Love Lies Dying (65 page)

“It wasn’t difficult to find you or your wife. I knew Sherrie had accepted your offer to be your
Personal Assistant,
” she spat the words out with disgust. “It was just a matter of waiting and biding my time. I followed you home one night. Saw where you lived. The rest was easy…

“Helen let me in without even a second thought. I said I was an old friend of yours, just blown into town – pretty much the same story I told you – and Helen accepted it without any suspicions. Or maybe she thought I was an old flame of yours and just wanted to check me out. You people are all so
gullible!
She was sleepy and off guard and it was easy to attack her and knock her out. I tied her up and gagged her well, and put her in her wardrobe in the main bedroom. You were
sooo
close to her, Johnny, all night, and you didn’t even know it.”

“You
fucking sick demented bitch
,” he said.

“Oh, it gets better,” she replied. “Helen woke up Saturday morning. But I let her know that if she said anything, made even one little noise, that I would slit your throat. I even showed her the knife that I would do it with. Sliced it through her right ear to prove to her it was real sharp. She co-operated from that moment. Of course, I drugged her for most of the time – so she couldn’t do too much. She was unconscious for hours.”

“Zoe, you’re sick. You need help,” Sherrie said.

Zoe shook her head, “Not me, girlfriend. It’s your lover you need to worry about!”

“Go on,” John said in a deep voice.

I have to hear this out. I need to know it all.

“It was early. I had enough time to drive the Jeep to the hospital before you got up. I’d hidden it down the next street before you arrived home on Friday night. Anyway, I took the Jeep to the hospital and used the knife to cut myself and smear the blood on the headrest.”

She pointed to the healing wound on the top of her hip. “Remember this?”

“You said you got that –”

She nodded, “I know, I know. I said I got it when Fox called. Well, big surprise here, Johnny! I
lied!
I used the blood to smear on the headrest so I could prove to you Helen had been abducted. I caught a taxi and came home then, had a shower and had just enough time to check Helen was still drugged and get your breakfast ready before you woke.”

She giggled, “Sherrie’s time working at the hospital came in handy. For a while, she was studying to become a nurse. Did you know that, Johnny? Not only did I learn about all kinds of drugs, but she showed me how to give injections and also how to treat wounds. Which was pretty lucky, Johnny, for your arm, I mean. How’re your stitches holding up?”

“Get on with it,” John replied.

She sighed, “Might as well. You need to know all this, I guess, so it hurts you more. So you know the kind of pain I’ve been through since the day I met you.”

Lightning flashed around them, making Zoe’s wet body shine.

“We had a great day on Saturday, Johnny,” she continued. “I remember how great I felt with you while we were shopping. It was like we were finally a real couple, together at last. I enjoyed every minute of it. Finally, just you and me. Together.

“Our little side-trip to the K-mart was just to make you realise something had happened to Helen. To build my story in your mind and to make you accept it as fact. Anyway, we had a great day. It was
so
good that I forgot what time it was. Totally forgot. And the day just slipped away!

“Then when I got home from the hospital before you, Helen was awake and had almost managed to escape. She’d untied half the ropes and was trying to call the police when I got there. I didn’t have much time; I had no idea how long you would be. I ran up the hallway and flung myself at her and we struggled. But I managed to knock her out with one of your lamps. I hit her hard, Johnny. I panicked and I didn’t know whether I’d killed her or not. I really had no idea at that stage. I got her hidden again just in time. Just before you got home.”

Helen, I was so close to you. So close…

I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you…

“It was so risky letting you into the bedroom that morning, Johnny,” she smiled at him. “You went to the wardrobe and got some clothes, remember?”

He nodded slowly as he remembered.

“You were right next to her, Johnny. She was in the next section of the wardrobe, hidden in with her clothes, but you didn’t look. If she’d made any noise, my game was over! I love to live on the edge, Johnny. It’s the
thrill
that counts – and you took me all the way.”

“You killed her then?” John asked.

Zoe shook her head, “No, no, she was fine. Fractured skull, maybe. But fine. I brought you here to the church and tied you up, telling you I was going to get Fox. What I really did was drive back to your house and get Helen. I still had the blue alien key ring with the spare front door key on it. You never took it off me, Johnny. I brought her up to the shack at Redlingford. I didn’t want you to work out what was happening too soon. We spent Sunday night talking about you and what you were doing behind her back. But she never believed me.”

Zoe stared into the distance and shook her head, “She
never
believed you would cheat on her. Hard to believe, considering all the problems you two were having.”

Silence fell with the rain.

Sherrie squeezed John’s hand.

“By Monday morning,” Zoe continued. “I’d had enough. She wouldn’t admit it. Even after I had twisted and burned her nipples with the fire poker. Even when I slowly inserted it into her pussy. It’s amazing to watch flesh liquefy, Johnny. But she still wouldn’t believe you had cheated on her. That’s dedication, I guess. Or blind love. Or stupidity. Her head was still bleeding. I got a bit carried away with the spade from the fireplace too. Hit her a few too many times. So, I guess there wasn’t much strength left in her. She just started to fade away, mumbling incoherently and not making much sense. She wouldn’t take orders and she couldn’t stand by herself. Plus, the smell of burning flesh was too much in that little room in the shack.”

Zoe sighed. “It’s a shame. She was a nice lady. I would’ve liked to have tasted her before she went. But there wasn’t enough time. I tried to make it as painless as possible, Johnny. Believe me, I did. There was so much blood by then and I knew her wounds were hurting. So I made it easy for her.  One strike with the poker and then I strangled what life was left from her to make sure she was really dead. She didn’t even fight it.”

John’s legs went from under him. He splashed into the wet undergrowth, kneeling in the puddles, his mind and world spinning out of control.

Thunder echoing all around him.

Helen…my God, Helen!

“I don’t know if I really ever planned to kill her,” Zoe continued, almost to herself now. “I was going to let her go and watch as she left you and destroyed your life. But she didn’t believe me, so she wasn’t going to do what I wanted her to do. And then she was dead. Totally dead. And I’d been to the edge again. Right to the edge this time. The furthest I’ve ever been.”

Silence fell with the rain.

John stared at the wet muddy ground.

After a while, she continued. “Luckily, I had another plan up my sleeve. I needed stuff to make her death point to you. So I got your cum and pubic hair and some skin from your arm wound and I planted it on her body after I moved it closer to the church. There’s enough to lead straight back to you and your girlfriend.”

John could feel Sherrie’s arm on his back, trying to comfort him.

“
Why?
” he heard her ask. “
Why
do this to him?”

Zoe’s face fell.

“It all made sense at the time,” she replied. “John would be arrested for murdering Helen and he’d be thrown in jail. You would’ve come back to me then, Sherrie. And we could’ve been together forever.”

Silence settled over them once more.

John let out a deep sob.

“That was the plan anyway,” Zoe continued. “But it all went wrong. And things changed between us all. Johnny, we were so good together. I just don’t know what I want now.”

Zoe turned to plead with Sherrie, “But I never wanted
you
to find out, Sherrie. That wasn’t in the plan. I didn’t want you coming up and finding us at the church. I
never
wanted to hurt you. But now you know everything anyway!”

“Yes,” Sherrie replied. “I do.”

“And you’ll
never
take me back now…”

“Exactly.”

John looked up from the ground to stare at Zoe.

She dropped her eyes to his.

“So we see it out until the end, Johnny,” she said. “There’s nothing more for us. This game goes all the way to the edge.”

John watched as she took a step backwards.

Lightning flashed long enough for her diamond to reflect the light.

And the troubled look on her face.

“All the way,” she repeated as she turned to leave. “To the edge…and beyond.”

Seventy-three

They ran through the night.

“John!” Sherrie called. “Slow down! You’re going
too fast!
”

He had no choice. He had to get there before Zoe.

He had to play the game to his rules.

The rain fell heavily around them. The ground was slippery and dangerous. But it didn’t matter. John knew what he had to do.

His body’s numbness had gone. He was hot and sweating now. Each of his wounds ached and itched, his sweat aggravating the open sores.

Keep going…

Gotta get there first!

Keep going!

Lightning flashed, illuminating their way.

And as they ran, John thought about what Zoe had said.

Patricia Bourke.

Could she really be “Pattie the Fattie”?

He couldn’t believe it. Although he quickly realised he couldn’t really remember what Patricia looked like. All his mind would conjure up was an image of an ugly teenage girl with rolls of fat around her stomach and big sweaty, clingy hands. When he tried to picture her face, or Maureen O’Reilly’s, he realised he couldn’t.

She’s changed so much…

“And so have you, pal,” said Richard in his head.

John wanted to close his eyes and wish him away, but beating Zoe back to the church was more important.

“You
still
don’t remember what happened, do you?” Richard continued. “All those years of lies have settled on your brain. You need to dig through it all.”

Go away! I’ve told you before, get out of my head.

“If you dig through all those lies, my friend, you’ll find the real reason behind all this.”

Huh?

“Think back to the party. Try and remember…”

Thunder rolled behind him in the night.

John ran harder as he cast his mind back.

I told you I was going to the party Donny DuBois was holding and that you should come along.

You said, “Jam it,” and kept typing.

“Wrong pal, first mistake. I was trying to finish a biology assignment. I told you I would meet you there later.”

Really?

And as John thought about it, he remembered.

You’re right. That
is
how it happened!

The party was boring. And so were the people. They just wanted to get on Donny’s good side. The guys were mostly from the team and most of the female flesh was better left on the rack.

Patricia and Maureen O’Reilly were there too, hoping to get lucky. Their sad make-up and rolls of fat made them only good for teasing and laughing at.

“Do you remember now? They were a bit drunk,” Richard continued.

Patricia and Maureen? Never! They never touched the stuff.

“I know. But someone had spiked the punch. Remember? It was in that big punchbowl in the lounge room.”

Oh, I didn’t know it was spiked.

“And you’d had a couple too, pal. Remember?”

John scanned his memory but he didn’t remember having any drinks. The party was so bad he’d kept completely sober. At least he thought he did.

He remembered standing in a corner for most of the night, checking out from afar Christie Baker’s breasts.

John smiled.

Ahhh, Christie! A girl with class, tits and ass.

Those amazing tits that defied gravity.

A true natural wonder of the world.

John remembered deciding to go home after an hour or two. There was no action at the party other than the sly glimpses of Christie Baker’s breasts.

He remembered slipping out of the main lounge room and skilfully dodging the hot and clammy hands of “Pattie the Fattie” and Maureen. He was wiping his hands and heading down to the front door when it opened and Helen walked in.

“Whoa there!” Richard interrupted his thoughts. “Back up a bit.”

Why?

“You’ve skipped everything!”

No, I haven’t. It’s all there. The party was dull. I left. It’s that simple.

“No, not so simple,” Richard replied. “You just don’t remember properly.”

There’s nothing to remember!

“Yes, there’s plenty, my friend.”

John shook his head as he ran through the rain. He thought about looking back for Sherrie. But he didn’t.

No time…

“Why were you wiping your hands?” Richard continued.

Huh?

“According to
your
version of events, you slipped from the lounge room, dodging Patricia and Maureen. You said you were wiping your hands as you left.”

So?

“
Why?
”

I don’t know. It doesn’t matter!

“But it
does
, pal. It matters so much!”

John’s mind spun, trying to work out why this was so important. But Richard had started him thinking.

Why was I wiping my hands?

“You had punch on them. They were all sticky from the punch!”

Okay,
John thought as he ran.
If you say so. It still doesn’t matter, though. I must’ve spilt some on me.

“Jesus Christ!” Richard yelled. “How
blind
are you, pal? Think
back!
Think back to the lounge room!”

There’s nothing to think back to!

“Yes, there
is!
”

I was walking through the lounge to leave. There was no one around. Most of the guys had picked a girl or two and they were off in the rooms somewhere screwing each other’s brains out.

“Good pal, keep going!”

But that’s it!

Richard sighed. “Were you in the lounge alone?”

John nodded.
Yeah, I think so.

“Where were Patricia and Maureen?”

Oh, they were there too.

“Exactly!”

They were in the lounge, in one corner, talking to each other.

Lightning flashed.

And suddenly John remembered…

Shit, there
is
more!

They cornered him before he could reach the door to the hall. They were both drunk on the punch and they both wanted him.

“Hi Johnny,” Patricia had said. “Having fun?”

“No,” he replied. “Can you move, Pattie? I want to leave.”

“Don’t leave so early,” Maureen said. “The night is still young. There’s plenty of time to have fun yet.”

“I’m going home,” he pushed past them, but Pattie grabbed him by the shoulder.

He turned to look at her. She was smaller than him…

The same height as Zoe!

…and she looked up into his eyes.

“Johnny,
don’t
go. We could
all
have fun together. Just you and me and Maureen.”

John’s mouth had curled. “No thank you, I’d rather fuck a corpse than you two fat turds. I’m not
that
drunk!”

His words hit home and caused the desired reaction. Pattie’s eyes fell to the floor and Maureen put her hands to her face.

“Let’s face it girls,” he’d continued. “No one’s going to be opening up your pussies for a very long time. They’d have to be blind or blind drunk to stick it into your fat mouldy cunts.”

Shit,
John thought as he ran.
I’d forgotten all this!

“Forgotten, pal?” Richard replied. “I don’t think so. Maybe
removed
is a better word for it.”

Maureen hadn’t been able to stand the insults. She ran off deeper into the house, her hands to her face, crying loudly.

John turned to go.

But Pattie the Fattie had grabbed both his shoulders as he walked, tipping him off balance and slamming him into the lounge room wall. Her body was on his, her lips reaching for his. Her disgusting breath filled his face and her sweaty hands were all over him. He struggled for a few seconds and grabbed her hands, pulling her from him and spinning her around, pushing her back against the wall.

“
Yes!
” she had moaned.

John shook his head, “Never! Not with me, you fat ugly piece of shit.”

“
Please,
Johnny,” she said. “I want it to be you in me for my first time.”

“No way!”

“I dream about you. I want you so bad. Please! Stick your huge cock in me. Make me bleed.”

Shit!

And then John remembered it all.

Everything…

He slid to a stop by the side of the nearest pine and doubled over.

His breathing was hard, his head pounded, and he felt like he was going to be sick.

“You remember now?” Richard asked him.

John nodded.

Oh my God! Yes! How could I forget that?

“Because you wanted to. You
needed
to.”

And that’s why Zoe is the way she is?

“Partly…”

Jesus, no…

“Fuck me, Johnny,” Pattie the Fattie had said.

She was drunk.

And he was a little too.

But that was no excuse.

No excuse at all…

He remembered it all.

He pushed her away from him, throwing her aside without another thought.

He walked to the centre of the lounge room, suddenly feeling claustrophobic and needing some space away from Pattie. He reached for a glass and poured himself another drink of the punch sitting on the table. He could hear Pattie crying behind him, but he wouldn’t turn around. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

And then the far door opened. Donny DuBois and Marty Klavan stumbled into the room, laughing with each other.

“Did
you
do that?” Donny yelled to John in a slurred voice. He pointed over his shoulder. “Maureen’s in the next room crying her eyes out and puking her guts out.”

Marty laughed next to him, “It’s
sooo
fuckin’ funny. You should come out here and watch, Murdock!”

Donny slid to a stop in the middle of the room and pointed at the collapsed figure of Pattie, huddled in one corner.

“Fuck, man,” he said, still pointing. “You’ve mind fucked
both
of them?”

John took another drink of the punch. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to get out of there. Suddenly the party had turned from boring to sickening.

“She wants you to fuck her?” Marty asked, bumping into Donny’s shoulder.

John just stared at Pattie as she cried on the floor.

“
No one
would fuck her,” Donny replied. “She’s too dog ugly and way too fat.”

“Yeah, I know,” Marty said. “Unless you could fuck her and
hurt
her.”

John saw the gleam in Donny’s eyes. There were no second thoughts, he could tell.

Donny staggered towards Pattie.

“Yeah,” he half-muttered. “Make it
hurt
.”

John put down his glass and turned to leave. But his eyes met Pattie’s.

He could see the fear in them.

He stopped in his tracks and just stood there.

Then Donny was by Pattie’s side. Marty was there too. They both reached down, pulling her up. Donny grabbed a handful of her hair and lifted her roughly to her feet.

“Don’t,
please
...” she whispered through tears.

“Shut up,
bitch
,” Donny spat back at her. “One sound from you and you’re
fuckin’ dead
, you understand?”

She nodded slowly, tears running down her cheeks.

“Don’t hurt me,” she whispered.

Donny laughed. Marty sniggered.

John just watched on.