David tore his eyes away from the pictures on the wall and gazed down at the bullet with another hypnotic stare. After 10 minutes he still hadn't blinked or taken his eyes away from the sharp, shiny metal object. He began flicking the lid of his silver lighter open and shut, over and over. Finally, he took his eyes away from the bullet and refocused on the lighter’s engraved writing.
David gulped the last drop of whisky from his glass and leaned forward to pick up both the gun and the bullet from the coffee table. In no time at all he opened the empty chamber and loaded the bullet inside. He spun the chamber. Without hesitation, he placed the barrel of the gun into his mouth. He took a long, deep, hard breath. Slowly but surely, he was building himself up to pull the trigger and complete an action he'd been meaning to see through since he'd first arrived on the island all those months ago – blowing out his brains and ending his tired and miserable existence.
Falling into a kind of spiritual and meditative state, David closed his eyes and ceased breathing altogether. Then, in one surreal, blissful moment, he pulled the trigger. The click of the barrel sounded like it would never end as an empty chamber hissed into the back of his throat.
After a long, agonising second, David pulled the gun out of his mouth and breathed again, huge gulps of beautiful air. He then roared fiercely with all his might and pent-up anger and frustration. He screamed out the loudest and most chilling, emotional, anguished cry of sorrow and heartfelt loneliness that this part of the new, sick world had ever heard.
If there had been anyone milling around outside the house, or in the nearby streets for that matter, they would have surely fled for their lives at such a blood-curdling sound.
Chapter 5
Louise stood outside the sealed bedroom door and beside the two huge bouncers standing on guard there. She was next in line to enter the room. Next the door swung open and the punk/goth girl, who had earlier let Louise jump the queue, came staggering out.
Louise noticed that she appeared a lot more happy and relaxed than she had been before she’d gone inside. The girl made her way past Louise with a satisfied grin, not even stopping to say goodbye. She had what she wanted, so everything else in her life was forgotten.
One of the huge bouncers nodded for Louise to enter the dimly lit bedroom. Louise nodded back and made her way inside the large, luxury room. What struck her first and foremost was how everything inside was cream in colour, from the ceiling to the walls to the carpeted floors. The other remaining furniture was a coffee brown colour, from the tables and chairs to the couches and footstools to the dozens of cabinets and draws scattered around the room.
Last but not least, a huge coffee-coloured king-sized bed with cream pillows lay against the far wall and beside an open doorway leading out onto a balcony with a hot tub. A boy in his late teens was the only other occupant of the room. He sat upon a large armchair, fit for a king, evenly spaced between the balcony and the huge bed. He wore a fluffy cream bathrobe, which looked ridiculous because it perfectly matched the walls, ceiling and carpets.
The young man welcomed Louise as he drained another drag from his joint. “Well, well, well,” said the lad with a satisfied smirk. “If it isn't the Asian, Scottish beauty queen. I thought you said last time was gonna be the official last time I ever saw you again?”
“I need another hit for my mum, Billy. This will be the last time, I swear,” said Louise, straight to the point. Billy grinned like the Cheshire cat that had well and truly stolen his cream.
“Let me guess,” Billy replied, still smirking for England. “No cash yet again? So, what's it gonna be this time, then? Another down payment in the pleasures of the flesh, my little Indian Princess?”
Louise sighed hard. “I told you already. I'm not Indian. I'm Scottish with Pakistani descent.”
“Same fucking thing,” cried Billy, dismissing her statement immediately. “How come you never bring cash anyways, huh? You must really enjoy our little carnal adventures together, no?” He sneered arrogantly.
“Like cancer to the fucking vagina,” Louise retorted without flinching.
Billy chuckled at that but was swiftly up and out of his seat in a flash, approaching Louise, who was still standing beside the closed door.
“If you must know, we need our money for important things like food and rent,” Louise continued.
Billy stepped right up to Louise's stone-cold face. He ran his fingers gently along her cheeks before tucking some of her jet-black hair behind her ears.
‘I could give you food and a free room to stay in Princess, if you’d only take up my offer to move in here with me.’
‘Not even for the penthouse suite and the best chocolate cheesecake in the world for breakfast everyday, would I ever move in here with you.’ Louise shot right back him. Billy chuckled at that.
“Does your mummy know what you do for her, little girl?” Billy whispered with a satisfied grin.
“No. She does not,” Louise sternly replied. “And that's the way I intend it to stay. And like I said, this will be the last time ever. I swear it this time.”
“Everyone who comes here, it's always their last time, sweetheart. Until they come back again the next night or the next week, and the week after that, for another little hit.” Billy looked Louise up and down, undressing her with his eyes. He licked his lips. “How old are you anyway, immigrant girl? You never told me.”
“Old enough,” Louise snapped back. She folded her arms defensively, but it was really to stop her nervousness showing through her hands and arms, which were shaking a little now.
Billy smirked. He seemed unconvinced that she was of a legal age – well, a legal age that mattered back in the old world, with all its rules, laws and regulations. Now, in this sick and twisted new world, any age could be legal or bought for the right price. Louise fell silent. Her nerves were getting the better of her as she fought back tears.
“I love how we negotiate in this new little world of ours, don't you, huh?” Billy whispered as he leaned back in towards her. “And looking like you do, princess, I guess you'd better get used to it. Because in this world, my world, that's the only bargaining chip you'll ever possess – that beautiful and delicious little flower between your legs. So, you'd better take good care of it, because, to be brutally honest my dear, it's gonna get you through some really difficult times in the years ahead, that's for damn sure.”
Billy then casually turned away from Louise and made his way back to his king-sized bed at the other end of the room. He stubbed out his half-finished joint into a small ashtray lying upon a small cabinet beside the bed.
“Take off all your clothes, my beautiful little Paki Princess,” Billy said coldly, without even turning around to face her. “Then get your sexy little refugee arse onto that bed. We‘re going the full Monty package this time.”
A tearful Louise slowly undressed while Billy crouched down and opened one of the draws of his bedside cabinet. He took out a small, square, spongy packet before turning around to face Louise, who was down to just her bra and knickers.
Billy let out a sly grin and held up the single condom packet for her to see. “Don’t want to catch anything now, do I? No telling where you dirty little immigrant whores have been.”
Chapter 6
David, his head in his hands, continued to sit in a deep state of misery and sorrow. He was thinking about his life, his friends, his family, his time in the army and his few short months with the love of his life, his beloved Ashley. Their getaways in the Highlands. Their final days together in their little hideaway retreat, their clifftop cottage in the northwest corner of the land that used to be Scotland.
Suddenly there was a loud knock at his front door. David ignored it at first. He didn't even move or take his hands away from his face. It was probably some local troublesome teens or the neighbourhood drug dealer making the rounds. When the knock sounded even harder, though, David slowly stood up from his chair, clenched his fists and answered the door.
“John?” David spoke first. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Can I come in?” John asked with a serious look.
David nodded and let the man in. He gestured for John to take a seat on his rough-looking leather couch at the back of the living room. David himself sat back down upon on his leather armchair. As John sat, he glanced down at the handgun and the empty bottle of whisky, both lying side by side on David's coffee table. He said nothing about either of them though. It wasn’t any of his business what David did there.
“After you left today, I had another good long look into Ashley's case,” John said, getting directly to the point. “Like I told you earlier, if we had the resources and manpower, or if the circumstances were different, we could have done things a lot sooner. So, I do apologise for that,”
John hesitated while David said nothing. He just continued to eyeball John without blinking or taking his gaze away from him.
“The only useful thing I found that we seemed to have missed was that the man who rented you that holiday cottage over in Scotland ... well, he's here. He's actually living here on the island.”
“Okay. So what?” David replied with little emotion.
“Well, I found out that most of his rented cottages on the West Coast were fitted with hidden CCTV cameras. Mainly for security purposes for when the cottages were left empty during the off season.”
David fidgeted in his seat and took a deep breath. Even John could see that a great weight had suddenly been lifted from David's shoulders.
“It's a long shot, David. And you're gonna have to follow this up on your own now. But he just might have access to those cameras from the day Ashley…” John lowered his eyes. “Obviously, the police authorities at the time never gathered any evidence because we were in the beginning of a messy and bloodied race war. But maybe ... just maybe ... this guy might have something that can help you.”
“Where is he?” David calmly asked.
John took out a small piece of notepaper from his jacket pocket and placed it casually down upon the coffee table, right beside David's gun and the empty bottle of whisky.
For the first time since John's arrival, David took his strong gaze away from the lieutenant and focussed it instead upon the small piece of paper.
“Thank you,” David finally said.
John stood up and readied himself to leave. David stood too and showed John towards the door.
“You know, you're very welcome back into the military any time you want, David,” John said as he approached the front door. “We need good men like you, now more than ever.”
“You've read my file, right?” David swiftly said, interrupting John's words.
After a slight hesitation John nodded.
“So,” David continued. “you know all about me and why I left your fucking army?”
“Yes,” John replied with a hint of sorrow, lowering his eyes.
“Your military ruined our lives. So, you'll forgive me for saying that I won't be running back to you and your fucking army anytime soon.”
David opened the front door. Outside, the moon shone brightly, almost full in the starlit sky.
“Desperate times, David. Desperate times,” John replied. “Change is coming. It's happening. Slowly but surely, we'll take back the mainland. Things will get better and return to normal, you'll see,”
“And what? Only for it to happen all over again in another 50 years. Like the Second World War. Bosnia. Rwanda. Iraq. Afghanistan. Syria. North Korea. Russia. A never-ending cycle of war and chaos.”
John stepped out into the cool night. He turned back one last time to face David. “Well, you know where I am if you ever get sick of driving forklifts around the docks.”
David didn't respond. Instead, he just nodded at John before closing the front door over again. He took a deep breath before turning around to look at the notepaper lying on the coffee table. He then glanced at the empty bottle of whisky.
Chapter 7
A fully clothed Louise exited Billy's bedroom. In contrast to the last person who had left the room, she was not in a happy state of affairs. Everyone still queuing on the landing hallway and down the stairs gawked at her, wondering just why on earth she'd taken so long in there. Secretly, though, every single person knew.
The two bouncers grinned and leered in her direction before shouting for the next person in line to enter the room. Louise was far too zoned out to notice any of the stares coming at her or the snarky comments and whispers being made in her direction.
As she slowly descended the stairs with her arms wrapped tightly around her body, the tears she so desperately tried to hold inside suddenly unleashed, pouring down her cheeks. Louise then swiftly left the party without glancing back for a second as she made her long walk back home through the light rain.
***
An hour later, when she entered her grimy little ground-floor flat on the other side of town, she paused at the lingering deathly silence in the air.
She took a moment to wipe away any trace of tears from her eyes and cheeks. She then took a deep breath and stepped inside the living room. She glanced down at her mother, who, at first glance, still seemed to be sleeping peacefully on the couch. Louise pulled the packet of drugs from her pocket.
“Ma ... Ma,” Louise softly called.
When her mother didn't stir even a little, she edged closer, eventually crouching right beside her.
“Ma ... Ma,” Louise called out again in a loud whisper. “I got it.”
When her mother still didn't budge, Louise tried to gently shake her awake. But when she touched her mother's skin, she soon noticed just how cold and hard it felt. Before Louise could register what that meant, her mother’s head moved to one side and a mouthful of cold stinking vomit dribbled out from behind her lips. She was stone-cold dead.
A stubborn Louise, not accepting the direness of the situation, continued to shake her mother with a frantic and furious panic. Over and over, she desperately tried to awaken her, but to no avail. Louise dropped the packet of drugs onto the carpet as she finally gave up all hope of shaking her mother back to life. Instead, she began to sob hard before burying her own head deep into her mother's cold chest.
Chapter 8
David purchased a full bottle of whisky from the 24-hour off license on the outskirts of his housing estate. He'd barely stepped out of the exit door when he cracked open the bottle and took a long swig.
A few yards in front of him and sitting all by herself at a smashed-up bus shelter that hadn't seen a bus in well over a year was Louise. She was sipping on her own bottle of vodka, which she'd recently purchased from the same store as David with her dead mother's hidden stash of money.
It was the first time she'd ever tasted hard liquor, although she'd seen plenty of people – including her mother – drink the stuff, mainly with the sole purpose and hope that it would take away all their problems.
David had already noticed the sad-looking mixed-race teenage girl when he'd walked past her on his way into the off license. He'd hoped she'd have the good sense to up and leave by the time he'd come back out again, as this part of town wasn't a great area to be hanging around in after dark, even for white British folks. She was still sitting there, though, looking like she didn't have a single damn care in the world as she drowned her sorrows under the cover of the dreary bus shelter.
David slowly walked past her. Through the broken glass, he glanced at her petite frame. By the look of her demeanour, she seemed just as morbid, miserable and down on life as he was, which he guessed might be why he was suddenly taking such an interest in her. He'd seen plenty of teenage girls and boys over the past few months, sitting around wasted on pavements and bus shelters all over town, yet he'd never felt inclined to pay any of them the slightest bit of attention or even show them any sympathy.
Louise hadn't taken too much interest in the passing David, though. In fact, she was far too wound up in her own mind and deep thoughts and feelings of guilt and despair regarding the passing of her mother. She hadn't even noticed the five menacing teenage boys just across the street from her. They were larking around, drinking, play fighting and generally being obnoxious and loud little shits.
David had noticed the teenage boys, though. He'd already picked up on them and their delinquent antics before entering the store. Now he stopped dead in his tracks. He shook his head like he was debating with his own conscience about the right thing to do. After a brief hesitation, he slowly turned to glance back at the sad-looking girl sitting all alone in the bus stop. She still hadn't noticed him, or maybe she just didn’t want to. David took a deep breath and moved a few steps closer to her.
“Hey?” he called out, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible.
Louise gradually came to her senses and turned around, painfully slow, to glance up at the strange man. She said nothing. Instead, she just stared at his pale, rough-shaven face with a glazed look in her eyes, expressionless and haunting. David instantly recognised that hollow look. How could he not? It was the same look that gazed back at him every time he stared into a mirror. It was the look of someone who had lost everything and had all but given up on life.
“Are you okay?” David continued.
A couple of tears unexpectedly spilled from Louise's eyes. She quickly wiped them away as David raised his arms in a gesture of surrender.
“Look. I don't mean any harm here, all right? But this is a bad, bad neighbourhood for you to be hanging around in, especially in the middle of the night and all by yourself.”
David waited for a response from the strange quiet girl, but none came. She just continued looking blankly up at him.
“Are you deliberately looking for trouble?” David asked, raising his tone as a hint of frustration took over his demeanour. He wasn't used to being ignored. Louise took a few sniffs followed by a long, deep sigh.
The Wrath of David Page 3