The Butcher Box Set

by Sian B. Claven

  Chapter 19

  The Butcher

  MAIN SUSPECT: BART WILD.

  That was what that stupid whore had written across her stupid whore board. He punched his wall, hard enough to make a dent in it, and threw his binoculars down. All his hard work, all his time remaining in the shadows, everything he had spent his life working towards was about to go down the drain. He didn’t even know how the wench had figured it out - he had been so careful about everything.

  He had researched his peers thoroughly, noted their mistakes, and had surpassed them. His itch was constantly satisfied and no one had ever been able to link him to anything.

  Until Kallista.

  This had to end tonight; he could not wait a moment longer. He would take them both out, asleep or awake, and then set the house on fire to destroy all the evidence they had, and thereafter he would leave the country, and start a new life somewhere where his talents could be used without question. Perhaps Rio de Janeiro.

  He was taking no further chances and went to pack all his tools. He would ensure that nothing, and no one, ever stopped him. This was the end for the little bitch and her cop lover. He was done playing the game.

  Packing all the necessary belongings he would need into two travel bags, he planned to collect them after he had disposed of Kalli and the detective. He wasn’t about to wait; he was going straight to the airport and would find out the result after he arrived in his new home town.

  As long as they were dead, and the evidence destroyed, he didn’t care what else happened.

  The tools he would destroy with the evidence, except his katana, which he would check in at airport security. Everything else he would buy new in his new country. It was just another challenge, another adventure, and in a third world country like Brazil, it was far easier to get away with.

  He put his overalls on, then his gloves, and strapped his katana, knives and cuffs to him before he picked up the bag of tools and went downstairs. He looked around the house; he would have to destroy it after he was done next door. There were things in here that were better burnt. He wouldn’t be able to take his mementos with him, but he was looking forward to creating new ones.

  Walking around the house, he carefully took note of what could be set on fire when he was done next door. He would burn both houses, walk down the road a couple of blocks, and order a taxi from there.

  After he was done setting up his house, he phoned his travel agent and ordered his plane ticket to Rio. He made the ticket for the following day; he would hang around the airport, eat, read and relax before his trip.

  Once in Rio, he would contact the American embassy and arrange for a work visa so he could remain in the country. The officials in Brazil would be easily bribed and he had enough money saved away, thanks to his inheritance from his father and brother.

  Everything was perfect and the momentary rage and panic that had filled him earlier was now gone. He was calm again, with a slight itch that needed to be scratched, and he was ready to satisfy that itch.

  He went to sit in the living room, on his father's favourite chair, his back straight and his hands resting on his knees.

  Once that last light from next door went out, it would be time to act, and he was ready.

  The last light, the bedroom light, went off just after midnight. He glanced at his clock on the wall and waited for it to tick to one in the morning before he stood up, picked up his bag and approached his back door.

  He opened it, glancing around outside carefully. No one was about in the house next door; they had both gone to bed. He shut his door silently behind him, and then walked around his yard and into theirs. He knelt by their back door, picking up the stone that held the key. He could not fathom why, after everything that had happened, Kallista had not moved it. She was a fool, and her foolishness was going to be her end.

  Making sure it didn’t make so much as a tiny creak, he unlocked the door and opened it. Not wanting to risk it making a noise when he shut it, he strategically placed a pot plant on the floor by the door so it simply remained open.

  He walked towards the stairs.

  Not a single noise echoed inside. Nothing stirred, nothing moved. At the foot of the stairs, he looked up, but it was completely dark; no one was awake at this time. When he had previously ascended the stairs, that fateful day ten years ago, with Tatum’s body slung over his back in a black bag, he had learnt that the stairs did not creak. However, after all this time, that might have changed. He went up only a short way when he took Darren’s life. He needed to be careful.

  Testing each step cautiously before putting his full weight on it, he went up. It felt like an eternity to get up the stairs this way, but it would be worth it, he knew it. Nothing could stop him now.

  The hallway was pitch-dark, but he knew where their room was. He would make it quick, slice their throats open and let them bleed to death. Simple, and it would mitigate any possible problems, especially with Mike.

  He passed Tatum’s room and took a deep breath. His skin tingled, his itch now reignited with the thought of how perfect her death had been for him. He would recreate it, over and over again, in his new home. He would be able to satisfy his itch to his heart's content, in a place that didn’t know his name, and never would.

  Reaching the bedroom, he peered inside. Bathed in the moonlight, lying on the bed on his back, was Mike. The duvet was around his middle, his bare chest exposed. He had an impressive array of scars on display and if Bart had more time he might have tied the detective up, and made him tell him where each scar came from. He made a note to find someone with scars and do that, it sounded delicious.

  Kallista was not in the bed.

  He cursed silently; he hadn’t seen her anywhere else in the house and if he doubled back now he might alert her, or Mike, that he was here. He would have to take care of the detective first and then find her, and finish her.

  Taking slow, silent, deep breaths, he approached the bed. He wasn’t sure if the detective was a light sleeper or not, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He moved to the edge of the bed and slowly unsheathed his katana. Moving a step back, preparing to strike, he shuddered when the detective’s eyes flew open, as though someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water over him.

  The detective shifted quickly, narrowly missing the blade as it came down. Turning and sitting on his knees, he grabbed for the handle, careful to avoid the blade. Bart and Mike struggled for it. Bart let go with one hand to punch Mike, but Mike shifted his weight and Bart missed his mark, Mike came back with a blow himself.

  Bart grunted as Mike connected, both of them with one hand on the katana. Mike desperately tried to pull it away from Bart and then Bart had a brainwave and simply let go. The force with which Mike was pulling, and the sudden lack of force from Bart holding on, meant that Mike toppled back, and the katana fell out of his hand and fell to the floor on the other side of the bed.

  Bart sprung on top of Mike and sat with his legs on Mike’s stomach. Swiftly his hands found the man’s throat and he applied pressure. Mike choked, scratching, punching and slapping at Bart’s arm. He shoved at Bart, but he had all his weight on top of the detective and luckily had longer arms. He applied more pressure as Mike wriggled, clawed out and tried to fight for his life.

  Then Kallista fell on top of Bart.

  Chapter 20

  Kallista

  Once Mike had assured Kalli, the minute he had the warrant, they, along with a bunch of officers, would go next door to search the Wild house for any evidence of foul doing, she relaxed.

  They made a few more notes about the case, had something to eat and then went to shower and get into bed. They didn’t do anything except snuggle. Kalli found Mike’s half-naked body reassuring to rest against, and she felt as if nothing bad could happen to her while his arm was wrapped around her shoulder, caressing the top of her arm.

  She fell asleep.

  When she woke up she felt uncomfortable, as though she had fallen from th
e bed and was on the floor on her back. She stretched … and touched the light bulb, and her eyes sprang open; she was yet again on the ceiling. She could stretch against the ceiling, but could not turn on her side, and could not make a sound.

  In the corner of the room Robyn stood, watching her.

  Robyn raised an arm and pointed towards the bedroom door.

  Someone was in the house.

  Then that someone walked slowly towards the bed, directly under Kalli, to where Mike was still asleep. She knew it was Bart Wild. He had come for them.

  She tried to scream for Mike, she struggled to lift her body from the ceiling and slam it back down, either to the floor or against the ceiling, anything to make a noise and alert Mike that he was in danger.

  She couldn’t do anything.

  Kalli looked over at Robyn and silently pleaded with her to save Mike, or at least help him. She knew Robyn could and she begged it of her. Robyn stared at her for a moment before walking over and, raising her hand, she slapped Mike on the face.

  Mike’s eyes sprung open as Bart was about to slice him open and, had he woken a second later, he would be dead with a katana buried in him. Next they started to fight over the katana.

  Kalli felt like they were all in water and that everything was moving slowly. Robyn stood idly by watching the men fight until Bart got the upper hand over Mike, by sheer dumb luck, and started choking the life out of him.

  That was when Mike saw her on the ceiling, her face screwed up in agony because she could do nothing to save him. He fought; he fought with all his might for his life when he saw her.

  She looked at Robyn and again pleaded and begged silently for Robyn to let her help him, to let her save Mike.

  That was when she fell from the ceiling, directly onto Bart.

  Kalli could understand the confusion Bart must have felt when she landed on him. She tried to hold onto him, after he let go of Mike, and he attempted frantically to fling her off. Mike choked in the background, desperate to catch his breath and get up. He crawled along the bed towards them to help, but he had to oxygenate his blood before it would cooperate with him.

  Bart tried to fling her off of his body by swinging her from side to side, but Kalli hung on because her life really did depend on it. Bart ceased his swaying movements, and she felt him reaching for something strapped to his body. Afraid it was another weapon, she bit into his shoulder. He yelled in agony and made a fist with the opposite hand, trying to punch her in the head to let go. She held the bite as long as she could.

  He turned again and just as quickly he bent forward. She hadn’t been expecting it and as a result she flew off his back, in a forward tumbling motion, and landed flat on her back, the air knocked right out of her.

  Bart glared at her from above.

  She looked over to Mike, who had recuperated enough to get onto all fours and reach under his pillow to pull out his gun..… Bart glanced over at what he was doing and gripped Kalli by her hair, forcing her up in front of him. He grabbed his knife from where it was strapped to his belt; he unsheathed it and put it against Kalli’s throat.

  “Drop the gun, detective.”

  Kalli tried hard not to swallow; she could feel the cold blade pressed against her throat as she stared into Mike’s eyes. He was torn. The woman he loved stood between him and a serial killer that needed to be put down. Kalli gave him a small nod. She wanted him to shoot, even if it meant she got hurt.

  He couldn’t do it.

  Bart smiled. “Human emotions are so weakening. If you don’t get emotionally attached to things, life becomes so much easier. You are both going to die tonight, and I am going to go down as the greatest of my time.”

  Kalli tried to move and he pushed the blade into her skin, enough to draw blood.

  “It’s very sharp, Kallista, you don’t want to do that. I can slice you open in a heartbeat.”

  Mike held his gun up in one hand, pointed away from Bart, and said, “Okay! Okay! Look, I am putting it down.” He tossed his gun off the edge of the bed towards the window.

  Bart made Kalli walked with him as he edged his way towards the gun. “I just have one question, detective,” he said as he kicked the gun further away, now in the middle of the room. “How did you know it was me? What led you to all your clues?”

  “Robyn did,” Mike said.

  “What did I do wrong with Robyn?” Bart asked, narrowing his eyes but keeping a tight hold on Kallista.

  “You killed her, and she wanted us to know that.” Mike kept his hands up and visible.

  Bart snorted. “Her ghost wants you to know who killed her?”

  Mike’s eyes widened and Kalli raised an eyebrow. Without moving her head, she gazed into the mirror to the right of the bed, and saw what he saw.

  Standing behind Bart was Robyn, glaring at him with a murderous look on her face. Behind her stood all the other victims he had killed. They were all staring at Bart.

  “I think she wanted you here,” Mike said.

  “And why is that?” Bart asked, no doubt thinking the man was stalling for time or he had lost his mind. Either way, once he had an answer to this question he was going to kill them both.

  “Because I think she wants to return the favour.”

  As though driven by an invisible force, the hand holding the knife to Kalli was slowly forced away from her throat.

  Kalli watched it in the mirror. Robyn had his hand and was moving it away from her. Tatum and Jacqui had moved to the other side and pried his hand away from her hair.

  Bart glared at Mike with a mixture of anger and fear. “What is this?” he yelled.

  Once free, Kalli scampered to the bed and into Mike’s arms, watching with horror as Robyn stepped in front of Bart. He was still staring at Mike and Kalli, and she realised he couldn’t see the victims. He glanced around wildly.

  Robyn smiled and pressed her lips against Bart’s. He shivered and his lips went a light shade of blue. As a collective, the victims moved around Bart. Kyle retrieved the cord from the blind and wrapped it around Bart’s throat, choking him. Bart tried to reach for it, but Roger and Barker kept his hands in place above his head. Darren appeared next to them and took Bart’s handcuffs from his pants, securing his hands above his head.

  They dragged him out of the room.

  Horrified but fascinated, Mike and Kallista followed.

  They dragged Bart into Tatum’s room and the closet door flew open. Bart, still unable to see what was happening to him, gasped for air and fought the invisible force dragging him around and using him as a puppet.

  The additional blind cord went over the rod in Tatum’s closet and through the handcuffs. It tightened and Bart was hanging on his tiptoes, the cord around his neck pulling tighter.

  Robyn walked into the room and stood at the door. In her hand was Bart’s katana. She looked at Kalli and Mike before looking at Bart. Kalli didn’t know how, but she knew Robyn was now visible to Bart.

  His eyes enlarged and he gasped out, “You’re … dead …”

  The other victims joined Robyn.

  He tried to move back slightly, stammering, “You’re … you’re all dead …”

  Robyn smiled and marched towards him, a drunken blood lust in her eyes. Bart didn’t even have a chance to do anything before Robyn used the katana to stab through his neck. She left it there for a moment before pulling it out.

  The blood poured from his throat and all his victims stood there and watched as he bled out.

  Kalli and Mike simply observed, until Kalli saw enough and buried herself in Mike’s chest.

  The closet door slammed shut, and Kalli looked up.

  Each of the victims gradually faded away, their features clear, and they were smiling. She looked at Darren, who transformed from the man she had befriended to the boy she had known. His goofy smile made her heart warm as he took Jacqui’s hand and looked at her lovingly before they both dissipated.

  Robyn walked up to Mike and Kalli, smiled and said, �
��Thank you” before she too vanished.

  Kalli sighed and then saw Tatum, standing near her. Kallista let go of Mike and approached her sister. Now that the danger was out of the way, now that she had solved the murder, she didn’t know what to say. Tears leaked from her eyes and the spirit of her sister raised its hand and stroked them away. Her touch was like ice.

  “Oh, Kalli, I never blamed you,” she said, though her voice sounded very far away. “And I have always loved you and watched over you. I always will.”

  Kalli sniffed and sobbed out, “I miss you. I’m so sorry.”

  Tatum gave her that warm smile she was known for and said, “I forgive you. Now, go live your life.” Tatum brushed Kalli’s hair from her face and then she was gone.

  Mike pulled Kalli into a hug and she sobbed into his chest, with relief.

  Chapter 21

  Kallista

  At first they thought it would be difficult explaining to the police how Bart Wild got tied up in the closet with a katana in his neck. When the police arrived, however, they found Bart in Kallista’s bedroom. From the position of his body, it was clear he had fallen on his own blade.

  Kalli and Mike did not tell the police anything different; they were just thankful that spirits knew how to clean up their own damn mess.

  They got the warrant to search the house next door. At first the only thing they found was that Bart had indeed been living there all along, which was how he had watched Tatum and then Kallista, Mike and Darren. Then, upon closer inspection, Kalli found the floor board under the bed with the jars filled with tongues, not only of the victims they were aware of, but of other victims. DNA tests revealed victims from elsewhere.

  That was how he had remained so quiet after Tatum’s death; he had gone out of the area to throw suspicion off anyone local.