The Puppet Master Read online

  She refused to look and instead closed her eyes tight. She’d been through worse, and she chanted that mantra in her head. But at the feel of the knife on her skin she couldn’t hold back the whimper of fear and pain. She felt the blade slicing through her skin. She realised that he was drawing on her with it, it wasn’t straight cuts, and it wouldn’t stop. Her stomach was on fire with pain.

  “There, I’ve got my name on you now, you’ll always be mine.” He must have seen her eyes were closed as she felt him grab a fist full of hair and then held her head up by it, then smashed it back down on the floor. “Open your eyes,” he growled. She did, desperate to avoid any more pain. She thought she had felt the worst of his wrath in the past but this was a new level.

  “If you want the pain to stop, I need to know where you put that camera I gave you.”

  Through the fog of pain she tried to remember what he was talking about. What camera? Oh wait, that camera. He had left a camera with pictures of her family and her room, and even ones of her asleep, back when she still lived in Windermere, and he was trying to convince her to drop the case.

  A few fields away from her house there was a field that had a strange rock formation. There were four large black rocks that were so close and arranged so that they caught rainwater in the middle. Each of the rock’s surfaces were slanted towards the almost pond size water that collected at the bottom. It was one of her favourite places to go, she didn’t think anyone knew about it as there were no paths to it and she had never seen anyone there. She had taken that camera there and thrown it into the water. She’d sat on one of the slanted rocks, staring into the water, wondering if there was enough water for her to drown.

  This memory played in her head and it quieted the pain that was circulating through her body. She didn’t know what to do; she realised now that the camera would have been evidence. Why the hell did she throw it away? She hadn’t thought about that camera from that day. It was part of her coping mechanism. But now she was faced with the gravity of her actions. She was so stupid. That was probably what had kept Eric away, the fact he thought she had the camera and could use it against him. One of the scariest photos flashed into her mind’s eye, she was asleep in her bed and Eric’s face was right next to hers, barely a millimetre from her face. The malice in his smile had stayed with her for days after she’d seen that photo. Should she tell him she threw it away? Oh God! What was the right thing to do? Her mind was firing scenarios in her head, trying to figure out how she could get out of this alive. One thought shocked her, before Adam, she would probably have been happy to die.

  Adam

  Adam came around to agony coursing through his veins. Flashbacks of what happened had him pulling up his top fearing the worst. He’d never seen a knife wound before. It had stopped bleeding so he took that as a good sign.

  He tentatively got up and was able to take a couple of steps without passing out again. As he straightened up, a voice in his brain yelled. Billie! She must have run away. Or been taken by his uncle. God, his uncle.

  His head hurt more than his side when he thought of the monster his uncle really was. If he weren’t so scared for Billie’s safety, he would have happily laid back down and considered what impact this was going to have on his life. What would he do without his uncle’s guiding influence? He winced as he realised it was pure manipulation. He had to help Billie. His skin began to boil at the thought of what his uncle might do to her. She didn’t deserve this. He needed to protect her.

  He looked around the shop. He couldn’t believe that the owner had just upped and left for money; not even considering the damage it could do. He tried to run, but he felt blood seeping down his side again. He staggered quickly, grateful that Billie lived so close to the shop. He felt faint and dizzy but his desire to protect Billie kept him going. With his uncle’s betrayal threatening to tear him apart inside, she was all he had left. Even if she chose to never see him again, he had to make sure she got to make that choice somewhere safe, free from danger.

  He pushed through the door to the building and made his way up the grey concrete steps, glad that Billie was on the first floor. He expected to find her green door closed and stopped still when it was wide open. He could hear voices from the door and was tempted to rush straight in. The logical part of his brain stopped him. His uncle had already proved that he was happy to resort to violence, and he could end up putting Billie in more danger instead of helping. He needed to be clever. He was already struggling, his breathing was laboured, and he felt like any minute he was going to lose his balance. He silently edged towards the door, thanking God for concrete, soundless flooring. He heard his uncle’s voice.

  “I’ve got all night, my dear. Give me the camera.”

  He peered around; his heart nearly failed when he saw that his uncle was kneeling, leaning over Billie with a knife poised over her stomach. He could see blood trickling from maybe ten or eleven marks on her skin. Even from his distance he could see that she was shaking. Her face was gaunt, and the fear in her eyes was clear. Suddenly, her bright green eyes locked with his and his uncle turned to see what she was looking at. Damn. He didn’t have time to be smart. He had to act. He launched into the room and hurled himself at his uncle. Not giving him the chance to stand up. He managed to get his uncle flat on his back. Adam held him down. No longer sure what his uncle was capable of, he used every ounce of the strength he had left to keep him on the floor. He turned to Billie.

  “You need to get out of here. Go!”

  Billie

  Billie stared at Adam. Her brain had stopped working, and she couldn’t process what he was saying. One minute Eric had been leaning over her, promising to cause her no end of pain if she didn’t give him what he wanted, the next minute Adam was there; once again wrestling his uncle to the ground. Was this part of the ploy? Use her feelings for Adam to make her give them the camera? Did they think she would be so grateful to Adam that she would lead them to the camera? She looked closer at Adam and saw that there was sweat dripping off his forehead, his eyes were creased, and his mouth was grimacing in pain. It was costing him to keep Eric held down. She could see drops of blood starting to create a puddle on the floor. Could they really be pretending?

  She didn’t know what to think. Her heart didn’t want to believe that this man she thought she knew was as evil as Eric. But she knew what Eric was capable of. Waves of pain throbbed through her head, her confusion causing her mind to protest. What the hell was going on? She was so scared that Adam was working with Eric. She didn’t know what to think.

  Should she run like Adam said? A part of her wanted to run away and just keep running for the rest of her life. She was so scared of Eric. Even with him pinned down under Adam she couldn’t stop shaking in fear of him. This man had tormented her for so long. She knew the cruelty and the depths of his depravity.

  Adam

  Tears were pouring down Billie’s face, and he sensed that she was close to breaking down completely. Kicking himself for not doing it earlier he knew that they needed to call the police. What did he think he was, some sort of superhero? This was real life, not a movie. He wasn’t qualified to keep Billie safe. They needed help. He refocused on Billie. Trying to keep the worry out of his voice he spoke to Billie in a reassuring tone.

  “Billie, I need you to get my phone. It’s in my back pocket. Get my phone, sweetie. You can do it.” When he first started to ask her, she wouldn’t move, it was like fear held her prisoner on the floor. But his voice must have wormed its way past her fear as he saw her shoulders drop and she slowly moved towards him. As she got closer to his uncle, Adam was truly able to appreciate just how terrified Billie was of Eric. It was like he had asked her to enter the cage of a man-eating animal that would surely kill her.

  She kept her eyes on his uncle, needing to know where he was at all times. As she reached into the back pocket of Adam’s jeans, his uncle began to thrash wildly. Billie shrank back in fear. Adam continued to resist his uncle�
�s attempts to escape with as much force as he could muster. Seeing Billie’s reaction to his uncle made it easier, as fierce anger rushed around his body, strengthening his muscles so they could hold his uncle down. He seemed to realise that he wasn’t getting away as the struggling lessened.

  Adam saw beads of sweat on his uncle’s wrinkled brow and was reminded of how old he was. How could this old man be capable of such malice? Turning away from his thoughts and his uncle, he looked over at Billie. She was curled up in the foetal position, hands covering her head to protect herself from an attack. He only had his voice to soothe her with. He longed to go to her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her tightly until she realised that he would never ever let anyone hurt her.

  “Billie, it’s okay. I’ve got him. He’s not going anywhere.”

  No response. He tried again. “Billie, look at me!”

  He used his most authoritative voice, and it worked. She looked up straight away. Adam dared not let himself think why she responded that way. He bet it was his uncle’s doing.

  “I’ve got him. He is not getting away. But I can’t hold him forever. You need to call the police.” At the word police, Billie began to moan and shake her head.

  “They’ll let him out again. He’ll just come back. Please don’t make me call them. They will just let him go.”

  “Billie! Calm down! I promise you if you call the police they will not let him go. I promise.”

  “Why should I trust you? You’ve lied to me this whole time. He is your uncle.”

  “Billie, if I wanted to hurt you I wouldn’t be holding him down. I wouldn’t have got hurt trying to protect you.”

  “It could be an act. He likes to play games. You both could be trying to trick me, to give him the evidence he thinks I have.”

  This was exactly what Adam was afraid of. He knew how it would look to her. He didn’t know what words he could say that would make her realise that he had no idea what a monster his uncle was. But he had to try.

  “Listen to me, Billie. Yes, he is my uncle. But I had no idea what he was. I only found out today when I saw the proof. Everything I’ve ever told you about him was the truth. I had no idea what he was capable of. As far as I was concerned, he has been the only person in my life I could rely on. He told me you were a liar, and I believed him. I didn’t know who he really was, and I am wracked with guilt that he did all those things to you.”

  Adam felt a tear trickle down his face. His guilt was ready to consume him. He needed to hold it at bay long enough to get Billie out of there.

  “I didn’t know what he was really like, I swear it. When I met you, I wanted to get the truth from you. To clear my uncle’s name. But instead, I ended up falling in love with you. I am in love with you. I need you to believe that. My uncle had me under his spell, but my feelings for you broke it. The more my feelings grew for you, the more I began to see the cracks in my uncle’s story. Today, I went to confront him, but instead, I found the evidence of what he had done. About what he did to you. I feel sick. I can’t believe I loved a man that could do that.” As he spoke, he searched her face, her eyes, desperate for a clue as to how she was feeling. Her eyes were glued to his, tears poured down her face. He couldn’t tell if she accepted he was telling the truth all he saw was confusion and fear.

  No matter what happened or what anyone else thought, he loved this woman. She was kind, funny and incredibly brave. And more than anything he wanted her to be his. “I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You may think that I was playing a game, something my uncle orchestrated. But I assure you, right here, right now, I am no longer his puppet. I may have fallen for his lies, but I know what he is now. He does not control me. And I will do whatever it takes to get you out of here. I will protect you from him for the rest of my life. If you don’t believe me, come and look at my side. Touch it; you’ll see that I’m not faking it. My uncle stabbed me trying to get to you. I swear to you, Billie, I am the man you’ve got to know. I may not have had genuine motives for getting close to you, but I promise, I would never hurt you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Billie

  Adam’s words fell on her ears and she tried to fight her heart. Her heart was focused on the tears that slid down his face. Her heart looked at his expressive pale green eyes and saw the desperate need he had for her to believe him. Her brain was berating her heart. If she hadn’t let her guard down with Adam, then she would not be in this position now. She would be safe. Despite everything, her heart ached to believe him. Against all logic and fact, she couldn’t believe that Adam was capable of such deception. Not the man she knew. But her brain was willing to fight dirty. It whispered that even if she could believe him, could she really love and be with the blood relation of the man who had abused her for most of her life? Could she trust him ever again? She ignored the thought and forced herself to focus on the present. She needed to get away from Eric, and Adam was offering her the simplest way. With trembling fingers she dialled 999.

  While they waited for the police and ambulance, Billie couldn’t help herself but go to Adam. Once again, as she got close to him, Eric thrashed and bucked, trying to get to her. This time, she only flinched, she didn’t retreat. Adam had held him down for this long. She could see that Adam was following her with his eyes. She could see the pleading in them from the corner of her eyes. She lifted his coat out of the way, some of the blood on it going on her fingers. As she lifted up his top, prying it away, she saw Adam inhale and let out a hiss of agony. There was a wound where the knife had stabbed him. There was nothing fake about that. She looked around in a panic. From the little she knew about injuries like that, she knew she needed to get something pressed on it, to stop the bleeding. She thought it was a good sign that it wasn’t bleeding too heavily. But it was still a deep and large wound.

  Adam

  Billie was looking at his knife wound, touching him. He had to stare at his uncle to remind himself why he couldn’t gather her in his arms. She touched his wound and his body flinched away from her touch, he hissed in pain. That distraction was all his uncle needed as the next minute Adam was thrown off his uncle.

  Adam landed hard against the wall, the breath knocked out of him. His uncle lunged for Billie and grabbed her hair and her arms; twisting one of them behind her back he began to drag her out of the room. Without thinking Adam scrambled to his feet and wrapped his arm around his uncle’s neck. He was trying to bring him to the floor and pull him off Billie. His choke-hold was working as his uncle let go of Billie in order to pry Adam’s hands off his throat. He elbowed Adam in the side where the knife had got him. Adam went down hard, the pain causing his vision to flicker with blackness. His uncle must have been fed up with Adam’s interfering as instead of returning to Billie, he kicked Adam hard in the back.

  He was on the verge of unconsciousness; all he could do was try to defend his body with his arms. Suddenly a loud gurgle came from above him, followed by a thud of something large falling to the floor. Adam wasn’t sure he had the strength to open his eyes. He was just relieved the kicking had stopped. He felt cold, gentle hands stroking his face but the blackness was enveloping him and he couldn’t move or speak.

  Billie

  I killed him.

  Chapter Forty

  Billie

  When Billie was told that Eric was not dead, she had to hide her disappointment and fear. She had answered all of the questions the police asked but couldn’t shake her sense of hopelessness. She had been down this road before. She knew how it would go. Eric would come up with another way of avoiding the law. He’d twist it so she was the one being arrested and sent to prison. Unable to fight any more, she was honest and told the police everything, but there was no conviction in her voice. She just wanted to go home and carry on with her life. She knew she needed to move away quickly because when Eric got out, he was bound to come and look for her again.

  Before she left, they told her that Adam had backed up her story an
d that he had provided them with evidence of what had happened to Billie in the past. Eric had kept a hidden room with photographs, surveillance equipment, and diaries spanning back to when she had met Eric for the first time. It was also revealed that she was not the first girl he had abused or the last. They found pictures of other girls and evidence for what he had done to them. The police had assured her that this time Eric would be going to court, and with the full weight of bullet-proof evidence to ensure a conviction. She was told that they were already tracking down the other girls. He would not get away with it this time.

  She tried to feel the happiness that she was sure she should be feeling. But she wanted to tell the policeman, who seemed so pleased with himself, that until Eric was officially locked away, she would not believe it. She couldn’t afford to get her hopes up that he would no longer be able to hurt her. She had discovered what it felt like to have your feelings of safety shattered. In fact, it had only been six hours since that very thing happened. It had been six hours since she learnt that Adam was his nephew. Six hours since she found out Eric had still been pulling the strings of her life in the background. Six hours since the police had pried her blood covered hands off Adam’s face. Twenty-four hours ago, she was so happy. She was in love and picturing a future with Adam, now she was in a police station, reliving the horror of seeing Eric.

  It was the early hours of the next day when she had been driven back to her flat. She had stood in the flat, listening to the promises of the young police officers. She surveyed the room. What once was her sanctuary was now a scene of terror. No one had cleared up the blood, hers, Adam’s and Eric’s blood. It was pretty much exactly how she’d left it. Just without Eric and Adam. The gravity of what could have happened to her really sank in, and she lost her ability to stand. She dropped to the floor where she stood.