“Maybe, but he’s had one hell of a head-start on us. I just hope that he hasn’t got to Mary and Alex yet. You read what he said he was going to do to them both… is there any more news on Kate Williams?” Tom was eager to know.

“Well, from what Julie down at the crime scene told me, there was no doubt that Kate and the other guy…”

“Alan Lane.” Corrected Tom.

“Yeah, Alan Lane… there was no doubt that Kate and Alan were murdered. Just like it said they were in that fucking freak’s journal.” Said Kevin.

“The little fucker.” Snarled Tom, who had known Kate Williams from when she was a young girl. You’re out there somewhere, Trenton, thought Tom, and we’re gonna find you too, you crazy piece of shit.

***

Mary, Gary and Shark followed a natural bend as Skerrington Forest began to climb to the north, towards Knighton and the Black Pathway.

“Shouldn’t be much longer now.” Said Gary.

“Good. I’m bloody knackered.” Replied Shark.

“We all are.” Smiled Gary. “At least we haven’t heard any more fucked-up shit coming from behind us in the last half hour.”

“What do you think that was?” Queried Mary.

“Dunno… and I don’t really want to think about it. Let’s just concentrate on getting back to the pathway.” Gary suddenly remembered something. He took his backpack from off his shoulder and opened it up. After a few seconds of rummaging around, he pulled out a small portable radio. “I’d forgotten about this. Fancy a listen to some music, girls?” Gary asked, in a bid to ease the tension within the group.

“Switch it on.” Smiled Shark. Gary put the wireless on. Static immediately filled the air. Gary began playing with the tuning dial. After a few moments, an old seventies song crackled across the airwaves.

“Fucking hell, I remember my dad playing this, when I was a little kid.” Said Gary, smiling at the memory. “It’s bloody awful.” He added. “No wonder mom broke up with him.”

“Are your parents divorced then?” Asked Shark.

“Yep. Mom threw him out years back. He was a bit of a druggie… still is. If it weren’t for my old man though, I wouldn’t be into the punk stuff. I grew up listening to all of that sort of music, coz that’s what dad always used to listen to… The Pistols, Discharge, The Exploited, GBH, Crass… oh, man, I could go and on.” Said Gary.

“This ain’t punk.” Said Mary, referring to the song that was playing on the radio.

“Well, Dad did listen to some shit stuff as well. But then, don’t we all? How’s the pop-punk, eh Mary?” Gary teased her.

“Pop-punk’s not shit!” Mary argued.

“Yeah it is, it’s a pile of old fucking bollocks! It’s not proper punk.” Replied Gary.

“I know. That’s why it’s called pop-punk.” Answered-back Mary, who then flicked the finger at Gary. And that’s when Shark let out a scream.

***

That afternoon… on the day that Howard had followed Mary and the others up onto the Black Pathway… it was fucking mental. Our house, our home, it suddenly filled with coppers, and Kay and I were told that we would have to leave. Some neighbours of ours, Martin and Anne, they let us stay at theirs for a while. Within an hour of us arriving, the police were hammering on their front door. They wanted to speak to me about something that they’d found in Howard’s bedroom, concealed under a loose floorboard. So, off I went, back up to the house. The police led me into the kitchen. One of the coppers was sat at the table, and he had an A4 -sized book in front of him.

“Sit down, Lucas.” Said the policeman, I forget his name. I did as I was told. The copper pushed the book in front of me. “Have you ever seen this before?” He asked. I looked at the book. Scrawled across the plain white cover, in red marker pen, were the words,

‘Journal of Howard Trenton - My thoughts and reflections on life’. I shook my head. I’d never seen the book before in my life. “Are you sure about that, Lucas?” Said the copper.

“Absolutely.” I confirmed.

 

The policeman that was questioning me about Howard’s secret journal didn’t exactly pull any punches.

“If what your cousin has written down in this diary is true, then he’s gone up to the Black Pathway Trail to murder your wife’s sister, Mary.” The copper told me. “Seems that he’s not taken too kindly to being knocked back by her, a couple of weeks ago.” He continued. “There’s also a confession in here, in relation to a double-murder that Howard says he carried out last night, down near the harbour. Do you know a Miss Kate Williams, Lucas?” The policeman quizzed me.

“I’ve heard Howard talk about her. I think that she was a staff member at Elman College… not one of his tutors though. I think that Kate was more of a friend to How…”

“Nice to see that he treats his friends with such kindness. It says in this journal that he tried impregnate her, but failed. So it looks like your cousin might be a rapist, as well as a killer. Bet that makes you feel proud, eh Lucas?” The copper had said to me… the sarcastic cunt. At that point, I tried to get up from the table, and was ordered to stay put. To this day, I can’t understand why the policeman was treating ME like shit, as if I were the murderer. In fairness though, I had a lot of dealings with the police over the days, weeks, and months that followed; he was the only rotten apple that I ever encountered in our local force.

 

The copper had come out with one revelation after another… I couldn’t take it all in. I was told that Howard had, according to his journal, murdered eleven people, including Alfie Whitehouse. I was informed that Howard’s first killing occurred when he was just thirteen years of age. Howard was a rapist, by his own admission. Did I know any of this, the policeman kept asking?

“Yeah, of course I did, because I’d be quite happy with someone like that living under the same roof as myself, my wife, and her younger sister.” I answered back, displaying a thick slab of sarcasm. The policeman kept asking me if I wanted to have a read through the journal that was in front of me, and I kept telling him that I didn’t. “You’ve already told me what Howard has written down in it. That’s enough for me, thanks. I don’t want to see it.” I said.

“Some of it’s fascinating reading though… did you know that your cousin thinks that his father is actually an alien?” Laughed the copper. “By all accounts, his mom told him that she was raped by an extraterrestrial! How fucking mental is that? Your cousin’s as mad as a hatter. Sounds like his mother was as well! I doubt he’ll end up in prison though… they’ll probably give him the cushy alternative, down at Ashworth or Broadmoor.” He smirked.

 

I was finally allowed to leave the house, and return to Martin and Anne’s, after an hour of sitting in the kitchen of my own home, being goaded and grilled by that prick of a copper. At this point, there were other policemen, outside, blocking off any access to the house. It was a hive of activity. Most of the neighbours were out in force, and the ones that weren’t out in the street were hiding behind their curtains, peeking out, trying to be a little less obvious with their curiosity. As I walked back down to Anne and Martin’s, one of my friends who lived just three doors down from us, Rick, called me over.

“Is it true, Lucas? What they’re saying about Howard? That he killed Alfie?” He asked me. I appreciated the fact that he’d just come right out and asked me, straight, up front.

“It looks that way, Rick. It looks that way.” I informed him, with sadness in my voice. Rick put a hand on my shoulder.

“If there’s anything that me and Sharon can do to help…” I smiled at him, and carried on walking to Martin and Anne’s, though my legs would barely carry me, they were shaking so much. That was just the beginning. The next day would be even worse. It took a long, long time… years… for anything to ever feel normal again.