The SPECTRE Of The VATICAN ©

Chapter 40 - Paths Paved with Guilt.

Time: Present Day
Location: HereAfter

His movie did a kind of slow fast forward as Carter watched himself on the screen as he attempted to get Layla into bed. He was used to succeeding within a week of actively courting a girl. It had now been four weeks and he hadn't gotten past a good night kiss. He convinced himself that it was his idea to go slow out of respect for Mal's feelings for Layla but he knew deep down that this girl was dangerous. She had the power to hurt him like no other had, to hurt him even beyond the hurt that he had caused many other girls, the scary thing for him was that she could hurt him even beyond the hurt he saw in Mal's eyes each time Mal saw them together.

He endured a string of scenes in his movie that were joyous and at the same time loathsome, as his relationship with Layla grew and his relationship with Mal soured. It took him three months but he finally got his way with her. It wasn't until after he had accused her of being a virgin. She told him she wasn't a virgin but only slept with men that respected her. It always took her some time to trust a new man in her life. She had been badly hurt before when a boy she was dating fell in with the wrong crowd and started taking drugs. He also started bashing her. She had stayed in that abusive relationship for 2 years thinking she could change him back to the boy she once knew.

At last her mother had convinced her that it was never going to end well so she had broken it off with him. She was sad to have found that he was so into the drug scene that she endured eighteen months when it was impossible to begin any new relationships as her former boyfriend harassed her, asked her for money to feed his habit, then finally began stalking her until she had to take out a restraining order. He had broken this order twice before he was finally sent to prison for drug related offences.

She said she was telling Carter all this, opening up as to why she was was resisting his seduction efforts, in an effort to explain her reluctance to begin new relationships. She didn't trust men now, even nice ones like Mal, let alone lady's men like him. She explained that this reluctance was the reason she hadn't made the first move on Mal even though she knew he was a bit shy, and she thought he may have had a thing for her. He grew increasingly uncomfortable whenever she talked about Mal. It had caused him to temper his seduction routine and concentrate more on making her happy rather than himself. Carter had to admit that it was Layla changing him that led to their intimacy not his seduction techniques. He had become a much nicer person since he started dating her. His Mum, Amanda, had been so pleased to see the changes in him.

Carter looked to his right again and there was Ken. They watched their deaths together. His death had dashed all his plans for a happy and settled life with Layla, no more screwing around, having the son he always dreamed he would have, taking him away with his Grandad to their holiday house and fishing on the Hawkesbury River.

He was disappointed beyond belief and angry that his life had been disrupted so violently. He wanted to know why he was killed, and by who. He sensed that Ken felt the same way.

So Ken and Carter watched their deaths together in concentrated silence. Carter was astounded when the movie jumped again back to the girls watching the CCTV footage. This time however Carter and Ken were watching a different version to the girls. They could hear the girls talking in the background but the view they had was of them at the table. Carter had come back from paying the bill, downed what was left of his coffee and joined Ken who had stood up to leave. They went to the front entrance of the restaurant when all hell broke loose. Since Carter knew the restaurant he had gone ahead of Ken to lead the way out between the alfresco tables.

The sound of bullets flying past them made him look back at Ken in time to see the left side of his head explode in a puff of blood and white matter. He was still smiling as he collapsed to the ground. Carter looked in the direction, left of Ken. He was stunned to see a priest turning towards him a large pistol with a silencer attached spat at him. Once, twice, three times. He was close enough to see the shooter had a skull ring on the middle finger of his left hand. The finger he had extended to steady the gun. Diamonds or similar stones sparkled with reflective neon lights as his hands recoiled from the shots. He remembered looking down at his shirt as it filled with blood before he went down like a sack of potatoes. A myriad of random thoughts entered his head, at least he hadn't been hit in the head like poor Ken he thought and then began postulating that it must be the hand of God to be shot by a priest!