He attended the same school as I did and it sounded as if nothing much had changed since the time when I had graced its corridors. Clancy was isolated, teased and made to feel like an outcast. Because of his appearance, having one blind eye, the kids took it on themselves to make the poor kid’s life a living hell. Much the same as they did when I attended.
But it wasn’t just the kids. Like Mavis Toomey did with me, some of the teachers would also make nasty comments, speaking their venom to a kid that didn’t really understand their intent. You see, James, Clancy wasn’t just a kid with a bad eye. He was also a little slow.
From what I gathered, there was some sort of issue during his birth, something about the cord being wound around his neck during labour. It affected him some, making him just a little slower than other kids.
But he had a heart of gold. He was just a kid needing friends, like anyone else in this world. And that’s what saddened me the most. It was me, all over again. And I couldn’t stand idly by while the town destroyed him. The time had come to make it pay, not only for me, but now also for Clancy. It was time to unleash Loui.
8.
I wanted to make sure Clancy was onboard with what was about to happen. I could have gone out and let Loui loose without saying anything, but the killings would have had no meaning to Clancy. By involving him and revealing my intentions, the deaths would have some closure for him. They would finally show him that people deserved to reap what they sowed. And Loui was about to teach them how to harvest.
He sounded excited when I told him. This grinning kid with an eye beaming with hope and excitement. It was as if I offered to take him fishing on a big ship in the middle of an ocean. He voiced his concerns to begin with, but once I assured him that things would be fine, he came onboard a hundred percent. I doubt anything could have kept him away.
As we began to plan for our main event, I thought it only appropriate that the first victim should be one we both had something in common with. It was a teacher that I had, who was now working in one of the local shops.
The funny thing about this first victim was that I was never credited with his murder. He was just another one of the many disappearances that occurred during that tumultuous period in history. The late 20s and early 30s were often seen as a time when many people moved around, sometimes for work, other times for more personal reasons.
Maxwell Templeton was a man who had a drinking problem, was a compulsive gambler and didn’t regard women and children as being equals. In other words, he was a drinking, gambling womaniser that slapped his wife and kids around as he saw fit. And not just his own children, but other kids as well.
When I was still in school, Maxwell was one of the 5th grade teachers. His own children attended school and I felt sorry for them whenever their father would discipline them in full view of other people. He didn’t care, despite several of his colleagues openly telling him to stop.
He once had a crack at me, telling me that my mum should have taken more care not to let the cum run from her arse. Of course, the insult went straight over my head, until it was explained to me later by one of the other kids.
But while his comment remained with me, it was what he’d done to Clancy that put him firmly in my sights. The prick had raped his mum, then beat Clancy up who happened to walk in while the act was taking place.
Maxwell owned a store by this time, Clancy’s mum working there as an assistant. The kid had dropped by after leaving school early because of a sickness, walking in on the pair. It was also Maxwell that had given Clancy his blind eye, slapping him so hard that he cartwheeled into a glass cabinet.
The sad part was that Bill, Clancy’s father, had disappeared the previous year, leaving his wife and 3 children to fend for themselves. It was believed that he’d run off with one of the local waitresses, but I know all about rumours that exist about husbands and fathers who up and leave overnight. I know only too well about them.
9.
I don’t know what happened to Bill, but I do know what happened to Maxwell. It’s funny how you guys were only too happy to pin the women that I attacked on me, yet the men I made disappear never had so much as a mention. Is it that difficult to believe, that I also may have let Loui loose on the male population of Cider Hill, James?
While you had my number at 14 for the killings back in the 30s, I had the number closer to 30 not including Royce or my dad, all beginning with Maxwell Templeton. He would be the first in a long line of Loui projects. But he would also be one of the few that Clancy directly joined in with, a true protégé for Loui to shape.
10.
Chloe Cartwright worked at the Silver Lantern for her boss, a seedy and despicable creature that often tried to have his way with her. It was Clancy that told me about Chloe and how we could use her to lure Maxwell out to wherever we needed him.
It ended up being as simple as a note left on the counter for Maxwell, asking him to meet Chloe out near the old gravel pit, an abandoned mining site on the outskirts of town. Of course, this Chloe had no idea that she
