Authors: Lee Cockburn
The key was pushed into the lock and the sound of the door opening sent three people into action.
Taylor floated into the house, Kay's scent instantly filling the air. She called out for her, announcing her arrival. She could see the dim lighting from the living room but couldn't hear anything so she called again in case she was upstairs. Taylor smiled at the warm glow that invited her into the living room.
I bet she's fallen asleep, poor thing. Who cares! I just can't wait to hold her.
She moved excitedly towards the room, looking forward to seeing Kay's beautiful face, to kissing her and just being with her with no-one else to get in their way.
Taylor put her head round the door and her jovial mood was deleted in an instant. Terror ripped through her insides. She saw Kay's body lying on the floor covered in blood. She moved as quickly as she could to be at her side and knelt down, trying to pull Kay's hair off her face. It clung to her with thick congealed blood, sticking to her like a vile glue. Her only thought at that moment was Kay's welfare; it looked like she was dead. Taylor's heart was screaming
no
. When she moved Kay round, she flopped over and to Taylor's surprise, her lips whispered softly. Taylor jumped and her heart skipped a beat, “Taylor, he's here. He's in here. He's in the room somewhere. Run!” She floated
back out of consciousness and her weight lay heavy on Taylor's legs, a dead weight.
Her eyes suddenly caught a movement from the corner of the room. Despite her training, she had just waltzed straight in to the room and headed for her wounded lover without checking why she was injured, who had done it and with no thought of any danger that could still be there in the room beside her. John's eyes were fixed on Taylor like a snake ready to strike, its prey in focus; he had watched her come into his place of work on several occasions and he'd had unnatural thoughts about her then, never thinking he was ever going to get to live them out. His desire heightened, which fuelled his venom to hurt her, to have her; he had the upper hand and the strength to beat her. He moved quickly and powerfully from the void behind the door. Totally focused on Taylor, he sped towards her with the strength and speed of a silverback gorilla. Taylor saw the figure careering in her direction out of the corner of her eye. She leapt to her feet and skipped backwards, trying to put some distance between them. She looked at John, right in his eyes, and her heart jumped as she realised that she actually knew him; not from the photos but from the CCTV unit. She had worked alongside him on occasion and she'd even spoken to him more than once. She just hadn't been able to make the connection until now, as she stared full on into the cold and unfeeling eyes of the devil. They were filled with hate and rage and frighteningly focused on her. She recalled the discomfort she had felt back then at being in the same office as him, sometime last year, and could not believe she hadn't made the connection when hunting him from the photos until this fateful moment. It was totally unlike her, her mind refusing to contemplate that a work colleague could be the killer. He lunged forcefully towards her, stumbling slightly forward as his foot clumsily landed full weight on Kay's thigh. This enraged Taylor into making her move with the agility of a gazelle. She crossed over into his fighting arc and swung a vicious kick towards his head. High, skilled and powerful, it struck him forcefully, right on the temple. He grunted as the pain rocked him backwards and, stunned, he stumbled and fell on top of Kay, landing heavily on his backside right on her back. Kay just lay there completely motionless, there was no noise, no cries of pain, nothing at all. She was lifeless. Taylor's eyes
dropped to look at her, faltering at the thought she may be dead or dying, but she quickly focused again. Taylor reached into her pocket for her phone as she headed for the doorway in an effort to escape the room, hoping that he had finished with Kay for now because, if she was still alive, any more pain would certainly kill her. He was like a cat with a bird; it was only fun when there was a response from the prey, and now there was nothing, so Kay's chances were higher.
Taylor had underestimated his ability to move quickly; he pushed down hard on Kay to get himself back up and reached out his hand, grabbing Taylor's trailing wrist so ferociously that she thought it was going to break. He twisted it round so hard that she had to tumble to the floor and manoeuvre round to stop him breaking her forearm. The phone was gone, ripped right out of her grip, strong that it may be for a woman, his was much, much stronger. This was the least of her worries, however, as she was now like a snared animal, with a monster moving in to feast upon her. He still had her arm in a vice-like grip and she could feel his strength as his finger dug deep into her muscle, pain searing through her; she could feel the fibres tearing. This kept her animal instincts on fire; she was not about to be raped and brutalised by this beast without putting up the fight of her life to prevent it.
He hauled her up close to him, forcing her arm up her back, their faces almost touching. Taylor curled her face away from him, her mind racing. She was totally frazzled with everything she'd been through in this very long day, disbelieving the predicament she was now in.
What do I do? How can I beat him? Marcus, Marcus, I wish you were here
. Brennan gritted his teeth and almost snarled at her, a savage beast, his breath rancid and his eyes filling her with dread. She was starting to believe she might actually die tonight.
“John, what the fuck do you think you're doing? What the fuck is wrong with you? Get a fucking grip of yourself!” she yelled straight into his face. Spit flew as she shouted at him, terror coursing through every single vein within her. She was trying to find the human inside him, trying to dominate him verbally. She hoped there was a little normality left to reason with, trying to shock him back to reality. He just smiled back at her like a demon in a horror movie, a real life one for her. Nothing
stirred in the deep black pools of his dark and lifeless eyes. Taylor swallowed hard and tried to hide her fear; she had to try not to show him any weakness, although she knew she was in some serious shit here. No gun; it was locked up in a box back at the office. Her only other weapon was lying up in the bedroom, a weighty metal baton; it was kept close to her bed for protection, too far away to help right now though.
Marcus kissed his wife as if the world was ending, almost like there was no tomorrow. He had held his son earlier with tears in his eyes, knowing that two people had not returned to their loved ones that day. He felt blessed as he tried to express the horror of the night they'd all faced without going into too much graphic detail. His wife held him tightly, hugging him like a mother holding her child. He could feel the moistness around his eyes as the realisation of still being alive hit home hard.
He looked at her and said, “You know, he's not been caught yet. He's got Susan and nobody knows where he is.”
She felt cold, ice cold, instantly, as she watched her strong, steady almost invincible husband weep before her eyes. This news met her with dread; the thought that such a monster was still on the loose made her sick to the stomach. No-one was safe.
“Well, it's up to you to work out where he would go, officer.” Her strength and support flowed into him. He was aware that she could see the love of her life almost broken from the cruel reality of defeat.
“He's just a man, Marcus, a demented, deranged and very damaged man, but a beatable man. You're stronger than him. You're good and good always beats evil in my world. All you need to do is believe it, then prove it!”
“I'm off the case. They took the whole squad off the case and changed all the personnel because we were at risk of being affected by the death of our colleagues today.”
“Really? That just sounds like a crock of shit to me. You know more about that man than anyone else does. That's not the real reason and you know it. What's your boss saying about it?”
“Who? Taylor or Findlay?”
“Taylor of course, boss is a very loose term for Findlay. Weak slime ball is more apt,” she said with annoyance in her eyes.
They both laughed out loud. She knew them both so well from how Marcus had described them to her on many occasions.
“What's Taylor doing tonight anyway?”
Marcus looked down, almost guiltily. “Having a quiet night in I presume,” he replied very furtively.
“Alone?” she probed.
“Probably not, knowing her.”
“She's surely not going to take it lying down, so to speak.” She laughed as Marcus got the double entendre. “You know what I mean. She won't be beaten by him or the politics at work. You'll need to speak to her to see what she's going to do about everything.”
“You're right. I'll go and see her later and have a wee chat with her. There's no way I'll sleep anyway. I don't want to spoil her night though. I'll give her an hour or so, then go round. Longer, I reckon, if I know her and what she'll be up to.”
“I didn't mean go round. I meant just phone her to talk about it and let her know how you feel.”
“Oh, right! Good thinking, I will,” Marcus said as he reached for his phone and keyed in her name.
The phone ring tone continued over and over again but there was no reply. He retried the number several times to no avail, gave it a couple of minutes and rang her again, just in case she was right in the middle of something; she usually picked up eventually.
The phone sounded and vibrated in the corner of the room, the noise ringing out sadly in Taylor's ears as she looked down at Kay, still motionless and most definitely seriously injured, if alive at all. He cackled loudly as he saw and felt Taylor's desperate desire to answer the phone.
Please miss me. Please check we're alright here, whoever you are. If you know me, you know I always answer my phone. Marcus, if it's you - think where he'd go and why. He has nowhere else to go. He craves maximum harm, total depravity and vengeance. Think, think, think!!!
Marcus put the phone down and smiled. “Typical! She'll be having the night of her life with Kay.”
“Kay! Kay? the gorgeous straight woman from your office? The one you've talked about before? Her! She's turned to the dark side, has she? Mind you, Taylor is drop dead gorgeous too.”
“She is, isn't she? Really stunning, inside and out,” Marcus agreed.
His wife said, “If I was ever to turn to that side, she'd be the sort I'd go for.”
Marcus laughed heartily and pulled her towards him, reassuring her she was straight, because he loved her, wanted her and needed her. Passionate kisses were shared as Marcus guided her to the sofa. Neither of them held back any of their feelings as passion absorbed them totally. They couldn't get their clothes off quick enough. Their arousal was instantaneous, their sex mind blowing, physical, desperate, passionate and needy, desire absorbing them, all consuming, their love for each other so strong, never to be taken for granted, especially after tonight.
John tangled his thick fingers around Taylor's beautiful hair and started dragging her round the room like a pit bull with a rabbit. She occasionally let out a yelp of pain when she could gulp a breath. He threw her against the wall, hitting her off the units, smashing the glass, which cut her forearms deeply as she tried to protect herself. His voice rasped viciously at her, “I'll show you, I'll fucking show you, you dyke bitch. I've watched you strutting yourself around as if you're something fucking special. Well you're not, you're just a dirty dyke slut, and I'll treat you how a slut should be treated. I'll fuck you so hard, you'll wish you were dead like your dirty whore bride here.” He gestured towards Kay's lifeless body.
He threw her down cruelly on top of Kay, quickly following her to the floor, grabbing at her jeans and groping her like the deviant he was. He was salivating as Taylor tried to get up on all fours to get away from him, dazed and winded from being smashed off every wall; the view excited him even more. Taylor's head spun, the situation surreal and hideous, an unbelievable position to be in for someone of her strength and stature.
Fight him, fucking fight him, or play dead and he'll either kill you or rape a corpse. You've got to do something though.
His knife cut into her back as he carelessly cut through her jeans to expose her perfectly formed buttocks. She winced and pulled forward with as much strength as she could muster but his muscular grip tightened and he pulled himself up towards her, his groin moving closer to meet her bare flesh.
¤¤¤
Marcus lay there smiling as his wife trotted off to the bathroom, full of satisfaction from their amazing toe curling sex. She loved him more than life itself and knew full well she could have been a widow tonight. He thumbed in Taylor's number again as he gently stroked his stomach, inhaling the scent of his luxurious lover that was all over him. He tried again and again, knowing the phone was ringing out and not switched off.
Come on Taylor, answer your phone. Even you need to take a breather from whatever you're up to. Answer the phone or I'm coming round.
¤¤¤
Taylor kicked back at Brennan like a wild horse trying to escape from a stable, the force rocking him backwards. His grip loosened momentarily and she took her chance to wriggle free from him and crawled away as fast as she could, adrenaline pumping inside her. He stood up and started to move towards her but stopped as his feet pushed against Kay's body on the floor again. This gave him an idea and he stared very deliberately into Taylor's eyes as he slowly knelt down beside Kay's body and took hold of her head by her matted hair. He pulled it back exposing her carotid artery, where for the first time Taylor could see that Kay was still alive as there was blood visibly pulsing through it. “Leave her alone you fucking vile beast. Fucking leave her or I'll kill you!”
Marcus grabbed his keys, instinct driving him to check on Taylor and Kay. He knew Taylor was horny, but not that horny, and he had to see if she was okay before he could get any sleep. He got into his car, driving casually at first before ending up racing through town. His mind had turned to John.
Where would he go? Where would I go?
He was still reluctant to call it in as he pushed on through the traffic, unsure it there was something up. As he got closer to Taylor's house, his gut told him that there was something really wrong now and he keyed in 999. He raced up The Mound and through Chambers Street and down Minto Street, setting off more than one speed camera on the way whilst relaying his fear and intended destination. He was shaking and started to sweat, his heart racing as he pulled into the street where he saw the stolen motor vehicle from up north parked close to Taylor's house; he had memorised it as Taylor always
made him do, one of her little foibles. Realisation hit him like a sledge hammer to the face.
Fucking hell, he's got them! Hold on, I'm coming. Please don
'
t be dead in there!
Armed units were mobilised instantly. Marcus was instructed by the dispatcher to stand fast on his arrival and not to enter the premises until back up arrived. The top table didn't have to think twice about the arming of the response units, it was a no-brainer for them; Edinburgh hadn't had too many serial killers in the past, Burke and Hare probably being the last. Sirens could be heard as they rang out echoing through the city streets.