Becoming The Part - Chapter Two

Robyn bashes the light switch behind her, turning the light off and ducks behind the counter with her hand pressed over her mouth, her heart thumping out of her chest and her breath becoming heavy as the air around her seems to be sucked out of the room, suffocating her. She doesn’t think the murderer has seen her.

“What’s going on?” Connor’s shaky voice comes from the front door. “Why did you scream?” Clearly he’s too scared to move.

“I’m okay, Connor. I’m okay.” Robyn breathes out, trying to convince herself. “He’s here.”

There is a long pause before Connor replies. “What?”

“He’s at the glass doors.” Robyn says. “Stay where you are. I’m hiding behind the counter. If either of us moves he’s going to see us.”

“Oh my god, Robyn.” Connor’s voice is shaky. “What do we do?”

Robyn puts her hand over her face as she starts to cry. She wishes she knew what to do. She wishes she can help her brother. She wishes they went to Brighton with their parents. “I don’t know. I’m sorry, Connor. I really don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t even know how to drive a damn car never mind escape a serial killer.”

“It’s okay.” Says Connor. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get out of here. I promise.”

Robyn shakes her head as tears stream down her face. “But I can’t promise you that. I have no idea how I’m going to move from here. If I move one inch he’ll see me.”

“So don’t move. Stay there and hope he’ll move on somewhere else. Surely he’ll get bored waiting around to kill someone. I mean, he’s a serial killer right? He finds enjoyment in murdering so he’s not going to wait around to have his fun.”

“Connor...”

“NO!” Connor yells, more as though he’s trying to convince himself. “We are getting out of here. I don’t care how long we wait until we can move. I don’t care if we have to hide for the rest of our lives. We are surviving this, okay? We’re surviving tonight.”

And something about the determination in Connor’s voice makes Robyn believe, even if it’s just for a second, that they have hope of surviving.

“Is he still there?” Connor asks.

Robyn breathes out heavily. “I don’t know. I’m too scared to look.”

The siblings sit in silence, not able to see each other from where they’re hiding, but feel each other’s presence.

“How long has it been?” Her younger brother finally breaks the silence.

Robyn turns her phone on and looks at the beaming screen. After sitting in the dark for so long, the artificial lighting that springs from her phone seems to be blinding as she squints her eyes in an attempt to focus on the time.

“It’s been five minutes.”

“THAT’S IT?” Connor yells.

“SSH!” Robyn sighs. “He might still be there. If he hears us he’ll know someone is home.”

“I think you’re just going to have to leg it to the door and we’ll run to the taxi.”

The taxi. Robyn wonders if the taxi has arrived at the pond yet and whether or not they’ll wait. What do they do if they get there and the taxi has left without them? What then? Robyn considers running to the door in an attempt to escape. “I can’t. It’s too risky. And if he sees me, that will put you in danger too.”

There’s a short silence as the two of them try to think of some kind of plan.

“Call Graham!” Connor demands. “Call him! Get him to come and help.”

Graham is their fifty-year-old next-door neighbour that they have known since they were children. He’s like a best friend to the family. His hair is almost completely grey and he’s rather short, only just being the same height as Robyn and that’s saying something.

“Okay.” Robyn discreetly reaches into her pocket and takes out her phone, dialling her next-door neighbour’s number. “Graham. You have to help us!”

“Have you heard about the murders?” Graham asks from the other line.

“Yes. I have. That’s why I’m calling.” Robyn whispers. “He’s... he’s here. He’s... oh god... I... I don’t think he’s seen me.”

“I’m coming over.” Graham states.

Robyn shakes her head as tears start streaming down her face. “I don’t want you to get hurt because of us.” She tries to protest but as horrible as it may seem, she really does want him to come over and help.

“I am not leaving you alone.” Graham declares. “I’ll come into the garden.”

“NO! He’s—” Robyn is cut off as Graham’s end of the line goes dead. “DAMMIT!” She sobs and slams her phone on to the ground in anger.

“What did he say?” Connor asks from the front door.

Robyn sighs and wipes her eyes. “He’s coming but he’s going into the garden.”

“But that’s where the murderer is.”

“I know. But he hung up before I could tell him that.” Says Robyn.

She looks down at her phone, contemplating whether or not to call her parents. No. She doesn’t want to worry them. She’ll call them once she and Connor are in the taxi. She decides with a large intake of breath for courage to peak over the edge of the counter to see if Graham is in the garden yet.

To her surprise, the murderer isn’t there anymore. Perhaps he looked to see if anyone was in and then moved on when he couldn’t see anyone. But where the hell is Graham?

Robyn stands up completely as she begins to feel confident again. Maybe they really do have a chance at escaping. She stares at the glass doors, only to see her own reflection looking back at her, then she looks down at her phone, hoping to see some kind of message from Graham to say he’s on his way. But there’s nothing.

Robyn jumps out of her skin as there is a violent bang at the glass doors and she looks up to find the murderer holding Graham against the window. Robyn holds her hand over her mouth as tears start streaming down her face again. Graham is completely staring at her, his eyes full of helpless tears reaching into Robyn’s soul, begging for help.

“No.” Robyn cries. “No, no, no, no, no!”

“What?” Connor questions. “What’s happening?”

Robyn breathes heavily, the air being sucked right out from her lungs as her vision becomes clouded by grief-filled tears. “It’s Graham.” She manages to weep out. “The murderer is killing him.”

Connor is silent for a long time. Robyn can hear his sobs getting louder as he processes what is happening. She imagines him sat on the floor at the door, his back against the wall with his eyes squinting as he cries into his hands. And she wishes she could sink down next to him and wrap an arm around him and mourn with him but she can’t. She has to do something.

Robyn looks at her phone again and dials a number. She holds the phone to her ear and bites her nails in anticipation until she eventually hears the other end of the line crackle to life. “Frank.”

Frank is Robyn’s other neighbour. He’s a thirty-five-year-old brunette who has lived on the other side of the Millers’ house to Graham for ten years. He’s quite reserved compared to Graham but gets along well with everyone on the street, helping anyone out the second they ask.

“Are you okay?” Frank queries.

“Have you heard about... you know... what’s been going on in the street tonight?” Robyn asks.

“Yeah. I’m just packing a bag now to leave.” And then he pauses. “Wait, are you still home?”

Robyn nods despite knowing he can’t see her. “He’s here. The murderer is here. I called Graham to help but he’s... I - um - I don’t think he’s going to make it.” Her voice cracks, everything still seeming so surreal to her.

“Oh god.” Frank breathes. “I’ll come over. Where are you?”

“Connor is at the front door and I’m in the kitchen stood at the glass doors. Graham is with the murderer in the garden.” Robyn explains.

“Okay I’ll come to the front door.” Frank states.

Robyn takes the front door key from her pocket and walks out of the kitchen to Connor. He is sat on the bottom step of the stairs, his head in his hands.

“Hey.” Robyn puts her hand on his shoulder and he flinches.

His eyes widen with hope. “Is he gone? Are we leaving?”

“No.” Robyn looks down and fiddles with the front door key in her hand. “I called Frank and he’s coming over. Here’s the key. When he knocks on the door, look out the window and check it’s him then unlock the door and let him in. I’m going to stay in the kitchen to keep an eye on... him.”

Connor nods and takes the key in his hand, twiddling it between his fingers.

“Hey, look at me.” Robyn says and Connor looks up at her. “We’re getting out of here, okay?”

Connor doesn’t say anything; he just nods.

Robyn enters the kitchen again, looking down at her feet. She doesn’t realise she’s biting her bottom lip until the metallic taste of blood touches her tongue. She realises that there is no longer silence piercing the air, but instead struggled grunts coming from outside, and she looks up to the glass doors. There’s a deep red hand print painted on the window with many splodges of blood swept across it, running down to the ground.

Graham is kicking the murderer away, struggling for his life as he punches him. The murderer fights back and runs at Graham with his bloody knife raised in the air. Graham grabs his wrist as they slam into the window. The murderer drops the knife and screams out in pain as Graham digs his nails into his wrist, blood starting to slowly drip down the murderer’s arm. Only now, seeing him bleeding and in pain, does the murderer seem human to Robyn.

Graham starts attacking the murderer; he kicks him in the stomach, winding him. Then he punches him in the torso and face multiple times until finally, the murderer falls backwards. Robyn can’t help but smile in relief as she sees the murderer be knocked to the ground and Graham stand tall above him. Graham turns and looks at Robyn through the glass, his shirt and face covered in blood. He’s holding his stomach, most probably where he’s been stabbed.

And the two of them smile at each other. Just for a second. But it’s long enough for them to feel safe.

Robyn’s face falls because she looks at the murderer, lying on the ground, his hand reaching for the knife a couple of feet away from him. But Graham hasn’t noticed; he’s still smiling in relief. Robyn points towards the murderer, trying to warn Graham. Graham’s face falls and he turns his head just as the murderer stands up and runs at him, the knife outstretched. And Robyn falls to the floor as the knife pierces through Graham’s chest. The murderer wrenches the knife out of the now lifeless Graham, his body distorted and surrounded by a pool of blood on the cement. Robyn stares in horror at his open eyes, the last look of fear lingering in his dried-up tears. She can’t help but be thankful that her little brother hasn’t witnessed any of this.

Robyn looks up to the murderer who is staring back at her intently. He begins walking towards the doors and despite a pane of glass separating them, Robyn stands up and takes a step back for every step forward the murderer takes. He seems to stare into her soul, resulting in the feeling of vulnerability to erupt from her stomach. The murderer holds the knife up to the doors and swings it back like a golf club before smashing it into glass repeatedly, shards shattering all over the floor. He steps into the kitchen, the glass crunching under his feet.

As if on cue, Robyn hears a knock at the door and then the door open and then the fast footsteps of Frank running into the kitchen behind Robyn.

“Get to the front door!” Frank demands. “I told Connor to stay there and call the police.”

“No. I’m not leaving you.” Robyn states. “I already watched Graham die. I’m not going to let the same happen to you.”

Frank sighs and pushes Robyn behind him. “Get behind me!”

The murderer stands staring at them, his knife gripped in his right hand.

“What do we do?” Robyn asks.

“We try to fight him off until the police get here.” Frank answers. “Why didn’t you call them, by the way?”

“I didn’t think they’d get here in time.” Robyn admits. She feels ashamed, knowing that part of her knew that getting Graham and Frank to come around would buy her time for an escape plan. She knows it’s selfish but in a situation like this, you can’t help but think about anyone but yourself.

The murderer lunges at them and Frank pushes Robyn out of the way, and spins around the murderer, dodging his attack. Robyn watches from behind the kitchen counter as Frank fights the murderer. He kicks him in the stomach then aims a right uppercut punch to the murderer’s face. The murderer blocks it and grabs Frank’s fist but Frank kicks his shin then places his foot in the crook of the back of the murderer’s knee, forcing him to the ground. However, the murderer still has Frank’s fist in his hand and begins to squeeze it until Robyn hears a crunch followed by an agonising scream from Frank as blood rolls down his arm.

Robyn thinks about helping in some kind of way. Especially after watching Graham die. She did nothing to help and look where that got them. Robyn thinks about Graham. How she watched his soul leave his eyes and felt guilt erupt deep in her stomach as she came to the realisation that she did nothing to save him. Not one thing. Nada. Robyn looks up, her vision clouded by warm tears, to see Frank struggling against the murderer in a headlock; the knife has been tossed to the floor somewhere. Everything seems to be in slow motion as Robyn tries to think of some kind of way to help. Her hearing becomes fuzzy; the menacing laugh coming from the murderer’s lips drilling deep into her head. And from the front door all she can hear are the quiet, frightened sobs of Connor. She wonders why he hasn’t run away yet. He has the perfect chance whilst the murderer is distracted. But then again, if Robyn was in Connor’s position, she wouldn’t want to leave him behind.

Robyn grips the countertop and uses all of her strength and courage to pull herself up from the ground. She breathes heavily then runs at the murderer, still holding Frank in a headlock. She wraps her arms around his torso and pushes him to the ground. She starts punching him in the face repeatedly, splitting his lip open and possibly breaking his nose.

“THIS. IS. FOR. GRAHAM!” Robyn screams as tears stream down her face.

But the most disturbing aspect of this whole thing is the fact that the only reaction the murderer has is to laugh right in Robyn’s face. Frank runs over and tries to pull Robyn off the murderer.

“Hey, come on.” Frank manages to finally lift Robyn, who is still wrathfully screaming, off the murderer. “Let me deal with this.”

Robyn stands to the side and wipes blood from her cheek that had spurted from the murderer’s face. Frank leans down and grabs hold of the murderer, twisting his arm so that it is pressed up against his back. Frank then lifts him up so that he is stood with his back to Frank, who keeps hold of the murderer’s arm.

“The police are on their way.” Frank spits. “You are not getting away with this.”

The murderer smiles. “Aren’t I?”

And then Robyn realises that nobody was keeping an eye on his free arm as he turns and stabs Frank in the leg. Robyn screams as Frank cries out in pain.

“GO!” Frank shouts to Robyn.

“No.” Robyn shakes her head. “I’m not leaving you.”

“JUST GO!” Frank yells. “NOW!”

And something about the pleading in his voice makes Robyn begin to step away. Then the murderer looks up at Robyn. And the way he looks at her gives her chills. The blood in her veins burns her skin as the adrenaline finally hits her hard and she almost falls back at the impact of it as her legs spring into action and she runs to her brother at the front door.

“CONNOR RUN!” Robyn runs towards the door.

She looks back and sees the murderer turn and stab Frank in the stomach, who folds over in agony. Then she feels a wrench in her heart as she watches the murderer stab him repeatedly, blood spurting all over the kitchen floor. Robyn holds a hand over Connor’s eyes and bows her head, dried up tears starting to be blanketed by fresh ones. Until eventually, Frank stops fighting and his body flops to the floor as his eyes gloss over. And Robyn swears he stares at her with his final glance. Maybe he does. Maybe the last thing he sees is Robyn and Connor. Hopefully he died knowing he saved them. Robyn’s eyes fill with tears before she looks at Connor who looks back at her with a fearful regard. And with that, Robyn opens the door, grabs Connor’s hand and sprints out of the house.

The two of them run out of the house into the crisp, black night and race down the street, their legs forcing them to sprint as fast as they can, escaping their dark fate.

“This way!” Robyn drags Connor around a corner as they make their way to the pond.

Connor stays silent. Robyn can tell he’s too traumatised to speak. Robyn thinks about Frank and Graham and she feels her heart break. No. It doesn’t break. It literally tears in two. And she can feel it. The pain of it all. That heartbroken shattering feeling where your legs feel weak and your heart aches and you can’t seem to stop crying. And all you want to do is drop everything and sit down for a while and process everything. But she can’t. Because if they stop, even for a second, they’re dead. So Robyn continues to run with her brother’s hand in hers, and she lets the grief lead her.

The two of them round a corner and can see the pond not too far in the distance. Robyn smiles, finally feeling as though they are safe. Because not only can she see the pond, but she can also see the taxi waiting for them. And her tears of mourning are joined by tears of relief. They’re going to make it. They’ll get to Brighton and they’ll see their family and they’ll be safe again.

“I called the police back at the house.” Connor finally speaks. “Do you think they’ll come in time?”

Robyn looks at her brother and it seems for the first time she notices he’s not that little anymore. In fact, he’s almost taller than her. “I think they might. And even if they don’t, we’ll be in the taxi and the murderer will be left behind here to be caught by the police.”

“What’s taking them so long?” Connor frowns. “Shouldn’t they be here by now?”

“I know.” Robyn says. “But I bet they have other jobs just as bad and you know, they have to get out of the station and get here. They can’t just teleport here.”

They both go back into a silence as the wind rushes past them. The pond begins to become clearer as they near it each second.

“We would have died if it wasn’t for Frank and Graham.” Connor murmurs quietly but it’s just loud enough for Robyn to hear.

She sighs. “I know. And I feel horrible about it. But they gave their lives to save us. The best thing we can do right now is honour what they died for and escape this hellhole.”

“I don’t think I can ever come back here. I know we’re going to Brighton to see Mum and Dad but we’re going to have to come back.” Connor says. “I just don’t think I can do that.”

And Robyn knows what he means. If they come back here, to this street, to the house, she might never sleep again. But then she realises Connor already has it bad enough with his night terrors. How is he going to deal with being in the same house he was threatened and his neighbours were murdered in?

They keep running, the taxi and the pond getting closer each step they take. For the first time since they left the house, Robyn checks behind her. And to her horror, the murderer is chasing after them. The worst part is that he can run faster than them and he’s gaining on them. Robyn lets out a weep and Connor turns to look too.

“THIS IS A NIGHTMARE!” Connor yells. “Why is he so obsessed with killing us?”

“I guess he doesn’t want any unfinished business.” Robyn replies.

Connor picks up his speed, as does Robyn. “RUN FASTER!”

“I’M TRYING!” Robyn shouts as she runs and runs and runs, faster than she even knew she could.

But it’s no use. Because the murderer is getting closer. And Robyn is starting to believe that they’re not going to make it to the pond. And where the hell are the police?

“Come on.” Connor nods. “We can make it.” But he doesn’t even sound like he’s convincing himself anymore.

It’s like they’re trying to help and reassure each other but the most they can do is say a bunch of words even they don’t believe. How are they going to get out? How are they going to outrun the murderer? How are they going to get to the pond in time?

Robyn looks behind them once again to see the murderer closer than she thought he would be. But she can’t help but think that this is just a man. A human being like her. How could one person be so messed up to the point they would want to murder a whole street? One man. And all of this terror. One human being. And all of this inhumanity. One person. And all of this trauma. Why? Why would someone want to do that? What kind of reward do you get for killing?

And Robyn starts to believe he’s not human at all. He can’t be. He’s insane and inhumane and wrong. No. He’s not a man, he’s not a person, he’s not a human being; he’s a monster. The kind that lives in your head. The kind that you only believe exists in stories. The kind you never think you’ll meet. He’s not a man. He’s a devil. He’s Lucifer. He’s cursed. No. He’s not cursed. These are his choices. They shouldn’t be blamed on something else, on some other force. Because he caused everything that happened here tonight. He’s not a person. He’s a nightmare. He’s a hooded figure you see at the end of your bed when your imagination spirals out of control. He’s something you can’t quite comprehend. Something you can’t quite process. Something you can’t quite believe.

Robyn turns back to face the way she is running and she sees the taxi closer to them than the murderer. And maybe they will make it. Maybe they will escape. Maybe they will survive.

The siblings make it just in time and open the doors to the taxi, hurrying inside and slamming the doors shut.

“DRIVE!” Robyn yells. “We’ll tell you where we need you to go but you just have to get out of here now!”

The driver starts the car and speeds away just as the murderer reaches them. Then a police car zooms past them, the sirens drilling into her ears. Her head seems to follow it and she and Connor look out the back window to see the murderer trying to run away. But another police car comes from the other side and they block him. And Robyn smiles, finally feeling some kind of joy as she watches the murderer get arrested.