Death in the Black Wood, Oliver Davies [short story to read TXT] 📗

“Not then, no, but they will go again now. They’ll show that picture to everyone they spoke with last time.”

“He won’t remember me. That was three months ago, and I was just a guy smoking a fag that he happened to run into in the same place a couple of times.”

“Some humans have better memories than others. He is the only risk I have discovered after going over everything. We should eliminate him.” That startled me. The Companion had never asked me to kill a person before. I didn’t think I was capable of doing something like that. “Don’t be ridiculous. He is old and sick and will die soon, anyway. Better him than millions of others. You can give him some of those pills he likes so much and make it peaceful and enjoyable for him. It will be a kindness, really.” Sensing my continuing reluctance, it relented. “Very well. We will go there tomorrow. If you find that you cannot kill him, then I will do it for you.”

I felt much better about that idea. I’d rather lose time while my Companion did that than kill a harmless old man myself.

Soft, useless human! I was so tired of nursing this pathetic, gullible specimen along. I could hardly wait until the whole, vile species was wiped off the surface of this stupid planet.

The worthless old man did not live alone in his residence, but I could move stealthily. It was easy enough to open up my chosen window at the rear of the building and slip into the rooms allotted to him. I liked wearing this body, controlling its every move. It felt strong, healthy and powerful. After hours of sitting watching the house, it was good to be moving again.

The thought of killing was also physically arousing the body, and that was pleasant too. It would have been even better if I could have done to my current target what I’d made my pet human do to those other two. Their fear and pain had been delicious.

The target was sleeping and did not stir as I entered. He only woke up when he felt my weight fall on him, my hand clamped firmly over his mouth and nose as the needle went into a throbbing vein in his neck. Lots and lots of those little white pills we’d taken from the first target, all in a deadly little solution, rushing through his bloodstream. Oh yes, there was the fear, and the recognition too.

Well, I’d already known he’d remembered this face. I’d watched through borrowed eyes when the police car brought him home yesterday afternoon. I’d directed my stupid human to take us back to his own house again after that. We’d seen what we needed to see by then and I knew how we could get into that flat. Seeing that sketch on the Thursday evening news had been a shock. It had certainly sent my pet into a wild panic. I’d had to knock him out when I couldn’t calm him down. Pathetic creature! It wasn’t as if anyone would recognise him now, even if they saw him. I’d made him darken his hair, and it was longer now too. No more scarves from now on though, they’d served their purpose, and the beard had grown well. He’d need to cover his eyes in public, to be safe, but that was easy enough.

I moved my hand a little so the ‘Eric’ creature could breathe through his nose, but I wasn’t about to let him cry out. This body was heavy, and I pressed it against him as he died, making it even more of a struggle for him to suck in any air. I must say, humans had one good thing going for them. Their reproductive systems generated some really nice sensations. Maybe I should let myself have some real fun tonight, but not here. No, I had a much better idea of what to do while I was in control of this body. I’d had my human watch some of the police detectives over the past few weeks. I knew where a lot of them lived. Once I’d finished here, maybe I should pay one of them a visit. It wouldn’t do any harm to let them all know that I didn’t appreciate their efforts to interfere with my work.

It took the old man a while to die but he lost consciousness quite quickly. After that it was very dull, just waiting for his breathing to finally stop. I’d been too late getting to him to prevent the one thing I’d wanted to. That picture was already out there now. Still, that had made me want to kill him even more than before, the interfering old fool. It wasn’t very satisfying either. His death had been far too quick and easy. Call it an appetiser then.

The first two houses I visited after that were no good. They both had those boxes on the walls that indicated some kind of primitive alarm system. The third didn’t have one, and the back door didn’t give me any trouble either. This detective lived alone. Like Eric, she was sleeping when I found her. I carefully pulled down the quilt a little and hit her with the taser before she even stirred. The gag was in place within seconds. Once she was firmly bound, I unhurriedly began to undress, watching her futile struggles the whole time. This one was quite attractive, especially wriggling around with such enticing desperation like that.

While the body I was wearing enjoyed itself, energetically doing what came most naturally to it, I entertained myself by telling her, in gasping breaths, all the other things I could do to her before she died, if I felt like it. Why didn’t she have an alarm system installed? I asked. Wasn’t that a little stupid, for a detective? Shouldn’t she have known better? Or maybe she’d been hoping something like this would happen? Was I giving her