Page 6 of Beyond the Darkness
“Must be,” he commented without enthusiasm.One glance at the letter on top and a cloud of resignation came over him.He recognised the printed label and had no doubts about what was inside.“I don’t suppose Rav and Andie are here yet?”
Jax shook her head and checked her watch.“Should they be?”
“Yep.Tell them I’m in the rehearsal room and want to see them right away.”
He got himself a drink and sat at the table, before opening the first letter.It was another photo like before, a different still of him in his underwear fromRed Hills Massacre.Another image from his unused, ultra-gory death scene.He wondered how the hell this stuff had even made it into the public domain.The scenes had been cut from the film due to their graphic content, but they were all over the internet.These days the deleted footage was even on YouTube.If the studio hadn’t wanted it released, how come it was so freely available?
And why was it such a magnet for weirdos?WhenRed Hills Massacrefans wrote to him or arrived at stage doors with their memorabilia to be signed, they were all more interested in the deleted footage than what was actually in the movie.Hudson couldn’t claim to have a preference for either version.The re-shot murder scene was just as disturbing, possibly even worse, as it left more to the viewers’ imagination.
And what an imagination some of them had.
The latest message readHudson Rhodes Massacre.
“How bloody original,” he muttered, stuffing it all back into the envelope.
He decided not to open any of the other letters.If there was information to be gained about who was sending these, he would only contaminate the evidence.
Hudson already had a suspicion.
Rav and Andie arrived a little before nine.
“Morning, handsome.”Andie bustled in like nothing was wrong.She had her huge handbag slung over one shoulder and a massive takeaway coffee in the other hand.Behind her, Rav gave a forced smile and avoided Hudson’s eye contact.
Hudson got up and crossed straight to Rav.He shoved the pile of mail at him.“There’s more for your security experts to go through.I don’t suppose you have any update on yesterday’s love letters?”
Rav glanced to Andie for support, before saying, “These things take time.”He glanced at the stack.“There’s more than ever.”
“No shit.And they’re just as twisted.”He took a deep breath.Flying off the handle was not going to get him anywhere.“Tell your team to look into a guy called Robbie Wiseman.”
“Robbie Wiseman, yes.Okay.Who is he?”
“He’s sent me stuff similar to this in the past.Most of it was on social media and emails, but there were a handful of letters too.He was obsessed with that same movie.Claimed he wanted to re-enact my death scene with me.”
“For real?”Andie said, ditching the bag and joining them.“Where is he now?”
“I’ve no idea.I did a play in the UK a few years ago and he used to troll me a lot.He’d follow me round the country, get front row seats wherever he could.He’d shout crude remarks during the performance and one night he even followed me to where I was staying.”
Rav’s eyes widened.“Could he do the same here?”
“We need to check who has bought tickets and see if his name shows up,” Andie said.
“I doubt he’ll be stupid enough to book in his own name,” Hudson said.“We got a stalking order last time.He wasn’t allowed anywhere near me, or any of the venues where the show was playing.But I don’t know if that will still be in place.It might only have been for the length of that particular play.I never heard from him again afterward.”
“If we can prove he sent these”—Rav waved the pile of letters—“we can get something similar.”
“It’s a start,” Hudson said with a sigh.
“You should have mentioned this sooner.We could have done something about it by now.”Andie pushed her glasses onto the top of her head.
Hudson remained cool.“Says the woman who hid the fact I’d been receiving this shit for a whole week.”
“Yes, yes.Well, we all know now.We can get something done about it.We don’t want some nutcase fan of yours turning up on press night and ruining everything.”
“Your compassion is overwhelming,” he deadpanned.
Andie gave a sarcastic smile and headed back to her handbag.
“That’s not everything,” Hudson raised his voice.“There’s something else you neglected to mention.Like letting reporters sit in on the rehearsals.”
