{Chapter 6}
Thomas Markham watched Andrew. It annoyed him immensely that Andrew had that stupid grin on his face. Every couple seconds the grin faltered, but still, it was prominent on his face.
Thomas wanted to slap it off of his face. It was aggravating. Thomas hoped that when Andrew’s grin faltered, that he was thinking of him. Wouldn’t that be just dandy? It was not what Thomas had been hoping for. His expectation’s had been too high. Ugh!
He had, though, enjoyed George’s expression when he had seen the message he had left on the door. It was a mix of horror and rage. That brought a curl to Thomas’ lips.
Thomas was completely annoyed that there wasn’t a bigger fuss, though. I guess I need to step up my game a bit. The thought excited Thomas. He pulled out his trac phone that he had bought that morning just for this task. He had paid cash for the phone, so it was nearly impossible to track.
Thomas had also consulted a phone book. He had looked up the Crey’s home phone number for this particular move in the game. He knew Andrew’s number because he had consulted the carrier a few months later. He had pretended to be a good father trying to figure out Andrew’s number. Such idiots! He would not need the number, though, until he decided it was the perfect time.
Thomas typed in the number and pressed send. He heard the blrinng of the phone and his heart raced in excitement. He hoped that this would strike fear into their hearts. The phone went to voicemail and Thomas cursed. He redialed.
This time, George’s gravely voice said, “Hello?”
And, action! “I see you.” Thomas said in a low rumble.
“Who is this?”
“You know full well who this is.”
George gasped. “Thomas?” His voice was filled with fury. “I will stop you. You will not—”
Thomas cut him off with a soft, “Sh… I know that you would like to stop me. But, that is impossible. I am unstoppable. I will kill Andrew. I am a demon and have come to collect the sins of another.” Thomas did not literally believe himself to be a demon. He was not insane! Anyone who believed so obviously did not understand metaphors.
“Where are you?” George said exasperated.
“Like I would tell you. Besides, you can’t take a clue? I can see you.” Thomas spat. “You could make all this trouble go away and just hand over the boy right now. I will leave Anne, Helen and you alone.”
“That will never happen.” George nearly yelled.
“I didn’t suppose so. I guess, then, that you had better prepare yourself for hell to break loose. Because that is what is coming. Hell.”
It was completely silent on the other end.
“Until I get the boy, I will not cease.” Thomas could hear heavy breathing on the other end of the line.
“I guess you will die trying to get Andrew. Because, I will never let you have him.” George was tense and fury poured from his lips. Thomas was enjoying this.
“Oh, are you sure about that?” Thomas said sarcastically. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I will get Andrew and I will kill him. Try to stop me. But remember, I am unstoppable.” Thomas ended the call and drove away from the Crey home. Thomas enjoyed that very much. His heart was racing.
I will get you Andrew. There is no doubt about that. Your sins will be paid for in the shedding of your blood. Thomas was so extremely ecstatic about what had just gone down, he decided to indulge in another expensive bottle of wine and take the rest of the day off for sightseeing. Or finding the perfect place to kill Andrew.
While Thomas was out sightseeing, George Crey came to the conscious conclusion that they needed to get out of the country. That would get them away from Thomas. So, as soon as the phone line went dead, he called his friend Lionel.
Lionel answered on the third ring. “Hello, George. How are you?”
“Not so good. Remember the creep Anne married, that you said was not a good guy?” George hoped that Lionel would be able to help.
“Thomas, yeah.” Lionel’s voice became serious. “Is he back?” George had told Lionel about what Thomas had done to Andrew right after he had heard what had happened.
“He’s more than back. He wants to kill Andrew.” It pained George to say those words. “Thomas just called and said we can’t stop him. I know we can. But, I don’t want to stay here like sitting ducks.”
“Well, you always know, my home is large and secure, and it’s away from Austin.” When Lionel said this, George breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank you, God!
“I don’t want to inconvenience you.” George said.
“Inconvenience me? You’d be doing me a favor! This place is far too lonely.” Lionel’s wife, Clara, had died of cancer ten years before. Lionel said that he could never remarry. He wouldn’t feel good about it. “It would be like stabbing her, and I just couldn’t do that,” he said when George had once asked him about it.
“Okay, how soon can we come?”
“Come as soon as it is possible. I will be waiting. I will also have my arsenal for your disposal, just in case Thomas gets any funny ideas. I wouldn’t put it past him.” George didn’t suspect Thomas to turn up in Atlanta. If he did, surely he wouldn’t make it to where Lionel lived.
“Thank you.”
“No problem. See you in a couple days?”
“Yes,” George said, “Talk to you later.”
“Bye.” The line went dead. George walked to the living room.
“Everyone pack. We are leaving.”
Andrew perked up. “Where are we going?”
“Who was on the phone?” Grandma Helen asked.
Grandpa George’s expression darkened. “It was Thomas.” Andrew’s heart missed a beat.
“What… what did he say?” Anne asked, clearly not really wanting to know.
“He said that we can’t stop him. He said, ‘I am a demon, come to collect the sins of another.’”
“He’s insane!” Anne said nervously.
“That is why he is dangerous.” Grandpa George said. “As for where we are going,” he looked at Andrew. “We are going to Atlanta.”
Andrew said, “No joke? We are going to Atlanta?” Andrew had always wanted to visit Atlanta. Of course, he would rather visit under better instances. But, he was still going to Atlanta!
“No joking. I don’t believe you will see much, though.” Grandpa George said. “As soon as we get there, we are going into a sort of lockdown until we know for sure we are safe.”
“Aww… Okay…” Andrew’s excitement slowly dissipated. “But do we get to go through Hartsfield-Jackson Airport?”
“Yes. My friend Lionel, who we will be staying with, lives near Druid Hills. Which is near Atlanta. So, you may see some of the city. But, we will not be doing any sightseeing.”
“At least I get to see it!” Before I am murdered. Andrew had tried not to think that but it didn’t work out so well.
While Thomas was sightseeing he decided that he would tap into the Crey phone line and have a little listen. Before he had commenced his mission he had someone set up a line for him to tap. He had covered all routes. He did not want any thing messed up.
What he found was exciting. The Crey’s were going to Atlanta. Well then, I guess I’m going, too! The Crey’s were extremely stupid. They thought leaving could stop him. It would only make his game more exciting!
Knowing this detail would make things easier. He could spend less time worrying about where they were and more time on the details of Andrew’s death. He still hadn’t thought of something that would give Andrew the most suffering. Thomas had come up with a few, but had quickly discarded them. He wanted something amazing, something terribly amazing!
Thomas laughed. He would figure something out.
He turned his car around and went back to the Crey home to watch. He was surprised that they hadn’t noticed the car yet. Shows how unobservant they are.
#
Andrew fell asleep feeling nervous. Things had gotten bad enough, that leaving was the only option. The thought scared him, and he didn’t like feeling this way. Usually, in movies, when a character leaves their home to go somewhere else to ‘save’ themselves it means that the villain is close.
It also means hope is running out.
Andrew was afraid that hopelessness would give Thomas the upper hand. He didn’t want that to happen. In no way could Thomas gain the upper hand.
Andrew’s thoughts were too active to let him sleep well. So he found himself lying wide awake staring at the ceiling. He made images with the creases on the ceiling. This, though, didn’t ease his mind. He was on edge and jumped at any creaking.
Thomas couldn’t get into the house. Andrew had to remind himself of this every few minutes. The house was armed with an alarm that, when breached, let out a long resounding screech loud enough to make anyone a block radius.
This did bring some comfort, though only a small amount.
Andrew lay awake half the night before falling into a troubled sleep.
Thomas stood outside Andrew’s window, knife gleaming in the moonlight. He had decided that he needed to personally scare the wits out of Andrew. He wasn’t getting scared from idle threats. He needed to step up his game.
And step it up he did.
Thomas used the tool that he had bought a year ago to slice a hole into the window. It was silent, until he pulled the circular piece of glass out. In which case, it made a small, nearly silent pop. He cringed, hoping Andrew would not wake. That would ruin this piece of horror.
Thomas pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket. He made sure to wear gloves, so that no one could track him. Though, what did he care? He would soon be leaving. No one would find him. He grinned maliciously.
He dropped the piece of paper through the little hole in the window. It was large enough to be seen. But small enough to be discreet.
Thomas slipped the piece of glass back into place and strode away from the building, back to his vehicle. He grinned at the thought of Andrew’s face in the morning when he discovered the slip of paper. Oh, how clever am I? Thomas thought. Far too clever. He winked at his image in the rearview mirror.
He turned on the car. He pressed the power button, and the radio came to life. Currently playing, Claire De Lune. Thomas found music such as this calming to the heart and mind. The elongated, strung out notes created an almost soothing environment. A great way to decompress after a long day of murderous thoughts.
The sun was just edging over the hills when Thomas awoke. He hadn’t realized that he had fallen asleep. He mentally kicked himself. He should have stayed awake. What if they have left? Thomas thought angrily. Idiot!
Thomas turned to see the house. Thankfully, the Crey’s were still in their home. Thomas wondered if Andrew had seen the note. He hoped he had.
Andrew had seen the note as soon as he had lifted his eyelids. The paper was hard to miss, just sitting on the floor. The room was extremely clean, and the piece of paper aggravated Andrew’s OCD. He hadn’t remembered putting a piece of paper on the floor. The thought annoyed the heck out of him.
Andrew had immediately slid from bed and picked up the paper. What he found nearly incapacitated him with fear.
I am the creature that lurks in the darkness,
I stalk every movement you make,
I am the pestilence,
Come to destroy you.
I am the reaper,
Come to collect the soul,
Of a vile creature.
You cannot escape me,
For I follow within your shadow.
Try to escape,
And you shall be no more.
Something about those words ignited a fire of fear in Andrew’s mind. Words had a very strong influence in Andrew. These words filled a bank in his mind with blind panic. How such words could ignite fear? Andrew didn’t know. They were just words, right?
Andrew believed that his fear was coming from the thought that Thomas had handled this paper with his hands. He had written out these words. He had personally thought of each terrible thing that would hit the page from his dastardly mind. This is what sent his mind into fear overload.
Andrew didn’t bother to shower. There was no point. Showering wouldn’t save him in the long run. Andrew pulled on a pair of jeans and put on a blue t-shirt. He went into the living room to find Grandpa George on his laptop buying four tickets to Atlanta, Georgia. That thought still excited him, even though Andrew believed that leaving the state would save him.
Andrew walked behind Grandpa George and dropped the slip of paper onto his typing fingers. He lifted the page and read quickly. His eyes widened. “Where did this come from?” Grandpa George asked, his voice strung out.
“I don’t know. It was in my room when I woke up,” Andrew said. He wasn’t afraid to admit, “I am scared.”
“I know. We are going to get out of here. We will make sure that Thomas doesn’t hurt you. He will have to murder me before I let him near you.” Grandpa George said. His voice was reassuring, but Andrew sure didn’t feel any better.
“In movies when someone is being hunted,” that is what Andrew had started calling his predicament, “and they leave their house, whether it be to a different state, or a different country, it is because they feel they have no hope, and they believe that they can save themselves by leaving. But, they always end up dead.” As Andrew talked his voice became higher pitched. He had tried to keep his voice level, but he couldn’t do it.
“Did we run out of hope? Is that why we are leaving? I don’t want to feel helpless. But I can’t help it. Thomas is going to kill me. It’s inevitable. We can’t escape him. I just know that he’ll follow us to Atlanta.” Andrew’s voice continued to get higher. Tears began to stream down his face. He couldn’t stop them, and he didn’t want to. He was tired of stopping his emotions.
“I don’t want to lose you. I see this as a way to save you.” Andrew could tell Grandpa George was hurting, even if he was trying hard to mask it. “We haven’t lost hope. We are far from hopelessness. I promise. This is not an effort to regain hope. This is an effort to stop Thomas.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” Andrew’s voice was weak. “What if this is just a fatal attempt. What if this makes Thomas even angrier and he decides to kill more than just me?” Andrew had more what ifs but he thought he shouldn’t keep spewing them out.
“It will work. You just have to have faith. This won’t be a fatal attempt. I promise.” Grandpa George said. Andrew fell to the floor and covered his eyes with his hands.
“I can’t believe it, though. Something feels wrong. I know something is going to happen. I can feel it in here.” Andrew pointed at his heart. “I wish I had never been born. None of this would have happened if I had not been born.”
“Yes, none of this would have happened. But, that doesn’t mean everything would be alright. Something else would have happened. It could be worse than it is now. Besides, we all love you so much and will do everything to save you.”
“Why do you love me so much?” Andrew asked. “All I am is trouble. You should just let me die.” Andrew began to sob.
“Now, why on earth would we do that?” Grandpa George said. “We all love you so much, because you are God’s gift to us. God made you special for us. All of this is a test to prove our love for you, Andrew. We love you, because you are our family. You may not believe it. But, God made you and loves you too. We love you, because God loves you.”
“Enough of these God talks!” Andrew whispered sharply. “I know that you believe that God loves me. But, I hate him! He did this to me,” he pointed at his face. “He could have stopped this. But no! I am here with this. I don’t think he loves me. I think that God thinks it’s funny to torture me!” Andrew began to sob harder. “I don’t get why you all think that I will start loving someone who hurts me!” He knew he shouldn’t be yelling. He knew that he shouldn’t be so mad. His fear was ravaging his mind, and he couldn’t stop his anger.
“I’m sorry,” Grandpa George said quietly. “I know that you don’t see it. But, God does love you.”
Andrew stood up and ran to his room. He slammed the door and fell to his stomach and sobbed even harder.
Andrew had begun to believe that God was real. He hated him, though. He despised God with anger so strong it caused Andrew to feel sick. He didn’t think of God as some fortress. Instead, Andrew thought of God as an attacker on a fortress. Someone who enjoyed seeing pain and suffering in the world.
Andrew lay on his stomach for a long time, sobbing hard. His fear kept creeping back into his mind, and his anger kept beating at it. It was a mental war that refused to stop. No matter how many tears he shed, his heart and mind continued to wage war.