Refusing to be petted like a dog, she headed upstairs to take a shower. She took her clothes off and threw them down on the bed, then looked at her face in the mirror on her dresser. She had a nice tan coming along from her walks around the lake, but her chest and neck were pale where her clothing blocked the sun. Maybe she should wear a necklace?
On her dresser were several items of jewellery, but the one that caught her eye was hanging from a small stand. It was her mother’s necklace, the only thing of value the woman had left behind when she had decided to run out on Scarlet and her dad. The thought of wearing it made her feel like she was betraying him, so she left it where it was—where it always remained, a part of her possessions, but wilfully ignored.
A thought popped into her head which made her pull open the drawer underneath her dresser. She plucked out an old necklace with a thick, double chain. She had bought it a month ago from Little Treasures, making use of her staff discount. Mr Chester had told her it was from the sixties, when the country was all love and flowers. The little, gold pendant was a dove that split in two—one for each lover. She had never had a boyfriend, but when she saw the pendant hanging in the shop window, she had wanted it. To her, it represented a hope for the future. One day she would have a boyfriend, or even just a friend that she could give the other half to. She wouldn’t always be this alone. It had cost more than she had, but Mr Chester had been happy to take instalments from her monthly wages. He’d even knocked down the price further to help her get it. He wasn’t so bad.
Mind made up, she fastened the pendant around her pale neck and prepared to take her shower. The oddness of what had happened still remained with her, and led her to worry. Was Sorrow going to be okay? Should she still call the police? Without him being there they probably wouldn’t believe her story.
I found a naked man beside the lake and took him home. Yeah, that’s right, like in a bad porno movie.
Scarlet found herself picturing Sorrow’s penis and immediately blushed. She’d not seen one in the flesh before, but had started to grow curious about such things. It had been an ugly, dangling thing, but as she thought about it, she got a rush of excitement, and when she stepped into the shower, she needed to take it cold. All intention was to be back to her normal self by the time she sat down for pizza with her dad, and hopefully, she could put the whole thing behind her.
But an hour later, as she stared at the television and filled her face with calories, she still thought about that stranger.
Sorrow.
Where had he gone?
~ Chapter Four ~
The screeching demon woke Scarlet and made her moan in pain. She rolled onto her side and smashed her palm against the top of the alarm clock and begged it to stop. 8.00AM: Time to go to work.
Her head felt heavy—a mixture of tiredness and bad food. It led to her stumbling into the ensuite like a zombie, never lifting her feet higher than a shuffle. The plush carpet felt good against her bare feet, but that was her only pleasure, and when she looked into the bathroom mirror, her hair was tangled up like a bunch of weeds.
“Wow,” she said to herself. “The boys are going to be lining up to date you, sugar.” She sighed. I suppose there’s always Indy.
Before getting dressed, she dragged a brush through her hair and put on a little makeup. Five minutes later she felt almost human again. From her wardrobe, she went to get her peach cardigan, but realised it was in the kitchen—muddy and probably ruined. The memory of Sorrow wearing it made her titter. It all seemed like a loopy dream now, and she was no longer sure it had even happened.
In the kitchen, she met her dad. He was leaning over an impressive tower of buttery toast and seemed particularly perky this morning. Scarlet had not inherited her father’s love of early starts.
“Hey, Scarlet. Get some breakfast down you before work.”
“Thanks. Any Marmite?”
“No, sorry. I’ll go the supermarket when I get chance, promise.”
“Okay.”
Instead of looking away, he stared at her for a moment. Eventually, she had to ask him what was wrong.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he said. “I just can’t believe you’re so grown; up and ready for a day at work. Seems like only yesterday I was carrying you around on my shoulders at Alton Towers. You remember that?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it was the year mum left.”
His face fell and he stared into his coffee. “Yes, well, I suppose things really were different back then. We’ve come a long way, though, don’t you think?”
Scarlet hated seeing him brood over her mum—sometimes he could do it for days—so she changed the subject. “How’s the new job coming? They appreciate the long hours you’ve been doing?”
“I hope so; otherwise it’s all for nothing. To be honest, it took me a while to get to grips with the new role after so long in my old one. I’ve just started to find my feet, but things seem to be coming along.”
“Maybe you won’t be away so much then,” she added.
“Scarlet, you know I would be home more often if I could.”
“Would you?”
“Yes! I’m just so afraid of things falling apart again. I’m doing all I can to keep a hold of my job. Things aren’t so bad, are they? I mean, we have this nice little house, and you have your part time job. Have you made any friends yet?”
“If you’d spoken to me in the last month you would know the answer to that question is: Not so much.”
With a sigh, he headed over to the sink and placed his empty coffee mug inside. Then he stood for a moment with his back to her. When he turned around, he looked sympathetic. “I was going to work this Saturday, but I’ll see about getting it off. Maybe we can go ice skating. There’s a rink in town, isn’t there?”
Scarlet loved to skate, so it was a hard offer for her to refuse. “There’s a rink next to the cinema. I suppose it could be fun.”
“Great, then it’s a date.” He came and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Have a good day at work, hun.”
“You too.”
He left and she finished her toast, enjoying the warm butter in her mouth, but missing the tartness of the Marmite. She’d woken up fully now, and decided that it did feel pretty darn good to start the day early. So often she would lie in bed all morning, but she had to admit that her mood felt better than it usually did when waking up at 11AM.
Once she was full on toast, she rinsed her plate beneath the hot tap and headed for the door. Before leaving, she spotted her peach cardigan hanging on a hook. It was stretched and muddy—proof that what happened last night was real. Sorrow had been real.
She locked the door on her way out and headed down the front path. When she passed the bus stop, she considered waiting, but then looked up at the shimmering sun and decided that she was not going to be deterred from taking her morning walk around the lake. The chances of bumping into Sorrow again were surely next to nothing, yet part of her was willing to take the risk.
Or was it more that she wanted to see him again?
She felt embarrassed at the notion of trying to bump into the weirdo, but it was possibly very true that she wanted to see him—if only to see that he was alright. Last night had excited her—a departure from the humdrum, lonely existence of her life. It had almost been an adventure.
Scarlet and the Naked Stranger beside the Lake.
“God, this is like something out of a crappy romance,” she muttered to herself. “If he turns out to be a vampire, then I’m grabbing a stake and shoving it in my eye.”
The lake was often quiet early in the morning, but when she got there she spotted a couple of people walking their dogs and a pensioner feeding the ducks. It made her feel safe, having people around, but she was also disappointed. Nobody had seen Sorrow except for her, and it felt like the only chance of seeing him again would be if she were alone.
She passed an old man walking a beagle.
“Morning,” he said with a smile.
“Mo
rning,” she said back.
She sighed and thought herself silly. What on earth was she doing? Hoping to run into Sorrow again was so immature. Why was she acting like a kid?
For the rest of her walk, she kept her head down and concentrated only on getting to work. If she wanted attention, then she could get it from Indy easily enough. He had made no secret of the fact that he fancied her, but she always felt queasy at the thought. He wasn’t bad looking, but he was such a… doof. She didn’t want to call him anything worse because he didn’t deserve it, but she could only imagine what a date with him would look like: McDonald's followed by paint-balling, most likely. She wanted a grown-up boyfriend—someone with a car who could take her places.
Why was she even thinking about boyfriends right now? Was it because she’d been thinking about Sorrow? Did she fancy him? He was so much older…
And crazy. Don’t forget the crazy.
She started to dawdle and, when she checked her watch, saw that she was running late. With a muffled curse, she picked up her pace. With the way Mr Chester had been eyeballing her from his office yesterday, the last thing she could afford was tardiness.
A jogger dodged around her, and then the path ahead was all clear, right up to the visitor’s centre where she could take the path into town. She considered changing from a walk to a jog, but when she passed the spot where Sorrow had been lying, she lingered. The tracks in the mud were still there, and seeing such evidence made everything surreal again. What on earth had happened to that strange man she had found at the edge of the lake?
A gust of cold air came across the lake and made her shiver. The sun retreated behind the clouds, taking all colour with it. A noise made her spin around, but when she looked, she saw nothing but an empty path.
The breeze coming off the surface of the lake picked up, and she shivered again. Summer had left and the trees on the other side of the path rustled. The back of her neck felt like someone had pinched it. The oddest feeling, but something in her blood cried out for her to get away from there. Earlier there had been people about, but now the lake was deserted, aside from the birds which sat perfectly still on the water.
She embarrassed herself by acting like a frightened little girl. “Hello? Is anybody there?”
No answer. Of course there was no answer. Either she was being paranoid, or some psychopath was about to kill her—in both situations, nobody was going to answer her calls.
God, Scarlet. You’re such a wet mess. Why would anybody want to hurt you?
She decided the only thing to shake off the willies would be to get to work, so she picked up her pace until she was almost jogging. She probably looked stupid, but right now no one was around to laugh at her. She wished she had taken the bus, but the longer she walked, the more she told herself she was being stupid. Eventually, the sun reappeared from behind the clouds and the foreboding greys were once again replaced by colour. The breeze from the lake fell away too, and she felt foolish. Why had she been so worried?
A man appeared up ahead, strolling down the path in her direction.
Scarlet laughed, and was glad nobody had seen her freak out.
The man walking towards her was tall—even from twenty metres away that much was clear. His hair was golden-blond and he wore a bright white shirt. A knight, come to rescue her from her childish fears. Whoever he was, she was glad to see him. This might be the last time she ever took a morning walk beside the lake.
Now close enough to see the man’s handsome face, Scarlet gave a bright smile.
The man did not return it.
With an amount of fury Scarlet had never witnessed before, the man leapt at her like a maniac. It was only the fact that she had already been on edge, already jumpy, that allowed her to react quickly enough to dodge out of the way.
The man whirled and snatched out again. This time he caught her by the wrist.
Scarlet screamed as the flesh on her arm burned. The man had something in his hand—something scorching hot.
“You’re hurting me,” she screamed, tears exploding from her eyes.
The man showed no concern, looking at her with nothing but hatred. “You are the Spark. I am here to extinguish you.”
“Get off me! Help! HELP ME!”
“I will help you,” her attacker snarled. “I will help you before it is too late.” He raised his other hand towards her face, fingers open like a sharp clamp. She could feel the heat coming off his fingers against her eyebrows.
“You’re a monster,” she screamed.
“I am not the monster.”
The burning hand was only an inch away from her face now, and her eyes watered under the intense heat, so she closed them.
Something collided into Scarlet and sent her sprawling down the embankment. She came to rest with one leg in the water, and only just managed to keep herself from sliding into the lake. Her wrist burned, and the wind had been knocked out of her. She tried to sob, but was in too much shock.
Somebody had come to her rescue. Another stranger raced down the hill towards her. No, not a stranger. It was Sorrow, still dressed in her father’s jeans and shirt—and still barefoot. Her attacker was still on his feet and marching towards her too, but Sorrow leapt into the air and pummelled him. He drove a knee into the other man’s head and shoved him down to the ground. Then he turned to Scarlet. “You need to get out of here now.”
“Sorrow? W-what are you doing here?”
“I don’t know, but I’m certain it has something to do with you.”
“How did you know I would come back here?”
“I didn’t. I never left you. You slept during the night, but I stayed close. Now get out of here, before he comes for you again.”
“W-who is he?”
“JUST GO!”
The force of Sorrow’s voice made her flinch—like a physical force knocking her back—so she turned and fled up the bank, ignoring the startled lady who was standing on the path with a bicycle by her side. Only once did Scarlet dare to look back, and when she did, she saw that Sorrow had fallen to his knees and was being beaten harshly by the enraged blond man. She considered going back to help him, but went for her phone instead. She cursed when she couldn’t find it. Her jean pocket was ripped open and her phone had been inside. She knew only one safe place to go and get help, so she broke into a run and headed for work.
~ Chapter Five ~
When Scarlet made it through the front door of the Little Treasures Emporium, she was a mess. Her jean pocket was hanging down, her cheeks were stained with tears and mascara, and she was about to keel over from exhaustion.
Indy moved from behind the counter right away. “Hey, Scar, what the hell? Are you okay?”
She shoved past him, not wanting to be on display. “I need to call the police,” she shouted. “I’ve been attacked.”
Indy chased her into the back area. “Frakkin’ hell! You want me to go out and get the guy? He didn’t… you know?”
Scarlet slumped against the table and looked at him. “Didn’t what? You mean… Eww, No. Someone just grabbed me, but another man saved me, and now I have to call the police and make sure he’s okay.”
Mr Chester stormed out of his office. “What on earth is going on out here? Indy, why have you left the shop floor?”
“Scarlet’s been attacked.”
Mr Chester glanced at Scarlet and his face fell. “My word, are you okay? Sit down, sit down.”
She collapsed into a chair and felt like she would never get up again. She was still panting heavily and could feel her cheeks glistening with tears. “He… I… This psycho just came at me by the lake. He grabbed my arm and… and…” She glanced down at her wrist, where the blond man had grabbed her. There was the blistered imprint of a large hand. “He burned me. Look! He burned me just by touching me.”
Indy looked at her, deep creases in his forehead despite his youth. “Who was he, Scar?”
“I have no freakin’ idea, but someone saved me. I need to ca
ll the police.”
Mr Chester bent low so he was looking directly in her eyes. “Somebody saved you? Do you know who it was?”
She shook her head, but then rethought and nodded. “I met a man last night by the lake. He was… It doesn’t matter, but he was the one who saved me. He was right there when I needed him.”
Indy was shaking his head. “I’m struggling to understand, Scar. You met a man by the lake last night and today he saved you from another man by the lake who attacked you? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! Look at my goddamn arm.”
Mr Chester took off his spectacles and gave one of the rubber temple tips an anxious nibble. “Did this man—the man who attacked you—say anything?”
“No… Wait, yes. He said I was… The Spark, and that he was going to extinguish me. Crazy, huh?”
“Yes, crazy indeed.” Mr Chester turned and wandered to the rear of the room with his back to them.
“I’ll go call the police,” said Indy. “Should I close up the shop, Mr Chester?”
“What? Oh, yes, I suppose you should.”
Indy raced off to the shop floor while Mr Chester turned around to face Scarlet again. “Are you okay? Can I do anything?”
She shook her head. “It’s just the shock of it, that’s all. I’m okay, except for my arm.”
“Of course, let me deal with that.” He went into the office and returned with a green plastic First Aid box. When he opened it, he pulled out a bandage and sat down beside Scarlet. He began wrapping her wound.
She winced.
“Sorry, I’ll try to be careful,” he said. “Such a strange thing to happen, all this. You’re only sixteen years old.”
She looked at him. “So?”
“Oh, I just meant that you’re a child. Why would somebody attack you?”
“I’m not a child.”
“No, of course not. I just meant that you are innocent. Only a real monster would attack an innocent girl.”
Scarlet thought back to the incident, because something had occurred to her. “Monster? I called the man who attacked me a monster, but he said that he was not the monster. I’m not sure what he meant.”
Wings of Sorrow (A horror fantasy novel) Page 3