed out and dampened the silent air as the boy’s neck snapped, the steel chain shattering through the weak ligature with ease. The wobbling dead body of the boy was left suspended in mid-air, three feet from the ground.
Shay stared at the boy, her lungs threatening to explode from exertion.
From across the other side of the enclosure came two chilling screams. Shay snapped around quickly to see the two friends who had been playing basketball on the other court, running towards the exit several yards away. In the distance, she spotted a commotion coming from the group of teenagers she had spotted previously. Shay recognised the startled faces and the chaotic body language.
Mass panic.
Shay had the strangest reaction. She didn’t fret; she only laughed.
XVII
+447401877343
Hey, O. Sorry I haven’t been in touch. Had my hands full. Bagged myself a young un. That’s gotta be a game changer.
+447745493071
Oh, so you ARE talking to me now? I thought you’d fucked off and left me dancing in the wind. Thanks for that by the way, bitch!
I’m sorry. It’s been a long few days. I missed you, you know? I was worried about you.
+447401877343
Of course, I’m talking to you. It’s just, you know, one of us has been busy. One of us set the other a challenge if you remember. And I intend to win.
+447745493071
So, a young un? You mean a child. It’s not a game changer per se, but nice going. I do hate fucking children, and they deserve what they get.
+447401877343
That little bastard got what it deserved. There was a little collateral damage. Dunno whether pops will make it.
+447745493071
Hang on, what? Pops? You attacked both a kid and his father? Isn’t that a bit risky. Tell me you didn’t do so in broad daylight…
+447401877343
Hey, bitch; I did what had to be done. Pops took a few shots to take him out of action while I turned my attention to the brat. Of course, it was broad daylight. Why the hell would I go snooping around the park at night?
+447745493071
I saw the club on the news, the attack that left multiple people dead. Was that your handiwork too?
+447401877343
Well, kinda. But that one doesn’t count. It was self-defence. I barely got away alive.
+447745493071
Which one? I heard six people died that night. Were they all self-defence?
+447401877343
Six?!! Really? People die so fucking easily. It was complicated. I got myself into a bit of a situation with the guy who owned the club. His murder was self-defence. The other bitch, that was his handiwork. Two of the whores were on his payroll, the other two bastards stood between me and the exit. I did what I had to do to escape. Everyone was expendable in my eyes.
+447745493071
You’ve gone over our limit. You were supposed to kill three people only. What the fuck, S?
+447401877343
I’ve only killed one so far, the kid. The others were nothing to do with me, and they weren’t part of the plan. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I still have two left.
+447745493071
Your maths is shocking. By my count, you’re on seven kills and two more near-deaths because of your vile temper. You’ve ruined this, S. I can’t believe this…
+447401877343
What the fuck, bitch? Nobody said anything about pedestrian interference or self-defence kills. By MY count, I have two left.
Hey, bitch. Answer me!
O, where the fuck are you?
We need to clarify that I have two left.
Okay, you fuck around getting your bikini line waxed and pulling that stick out of your arse, I’m gonna start planning my next.
+447745493071
Sorry, I was on the other line. Listen, we need to meet up,
go over a few things. You can wipe the slate and have two left if you want, but I need to see you.
+447401877343
Okay, O. We need to ramp this up now. I may have had a few eyewitnesses in the park yesterday. How many have you got left?
+447745493071
My number is irrelevant right now. I’ll explain when you see me. Meet me at the apartment, Gavin’s apartment, and we’ll go over a few things.
+447401877343
I ain’t going back there. If people spotted me in the park, I don’t wanna be linked to that place too. Let’s meet somewhere else. What about the old Pirelli factory? The one that used to be the Erith Ironworks.
+447745493071
Good point. Okay, I’ll be there in a couple of hours. See you there. I have a little surprise for you, too. See you soon, S.
XVIII
Shay jumped off at Erith railway station and joined the hustle and bustle of the departing crowds on the platform. Pushing her way through the throng, she could hardly contain her excitement.
Glancing up at the electronic clock, she could see that the time was 14:07. The journey had taken a little more than forty minutes, she was early, and she wanted to ensure that she gave herself plenty of time. Working her way through the crowd of afternoon travellers, she left the station via the exit that led out towards Stonewood Road.
The afternoon was bitterly cold; and the gloomy sky ensured it was barely lighter than it had been since earlier that morning. The clouds were miserable and heavy, and appeared to be bulging with snow. It had been a few years since Shay had experienced the delight of a snowfall, and she had a sudden, stark realisation; sometimes the simple things in life, like walking in the rain or throwing a snowball, were the things that one would often miss the most.
