Four months earlier…
Carole Lewis sat up straighter, spat out her chewing gum and ran her fingers through her hair. She wondered if he would be able to tell that she’d just been with someone else. She hoped he wouldn’t pick up the scent of the other men on her skin. She took out a tissue and dabbed away the sweat on her forehead. The unexpected heatwave had left the night air muggy and stifling. She blew out a breath of frustration as the streetlamp illuminated the figure in front of her.
‘Not your usual spot,’ he said.
Carole slumped back against the bench, crossed her legs and folded her arms. ‘I’m waiting for someone,’ she said. ‘He’s shouldn’t be too long.’
‘Been waiting a while?’ The man looked back at the route that he had just taken. ‘Right,’ he said when Carole failed to answer him. ‘Well, you know where to find me if your date is a no-show.’
Carole pulled out her phone as the man left. It was 10.35 p.m. She’d been there for twenty minutes. She read back the last message he’d sent her.
I’m on my way. x
Yes. He did want to see her. She hadn’t imagined any of it, but she wasn’t going to hang around in the middle of the park all night waiting for him.
‘Five more minutes and that’s it,’ Carole muttered under her breath. She put the phone back, then stood up quickly as she noticed a man jogging towards her. ‘Shit!’ The edge of her dress caught on the splintered wood of the bench. She pulled at it and swore again as the dress ripped.
‘Carole,’ he said. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine. I just… you know what, never mind. Glad that you finally made it.’
‘I’m so sorry. I finished work late. I would have called when I was out of the station, but my phone died.’
‘That’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Did you want to go for a drink first? You must be a bit parched running up that hill in this weather.’
The man pulled the collar of his shirt before taking a step towards Carole and kissing her lips. ‘Sounds like a good idea. A quick one before, I don’t know, we head back to yours?’
‘Definitely. The Harp pub is on the other side of the park, but I know a short cut.’
The man pushed himself against Carole. He bit the side of her neck and slid his hand up her dress and between her legs.
‘I knew that you weren’t wearing any knickers,’ he said.
‘I never do. Are you all right doing it here?’
‘You said that it was a good spot.’
Carol unbuttoned his trousers. ‘No one ever comes down to this part of the park. I’ve got condoms.’
‘Good.’
‘Oh my God,’ said Carole, caught off guard when he put his hand round her throat and squeezed. She closed her eyes while he rubbed her breast and kissed her neck. She felt a wave of excitement and a build-up of nervous energy as he pushed his fingers inside of her. She moved her right hand across his back and towards his waist. It was then that she felt the cold metal handle of a knife.
It all happened so fast. He swiftly pulled the knife from his back pocket and raised it above his head.
‘No!’ Carole screamed. She crossed her arms in front of her face and cried out in pain as the blade sliced the flesh of her forearm. He grabbed Carole’s arm and pulled her towards him. Blow after blow came as he repeatedly plunged the knife into her stomach, sending shockwaves across her body. A strangulated scream escaped from her mouth and an intense and painful heat radiated through her body.
The light from the full moon streamed through the thick leaves and glinted against the knife as he pulled it out of her stomach. The blood-soaked material of her dress clung to the serrated knife edge. She grabbed the blade, in an effort to stop him stabbing her again, but he was too strong. He slashed downwards and her right hand fell limply to her side as the blade severed tendons and nerves. She tried to speak but the word ‘help’ was lost in the pool of blood haemorrhaging from her mouth.
Carole covered one of the wounds on her stomach with her shaking hand. Stumbling, she looked up at him. He wasn’t moving. His face was frozen with concentration and interest. He lunged forward, stabbing her again. Carole could feel her body convulse as her legs collapsed under her. She tried to crawl away but the hot blade of the knife stopped her as it pierced her back, chipping away at the bone of her shoulder blade.
The knife came down again, tearing through her lung. He twisted the blade viciously and then pulled it out, breaking the knife tip off in the process. He turned her over and the sound of foxes scuttering through the park echoed in Carole’s ears.
Let me die. Let me die.
The words registered in her flickering brain, but her body ignored her, even when the knife tore through her chest again. Her eyes fluttered opened, but her vision was blurred by the blood. She didn’t see him raise the knife above her head. Death still hadn’t arrived when he slit her throat, with a final violent flourish.