Up ahead there was the sound of sirens and James knew he had but a few moments to get home. He had to get there before anyone saw him in the street. So far he had been lucky, but he didn’t know how long that luck would last.
He got to the front door just as the police car pulled into the street, sirens blaring, and he quickly found the spare key and unlocked it, standing half inside and trying to look as though he had just stepped outside to see what was going on. The car pulled up outside his house, and he knew it was his time.
Two policemen got out of the car, and one looked at him and said, “Back inside, lad, this is none of your business, and lock your door. Where’re your folks? Are you home alone?”
“Yes, sir, my mom’s just gone to the shop quickly.” He gripped the doorknob tightly, his hand sweaty.
“Get inside and lock your door; we’ll come to you soon to ask you some questions.” With that, they went around the side of the house and disappeared from sight.
James quickly went inside and locked up. He picked up his bag and took it upstairs, rushing to the bathroom to check if he had gotten all the blood off. For good measure he took a shower, spraying on deodorant to mask the scent of paint thinner and blow-drying his hair, so it didn’t appear obvious he had just showered. He hid his tools under his floorboards and straightened just as there was a knock at the door.
_____
Robyn
She couldn’t believe it! The police were going to catch him. She couldn’t stop him from killing that poor boy, but now, now he would be stopped and the family would leave, and everything would return to normal. He looked mad as hell, and she felt strong.
The two policemen stood on the front porch and questioned James while Robyn watched.
“Have you ever seen a boy, about so tall, black hair, walking around in the forest behind your house?” the older policeman was asking.
“Yeah, he whistles all the time,” James answered. “Sometimes I wish he would come over and play because I have no friends,” he added, trying to look sad.
“Did you hear any screams earlier?”
James took longer to answer that one than he should have and Robyn was sure the police would be suspicious.
“Yeah, I thought I heard something, but I was busy vacuuming for my mom, so I thought I imagined it.”
“And you didn’t go investigate?”
“No, sir, my mom told me not to leave the house.”
“Then why did you step outside when we got here.”
“Because I heard the sirens and I was kind of scared.”
“Why would you be scared of sirens?”
That got James, and he swallowed hard. “Because …” he paused. “Because …” he paused again and the policeman eyed him out.
“Well, spit it out, boy! We ain’t got all day.”
“Because the last time there were sirens was when my brother’s friend next door was murdered, sir. I was scared the murderer was about.”
Robyn watched, her mouth open wide, as the Butcher told James precisely what to say.
_____
Diana
The sight of police cars outside her house served to enforce her sense that something was wrong. Diana sped up slightly as she saw the two policemen on their porch questioning James and was relieved to see that he appeared, at least, to be okay. She parked the car and ushered Charlie and Clinton along until they were all on the porch.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, ma’am. We just needed to ask your son if he had seen anything suspicious.”
“Why has something happened?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am, er … there was another murder.” He was trying to be gentle with the children around, and Diana understood.
She nodded and said, “Clinton, take Charlie inside, please.”
Thankfully Clinton, holding his sword in one hand, took Charlie with his other and led him inside.
“That’s a nice looking sword you’ve got there, kid,” the one policeman said.
Diana nodded. “My sons like weapons.”
“That’s interesting,” the other policeman said, “because the boy in question was hacked with what looked like a really sharp blade.”
Diana frowned. “And? Are you insinuating an eight-year-old boy did it?”
“No, ma’am,” The office said quickly. “I’m just saying it’s a big coincidence.”
Diana rummaged in her bag and pulled out a receipt. “It’s a busy store,” she huffed. “You can contact them here and ask them for a list of everyone who has purchased swords and blades from them.” She crossed her arms.
“Thank you, ma’am. We won’t be disturbing you any longer.”
Diana took James by his shoulder and led him inside, slamming the door behind him. “I knew I shouldn’t have left you here,” she said, hugging him. “What if something happened to you?”
“Nothing happened, mom,” he said. “I kept the doors locked the whole time.”
“And if someone had got in? No, no more, James. You are not allowed to stay alone at home any longer. Either you come with us, or your brother stays with you.”
“Because it’s not like he won’t kill Clinton,” James said bitterly.
“Enough,” Diana snapped, tilting his head to look him in the eyes. “You don’t understand how serious this is, James. You could have been killed.”
“I wasn’t, though; that other kid was.”
“Go to your room,” Diana said, letting go of him. “I’m not arguing with you, so just go to your room and actually think about what you are saying.”
She ran a hand through her hair and watched as he went upstairs. She wondered about the boy that was murdered and if they would find the monster who was doing this. She felt that nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach again; something was wrong and it had something to do with James.
_____
Robyn
It was working to a degree. Robyn could sense it. She whispered continuously into Diana’s ear that she should check James’ room. She just needed Diana to look under the floorboards. Diana brushed her off, though, and went to the kitchen where Charlie and Clinton were staring out the window at the police cordoning off the forest.
“Come on, you two, go play,” she said, taking Charlie off the countertop and watching them leave.
Robyn clenched her fists in frustration and was about to rearrange the letters on the fridge to pass on a message when she stopped. He was there. Glaring at her.
He blamed her for James’ failure today, and he was going to make her pay. She screamed, but nobody could hear her, and she ran, with him chasing closely behind her.
_____
Chapter Ten
Diana
True to her word, Diana didn’t let James out of her vicinity. He spent most of his time alone in his bedroom sulking, but Diana didn’t care. She needed to protect her family and protect them she would. James got moodier and moodier with each passing day that Diana ‘forced’ him to spend time with his family, but she was not swayed, not even by Robbie who complained about James’ mood.
Clinton also seemed out of sorts. He was quieter than usual and, when Diana asked him about it, he described a fight that he and James had where James had threatened him. Diana did not believe him, and he got more upset, claiming that everyone thought James was perfect, but he wasn’t.
Diana put it down to being cooped up, so she tried taking the kids out for the day, but it escalated into a fight again, where Clinton punched James, and she had to bring them home and ground Clinton while she cleaned up James’ face.
Matters were getting wildly out of hand.
_____
Sylvana
Charles thought she was mad when Sylvana had said she was going to her childhood home, but then he also didn’t understand why she kept it. They had been engaged for more than a year and been together for six, and he never understood why she didn’t just sell the place.
She couldn’t.
&nb
sp; Her mother didn’t sell it and, when her mother passed away, neither did Kalli. Sylvana felt it was her responsibility; she just had to find the right family to stay there, and everything would be fine.
Finding the right family, though, was proving more difficult each time. She had hoped the new family that moved in would love it and would stay longer than others had, and thus far they did, but then Sylvana received a disturbing letter, and it prompted her to take the drive out to the house.
Charles was reluctant to let her go alone, but he had work, and she was on a break between writing books, so she had the time. She recalled reading the letter and thinking it was so strange …
Dear Sylvana,
Your sisters’ killer is at it again, but only you can stop her. Please come save us, and my son, only you can help. Please don’t let anyone else die.
Diana and Robyn
She was tempted to call them, or the police, but something in her gut tugged, and she knew she had to go. She had to see what it was about. As she was planning her trip, she used the Internet to keep tabs on the local news in the area, to find that the murders had started again. She brought her plans forward and changed them, having decided to leave sooner. She had to know what was going on.
She hadn’t been driven to finding the truth as Kalli had, or seen the things that Tatum did, but she wanted her own answers. Like how Kalli was murdered when Bart had been killed already, or why it was their family being targeted. These were the answers she wanted.
She needed.
So she took the drive through and up and down long rolling hills, passing numerous farms and cities while trying her best to maintain a positive outlook. It would take at least two days to cross the country and reach her old hometown, and she was planning on enjoying the trip as much as possible because Lord knows what she would meet once she arrived at her destination.
_____
James
He had threatened his brother, Clinton, saying he would cut him from head to groin and spill his guts and bodily fluid everywhere. The Dark God admonished him for that, saying he was being too careless and would be caught and the game would be over.
James felt truly mad at Diana for confining them to the house; how was he supposed to continue if he was trapped. It was his fault for not thinking clearly; the Dark God let him know this.
James had to find his next victim. He had to complete the Dark God’s requests, or he would leave James, and he would be alone again, just like before. He didn’t want to be alone again.
He spent a lot of time at the various windows of the house, watching people coming and going, trying to work out patterns and the way they went. He needed a new victim.
There were several to choose from, but many of them would be hard to take down for someone as small as him. He had to find someone weak, someone pathetic, someone who deserved to die. Hell, they didn’t even have to deserve to die; they just had to be in the right place to die.
After watching for a few days, he finally figured out who that someone was; an elderly lady who walked her little Maltese poodle every night. She was very friendly, very helpful to her neighbours, and would make an easy target. She could barely bend down to pick up the shit from her own dog, let alone fight off someone like James.
She walked the same way every night, coming down the street with her little walker and her old dog on a leash. She moved slowly and often stopped to chat with people and, by the time she reached the end of the street, where the forest met the road, it was dark. She then turned around and made her way back up the street.
James had to figure out how he was going to get out of the house without his family noticing. He thought about offering to help the lady walk the dog, but the Dark God instantly told him it was a stupid idea because then it would associate him with her and point the police to him. He had to do it stealthily; he had to make sure no one would suspect him.
James yet again felt admonished and berated himself for being so stupid. He apologised to the Dark God and said he would find another way.
_____
Robyn
Bart was becoming desperate for James to kill again, she could see that. With every person James killed in his name, Bart grew stronger. Robyn didn’t understand what Bart thought would happen if he thought he would come back to life or something, but he always pushed James to find the next victim, to find the next piece of meat to Butcher. All the time Robyn prayed that Sylvana would come soon, that she would see Robyn and figure out what was going on.
That was the flip of the coin. Robyn wasn’t sure if Sylvana would remember her. As a little girl, Robyn would often play with Sylvana, keep her entertained and help her with homework, but after a certain age, Sylvana started to ignore Robyn and pretended she wasn’t there, or perhaps she had lost the ability to see Robyn the older she got.
After Tatum’s death, Robyn tried to comfort Sylvana and Kallista, but they would not be comforted by the ghost that led their sister to her demise. Robyn had been weighed down with so much guilt that she hadn’t pressed the issue.
Until Kallista came back.
Then Robyn had to help her find the true identity of the Butcher so that justice could be served. Unfortunately, the ghost of the Butcher, still strong after being recently killed by his victims’ spirits, murdered Mike and Kalli. After that, Sylvana never returned to the house. Robyn saw Sylvana at the gravesite, and that was the last time she had laid eyes on the girl.
The Butcher tried to stay with her, tried to ‘go home’ with Sylvana, but he was tied to the house, and the crimes he had committed.
To pass the time, he chased the spirits of his victims around the house and continuously re-enacted their deaths, enjoying watching his victims dangling from various places, their heads cut off, and their gurgling screams.
Of course, it was limited to Kalli, Mike, Darren, Tatum and Robyn, but he never caught Robyn and couldn’t re-enact her death because she was killed elsewhere.
This was enough to sustain him through the years, but now, now he was growing stronger than ever. James was feeding him and didn’t have any clue who he was feeding. He just worshipped him like some God.
Hopefully, Sylvana would sort this out soon.
_____
Chapter Eleven
Diana
James was near impossible to deal with. He spent all his time sitting at one window or another, staring out at the street at people who passed by. One would swear that she had given him a prison sentence the way James was acting. He constantly sighed, every time someone walked by him, and it was starting to irritate everyone.
Diana also couldn’t deal with Clinton’s tall tales anymore. He continuously complained that his brother was scaring him and that he threatened to cut him open, as though James would ever do something like that.
Charlie was also acting up. She was persistently in her room having parties with ‘Robyn’, and it worried Diana. She considered sending her child to an expert, some sort of child therapist, but she also didn’t know whether it was from the trauma of the murders happening around them or if it was merely an overactive imagination. She didn’t want her analysed and put on drugs if it was the latter.
All in all, Diana felt at a loss. To add insult to injury, the strange happenings around the house continued. Often when Diana put something where it belonged, it would be moved somewhere else. Sometimes the taps turned on by themselves, Diana would turn them off, and they would turn on again as she was leaving the room.
The windows, too. They would open and close at random. On hot nights when Diana wanted to sleep, she would open the windows to let the colder air in only to wake up in the middle of the night to a stifling hot room with the windows shut.
And if she shut windows, especially downstairs for their safety, she would get up in the morning and find them all wide open. It was the most frustrating thing in the world, and at first, she blamed the boys, assuming they were trying to get her back for making them stay inside, but even on night
s she knew they had slept through, it would happen.
There was something in the house that Diana couldn’t quite put her finger on. She wouldn’t say it was a ghost because she couldn’t believe in such silly things, but there was definitely something foreboding, and it tugged at her gut every time she passed James. There was something wrong with her son, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
_____
James
Yes! She would be perfect! James decided that the old lady would be his next target. The reason it would work so well was that it was late enough that he could sneak out of the house, while his parents presumed he would be in bed, and from there he could obtain his prize and then slip back in before anyone knew he was gone.
The Dark God approved of his plan, and he made his preparations. He would make sure that no one suspected anything. They wouldn’t question him going to bed early - he always did - and once his mom tucked him in she wouldn’t bother him again for the remainder of the night. The Dark God had explained how to shimmy out of his window and down the drain pipe. He worried at first about whether or not it would hold his weight, but the Dark God knew it would; it had held a boy bigger than him before. He trusted his God.
“Goodnight, pumpkin,” Diana said as she came in to check on him later that evening. She tugged the blankets up to his chin and stroked his hair out of his eyes. “Sweet dreams.”
“Goodnight,” James said quietly. He closed his eyes and snuggled into his pillows.
Satisfied, Diana left the room, clicking the light off as she went.
The Butcher Box Set Page 31
