The Moors: Some secrets are better left buried (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY
Closing In
Tuesday 15
th
February, 1972

Margaret rifled through her keys, removing the one she owned to Christian’s office and placing it on a spare key ring she had dug out from the back of a kitchen drawer.
Welcome to Exmoor
said a bold italic font over a picturesque piece of land that sloped down towards the water mouth on a clear summer’s day. The picture represented the place Margaret had fallen in love with, but that place had become just a distant memory.

She exited the house from the kitchen and walked around to the side garden, watching secretly through the shrubbery as, at the bottom of the hill, Walter let the Vicar out through the gate. She watched as he placed his keys securely back into his jacket pocket. If she could only get her hands on them for a matter of seconds she could remove the two she needed and return the others to his jacket. By the time he would realise they were gone, the same would be true of Amanda.

So wrapped up was Margaret in wondering how to obtain his jacket that she failed to notice Karen stepping out onto the lawn behind her, looking deeply committed to a focus of her own.

‘Oh!’ yelped Margaret as she turned around, startled to discover she was not alone. ‘I didn’t see you there,’ she chuckled, nervously.

Karen stood like a stone statue, watching, pondering. It wasn’t until Margaret looked down that she saw a short length of washing-line wire coiled in her hand. Margaret shifted anxiously on her feet as her helplessness slowly consumed her. Like a farm animal sensing the arrival of a weapon intended for its demise, Margaret’s entire body slumped in defeat, sensing there was no escape.

‘Don’t you ever get tired of all this?’ she asked of Karen, in a self-loathing voice. ‘Don’t you ever feel guilty?’

Karen considered the question for only a moment.

‘Never,’ she said, proudly, like a patriotic soldier who’d been brainwashed into thinking their way was the only way.

‘And knowing that even if we only did good for the rest of our lives, we would always be judged for what we’ve done in the past,’ Margaret furthered. ‘That doesn’t make you worry?’

‘I take it you’re referring to your God?’ Karen sneered. ‘The one who abandoned us in our time of need? The one who left us to rot?’

‘He never abandoned us,’ Margaret retorted, softly but defiantly. ‘We abandoned him, and for that, we shall never be forgiven.’

‘Well, when you see the great Lord,’ Karen mocked as she took large, menacing steps towards Margaret. ‘Tell him I’m incredibly sorry.’

There was an awkward moment of tension before Karen wrapped the wire around Margaret’s neck with incredible speed. She flailed her short, tubby arms towards Karen, who eluded her reach with ease as she spun around, appearing behind Margaret and then pulling hard on the wire as she forced the helpless woman to the ground. Margaret coughed and spluttered, trying desperately to hook her fingers beneath the wire that choked her, but it was all in vain. She soon became dizzy as an excessive amount of blood rushed to her head. It wasn’t long before her breaths became weaker and weaker still, until they disappeared forever.

*
 

With Amanda’s latest findings, she ran through the halls of the house with secret urgency.

‘Maggie?’ she whispered, harshly. There was no sign of her anywhere. She crept eagerly towards the kitchen. ‘Maggie?’ she called again.

Her search was disrupted by an emphatic shrill that rang through the house; a near identical scream to that which plagued the building moments after Reuben’s death. It was a sound that made Amanda’s hairs stand to attention. She stepped back out into the ground floor hallway, where the horrid noise had come from. Christian, too, emerged from his office in panic and together they saw Karen lingering in the front doorway, looking distraught.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Christian, taking hold of Karen’s arms through fear she would topple over.

‘Quite,’ inserted Walter, who appeared at the top of the staircase with Gordon and Georgina in tow.

For added effect, Karen stumbled forwards, prompting Christian to support her.

‘It’s your mother,’ groaned Karen as she struggled for breath. ‘It’s your mother,’ she repeated, looking up to him. ‘Christian. I’m so sorry!’

Karen placed her arms around his neck as she pulled herself towards him, her body shuddering as she bawled.

‘Wha—’ said Christian, numbly. ‘What about her? Where is she?’

Karen did not reply and so he shook her desperately.

‘What happened?’ he yelled.

‘She’s dead, Christian.’

Reuben’s passing had come as a complete shock, but news of Margaret’s death was the cause of instant grief, the like of which Amanda had never experienced before. Tears rivered down her cheeks as she stood rooted to the spot, observing Karen’s elaborate act in horror.

‘Wha…? How…?’ mumbled Christian is disbelief.

‘
She
did it!’ accused Karen, as she looked down the hallway, pointing directly at Amanda.

‘What?’ stammered Amanda.

‘Uh-oh!’ said Gordon.

‘Amanda killed your mother,’ Karen declared, with utter conviction.

‘No she didn’t. She wouldn’t do that!’ Georgina protested.

‘I saw Amanda attack her! Out in the garden, but I was too far away to—’

This time, Karen did dramatically collapse to the ground, forcing loud crocodile tears as both Walter and Christian closed in on the accused.

‘No! She’s lying!’ said Amanda, petrified, as she retreated slowly. ‘Can’t you see? It’s what she does. It’s what she
always
does! The same as when she lied about Reuben!’

‘The beast killed Reuben!’ Christian shouted.

‘The beast? Christian. That’s your son,’ Amanda reminded him, softly. ‘Elijah’s your son.’

‘Who told you that?’ snapped Walter.

‘You were supposed to be gone by now!’ Christian yelled.

The comment confused Amanda.

‘What?’ she asked, attempting to decipher his meaning.

‘Hello? Hello?’ said Christian, feigning desperation in an exaggerated voice that made him seem psychotic. ‘I… I saw something. Something horrible,’ he continued. ‘And I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do!’

‘You?’ Amanda whispered, in disbelief.

The realisation that Christian was the one who placed the call to the editor’s office suggested that he
wanted
a journalist in the house.

Of course!
Amanda cursed, suddenly realising they had placed an advertisement for a carer knowing she would find it when she followed the lead.
What was I thinking?!

‘Why?’ asked Amanda, of Christian’s wicked plan.

‘You mean you can’t work it out? There’s actually a riddle Miss high-and-mighty can’t solve?’ vented Christian. ‘Do you have any idea how frustrating it’s been watching you swan around here like you had one over on us when, all the while, you followed every trail we laid out for you?’

Throughout the entirety of Amanda’s visit she had agonised over how responsible Christian had been for the bad things that happened around him. She had considered whether Karen might be the true driving force of any wrongdoing and wondered if the woman had somehow created a mystical hold over Christian that made him blind to her actions, but suddenly, everything became clear. Amanda had never seen – nor could she have envisaged – Christian being like this. Right before her eyes he had snapped. He had become delirious. His eyes were enraged and black. His outer shell suddenly represented the insides of a secret mad man… and it was absolutely terrifying.

The sight of Karen rising to her feet behind him, wearing a demonic grin, made Amanda acutely aware of her situation. At least two crazed, dangerous killers had rounded on her in the middle of their isolated lair and had unanimously decided that she would become their next victim. 

‘Christian…’ Amanda sobbed.

‘No!’ he screamed. ‘It’s my turn to talk now!’

Christian looked towards Walter on the staircase before nodding at the children.

‘Lock them in their rooms,’ he requested. ‘I don’t want them to see this.’

‘Indeed,’ agreed Walter.

As Walter turned to place his hands on Gordon and Georgina, they screamed in full support of Amanda, but it was useless. There was nothing they could do. It did, however, mean that Amanda had one less person to deal with and in her current predicament, any positive news was welcome.

Christian’s attention fell back to Amanda, whose backward steps took her into the kitchen.

‘You were supposed to go back and write about the beast so people would want to find it and kill it!’ Christian revealed.

Despite the bleakness of her own reality, Amanda couldn’t help but feel sadness for Elijah.
How could his own father have grown to hate him like this?

‘But… why?’ Amanda was compelled to ask.

‘Because he ruined
everything
!’ yelled Christian with radiating waves of contempt.

‘What exactly did Elijah ruin, Christian?’ asked Amanda, stubbornly.

‘Don’t call it that,’ Christian demanded, the name chipping away at him and threatening to disrupt the villainous image he had created for his son.

Sensing this, Amanda honed in.

‘
It
has a name, and his name is Elijah.’

‘Stop talking,’ said an agitated Christian.

‘And Lydia is still alive, so what exactly has been ruined?’ Amanda pressed.

Christian and Karen glanced at one another, taken aback by the extent of Amanda’s knowledge.

‘Anything that’s been ruined has been ruined by you,’ Amanda told him. ‘Elijah’s not the beast,’ she continued. ‘You are.’

*
 

As the bitter words were being exchanged in the kitchen, they were all oblivious to Elijah approaching Margaret’s lifeless body in the yard. He stared into her empty eyes as she lay sprawled out on the lawn. He nudged her, but to no avail. Emotionally, he cradled her and shed tears for one of the only people that had ever shown him love. He looked towards the house. Every crevice of the home brought him an unhappy memory. On the nearby ground was a cracked paving slab where Karen had once thrown a heavy duty plant pot at him. As he looked up he saw a wooden board in place of Reuben and Georgina’s bedroom window; the window he had smashed in a desperate attempt to stop Karen inflicting the physical cruelty that led to the young boy’s death.

Ever since Elijah’s escape, he had feared the home in which he was once held captive. Over the years, he had made countless attempts to re-enter the building so that he may put an end to the cruelty once and for all, but so crippling was the fear towards his birthplace it made him physically weak and nauseous as he approached. Thus far, the courage needed to take those final steps and re-enter the home had always eluded him, but if ever he had the motivation to finally conquer his fears and overcome that barrier, it was surely the beloved grandmother lying dead in his arms; the person to whom he owed the greatest debt.

Elijah placed Margaret’s limp corpse back down onto the ground, closed her eyes so she was at peace and swaggered to where he could hear a commotion. Through the kitchen window, he saw Amanda edge backwards, cornered by Karen and Christian. It was time to make a stand once and for all, so Elijah walked stealthily towards the kitchen doorway.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
The Beginning of the End
Tuesday 15
th
February, 1972

‘You’re sick!’ declared Amanda, to both Karen and Christian, who wore wrongful looks of excitement as they imagined the type of evil that should never be acted upon. ‘You’re so disturbed and detached from reality you can’t even see how fucked up all of this is!’

‘When people find your body torn to shreds, that is when they’ll join us,’ said Christian, with chilling calm, far too absorbed in his own fantasy to register what Amanda had said. ‘Nobody cares when a bunch of retarded kids get murdered. In most cases, that doesn’t even make the news, but when a big time city journalist gets killed? Well… they won’t be able to ignore that,’ he said, proudly, suddenly viewing Amanda in the way a painter might look over his latest masterpiece.

‘I can see the headlines now,’ he continued, his eyes dancing with excitement. ‘There’ll be an outcry.
Find the Exmoor beast! Kill the beast! Hunt it down and show it no mercy!
He might be able to elude me, but let him try and hide from a whole country baying for its blood.’

‘He didn’t kill these children,’ protested Amanda. ‘She did!’

Karen smiled a superior smile that agitated Amanda.

‘Are you really just going to stand by and watch people get murdered, raped and tortured?’ Amanda asked of him. ‘It’s not their fault. And your poor mother…’

‘I’ve heard enough,’ interrupted Karen. ‘Are you going to put an end to this or shall I?’ she asked, forcefully.

‘She was so lovely, Christian,’ complimented Amanda, in a last-ditch attempt to speak sense into him. ‘She was always so nice to me, and whenever she spoke about you or your dad, she would glow.’

Sensing that Christian had started to think too deeply, Karen pulled a large knife from a nearby work surface. Amanda became tense at once, picking up the only thing that resembled a weapon near her – a marble rolling pin. This certainly put her at a disadvantage but at least she had
something
. Karen chuckled at the sight of the poor, innocent lamb. Violence was not something that Amanda embraced and it showed, but what she did have was intelligence and while Karen openly mocked her, Amanda figured it would be easier to survive if her attacker wasn’t thinking straight. With that in mind, she aimed to get Karen flustered.

‘I warn you,’ Amanda goaded. ‘Killing me won’t be as easy as killing a child.’

‘I suspect it will,’ dismissed Karen, but as she stepped forwards in preparation of inflicting a fatal lunge, the door that led to the yard crept open and Elijah’s familiar growl stole all of their attention.

Karen’s face grew demonic as she saw him prowl into the doorway.

‘Get the gun!’ she barked at Christian, who immediately disappeared down the hallway.

Amanda looked at Elijah with wide eyes. His presence was undeniable, his wildness intimidating and to see him up close was utterly daunting. That the boy was still alive – effectively functioning and somehow immensely powerful – was the stuff of legend. Amanda feared for her own safety as Elijah neared her, stepping into the kitchen, his rage exceeding his fear. She knew that he could tear her apart as simply as she could rip through paper, but thankfully, his eyes remained fixed on Karen and in one frighteningly quick movement he leapt towards her, his force knocking her to the ground. He started by sinking his teeth into her arm, leading her to drop the knife and thus leaving her unable to defend herself. Elijah proceeded to maul her with the might of a lion, unleashing all the years of hurt he had suffered at her malevolent hands. 

Amanda seized the chance to run into the hall and up the stairs to the first floor landing as she fumbled through her keys.

‘What’s going on?’ asked Walter, sharply, as he appeared from Gordon’s bedroom.

‘Uh-oh!’ sounded Gordon in the background.

‘You’re becoming a widow,’ replied Amanda, taking great satisfaction in watching his face crumble.

‘No…’ he whimpered before running down the stairs, calling his wife’s name.

*
 

The old man ran and ran, instantly traumatised by the scene that greeted him. The kitchen floor looked like that of a slaughterhouse, and in the middle of the claret lake, his darling wife’s legs shook as Elijah feasted on her flesh.

‘You get off her, you demon!’ said Walter with the utmost contempt.

Elijah stopped and turned to face him.

They were not the best words he could have chosen and the hatred that filled the old man’s veins was returned tenfold.

*
 

At great speed, Amanda collected Ellie, Gordon and Georgina from their rooms. They were completely in tune with the standoff that took place downstairs and therefore showed how co-operative they could be as they faultlessly followed Amanda’s instructions. She led the children to the top of the stairs, from where Walter could be heard screaming in agony.

‘Don’t listen,’ she told the children, before asking them to stay exactly where they were as she made her way up the narrow staircase towards the door to the isolation room. She hadn’t managed to attain a key and so she rammed her body against it as hard as she could.

Thunk!

Thunk!

Thunk!

The door was robust and heavy, meaning progress was slow. The children, however, showed initiative and followed Amanda to the top of the steps, helping her bang, kick, push and barge at the door until eventually they broke through. The room was dark and bare and smelt absolutely rotten. At the far end, the outline of David’s body could be seen just beyond the solitary ray of light that shone through the window.

‘David!’ gasped Amanda, shocked to finally see the conditions in which he had been kept.

*
 

Christian flew out of his office as he cocked his gun. There would be no fumbling for bullets this time, and no more missed opportunities. He made his way to the kitchen with urgency to see the beast atop Walter. So occupied was Elijah in dishing out pain that he remained oblivious to Christian, who slowly raised his gun and locked the beast in his sights.

For Christian, it was a truly noteworthy moment. For so many years he had hunted the beast. For so much destruction was this monster responsible. And it was all about to end.

Christian took a deep breath, allowing him to steady his aim. It was a breath that Elijah heard, leading him to push himself away from Walter as he sprinted towards the back door.

Bang!

Bang!

Begrudgingly, the first shot hit the wooden door of a cupboard, but the second bullet landed and the beast yelped, staggered and fell into the door before forcing its way outside.

Christian reloaded his gun and followed.

*
 

In the attic, the sound of gunfire had brought everybody to a halt as they listened to what was happening downstairs. They heard a door smack against a wall and then Christian yelling “
Come back here!
” which was enough to let them know they still had time.

Ellie, Gordon and Georgina lingered in the doorway as Amanda anxiously made her way across the attic. She couldn’t help but notice the countless drops of dry blood that had settled on the old dusty floorboards, revealing years of untold cruelty. Her mouth dropped open in horror when she saw scores of grisly, primitive tools and weapons hanging from the walls all around the room. It was a torture chamber. There was no other way to describe it, and it made her sick to the stomach. She felt overwhelming guilt for not having forced her way in sooner, but she could ill afford to think about that now. 

‘David, listen to me,’ Amanda instructed, calmly, still a little weary from their previous encounter. ‘I’m here to help you.’

‘I know,’ he sniffled, clearly petrified. ‘Arthur told me.’

The knowledge that both Margaret and Arthur had been looking out for the poor boy came as some consolation.

‘Is there a light in here?’ Amanda asked.

‘Yeah,’ David confirmed. ‘Up on the wall. Near the door.’

‘I know where it is,’ said Georgina, who didn’t need her sight to be able to find it – a clear sign that she, too, had spent some time in the isolation room before the use of her eyes was stolen from her.

Upon closer inspection, Amanda saw that David’s chains had a heavy duty lock on them. Without the key, the only other alternatives would be to pick the lock, which she had no idea how to do, or to remove the chains from the wall, to which they were heavily screwed.

‘I need something to get these off,’ Amanda told the children. ‘I need something to break him free!’

Together, they looked through the endlessly horrendous devices. Saws, drills, chisels, files, nun-chucks, bats, knives, pliers – most of which had been tinged with blood. Somewhat sadistically, there was even an operating table pushed against the wall, ready to be wheeled out whenever it was needed.

‘What about this?’ asked Ellie as she lifted up a large pair of wire cutters.

It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best they could find and eventually Amanda managed to use it to cut through the lock. She promptly wrapped David’s arm around her neck and led the children back to the ground floor. From the foot of the staircase, Amanda saw the masses of blood on the kitchen floor and quickly shielded the children’s eyes. Upon noticing Walter hunched helplessly on the floor fighting for breath, she sensed an opportunity.

‘I’m going into the kitchen for a very short while. Stay right here until I come back,’ she instructed them, remaining as calm and composed as she possibly could.

Walter was propped awkwardly against a kitchen cupboard taking short, sharp breaths as he covered a nasty chest wound with his hand. His eyes rose to Amanda but he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even muster the energy to look angry. He was a defeated man – pale and drowsy – who had been forced to look at his motionless wife’s body. There was something almost poetic about it, as though it were his punishment for allowing his wife to lead him towards such sin. For Walter, it was nearly over as he started to slip out of consciousness. Amanda approached him and lowered herself, watching him closely as she checked his pockets. He raised a feeble hand to stop her but was far too weak to be a hindrance. Amanda felt a rush of relief as she located his keys and pulled them out from his jacket pocket. She looked upon the dying man one last time, stood over him victoriously and then finally walked away.

*
 

Bang!

Bang!

‘I’m gonna get you this time!’ screamed Christian from outside, suggesting Elijah was still roaming free, but Amanda knew they had to hurry.

*
 

With the children nervously checking the ground floor hallway, Amanda unlocked the door to Malcom’s room to see him sat on the edge of his bed in his usual pose: straight back, neck cocked slightly to one side with absolutely no signs of movement, Amanda ran to the foot of his bed, grabbed a hold of his wheelchair and pushed it in front of him.

‘Malcolm, come on,’ Amanda encouraged. ‘You have to get up.’

This time, Malcolm did respond but with a simple shake of the head.

‘No? What do you mean no?’ she asked, pressingly.

‘Can’t leave him,’ he said.

‘Who?’ Amanda questioned. ‘Elijah?’

To this, he nodded.

Amanda thought as fast as she could.

‘I’ll come back to get him. I promise! But we have to go. Now!’

‘You’ll come back to get Elijah?’ asked Georgina, in excitement.

‘Yes!’ agreed Amanda, knowing deep down that it wouldn’t be a feasible task.

It did, however, provide the children with the lift they needed at the most critical of times, prompting Ellie to approach Malcolm and hold out her hand.

‘Come on, Mal,’ said Ellie.

Amanda watched bewitchingly as he looked into Ellie’s eyes, grabbed a hold of her hand and rose to his feet. Upon realising she had never before seen the two youngsters together, Amanda wondered if his reluctance to communicate was related to Ellie’s imprisonment. In any case, the breakthrough couldn’t have come at a better time.

Amanda led the children outside, checking the land nervously for Christian, but he was nowhere to be seen. She moved quickly towards Walter’s car and unlocked it, feeling a great sense of achievement as the children climbed in. This was the story she had always craved. It was the story that would finally help her deal with her past. She started the engine, the wheels span eagerly as she left the car park at speed and as she drove down the hill, she saw Arthur standing there, unlocking the gate as she approached. As he pulled it open, Amanda looked out to the land beyond the Prince Care Home. It was a vision of beauty that represented success and relief.

We made it!
She thought, in what was, without doubt, the greatest moment of her life.

Bang!

Bang!

From the top of the hill, Christian fired his shotgun. This time, however, the target was not the beast but the wheels of Walter’s car. Such was the speed at which Amanda drove, she veered off course and crashed straight into the cumbersome base of a tree. Smoke poured out of the engine, which chugged along rather falteringly. It took a moment for the children to get their bearings as they recovered somewhat hazily from the impact. They looked over their collective cuts and bruises, but the superficial pain couldn’t compare to what they felt when they saw Amanda slumped forward on the dashboard.