Redgrave: An Erotic Horror Read online

  Thoughts of how I might spend my three days off kept me occupied right up until the point where my eyes finally slammed shut. I fell so deeply asleep that my head jerked and fell, giving my neck a nasty snap in the process. I jumped up, shocked that I’d fallen asleep so fast and so hard.

  Wait, something jolted me awake. Was that a crash in the hallway?

  My paper plate with pastry sleeves had fallen to the floor but there was no way it had made that noise. I stood, brushed the crumbs off my pants, and reached for my flashlight.

  My room was my sanctuary and I didn’t want to leave it. A nagging feeling pushed me toward Redgrave’s room. Maybe he’d fallen out of bed or something. Like so many other times tonight, nerves got the best of me when it was time to peer through the window. I hesitated, afraid again. I’d learned already that looking through the window could either set me at ease or completely wreck me. It all depended on the sock-covered feet at the edge of the bed. Finally, I stood up on my toes to get a glimpse of the sleeping prisoner. The beam was aimed at his feet, but they weren’t there dangling off the bed.

  My heart thumped.

  Not again.

  I moved the beam up farther along the bed, and there he was. He sat cross-legged on his mattress. My light shined over Redgrave’s camouflaged pants and up to the light blue hospital gown he wore over his upper body.

  I was conflicted. I didn’t want to see his face. I was afraid for some reason. But I did want to see it. I didn’t but I did.

  What if I look at his face and his eyes stare back at me?

  What I should have done was simply go back to my room and finish my movie but I just couldn’t. I couldn’t dismiss him without getting a glimpse of his face. Seeing that he was only human and not some psycho shaman might calm me down.

  I aimed my beam at his head.

  It was down. He wasn’t looking back at me.

  He stared into his own lap. Only the top of his white, gauze wrapped head could be seen. His upper body rose and fell with each breath.

  Time stood still as I strained to see his face. I knew I shouldn’t give him so much attention but I was glued on him. I was terrified.

  He sat so still. So fixated on his lap.

  CRASH!

  The sound of something metal hitting the floor sounded off somewhere down the hallway, near the kitchen. I almost jumped out of my boots. I shined my beam down the hallway, but saw nothing. Just the dark corridor looming in front of me, calling out to me, daring me to see what all the commotion was about.

  I turned and looked once more through the plexiglass window.

  He was looking right at me.

  Redgrave glared at me through his white mask.

  His chest heaved up and down angrily.

  His eyes. They weren’t normal. They should have reflected the light, but somehow they stayed shrouded in darkness, as if the flashlight beam wasn’t strong enough to force its way through the strange power Redgrave possessed.

  I moved my light to the right and then back to the left, traversing his eyes, and each time the beam passed them, it dimmed, only to regain power once outside his gaze.

  Then a faint red sheen flashed at his eyes, like the red eye effect on photos.

  CRASH!

  Somewhere, metal hit the floor again.

  I jerked my attention away from the window.

  My chest banged rapidly and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I needed to hear Chapman’s voice. He could come down and make this okay or at least ease the tension some.

  I lifted my radio to my mouth and pushed the button.

  BEEBEEP.

  No, not now.

  I pressed the button to talk again.

  BEEBEEP.

  I couldn’t look at the window. If I just ignored him and waited patiently, my relief would eventually show up. If I could just get through the night and make it to the comfort of my dorm room. I didn’t need to see him to do that. I didn’t need to pay him any attention. If

  I didn’t see him, he wouldn’t frighten me. He’d cease to exist.

  But there was that crashing in the corridor and no matter how badly I wanted to ignore it, I couldn’t. As much as I was afraid to peek in on Redgrave, at least I knew he was right there in his confinement room. Once I turned my back on him, he’d have the opportunity to scare me again. I wanted to keep tabs on him.

  Maybe he’d just sat up to pee. Maybe it had nothing to do with wanting to scare me.

  I tried to convince myself that all was fine, but I knew something wasn’t right. Redgrave was toying with me somehow.

  The way he’d sat on his bed, staring at me, mocking my fear. No, Redgrave knew what he was doing.

  The atmosphere in the hallway suddenly felt different. It was thicker, almost like I was under water. That was the only way to explain it. I felt sleepy and it seemed harder to move.

  Something made a noise down at the other end of the corridor, like clanging. I didn’t know what it was and I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get to the second floor. I needed to be with Chapman.

  I didn’t get far when I heard the SMASH from behind.

  I spun on my heels and looked back at Redgrave’s room as the sound resonated through the hall.

  He’d thrown something or broke something. His toilet maybe? Or was it someone else? Was someone else in the building with me? Was someone trying to get in from the outside?

  I crept my way back to the prisoner’s door.

  KNOCK…KNOCK…KNOCK…

  The exterior door.

  Oh thank God. Someone’s here to check on me.

  “Just a second,” I called out. “Who’s there?”

  No answer.

  I took a couple of steps toward the door and then slipped, my boot catching something hard on the floor, and I slid across the floor. I caught myself before I fell down. I lifted my foot and saw a shard of wood. A big chunk.

  I whipped my head left and saw Redgrave’s door open a crack. The wooden frame had been shattered as if kicked open.

  Oh no. God, no.

  The hallway behind me was empty. I dashed over and yanked on the main entry door and it was locked. The prisoner hadn’t escaped. I checked the office. Empty.

  Maybe Redgrave was still sitting on his bed. I doubted it, but maybe this was just another attempt at fucking with me. What better way to mess with someone than to prove you could escape if you really wanted to? I hoped to God that was the case. I yanked Redgrave’s door open and flipped the light on.

  The room was empty.

  Redgrave was gone.

  My hands went to my hair and I turned in circles, feeling like I was losing my mind.

  How is this possible?

  I slowed down and studied the room.

  How did he get through the door?

  On the wall next to his bed I saw how he kept himself amused. He’d scratched small pictures and words into the wallpaper. Specks of blood riddled the area and I imagined him lying in bed, using his fingernails to draw his morbid pictures.

  A mask with blood dripping down.

  A knife.

  Clawed hands reaching out of a puddle.

  The words “suffer” and “pain” and “Diablo Snuff.”

  Diablo Snuff. Like snuff films?

  Something snapped me out of my trance-like state. Tapping.

  TAP…TAP…TAP.

  I turned toward the small, rectangular window that I’d peeked through so many times that night. For the first time, I saw the world from Redgrave’s perspective.

  And there he was, watching me.

  The dark holes in his white gauze filled the small space. The red sheen over his eyes flashed as he glared right at me.

  For a second, I couldn’t move. I was petrified. I’d been trained to fight…to a point, but unarmed against a maniac?

  “Hey,” I yelled, and I’m not sure why. I had no plan for what would follow. It just blurted out.

  I made my way out the door like the point man on a search te
am clearing a building, only I had no rifle to keep me safe. As I rounded the corner, I braced myself. He’d be there, ready to charge at me.

  But he wasn’t. Redgrave was nowhere in sight.

  This can’t be happening.

  I was fucked. For a moment, just a fleeting second, I forgot the danger I might be in and thought about the trouble I’d encounter if he escaped. He was a sick bastard, that was a fact, but was he dangerous? I didn’t know. He’d cut his own face off, but as far as I knew, he’d never killed anyone.

  “Come on!” I yelled. “You’re only gonna get yourself hurt pulling this. This isn’t a game. You’re in a United States Air Force facility. You’re a military member. If you escape, and you’re deemed a threat, you could get shot and killed.”

  My voice echoed off the hallway walls. No answer.

  “Lieutenant Redgrave. You are an officer. You need to act like one and take responsibility for your actions. I’ve already called for backup and they’ll be here shortly. Return to your room and I’ll make sure someone fixes that door for you.”

  Will he buy my bluff? Did he hear the beeping of my radio? If he did, he knows I can’t call anyone. I can’t even call Chapman upstairs. I’m as much a prisoner in this building as he is.

  This wasn’t going to get resolved until 7am. Redgrave could easily escape through the stairwell windows. This wasn’t a secure facility. The room he’d been in, other than maybe the ones in the basement, was the most secure in the building.

  Windows were all over the place. They were locked, but they were there.

  Anger suddenly took over. I remembered all the exercises I’d gone through during my training and how I’d needed to take charge during arrests I’d made.

  I’m not a fucking child. This is my job, my duty, and this motherfucker is going to get back into his room either on his own, or with me dragging his dumb ass across the floor by what’s left of his fucked up face.

  “This isn’t a fucking game!” I yelled. “Come out into the hallway, with your hands in the air, and we’ll do this peacefully. If you don’t, I will be required to use necessary force.”

  Laughter filled the air.

  It was a strange snicker, not the typical joyous giggle. This was more like rusty ball bearings twisting around a skateboard wheel. There was a raspy, metallic tone to the sound as it floated down the corridor.

  My spine went rigid as I felt invisible fingers playing with my vertebrae. I was alone with something evil.

  Where the hell is Chapman? Hasn’t he heard any of this?

  The laughter stopped, and with it, every other sound. It was like I was standing in a vacuum. The pressure at my ears was immense and an instant headache rocked my brain.

  I turned in all directions and felt safer with my back against the wall. If I couldn’t tell where Redgrave was, at least I could be sure he wouldn’t sneak up from behind.

  The laugher came again, louder this time.

  Then the hall dimmed as the office light blew out.

  My first thought was to head toward the office, but then I heard the scream. It was a man’s scream, but at much too high a tone. I’d never heard a sound like it. It was pure agony.

  And it came from upstairs.

  Chapman.

  The sound of footsteps overhead beckoned me and I knew I needed to get upstairs in a hurry. I’d never in my life heard a man scream like that.

  Oh, God. Chapman.

  I moved down the hallway quickly, cautiously crossing in front of each doorway, but not slowing down to check thoroughly. If the scream had come from upstairs, Redgrave must be up there. I passed the bathroom and the kitchen, but then I stopped, realizing I’d need some sort of weapon. Sure, the Maglite could act as a club, but since I needed it to see, I couldn’t imagine how it would be a viable weapon.

  The kitchen was close so I kicked open the door and ducked inside, squatting down low just in case Redgrave was inside and preparing to attack. No punch, stab, or swing of an object came. I was alone in the kitchen.

  I searched quickly for anything that could be used as a weapon. The kitchen was void of knives or any other sharp tools. I spotted the table in the dining room and knew what I needed to do. I flipped it over onto its back and kicked at one of the legs twice before it broke free. In my hand, the wooden leg was like a thick and heavy club. A jagged-ended baseball bat.

  Weapon in hand, I entered the stairwell. Looking down, I saw that the stairs leading to the basement were empty. I needed to head up but I needed to do it carefully. Redgrave could be anywhere and I had no idea what weapon he’d acquired.

  I hesitated at the second floor door. The sound of Chapman’s laughter and the horror movie blaring on the other side would have been a warm welcome. But all was silent. I didn’t want to open the door. I wanted so badly to retreat to the office on the first floor and lock myself inside. I wanted to call for backup, but my fucking radio…

  Then it hit me. If Chapman’s radio was around, I could use it to call for help. I was a cop, a military trained one, ready for battle. I needed to do this. I tried to think back to all the training I’d gone through. The doorway itself, any doorway, was a dangerous spot to linger in as the silhouette provided when standing in it gave an enemy a perfect target. The fatal funnel it was called.

  I squatted down, making myself as small as possible for my entry. I pulled the door open just a crack, glad that it didn’t squeak. I poked my head in, and then ducked out once, then twice, making sure no attack was coming. Finally, I committed to moving in, picking my hiding spot, the desk Chapman had been sitting at earlier.

  The TV was off and the desk was empty. The only thing remaining was the clipboard where Chapman was supposed to write his checks. Checks he never intended to conduct. I searched the desk for his radio, praying he’d left it stashed in a drawer. He hand’t.

  I reached under the desk, thinking maybe he’d dropped it, and swiped my hand through something wet. I nearly slid under the table, and as I did, my right eye slammed into the corner of the desk. I dropped the table leg and it rattled against the floor, making way more noise than I wanted to. It stung and I cursed under my breath.

  Blood dripped from my hand into a red puddle that had formed beneath the chair. Chapman had to be dead. Blood was everywhere, way too much blood for one man to lose and go on living.

  My heart sank and my eyes welled up. I fell back onto my ass and stared at the puddle. There was so much blood.

  No, Chapman.

  I wiped the back of my dry hand against my eyes and tried to push my feelings aside. This wasn’t the time for mourning.

  Fucking shit. What do I do?

  I was so afraid. I was suddenly a scared child. No amount of military training prepared you for being alone in an old, dark building, with no gun, and a psycho killer waiting to spill your guts. I picked up my bat and gripped it tightly.

  Moving away from the puddle on the floor, I suddenly got the sense that I was being watched. A cold breeze drifted through the hallway. The supernatural killer was somewhere near, and as I raised my head to peer down the dark second floor corridor, I saw I was right.

  Standing at the opposite end, in front of a window, with the moonlight silhouetting his figure, stood Redgrave. His arms were down at his sides and he just stood there watching me. I watched back, refusing to break eye contact with him.

  From such a long distance, I couldn’t see his red eyes, but I knew they were blazing a hole right through my chest. I could almost feel the burn.

  I brought my flashlight up and shined it at the prisoner, but he darted left, entering one of the empty rooms.

  Shit…shit…shit!

  The smart thing to do would be to retreat to the ground floor and stay near the entrance. I could cower somewhere and wait it out in hopes that he’d flee through a window. But what about Chapman? He could still be alive.

  And if he isn’t…if he isn’t…oh, God, I don’t want to think like that. He’s alive.

  �
�Chapman!” I yelled.

  There was no point in being quiet. Redgrave had stared me down, face to face. He knew I was in the hallway, blocking the stairs. I doubted Chapman was still alive but there was always that chance.

  “Chapman!” I yelled again.

  No reply. No moan or cry for help. No scream. Nothing.

  I thought once more about fleeing, maybe even breaking through one of the windows myself. Not only would that make me a coward, it would make me a deserter, as I’d have to abandon my post to escape, and as a security forces member, I was supposed to be able to handle situations like this.