A dark web of monsters, p.17
A Dark Web of Monsters, page 17
“What happened, Daniel? What are they going to find in there? And why are you covered in so much blood? What did you do, Daniel?”
“I did what had to be done. What he deserved. She’s still in there though, and just as guilty.”
Deborah groaned. They had been too late. While she thoroughly agreed with Daniel’s argument, she hadn’t wanted it to end this way. She wanted Aaron to face the wrath of the public, serve his own life sentence just as he had made his niece do. And in a way it had been her fault; if only she had insisted in keeping him the allowed seventy-two hours, but, of course, then she hadn’t known about the mistake they’d made.
“I get it, Daniel, I really do, but it’s wrong. He should have been made to suffer in prison, before going to hell.”
“No. He would have gone to prison then maybe released on parole for good behaviour after fifteen years. Allowed to carry on where he left off. Which he sure as hell would have done. I’ve done the world a favour, you should maybe thank me.”
“Well, actually, I’m going to arrest you as well. I don’t know what sick things run through your mind, but you’re just as evil and sick as he is. We found out about Liz. We returned again, Daniel, after we realised our mistake. We found your other laptop. And your parent’s. We know what you’ve been doing. You’re a hypocritical, sadistic monster just as your parents are. And you’re going to prison for a long time too.”
“I did nothing wrong! It was a just a bit of fun!”
Disgusted, she called to her colleagues to take him away, just as an ambulance arrived. Deborah took Angela’s hand in hers and gently squeezed it. There was a commotion coming from inside the house then Emma was brought out struggling and hurling abuse at those dragging her out. As Emma passed Deborah, the woman spat in the detective’s face.
“Such a pleasant family. I’m sure you’re going to enjoy your new home.”
“Fuck you!”
“Somehow, I suspect it will be the other way around.”
Deborah looked down at Angela and smiled as the paramedics winced and began to attend to her.
“Thank you,” she said. “Why did he do those horrible things? I never did anything to make him angry. He was my favourite uncle.”
“No, you didn’t do anything, Angela. None of this is your fault. Sometimes, people are just born monsters; other times, things make them turn out bad. We don’t know why he did it, only that he was very sick in the head. But he’s gone now, he can’t hurt you or anyone else ever again.”
“That’s good. I feel sorry for Mum and Dad though. I bet they never thought it was him. He must have been very good at hiding he was a monster. He fooled me.”
“He fooled everyone, Angela. Even us and we’re trained to find and capture these people.”
“And he fooled my cousin, Daniel too. I feel sorry for him but I’m glad he found me. He was very brave.”
Deborah paused for a moment. Should she tell her Daniel was just as big a monster as his father? She decided against it. She’d find out in her own time anyway.
“Yeah, well, like I said, Angela, monsters come in all shapes and sizes. In some ways, they’re all monsters.”
Chapter 34
She never heard the news because she didn’t watch it anymore. She didn’t watch anything now except the way her world was crumbling around her and she was powerless to stop it. There was nothing she could do anymore, nothing that would stop the humiliation and torment that had become her life. All because she had been gullible and naïve and fallen into a stupid trap. No one could help her and it was never going to end. Thus, it was in her hands and her hands only.
Lucy Smith emptied the bottle of sleeping tablets into the palm of her hand and, with the help of a bottle of water, swallowed them one by one until they were gone. While her tormentor, Daniel Radcliffe, was being carried away to a police station, and, unbeknown to her, police officers were frantically trying to locate her address, Lucy fell into a deep sleep.
Her pain was finally over. The sickening monsters known as the Radcliffe family had claimed one final victim.
The End
Author’s Note
Well, here we are again, the end of book 4 in the series. Nasty enough for you? Originally, when I wrote book 1 it was going to be a 5 book series, ending at Northgate with all the previous characters getting up to mischief. Didn’t turn out that way, did it—already halfway through 5 as I write this and ideas for plenty more.
When researching book 1 I was quite confident I’d seen it all. Watching the nastiest stuff I could find on YouTube. Junko Furuta, Suzanne Capper, The Girl in the Closet, you name it. Then a friend sent me a link to a video on YouTube, about something called Hurtcore on the dark web. I’d already read The Groomer by Jon Athan and that it was loosely based on a real person and event, but if I’m honest, those first few scenes in the book, I thought it was just Jon with a particularly nasty imagination! Boy, was I wrong.
After watching that documentary I was hooked, scouring everywhere for more information on the topic, everyone that had been involved in this sordid practice. The Groomer is loosely based on a guy, Peter Scully, whose videos are considered the most depraved of all, especially one called Daisy’s Destruction. So bad is it, it was often considered a myth like the infamous snuff movies until a few people managed to get hold of copies from the dark web. Not much is known about the video, only that two girls are involved who are mutually tortured and raped over the course of several days. Barbed wire is said to have been used on them. Hung upside down by their ankles and viciously tortured. After being set free by Peter’s helper and girlfriend, they were forced to dig their own graves and one of the girls was strangled and killed. He even had his own company set up to film and sell copies. Finally, he was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. This man was so vile even other paedophiles hated him, saying he was abhorrent. There’s an interview with him on YouTube from the Australian TV series, 60 minutes, where he shows no remorse at all, even joking about it. If you want an insight into the minds of these individuals, I suggest watching it.
Mathew Falder was a young student at Cambridge University, a brilliant mind with a brilliant future ahead of him. But his dark side got the better of him. First, he liked to hide cameras in the girls’ toilets at the university, then in his own home then throw parties, able to watch the girls as they attended to their needs. He uploaded these on the dark web, purely for fun. But this was nothing. Over the next 10 years or so, he also managed to blackmail somewhere in the region of 100 different people—kids, girls, boys, even adults—into carrying out his sick fetiches and demands. Girls were made to drink from the toilet bowl, suck on used tampons. One man was forced to rape his own son. Another forced to torture his. A one-year-old baby was tortured. All this was for his own pleasure, revelling in the control he had over them.
The biggest and most popular sites on the web had hundreds of thousands of members, all uploading stuff on a daily basis. If they wanted to remain members, they had to upload videos regularly or they were removed. When detectives finally managed to hack into the site and discover the owner’s home address through his IP address, at first they thought it must be the father. The man’s son was just 21 years’ old. But they were wrong.
Lux as he was known—real name Mathew Graham—spent his evenings on his computer controlling his entire empire, his most popular known as Hurt 2 the Core, hence the term Hurtcore. He even wrote a guide for wannabe paedophiles on the best way to capture children, how to avoid detection, and torture techniques without accidentally killing them. If they should kill them the best ways to dispose of the body. There were chat rooms where members could ask questions on topics such as how best to torture the victim, ideas on how long they could torture them for without them dying, how best to make them scream. Lux set up this operation when he was just 19.
There are others such as Shannon Mccoole, Richard Huckle, regular members and posters on the dark web. Huckle even got a job as a missionary helping kids in Asia so he could be closer to them and use them however he wanted. And the list goes on…
Now I don’t know anything about computers which is why I needed help with this book, but the ironic thing is it was the US government that inadvertently created the dark web in the first place. They wanted to be able to send anonymous emails to people until they realised if they were the only ones sending them, everyone would know it was the government! So Tor, among others, was set up, enabling people to interact on the internet under total anonymity. Another fine job…
So even when I was writing book 2 I knew I had to visit this world at some point and here it is. Because of the nature of the book help was required regards police procedure and how the internet works. I’d like to thank Kay Victoria, 911 operator, for her valuable help. At one point, one of her detective colleagues thought I had more nefarious reasons for my questions until she pointed out I’m an author! You saved me there, Kay!
My utter lack of computers and tech in general is legendary so a lot of videos were watched trying to understand how the dark web works. I still screwed up but thanks to Jennifer Horgan—fellow author and editor—her past working for the government intercepting IP addresses proved invaluable! Any factual errors in this book are mine because I still wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. Thanks Jennifer!
A massive thanks to those that also read the beta version, checking for the dreaded typos and anything I may have missed. You’re awesome! And last to all those that read the ARC version, too many to mention, but know I am forever honoured you choose to read this sick thing! So until next time, when Loneliness is a Monster, a book about a very creepy, twisted stalker, is ready, I’ll go and read something cute to wash away the bad taste left by Daniel, Aaron and all the other vile characters…
Also By J. Boote
They are all Monsters
Am I a Monster?
Born or Bred (Pigs and Monsters)
A Dark Web of Monsters
Man’s Best Friend—an extreme novella
Love You to Bits—an extreme novella
Buried—an extreme novella
Also by Justin Boote
Short Story Collections:
Love Wanes, Fear is Forever
Love Wanes, Fear is Forever: Volume 2
Love Wanes, Fear is Forever: Volume 3
Novels:
Serial
Combustion
Carnivore: Book 1 of The Ghosts of Northgate trilogy
The Ghosts of Northgate: Book 2 of The Ghosts of Northgate trilogy
A Mad World: Book 3 of The Ghosts of Northgate trilogy
Chasing Ghosts
Soul Searchers
The End of Things as He Knew Them (with Angel Van Atta)
In Grandma’s Room (published by Wicked House Publications
The Undead Possession Series
Book 1: Infestation
Book 2: Resurrection
Book 3: Corruption
Book 4: Legion
Book 5: Resurgence
J Boote, A Dark Web of Monsters
