Son of a Serial Killer (2 page)

5

Ben Green sat on the sofa in front of a muted television, staring blankly at the screen while he shoved spoonful after spoonful of cereal into his mouth. He snapped out of his trance when he finished his bowl and briefly registered the pretty and young detective being grilled with questions by the surrounding reporters. The banner along the bottom of the screen gave her name and indicated she was the new lead detective in The Phantom case.

Ben stood, put the empty bowl on the table and switched off the television. He moved to the mantel piece and glanced at himself in the mirror before turning his attention to a picture of the late Graham Green. He held the picture close to his face, staring hard into the eyes of who was once his b
est friend, his confident, his father.

Two months had passed and Ben was still as sad and distraught as when he had first heard the news.

The verdict of accidental death was too confusing for Ben to comprehend. Accidently walked out into the middle of a busy road? But then Ben also knew his father wasn’t the type to commit suicide.

Wi
tnesses said Graham Green was ‘upset and mumbling like a madman,’ but to Ben, his father didn’t have a problem that he couldn’t handle. He loved his wife, no matter how difficult she could sometimes be, he loved his son, loved his work and loved the house he called home.

Ben was also the only person who knew his
father had the windfall on the lottery, although he didn’t know the exact amount. He agreed to keep the win quiet, a secret among men, between father and son, as Ben understood Graham’s fear of change; Ben suffered from apparent random episodes of anxiety, so would never judge another for what some may call an irrational fear.

His
father paid off Ben’s mortgage and bought him a new car as a sweetener, anyway. The car was explained to his mother, Mrs. Green, and his girlfriend Natalie as a present to himself after a bonus at work. The two women bought the lie.

Ben worked at a telemarketing company. He was doing well until two months ago. He hadn’t worked a day since his
mother called him with the bad news.

It
was his first day back. He could have stayed away from the office for a while longer, as he had savings left, what Natalie hadn’t squandered on designer shoes and handbags, that is.

But h
e was going back to work as too much time on his own was only depressing him further. Natalie would disappear for long periods of the day and night. Ben often found himself talking to himself, holding conversations with the man in the mirror and suffering from mild panic attacks. He felt empty inside, and it was eating away at his soul. He needed to fill the void.

He placed the photograph of his
father back on the mantel and stared deep into the eyes that returned the favour in the mirror.

‘
What am I doing with my life?’ he asked out loud. ‘What was I born to be?’

The reflection flashed an evil grin, his eyes twinkled. Ben wasn’t fazed, it had been happening more often lately.

6

Natalie was under the l
ight, warm spray of the shower.

She
finished shaving the pubic stubble from her armpits and pussy and placed the razor back on the shelf, then tilted back her head and let the water caress her neck, smiling as she steadied herself with one hand on the wall whilst the other softly stroked her clitoris. She thought of the money she had been making from fucking and sucking her clients. She thought of David, who she would see today, a client who loved to give as much as receive.

She hadn’t seen David since Ben stopped working
, as meeting around his house wasn’t convenient. Anyway, the thought of getting caught at home merely added to her excitement. She could feel she was reaching climax, hips thrusting in time with her flicking fingers, eyes closed as she let the occasional groan slip from her lips.

KNOCK, KNOCK

‘Nat, are you nearly done?’ called Ben, ‘I need to shave now or I’m gonna be late for work.’

‘
Shit,’ Natalie said to herself, ‘Fucking bastard.’

She had lost momentum du
e to the interruption, finding herself angry and frustrated instead of euphoric.

Receiving no reply, Ben went to the bedroom and finished dressing in shirt and tie. He examined his polished shoes, gave a nod of satisfaction then slipped them on his feet.

He tapped again at the bathroom door.

‘
Nat?’ he said as the door swung open.

Be
n’s mouth dropped open as he eyed Natalie stood in sexy black underwear and an open silk dressing-gown that she slowly wrapped closed around her body. Ben had only agreed to sex twice since his depression began. Not enough to keep a woman like Natalie satisfied.

‘
The bathroom is free,’ she said.

Ben glanced at his watch.

‘It’s too late.’

Natalie tried to pass Ben but he gently held her by the arm.

‘Did you think over what we talked about last night?’ he asked.

She breathed a deep sigh.

‘It’s not the time for a baby’ she said, as Ben moved in to kiss her on the lips, but she turned her head and the kiss landed on her cheek. She gently pushed her way past him and into the bedroom.

Ben knew things had been bad between them, but he was surprised at just how bad things were getting. He was going through what seemed to be the hardest period of his life, and the person he had chosen to share his life with, more and more often
gave him the cold shoulder, unless she wanted sex, which was always more mechanical than emotional. He was beginning to question their relationship, but knew that losing someone else so soon after his father would surely send him into a deeper, downward spiral.

The idea of becoming a ‘dad’
came to him during a conversation with his father, not long before the day he lost him.

Graham was describing the pleasure in having a child, someone to teach and enjoy time with.
Another being, who would from certain angles, remind you of yourself or your loved one, but in fact, is a person unto themself.

‘
The miracle of life unfolds before your very eyes,’ said his father.

Ben knew he and Natalie were good-looking, intelligent people. He pictured their child to be a mix of the best parts of their personalities; his work ethic, her looks, his physical strength, her emotional stability.

He looked again at his watch and hurriedly left the apartment.

7

Alexia sat on the bonnet of the black BMW, her arms and legs wrapped around Ricky, a young man who had recently been suspended from his local comprehensive school. He saw this as a week’s holiday.

Alexia was supposed to be on her way to the private scho
ol her parents were paying three thousand pounds per term for her to attend. Years of expensive education couldn’t stop the attractive schoolgirl from falling for the very crude charms of Ricky from the first moment they had met, at an under-eighteen’s disco two weeks earlier.

Ri
cky, who was big for his age of sixteen, just short of six foot tall with stocky build, looked even bigger in his puffer jacket and was known locally as a bully. He was seen as the main man at school, with a big mouth and a big attitude to match. In reality, he was a big fish in a small pond.

The testosterone that fuelled his
growth and aggressive behavior was also driving him in the chase for Alexia’s virginity. She was two years younger than him, underage, but he didn’t care. He took a small bottle of vodka from his pocket, took a swig and offered it to Alexia.

‘
Oh yeah, really, like, I’m going to drink alcohol before I go to school,’ she said. ‘I’d stink of it’

‘
You can’t smell vodka,’ he said. ‘Besides, you should spend the day with me. We’ll go back down the bridge, like the other night. It’s dead quiet during the day.’

‘
You’re not pressuring me, are you?’ she asked rhetorically as she grabbed the bottle and took a large gulp. Her face scrunched up at the taste and feel of the liquid as it tumbled down her throat. Ricky smiled, knowing that today would be the day.

‘
Go on, have another swig.’

She complied.

Ben came out from the apartment block and saw the young couple along the road. From his angle, he couldn’t make out if it was his BMW they were leaning up against, he hoped it wasn’t, confrontation had never been his thing. As he drew closer, he shook his head as he realized the young girl was sat on his car bonnet.

‘
Excuse me,’ he said, as he arrived at the car, pressing the button on the central-locking remote. The car beeped as the doors unlocked.

‘
You’re excused,’ said Ricky.

Ben stood by the driver’s door as Ricky half-forced a French kiss from Alexia, who stopped and turned to Ben.

‘What? Don’t look at me,’ she said.

‘
Yeah, fuck off, pervert,’ added Ricky.

‘
Just get off the car, please,’ said Ben.

H
e opened the door, climbed in then slammed it shut, put the key in the ignition and started the engine, startling Alexia into jumping off the bonnet and into Ricky’s arms.

‘
Let’s go,’ she said as she led Ricky away. ‘He’s must be a paedo or something, standing there watching us.’

Ben sighed heavily and counted to ten
, trying to take his mind off the aggressive thoughts that popped up in his head. He caught his angry eyes in the rear-view mirror.

‘
Calm down, Ben,’ he said, ‘they’re just kids.’

Ben slowly pulled away and passed the teenagers as they walked toward the end of the road. In his mirror, he could see Ricky calling him a wanker and giving the hand gesture to make his message as clear as possible.

Ben’s reflection grew angrier.

‘
Don’t take it Ben,’ said the voice in his head.

‘They’re just kids, leave ‘em alone,
’ he said out loud. ‘And leave me alone.’

His reflection shook its
head in disappointment.

Ben adjusted the mirror so he could no longer see himself. He wiped the sweat that had gathered on his brow and
again counted to ten.

8

The drive to work would normally take Ben just fifteen minutes, twenty-five minutes tops, on a bad day. He hadn’t driven this route for two months so didn’t realise the traffic would be so bad due to road-works. An hour later, increasingly stressed, he pulled into the outside car-park and found a space at the back. He jogged to the office block that housed ‘Cutting Edge Marketing.’

Walking into the office, Be
n felt the room buzzing and felt a wave of anxiety. His chest tightened slightly and sweat gathered on his forehead. Hands shaking, he took a paper cup from the plastic sleeve and released the water from the machine next to the entrance. He gulped it down but didn’t lose his dry mouth. He dropped the cup into the bin.

Moving further into the office, he saw that a young man was sat at his desk, in his cubicle, using his telephone.

‘Mr Green,’ called out Charlie Peacock.

Ben looked to his left. His boss was waving him into his office.
Charlie stood and they shook hands before seating themselves.

‘
So, how are you doin’ old bean?’ asked Charlie, giving Ben the once over as he spoke.

‘
Why are you looking at me like that?’ asked Ben.

‘
Lookin’ at you like what?’ Charlie smirked and shook his head. ‘You know me too well, Benjamin.’

‘
I told you I was coming back, Charlie. Who’s the guy at my desk?’ asked Ben.

Charlie sighed
.

‘
He’s your replacement, Ben,’ he said.

‘
You fired me? You didn’t even fucking tell me,’ said Ben.

‘
Calm down, Ben,’ said Charlie, with slight irritation in his voice. ‘You’re not fired. You worked here autonomously. There’s no P45, no golden handshake, you’re just finished ‘ere, that’s all.’

Ben knew Charlie was right. The company was set up in such a way that it could be very flexible with its
‘staff’. Ben was self-employed, but worked as an agent for Cutting Edge Marketing. The company would sell different products, ranging from off-plan properties to advertising space, depending on what Charlie sourced.

All of the
agents, like Ben until this point, had the benefits of Charlie’s contacts, an equipped cubicle with telephone, computer, etcetera, and the occasional ‘hot lead’, dependant on who was Charlie’s favourite at the time. Most of the work was cold-calling, but once you got used to the rejection, it wasn’t so bad.

The downside
s to working with CEM was paying rent for your cubicle and giving Charlie up to seventy per cent of the net profit on all deals.

Charlie was raking in the cash. Ben was doing alright up until two months ago.

The problem with Charlie is you are either with him or against him. Ben didn’t share his passion for selling, or making money, and Charlie saw him as less of a man for this. CEM was also a bit of a boy’s club, one was expected to work hard then play hard.

Around six months ago, Ben stopped going to the strip-clubs and playing the five-a-side football matches with Charlie and the others. He felt like he was wasting his time, he had just lost interest. It was the start of that empty feeling inside. Then his
father died and Ben didn’t answer or reply to any calls or emails from the office. Eventually Charlie had to phone Natalie who explained, unsympathetically, about Ben’s depression. After that, Charlie considered Ben a weak link and washed his hands of him.

‘
So that’s it? After four years?’ asked Ben.
‘Yeah, that’s it’ answered Charlie. ‘Look at yourself, Ben, half hour late, unshaven. And how much weight have you lost?’

‘
So you’re gonna start on my appearance now?’

Charlie leaned forward in his chair and l
ooked straight into Ben’s eyes.

‘
For all I care,’ he said, ‘you can throw yourself under a bus, just like your old man.’

Ben wasn’t shocked Charlie had
said that, he’d known him too long. He was angry and hurt, but not surprised. He rose to his feet, trying hard to stop the adrenaline from shaking his every bone, and left without saying a word more.

He got into the lift,
pressed the button for the ground floor, and rested his hands on the rail that ran along the bottom of the large mirror on the back wall of the elevator. He stared at his reflection, knowing full well what was coming.

‘
You’re weak, feeble. You did nothing! Show him who we are! Show him what we can do!’ said the all too familiar voice in his head.

‘
No,’ Ben screamed at his reflection, as the doors of the elevator opened at the ground floor, an aging businesswoman raising her eyebrows as Ben dropped his head in shame and hurried to the exit.