Friday Night Frights 8

Chapter 8

   Billie vomited as he turned the corner from Roots Opticians. The eyeballs bored into his mind, invading his senses. Who is Heather? And why does she have a pair of eyeballs in her handbag? He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. The walk to the NCP car park was slow and nauseous. His body slid smoothly into a brown Ford Cortina he inherited from his father. The smell of the leather and pine air freshener settled his stomach. He drove around the Roots Opticians building and spotted the front entrance and the back one.

   
   His stomach gurgled. The thought of food made him feel worse, but if he was going to tail her, he had to eat. He parked on a single yellow line and ran across the street. He entered the Roots building through the back entrance. Scanning the row of sandwiches, he picked a cheese and pickle one, an all-day breakfast one, a bottle of water and a mango smoothie. As he turned to pay for them, he was surprised to see Heather paying for a stick of gum. She turned towards him and smiled.

   
   “DI Turner, I thought you’d left.”

  
    “Yeah, I did. I thought I’d get some food before going home.” He noticed her coat and handbag. “Are you done for the day?”

   
   “Yes, I am. Early shift today.”

   
    He nodded nervously.

   
   “Would you like to join me for a drink?”

  
    “Sure. Just the one though.”

   
    They walked out together into the cloudy day. Billie pointed towards his car.

   
   “My car’s right there. I’ll give you a lift to the pub.”

   
   “There’s no need. Mine’s in the NCP car park.”

   
   “Then let me walk you to it.”

   
   “What a gentleman.”

   
   He laughed to himself. No one’s ever called him that.

   
   “No, Heather, just old school manners.”

   
   “Ah, my car’s just there.”

  
    She unlocked a dark blue BMW with a beep. Billie noted the license plate numbers. His memory was as sharp as it was when he was a young twenty five year old sergeant.

  
    “I’ll meet you at William the Fourth.”

   
   “OK, see you soon.”

   
   Ten minutes later, they were both seated with a pint in Billie’s usual spot. He drained his first pint and signalled to the bar tender for another. Heather took a sip and put it aside.

   
   “Something wrong with your drink?”

   
   “No, it’s not my favourite.”

   
   “What would you like instead?”

   
   She got up and removed her purse from her handbag.

   
   “Don’t get up, I’ll be back.”

  
    He watched her as she walked towards the bar. Something inside him stirred again. He noticed how the pale blue V-neck jumper showed a hint of a cleavage. How the navy pencil skirt cinched in her waist. He swallowed back his need for her. A second beer appeared before him. He drank it slowly imagining himself inside her. She came back with a glass of white wine.

   
   “So, Heather, are you single?”

   
   She laughed out loud. Touching his hand she smiled that smile.

   
   “Detective …”

   
   “Billie, you can call me Billie.”

   
   “Billie, yes I am.”

   
   “It’s hard to imagine.”

   
   “Why is that?”

  
    “A beautiful woman like you? I would never have imagined it.”

  
    “You can imagine it more if you let me cook you dinner.”

   
   Billie’s eyes brightened. Dinner with an irresistible hunter. An unmissable opportunity to look into her nest and see what he can fine.

  
    “What would you like to eat?”

   
   “Surprise me.”

  
    Heather looked at his well-groomed greying brown hair, his full lips and steel blue eyes.

   
   “I can’t wait.”



  

Friday Night Frights 4

Chapter 4

   “Would you like a cup of tea?”

   
   “I’d love one, thanks.”

   
   Heather poured hot water in a couple of plain white mugs. She felt nothing while she watched him pull the wet hoodie over his head. His shirt lifted, and she spotted an attractive flat stomach. When was the last time she had sex? She couldn’t even remember. Her views of sex were animalistic and even gross. It’s not something she even enjoyed or sought after, but it didn’t stop her from exploring her own sexuality, by herself. She unzipped her own hoodie and dropped on the floor.

   
   Tom pulled her close to him. They kissed briefly before they headed towards the bedroom. He stopped at the threshold.

   
   “Why is everything white?”

   
   “I like it.”

   
    He shrugged off the uneasy feeling at the pit of his stomach.

   
   “Why don’t you undress? I’ll just go to the bathroom.”

  
    “Okay.”

  
    Heather pulled a drawer open in the bathroom. She removed a pair of hair cutting scissors and slipped them into the waistband of her underwear. In the bedroom, Tom was lying back against a couple of white pillows. The only thing that wasn’t white was a small metal bowl. It looked almost surgical. She placed it on the side of the bed.

   
   Tom moved towards her, but she pushed him back. She unhooked her sports bra and let it fall on the floor. Her admire her slim figure. His hands moved up and down her back.

  
    “Close your eyes, Tom.”

   
   “Okay. Are we getting kinky?”

  
    “If you lay very still and be quiet, you’ll find out.”

   
   She moved the bowl next to his neck. With a swift stab, blood ran thick and fast into the bowl. He attempted to sit up, but she pushed him down until he didn’t move at all. The blood slowed and eventually stopped.

  
    Lifting his right eye lid, she aimed the sharpest part of the scissors at the corner of his eye.

Friday Night Frights 3

Chapter 3

   Rain pelted down Islingword Road staining the pavement black. Vapour illuminated the almost pitch black night while Heather ran down the hill. She turned down Upper Rock Gardens street and forced her feet to run faster along the sea front. Her foot tripped against a loose pavement slab and she fell straight into a wet hoodie.

  
 A pair of damp strong hands pulled her up on her feet. Her eyes landed on a pair of dark blue eyes. An electric shock went right through her.

   
   “Are you okay?”

  
    She stood up straight and pretended to limp.

   
   “I’m not sure. My ankle. It hurts.”

   
   “I’ll take you to A&E if you want.”

   
   “Oh no. It’s okay. I’ll just get a taxi home.”

   
   Rain drops saturated his black metal rimmed glasses. He put an arm around her and hailed down a taxi. She told the driver where she lived.

  
    “Let me look at that ankle.” He pulled her leg over his and unlaced her trainer. “I’m Tom by the way.”

   
   “I’m Heather. I’m sure my ankle is fine.”

  
    She looked away, annoyed at the whole situation. His fingers made their way up her calf. He looked at her in that way. He wasn’t unattractive. She pretended to smile when she climbed out of the taxi, reminding herself to limp.

   
   “Are you sure you’re alright?”

  
    She pulled out her hair band and shook her long blond hair loose.

  
    “Why don’t you come in?”

Friday Night Frights 2

Chapter 2

   Heather scrolled down the appointment diary wondering if her first patient of the day will show up. A knock on the door pulled her attention away from the diary.

   
   “Come in.”

   
   Sarah, an assistant manager at Roots Opticians, smiled nervously at her.

  
    “Hi, Heather, your first patient just called in sick.”

   
   “Okay, thanks Sarah.”

  
    She walked in and brushed her red curly hair behind her left ear.

  
    “I tried to find Samantha Cox-White’s and Richard Reading’s record cards, but couldn’t find them. They were both here in June of last year and are overdue on their sight tests.”

  
    “Okay, thanks for looking.”

  
    “You’re welcome.”

   
   She closed the door behind her.

   
   Heather pulled her handbag over her shoulder, noted down the two names on a Post-It note and made her way into the lab, which is also called the filing room. Grace and Liz greeted her as she walked in. ABBA were singing Mama Mia on the radio. While Grace had her back turned filing away at the Gs drawers and Liz was on her phone, she pulled an almost empty drawer open, and placed the jar of blue eyes behind a wad of files. It was the last S drawer. Standing up, she straightened her white shirt and pretended to look for the Samantha Cox-White’s file.

  
    “Can I help you with anything?” Grace asked.

  
    “Oh no, it’s okay. Sarah tried to find these files earlier, but couldn’t find them.”

  
    “I can have another look. You never know. Fresh eyes and all that.”

  
    “Ah, alright.”

  
    She handed her the Post-It note.

  
    While testing her next patient, all she could think about were fresh eyes.

Friday Night Frights 1

Chapter 1

The colour of the water changed from red to pink to clear. Turning the tap off, Heather dried her hands on a couple of hand towels. A fruit knife lay drying on the table near her.

She turned towards her patient, pulled the body feet first into a bin bag, folded her body at the waist and tied the top of the bag with a couple of knots.

Next, she placed her patient's eyes in a recycled pickled onion jar. They barely floated up towards the top. Heather wrinkled her nose at the smell of formaldehyde. She hid the jar in her black fold-over handbag. 

The clock on the monitor read 1:45 PM. She smiled at her accomplishment. This was her earliest kill. She grabbed the bin bag and walked quickly towards the fire exit stairs. A large Sainsburys truck blocked her view and hid her from the crowds on North Street. She jogged towards a large black bin and hauled the bag with both hands over the top. 

Her heart beat fast and her stomach rumbled. Lunch time. The only time she'd ever felt anything. At all. Other than the thrill and peace of hunting down her next victim. Recently, it's been more plotting than hunting since her victims tend to come to her. Perks of an optician. 

She took her time walking back up the stairs. Back in her testing room, she removed a thermos from her bag and a pair of chopsticks. Spicy noodles gave her so much joy. Or what she thought was joy. It was the only type of carbs she ate. Today she ate it with chicken and broccoli. A pair of blue eyes stared out at her from her handbag. Cold and beautiful. Just like her face.