Instead, I jumped into bed with her, urged on by my desire to sleep with her, not knowing who she was or what she wanted. I could have waited – I should have waited. And now Alex was paying the price. She’d got caught up in my crappy, screwed-up life and was picking up the tab for being my friend.
I felt a crushing sense of despair in that van, a feeling that I’d messed everything up so badly. I’d had two great relationships in my life, one with Alex many years ago and one with Meg. What was it about me that destroyed everything I had? I felt desolate, not even sorry for myself, just completely contemptuous of my actions.
Yet, in that darkness, in the midst of all that horror, Alex reached out to me again. She stretched out her hand, which was still bound, to hold mine in the darkness. It was a gentle action in among all that violence. In spite of all this, Alex could still reach out to me in friendship.
We’d arrived at wherever they were taking us. My head struck the back of the passenger seat as Lee braked hard. I let go of Alex’s hand, fading out again.
I was aware of voices.
‘Is it open still?’
‘Yes, it’s fine. Bring them through.’
The sound of the van doors being opened. Alex tensing as Lee reached in to pull her out. Then it was my turn.
‘Walk, you dickhead. I’m not carrying you.’
I struggled to find strength in my legs. What were they doing to us? What had they got planned?
The cool night air helped to revive me. I became aware of my surroundings, slowly recognising where they’d brought us.
We were at the cathedral. I was standing opposite the spot where Sally had jumped to her death. This was weird and twisted. They were re-enacting what had happened to Meg and me six months earlier. And this is where it had all ended. This is the place where the final deaths had occurred.
I could hear the police sirens across the city. It sounded like a war zone. Lee pushed me towards the heavy wooden door of the cathedral. I was aware of dim lighting, mainly candlelight, I think.
‘I’m sorry, you can’t come in here now, we’ll be locking up shortly--’
I was aware of Lee lifting the crossbow, swinging it towards whoever had just spoken to him, and firing off one of its bolts. I heard a thud as a body fell to the floor and sensed Alex go rigid with fear. Becky pushed her forward.
‘Close the door, lock it if you can.’
Lee was completely in control and totally calm. Becky followed his commands as if he’d bewitched her. She pushed the door shut, I’m not certain that she locked it.
They were taking us to the bell tower. The climb up the stairs seemed to take forever, longer than I remembered. The blood was beginning to congeal in my nose, it was forcing me to breathe through my mouth. I was short of breath. The climb was exhausting.
Alex’s eyes were red, she’d been crying. She’d sensed that it was coming to an end. I couldn’t see how things could possibly play out in our favour. There was no sign of the police, I couldn’t hear the helicopter hovering in the distance like the last time we were in this cursed place. I felt my pocket. My phone had gone. It must have dropped out somewhere, in the warehouse or the van. They’d never find us now. DCI Summers would find an empty storage unit. The police wouldn’t have a clue how to track us down, they didn’t know what vehicle Lee and Becky were using. If Becky had been telling me the truth, Lee was a wanted man, so at least they’d know who they were looking for.
We arrived in the bell tower. It was a funny thing to notice, but I could see that the bell rope had been replaced where it had been cut previously to tie Jem to the wheels of one of the bells.
‘You’re kidding me!’ I shouted as Becky went to the ropes and cut a length off. It was a different rope, but she had the same intention.
‘What time is it?’ Lee asked. ‘Are we near the hour?’
‘Fourteen minutes,’ Becky replied, checking her phone.
‘This way!’ Lee barked at me, signalling to the stairs.
They were taking us to the bell tower. I knew what they had planned before it even happened. Nobody tells you these things, but I pissed myself when I realised. I think I’d given up hope. Alex looked like she was walking towards her execution. We had accepted our fate. We knew we were beaten.
Lee didn’t even have to show me what he wanted me to do. I placed my head and hands through the wheel, which was attached to the heavy iron bell. This is where Jem had been. This is where I’d left him, his head placed through the wooden spokes of the wheel, waiting for the bells to chime.
Lee tied me firmly. I couldn’t move. I’d been struggling to stay conscious, but now I hoped that I’d pass out. I didn’t want to experience the terror of waiting for the bells to chime the hour. It would begin with a click as the cathedral clock hands moved into the hour position. The wheels of the bells would begin to move, gaining momentum. As the sound of the bells marked a new hour, my head and arms would be torn off by the wooden spokes of the bell wheel. I’d die the same way that Jem had done six months earlier.
Lee, Becky and Alex moved away. They were going to the roof of the tower, the place where Sally had jumped, the part of the cathedral where Meg had almost fallen to her death.
How long until the bells rang? How long did I have left? I prayed that I would pass out again, but as I waited there in the silence, all I could hear was the sound of the minute hand making its way slowly towards the hour.
I didn’t even know what the time was. It had to be nine or ten o’clock, it couldn’t be any later. I wasn’t getting out of this, those bells were ringing and they were taking my head with them.
What must have been going through Jem’s mind when he was in this position? I don’t think he’d realised what the bells would do. I didn’t see it on his face when I left him tied there. But he must have got it when the clock struck. You could hear the progression of the minute hand as clear as anything. He had to have known what was going to happen in the end.
I examined the ropes that were tying me. They were tight, cutting into my skin, biting into me. I tried to work my hands free, but the rope burned, there was no room to manoeuvre. Lee knew how to tie a knot, but I had a go anyway, using my teeth to work at it.
What was happening on the roof? I thought that I understood, at last, what this was about. What a terrible way to die. This wasn’t personal. Becky and Lee were thrill-seekers. It had to be that.
They’d spotted the story in the papers, got some kind of sexual thrill from it, and were seeking to recreate the events of that nightmare six months previously. This was some screwed-up replay. Becky had targeted me for sex, and Lee must have been in on it, in spite of the lies she’d told me earlier, luring me into her sick trap one more time. That’s probably why it had been videoed, as a weird memento of what they’d done. God, there are some crazy people out there.
What would they do with Alex? What role was she playing in all of this? If Becky was Meg, and Lee was me, that made Alex Sally. Sally had jumped to her death that night. Oh shit, no, surely they wouldn’t push her? Maybe they didn’t intend to kill us, perhaps it was some role-play thing? Tell that to Vicky – and Glenn, Len and the guy at the storage units.
No, these two were nutters. This was some weird fantasy thing. I’d had a taste of it already. I carried on working at the knot with my teeth. The rope was too thick for it to make any impact, it was useless, but I carried on anyway.
There was movement. It was Becky, she was carrying her phone.
‘You can’t want this to happen?’ I shouted at her. ‘You’re not really going to kill us are you?’
‘It’s the best snuff movie ever!’ she smiled at me. ‘They’re going to love this one online.’
She was positioning her phone so that it would capture my final moments. I was aware of the minute hand moving once again. The bells must ring soon, surely?
‘What time is that? How long until the bells ring?’
‘Three minutes,’ Becky replied. ‘Three min
utes until you both get it--’
‘Don’t you dare hurt Alex!’ I screamed at her. ‘Leave her out of this, she’s nothing to do with it!’
‘But she is, Pete. She helped you that night.’
‘You’re kidding me, she had nothing to do with any of that. She was in a completely different place at the time. Let her go, you’ve got me.’
‘Sorry, Pete. This is what gets me hot, it makes me want to fuck. Lee likes to hurt people. We make a great team. He gets to stick the knife in you, I get the best snuff movie ever, and we become online legends. See you, Pete! Lee’s a better shagger than you, anyway. I look forward to watching the video when it comes out--’
‘Becky! Becky!’
I screamed at her, but she ignored me, heading back to the roof. I could only imagine what was going on up there. The minute hand clicked again. Two minutes, two minutes to get out of this mess. It wasn’t going to happen, the ropes were too tight. I hoped it would be quick. For both of us.
I can recall most of the detail of what happened next, but it was all so fast and unexpected, I might have missed some bits.
I’d stopped working at the knot. There was no way it was coming loose. I waited there, in the stillness, trying to hear what was happening out on the roof. I don’t think that the hand had moved to the minute, but it must have been close.
Suddenly I heard someone burst into the bell tower. It was a man. I didn’t know him. He rushed towards me. At first I assumed it was the police, but of course it couldn’t have been. In the end, the reason Jem died was because the police had to do a risk assessment before they could rescue him. They didn’t do it fast enough to beat the chimes of the cathedral clock. It was ridiculous, but that’s what happened.
He went straight for the knot in the rope and began working at it.
‘It’s too tight,’ I said. ‘There’s a knife in my pocket. Try that!’
His hand moved to my trousers. I remember hearing the minute hand move as he placed his hand in the wrong pocket.
‘The other one, it’s in the other one--’
‘How long until the chimes?’
‘That’s the final minute before the hour, come on, cut it, cut it!’
He worked away at the knot, the knife was so blunt it seemed to take forever. It can’t have been more than a minute, though, because I felt the rope loosen and was able to wriggle my hands out of the binding. I moved my body out from the large wooden bell wheel as the minute hand clicked into place.
There was the creak of old wood and iron as the bell wheels began to move. The force of them was massive, they’d have ripped my head and arms straight off. I moved backwards, well clear of the bell movements.
The noise was deafening, it was an assault on my ears. It took me a few moments to think about Alex. I hadn’t a clue what was going on out on the roof, but I knew that I had to get out there as quickly as possible.
I didn’t even think about my rescuer. He’d cut me loose, but I couldn’t hear a word he said, because of the bells. Was he a cop, or someone from the cathedral? I didn’t even give it a thought. I recovered myself, stood up and ran for the door to the roof.
‘Alex!’ I shouted.
They’d got Alex standing on the turrets, exactly as Meg had been. She was having trouble balancing. Her hands were still bound, she was struggling to stay upright.
‘What the--?’
Lee turned around sharply. I was the last person he expected to see. He lifted his crossbow and shot it directly at me. A bolt came flying out. That thing was fast, I barely realised he’d fired it before I felt the pain. The bolt had stuck into the top of my right leg. It caved in on me and I fell to the ground.
Becky had Alex pinned to one of the turrets. She had the Zombie knife in one hand and Lee’s phone filming in the other.
‘You stay there, bitch!’ she screamed, looking between Alex and Lee.
Lee was coming in for the kill. He was expertly loading up the next bolt, walking towards me so that he could fire it at point-blank range.
‘What is this all about, Lee?’ I shouted over the bells, which were still chiming.
‘How did you get out of there? That rope was tied fast. Did she help you ... did that bitch let you go?’
Becky seemed unsure of herself suddenly.
‘Did you let him go, Becky? Those ropes were tight. I knew you liked shagging him more than me. Was it you who did it?’
Becky looked frightened now. She didn’t know what to do. She was trying to watch Alex as well as assess Lee’s mood. My guess was that he probably wasn’t the most even-tempered of boyfriends.
‘I told you, Lee. You’re my man. I did it for the video, you know there’s no one like you.’
He’d got the second bolt loaded, and he was looking from me to Becky. The final chime rang out.
‘That’s it, Lee. Nine o’clock. It’s time for her to go over. That’s what we planned, remember?’
‘Only, it’s not what we planned, is it Becky? You cut his ropes. He’s free now. Is that so you can shag him again? Relive your slutty little fantasy.’
‘I didn’t let him go. He must have freed himself. He was tied when I left the camera there. Honest ... look at the video on my phone if you don’t believe me!’
She dropped to the floor as a bolt from the crossbow entered her left shoulder.
‘Oh Jesus Christ!’ she gasped and dropped the knife onto the rooftop floor. I watched Alex clock it. She’d spotted an opportunity. I staggered to my feet again, wary of Lee who was reloading. He was stronger than me and he was tooled up. I didn’t stand a chance against him, but I’d have to do something. Becky was crying with the pain, screaming at Lee and swearing that she hadn’t touched my ropes.
‘You need to help yourself now, Becky. You’re not like Lee, I know you’re not. He’s encouraged you to do this, Becky. You can still walk away ... oh shit, shit, shit!’
Lee had fired a second bolt at me, centimetres away from the first one. The pain was excruciating. My trouser leg was soaked with blood. I had to buy time, give Alex a chance to run for the knife, or at least get down from the turret. I needed to sway Becky. The tide had turned now, Lee had tasted blood again and the dangerous killer was finally revealed.
Becky turned to face me. I could see she was looking to me for help. Lee was the killer; he was the one the police wanted. I assumed that bit was true, in spite of her other lies. He’d turned on her now, he was jealous. She was scared for her life.
How many of those bloody bolts did he have? Lee had loaded another and was ready to fire. He seemed uncertain about who his next victim would be.
‘How did he get away then, you bitch? I saw how you were enjoying yourself in that video. You don’t moan like that when we screw. You never did. It’s been about him all the time, hasn’t it? You wanted to use me to get to him.’
‘Look, Lee, we can all walk away from this. It doesn’t have to be this way.’
I tried my luck by reasoning with him, but I didn’t think it would be any use. I looked towards Alex. Her mouth was still taped, but she gestured with her eyes, drawing my attention to the knife. She wanted me to stall Lee.
‘What if Becky did untie the ropes? She saved my life. She didn’t want to be a murderer like you.’
I saw his rage flare up the moment I said those words. His eyes looked as if he’d flicked a switch. I’d never seen pure evil and hatred before, but I certainly saw it that day.
He turned to Becky.
‘You stupid bitch ...’
This was it, I had one chance.
With his back turned to me, I hauled myself off the floor and staggered towards him, pounding into him from behind. It was like trying to move a rock, but it caught him unawares and he stumbled, dropping the crossbow. Alex had been watching everything. She jumped down from the turret, ran towards the knife and kicked it towards me.
With her hands tied, she timed it wrong, kicking the knife away from everybody and falling hard onto the g
round.
Lee and Becky looked at each other. They were an equal distance from the crossbow. It was loaded, the bolt still securely in place. Both of them started to move towards it at the same time. Becky’s shoulder must have been so painful, she cried out in agony as she thrust her hand forward.
Lee grabbed the crossbow, but instead of aiming and shooting, he threw it out of the way. I think he’d meant it to go over the side of the roof, but it hit a turret near the entrance to the roof area and fell to the ground.
He stood up slowly, clenching his fist, and then struck Becky across the face. She dropped down instantly. This was the Goliath we had to beat.
The knife and the crossbow were out of play. I needed to do something quickly. Alex was trying to turn over, but her tied hands were making it difficult for her to recover from her fall.
I got up and ran at Lee again, crashing into him from behind. He barely seemed to notice me, his strength was amazing. He pushed me away, then picked up Becky from the roof floor and threw her over the side.
I heard a thud as she hit the ground below. I was stunned, I’ve never seen violence like it. He just threw her over the edge. He didn’t even pause before doing it. It must have been metres from where Sally met her death when she jumped. But there was no time to think about Becky, Lee was coming for me next. I was a bug that he was trying to swat away.
He saw the knife and began to run towards it. He was closer to it than I was, I didn’t stand a chance. He beat me to it, picking it up and starting to wave it in my direction.
He was trying to back me into a corner, I was moving towards the far end of the rooftop area, towards the turrets and the furthermost end. The crossbow was too far away, Alex saw what was happening and began to try to move towards the only available weapon. Lee saw what she was doing and kicked her in the face. She dropped straight down to the floor.
Don't Tell Meg Trilogy Box Set Page 46
