Page 29 of Beyond the Darkness (Basic Instincts #3)

Evil Intent

Rav didn’t scream. He let out a stunned grunt as the axe impacted. He wavered for a few seconds. Hudson took a step towards him, desperate to help, when Rav dropped to his knees then fell face forward, the axe buried in his skull.

It was over. Like a light being switched off. One second Rav was there. The next he was gone.

Hudson stared into the blank visage of the Baby Face mask. A monstrous character that had plagued his career and his dreams for two decades. And now his reality.

The killer gripped the handle of the axe, put a booted foot on Rav’s shoulder and yanked it free with a sickening crunch.

Two dark eyes glistened from behind the mask.

Hudson ran.

He’d once played a character who fell victim to this monster. Not this time.

He shot through the open front door and slammed it behind him.

The bulk of his pursuer thudded against the other side.

Hudson reached for the key in the lock, but it wasn’t there.

Keeping all his weight against the door, he searched for an alternative.

There was a deadbolt. He twisted the knob, and the bolt shot into place.

The door held when he stepped away while the killer rattled the handle.

He drew a quick breath of air. His heart hammered and it seemed like there was no space in his lungs. Outside, the handle continued to rattle. Then the killer kicked the door. The whole frame jarred but held. It wouldn’t take him long to find another way in.

Hudson had a slim advantage.

He had to find Luke, if he was still alive. The alternative wasn’t an option. He scouted around for a weapon but found nothing in the hallway.

“Luke,” he yelled.

He was answered by a muffled sound. Upstairs.

He mounted the stairs two at time, yelling Luke’s name again, following the reply.

Please be all right. If that bastard had done anything to him, Hudson would kill him himself, or die trying.

The lights were off on the top floor. With the encroaching darkness outside, the landing was long and dim, filled with shadows and dark open doorways.

He found him in the bedroom.

It was another image from a horror film.

Luke lay on the floor. He was tied to the arms and legs of a chair and must have tipped it over in an attempt to get loose.

He was naked except for a pair of tight white underpants.

Just like in the movie. Just like Julian.

Something had been stuffed in his mouth and fastened around in a makeshift gag.

He stared at Hudson with wide, terrified eyes.

At least he was alive.

Hudson managed to pull the gag free from his mouth and down over his chin.

“Are you all right?” he whispered.

“I think so.” His voice was dry and raspy.

“He’s outside. He killed Rav.” He examined the bonds around Luke’s wrists. Plastic cable ties. No way he could pull them apart. “Do you have anything up here to cut these?”

“Bathroom cabinet,” Luke said, then coughed. “Nail scissors.”

Hudson raced to the bathroom, thankful that he’d been here before and knew his way around.

The small room was dimly lit but he didn’t want to turn on the light and alert the killer to their whereabouts.

He tore open the cabinet door, his hands shaking as he fumbled through the contents.

Bottles and packets fell out. There was a clatter of steel on the floor.

He dropped to his knees and finally found the small scissors.

They were tiny. Useless as a weapon, but they should be enough to cut Luke free.

He returned to Luke’s side.

It sounded like the killer was using his axe on the front door. It wouldn’t take him long to get inside. They had to work fast. If they could get out the back while he was still preoccupied, they might stand a chance of losing themselves in the fields beyond. Enough time to hide and call the cops.

He started working on the cable ties, the small scissors barely making an indent on the tough plastic.

“Do you know who it is?” he asked. “Did you see his face?”

“No. He was wearing the mask when he jumped me. It’s fucking Baby Face.”

The first tie snapped. Luke raised his hands, gripping his fingers while Hudson started on the second wrist.

“Is it Robbie Wiseman?” Luke asked.

“I didn’t get a good enough look. It happened so fast. He killed Rav without a second’s remorse.” The second cable fell away, and Hudson got straight to work on his ankles.

As soon as Luke was free, Hudson helped him to his feet. His legs wobbled and he leaned against him. Hudson tried to check him over in the fading light. It looked like he might have taken a beating, but there were no obvious wounds.

Hudson helped him into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

“We have to go, now.”

His heart seemed to stop as they made their way down the stairs.

Baby Face had vanished. Mercifully the door had withstood the onslaught of the axe. Would the rear entrance hold up so well? The windows?

They crept down to the hall, listening all the time for the sound of breaking glass.

Luke was steadier on his feet when they moved stealthily into the living room. Hudson turned off the light so they couldn’t be seen from outside. He passed his phone to Luke. “Call the cops. Tell them to get here fast.”

Hudson moved to the window, peering around the curtains. It was near dark outside. Ominously quiet. Every shadow contained the threat of death.

“Police,” Luke gasped into the phone. “We need help, right now. There’s been a murder. Someone is still after us.”

Hudson could hear the calm voice of the emergency responder on the line.

Luke gave the details and his address. How long would it take them to reach here?

Five minutes? Ten? Hudson’s breath was deafening in his own head, and he strained to listen further, for anything outside, or something in the house that should not be there.

Suddenly the outside security light came on and the whole driveway was illuminated. The two vehicles and Rav’s body, lying face down in a widening pool of blood.

Hudson shrieked as a face appeared at the window.

Baby Face.

Only a pane of glass separated him from that blank plastic mask. It was a perfect replica of the one worn by the killer in the movie. Even the costume—the blue overalls—was a match, but, in the harsh light of the driveway, Hudson saw the dark, wet stains of blood.

Baby Face lifted the axe and tapped it against the window. The blade scratched the glass and smeared it with blood.

“Shit. Hudson, get back from there.”

He could only stare with a morbid fascination. Like a fox caught in headlights on a back country road, he was frozen to the spot. He gazed at the eyes inside the mask, hoping to see some recognition. Grasping for something.

Then Baby Face took a step back and swung the axe.

Amazingly, the toughened glass held, and the blade sprang back. Baby Face swung again with even greater force. It wouldn’t stand up to much more.

“We need to get out.” Hudson grabbed Luke and ushered him into the kitchen. There was still a chance they could escape out the back way and make it over the wall.

Hudson’s shoes squeaked on the tiled floor. There were plates and mugs on the draining board, seeming so mundane, so utterly normal in contrast to the madness behind them.

“Keys,” he gasped, noticing that they were not already in the lock.

Luke pulled a bowl across the table towards him, rummaging through the clutter.

The breaking sound of glass filled the house. The front window had given in.

While Luke scrambled for the keys, Hudson tore open a drawer, searching for knives. He found tea towels and dishcloths. Shit. The next drawer down was filled with jars of herbs and spices, rolls of cling film and foil.

“I’ve got it,” Luke exclaimed, the key in his hand.

They lurched for the door. Luke took hold of the handle and was about to insert the key, when a figure appeared on the other side. Even through the frosted pane of glass, the Baby Face mask and overalls were unmistakable. They stepped back together.

Then, alerted by a sound from behind, Hudson spun to see someone else in a Baby Face mask enter the kitchen from the other end.

His heart seemed to freeze as his mind raced with so many colliding thoughts.

There were two of them.

Robbie Wiseman was not working alone. He’d found an accomplice. A mind as damaged and warped as his own, to share his love of that terrible film.

Hudson turned again at a noise from the door.

The back door swung open, revealing the second Baby Face.

Instead of an axe, this one carried a lethal-looking butcher’s knife.

They raised their left hand, revealing the key they’d used to get inside.

They let it jangle, taunting them, before dropping it. It rattled on the hard tiles.

“Robbie,” Hudson said, glancing between the two figures. One of them was bigger, more well-built. That had to be Robbie, the first Baby Face with the axe. Rav’s killer. “Take off the fucking masks,” he said angrily. “We’re not going to be part of this dip-shit reconstruction.”

The second killer tapped their knife against the counter, then drew the blade along the granite surface, creating a high-pitched noise that set every nerve on edge. The bastard was toying with them. Teasing. Getting a kick out of the fear they generated.

Hudson backed against the counter, feeling for the drawer behind him. Was this one of the ones he’d searched already?

The first attacker jerked the axe towards him, threatening but not ready to hurt him. Not yet.

“Why don’t you say something?” Anger governed the fear in his voice. “Come on, you’ve waited all this time. You must have something you want to tell me.”

A gentle tilt of the head. It was a gesture lifted straight from the movie.

Had Robbie lost himself completely? Did he believe he was Baby Face now?

Hudson pulled open the drawer behind him and reached inside. His hand closed around a wooden spoon. Fuck. He searched again, feeling blindly, and found a plastic spatula.

They were screwed.

“Luke,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

If they hadn’t met and started a relationship, Luke wouldn’t be in this danger now.

The two masked killers came closer, their weapons raised. The axe swung straight at Hudson. He dropped to the floor, feeling a whoosh of air as it missed his head, smacking into the counter.

He rolled away but the second killer was fast. Suddenly they were on top of him.

The knife was raised, coming down on him with deadly precision. In that second, he saw the evil intent behind the mask.

Flat on his back, unable to move. The blade came straight for his heart.