Cartwright Falls A Psychological Horror Story » Places

         Blake slapped his forehead.

“Damn it! The autopsy report. It slipped my mind with Temple. I received the report earlier this morning.” He rifled through his desk and produced his report on the death of its previous owner. Blake then handed the report to Barton who thumbed through it. Blake provided a brief synopsis but he knew Barton would still want to read it.

“Ethanol poisoning. They say it was methanol introduced via syringe. Pretty clean too suggesting the killer had some medical skill. Of course he died in a hospital so the suspect list is the length of your arm. I’ve got people reviewing tapes but with the numbers going in and out of his room it’ll be tricky to work out who killed Carter.”

Barton nodded and handed back the report.

After concluding their meeting Barton headed for the door and on to the funeral.

After a few moments Blake stepped out into the lobby of the Sherriff’s Department.

“Agent Blake you look like hell!” A woman’s voice cried.

Blake spun on Justine whose eyes were filled with genuine concern.

“I... I haven’t had much time for sleep.”

“Well right now we’re making time. You go lie down and I’ll field the phones. Nobody will miss you for a few hours besides everyone has been tasked all you’re only waiting for their reports.”

Blake nodded glad in way that someone was giving him permission to sleep.

#
"Can you tell me how to get out of here?"

Eli nodded before walking away from Hayden and the group. He spent a while getting the lay of the land.

They were currently on the third floor of a four story mansion. The mansion was divided loosely into five structures, an east wing connected to the main building by a long corridor. The main building was then connected the west wing via another long corridor. Eli decided to name the structures the east wing, east wing corridor, Main building, west wing corridor and the west wing. Apart from the bedrooms the place was in a poor state of repair.

The group was on the third floor of the west wing. Each wing had four stories except the main wing which seemed to have a large attic space. First the group would have to get out of the west wing which would not be simple considering the many armed men that where milling around the place.

Eli returned and gave his impression of the place to Hayden.

“Seems to me the easiest way out is through the parking garage below the east wing. Looks like you have two options, try to sneak past the guards on the west wing staircase, in the west wing corridor and the rest of the way there or use the west wing crawl space that will bring you to the main building attic. From there you might be able to sneak down to the east wing park garage. Whatever happens you need to get moving.”

#

Cassandra Bishop watched as her son was lowered in the dirt and felt nothing.

The voice was speaking to her, telling her what she must do. For now though she’d have to act the part she was expected to play.

#

Later, at the wake which was being held at the small church hall Cassandra saw her opportunity.

“The kids are all at home Cassandra. They need their mother, it’s time to come home.”

Cassandra dumbly nodded. She knew where she was needed, needed for the first time years. The voice had broken her but rebuilt her stronger and better than before. She now knew where her purpose lay.

At the mansion in the mountains.

She quietly excused herself to go to the bathroom but already she knew where she was going.

She left the church hall and walked to the car park where a white car was waiting just as the voice had promised. A pretty woman with cold eyes sat behind the wheel.

“Don’t be afraid she’s here to help, Cassandra.” The voice said when Cassandra felt a trickle of doubt.
Kyra Gosling got out of the car and approached Cassandra.

“Mrs Bishop, I’m here to bring to Mr Lamont.”

“Lamont?” Cassandra asked.

“Just another member of the family Cassandra.” The voice answered while Kyra looked confused.

Cassandra nodded and followed Kyra to the car.

         The young woman was rather startled when she heard Eli call to her. “Hayden I need you in the conference room. You’re gonna be babysitting one of these suits.” Hayden's face broke out into a rather large grin as she made her way into the conference room.

She listened intently as the Sheriff relayed the information that the coroner had told him. Hayden found herself thinking about how disturbing the amount of torture that Julian must have gone through. The words 'sadist' popped into her mind as she read over her copy of the report. Still, from a psychological point of view, there wasn't much to go on. The killing could have been personal, exclusive to the couple, or it could be that beginnings of a serial kill. All were too soon to tell at the moment.

“I was thinking we should split up to cover more ground, one Agent and one Sheriff. Most of my people are out on the search teams but the tired looking one there is Deputy Hayden Montgomery, she’s one of our brightest, even going to school to be a head shrinker. She can take one of you round town while I take the other.” The young woman sheepishly smiled at the compliment, it was nice to hear every once in a while. She had to shake her head slightly at Eli's use of the term 'head shrinker' though.

Hayden sat quietly for a second as the two agents talked about how'd they be splitting up. Once it seemed like the two were finished, she stood and made her way over to Agent Temple. "Nice to meet you Agent," She said, sticking out her hand in greeting. "Name's Hayden Montgomery." Sure the initial introduction by Eli had been made, but Hayden felt it was rude to not properly introduce herself. "Any place in particular you'd like to see first?"

         Kyle Renner blew gently on his mug of soup before taking a tentative sip.

Too soon, his burning lips told him.

He looked at the steam rising off the cup and wondered how long it would be until he could gulp the whole thing down. All he needed was some food, that would calm him down.

He looked up at the clouds coming in from the north and knew his hunting trip was over and he’d nothing to show for it. In fact it had been eerie how few animals he’d seen, no deer, foxes or rabbits even the birds had split. All he’d seen was a solitary Grey Wolf on his first day and even that had been heading the other way.
A part of him thought he knew why, the woods felt different not scary but quiet and still. He couldn’t quite put his finger on the sense of unease and during the day it was nowhere to be found. It only came late at night when he had just turned off the torch and was trying to get to sleep. For an experienced Hunter feeling this way was something of an embarrassment, yet he started sleeping with his Beretta.

It was on the fifth night that things got really strange and he heard the whispers. At first he thought it was the wind but soon he could make out the words.
“…eyes open, eyes wide, eyes open, eyes wide…”. That’s all he could make out and it would always pick up just as he was about to drift off to sleep. He’d take the Beretta and a torch and checked around the camp but found nothing. As soon as he returned to his sleeping bag the whispering started again. Now it seemed foolish to get spooked like that but he could remember the fear quite clearly.

“Hey you!”

The voice snapped Kyle out of his memory. He turned to face a group of people in hiking gear.

“Hey what are you doing here?” A man dressed in a black fleece asked.

“Uh… Camping, hunting actually.”

“How long you been here?”

“This is my sixth day.”

Kyle looked at the people again, they had very light packs and no camping equipment. A few were carrying medical kits.

“Seen anything strange up here?”

“No.” Something was wrong these people were eyeing him like he was dangerous. “What’s going on?”

“Haven’t you heard about the missing kids?”

“No. What happened?”

“Couple of kids went missing up here it was… suspicious. We’re the search party.”

“God, I didn’t see a thing. Hope they’re ok.”

“Yeah, well if you remember anything you’d best get down to the Sheriff’s. Speaking of what’s your name?”

“Kyle, Kyle Renner.”

“Can I see a driving licence.”

“You a cop?”

“No, My name is Hank but the Sheriff asked all the search teams to check out anyone we bump into.”
As Kyle got his wallet he eyes fell on the Beretta and a crazy thought fluttered through his head. He shook it aside and handed over his licence.

“Far away from home Kyle.”

“Yeah my Dad and I used to come here every year for a few days until he died. First time I’ve been back in about five.”
Hank’s face broke into a smile. “Thanks, Sorry about all this. I reckon all the search parties tramping through here scared off and game.”

“Yeah it’s been a bad trip. How long did you say those kids were missing for?”

“The weekend. Anyway we’d best be going. I’d pack up and get out of here Kyle. With everything going on folks are a bit jumpy.”

“No problem hope you find them.”

“Sorry about your soup by the way.” Hank said as he trudged off with his group of searchers.

Kyle looked down at the croutons floating in his mug of stone cold soup. Then something strange happened, he found himself mumbling a strange mantra.

“…eyes open, eyes wide, eyes open…”

It felt calming.

Kyle looked at the Beretta again and knew what he had to do.

         The light was humming slightly above the Autopsy table that now supported Julian Bishop. The room was cold but that’s not what was making Eli Carter shiver. He was thinking of another time long ago when he stood in this room looking at another dead teenager. Both times he felt guilt well up inside him.

“Sherriff I’m going to need you to be a witness here and pass me a couple of things if I need them.” Said Doctor Lawson, the elderly physician.

Eli nodded. The boy’s mother was the local nurse and there was no way she could be expected to help with the autopsy.

“Ok Sheriff, I’m turning on the recorder now, please don’t speak unless absolutely necessary.”

“No worries.”

The doctor reached over, turned on a recorder and the sound of the cassette rolling joined the humming light.

“In front of me I have Julian Bishop aged sixteen years. He is physically strong and exhibits no pre-existing physical abnormalities. However he sustained massive trauma which has ultimately led to his death.”

The doctor produced a camera and began taking photos of Julian’s head.

“The head is remarkably intact when compared to the rest of the body. The only missing elements are the eyelids, lips and tongue. Scarring on the eyes suggests that they have been exposed for some time.”

Eli found it hard to look at the boy’s face, his mind was already racing as to what the killer had wanted him to see so badly they permanently stopped him from blinking.

“The rest of the body is a patchwork of symbols and letters that are carved directly into the boys flesh. No single cut seems deep enough to kill but the aggregate blood loss would be enough to kill someone. I recognise some of the Symbols such as an upside down cross stretching from the top of the sternum to the belly button as well as a couple of pentagrams on the back.”

The Doctor looked at Eli who just nodded.

“The boy was bound using ropes most likely made from blue polypropylene as I was able to find strands around his neck and ankles. His wrists are different. They were bond but the distinctive marks suggest hand cuffs might have been used.”

Again the Doctor looked at Eli but his expression seemed more questioning. Eli sighed deeply.

“Of course it could have been any type of metallic or plastic restraint. The boy was beaten but most of the wounds are defensive which suggests he was beaten only to subdue him not after he was restrained. Cause of death is massive blood loss which I believe happened around late on Monday 4th of November or early morning Tuesday the 5th.”

The doctor reached over and turned the recorder off.

“That’s about all I can tell you at the moment Sheriff. I still need to do the blood work and open up the stomach but I can send all that stuff over to you at the department. I just needed you as a witness.”

“That’s fine Doc. Anything that can help us find Karen.”

Eli turned and picked up his hat.

“Do you think you’ll find her?”

“Oh I’ll find her.”

He didn’t say which bit of her he expected to find to but by now he had little hope Karen Fellows was alive.

Eli left the autopsy and took the flight of stairs up to the lobby. He stepped out into the cold sunlight and walked toward the Bronco. The FBI would be arriving soon and he had to get back to the Department.

         The school is silent this Tuesday, that's because Theresa Jennings has called for a day of mourning for the death of Julian Bishop and because most of the older kids are part of the search parties.