Out of Time
By Donna Marie Oldfield
Text copyright © 2014 Donna Marie Oldfield
All Rights Reserved
Cover artwork copyright © 2014 Nicola Malena
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the author.
This novel is a work of fiction and any resemblances to actual events and people – either living or dead – are completely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Prologue
Four weeks ago
“Fluffy, no!” Scarlett heard her mum yell as their excitable puppy galloped through the door and bounced onto the bed to give Scarlett’s face a big slobbery lick.
The teenager groaned grumpily and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She blearily looked around her purple bedroom before focussing on the little white poodle that was bouncing up and down on her polka-dot bedspread.
“Sorry, Scarlett. I tried to stop her. I guess she just wanted to wish you happy birthday,” said her mum, who was looking as chic as usual with her grey shift dress and neat, shoulder-length, black bob. She didn’t know where her mum found the energy to look so good when she worked full time and cared for a family of four, but she sure hoped she followed in her footsteps one day.
“My birthday!” Scarlett exclaimed. Being so damply awakened had made her completely forget.
She smiled at her mother and patted the eager pooch on the head. Fluffy leapt around appreciatively, then Scarlett noticed that there was an amazing digital watch where the dog’s collar should be. It was a silver, 1980s-style timepiece with a light-up face and she instantly realised it was the same one she’d been eyeing up for weeks.
“Happy birthday!” her mother exclaimed.
“Is this mine?” she squealed.
Her mum nodded and smiled.
“It’s so beautiful. Wow, thanks, it’s fantastic. Amazing!”
Scarlett removed the watch from Fluffy, who seemed a bit disgruntled to lose her funky accessory. The pup stomped off, probably in search of excitement, or food, elsewhere. Silly dog.
“I’m going to make a special breakfast. See you downstairs soon?” Mum said.
“Sure, and thanks again.”
Scarlett quickly showered, then dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a fitted, grey T-shirt with the words ‘Camp Crystal Lake’ on the front. She didn’t know what it meant, but she loved the faded, retro feel of the design. Finally, she put on her new watch, then headed downstairs.
“Happy birthday!” called her little brother, Dan, who was sitting at the breakfast bar in her mum and dad’s stylish, glossy, white kitchen.
“Thanks,” she said as she noticed he was munching his way through a piled-high bowl of cereal. “I thought Mum was making a cooked breakfast.”
“She is, but I’m starving, so I’m having this first.”
Scarlett rolled her eyes. She wished she had the metabolism of a 14-year-old boy.
“So how does it feel to be 18?” he asked, while handing her a card and two parcels.
“The same,” she shrugged as she tore open the first gift.
“Brilliant! A Super Hero City 2 game for the Wii. Thanks, Dan.”
“Well, I know you like your geeky stuff and I was hoping you’d let me play it.”
“Of course,” Scarlett assured him as she unwrapped the second present.
“An original vinyl version of Blondie’s Parallel Lines. Excellent! Where did you get this?”
“Some guy on eBay,” Dan said. “I knew you wanted it, but I don’t know why you don’t just download it off iTunes.”
“Because it’s a classic,” Scarlett explained as she walked over to where her mum was cooking. She didn’t expect Dan, who was more fascinated with the latest gadgets than old records, to understand.
Scarlett wandered over to her mum, who was preparing food at the other end of the galley kitchen.
“Do you need a hand?” she asked, while stealing a bit of tomato off the chopping board.
Her mum prodded her thieving hands with a fork.
“Hey!”
“No, Scarlett, it’s your special day. You go and sit down in the lounge.”
Scarlett didn’t need to be told twice, she absolutely hated helping out with the cooking. She walked through to the other room, where her dad was sat engrossed in the newspaper. He was probably analysing all the sports fixtures like he did every Saturday.
“Hi Scarlett! Happy birthday,” he said, glancing up and putting his paper aside.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Did you like your watch?”
“It’s just what I wanted, thank you.”
“That’s OK. We’ve got another surprise for you, too, but you’ll have to wait until we’ve been to the Tate Modern to find out what it is.”
“Ohhhh,” she said, pretending to sulk.
“Speaking of which,” her dad said. “We’re leaving in an hour or so. Alex will be here before then, won’t he?”
“Oh no!” she yelled. “I’d totally forgotten that he was arriving this morning. What time is it?”
“11.30,” her father said. “Why?”
“Argh! Alex is due any minute now.” She raced out of the room and up the stairs to find her mobile phone and switch it on.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered impatiently, as the contraption flickered into life. Her sleek, black, touch-screen phone might look good, but it always took an absolute age to switch on. It was like something from the dark ages. “Heap of rubbish. Hurry up!” She didn’t have time for this ‘searching for a signal’ nonsense, she was desperate to see if Alex had called, or he’d be wandering around East Dulwich lost and most probably cross with her.
Alex had been Scarlett’s best friend growing up in south Manchester, but she’d hardly seen him since her family moved to London 18 months ago. She loved her new life down south, but she still missed home and she missed her friends even more. She couldn’t wait to see him.
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” sang Scarlett’s phone as it powered on. Eleven messages from Alex. Whoops. She quickly dialled his number and he answered straight away.
“Scarlett, where the hell have you been?”
“Sorry! My phone was off. Where are you? Are you at Euston yet?”
“I got there ages ago. Don’t worry though, I managed to find my way across London without your help,” he teased sarcastically.
“I’m so sorry. Where are you now?”
“I’ll let you off seeing as it’s your birthday,” he laughed. “I just got on the bus at East Dulwich station, so I’m minutes away from your house. The driver says I need to get off at the next stop.”
“OK! I’ll come to meet you. I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”
“Cool, bye.”
She quickly dashed back down the stairs, which l
ed straight to the front hallway.
“I’m just going to meet Alex,” Scarlett shouted to her parents as she grabbed her keys from a little white rack that spelled out the word ‘home’. Her mum loved those cute, kitschy signs and had them dotted all over the house.
“But brunch is nearly ready,” her mum protested.
“I won’t be long.”
She slipped on her Converse and grabbed her grey, leather bomber jacket, then went to open the door, but Fluffy darted in front of her and blocked her exit.
“Fluffy, get out of the way.”
She started running around Scarlett in circles.
“No! No walkies.”
Cue crazy barking.
“Why?! Why did I have to say the W word?” Scarlett thought to herself. “Oh, OK then, you can come,” she said aloud.
She grabbed a lead from behind the door, then ran up the street with Fluffy leading the way. This dog sure was strong for such a small poodle.
Scarlett felt lucky to live in such a beautiful neighbourhood as she walked up the tree-lined street, which was a mix of contemporary detached, semi and terraced houses. At the end, she turned the corner and came to the main road where the bus stop was. She squinted through her jet-black fringe at the sunshine to check for traffic, then noticed Alex was already there.
“Alex!”
He waved.
He’d certainly grown up a lot since she last saw him. His floppy, brown hair was longer and he was a couple of inches taller – he must be 6ft now.
The road was clear, so Scarlett darted out, but at that second, her new watch fell off.
“Typical!” she thought as she glanced around, then spotted it on the floor behind her. She rushed back to retrieve it, only to see a lorry speeding far too quickly around the bend.
Scarlett’s eyes met with Alex’s – he was running towards her, but she didn’t even have time to scream before everything went black.
Chapter 1
Present day
“Alex!” Scarlett mumbled as she groggily awoke from what felt like a really long sleep.
Silence.
She forced her eyes to open.
“Alex?”
She glanced around the room and realised she was in a hospital. A pretty grotty hospital at that. The yellowing walls looked like they hadn’t been painted in years, the fluorescent lights had a fair few cobwebs attached to them and her bed sheets looked threadbare and disgustingly grim. Where on earth was she – the middle of a war zone?
“The Jane Doe’s awake,” she heard someone shout, then a nurse came running in.
“Where am I?” Scarlett asked.
“Hospital, dear. You’ve been here for four weeks,” a nurse told her.
“Did the lorry hit me?” Scarlett started to remember her last waking moments.
“Lorry?” the nurse looked at her like she was crazy. “No, dear. It seems that you had a tumble in the street and hit your head. You’ve been unconscious all this time. You’re lucky that a stranger found you and called for help.”
“But I remember a lorry coming towards me and Alex.”
“Who, what? There was no road accident, and you were admitted on your own.”
“But…”
“You rest dear, the doctor’s on his way.”
A few minutes later, an important-looking man in a white coat entered the room.
“I think she’s got amnesia,” Scarlett heard the nurse whisper to him, not very quietly.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Johnstone.” he said. “It’s certainly good to see you awake, how are you feeling?”
“Alright.”
“Good, good. Well, we’ve been running lots of tests and you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve found no major problems physically.”
Well, that was good news, but Scarlett still had a horrible gut feeling. She looked around the room suspiciously. Something didn’t feel quite right.
“It’s curious really,” the doctor continued, “we expected there to be much more damage, considering how long you’ve been unconscious, but you’re absolutely fine.”
“Did he have to sound so disappointed?” Scarlett wondered to herself.
“Maybe the shock knocked you out. Do you remember what happened?”
“I think I was hit by a lorry. I was crossing the road.”
“Impossible.”
“I’m certain!”
“You were found down a back alley. A moped would have trouble getting down there.”
Scarlett was very confused.
“Where’s Alex?”
“Who’s Alex?”
“My friend. He was with me.”
“No one was with you… sorry, what’s your name? You didn’t have any ID on you.”
“Scarlett.”
“And do you have a surname, Scarlett? So we can contact your family.”
“Shortt.”
He scribbled it down on a piece of paper and handed it to the nurse, who scuttled out.
“Now, Scarlett, I need to run a few final tests to make sure you’re fully OK now you’re awake.”
“I thought you said I was fine?”
“Just normal procedures, such as blood pressure tests… Is that OK?”
Scarlett nodded. This hospital was giving her the creeps.
Ten minutes of being prodded and measured later, he’d finished.
“OK, we’re done,” he said matter-of-factly.
As he was about to leave, the nurse came running back in.
“She doesn’t exist.”
“What?” asked the doctor.
“What!” Scarlett yelled. “What do you mean, I don’t exist?”
“Just that. Your name isn’t listed on any files anywhere. You don’t exist.”
Scarlett scowled at her.
“There must be some mistake…“
“The system doesn’t make mistakes. Are you sure your name is Scarlett Shortt?”
“Yes, of course I’m sure.” she sighed. She realised there was no point in arguing with these crazy people.
“Look, young lady. I don’t know what you’re hiding, but we need your real name so we can call your parents.”
“Scarlett is my real name,” she insisted huffily. “Try looking up Alice and Tom Shortt. They’re my mum and dad.”
“OK.” They both looked at her sceptically, then went to check out her claims.
Scarlett glanced around the room. This was the dodgiest hospital she’d ever seen. It was damp, dark and totally run-down.
“Where on earth am I? And why do those doctors think I don’t exist?” she wondered.
She noticed her clothes were hanging in some kind of excuse for a wardrobe in the corner. It looked like rickety 1970s shelves with a pole stuck near the top.
“Forget this,” she thought.
She leapt out of bed, yanked the tatty hospital gown off, then strode across the room and pulled on her skinny jeans and T-shirt.
“They don’t know who I am, or what kind of accident I was in,” she reasoned to herself. “This place is a shambles. I’d might as well sneak out, head home and get my parents to take me to a proper hospital.”
Scarlett zipped up her leather bomber jacket, ran her fingers through her black bob in a bid to look presentable, then scanned the room. Where were her Converse?
Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching. She needed to get out of here, but she wouldn’t be able to run very far in bare feet. The steps were getting louder – as were the nurse and doctor’s voices.
“Please don’t come back in the room yet. Pleeease,” she silently prayed. Her heart was racing.
“Think straight, Shortt,” she told herself. “Calm down and think.”
Scarlett spotted her shoes by the door. Phew! She raced over and picked them up. At that exact moment, the footsteps stopped and the door handle started to turn.
Her body tensed up as her eyes glared at the handle.
“Doctor Johnstone?” she heard another voice say.
“Yes?” he barked.
“We need you and nurse Cook over in the Nightingale ward. It’s an emergency.”
The handle moved back to a closed position.
“Very well, come along nurse.”
Scarlett listened intently to them walking away, then pulled on her shoes, crept out of the room and tip-toed down the corridor.
“Which way now?” she thought. These places were always such mazes.
Her eyes darted around in a panic. “Yes!” she thought. At the end of the corridor, there was a green-and-white sign that said ‘Exit’. She hurried towards it as urgently as she could without drawing too much attention to herself.
“Thank the Lord,” she thought as she approached the door, happy to be almost back in reality. She couldn’t bear to be in this hellhole a second longer.
And then she stepped outside.
“What on Earth?”
Scarlett stood on the main road outside the hospital and stared in disbelief at the world before her. This couldn’t be London. Could it?
Everything was so filthy and grey, a million times more so than usual. All the shops she could see were boarded up and barbed wire ran along the high concrete walls and metal gates that lined the rest of the street. This was not a good place to be. As she crept past a menacing gang on a street corner, she wondered if it was such a smart move leaving the hospital on her own. She didn’t know what part of London she was in and she wasn’t sure how she could even find out. Sticking to the main road should be her best, and probably only, bet.
Scarlett kept walking for 30 minutes, desperately staring at the street signs in the hope she’d recognise one, but everything seemed so strange to her and the people were unsettling too. She felt uneasily on edge and turned to look over her shoulder every two seconds to be sure she was safe.
A car full of boys slowed down as they drove past.
“Alright, love? You looking for a good time?” one of them drawled sleazily.
Scarlett ignored them and quickened her pace.
“Hey, baby, don’t be scared,” he said.
“Don’t even acknowledge them,” she thought. “Then maybe they’ll go away.”
“Oi, you stuck-up snob!” another shouted. “Think you’re better than us or something?”
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