Tunnel of Death

In the sewers of the River Thames, London, was said to be a murderous and twisted man. He doesn't discriminate against who he kills. No matter if you are male or female, tall or short, skinny or fat, he was said to not care for your type but only for your blood. Eleven bodies found down along the sewer lines in the past six months has provided the need for a red alert, with a luxurious reward put on anyone who has information. The manhunt for this killer had truly begun.

Sixteen tons of sewerage flow into the water each year from this system but now for the first time body parts are included in this. Each victim has had some part of them missing; fingers, toes, ears eyes and even the tongue. No murder is the same, there is no M.O. linking the bodies together, other than the fact that they are found in the sewers and most likely have been killed down there.

The latest missing person was a 21 year old girl who was last seen heading out the door down to collect her laptop from the repair shop. Her sister Jennifer reported her missing after repeatedly trying to contact her but to no avail. She tried the laptop repair shop to which they confirmed that she did indeed collect the laptop and the camera outside showed her walking down the street that would of been in the direction of back home..

After three days the police had no links to where she would of disappeared to and assumed the worst. They checked the sewers but unlike the rest of the victims there was no body laying there, nor was there any floating limbs on the bed of the sewerage. Jennifer tried everything she could before deciding one night to head down to the sewers herself. She had to go by night as it was a sectioned off area and under darkness she could sneak inside, and do that she done.

The drop down was about five feet to a splash of dirty water hitting her under her nose. Not a greeting Jennifer would be used to. Walking through the murky tunnels she was determined but frightened, her sister is the only family she has left since her brother passed away a few years ago and her parents when she was young. Death seemed to be something she would be familiar with and the sewer tunnels reeked of it. Nonetheless she continued on.

There is an eeriness about the place, which is to be expected since bodies have been found mutilated but still there is something else in the aura that words just can't explain. Jennifer armed with just a flashlight and a Swiss army knife which as it happens was her missing sisters. Up ahead she could hear someone walking. That distinct sound of footprints in water reminded her of when she was a kid hiding in the cold streets on London from her teachers at school when she was in trouble which was often after her parents passed.

The steps got closer and closer, there was a bend in the tunnels up ahead where she hid behind, it was a blind spot for anyone coming up the way towards her. Sweat was dripping from her body, out through every tiny pore there was. She knew this could and was possibly the man who took her sister. The shadow of the person passed by, she was ready, knife in hand,   3.....2.....1............

Stealthily creeping up she was right behind him now, she could smell his scent but her hands started to shake , she couldn't go through with it. The man was well past her now as she sat crying into her arms thinking of how she was such a coward. Her self-esteem issues from when she was a kid all came back now, she cussed herself endlessly until she heard a scream coming from the direction the man went down. A scream of utter terror and pain rang through the tunnels. She got herself together, thinking who done this if that was the killer?

Just a few feet away she could see a body up ahead. In the water which now had a hint of that blood red colour there was an ear and finger floating down towards her. Stuck between seeing who this person that lay there was and running back the other way because whoever done this would be close she decided she had to take a look at the body. Another self-esteem breakdown wasn't something she could go through right now.

On the body she could barely look at the man's face but on his shirt she noticed a badge, it was a City of London Police Force badge. The relief over not stabbing him moments ago quickly vanished, this was a death no person deserved. As her thoughts were starting to get darker there was a sound of movement coming from the walls. That infested sound that would often intrude on houses around the London estates in Winter time.

Out through a passageway in the walls came what must of been hundreds of sewer rats just as big as a house cat. These rats weren't just ordinary rats, their eyes were red, saliva drooled from their mouths and they made a very hostile screeching sound that sent the fear down Jennifer's spine like a shock of electricity.  Time was not much longer, one rat pounced at her but she was able to kick it away like an out of place balloon.Another tried but the same fate was in store. A third and fourth one hurdled at her together but Jennifer swiped at them with the knife, slicing open their stomachs. The rats then circled her, inching closer by the second.

Before Jennifer knew it they were all over her. From her waist down they covered every inch of her body, nibbling at her flesh. The rats now had her in their grasp and on to her knees she fell as they now completely had her at their will. She could fight no longer.  Just as she was fading away she looked to her right into the passageway which the rodents came from and she could see the dismembered corpse of her sister laying there. This was the last image of her death stricken life.

It's All Good I'm On The Inside

Kids joyfully ran around playing after the Helping Hand school had closed its doors at 3.30 p.m. The school consisted of 75 kids all aged between 6-9 who had trouble in a normal learning situation, they were administered here as a way of meeting their educational requirements. The atmosphere at the school was one of a very friendly and engaging nature with their slogan hanging above the entrance "A home away from home". 

The teachers promoted well-being as being a primary attribute for the kids to take away with them each day. Everything inside the four small classrooms was that of a positive nature, kids were rewarded for everything such as taking part as there was no first, second or third place and of course coming in last place or not being up to standard were words/phrases that were forbidden in these classrooms. The reward system seemed to work if not a bit over the top; kids were even applauded when they came back from the bathroom clean, "Congratulations on another small step in achieving independence " the teachers would gleefully praise each kid as they came back from the bathroom.

When school finished a bell would ring. The tone of the bell was like that from a cartoon. The class would all join together along with the teachers in a circle and pray, exclaiming how thankful they were to have had another wonderful day and hope for many more in the future. It was then the kids danced around the long narrow street that was flanked by tall trees outside the houses that ran from the large metal gates at the entrance down to the school at the end . In fact it was more than a street , it was a community.

Kids who had these learning difficulties were selected from national and state schools nearby and offered a place at the Helping Hand until the quota was met. Their families were given a home for free as a way of the school being thankful for the opportunity to be able to teach their kid, it was their way of giving to the world. Inside the walls outside of the school was a grocery store , a sweet store, a chill out space for adults as it was called, a chapel and a small diner that had a laundry room attached to the back , sort of like an extension to a house. All these buildings sat on the right hand side of the long street, exactly two houses apart. 

The community was only constructed in the last year with this being the first selection of kids/families to be offered a place here. People on the outside, which was a run-down and waste town, remained very skeptical of the idea. Since it was first proposed and the site was picked and given the go ahead for works on it not many had approved of the project but it seemed that the money that was offered to procure the area was too much to turn down, even though no one could ever point exactly to where the money came from. This created a sort of enviousness from the outside people to those that were inside as they felt the "insiders" were given everything for nothing that the "outsiders" worked very hard for.

There was a segregation between the insiders and outsiders. Each time the gates would open for a community leader (teacher, priest, head of adult society, store owner) to go get supplies they would be met by derogatory insults from rightfully or wrongfully bitter and probably drunk men and women.  The walls surrounding the community was way too high for even the largest of excavator machine to see over. On top of the walls and gate was a laser triggered sensor that would alert the police on the outside who were given orders to look after the insiders. A few extra numbers on their paycheck secured this.

As the months passed , tensions grew.  The people outside grew with anger , especially seeing those cheerful leaders walking around all happy and smug looking. One wet evening an old shabby looking lady approached the gate and demanded to talk to one of the leaders. Her request was ignored by passers by so she handcuffed herself to the gate. She was now screaming deliriously for someone inside to talk to her and as she got louder the children started to notice her. Parents tried to usher their kids inside, the police were called but she didn't listen to them, guns were pointed at her head but she remained defiant that she wanted to talk to just one person inside.

The police waited for an opportunity but her being cuffed meant that openings were gonna be a bit more obscure than the norm. The lady was now kicking the gate , screaming herself hoarse. She reached into the deep pocket of her cardigan and took out a small knife, slowly cutting down her arm from wrist to elbow on the underside. The kids that remained seen this and started crying , never had they before seen anything bad in their sheltered life's, nevertheless an old lady carving down through her arm in the pouring rain with guns pointed at her.

All of the community were now gathered at the drama. One police man shot at the ground but the lady didn't even flinch. She pointed her cuffed and gruesome arm at the leaders screeching "You all shall pay for this, for your snobbery and haughty carry on towards us out here. You shall pay, you shall all pay!!" Right when she finished a machete from one of the police officers swung down upon the lady's arm cutting it clean off. She lay on the ground bleeding out, the community leaders walked over and looked one of the officers in their eyes "Put this peasant down". The crack of the gun was all that was heard next followed by the image of two officers dragging her dead body away, blood mixed with the rain streaming behind. 

The community never had a problem since. Over time it has expanded in terms of infrastructure and the incident was never mentioned again, it never happened and no kid would dare bring it up. A year to the day of the lady at the gate, as the leaders called it while whispering to each other, the community had a gathering. It was a celebratory gathering to show how far they had come. The day started off as bright as midday at summer but that didn't last long. Grey clouds started to gather in the sky, rain was starting to pour down and lightning tore through the atmosphere,

The celebrations were soon brought to a halt as families ran inside their homes. The leader of the teachers was dashing to her house, fumbling her keys at the doorway when she heard a whisper "I told you that you shall pay". It sounded so close it was like it was inside her head. She turned around frantically and at the entrance gate she could see a shadowy figure stand there; cuffed to the gate with her arm torn to pieces and her head with a bullet hole in it. Suddenly she could hear the lady screaming so violently it caused her to drop to the ground. The clang of the handcuffs on the metal bars of the gate along with the exorbitant loud scream rang through the teachers gaining momentum until boom!! That was the sound her head made when it exploded.

No body ever knew what happened to the teacher. Some think she ran away while others think that one of the outsiders had got her while on a supply run. Whatever the theory she was never seen again, no trace of her death, she just vanished. The following year on the same date, the clouds gathered again, rain came down and lightning scuttled around the skies. The grocery store/sweet store owner was heading home when he heard a noise. It was a whisper and when he turned around he saw a shadow figure of an old lady.......

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