by Alex Pitt
I wasn’t doing anything meaningful, just passing the time until I was tired enough to fall asleep. I checked Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, watched as people lived their lives, and then clicked on a couple of YouTube videos.
Still not able to focus properly, I decided to head back downstairs. My mum was there, the TV was on, she was watching the news, and she looked horrified.
“Not again,” she cried, holding both of her hands to her mouth. “Christ, I didn’t think it would happen again.”
“What’s happened?” I asked, sitting next to her and staring at the screen.
She told me what was going on, but I could already see it unfolding in front of me.
“Remember what happened to that girl, Rachel, a few weeks ago? They found her deformed in that abandoned garage. Run over, beaten and stabbed. It was horrible.”
I nod. How could I forget?
“He’s done it again,” I mutter, and that wasn’t a question. I could see it on the TV.
“Yes, but they can’t find the body this time.”
“So how do they know he’s killed someone else?” I questioned.
“The detective guy, Richard, saw him. He tried to attack the man and save the girl, but he was overpowered,” my mum explained. “The man knocked him out, then cleaned up all of the evidence and ran away with the body.”
“How do they know it was the same man?” I was still watching the broadcast, failing to hear what they were saying over our chatter.
“He had the same knife. I don’t know the details, but apparently it would be an extreme coincidence if someone else had that knife in this country. Well there probably is someone else somewhere in England who has the same knife, but it has to be him. Two girls dead in a matter of weeks with the same knife. It must be the same person both times. The only problem is, they don’t have any leads to go on without the body of the second girl. They’ve searched the area, but they can’t find anything.”
My mum stopped talking for a second, letting me absorb the information and hear what they were saying on TV. The camera was outside the strip club, they couldn’t go inside for obvious reasons, and there was a voiceover of a man describing what Richard had seen.
“…But as it happens, the detective was actually intoxicated when he approached the man, so it’s no wonder he wasn’t able to over-power him. In fact, some are questioning whether he imagined the whole event, or if he actually did it himself. April did not turn up for work today, and no one has seen her since yesterday evening.”
There was another cut, and this time I saw the face of the detective. He looked tired and beaten, as this was the last thing in the world that he wanted. He needed four cups of coffee and twelve hours of sleep.
“I didn’t imagine it and I would never have hurt April. She was my friend,” Richard defended, and then the camera cut quickly away from him, barely giving him a word in edgeways.
“It’s horrific, isn’t it?” my mum asked, and I nodded.
“So, they really have no leads?”
My mum probably didn’t know much more than I did, but she’d been watching for longer and I wanted to know everything. I’d been interested in this case for a while now, ever since Rachel had been murdered.
“Nothing. If the killer doesn’t leave a trail, they have nothing. All they have to go on is that knife, so hopefully someone will see a person holding that knife and report him. That’s all they can hope for really. But that isn’t a very good plan. It’ll probably fall through. They said he had a thick accent though, so that might be useful.”
I laughed when she finished speaking, and she tilted her head quizzically. The situation was horrible, but I was laughing at the way she’d reported it.
“You should be on the news, Mum,” I told her, and she chuckled back at me.
“I just really hope they find him. This must be awful for her family.”
The news was showing more clips of April. She was very young and very beautiful. It was no wonder guys were attracted to her.
The news report said something quite interesting then, and my full attention was back on the TV.
“It is believed that Richard has had previous relations with the victim. Whether they were actually in a relationship, or purely had a sexual motive behind seeing each other remains to be seen.”
My mum picked up the remote and turned the TV off. She’d had enough of listening to them.
“I don’t like the way they’re portraying him,” she told me, and I couldn’t help but agree.
Ever since I’d sat down to watch the broadcast, I felt they were blaming Richard for the murder of April. So what if he hooked up with a stripper? Fair play to him, I say, and it just sucks that she wasn’t around anymore.
Heading back up to my room, I fished around in my pocket and dug out my phone. I’d decided that I couldn’t take it anymore, I was going to text Daisy. With everything going on, I had to make sure she was OK.
Hey, babe.
Hey, stud. How’s things?
Fine, I’m just seeing if you’re OK.
Never better, actually. I know I was a mess earlier, but I’m alright now. Did you hear about April?
Glad to hear it?? Yeah, me and my mum were watching the news.
So fucking awful.
Agreed.
She didn’t reply for a few minutes, so I messaged again.
Wanna hang out tomorrow?
Sorry, I was getting ready for bed. I think I can squeeze in an hour for you, baby??
Can I join??? And yay, I can’t wait to see you XXX
Anytime, bby. Make sure you’re ready for round two though. The other night was so good.
Never had any complaints before!
Don’t make me jealous, or I’ll bite your balls off.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I was tempted of writing something really flirty and sexual back, but I was craving to hear her voice so I called her instead.
“That’s cheating,” she joked, answering the phone. “I was waiting for your text back.”
“I wanted to hear your voice,” I cringed, knowing how cheesy that sounded.
“Alright, stud.” I liked it when she called me that. “What time do you want to meet tomorrow?”
“12?”
“I can make 12. The park?”
“Yeah.” I hesitated for a moment, thinking of something else. Then, “We’ll meet at the park but I have somewhere else to take you. Somewhere more private.”
“I like the sound of that,” and I rolled my eyes at her.
We needed to talk, not hook up. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind if she took me back to hers again…
Damn, I really need to get that night off my mind.
“I’ll see you tomorrow at 12 then,” Daisy said when I didn’t reply.
We ended the call after that, but I wanted her back. I was tempted to redial, but I didn’t want to be clingy. I didn’t even know if she liked clinginess. There was so much about her that I still didn’t know.
She was like a drug, and I was addicted. I’d been in love before, but this was something else. Her being in my life filled me with so much joy, I felt like I was going to burst. In fact, it felt like a dream.
Maybe I’d never really met Daisy.
Maybe I wasn’t actually in a relationship with the most beautiful girl in the world.
Maybe, after all that happens afterwards, that would have been for the best.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We met in Spiceball park at twelve the next day, just as agreed. She’d dolled up with pretty clothes and a plethora of make-up, and she looked stunning. Girls always felt the need to dress up and plaster on lipstick, but they never realise that most guys find them just as attractive without any of that.
She greeted me with a hug and a peck on the lips, and then we walked off, hand-in-hand. The place I wanted to take her to wasn’t far from here. Not many people knew about it though, so it was dead quiet and extremely peaceful. I thought we mi
ght need that. We had to talk.
“How have you been since last night?” I asked, sitting on the tall grass and letting Daisy lie in my arms.
“Fine, Jack. You worry too much.”
“I know,” I nodded, and that was the truth. I did worry, but it was my job.
I picked a strand of grass up and twirled it around her nose. Then, being the goofball that I am, I stuck it straight up there. She bolted up quickly, choking on her own laughter.
“You bastard,” she shouted, slapping me on the arm.
“I’m not Jon Snow,” I grinned, and Daisy looked confused. “You know who Jon Snow is, right? Game of Thrones.”
“I still need to watch that. There’s a hot chick that gives birth to dragons, that’s all I know.”
“Jesus, we’ve got a long way to go,” I laughed, then started listing all of the things she needed to watch. Game of Thrones and Star Wars were just the beginning.
“I’ve only got so much time. How do you expect me to get through all of that?”
“Make time for them. It’s worth it.”
We both grinned at that, and I kissed her forehead. It was nice her lying across me like this, but it couldn’t last forever. We needed to talk about something. I was just trying to bring it up in an easy way.
“Daisy…” I muttered, finally taking the plunge and going for it.
“Yeah, baby?” she asked, her hazel eyes flickering over my face.
God, she was an incredible human being. I was so lucky to have her.
“We need to talk,” I whispered, and she sat up.
“About what?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“You’re not OK, Daisy.”
“Yes, I am, Jack. I’m perfectly fine. Can we please leave this alone, yeah?” she defended, shuffling slightly away from me and raising her voice.
“No, we can’t. There’s something else going on with you, something that you still haven’t told me. I want to know.”
“And what makes you think that?” Her eyes narrowed into slits.
“Your mood changes so quickly, so suddenly, all the time. You were crying last night after not picking the phone up for hours. It all just seems very strange, and you go through periods of time when I can barely recognise you. You don’t act like you. You seem distant, as if you don’t even want to be with me. And the other night, just for a second, it looked like you didn’t want to have sex with me. I’m just scared for you, Daisy.”
She listened to all of that with a smirk on her face. It was a nasty smirk, the first time she’d given that to me. Nonetheless, I felt better for having got it out. Even if I was imagining the whole thing, which was a possibility, I needed to vent it.
“You’re being silly, Jack,” was all she said back to me, and I could hardly believe it. I thought I was getting a right bollocking.
“Am I?” I frowned, really wanting to believe that.
“Yes. Well, no. There are things going on with me, horrible, disgusting things, but I can’t tell you.”
“Why the hell not?” I shouted, getting very angry.
I hated speaking to Daisy like that, but I had every right. She’d said that something disgusting was happening, and that sounded serious. She needed to tell me, and I wouldn’t let her go until she had. No more hiding.
“You don’t understand, Jack. Something has happened. Something that I am truly terrified about. It’s so hard to talk to you. I want to, but you might see me in a different light.”
I rolled my eyes at that. She was the one being stupid.
“I’ve told you before, I would never think that. You can talk to me.”
“I know that, Jack,” she nodded, smiling slightly. That gave me a shred of hope. “But, if I tell you, you’ll want certain things to happen and I just can’t do that. I know this all sounds so confusing right now, but we will talk one day, I promise.”
“Daisy, I love you.”
“I know. I love you too. That’s why I’m trying to protect us. You have to see, I’m doing this for us. You mean more to me than anyone ever has in my life. Maybe even more than my parents.”
“Don’t say that.”
“But it’s true,” she retorted, speaking loudly. “You’ve always been there for me, even when I haven’t been that easy to handle, and I appreciate it so much. I’ve only known you for a couple of months but it feels like a lifetime. My parents have always been there too, but they don’t get me the way you do. You complete me. I just don’t know if that will be enough now. I really hope it will be, but I don’t know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll find out,” she said simply, and I lay back.
This whole thing was making my brain hurt. So, Daisy was still hiding something big from me, something other than what had happened to her sister, but she didn’t want to talk about it yet. That seemed stupid, especially after the way she’d described it. There wasn’t much I could do though. The whole thing was tearing me apart.
It had been almost a week since the party, but so much had changed in that short amount of time.
“I don’t know if I can be with you,” I said quietly, barely believing the words had left my mouth.
Daisy stared at me for a minute, then burst into tears.
“You’re leaving me?” she cried, but I shook my head.
“I don’t want to, baby. I really don’t.”
I grabbed Daisy’s head in my hands, squeezing so hard that I thought it would pop off. That’s the last thing I needed: to kill my girlfriend by trying to be protective.
There was a slight chill to the afternoon, which I’d only just begun to notice. There shouldn’t be, because it was mid-June and all of the weather forecasts had predicted one of the hottest days of the year. Maybe the day was warm, but Daisy’s attitude had chilled me to the bone. What was happening with her?
“Daisy, I need to ask you something.”
“What now?” she snapped, tears streaming down her face.
“Do you honestly see a future with me?”
She paused. That pause was all I needed to know.
Getting to my feet, I looked down at Daisy one last time, and then walked off.
I didn’t look back.
Our meeting in the long grass in the isolated field had come to a close. I wish I’d just kept my stupid mouth shut.
Returning to the park, I sat down and put my head in my hands. The whole world was spinning and I was so close to collapsing. Daisy didn’t really care about me, that much was obvious. If she did, she’d talk to me and we could sort her life out together.
She came to find me a while later, and she rested her head on me. We didn’t say anything to each other, just lay there for a while.
Eventually, she said, “I’m sorry, Jack.”
“So am I.”
I didn’t know exactly what I should be sorry for, but it felt like the right thing to say.
“Shall we go back to yours?” I suggested, but Daisy shook her head.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. Let’s just go home today, and meet later in the week. Maybe things will have calmed down by then.”
“Yeah? And will you tell me what’s wrong then?” I asked, not expecting a positive answer.
To my surprise, Daisy nodded.
“Just give me a few days to get my head straight, and I will tell you everything. I promise.”
“OK then,” I smiled, getting to my feet and pulling Daisy with me.
I held on to her hand and she put her arms around my waist. I looked her over, with her loose-fitting t-shirt and skinny black jeans on, and I wanted her. I wanted her so bad, but I knew I had to wait. I wasn’t getting lucky today.
The discussion that happened next actually made me glad about that for once. It was such a shock, such a surprise, and I couldn’t process it all.
“Jack, there’s something you need to know.”
“Yes?” I asked, wondering if she
’d finally decided to tell me.
“This isn’t the big thing, OK? This is something completely separated from that.”
“Alright,” I muttered, keen to know what it was.
“You know the other night, when we did it?”
“Yes…” I wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Well, you used protection. Everything was safe. It was safe, right?”
“Maybe. I mean, I’d had it around for a while. I didn’t expect us to hook up that day, it was all I had in my wallet. It was past the date.”
Daisy looked outraged, punching me hard on the shoulder.
“Why the fuck would you do that, Jack? Protection is no good if it’s out of date.”
“I didn’t realise until afterwards,” I held up my hands defensively. “I checked the wrapper after we’d done it because I wanted to know how long I’d had it. All of the other girls had been on some other method of birth control. Why?”
Daisy sighed and shook her head. A single tear was making its way to the corner of her mouth.
“You really should have checked, Jack.”
She paused, and I braced myself for the big news. The news that would shape the course of many people’s lives over the coming weeks.
“I’m pregnant.”
Then, stupidly, childishly, overwhelmed with the news, I collapsed from shock and the world went black.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Daisy stayed with me until I was conscious again, and then left for home. She said it was for the best if we spent some time apart, just a few days, so we could process her pregnancy and decide what the best move forward would be.
We wouldn’t be able to keep it, but I was totally against abortion. Daisy wasn’t though, surprisingly, and she thought we might have to take that option. She tried convincing me by saying about how the child was barely even formed yet so they wouldn’t feel a thing, but I wasn’t having it. That was my child now, as much as it was Daisy’s.
Still, we didn’t have to decide right there and then. We could take these next few days to mull things over, and maybe one of us would change our mind.