Authors: Lee Shepherd
Charles and Rebecca thrived as parents, and loved every minute of raising their daughter. Rebecca only went back to work part-time after her maternity leave — a luxury they could afford now with Charles working full-time on good wages and with a relatively small mortgage. Molly couldn’t have wanted for anything more from her doting parents.
By the time Molly turned four, Rebecca was once again feeling broody and decided now was the right
time to have the second child they had talked about previously. This time they conceived relatively quickly and Fiona came into the world the following year in 2006. Again, although it wasn’t the son he had wished for, Charles and Rebecca felt that their lives were now complete. Rebecca never went back to work after her maternity leave this time, as the couple decided that, due to them being reasonably comfortable financially and with Molly just starting school, that it would be better all-round if Rebecca was close by in case of emergency. That way, she could relish every moment of Fiona’s infant years — a luxury she missed out on with Molly due to work commitments.
By the time Fiona had turned three, Charles decided that there was just one thing missing from the family home: the one thing that had brought him joy in his childhood. He surprised the girls one evening when he brought home a black and white Border collie puppy. The two young girls instantly fell in love with her — even more so when their father informed them that they could choose her name. After much deliberation and bickering between the two girls, with Fiona wanting to name her anything from ‘Princess’ to ‘Stinky’, it was finally decided to go with Molly’s suggestion of ‘Tess’, and the family home was now complete.
Charles and Rebecca encouraged the two girls to go after whatever dreams they had as they were growing up, and actively supported them through whatever ambitions they held. The parents never hesitated when Molly stated that she would like her own horse after really enjoying previous riding lessons she had received, and falling in love with all things equestrian from a young age. Due to Fiona’s extroverted nature and natural performing ability, she was signed up to every performing arts class in the area from a young age, and the couple did everything in their capabilities to make it a happy, loving childhood for their daughters. Their efforts were rewarded after Molly’s success in the junior equestrian competition.
A month had now passed since Lucy Mitchell’s disappearance had dominated the local news, and it was back to business as normal for Charles at the practice. A new year, a new start he thought to himself as 2014 got underway.
He tried to push any thoughts of the dead schoolgirl to the back of his mind and concentrate on his heavy workload from now on, and managed to do just that for the next couple of weeks, but the thoughts of his actions quickly resurfaced. His resentment towards his mother and Mr Beattie soon weighed heavy upon his mind once more. Once again, revenge was fixed firmly on his agenda.
It was on a cold, dark February evening, whilst Charles was supposedly working late, that his overwhelming urges took a hold of him yet again. Unbeknown to Rebecca, Charles had been leaving the practice early all week, telling his secretary Linda that he was out on house calls, but he was really scouring areas afield in the veterinary practice’s van for potential victims.
It didn’t take him long, as that evening whilst driving around the Penrith area some nineteen miles south of Carlisle, he spotted a young, blonde haired girl who looked no more than fourteen or fifteen years old. She looked to be in some form of distress as she sat sobbing near a bus stop just on the outskirts of town with make up running down the side of her cheeks. Charles didn’t want to miss this opportunity and decided to pull over down a dimly lit side street and make his way out of the vehicle and approach the girl.
He spoke to her in a soft voice so as not to be intimidating. ‘Are you ok?’
The girl looked up with tear-filled eyes. ‘I’ve lost my p-purse,’ she said, in between sobs, ‘and the d-driver wouldn’t let me on the bus. My parents will be s-so worried if I don’t make it home on time.’
Charles couldn’t believe his luck. ‘Which way are you heading?’
He had already decided that no matter which way she told him, he was going to be going the same way as her so would therefore offer her a ride home.
When the girl informed him that she lived only three miles outside of Penrith, Charles volunteered to take her home.
The girl, still fighting back tears, thought for a few moments. She knew full well that accepting lifts from strangers was totally against everything she had ever been told. Then again, she also didn’t want to offend what could genuinely be a good Samaritan offering her a solution to her problems. She decided to respectfully decline his offer.
Charles, sensing her anxieties and not wanting to raise suspicion, informed the girl that he himself was a father to two young daughters and would hate the thought of them being stranded without anyone to lend a hand. With that, she reassessed the situation with her parents worry factored in and reluctantly decided to accept his offer, and made her way over to where Charles had parked the van.
Charles, always the gentleman, even approached the passenger side first and opened the door for her in a welcoming manner, offering her further reassurance that it was safe and ok. As he closed the door after her, Charles made his way towards the rear of the van, opting to take the long way round to the driver’s side. As he approached the back of the vehicle and out of the girl’s sight, he quickly reached down into his jacket pocket and took out a handkerchief and bottle of chloroform, and swiftly removed the cap. He proceeded to empty a substantial amount into the handkerchief before placing the bottle back into his pocket and making his way to the driver’s side door.
Charles offered her a reassuring smile upon entering the vehicle, and insisted ‘safety first’ as he asked her to put on her seatbelt. The girl, totally at ease now due
to his apparent charming nature, turned to locate her seatbelt as he had asked, and in that split second her back was turned to him, Charles pounced in a cold, calculated manner, as he grabbed her forcefully around her shoulder and chest with his left arm whilst placing the handkerchief over her nose and mouth with his right hand.
The girl didn’t stand a chance against the much stronger man, and she was all but unconscious before she even had time to panic. Charles held his position for a few seconds longer than necessary just to be sure she wouldn’t wake anytime soon. Once her body went limp in his arms, he casually leant over her and placed the seatbelt around her so to avoid being pulled over by the police. He then proceeded to start the engine and drive away in a calm fashion without anybody even realising what had just happened.
A huge smug grin enveloped Charles’ face as he exited the roundabout leaving Penrith and entered the M6 northbound into a sea of traffic, as he knew the further away he got, the less likely it would be that he would be pulled over by the police. The further north he drove, his adrenaline levels started to subside, and his thoughts were now becoming more consumed by lust as he recollected the last look in Lucy’s dying eyes, and how she would have been thankful that he chose her. He became more and more aroused as he also remembered how empowered he had felt as he extinguished the helpless little whore’s life at his hands and the control it gave him. He relished the prospect of doing it again.
As Charles exited the motorway and joined the much quieter A7 northbound, he knew he was nearly home and dry, as it was only a few more miles before he would exit the road at Canonbie, and take the even less frequently used B roads that led a long, winding path straight to the heart of Kielder.
All thoughts of his wife and daughters were long gone in Charles’ mind, as the anticipation of what was to come brought unrivalled excitement to him. He couldn’t
refrain himself from running his free left hand through the unconscious girl’s soft blonde hair, down over her bosom, and finally into her lap, resting it on her thigh, just below her black, pleated skirt, biting and licking his lips whilst doing so. Not long to go now, he thought to himself as he neared the layby he had previously used. Now there was only the small matter of transporting her lifeless body through the pitch black, dense forestry. Normally he wouldn’t be in there so late, but he knew he had no alternative than to operate under the cover of darkness to avoid suspicion and detection from anyone else.
As Charles exited the vehicle, he was startled by the headlights of another vehicle approaching where he was standing, and even more surprised when he spotted the indicator signalling to turn into the same layby. His adrenaline kicked in sharply as the vehicle drew ever closer, and he reached into his pocket and removed the bottle of chloroform and handkerchief, thinking that he might possibly have to act fast if somebody was to question his motive for being in such a remote spot in the pitch black darkness.
As the other vehicle pulled up alongside Charles, his apprehensions were quickly squashed; it was just a tourist asking for directions, lost in a maze of rarely used B roads and wanting his help. Charles dropped the chloroform and handkerchief back into his pocket and made his way towards the driver’s open window, totally blocking him from potentially seeing the young girl slouched, unconscious, in the passenger seat, and calmly instructed the lost man on how to get back onto the main road. Charles breathed a sigh of relief as the man thanked him and casually pulled away without ever questioning his reasons for being there. Back to the matter at hand, he thought to himself as he removed the comatose girl from the van and cable-tied her hands and feet. He flung her over his shoulder and made his way through the short field that led into the cover of the tree line and along his own secret pathway he had already established, away from any prying eyes.
Not much further now! He was nearing the hidden chamber in which Lucy’s body remained undiscovered. But he wasn’t prepared for what happened next, as the girl over his shoulder started to wake, and in a groggy stupor and blind panic, she let out a deafening high pitched scream that brought ringing to his ears. Shit! Rookie error — why hadn’t he bothered to gag her when he tied her limbs together?! He quickly threw the girl to the floor then tore off her cardigan and tied it around her mouth tightly to silence her. He then dragged her the remaining 200 yards by her hair as she struggled fruitlessly to get to her feet, away from his grasp. She desperately tried to wriggle out of the ties for a few moments as Charles removed the foliage and debris that covered the underground dungeon that contained Lucy. The more she tried to escape, the deeper the restraints dug into her skin.
As Charles threw open the entrance to the pit, nothing could have prepared him for the overwhelming, putrid stench that hit his nostrils from Lucy’s heavily decomposing corpse. He turned and vomited. The stench hit the girl’s nostrils; she knew that something awful was down there, but due to her position she could not see what. She just knew when she caught the stranger’s eyes that whatever it was, it did not bode well for her, and all she could do was pray that he had a change of heart and took pity on her as she desperately tried to break free.
Charles knew though that he could not leave this one till the next day down in that hole with the rotting corpse beside her — he would have to act fast and complete the ‘job’ he had set out to do. Besides, she was just another filthy little whore anyway, and should be grateful that he was going to end her miserable, pathetic, worthless existence!
As he approached her his excitement levels increased. He hadn’t bothered bringing the ketamine this time, as he wanted this next victim to be aware of everything that was going to be happening in those final moments, unlike Lucy, who only woke in her last few dying seconds.
He slowly calmed a little. Stroking her hair, he ran the back of his hand over her cheeks, softly wiping away the tears that ran down her face. Charles was now in a warped sense of reality, and she knew this, as he came down to her level and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.
‘Don’t worry, Mother. This will all be over very soon and you’ll be at peace, just you wait and see,’ he whispered in her ear.
Then as quick as a flash, his whole demeanour changed as he forcefully tore away her remaining clothes and pulled out his pocket knife to cut away her leg restraints — he wanted to get in between her legs, so as to look into her eyes like before.
As Charles proceeded to force himself on the helpless, petrified child, he started to repeat the words over and over again in his head: yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. Every time he looked down upon her, her face became distorted, and images of Lucy flashed before him, then faceless images of the mother he imagined. He was now totally lost in his own delusions and hadn’t even realised that he had already ended the girl’s life whilst strangling her until after he had climaxed. Once again he felt cheated that he hadn’t been ‘in the moment’ when she had passed due to his preoccupations and visions. However, he still once again placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
‘Goodnight, Mother.’
He was late — Rebecca might start asking questions. Charles quickly grabbed the lifeless girl’s legs and dragged her over to the open pit, casually rolling her body until she landed on Lucy’s rotting remains.
He looked at the two of them for a few seconds, feeling proud of his work, before re-closing the entrance, once again disguising it with forestry. This time, he ensured the camouflage was denser and thicker than before, as he wasn’t intending to come back there from now on. He double checked that he hadn’t left any clues or items of clothing lying around, and once he was happy in his own mind that he had covered his tracks, he proceeded
to leave the burial site, making his way back to the van. Once again, he concocted a story to relay to the waiting Rebecca upon returning home; fortunately there was no blood this time, as he hadn’t beat the girl as he had previously, so it was just a case of straightening up his clothing and hair before entering the house.