Page 7 of The Reaper
Tyler held the phone up to show he’d got it, and Will asked, “What about the injuries? We need to put in a few phone calls to get that dealt with. We might be stringing him up to make it look like suicide, but no copper in their right mind is going to believe it when they see what we’ve done to him.”
“I’ve already thought of that,” I told him. “I’m going to ring my contact on the force now. Let him know what he’s got to deal with. When the Brinton police see the videos on the phone, they won’t have a problem overlooking it. Evil is evil and we’ve taken care of it for them. Less paperwork for them to deal with makes it a win all round. They really won’t care about proper policing once they know what he is.”
What we did could be deemed sadistic to the outside world, but sometimes, the outside world was actually grimmer and more fucked-up than anything we doled out. Tonight, we’d rid the streets of Brinton of this guy’s terror. Women were safer because of what we’d done.
“What’s his name?” Colton asked, peering down at what was left of his face. “Is it Hugo? He looks like a Hugo. Or a Monty.”
Tyler fished the guy’s wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open. “Dale,” he said, shrugging.
Colton winced and curled his upper lip in disgust. “That figures. He looks like a cunt, and he’s got a cunt’s name to go with it.”
I couldn’t give a fuck what he was called. His name meant nothing to me. The fact he’d soon be wiped out like the stain that he was on this world was all that mattered. I wanted to get this done and dusted.
* * *
We drove past the main car park for Granges Park and carried on, taking the van through the back alleys where it was more secluded. There was no CCTV in this part of the park, and no buildings overlooking it. When we eventually pulled up by the tree I had in mind for the last stage of Dale’s final reckoning, we heard him start to groan and kick out in the back of the van. This fucker really was holding on until the bitter end, but I had to hand it to him, he had perfect timing.
I pulled up at a clearing and shut off the engine. As I jumped out of the van, I shivered from the icy cold wind that was whipping through the trees, making the branches bend and the leaves rustle to create an eerie soundtrack to the events that were about to unfold. There was a full moon tonight, and the shadows it cast through the trees created a hellish effect. Almost like shadowy, bony fingers from hell were creeping and dancing across the grass, desperate to get their next victim. To wrap their claws around his ankles and wrists and drag him down into the depths of despair to devour him in their flames.
I smiled at the sweet irony and pulled my jacket tighter around me. Full moons always brought out the best in all of us. Dale had chosen a good day to die. Not that he had a choice in the matter.
My footsteps crunched as I strode along the pebbled path, walking to the rear of the van. Will, Tyler, and Colton were waiting, and together, we opened the doors to get to our target. Dale had left a filthy mess of blood and shit all over the walls and floor. Colton reached forward to grab him by his ankles and yank him out of the van. Dale didn’t put up much of a fight, and his head smacked off the bottom of the van as Colton managed to drag him out onto the path.
“I suggest you let us do our job,” Colton said as he leered over him. “We’ve had about as much as we can take for one night from you, and I’m freezing my bollocks off. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. Understand?”
Dale didn’t respond; he just lay on the ground, limp and lifeless. If he had dared to speak, in the mood I was in, I’d have probably cut his tongue out.
Will grabbed Dale’s other ankle, and the two of them began marching across the grass, dragging him towards the large oak tree in front of us. Tyler picked up the rope and gaffer tape, and I followed them all, tapping on my phone to set up the video. I knew Adam would want to see what we’d done when we got back. I propped my phone up against a rock on the ground, facing the main event, then I walked over to help Tyler secure the noose and thread the rope through the higher branches. Will and Colton took turns taunting Dale; their feet pressed hard on his chest to keep him on the cold, wet ground. Once we were ready, Colton pulled Dale’s arm to force him into a sitting position. As he slumped his head forward, Will and Colton grabbed under his arms and lifted him to stand.
“He’s like a fucking dead weight,” Will complained.
“He fucking will be a dead weight in a few minutes,” I replied.
Tyler put the noose over his head and pulled on the rope to secure it tighter around his neck. Then he took Dale’s phone out, wiped it clean of any fingerprints, and slid it into Dale’s jacket pocket. That last drop of fear must’ve entered Dale’s system because he started to fight back, thrashing against Will and Colton’s strong hold and grabbing for the rope in a feeble attempt to free himself. But it was no use. His fate was already sealed. The police had been tipped off, and when Tyler and I pulled on the rope to lift him into the air, his will to fight soon ebbed away.
Once it was clear he couldn’t escape, Will and Colton let go of him and joined us in our efforts to pull the rope faster and make him swing from the branches. When his feet lifted from the floor and he started to twitch and convulse, Tyler let go of the rope and stood in front of him, watching as his face turned a deathly shade of blue. When he knew the time was right, he nodded at us, and we took the rope and tied it to the trunk, stepping back once it was secure so we too could see for ourselves that he was dead.
I stared into his pale, bloated face, his eyes bulging out of his head, and I didn’t feel a thing other than pride. I’d learnt from my mistakes, and I was glad the girls would get some form of comfort, knowing he was dead. All those years ago, when I killed my stepfather, I hadn’t left the body for anyone to find. And still, to this day, my mother was convinced that he would come back to her. I’d fucked up. I should’ve left his rotting corpse somewhere for them to see. That way, she’d have moved on. It would certainly have made my life a lot easier. As I said, I’d learned from my mistakes.
“Well, that’s a wrap.” Colton sighed. “Didn’t see our night going quite like that, but I can’t say it hasn’t had its highlights.”
“I’m fucking filthy,” Will moaned. “I need a shower.”
“We all need a shower,” I stated, looking down at my own blood-stained clothes. “Ty, ring Gaz and get him to do a clean-up on the chapel. We’ll stop by the warehouse on the way back to shower and change there.” We always kept spare clothes at the warehouse for this exact reason. Death wasn’t exactly a clean pastime. “I reckon Adam and Liv will be home once we get back, and I doubt Adam will want Liv seeing us like this,” I added, gesturing to the splatters on my body.
“Good call,” Tyler said, and pulled his phone out to sort the necessary arrangements.
I picked my phone up from the floor and stopped the recording.
Just another chapter in the life of a soldier of our manor. Brinton’s reaper was forever on-call.
ChapterThree
DEVON
Once we got back to The Sanctuary, I checked in with Gaz to make sure the clean-up was all taken care of, and then I headed upstairs to join the others. Adam had sent a message to say he was here, and he’d sent Faye home. Apparently, Liv was watching the girl, which left Adam, no doubt, pacing a hole into the floor, waiting for the low-down from us.
When I walked into our living room a moment later, I was proven right. Adam’s arms were folded over his chest, and his face was twisted into a scowl as he marched up and down like the queen’s guard. The other three were sitting forward on the sofa, still buzzing from the adrenaline rushing through their veins, but no one spoke. I guessed they were waiting for me before they started.
