Weeping Willows: A Thrilling Mystery Novella (Dark Desires Book 1)

taken. A dull thudding in her head kept the fear gripping her heart at bay, she'd felt like someone had hit her over the head with a cricket bat, but the dulled senses told her she'd been drugged. Her throat felt dry and parched, she tried to keep her eyes open but the kept closing of their own accord. A while later, the fuzziness had begun clearing. Fear, terror, anxiety panicked, her companions. She slowing looked around. It was cold and dark, a man was crouched near a fireplace. He'd been starting a fire with his back to her.

  As the embers began crackling and as the shadows from the firelight danced on the wall near the bed that she lay on, she stared. There were lots and lots of pictures of her alone, sometimes with Melly at campus, some at the cottage, some new, others old all lined the walls. Suzie stared in shock at the photographs. Horrified, she stared dumbfounded. She'd had no idea. She glanced at the crouched figure, wondering who he was, this man who had stalked her for years, she hadn't even known. The man placed a log into the fire and stood up, dusting his hands on the legs of his pants and turned walking towards her, a slow smile creeping across his face. Her eyes opened wider in shock. “Hello, Suzanne.” he greeted while his long fingers stroked the neatly kept beard, a hint of steel in his twinkly blue eyes assessing her, a calculating look in his eyes as his gaze never faltered as he met hers. She felt the urge to scream at the familiar face staring at her. She twisted feeling the tight rope cutting at her wrists and ankles. Her delicate skin chaffing with the tight rope cutting through, the feeling of helplessness overwhelmed her. She bit hard on her lower lip, tasting blood. She suppressed the urge to scream, a tiny tear sliding out of the corner of her eye, fearful of what might happen to her.

  Never could she ever have imagined that kind Mr. Cole was her abductor. She couldn't believe that her handsome young lecturer was behind the madness that had wrecked through Rosewood Creek the past few months. Pieces of a puzzle were slowing clicking into place. Everyone at campus loved this man. His work status as a lecturer, a perfect foil for his madness. He'd never be suspected, for the ruthless killer that he was. His true identity masked behind the prestige that a university tutor presented. An intelligent man, cultured would not be the kind of man that the police would be suspicious off. Suzie's eyes narrowed as she looked at this man, the thought occurring to her could it be that he was also the person responsible for her parents death? She gasped loudly. Right here stood before her the real killer. It all made sense now. This bastard had murdered her best friend brutally and snatched away her happiness when he'd killed her lovely parents too. Craig had been telling the truth. The authorities had the wrong man, the ruthless murderer now had her and no one was the wiser. He leaned closer, she could feel his breath warm against her cheek as he gently brushed at her tears with the pads of his fingers. A feeling of revulsion coursed through her body as she stiffened at his touch.

  He softly whispered to her, “There now, Suzanne. I'm not going to hurt you. You mean the world to me. Can't you see, I've done all of this so we could be together.” He rambled on, “I know in time you will understand, I didn't have a choice. I had to be rid of them so we could be together.” Suzie froze at his words. It felt like tight fingers were squeezing her heart as she realized just how insane this man was. He appeared to be totally delusional. He was justifying his action to her. More fear and dread consumed Suzie, she was at the mercy of a cold blooded murdering psychopath and no one knew of her plight. Uncle Frank and Aunt Lizzie had visited the day before. It would be a good few days before they would come by calling. God only knew if she'd live until then.

  Jeremy Cole gave Suzie an assessing look as he abruptly straightened, turned and walked out the doorway, shutting the door with a loud click. The sound echoing in finality in her head as he left her alone. She could hear his footsteps receding into the darkness.

  The torrent of pent up tears that she'd been holding in overflowed as she sobbed hopelessly. All the mixed emotions that were bottled up over the few months exploding as she cried herself at the futility of her situation. She was afraid, alone and at the mercy of a mad man. She had cried herself into a stupor, the effects of the chloroform and exhaustion leaving her totally spent. She slipped into a troubled slumber.

  - Chapter 16 -

  A rooster crowed in the distance, Suzie opened her eyes wishing that it had all just been a nightmare but as she moved her torn skin at her wrist and ankles ached. She winched at the pain lying still once more. Jeremy Cole, as they all knew him, it was probably not his real name, was standing at the tiny window. Suzie knew that they were in a cabin, as she looked at the interior. Beyond the walls of the cabin, she had no idea where she was but from the sounds of wildlife she assumed they were in remote wilderness. The silence of her surrounding confirmed this. He walked over to her with a bowl and spoon. He told her that they were all alone and she shouldn't bother screaming as no one could hear anything for miles around. He lifted the spoon and attempted to feed her. Her tummy growled but Suzie shook her head aside. She didn't want to eat from this monster.

  He turned her head with one hand, pressing on the side of her jaws a determined look in his eyes as he once more attempted to forcefully feed her. She spat the contents onto his face as she glared at him with intense hate. He put the spoon down and lifted his hand. Suzie cringed as she thought he would strike her but instead he just wiped his face with a handkerchief, through back his head and roared out with laughter. “Quite the spitfire!” He drawled as she stared shocked. Turning on his heel he abruptly strode out the door without a backward glance.

  - Chapter 17 -

  Rosewood Creek law nestled closely on the outskirts of London. The sleepy town was cocooned as the final threads of winter shredded away. Spring had come. Frank Andrews dressed in an immaculate suit and Elizabeth Andrews in her best Sunday attire, a peach tailored two piece, walked towards the ringing bell of the town church. A special service was to be held in honor of the three dear people who had been killed. Both husband and wife walked forward to greet Reverend Elias who was instrumental in organizing the service in remembrance of their departed loved ones. This was the kindness of a close knit community that made the Andrews feel like they belonged. Up until the tragedies that befell Rosewood Creek, the little town had been an immense joy. The tall grey church stood proudly with rose tinted glass at the windows. The neat rows of benches with familiar faces sitting together, an encouraging smile from one or the other as Reverend Elias led them to the front rows. The church was packed to capacity. Frank Andrew's heart felt warm at such solidarity from this community. He glanced around, leaning forward he whispered to the reverend, “Where is Suzie, hasn't she arrived yet?”

  The reverend replied that he’d called and called but Suzie hadn't been answering. He thought that she most probably didn't want to talk to anyone. Uncle Frank digested this information.

  The service was beautiful. It brought tears to their eyes. As reverend and a few of the congregation came forward to deliver speeches and just to reminiscence about Suzie's parents and their beloved Melissa. After refreshments were served people mingled outside in the court of the church. They whispered about the court case regarding Craig had finally come to an end and he was found to be guilty. Sentencing would be scheduled in a few days. Frank Andrews walked away to a corner of the church and as he quickly placed a call to Suzie he found it odd that she was not home. Reverend Elias assured him that word had been sent besides notice of the speech were up everywhere in Rosewood Creek. Suzie's phone just kept ringing and going to voicemail. A sixth sense, call it detective intuition, was nagging at him. Suzie was an extremely diligent girl, he felt certain that she would not ignore a special service planned for Melly and her parents. It would be disrespectful and Suzie was most certainly very respectful.

  As the afternoon drew on Frank decided not to tell Lizzie about Suzie as her nerves had been fraught to breaking point. Dropping her at home, he told his wife that he was just going to drive up to Suzie's cottage to check up on her. It had already been a
week since they'd last spoken to her.

  Frank had not mentioned to anyone about his real concerns. He'd sat at the courthouse and had this uneasy restlessness that all had not been revealed through the court proceedings. There were a lot of missing pieces. Craig's past had definitely made a major impact on the trial, but there were a lot of holes that couldn't be answered.

  His sharp mind kept going back to the facts, yes, the lighter was Craig's but he had claimed it had been missing for a while when he'd quit smoking. There was no clue to his daughter's missing fingers, they had not been found. Craig came out looking like a liar but the details in the cross questioning didn't add up. Frank could spot a liar from miles away but on the witness stand, Craig remained adamant that he did not know where the missing body parts were. He never changed his story in fact in anything he seemed broken at the evidence of how Melly had been mutilated. What's missing? He thought.

  Could Craig's fit of rage produce such cold calculating