He pulled the saw mechanism closer to himself and loaded the metal blade inside it. With his dead eyes resting on the woman’s squirming body, he backed away from her.

“No, please,” she said through tears. “I can help you.”

No words came in response. Instead, he moved out of sight.

All she could see was a gigantic steel blade about 10 feet above her torso. It was perfectly placed above her mid-section. Usually, now would be the time when she would be safely out of harm’s way, preparing to give her audience the impression that she’d been horribly mutilated.

The blade above her swiftly dropped. A deafening scream filled the air inside the man’s lair. It was the kind of scream that couldn’t be faked.


2

 

 

Epping Forest was an area of scenic, beautiful woodlands on the outskirts of London. Its sprawling, vast greenery made it one of the most captivating areas in the city. On a normal spring afternoon, any number of families, lovers and friends could be seen trailing the dirt-ridden tracks through its labyrinthine pathways.

It was closing in on 5:00 p.m., and it seemed that David Richard’s family was the only one left in there.

“Don’t run off too far. We have to go soon,” shouted David.

His son Tommy ignored him while his daughter Misa shouted back with feigned enthusiasm.

“What’s the betting we don’t see them for another hour?” asked Chloe, David’s wife.

“Pretty high, I’d say.”

“Well, you made them,” said Chloe. “You did the crime, you do the time.”

“The older they get, the more I’m convinced you had an affair with the devil.”

“That wasn’t the devil. That was the postman,” joked Chloe.

“Very funny. Now what do we do for the next hour?”

“Well, we could be respectable parents and make sure our children don’t stumble upon any dead bodies,” said Chloe.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“It’s our job. But the question is – who gets who?” asked Chloe.

David pulled out his wallet. He took out a coin and balanced it on the tip of his thumb. “Loser gets Jake?” he said.

“You read my mind. Call it.”

David flipped the 50-pence coin into the air, caught it on his palm and turned it over into his hand. “Tails never fails,” he said.

It was heads.

“A-ha!” said Chloe.

“Damn it. What age do they go to university again?”

“Eighteen.”

“I’m going to petition to lower it to 10.”

“Hush. Find your son.”

David ran in the direction into which Jake, his 10-year-old soccer-loving son had scuttled off. Usually, the sound of a football ricocheting off trees acted as a constant indicator as to where Jake was. However, there was very little in the way of such sounds. Nothing at all, in fact.

“Jake?” David shouted. “Where have you gone?” The words you little shit were spoken at a slightly lower volume.

Nothing. He couldn’t have gone far. It wasn’t the first time he’d ran out of the radius that David deemed to be a comfortable proximity to him and Chloe.

“Jake?” he shouted again.

About 50 feet away, through overgrown trees and weeds, Chloe had found Misa without issue. Misa had picked some flowers and put them in her doll’s hat, then sat in a cardboard box and pretended it was a boat. They had returned and followed the direction David had gone, eventually noticing David alone at the edge of a small lake.

“Have you found him?” shouted Chloe.

“No.”

“Don’t mess around.”

“I’m not lying. I don’t know where he’s gone.”

“Oh God,” said Chloe.