Every Little Breath: A Tense Psychological Thriller Full of Twists
Every Little Breath: Now – Chapter 37

Who is your hero?

I don’t mean like as in a superhero. Not a fictitious comic book character like Superman or Ironman. I am talking about everyday people who you know, the ones who do magnificent things, the ones you respect, the ones who you idolise.

For me, it was the man who showed me that I wasn’t a freak, that it was okay to act on your darkest desires. He taught me how to hunt, how to capture, how to torture and he had shown me how to kill.

And he taught me how to avoid detection.

Things had changed after that day in the basement and Casey Fallon had a lot to answer for. She had ruined everything. If she hadn’t shown up at the house that day, if she hadn’t gone snooping where she wasn’t supposed to, our secret would have been safe and Steve Noakes wouldn’t be in jail.

Amanda Haines was supposed to be my first proper kill. It was my birthday and she was in the basement waiting for me. He had promised me I could play with her and that this time he wouldn’t stop me from going too far.

I had been so excited about meeting Amanda, looking forward to our time together, but then Casey had shown up and well… you know how that panned out.

The bitterness I feel towards her is immeasurable. She destroyed my family and she ruined everything. I have never and can never forgive her for that.

I had hoped that one day I would get the chance to make her pay for what she did, so when he contacted me and told me that he needed my help, I was immediately willing and ready to go along with his plan for revenge. His plan involved others too, but Casey has always been the main target. She is the one who ruined everything.

He explained to me that we would need to take our time, though, make sure that there was a foolproof plan in place. It has been years in the making, but during that time I have become a masterful hunter. I have followed the rules and added a few of my own, and the women I have killed have all been guinea pigs, serving to quench the thirst of my twisted pleasures. And while I have tortured and killed, we have plotted and planned and weaved webs. It has taken years to put everything into place, but finally it is time to take revenge against Casey Fallon.

Over the past couple of weeks I have taught her that she can’t save them all, but by the time this is over, she will understand the real price she has to pay for her betrayal.

Amanda understands. She should have died years ago and she knows she has been living on borrowed time.

It was so easy to take her. She had taken all of the correct precautions, securing her home and making it difficult for me to get in without detection and she only ever ventured out to go to work. Her one downfall was her car, a twenty-five-year-old Corsa that she couldn’t afford to replace. It was easy for me to slip into the school car park, to clamp the fuel pipe, then wait for her to drive home, following her at a distance and ready to strike when her car cut out.

At first she thought I was there to help her, but then she understood, and she froze like a frightened little rabbit when she understood the monster that haunted her nightmares had returned, barely putting up a fight as I secured her in the back of the van. I had expected her to struggle, but it was almost as if she went into shock. Or perhaps she was simply accepting her fate, knowing deep down that this was always going to happen.

After I had moved the van off the road, I went back and took off the clamp, turning the engine over until the pump sucked the petrol through, then I drove Amanda’s little Corsa into a quiet wooded spot where I was certain it would remain hidden, at least for a couple of days. A text to her head teacher in the morning, saying she was feeling unwell and wouldn’t be in work, and no one should spot she was missing.

Not that I was too bothered about the police replaceing out who I had taken, but this one would affect Casey. I liked the idea of hearing that moment of delicious shock when I revealed to her that she is going to have to fight to save Amanda Haines all over again.

There have been no tears from Amanda, the only screams coming when my knives have torn into her flesh. She hasn’t begged or tried to bargain with me, or even struggled against her restraints. Instead, she has waited with a sense of finality, almost willing it to be over, her eyes squeezed shut, and her sometimes violent trembling the only sign she is still alive.

Amanda wants me to give her peace, but she will have a long wait.

She is the one who got away, the one who helps me to bring this full circle. It is almost time to bring Casey back into the game, and make her realise that she can’t save any of them.