Mary Blake: A Nasty Novelette Read online

  Mary Blake: A Nasty Novelette

  By Sam West

  Copyright Sam West 2014

  CHAPTER ONE.

  October 30th. Present Day.

  “Tell me more about Mary Blake.”

  Casey Brown stared up at Dr Everett’s whitewashed ceiling. You’d think he’d nail a picture to the ceiling or something she thought, like at the dentists. She didn’t get the whole, lying on your back thing and itched to sit up. She sighed deeply, doing her best to resign herself to her fate for the next hour. She was paying good money for Dr Everett’s services after all.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Whatever you want to tell me.”

  Really? And I’m paying you an hourly rate that pretty much equals my weekly shopping bill to hear that, she thought.

  “I’ve never talked about what happened, not to anybody. I don’t think I’m even capable of talking about it. I’m not sure I can even remember that night, not really. It’s like, my mind shuts down when I get too close to remembering the full details of what happened.”

  “That’s OK, there’s no rush. Just talk to me Casey. Tell me something about your time at college. What role did Mary Blake play in your life?”

  Casey cast her mind back to the events of fifteen years ago, when she was just eighteen years old and filled with so much hope for her future.

  Once she started speaking, she couldn’t stop. Words and memories flowed. She closed her eyes and it was like she was actually there, reliving the whole thing all over again.

  October 31st 1999

  “You still on for tonight?”

  “Sure,” Casey replied, doing her best to sound cool when inside she was deeply apprehensive.

  The last lesson of the morning had finished and the corridor was stuffed full of high spirited college students who flowed past the stationary couple like a stream around a rock.

  Jack grinned at her and she melted. With trembling fingers she shoved her text books and folder into her locker.

  “Great babe, it’s gonna be a blast.”

  “Yeah. A blast.”

  “Hey, what’s up? You do want to come don’t you?”

  Bugger, she thought. She really didn’t want Jack to know she was nervous. They had only been dating a week and she so wanted to impress him with her fearless nature. It was way too soon in their relationship to reveal herself as a wimp.

  “Yes, of course I want to come. It’s just, oh, I don’t know, the thought of what Doug and Angel might have planned on Halloween night.”

  “You know what they have planned. The four of us are just going to meet up and swap spooky stories by candlelight.”

  “Yeah, in a derelict house that’s supposed to be haunted. Are you sure that’s all they’ve got planned? Because I’m really not into practical jokes.”

  “Relax babe, it’s just gonna be a bit of harmless fun.”

  He turned that one hundred megawatt grin on again and her stomach twisted into knots.

  Jack Durrant had a serious bad boy reputation. At eighteen he was the same age as her, but in many ways he seemed so much older. Maybe it was a combination of his impressive height, his swagger and his pumped body.

  He was also incredibly handsome. He had the face of a blonde angel with a smile of the Devil himself. Girls loved him, he could take his pick, just like his best mate Doug.

  So what the hell is he doing with me then?

  She pushed aside the paranoid thought. It wasn’t as if she was a slouch in the looks department either. OK, so she wasn’t in Jack’s league, but she was blonde, blue eyed and slim. She wasn’t exactly one of the popular girls, her natural shyness and sweet, hesitant nature prevented her from entering the higher cliques. But neither was she unpopular, the few friends she did have she was close to and she had never been bullied.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” she said with more conviction than she felt. “It’ll be fun. Do you want me to bring anything?”

  Jack was prevented from answering when a guy even wider and taller than him came up behind and grabbed him in a headlock.

  “Get off me you wanker,” Jack said laughing.

  Doug laughed heartily and Casey grew uncomfortable, just like she always did around Doug. Doug was just too much. Too good looking. Too loud. A person might describe him as high spirited, or a prankster. The life and soul of every party and the most popular guy in college.

  Casey just thought he was a bully.

  “You guys still on for tonight?” he asked, slapping Jack hard on the back.

  “You bet your ass we are,” Jack replied.

  Doug looked closely at her and she squirmed a little. She hated the way he looked at her. She always felt like he was sizing her up, checking her over for physical defects or any weakness he could take the piss out of. Up until a week ago he hadn’t even known of her existence, she so had not been on Douglas Gregory’s radar. Which had suited her just fine, other weaker individuals bore the brunt of his ‘humour.’

  But Doug was the price she was willing to pay to have Jack as a boyfriend.

  “Ah, here comes the better half,” Doug said, turning his attention to Angela Lee, the gorgeous girl who was fast approaching.

  Doug pulled the beautiful dark haired girl into his arms and kissed her hard on the mouth. Casey couldn’t help but admire how amazingly handsome they looked together. Everywhere they went, including now, people openly stared. Doug and Angel both possessed the same dark hair and model good looks, they looked like they had just jumped out of an airbrushed photo from some fashion magazine.

  Angel broke off the lingering kiss to speak.

  “Hey guys, what’s happening?”

  Although the question was blatantly directed at Jack and not at her.

  “Not much, just talking about tonight,” Jack replied.

  Angel smiled, revealing perfect little white teeth. ”Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be so much fun, I am so…”

  Her voice trailed off when the commotion at the end of the corridor caught her attention and she realised no one was listening to her.

  A small crowd had gathered and they were laughing at something.

  “What the hell’s going on down there?” Jack asked.

  Not one to miss out on the latest drama, and probably hoping to become the centre of it, Doug was over like a shot.

  The group of students parted respectfully when he approached; Doug was top dog and everyone knew it.

  Jack grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her in the direction of the ruckus. Whatever it was that was happening, it smacked of bullying. The crowd jeered and Casey wanted no part of it. Despite this, she passively let Jack drag her along behind him. Angel was already ahead of them.

  Mary Blake was at the centre of it. No surprises there. That girl attracted trouble as surely as if she had ‘bully me’ tattooed on her forehead. Casey always felt sorry for her.

  But to her shame, not sorry enough to ever do anything about it. There was something odd about Mary Blake that Casey could never quite put her finger on. It wasn’t that the girl was a goth, although that certainly didn’t help. Mary just made her feel inexplicably uneasy, hence she always gave her a wide berth.

  A stunning blonde girl Casey recognised from the higher echelons of Angel’s little clique had Mary pinned to the wall by her neck. The girl whose name was Jess was screaming in Mary’s face.

  “Who the fuck do you think you are, you skank? I’ll teach you to come on to my boyfriend.”

  Mary looked defeated and utterly pathetic. Her eyes were red raw from crying and she appeared too scared to even put up a fight. Casey thought goths were supposed to be hard cases. Well, it seemed that nothing could be further from the truth in Mary’
s case.

  “Teach the bitch a lesson,” came a male voice form the crowd.

  The suggestion was met by a few more heartfelt jeers as well as a smattering of uneasy laughter.

  Without warning the girl slapped Mary across the face, then viciously yanked down the black silk blouse Mary wore knotted at her slim waist.

  She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her small, milky white breasts were exposed to the pack of onlookers. Her nipples were cherry red and hard.

  Someone let out a wolf whistle and Casey’s cheeks burnt in shame on behalf of the wretched girl. For pity’s sake do something, she thought. You have to help her.

  But she couldn’t move. She didn’t want to become the next victim.

  She looked imploringly up at Jack who was watching the spectacle with his mouth hanging open.

  And he sure as hell wasn’t looking at Mary’s face.

  Bastard, Casey thought. But the stab of jealousy was immediately replaced by total disbelief.

  She truly didn’t believe what she was seeing. Doug was actually helping Mary. The concept was ludicrous, but there it was, happening before her very eyes. Doug bodily placed himself between the two girls. Mary was quietly sobbing, one hand cupping her reddened cheek, the other holding together the edges of her torn blouse.

  Jess was scratching and clawing at Doug like a hellcat trying to get to her prey.

  Then came the second big surprise. Angel joined in too. To help that is, not hinder. She grabbed hold of Jess and between them Doug and Angel restrained the girl, each holding an arm.

  “OK, OK,” Jess proclaimed, completely relaxing in their grip. “I give, let me go.”

  “You sure?” Angel pressed.

  “Yes! Jesus, the skanky slag isn’t worth it.”

  They let her go.

  “Don’t talk about her like that, it’s not nice. Are you alright Mary?”

  Casey simply could not believe what she was hearing. She watched flabbergasted as Angel placed a gentle hand on Mary’s shoulder. Mary didn’t look like she believed what was happening either. She eyed Angel warily, looking every inch the scared animal backed into the corner.

  “Hey, what are you fuckers gawping at?” Doug barked at the crowd. “Vamoosh!”

  The students slunk away, the morning’s entertainment obviously over.

  “Don’t think I’m done with you Jess,” Angel said to the girl’s departing back. “I’ll deal with you later.”

  Casey and Jack stayed where they were.

  “Why are you being nice?” Mary asked.

  Good question, Casey thought.

  Angel shrugged and smiled sweetly. “Can’t I do something good for a change? Let’s just say I’ve seen the error of my ways.”

  “Yeah,” Doug added. “We’ve decided to use our power for good instead of evil.”

  “Your shirt is ruined, I’ve got a spare top in my bag you can borrow. It’s not black I’m afraid, but it’s better than nothing.”

  Angel put her arm around Mary’s thin shoulders and led her in the direction of the ladies.

  The whole scene was preposterous.

  “We’ll be in the canteen when you’re done,” Doug called after them.

  Doug and Jack exchanged a fleeting look, but just as quickly it was gone again. Casey didn’t know what the hell was going on but suddenly she felt angry at Jack.

  “I’ve got somewhere I need to be,” she said.

  “Where?” Jack called after her. “Come back.”

  She ignored him and walked away.

  “If only I had stayed away from him. If only I hadn’t let Jack sweet talk me round, then I sure as hell wouldn’t be lying on a shrink’s couch now.”

  She fell silent. She hadn’t let herself think about that day for fifteen years and she was surprised by how vivid the memories were. Reliving it all was the mental equivalent of a punch in the guts.

  “But you are here Casey, lying on my couch,” Dr Everett said, sensing she had run out of steam. “You are here because of that very regret festering away inside of you. You need to come to terms with what happened that night, and then you will be able to forgive yourself. Do you consider yourself to be bad person Casey?”

  “No.”

  “Of course you don’t. When our actions are incongruous with the perception we have of ourselves, that’s when we, to use a layman’s term, beat ourselves up. This is where I come in, I will help you find peace.”

  “I hope so.”

  “And I know so. Do you feel able to continue with your story?”

  Casey let out a shaky breath. “I guess.”

  “Good. It needs to be told. In your own time Casey.”

  “Well, Jack found me a few hours later after I had stropped off. We made up. He said all the right stuff, you know? He said he knew Doug and Angel could be jerks but he really believed they were trying to be nice, atoning for past sins and all that. He told me that Doug wasn’t all bad, deep down. Jack and Doug had been friends since they were seven years old and he claimed Doug had a sweet side he kept hidden. Very hidden I said.”

  She fell silent once more.

  “You see, you weren’t to know what the three of them had planned. This wasn’t your fault Casey.”

  “I only heard what I wanted to hear, saw what I wanted to see. A while after me and Jack had kissed and made up and I was on my way home, I saw Angel and Jess huddled together by the school gates. They didn’t see me. They were laughing and were the best of friends. I ignored my suspicions. I later found out that Jess was in on it too. They had paid her to pick on Mary so Angel and Doug could swoop in and ‘save’ her. It was all part of their master plan.”

  “I want you to tell me what happened the night Mary disappeared.”

  Disappeared. That’s what she had told him in their initial phone consultation. He had asked, what specifically did she want to talk about. And she had replied, ‘ the night Mary disappeared.’ She took a deep breath, unsure of where the truth might take her.

  Like perhaps a prison cell.

  “What if I were to tell you that she didn’t disappear?”

  “You may tell me whatever you wish. So long as it is the truth.”

  “No, you don’t understand. What if I were to tell you that something happened to her. Something bad.”

  “You mean like murder?” he asked calmly, as if she had said nothing more outrageous than asking for a glass of water.

  “What if that was really the case?” she whispered, her heart hammering.

  “If you murder someone, and then tell me about it, I believe that I cannot break your confidentiality. You need to understand that. I would have a lot of questions for you. We would talk about what you did, and how you want to move forward in making the right choices. I would not be able to turn you in to the authorities. If, however, you are planning on committing a murder, or I consider you to be a danger to yourself or to others, then I would act. But that is the only time.”

  Casey wasn’t sure she believed him. And she found she no longer cared. Fifteen years was a long time to carry this burden alone. If he saw fit to take it to the police, the so be it. At least then it would finally be over.

  “I’ve never spoken about it before, I never even think about it. But I have nightmares. And lately they’ve been getting worse. It’s like it gets harder to deal with the more time has passed. I thought things were supposed to get with easier with time.”

  “That all depends. Buried trauma gets worse in time, not better, it will eat away at you like a sickness. Nightmares are the mind’s way of dealing with past trauma. Only when you confront that trauma will your nightmares cease and you will be on the path to freedom. You have to trust me on this. Talk to me Casey. Tell me about your nightmares.”

  Casey squirmed in discomfort on the couch. Oh come on, she thought. This is why you’re here isn’t it? To talk about it? So get on with it.

  “It always starts off the same,” she said in a small voice. “I’m dreaming but I don’t kno
w I’m dreaming. It’s the dead of night and I get up to go to the bathroom. The bathroom light is on and the door is shut, the light is seeping out around the closed door. But I’m sure I turned it off before I went to bed. The air feels cold, much colder than when I first went to bed. Everything looks the same, but at the same time it’s different. I can’t explain it, but I feel scared, threatened, and I don’t know why. I enter the bathroom, urinate, wash my hands, and stare at my reflection in the mirror above the sink. I look tired and pale, there are bags under my eyes. A movement in the mirror behind me catches my eye and I spin round, but there is nothing there. Now I’m really scared, I feel like I’m being watched.”

  I tell myself I’m being stupid, that I’m letting my imagination and flights of fancy take over. But at the same time I’m thinking this, I began to chant those words…”

  “Go on.”

  Casey steeled herself to continue. “I don’t want to say them, but it’s like I have no control over what is coming out my mouth. So just like that famous urban legend goes, I say ‘Bloody Mary’ five times into the mirror, all the while staring at the crazy eyes of my reflection. I look mad, I barely recognise myself. My pupils have dilated so much my eyes are black and the blood has drained from my face. I look like a ghost.”

  “What happens next?” the psychiatrist prompted when she fell silent.

  “She appears behind my right shoulder. She looks young, the same age as when she died. She’s wearing the same black clothes too. Her skin is pure white, her eyes are rimmed black and purple, like a mix of bruising and smudged makeup. She smiles at me and black blood spills out of her mouth. That’s when my paralysis breaks and I scream. But I don’t scream for long; she’s holding a knife and she reaches round and slits my throat. At the moment the knife slices through my jugular and my blood sprays the mirror in a hard jet, I wake up and sit bolt upright in bed. Except I haven’t really woken up. I go to the bathroom and the entire thing happens all over again. I lose count of the amount of times the dream repeats itself in one night. The only way I know I’m awake is when I sit up in bed and I’m completely bloody terrified. Because when I’m in the nightmare I have this horrible sense of foreboding, like really strong déjà vu. I know something terrible is going to happen but I don’t know what.”