Authors: Lee Cockburn
Susan limped north. She wanted to get out of the woods, find the lake and maybe even a boat. The woods filled her with fear and dread. He could be within touching distance and she couldn’t stand it anymore. The not knowing was killing her; her guts ached at the thought of his face coming out of every pitch black pocket.
John also moved swiftly north, pondering where the sly little bitch might go. His mind raced. For the first time he wondered if this would be his last day on earth. He shrugged. “Who gives a fuck!”
He could see a lodge near the water. Lights were on and a warm glow was emanating from it, an inviting haven to escape to, and other people to give you a false sense of security. He smiled,
that’s where I would go - into the safety of the arms of others. The more the merrier,
he said to himself.
Susan also saw the lodge and her heart wanted to go there and be in the light, be with people, but she knew that if she went to it she would be putting the poor innocent people holidaying there in grave danger. She needed to find the police; they were the only ones that could help her now. Susan had heard
the two shots earlier and the painful whine of the injured dog. Her heart had sunk at that moment as the realisation of her situation became clear. If he could shoot a police dog, then who was in control here? Susan turned west and continued towards the loch, steering well clear of the lodge.
What if he goes there anyway? Shit! Shit, those poor people. Fuck! I’d die if I tried to save them. Have a wee prayer from me - be safe.
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The log fire gave the living room a warm glow. The children were tucked up in their beds and the couple sat having a glass of wine as they watched television. The luxury apartment was the best money could buy, in a tranquil setting and filled with all the mod cons needed and spotless luxury fittings. They sighed happily as they drank their wine, totally relaxed at the mellow surroundings. In front of them was a window the full length of the room with a view onto the jetty. Small boats were clinking together in the light wind, the metal on them chiming in the evening air. The moon shone brightly onto the loch, small squalls rippling across the water. The view was truly breathtaking; the setting worth every penny, they thought.
His hand gripped the handle tightly. He expected to just walk right in but to his surprise the door was locked.
City dwellers lack so much trust,
he thought to himself, amused.
Shit, maybe they’ve locked the door because she’s already here and they know I’m coming, they think a little lock will stop me.
He moved round the house slowly looking into each window. None of the curtains were drawn. His eyes searched for her in every little space. He moved to the room with the children lying in their beds, the heat from his breath steaming up the window. His eyes were cold and black as he peered into the room; he scanned around, but couldn’t find her. His head gently bumped the window as he looked into the corner of the room. One of the children heard this and woke up. He sat bolt upright and stared at the window, eyes wide and terrified. John hadn’t noticed the child. The wee boy couldn’t move or speak. Terror engulfed him as he thought he was looking at the face of the boogeyman. Quickly, he slumped back down onto his bed and pretended to be asleep; just in time, as John’s eyes stared straight at the children
again. The boy felt tears roll down his face and tried with all his might to stop himself moving, or visibly shaking. He slanted his eyes to try and see if he’d only been dreaming but he could still see John’s bared teeth and hideous face was still there staring right at him. John eventually dropped his gaze and went round towards the front of the lodge. He moved a little further away to enable him to look in the massive window without being noticed. He didn’t want to kill these people unless they were hiding Susan but as he watched them, there were no signs of any distress or trying to hide something or get away. They were just sitting chilling. He was about to move off when one of the children came running through into the living room. He looked alarmed and was very animated as he explained something to his parents, pointing back through to the bedroom. The male that had been sitting down took the boys hand and led him back out of the living room, through to the bedroom John presumed. He watched the woman, who remained seated on the couch not looking overly bothered. He was about to leave as he didn’t think Susan was in there.
“He was right there at the window, staring at us. He was horrible and mean looking. He was right there, see dad, right there dad, see.” Trembling, the little boy pointed. He wet himself and started crying loudly. His dad put his arm round him.
“There’s no such thing as the boogeyman. There was no one there. You must’ve had a dream little lad, come on, back to bed.”
He went to lift his son up and realised he was wet. He thought that this was not like his little boy, and why was he shaking so much? Something must have really scared him. Letting go of the boy, he went to the window and put his face up against it to see out into the darkness. He saw marks on the outside of the window, marks that showed that someone had leant their face on it right where the boy had said he’d seen the man. The father’s blood ran cold and a horrible shiver rolled slowly up his spine as he allowed his imagination to run wild, fuelled by his little boy’s terror. He shook himself to regain a little control of his mind and put some logic into the situation. He looked one more time to reassure himself that there was nobody there, more for himself than the kids and again pressed his face right up against the pane to peer into the darkness. As he did so a figure loomed up from beneath the window. His face was almost touching the window, a blank and expressionless face stared right back at him.
The father stumbled backwards, grabbing his son in a desperate attempt to get some distance between him and this thing that was at the window. He saw the boogeyman put his finger up to his mouth and make a sign as if to warn him to keep quiet, his eyes silently threatening, his face twisted with hate and intimidation. The man grabbed for his other child who lay there still asleep, scooped him up like a rag doll and scampered backwards through to the living room, dragging the first boy off his feet in haste. He yelled to his wife to get out of the living room but it was too late, the boogeyman had moved quickly. He was light on his feet for a big man and was already outside the large picture window. John could see the terror in the face of the good looking woman frozen in front of him, eyes watery and fear oozing from them as her husband dragged the screaming children through to her, trying to escape the nightmare. Her motherly instinct kicked in and she dropped to her knees, grabbing the kids in her arms, surrounding them in an attempt to protect them. She faced up to John like a wild cat and screamed at him, “Leave them alone! What do you want? Please don’t hurt my children, please don’t hurt us.” She didn’t show any concern for herself as she stood facing the window shielding her precious boys from the eyes of the devil. John stood there staring at the bravery of this woman. He had a gun and was a very strong man but this woman was standing her ground, unfazed by the threat he posed to her.
John raised the gun towards the window and aimed it straight at her head, only glass separating them. Her defiance made him want to teach her to respect him but the children being there disturbed him; they plagued his conscience. He hated women and how they made him feel, but children were innocent and he wouldn’t gain anything by slaying their mother. The situation he had created was now taunting him to decide. His eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched. His finger moved to the trigger.
The rumble of a boat’s engine cut through the night. John snapped out of his trance-like state instantly. His head snapped round towards the loch. It was pitch dark and he tried to focus on where the noise had come from. He looked back to finish the job but the family had scurried out of the room and out of sight. He blasted through the window firing several shots as he moved away from the house, a gesture of dominance and show
of what he could have done to them. The glass shattered into thousands of diamond-like pieces. Screams rang out from the lodge, all of them fearing for their lives, believing he was coming straight through the window to slay them. Susan’s head snapped round at the shots and she looked to where they had come from; they were at the lodge. She sighed. Her instincts had been right and saved her own life but her heart sank for those who were in the lodge. She hoped that they had survived. The distance from where she was and from where he’d just revealed himself to be was not far enough for her, and she felt like a scared animal being hunted once again. He was too close for comfort now and she knew it.
The cops changed direction and headed towards the lodge, fearing the worst for whoever was at the wrong end of the shots. They also heard the gentle purr of the boat’s engine as it moved towards the opposite side of the loch. Their focus was now the loch and lodge, all units now converging in that direction.
The control centre received a call from the lodge house. The woman on the line relayed the events of a moment ago, her voice clear and to the point; she sounded worried but very much in control. She relayed the facts to the controller at the end of the phone, stating exactly where they were, what the male looked like and that they weren’t staying there for another second. The controller arranged for a rendezvous place to allow them to be met by armed officers, where statements and medical attention would be taken and given. The family made towards their car in haste, taking their chance that the man at the window had left them at that time for a reason and this was their moment to escape. The woman had truly believed he was going to kill her. There was fear in her voice, but a strength that could be heard over the phone, a mother’s strength to protect her family.
The GPS position of the lodge was relayed to all the officers on the ground. The helicopter was now up above them, the dragon lights shining down into the trees and over the water. The whirring of the rotary blades displaced branches and leaves, the down draft powerful as the chopper dropped and raised back up in the sky, searching for him and her. Armed officers were on board and they decided to cover the family leaving the lodge to afford them some protection as they got to their car.
John sprinted down to the loch and ran along the edge of the
water. There were several small motor boats moored at the jetty. He looked back at the lodge and watched the chopper hover above it. He had chosen well not to stay there any longer.
Stupid bitch! She’s left me a boat or two for use, and she’s taken herself away from the very people that would maybe be able to save her.
He looked up into the sky and watched the chopper circle above the trees, the light beam shining across the water and onto Susan’s boat and back to the trees. Torchlight shone up from the trees from several places, one after the other. He watched this as the positions of all the cop’s locations were revealed.
He smiled and said, “Thank you for everything.”
He pulled the cord of the engine with force and it instantly rumbled into action. Flipping the rope into the water, he headed straight to where her boat had been lit up in the water. He was totally focused on Susan now. Everyone was closing in on him, everything was a ticking time bomb, his life and hers both hanging in the balance. He had to beat them all to her; he couldn’t let them find her first after all his effort to reunite them.
Taylor had also looked out on the water and seen the little boat cutting across it in the light beam. She knew Susan’s position had been compromised by those searching to save her. Her radio crackled as she gave direction to everyone as to where Susan was now and where she was heading, trying to give rough coordinates. They had to get to her quickly because they weren’t the only ones that would have seen and heard her. Marcus picked up the pace, as did all the others. “How are we going to get over there? I hope there are more boats for us, or it’s a fucking long swim.”
Taylor moaned at the cop half-humour, a slight panic in her voice because she realised just how vulnerable Susan was now.
The front of Susan’s boat crunched into the pebbled shore, a deep groove scarred the beach where it had landed. The tree line lay close to the shore, the foliage again thick and intimidating but she couldn’t remain where she was, totally exposed and out in the open. Every ounce of her heart feared the closeness of the trees and the terror of what they could hide. Nevertheless, she felt safer at this side of the loch, knowing that she’d left him behind back at the lodge; at least now there was some distance between them. She worried a little that all of the torchlight
was also left far behind but her heart hoped that more officers would be joining the search from this side. She didn’t realise that resources in the north of Scotland had to be sourced from elsewhere and travel far to get to where they were needed. Nothing was ever instantaneous in that part of the country.
She took a deep breath and moved into the trees. Instantly she felt claustrophobic and trapped; Susan couldn’t get her breath as terror took hold of her once again. Her mind raced back to the night she’d been attacked and how much Brennan had already taken from her.
Is this the end of me, my life? Is he going to win, once and for all? Would it be easier to just give in and wait for him to kill me, take the enjoyment away from him, make a stand and take back control of my life again?
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His fist gripped the throttle and twisted every knot out of the small boat; it cut through the water with relative ease, the nose lifting at the front, his weight and the speed pushing the boat upwards and forwards.
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Tyres screeched as the family left the lodge, the kids screaming and crying in the back, the couple looking ahead in concentration, escape being their only thought. The road ahead of them was single tracked with blind corners and every turn could potentially reveal him standing there. Their fear was obvious, eyes wide, apprehension raw and mind altering. Turn after turn they made, all of them unwilling to relax and believe that they were free from the boogeyman. They reached the main junction and only then, with a couple of miles behind them, did they look at one another with a little relief that the nightmare was really over.