The Butcher Box Set

by Sian B. Claven

  From his window he saw Darren, lacking all sense of stealth, noisily stumble through the bushes of Tatum’s yard to the metal drain pipe that ran near her window. He watched curiously as Darren pulled himself up the side of the house, using the drain pipe to do so. Once he reached Tatum’s window, he slid it open as quietly as he could and climbed through.

  Within seconds there was screaming and shouting - he heard the mother loudest of all.

  Shortly after that the sound of siren’s filled the air and the police arrived in three separate cars to arrest Darren Blackwood for the murder of his two friends and his teacher. Darren pleaded that it wasn’t him, that he was trying to tell Tatum he had seen her too.

  He didn’t know who the ‘her’ was, but Darren was going to jail in his place, and Tatum’s guard would be completely down.

  It was time to gather supplies.

  He left the house before the sun had fully risen the next morning. He had hardly slept but felt energised. Finally he would get what he had wanted all along.

  Wandering the park to kill some time before the general store opened, he went past the place where he had created his first work of art and satisfied his itch for the first time. He remembered Morgan’s life ebbing away like it was yesterday. The light leaving her eyes. He experienced a rush of great pride in what he had accomplished in his life, and what he was still going to achieve.

  After finishing with Barker he decided, once Tatum was completed, he would continue to satisfy his itch in other places. That way, it was unlikely they would link back to him or continue to search for him. They would think he left town, when in fact he would be right under their noses the entire time. It was a new start a new challenge, and he was excited for the adventure it would bring.

  As soon as the store opened, he entered, greeting the cashier politely as he went to the tools sections. He had already spent the last few days acquiring new toys to play with. His favourite by far was chloroform; easier than trying to knock them out or take their heads off quicker than necessary. That way he could take his time. Still, he was in doubt whether to use it or not because his favourite part was to watch their eyes.

  He had also acquired a specialised knife for cutting through bone. He didn’t want to use his katana on Tatum; he wanted to savour each moment the blade deliberately went through her. There was no rushing this job.

  All he needed today was heavy-duty extra-large bin bags and rope to tie them closed with. He found what he needed and, since it was so early, he didn’t bump into anyone as he paid for his items and left.

  His stomach growled in protest. It wanted breakfast.

  He sighed and relented; he would need fuel in order to work with a clear head. Stopping at the little café, he ordered a full breakfast with an extra-large coffee. While he enjoyed his meal, he gave thought to how he was going to sneak into the house to get to Tatum.

  The pipe Darren had used had at first seemed a good idea, but he was a lot heavier than the boy and there were no guarantees it would hold his weight. He had seen Kalli, the spoilt one, using the hidden back door key to get in and out unnoticed, but there was always the risk that someone else could be in the house.

  It would come to him soon.

  At that point he didn’t realise how soon it would actually be.

  He was a block from the house when he saw her leave. His heart skipped a beat and he broke out in a light sweat. It was like being in love, only better. She turned away from him and to his utter delight she walked up the stairs to his lair. She was curious about something, she wanted to see something. She was feeling adventurous,

  She was his.

  He looked up and down the street, but no one was about. It was the summer holidays. Kids were at the mall or at the skate park; most of the adults were at work. He walked slowly towards the house, just in case, but no one stopped him or questioned him and as he ascended the stairs to the front door he knew no one had seen him.

  Now.

  He crept inside and made sure the main trip switch was down on the electrical box. He heard her upstairs, she was talking to herself. He couldn’t make out what she was saying exactly, but didn’t care. Quiet as he could be, he went to the kitchen, and got the chloroform and a rag. He then went back to the front door and stood to the right of the coat rack.

  There he waited.

  She descended the stairs, seemingly with purpose, but she was struggling to see as the house was really dark, and all the downstairs windows had the curtains shut. The front door was slightly open, just enough so she could see it, but not enough to reveal him.

  As soon as she was at the bottom of the stairs, he used his left foot to push the door shut. He could hear her breathing as she made her way towards where she thought the door was. His eyes adjusted quickly to the deeper dark, and he knew this house well. She, on the other hand, was feeling her way towards the exit … and suddenly her hands were on his jacket.

  She felt a little more and touched his torso, letting out a scream, and falling backwards.

  “I’ve been waiting for you, Tatum,” he said.

  She scrambled away from him. He heard a soft thud and assumed she hit her head on the opposite wall. She got to her feet and, feeling along the wall frantically, tried to get away from him.

  “You’ve been a bad girl,” he said, walking after her. He was in no rush; she had nowhere she could go. “I’ve been here the whole time and you never even saw me. You’re so blind.”

  Once she found the stairs she climbed them as quickly as she could, but misjudged them and caught her foot on the last one.

  He was right behind her.

  “I’ve going to hang you like my other little trophies; somewhere everyone can admire your beauty.”

  He poured some chloroform on the rag and pressed it over her mouth. Within seconds she passed out.

  He got out his new toy, his beautiful bone saw that he had ordered specially for her, and knelt beside her. Placing it on the floor, he lifted her into a sitting position against the wall. He then reached for a nearby lamp and turned it on.

  Admiring her beauty, he stroked her face gently and brushed her hair out of her face. He leaned in and inhaled through his nose, enjoying the scent of her shampoo mingled with her sweat. It was the most amazing smell he had ever experienced.

  He stroked her face one more time and then raised the bone saw to her neck. As he carefully removed her head from her body, her warm blood washed over his hands. The itch was gone immediately; it was as though her blood had baptised him. With her head still half attached, he placed a gentle kiss on her hair.

  She was his perfect one.

  He finished removing her head and, once done, packed her body and head into the black bags, and then changed into a fresh set of overalls and gloves. She was light, even as dead weight, and he carried her downstairs easily. He walked out the front door and acted as though he was going to the bins nestled between their houses. If anyone did see him, they’d have no questions for him.

  There was no one.

  It was ordained, perfect, exquisite...

  He walked around to their backyard and knocked loudly on the back door. He waited a few minutes and knocked again. No one answered. Turning over a few rocks near the back step, he found the one with the little plastic container glued to it. Inside the container was the back door key. He unscrewed the lid - the part attached to the rock - and retrieved the key, letting himself in.

  He knew exactly where her room was and deposited her body on the floor to open the door. Opening the carrier, he cuffed her one wrist and managed to get her body to a position where he could loop the cuffs over the metal rod in her closet and cuff the other wrist.

  Then he took out her head. He stared at it, stroking her lips. He placed it at her feet, only this time he opened her lids so her eyes could stare out into her room. Opening her mouth, he then removed her tongue, putting it in his pocket.

  He admired his work for a few minutes, adjusting her hair here and
there and moving her body a little to the right before he deemed it was the best exhibit ever, and left. He made sure to put the back door key back where it was supposed to be and returned to his lair.

  Upstairs he saw the pool of her blood and couldn’t help himself. He knelt and kissed it, then kissed it again, and then he dragged his tongue through it, delighting in the metallic taste it had. His pants were now too tight as he was hard as a rock, and he licked his lips, imagining her as he had left her, beautiful, and delicate and wonderful.

  He didn’t even have to do anything to relieve himself; the thought of her was enough.

  Lying on his bed, he waited. He was waiting for her to be found and then he was heading out of town for a few days before the police arrived to process the crime scene. It was a ‘just in case’ plan. He didn’t want anyone looking at him, or wondering about him. If he wasn’t here, he wasn’t here. He had disposed of his tools, and had cleaned up all evidence; even if the police did obtain access to the house and do a sweep they wouldn’t find anything.

  His souvenirs were going with him. Just in case.

  He heard the scream.

  The brat child found her sister. The shriek was so loud it was the only sound on the entire block, as though the neighbourhood was a theatre that had just silenced for the opening act.

  And it was just the opening act.

  He knew now he could never be stopped. No one would find him. No one would ever suspect him. He would elude them for the rest of his days, these simple, single minded fools that never saw him, or the death that came with him.

  Chapter 16

  Kallista

  Standing in Tatum’s bedroom, Kalli stared at the closed closet door. She remembered like it was yesterday, walking into her sister’s room to wake her up from her nap so she could join them for dinner. She remembered being resentful, irritated that she had to go upstairs to get her perfect older sister from her perfect slumber.

  Then she had opened the door.

  She had stared, at first, just stared, and then her brain clicked, and knew what she was looking at. She never realised she could scream like that. Tears flowed and she shrieked. Luell pushed her aside and her wailing joined Kalli’s.

  Kalli’s only thought was for Sylva, who had come up behind their mother. She grabbed her and hugged her tightly, before forcing her downstairs and then calling the police.

  She wished she had said goodbye.

  Standing in her room now, Kalli realised that the most predominant memory of this space was that night. She knew, somewhere in the back of her mind, that she had spent a lot of time with Tatum here. Sometimes they did their nails together, gossiped, played with dolls, did each other’s hair, but she couldn’t quite remember those as vividly.

  Only the memory of her sister’s decapitated body hanging from her closet, her eyes and mouth open in a silent scream from where her head rested at her feet. That memory would never leave her, not even if she solved this case.

  She got a fright when Mike put his hands on her shoulders.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Kalli looked at him, smiling sadly. “It’s okay.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  Things had been strange since they slept together. At first it had been completely awkward, but Kalli felt drawn to him, protected around him, and didn’t feel so alone or crazy. So they had talked about possibly becoming something when it was all over.

  Then they slept together two more times.

  Darren called them earlier that morning to let them know he was on his way back; he had completed his research and would be in soon.

  For now, they were still alone.

  “What were you thinking about?” he asked, stroking her back with that light touch he was so good at.

  “Tatum,” she answered. “The day I found her, about how I was so mad at her before that. How we always fought.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

  “I remember processing the crime scene,” he said, leaning against the doorjamb. “I remember walking in here and feeling like a million needles were piercing me all at the same time. That every effort we had made, every precaution we had taken, every avenue we had explored, and our final conclusion that Darren was to blame was all wrong, and she had paid the ultimate price.” He cleared his throat. “And it has killed me ever since.”

  Kalli wiped at her face, where traitorous tears leaked out of her eyes, and he pulled her into a hug.

  “We’ll get him, Kalli, I promise.”

  Darren was home just before four in the afternoon. As he walked through the door Kalli pulled him into a sudden hug, surprising him. He looked up at Mike, who shrugged and smiled.

  “Was it worthwhile?” she asked.

  Darren nodded. “Yeah, it was. But first, tell me what happened while I was away.”

  They moved to the kitchen and Kalli made them each a cup of strong coffee as Mike explained what they found out, and how Kalli had landed up on the ceiling of her bedroom. He somehow managed to avoid mentioning he was in the bed when it happened.

  Darren had taken out his notebook and wrote so furiously he didn’t seem to notice.

  Kalli left them to catch up, saying she wanted to set up Tatum’s board herself. She went upstairs and pulled the blank board to the front, taking out a high school photo of her sister and sticking it in the middle. She picked up her marker and wrote her sister’s name next to it.

  Turning away, she picked up the thick case file and pulled out the crime scene photos. As she slowly worked through them, her heart grew heavier. She didn’t think anyone could quite understand her pain, except perhaps the families of the other victims.

  She sighed and set the photos aside, scanning each of the boards slowly. She paused as she saw Robyn’s, and it made her sad. She was a wild child at her age as well and had always been less than honest with her family about where she really was.

  It dawned on her then. She lied. All teenagers lied.

  Her eyes widened and she flew from the room, taking the stairs two at a time. Mike stood up to see what she was running from and she ran right into him.

  “We need to find Penny,” she said breathlessly.

  Mike steadied her. “Whoa! Wait! Catch your breath.” He waited a few seconds. “Penny? Robyn’s cousin Penny?”

  “Yes! All the teenagers from that party reported that they hadn’t seen Robyn go with anyone or speak to anyone or anything, but they probably lied.”

  “Her cousin was killed, I’m sure she wouldn’t lie, Kalli,” he said.

  “But she would, as I would have. I would have been scared that my family would hate me because it was my fault, or that somehow I would get into trouble.” She was frustrated that Mike didn’t understand.

  “But she wouldn’t have gotten in trouble …” he started to argue.

  Darren cut him off. “She’s right. When you’re a kid you imagine the worst and your first and only issue is to protect yourself from getting in more trouble. As it was, she was in shit for taking her cousin to a party, then she had to explain how she lost her cousin, where she was when her cousin left and all that … she probably lied.”

  Mike glanced between the two of them. “So we don’t have all the facts,” he finally conceded.

  “We don’t have all the facts,” Kalli repeated before adding, “And I suggest we go get them first thing tomorrow.”

  The next morning Mike left Kalli and Darren to go over Penny’s statements while he went to the station to find her current address. They sat at the desk and Darren set the statements in his hand down, looking across the room at the boards with Jacqui and Tatum’s pictures on them. They were side by side.

  Kalli looked up at him, before asking, “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I was just thinking,” he said, but didn’t continue.

  “What were you thinking?” she asked gently, setting her own papers down.

  “I was just thinking how normal life would be if it hadn’t happen
ed,” he said. “You know, if she hadn’t been murdered. I would have married her; we would have got nice jobs, a nice house and had a couple of kids. I could have left this horrible town and my past behind me because everything about her was perfect.”

  Kalli reached over and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I do know what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if Tatum hadn’t been murdered would I have turned out this way, you know, would I have stopped my partying? Would I have studied further? Or would I have been some wild child that got pregnant at fifteen?” She sighed. “We will never know.”

  Darren smiled at her. “Nah, I don’t think you would have turned out badly. You were dealing with your dad’s death; you would have processed it eventually and moved on with life. You weren’t a stupid kid, Kalli, but you were just that, a kid, and sometimes you need to give that younger you a break.”

  “Have you been talking to my therapist?” she teased.

  Darren chuckled. “No, but I’ve seen my own. Sometimes they have something good to say.”

  The light flickered above them and Darren looked up curiously. Kalli picked up her papers again, not paying it any mind.

  “After everything,” he said, “you have seen and experienced and that doesn’t worry you?”

  “Not everything is supernatural, Darren” she responded. “I accept some strange stuff has happened, but a flickering light could just be …”

  The light suddenly exploded and they both shrieked. Kalli wrapped her hands around her head to protect herself. She was about to look up when the two windows in the room blasted inward. They got up and ran for the door, bumping into furniture as they went.

  They got out of the room and the lights in the hallway also exploded. Kalli moved closer to Darren as mirrors along the wall cracked and shattered outwards; picture frames followed suit. Darren took Kalli’s hand and pulled her through the house. Everywhere they went the glass shattered around them, cutting them. The pictures along the wall as they descended the staircase exploded as they passed them, making Kalli yelp repeatedly.