I woke with a start as the phone rang
"hello" I croaked
"Beth, its me" my father said
"Have you seen the news?" he asked
"No! why, are you TV again?" I said
"No, honey, Mike was found early this morning, he....he.....he committed suicide" my father said softly
I dropped to my knees
"What?" I asked
"But, i saw him last night, he was fine, he was...... was happy.....he's got a new job, he was supposed to start today" i said, tears running down my cheeks
"Maybe the thought of starting was stressing him out" my father said kindly
"Honey, are you going to be ok?" He asked
"I know they found Tess the other day, this isn't some pact between you and your friends is it?" he asked gingerly
"What? NO!" i shouted
"Dad how could you think that" I asked
"I'm sorry Honey, its just they were your best friends" he said softly
"I know, and i don't know why this is happening" I said, tears streaming down my cheeks
"Honey, I've got to go, promise you'll pop by the dig later" he said
"I will do" I said quietly
Then he hung up
I switched the TV on to the local news channel, there on the screen was Mikes smiling face
"It is said that 25 year old Mike Fitgerald was found this morning in his home, slits to his wrists and hanging, no signs of assistance in the suicide, but the way he was found are identical to how 24year old Tess McGowen who was found in her home 2 days ago......it is yet unknown as to why these two young people committed suicide, but if anyone has any details they are to see the police, It has been suggested that maybe a pact between the high school friends was made to commit suicide and therefore the police are interested in questioning all who attended Mayfield school at the same time as these two attended."
I switched it off
"How could they think that" i said, throwing the remote to the floor
I had to clear my head, i had to get out of here
I changed into my Jeans and pulled on a T-shirt on then grabbed my boots, I stood up and walked towards the door, grabbing my fitted leather Jacket, helmet, and bag, before grabbing my keys and heading out my flat and down to my motor bike
I loved it when I was riding my motorbike, i felt so free, like i had no care in the world, I drove through the local town, my hometown. It was a very posh area and i always had people stare at me when i drove through on my motorbike, This town was made up of snobby rich people, ok so yer i did say it was my hometown, my parents were pretty well off......But i lived just on the edge of town now, in my own place.
I continued to drive through and headed on the open road till i reached a patch of woods, there were loads of cars parked around the area, I climbed off my bike and took my helmet off.
"Hey Dad" I said seeing his familiar face, his hair getting more grey everytime i saw him
"Beth, your here" he grabbed me and hugged me tight
"How are you?" He asked, his voice sincere
"Could be better, but otherwise I'm ok" i said into his chest
"I have something to show you, it may cheer you up" he said and led the way to a tent
My Father was funding an archaeological dig, he used to teach it at the local college, so when he found out about this dig, he put his money in, they couldn't refuse him
"Here look, we found the rest of those bones" he said
There on a cold slab were bones laid out, now a complete set
"Its a male, approximately 50-55 years old in age, and they've been here quite a while, but look at this, and it took us 3days to find them all, but they are finally here, well apart from the lower right leg and foot, but this explains that" he said
He pointed to something on another table
"We think it was his wooden leg" He smiled
"and then this morning, we found this"
He took me over to a woman who was cleaning up a book
"He was buried with it" he said
The women let us look over her shoulder
"That's not the creepy part" she smiled
she looked fairly young but had wrinkles caused by too much exposure to the sun, typical archaeologist.
"It seems to be a journal of murder victims, it has photos and Obituaries and then details on how he killed them" she said
"GERRYPOO" we heard from the tent
"Oh, that will be Glynda, I'll be back in a bit Beth" my father said
"Would you be able to take photos of the pages for me" I asked
she looked around surprised
"Oh...my mythology teacher also teaches a forensic sciences class, he may like to use this in one of his classes"
I told her
"Oh of course, no problem, I'll do that once I've cleaned it up" she smiled
I said my Thanks and headed out the tent
"Oh Beth, did you have to come dressed like that" Glynda said as soon as she saw me
"Nice to see you too" I said
I looked at her, she wore a frilly pink blouse and a skirt, with high heels that were slowly sinking into the mud
Glynda, what could i tell you about Glynda, well you know how fairy tales tell you about the wicked stepmother, well that's her, in the flesh, My father married her a month after my mother died, she never liked me, wanted to send me to boarding school, i guess she was the whole reason i rebelled slightly, the reason i got the motor bike instead of some posh saloon car. and the reason i moved out as soon as i could, My mother left me a large inheritance and with that....i escaped!
"Honestly Beth, people will think you common" she said, Flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder, Glynda was only 4 years older then me, she married my father when she was 19 and they had been together since.
"Nevermind.....just make sure when you come to the house for the thingy tomorrow that your dressed nicely, none of this" she said waving her hands over me
"And none of your...well....common friends are invited" she snarled
She was talking about the exhibition my father was holding at his house, showing the things they had found on the dig so far
too be honest after loosing Tess and Mike it was the last thing on my mind, and i had no patience for her right now
"Yer, I'll dress smart, i know, I've been told" I said
"Anyway i gotta get going, I've got a class soon" i said walking past her
"Bye Dad" I called as he sat at the bottom of a new hole
"Bye Beth, enjoy Class" he called Waving
He was completely oblivious to the fact that Glyn and i didn't get on,
I pulled on my Helmet and climbed onto my bike, its roar echoed through the trees and i sped off, As i headed towards the town i started to approach a car, i reconised it as a 67 Chevy Impala 'nice car' i thought as i passed it, I glanced back to see who was driving, it was not from around here, I saw two guys, i had never seen them before.
I continued to drive on to Campus
xxxxxxxxxxxx
I climbed off my bike and strapped my helmet to the bike,
"Beth" someone called from behind me
"Hey Si" I said softly
He ran up and hugged me
"Didn't think you would be here today, what with....well...the news" he said holding me tight
Si was fairly new to the town, i had introduced him to my friends a couple of weeks ago
"How you holding up?" he asked, now holding me at arms length
"I feel like crap" I answered
"But I've come to take my mind off of it" I replied
He kissed my cheek
"Well then sweetie, off to class we hop" he said, trying to cheer me up, I grabbed my bag and we headed off
We walked to our class room, Mr Theobold was already in the room, sitting at his desk
"Oh Beth, Simon, how are you both" He asked Smiling
"I wasn't expecting you today Beth" he then said
"I know, but i need to get my mind off it" i said
"Oh however i have some information you may like" I said putting on a smile
"You know the dig, just outside of town" I said
"The one your Father is working with?" he asked
I nodded
"Well. they have found the remainder of the bones and a book that was buried with him, I've asked for photo's because you might be interested in it" i said
He looked confused
"Seems to be some sort of journal, well.....a murder journal actually, it has information on each of his victims" i said
He raised his eyebrows
"Really, and er....how full was this book?" he asked
No i was the one confused
"Pretty packed!" I replied
"And are you sure you found every bone?" He asked smiling now
"Actually no!, seems he had a wooden leg" i told him
"But how did you....." I started
"He's really been found" Mr Theobold stood up, knocking his chair over
"What?" both Si and i asked in unison
"Many years ago, in this town and the surrounding ones there were several murders, all inked back to this one guy, this one legged guy" he started to rummaging through papers and pulled out a file
"Harold Monkton" i said reading the front
"That's him, all i have are old news reports of his murders, he was very dangerous, but he always managed to get off with warnings, he was very good at covering his tracks, but when he died and the murders stopped, it was seen as new evidence, then he police searched his house, found clothing from some of the victims...and so on....but again, the law said there was no real proof, This Journal could solve it all, it would be great to use it in class and" he said, fast and enthusiastically
"Hold it there Mr Theobold, Metal breakdown" Si joked
"Sorry...." he smiled
"Hey, Mr Theobold, do you mind if i can get copies of those to show my dad" I asked
"Sure, I'll go copy it all now, before the rest of the class arrived" He said
Si and I took our usual seats