Shark staggered backwards a few steps upon reading the message.
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…” she spoke, at the phone, “this just can’t be fucking happening.” A voice suddenly cut through the air, coming from somewhere behind Shark, male, high-pitched, almost cheerful.
“What’s the matter, Shark? Have you just had some bad news or something?” The voice asked. Shark spun around, looking back towards the railway bridge. There was somebody standing underneath it. A person with dull, yellow eyes that softly glowed in the darkness. The mobile phone fell from Shark’s hand, hitting one of her hiking boots before landing on the gravel path. “Hey, you’ve dropped your phone.” Said Howard Trenton, in a concerned manner. He emerged from under the bridge. “Here, let me come and pick it up for you.” Howard walked slowly towards Shark…
***
Having given up on the mobile phone again getting a signal, Mary began looking around the farmhouse bedroom for something that she could possibly use as a weapon. There was a half-opened cardboard box close to the door. Mary began rummaging around inside it. The box was half-full of books, most of them centring around true crime. She pulled some of the books out, looking at the titles. ‘The Strange Case of Donald De’ath - Lifting the Curtain on the Hanley Killer’, ‘The Dead Winter Mountain Murders - The True Story of Stephen Morris Hartley’, ‘Unsolved - Who is the M81 Slayer?’, ‘The Exington/ Merivale Murders and the Unmasking of Brian Miller’… Mary placed the books back into the box, before moving over to another container, close to the dirty mattress. Inside the box were more books, again, mostly about true-crime, but one of them immediately caught Mary’s attention.
‘Inside the Mind of Ben Askew, Triple Killer’, read the words on the cover, together with a photograph of a dark-haired, handsome man, in his mid to late thirties, and with startling blue eyes. Mary’s stomach churned; she recognised the man on the book cover straight away; it was her captor, Stan.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Shark Mako scooped her mobile phone up from off the gravel path, and began backing away from Howard Trenton, who was slowly walking towards her.
“There’s no point in running away from me all of the time, Shark… you should know by now that I’ll always be able to find you.” Smirked Howard.
“Just stay away from me, you fucking freak,” warned Shark, “unless you fancy having two broken arms instead of just one, by the time morning comes around.”
“Big words, Shark, but that’s not gonna happen. I’m finished toying around with you now.” Said Howard, drawing his knife. “It’s time to end our brief relationship. I don’t think it’s working out, do you?” He asked. “Our personalities, they clash too much. We’re just never gonna get on, are we?” Howard smiled. He stopped walking towards Shark, and looked around. “Where’s Mary, then? Out in the bushes, having a piss or something?”
“I’m not with Mary. She’s gone. You can’t get to her now.” Shark informed him. Howard Trenton frowned.
“What do you mean, she’s gone? Gone where?” He wanted to know. Now it was Sharks turn to smile.
“As if I’m going to tell you.” Came her response. Howard took a step forward.
“Oh, you’ll tell me alright.” He said, and with that, Howard moved towards Shark a little more.
Howard gazed at the mobile phone in Shark’s hand.
“So, who was the text message from, Shark?” He asked. The young woman didn’t reply. “Did you hear what I just asked? Who was the text message from?” Howard demanded to know.
“What the fuck has it got to do with you, you silly looking twat?” Spat Shark. She shoved the mobile phone in her pocket, and then pulled the backpack from off her shoulders. “Come on then.” She challenged Howard. “Come on. I thought that you were done toying around… so let’s do it. Let’s finish this, once and for all.” Said Shark. She gripped her backpack with both hands, and slowly started swinging it around in an arc in front of her.
“Not until you tell me where Mary is.” Replied Howard.
“That’s never gonna happen.” Stated Shark Mako. “You fucking nob-head.” She added, trying to goad Howard. He watched as the backpack swung in front of him.
“Is that your make-shift shield?” He asked. “Do you think a bloody backpack is gonna protect you?” Laughed Howard.
“Let’s find out. Come on, you skinny, short-arsed little fucker.” Sneered Shark.
Howard Trenton lunged at Shark Mako. Immediately, the young woman swung her backpack around, as hard as she could. It caught Howard in the side of the head, and he stumbled backwards a few steps. Shark struck him with the backpack again, this time bringing it down hard onto the top of his head. The blow forced Howard down, towards the ground, and he found himself crawling around on all fours, looking for the knife that he’d just dropped. He didn’t have much of a chance to search for it; Shark Mako pulled Howard back up to his feet, before delivering two rapid, vicious, karate-style jab punches to his face. Howard felt his lips split open again, as he crashed down to the floor. He landed awkwardly, on his broken arm and shoulder, and let out a low, animal growl of pain. Meanwhile, Shark spotted Howard’s knife, lying close to her feet. She knelt down and picked it up, then moved in towards Howard, for the kill…
Shark Mako crouched down, next to Howard Trenton, the knife raised in the air.
"Go on," gasped Howard, "do it. Kill me. Go on, just do it." Shark tried to thrust the knife downwards, into the soft flesh of Howard's throat, but it was almost as if an unseeable force was preventing her from doing so; Shark's own morality was holding her back. She stared into Howard's strange, dirty yellow eyes.
“When we were in the river, Mary told me everything about you. How you think you were conceived…” Said Shark.
"It's got fuck-all to do with you…" spat Howard, through angry, gritted teeth.
“Maybe not… but for what it's worth, I actually think that your mother was telling you the truth." Confided Shark.
"No you don't." Replied Howard, with blood oozing out of his mouth.
"Sorry, but I do. I've seen for myself how strong you are, Howard. A guy your size… how the hell would you be able to carry two fully-grown women over each shoulder, with one of those shoulders broken at that, and then just walk around as if…"
"Maybe I work-out.” Said Howard, in a sarcastic voice.
"We both know that you don't, Howard. No, there's something inhuman about you, alright." Nodded Shark. slowly.
"You believe me. So what?" Asked Howard. “Are you after a medal, or something? Or do you think that I’m just gonna let you off, now that you’re on ‘Team Howard’.
"No. I'm just trying to understand you." Shark responded, whilst still staring into Howard Trenton's yellow eyes.
Howard made a feeble attempt to get himself from up off the ground, but Shark pushed the youth back to the floor, the knife still raised above his throat.
"Oh no you don't Howard. You're not going anywhere." Said Shark.
"You can't really stop me. It's not like you're going to use that thing on me, is it?" Grinned Howard, referring to the knife. "What are we gonna do? Just sit around here all night, chatting, because you’re too chicken to…"
"So, your mom… that thing, the creature that attacked her, whatever it was… alien… inhuman…"
"It was an alien." Growled Howard.
"Okay, the alien. It raped your mom, impregnated her. That must have been a fucking awful experience for the poor woman." Observed Shark. Howard's eyes narrowed.
"Not that it's any of your business, but she never got over it." Replied Howard.
"Well, you wouldn't." Commented Shark. "It'd destroy your whole life."
"Yeah…" said Howard, "it did that alright."
"Which is what I don't understand." Said Shark.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Howard snapped. "There's nothing to understand. It was just something really bad that happened."
"Oh, I know all of that. What I mean is, why would you want to inflict the same damage on Mary? A member of your own family? Your cousin's sister-in-law? That's the part that doesn't make any sense to me, Howard." Queried Shark. Howard stared back at her, unable to answer Shark’s question straight away.