Lake Side Cottage

Aurora had told me of this old place. The murders at lake side cottage would make for an intriguing story. Being a journalist was not an easy job. I needed a new piece of work to submit; this was it.

It had been fifteen years since the lake side murders. The family had been camping for the weekend, when they were brutally beaten and stabbed to death. The police had never been able to catch the killer and up until now the case had remained cold.

The parents had been found down stairs, their bodies sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood. The three children were found in two adjoining rooms upstairs in the cottage. Their bodies laid slumped on the floor covered in bruises and lacerations from the stab wounds. The police commented in an article in the paper that the family had put up one hell of a fight but with the DNA that was discovered, it didn’t match anyone listed in their database.

Slowly I walked to the side of the old cottage. It was covered in a thick layer of lush ivy, which crept up the wooden siding. The clouds were dark and shadowed the moon, only casting enough light to keep me from tripping in the scattered debris on the ground. I felt around the side of the cottage in search of a window. Finding a window to be slightly ajar, I climbed in and landed on the floor with a thud.

I stood in sheer darkness, not knowing what direction to go, I moved cautiously around the room. It was too dark; I couldn’t see much, which made my heart race frantically in my chest. Gradually as my eyes began to adjust I was able to see that the room was basically empty except for a few pieces of furniture. The old pieces of furniture were covered in white sheets with a thick layer of dust on it. The air in the cottage smelled old and kind of foul; obviously nobody had stayed here for quite some time.

Carefully I made my way throughout the room, with each step the floor creaked and moaned beneath my feet. Not much light made its way through the boarded up windows, but I managed my way along without tripping up or falling.

I found myself at the bottom of a stair case, when something caught my attention; the faint glow of a light. It cast a shadow from the room upstairs. The light flickered like someone was up their moving around; so I decided to go up and investigate the source. Each step moaned in protest as I slowly climbed the stairs. Reaching the doorway to the room I noticed a candle was lit on a small wooden table to the far right of the room. An old brown upholstered chair was seated next to the table. The glass in the boarded up window was broken and the tattered curtain was blowing with the breeze that entered the room. Otherwise the room was completely empty except for a door that barely hung on the metal hinges. It must be a closet I assured myself.

Standing in the opening of the dilapidated doorway I twisted the knob and opened the door. Suddenly out of the darkness, a hand reached out and grabbed me with immense force. I fell backwards and we both smashed into the floor. The man swiftly got to his feet and grasped a hold of my arm and began pulling me against my will. Swinging with my free hand at my assailant, I tried to hit him to loosen his grip to get away. My body twisted and turned trying to break free, but his hold on my arm was too strong. His fingers bore into my flesh causing me to scream with pain. I tried to swing my legs around to kick him but it only made his hold on my arm tighter. While the screams echoed from my lungs, the sounds penetrated through the walls of the cottage. I was now gasping for air.

He started to pull me down over the stair case. My body pounded into each step with every hit causing more pain then the last. The stairs groaned and creaked in protest ready to give way beneath me. My skin burned from the fresh lacerations which had formed on my arms and legs from being dragged over the steps. I could feel the blood pool from the side of my face as it hit the banister on the railing; it was warm and thick. The descent down the stair case had wreaked havoc upon my body. My screams infiltrating throughout the cottage but no one could hear me. I had come here alone or so I had thought and now I feared for my life. Ultimately, as my body took the last impact off the stairs, his grip on my arm released causing me to hit the cold floor with a bang. That’s when I got a clearer view of my attacker.

His clothes were filthy and tattered in places. His boots were black, heavy set and extremely worn around the edges. He was about six feet tall; his body was commodious in stature. He wore his dark black hair long and shaggy around his plump face. I noticed he had a jagged scar on his forehead and his nose was disproportionate to his face. His wide set eyes were dark and alight like fire as a smile curved itself upon his thin set lips.

He stood over me, staring through his half lidded, crazed filled eyes. It sent chills down my spine the way he looked at me. His conflicted facial expressions flickered between amusement and sheer delight. He seemed to enjoy watching my pain and suffering. The sight of him scared me to death; it was too much to bear.

“I could kill you right here where you lay, but I think I’ll wait and have some fun with you first.” He didn’t take his eyes off me as he spoke.

His smile was the purest of evil. The way his eyes rolled over my body. There was a hint of anger but they gleamed with excitement. Like a predator in the hunt patiently waiting for the kill. He paced back and forth the floor; his movements slithered like a snake. I watched him for a moment examining his body language. Sneaking glances before turning away so he wouldn’t notice how I watched him. Something was playing on his mind, some scenario he was contemplating. Planning out what he was going to do with me. His facial expressions looked confused at first and then sheer delight washed over them.

The time was now if I had any chance of escaping here. I had to move fast if I planned on saving my own life. In the hazy distance I spied a door that had to lead outside. The one thing blocking my path was a few pieces of old broken furniture. A floral sofa was over turned on it back; the reminiscence of a broken chair lay scattered in pieces over the floor by the doorway. It was only a few feet away from where I lay crumbled on the floor. His whole body stiffened, standing firm with his back slightly turned away from me. He was in the direct line to my escape.

I sat up uneasy. The pain wracked my body but knowing the impending confrontation that was about to transpire, fear was setting in. I managed to get onto my feet without him hearing me. Unsteadily I gripped the railing of the stair case to quite my movements and that’s when I noticed the large stick laying on the floor by my feet. I slowly bent down to pick it up not taking my eyes off him making sure he didn’t take notice to what I was about to do. The stick was heavy but it had a sharp edge on one side. Looking down at the weapon that I held in my hand I knew this had to be hard and fast if I stood any chance at escaping. Quietly I made my way forward lifting the club up in the air I swung and struck him in the back of the head.

The amount of force that I exuded did not seem to have the impact I had wanted. He half stumbled, turning around his body precarious to the blow to his head; he shook with disbelief in the irony that I had retaliated back. This enraged him farther. He wobbled unsteadily toward me as he advanced hard and fast. The vacant look in his eyes was disturbed, fearless and unrepentant to any harm he was about to inflict upon me. The consequences would be great but there was no going back now, my pride would not allow it. What would be a game to him now turned into a deadly sense of predatory even animalistic rage which was building inside of me.

He pulled his arm back making a fist and he swung at my face; clearly underestimating that I would be a worthy adversary. I ducked just in time as he missed my face and fell hard onto the floor- now was my chance. Flight or fight was all I could think, it was time to move. When I tried to creep past him, his hand caught hold of my ankle and I tripped falling into the couch. I kicked my leg at his arm hoping he would release his grasp but he wouldn’t let go. His fingers viciously clawed into the abrasions on my ankle forcing a shrill ear deafening scream from my lungs. My heart raced as I struggled to catch my breath, the pain was unbearable. With all the strength I could muster I landed a solid kick to his face. The blow was so hard, blood splattered all over the floor. This time he released his hold on my ankle and he covered his face with his hands waiting for the next blow.

Reaching down I picked up a leg of a wooden chair that lay scattered in pieces all over the floor. I held it above my head ready to strike. I noticed he wasn’t moving and his eyes were shut, the blood pooled from his mouth onto the floor. I could hear the intake of his jagged breath and see the rise and fall of his chest as the air hissed between his teeth.

I made my way backwards towards the door, not taking my eyes of him. He was moving his hands away from his face and turned his head to look around the room until his eyes made contact with mine. I could feel the fear protruding from my body but I was not about to back down now.

“You are going to pay for that, witch.” He muttered, sluggishly moving to all fours, his stare locked onto mine like a predator ready to pounce on his prey.

I gently twisted the door knob to open it but it was stuck. I knew it wasn’t locked because the knob turned without a problem; the door was jammed from the outside.

“You won’t get out through there. The cops boarded that up years ago. You know those murders in the paper about the lake side killer who was never caught? Well that was me!” He laughed with a loud roar.

My only hope was to get back to the window I crawled in through but that room was on the other side of him. There was no other way around the situation. I had to get past him one way or another. I paused for a brief moment to contemplate what my next move would be. He would try to block my path to escape but I had to try. I still had the wooden leg in my hand. It may be the only advantage I have at the moment but it would still cause enough damage to injure him.

“Well looks to me that there is only one way out. So what are you going to do now? You and I both know that you’re hurt more badly than I am-so this is going to be fun, it will take more than a kick to the head to slow me down.”

He got up unto his feet, cautiously making his way toward me. He took a few more steps in my direction but the look on his face had dramatically changed. All I could see now was pure rage.

“Why are you doing this? I know I shouldn’t have come here and I completely caught you off guard but there is no need for this to continue. No one needs to get hurt any farther.”

He paused for a moment, didn’t dare turn his back from me, knowing I would strike the first chance I could get.

“Please, just let this go. I promise nothing will come of this and I will not alert the authorities.”

He just stared at me with his eyes wide and wildly alert not answering. He began to laugh uncontrollably almost losing his breath.

“You seriously think I am going to let you leave here? I can’t do that sure the fun is only beginning for us.”

My body shook with fear. I needed to get around him and back to that window to escape. It was my only chance of survival.

He made a lunge toward me hard and fast. As quick as I could swing the wooden leg with all the strength I had, it hit him square in the side of the face. He went stumbling back and fell against the wall with a loud thud. I made my attempt to go around him and reach the doorway from where I entered. He grabbed the back of leg knocking me down. We rolled on the floor struggling to gain control of the other, when he landed on top of me and pinned my arms with his strong hands. I bucked wildly beneath him trying to knock him off but he was too heavy. With both hands he placed at the base of my neck he wrapped his fingers around my throat and began to squeeze. The pain and intense pressure on my throat had me gasping for air.

I clawed my nails into his skin. I swung my hands hitting him as hard as I could in the chest and anywhere I could make contact. My futile attempt to get him to stop was useless. This was it; I thought to myself I was going to die. As our eyes locked onto each other one last time and the air drained from my lungs all I could see was the smile across his face before the darkness came crashing in.

The last thing I felt was the huge weight being lifted off my chest and his hands ripped free from my neck. I could hear yelling in the back ground and the loud bang of something hitting the floor. That’s when all hell broke loose but the sounds around me were fading and the whole room was closing in around me. The darkness had won, it completely consumed me.

When I awoke, the sun light shining into the room stung my eyes. I blinked a few times to clear my vision and finally noticed that I was laid in a hospital bed surrounded by white walls and a dry sterile smell. Looking across the room Aurora was sound asleep in the arm chair. The tears came without warning and unrelenting to the uncontrollable sobs that escaped my lips. She awoke with a start and jumped up from the chair running to be at my side.

“Oh thank god you are awake. I am so sorry Rebecca; I should have gone with you. Not in a million years would I have guessed that anyone would have been in that old cottage especially him.” She began to cry, the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What happened? I don’t remember much. I guess I must have passed out after he chocked me. How did I end up in the hospital Aurora?”

“When I never heard from you for over four hours and you didn’t answer your phone, I began to panic and knew something terrible had gone wrong. I called the police and told them where you had gone. They said they would go immediately and check it out. The police said that there had been recent reports about a man in the area who know body knew and that he seemed suspicious. Rebecca if I had known beforehand, I would have never agreed to let you go out there to pursue that story.”

“Aurora, you couldn’t have known that anybody would have been there and maybe I should have done some proper investigating before I went. It’s not your fault so please don’t blame yourself. I knew this job had its risks and this was just one of those times but I am glad that I am still alive to tell the story.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

“Only you would want to continue a story even on deaths door step. Rebecca let me go and get the nurse. She will be glad you’re awake and Detective Clarke is also here. He has been waiting the last three days to question you about what happened out there.”

“I have been out for three days? What the hell has been going on? Did they arrest him? Did he get away?” My whole body began to tremble.

“Calm down Rebecca, they managed to arrest him after a struggle. He is now in the county jail awaiting trial. He is being charged with attempted murder and causing bodily harm to you and Detective Clarke wants your statement. He wants to know if you can verify if he had anything to do with the lake side murders. Did he say anything to you in regards to that?”

I looked down at my shaking hands and blew out a sigh of relief.

” He told me that he was the killer and about how he got away with it all those years ago and that now he was about to get away with it again. You should have seen the look on his face Aurora; he looked completely content with what he did, not a bit of remorse was in his eyes as he spoke to me.”

“I’m going to go and get the nurse. I am sure once she gives you a look over, that Detective Clarke will want to talk to you. I am going to go and let him know you’re awake as well, ok. I will be back in a few minutes.”

“Thanks Aurora, you saved my life. If you hadn’t of called the police, I would not be here right now.”

The tears streamed down her face as she smiled at me before closing the door behind her.

Aurora drove me home from the hospital. The apartment was quiet and I was finally alone. The tears poured down my face and I fell to the floor on my knees. The sobs escaped my lips freely. I was lucky to be alive.

This was the story I had never imagined would take me to deaths door and to think I would be the one front and center to tell it. This is the story that would change my life and this was only the beginning.