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Twenty One

“Wakey, wakey, rise and shine.”

The man stood over Sophie’s fragile little body, smiling quietly.

Little girls were so delicate when they slept. He noted the fingers of her right hand were just touching the teddy bear they’d left for her. It was grubby from its exile in the attic, but it felt correct for it to be one of Lucy’s. This little girl had probably never had toys, her slut mother had drunk all their money after all, and the father was nowhere to be seen.

He knew where the father was though. It hadn’t been exactly difficult to track him down via his data trail on All2gethr. Thought he could hide, just like the others. How wrong he was, how naive they all were.

The man recalled the first time he had seen young Sophie, the day that had truly set his plans into motion. Keeping tabs on her mother’s movements, he hadn’t given much thought to the fact that she had a daughter. But when he had seen her holding the child’s hand as they’d walked home, he had been reminded of all that he had lost — more tangibly than ever. The thought that this woman, the same drunken harridan who had sat idly by while his sweet Lucy poisoned herself to death, could profess to enjoy her daughter’s company had simply become too much to bear. He had obsessed over it, night and day, and could draw no other conclusion than that of fate placing this child at his feet as recompense for his great loss. The mother didn’t deserve a child; her actions were testament to that. She couldn’t be trusted to raise a child; her lack of moral values made that much a certainty too.

He’d been a good father to his Lucy, but still she had fallen prey to the evils of the Internet, succumbed to the drink and drugs peddled by the modern world. He’d had to admit to his own failings before he could act, confident that what he was doing was right. This time he would not fail. He would exact his revenge efficiently, without overlooking a single microscopic detail.

Lucy had become lost to him because she had managed to keep her secret world hidden. So he had created a secret world from which his targets could never hide. He knew everything about them, and this knowledge would be their undoing. They were so reliant on technology it had been easy as pie for him to conceal the fact that he’d already had their loved ones killed. The saucy text from Sarah to Dave — sent after she’d been drugged and taken to the hanging room. The All2gethr chat messages from Emily to Gwen — a simple matter of looking at the sister’s chat archive in order to emulate her messaging style. Their bodies were gone now, drowned with the plane. Only Sophie remained.

When he’d laid eyes on Sophie for the very first time, it was as though fate had offered him a second chance to prove himself as a father, and as the moral crusader the modern world so sorely needed. It was then that he knew he must take the child for his own, and dispose of the mother.

The little girl stirred, becoming aware of his presence in the room. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, towering over her like a shadow. He beamed down at her, his new little girl. His prize. How pretty she was.

“Hell-o Lucy. Did you sleep well?”

The girl flinched. Probably still sleepy, poor lamb.

“My name is Sophie.”

Ah yes, still half asleep! He smiled at her, patiently.

“Your name is Lucy now. Do you understand me? L-U-C-Y.”

A glimmer of fear passed over the little girl’s face.

Fear is healthy, fear is good, stops a young girl from growing up to become too much like her whore of a mother.

She nodded at him.

“Good girl. I should like to introduce myself properly. My name is Rupert Turner.”

He grinned down at his new Lucy, his teeth gleaming white as an alligator’s.

“Come on. Now you’ve had a good rest there are some people I’d like you to meet.”

Taking her tiny hand in his, he led her out of the room and up some concrete stairs.

He let go of the little girl’s hand and pushed at a trap door above their heads. He helped Sophie up via a little stepladder and into a garage. Seeing the girl’s nose wrinkle at the strong hospital smell inside the garage, he strode over to the corrugated metal door and slid it open over his head. Fresh air and blinding bright daylight flooded in.

Sophie covered her eyes with her arm in shock.

Rupert chuckled to see her look so pleased to be out and about. My little Lucy.

“Come along,” he said, “Let’s get you cleaned up. Then you can meet the rest of the family.”

“Here she is!”

Rupert Turner grinned from ear to ear as he led his new little Lucy into the kitchen.

His wife turned away from the kitchen sink, grabbing a little hand towel so she could dry off her hands.

Rupert beamed at her. She looked excited. He felt a swell of pride, recalling how brilliantly his wife had played the part of the limousine driver as he’d watched expectantly via his webcam feeds. He felt amused even now at her stern, motherly manner with the passengers, as she’d insisted they hand over their mobile phones. She would be delighted with her new daughter, especially now Soph… no, Lucy, was scrubbed up so nicely.

“Hello Lucy, I’m Annie. I’m going to be your Mum from now on — isn’t that nice?”

She smiled at Sophie, a joyful tear in her eye. Without giving the child a chance to reply, Annie called out into the adjoining room.

“Ed! Come and greet your sister!”

Rupert’s son entered the room. His gait was a little hesitant, borne of the strange tension that existed between him and his father after all they had done in recent days. His father had been judge and jury, and he the executioner. The luggage had been so heavy to load up on the private jet, once it was laden with human effluent. Ed smiled awkwardly at his father, then stooped down to greet the little girl. He ruffled her hair with his big fat fingers. His hand had the same persistent hospital smell as the odour in the garage.

Rupert corralled them into a neat group in the middle of the room.

Then he activated the little digital camera, which lay ready atop the kitchen table next to the fruit bowl. The little red light blinked three times then the room was lit with a blinding flash as the shutter activated.

Rupert dashed, excited, back to the table and picked up the camera to look. The four of them were pictured on the little view screen. A shame, their little Lucy had her eyes closed. She must have blinked when the flash went off.

No, matter, thought Rupert, there will be more family snaps to come. Enough for a lifetime.

He carried the camera over to show Lucy. They all smiled warmly at her, with great pride, as if welcoming a newborn child into the world for the very first time.

“Shall we?” Annie ventured.

Rupert put his jacket on and took Sophie firmly by the hand. He led her out of the front door, into the street. It was suburban road like any other, the branches of blossom trees swayed in the gentle breeze, little white petals raining down on them like confetti.

Annie and Ed walked alongside Sophie and Rupert. To a passer by, they would look like a normal family unit, out for a stroll.

Rupert felt his new daughter’s hand slipping from his fingers. He tightened his grip, holding her firm and thinking, I’ll never let you go, Lucy.

As they crossed the road together and walked to the playground, a plane screamed low overhead coming in to land.