Silent - A Deranged Man

The Present, Lucy

'Hurry up,' the man in the baseball cap says, dragging her by the arm, up a semi flight of concrete stairs, into a long corridor. He yanks her along when her strength gives way, his breathing rapid and heavy. 'I have a knife and I will use it on you if necessary. I will kill you.  Stop messing about.'

She hadn't seen the knife. But the weapon changes everything.  Everyone knows that when a stranger makes a threat, they intend to carry out the threat.

'A few moments ago, I received a phone call from a woman informing me that she knows of your current whereabouts. Who else have you been talking to, apart from Gavin and Maxine?'

'I'm telling you the truth,' she says, trying to control the trembling in her voice. Don't show him you're frightened. Dogs attack when they sense fear.  'Only Maxine knows. We kept it to ourselves. But I'd planned to talk to Gavin about Peter.'  

'So why has this woman just ring me? And how did she get a connection?  There is little or no mobile coverage out here.'

'I don't know.'

'I think you do. And I think you and the woman are in it together.  We're going to have to leave now. But I'm warning you. You are my hostage now.'

For the first time, she notices blood seeping from his arm. Please, Maxine, she pleads silently. He's unstable and dangerous. Summon proper help.  Don't make stupid phone calls.

Unless, she thinks, this is part of the rescue and the police are using Maxine as a decoy.  
A glimmer of hope. Maxine the decoy.  Rescue on the way.  

'Don't deceive yourself,' the man says part of the way down the corridor, startling her again with his ability to guess her thoughts. 'I have the knife. You have nothing.'

He's still bleeding, she notices.  

He comes to an abrupt halt.  'I loved her,' he shouted. 'I loved her, she was mine.  But they stole her from me. He did. He took her away. My beautiful, beautiful darling.'

Who's he talking about?

'Katie Whittaker,' the Angel of Mercy says. 'My sweet Katie. My little darling angel. We were in love. Don't you understand, Lucy?  I worked for Terence Harlesden once upon a time. His wife Katie and I were seeing each other in private. But then your father took my Katie away from me, even though he already had a wife. So I killed him.'

'What do you mean?'  Numb, dazed.  'I asked you before, and you said you had nothing to do with the fire.'
 
'Katie was my sweetheart. I loved her, but he stole her, your father did.  So I killed him. And your mother. I killed them both in the fire.'

'You killed my parents?'

'She had me put away afterwards, you know, Katie. She told me I'd behaved very badly, like a naughty boy.  Her and Terence put me in a secret hospital where the doctors did experiments on my brain in a bid to silence me. I loved her, my Katie, but she broke my heart and sent me into isolation where I was persecuted by a multi-billionaire pharmaceutical company intent on destroying my brain and personality with their experimentations.  They nearly succeeded thanks to Terence and your father. But I won. I defeated them all. I killed every one of them, even though I was in a locked ward.  For I have powers that no other human has. I am the Angel of Mercy.'

'Why?' she says. 'Why my mother. What did my mother do to you?'  If only, she could get her feelings together.  She wishes her hands were free. If only, she could use her body to throw the man down to the ground. Attack him with her feet. Punish him for killing Mum and Dad.

'Your father double crossed me and the Angel of Mercy didn't like that.' He grabs one of her tied wrists and drags her along. 'Now come on. Hurry up or I will kill Maxine as well as you. I've been watching you both for a long time.'

She starts to shake.  Almost out of control shaking. He's confessed to murdering her parents, so he must feel he has nothing further to lose.

He flings open a bulky, rotting door, revealing a vast barren landscape made up of waterways and pylons and waste metal and industrial garbage. A blast of hot air, almost furnace-like, surges into the building, along with a cloud of dust, hitting her in the face. There's no sign of the police or Maxine.  Instead, a giant incinerator spews out smoke in the distance, thick smoke, a foreboding shade of black, and the sun looks an unnatural shade of orange.  

'Did Katie's son – my son – Peter tell you about me and his mother?  How much we loved each other?  How much I did for her Steve and her Scott when people were threatening those boys and trying to poison them?  Yes, poison them.  It was all part of a wider conspiracy. I saved their lives, more than once. Those two boys are mine, not Terence's.  Terence is a madman. He tried to murder his wife, Terence did, but I warned her, I did. I saved her life and the lives of her children. I'm to be respected for ever and ever and ever.'
She continues staring into the distance, willing police officers to appear.

'What did Peter tell you about me?' the man says. 'He told you something. Was it encrypted?  You must tell me exactly what he said or I'll remove your body parts. I will do so while you're still alive.'

'Pete didn't say anything about you,' she says, trying to calm the fear in her voice. 'He wouldn't have remembered you.  He's only eleven. He wasn't born then.'  She must stay focused and not panic. She could do it. He's already untied her feet. If she can just get away, find someone to help her, anything…

'I'll kill you,' the man says. 'I'll cut your fingers off and send them to your uncle and aunt. I'll bury the rest of you in a place where no one will ever find you. I'll torment your uncle and aunt for ever.  I'll kill Maxine and your ex boyfriend Ash and everyone one of your friends, one by one. That's unless you tell me the full truth.'

'No, you won't,' a woman calls. 'Let her go.'

'What? You?' the man says, squinting into the distance. 'It was you who called me?'

'Yes, it was.'

'Did Terence put you up to this? I'll have him.'

'No. Terence doesn't know I'm here. Terence and I are divorced in case you've forgotten.'

'I didn't recognise your voice. How's that? Is this a trick?'

'It really doesn't matter. Let Lucy go.'

Terence Harlesden's ex-wife Katie Whittaker strides towards them. Katie, Steve's mum. Pete's. Scott's.  

She hasn't said a word to Katie Whittaker since it all happened.  Katie and Arthur both know that Steve tried to rape her, but they did little about it, other than send Steve to some stupid community in Scotland for six months where he behaved badly and terrified everyone. And now it appears that Katie also played a role in Mum and Dad's deaths.

'I've confessed,' the man says. 'I've told her how you and Terence betrayed me and sent me away. You broke my heart, Katie. You and the others.'

'I'm sorry,' she said. 'Believe it or not, Terence and I were genuinely trying to help you at the time.  Let's leave it in the past.'

'But you betrayed me. You sided with that evil government corporation. They'll kill you too.'

'Let Lucy go,' Katie says, firmly. 'My son Scott and his friend know everything and they know what to do if I don't make contact. You must release Lucy immediately. If you don't, you'll be sent to a hospital for the criminally insane for the rest of your life. And you don't want that, do you?  Terence went to a lot of trouble securing your release from that other place. Now let the girl go.'

'You can't do this.'

'Yes, I can.  A lot of innocent people have been hurt because of this.  No more.'

'Run, Lucy,' Katie says to her in an urgent whisper. 'Over there where the car's parked. I won't be long. Stand by the car and wait for me. Now!'