“Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
His scream rang throughout the park south of Critchdale, but of course, no-one heard. Out of the dark came that familiar laugh,
“Ha ha ha ha, Derek you’re such a pansy! I can’t believe we actually got you!” That was the voice of McKinley. McKinley was an interesting figure. One moment he could say the most random and irrelevant things, but at times he came up with ideas beyond normal people’s wildest dreams. This of course was one of them. His large figure intimidated even the bravest of people. His cold, blue eyes were unforgiving like the sea in a hurricane, his jet black hair made his pasty white skin appear even whiter as the contrast was so great. His strong cockney accent made you think of death and destruction with every word uttered. He was the kind of person that you listen to. You never question, just listen.
“I thought I’d give some free advice, Derek. Flashlights are not permitted. So unless you want to be spending the rest of your miserable days in ICU I suggest you gimmie that, right now.”
Derek didn’t argue he just handed over the flashlight and attempted to walk away.
“Oh, and by the way” added McKinley, “you better do it Derek otherwise you know what’ll happen if you fail. Have a nice day.”
McKinley walked off into the shadows. Derek knew now more than ever that it was imperative for him to complete his task, job, mission call it what you will.
Derek stood on the path in that same place, for what seemed like 3 hours. In actual fact, he had only been there half an hour. Just him and his thoughts ‘I’ll get her’ and ‘you know what will happen if you fail’. These thoughts and others rushed through his mind. As soon as he thought these he forgot them. For he remembered the importance that was placed on his completion. He moved on. The thought of what he was about to do, repulsed him. However, he knew that his ghastly past had come back to haunt him as this was one of his specialties. Although he had not been in this line of work for a good few years now, McKinley had something that was special to Derek. He carried on moving closer and closer to what he most feared because you see, Derek was no average man.
The path turned from gravel to mud. This part of the park south of Critchdale was rarely used, except for times like this when actions needed to be carried out inconspicuously. Derek knew what he had to do. He knew that all the equipment he needed to carry out the job, would be there waiting for him, at The Death House.
It was, an overcast night and there was no light as the moon was being covered by a blanket cloud shrouding the night in mystery and evil. Derek knew where everything would be, this was after all his old hunting ground. As he moved closer and closer, it finally came into view. The Death House. Very few knew why it was really called that. Derek was one of those few. Unlike the rest of the times, there was one light on in the house. It could be vaguely made out through, the dust and creeping plants that covered the window. This was odd, Derek was one hundred percent sure that no lights had ever been turned on in the house except for the room. The room where everything happened. It was a room that was neither large nor small, square nor round. It was neither long nor short, in fact, it was somewhat of a legend. Some believed that it did not even exist. However, Derek knew differently. He was the only person that had ever been into the room and walked out again without a scratch on his body, let alone his life.
There was an eerie feel about the Death house. Some would say, ‘obviously’ to that, but then they did not really know why it was so. It was as though the plot of land upon which the house was built those many years ago, was a place of death even before they arrived. It was as though something or someone had been there before any of this even started and he was just carrying on the tradition. This house, was a place of evil. From the dawn of time, wrong doings had been going on here. The house stood tall, towering above the ground it was built on. Even as you approached it you knew that something just wasn’t quite right about it. It was as if something really terrible had happened there, something so terrible you could almost smell it in the air. The brickwork of the house was like nothing that could be seen anywhere else. It was a mixture of greys and blacks with the odd patch off moss growing here and there. Smoke always billowed out of the towering chimney, despite the fact that no-one lived there. It was like there was a continually burning fire, burning through the day and through the night, it was eerie. Despite the eerie feeling it was calming, if you are mentally unstable.
He moved towards those familiar oak doors that were so out of place with the visible parts of the house. They were new and varnished to perfection so much so you could see your reflection in the wood. Derek stopped outside the door. He drew his breath and pushed open the door. It was left open at all times but was never entered by those not of the kind. He knew what he had to do. Derek walked slowly through the door frame of the front door and shuffled over to the next door that was directly in front of him. He pushed it open. There were those familiar stairs that led down to what can only be described as his worst nightmare. Give him this job 2 months ago, with these terms and he would have jumped at it, but not now, not like this. He could not bottle it now, there was too much at stake. He drew another heavy breath then started his descent.
“Somewhat of a legend,”
Derek remembered those words that had been uttered to him by his late mother all those years ago. He had been called a genius before. He did not think so. He just did what he had to, to survive. He got to the bottom of the stairs to the metal door. Out came the key from his pocket. He pushed the key into the lock, turned it, and pushed the door open. There was that familiar smell. Rotting flesh. There in the centre of the room, was Robert McKinley, the faithless father of McKinley. He never trusted that McKinley would keep his promise, Robert just carried on what he was doing without a second thought to the threat. Almost five years went by, good old Robert thought he was home dry, but no McKinley always kept his promises. Derek could not let him down, this was something that had to be done otherwise it would be her in the middle of the room with Derek at the side watching.
“I knew it would be you” said Robert “only the best for me eh?”
“Shut it!” Derek snapped “If you talk to me it will only take longer and you of all people know what that means.”
Over in the corner, shrouded in darkness was the table with all the equipment on. Everything he needed was on the table, the rest was beneath it covered by a paisley patterned cloth. He picked up the scalpel and walked slowly over to the tied figure that was Robert. He did not know why, but Derek turned into a different, bloodthirsty person as soon as he picked it up.
“I’m going to enjoy this very much!” the evil in his voice was enough to make Robert gasp.
“Go easy on me D, do it for your mother,” pleaded Robert,
“Oh, don’t worry I am doing it for my mother except, I won’t be going easy you pulled her through hell and back with all you crap and now it’s time to pay your dues,”
Derek moved over to him and sliced a nice large ‘D’ into Robert’s chest, as was customary. He moved over to the table, but came back quickly clutching the bottle of concentrated acid. He waited for the blood to trickle from the wound. Then he poured some of the acid over the wound. Robert screamed, but he was not screaming from the pain but because he knew he was going to die tonight. Derek did this more and more until all the acid was completely finished and Robert had acid burns all over his body. Then from under the table he brought out the caged black mamba snake. He took it out from its captivity and positioned it right in front of Robert. In one swift motion the mamba sunk its teeth and its venom deep into the blood stream. The pain was unbearable. Derek waited for a moment and then administered the antidote. This however, did not stop the pain just the end product, death. He continued this practice until he was satisfied that Robert was at breaking point,
“Do you want to die?” Derek asked Robert,
“Yes, yes, kill me now!”
With that Derek picked up his trusty scalpel and slit his jugular, letting him slowly bleed to death.
In the instant that he died, in walked McKinley,
“You done well Derek. I have to admit, I didn’t fink you would do it. I thought you were gonna cop out at the last minute, but you didn’t. You proved to me tonight that I can trust you. However, here’s the question, can you trust me?”
Derek contemplated his answer to the question, but as he was about to reply McKinley said insanely,
“The answer to that question, is of course no, you can’t trust me, no one can trust me. You know why? ‘Cos I’m unpredictable no one knows what I’m thinking!”
Almost instantly Derek felt the pain, and the feeling that he was slowly loosing something very important to his existence. Which of course he was: blood. He looked down and saw where the bullet had penetrated his body. The final words Derek heard were,
“I always knew I was better than you Derek. I never actually told you to kill him, you think too much! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!”
