“I’m on the floor in my new Dior skirt,” Delta whimpered. Val knew that Delta was fine and although she was sitting on her bottom in the middle of the road, she would survive. Val lifted her by the arm and dragged her quickly onto the grass verge. Now she needed to help the man in the car.
Val crossed the road again and moved closer, expecting the heat to be intense. However, she had already made up her mind that she was going to get as close as possible, though she wasn’t sure exactly how this was going to help the man. She was going to have to do this in stages. The closer she inched towards the fiery car, the more she expected to get burnt.
‘Why aren’t these flames even hot?’ Val thought. Then she felt the irresistible urge to reach out through the flames that were licking all around the car. Her hand passed straight through them and she felt nothing; it wasn’t even warm. How could this be? Val felt scared but exhilarated at the same time.
The intense heat emanating from the flames didn’t seem to be harming her. The flames seemed to dance over her like feathers brushing her skin.
“Val, no!” screamed Delta looking up from her skirt and becoming aware of her friend’s fiery journey.
“I’m OK,” Val waved back at her.
Val looked through the window of the car and saw the panic in the man’s face as she called to him, “It’s OK. I’m going to save you.” She smiled through the flames as he proceeded to passed out. The side of his face hit the window and instantly started to blister under the intense heat. Val looked back for a moment at Delta who was sitting on the floor with her mouth wide open, obviously unable to comprehend the fact that she was watching her best friend in flames.
“Great, now no one will remember my moment of glory,” Val muttered. She pushed forward and as she reached the door, the flames engulfed her whole body. She pulled at the handle, readying herself to grab the man. After several forceful attempts, she managed to pull the door open. The man’s limp body fell out. Val grabbed him under his arms and pulled with all her strength, trying to drag him away from the blazing car. The edges of his hair were beginning to singe from the intense heat. She had to get him out of this, and fast.
Val was surprised at how quickly she managed to move away from the car. Although the man didn’t seem too heavy she was beginning to feel fatigued. She called over to Delta for assistance. Delta had realised that Val might need her and had managed to compose herself and go to her friend’s aid. Together they grabbed an arm each and dragged him to the side of the road where he lay limp on the grass.
Delta grabbed his wrist. “He has a pulse,” she said with a huge sigh of relief, leaping over the unconscious body and grabbed Val, hugging her tightly. This display of public affection from Delta was most unusual and Val was quite shocked.
“He is going to be OK, but he needs an ambulance. Call the police, Delta. That’s if they haven’t already seen the smoke. Oh, and find out where we are as well,” Val said, feeling a little silly with Delta still holding onto her. Val took a moment to feel good about the fact that she was completely in control of the situation. It was as if she knew inside that she was supposed to be doing this.
Delta released Val and grabbed her pretty pink handbag off the ground. Pulling out her pink mobile phone, she started to dial. “So, do you have a name?” Val asked the unconscious man. “Let’s see.” She cautiously pulled his jacket lapel open and fumbled around in a feeble attempt to find his wallet.
She would have never made a good thief; she had more thumbs than fingers. Val assumed that if his wallet wasn’t there then it was in his trouser pocket and that wasn’t a place she was prepared to visit.
Delta came running back over. “I’ve called the police. They are already aware of the accident and are on their way.” She smiled like a child who had just received ten out of ten for a test.
“Great, so where are we then?” Val asked.
“Er…Didn’t ask that one, sorry.”
Val smiled at her. It was hard enough, without worrying about minor details she could deal with later.
“Let’s see if we can wake him up,” Val said as Delta knelt down on the other side of the man, tapping his hand in a very limp attempt to wake him. Val looked at her and wondered how she had made it to the age of eighteen with so little physical contact with the rest of the world.
Val looked at the man for a second, then raising her hand she brought it down on his face with a thundering crash. Val had hoped the shock factor would work, but what happened next she really hadn’t expected. A blue flash sparked and crackled between them, and everything went black. Her insides went in, then out, and she found herself crashing face first into the mirror at the bookshop. With no time to put her arms out to cushion the impact, her head hit it with full force and she fell to the ground unconscious.
When Val opened her eyes, she was instantly aware of a banging pain in her head. She was too dizzy to stand so for a moment she just lay there, wondering how long she had been knocked-out.
Looking at the light coming in the window she could tell it was still daylight, but that wasn’t much help; she could have been out cold for hours or minutes. She pulled herself up on one of the shelves and called out Delta’s name. There wasn’t any answer.
“Delta, where are you?” Val stood very still but there was still no noise at all. Val span around, in the hope that Delta was behind her. At last, the reality hit her: she was alone and Delta had been left behind.
Val rushed over to the mirror and peered into it, but apart from her own reflection, there was nothing to see. She didn’t even notice that there were chunks of dried blood on one side of her face. Val felt sick. Where was Delta and how was she going to get her back? Val whimpered under her breath, “I will find you.”
Delta stood at the side of the road next to the unconscious driver’s body, not sure she could cope with what she had just witnessed. She was alone, her friend had just faded into thin air and she had no idea where she was. She lifted her head towards the sky and cried out, “Val,” but there was no answer.
CHAPTER 3
Mistaken Identity
Within seconds of Val’s magic show Delta was surrounded by police cars and ambulances, lights flashing, sirens wailing.
The oppressive black smoke billowing from the burning car had almost obscured their position. Delta beckoned to the emergency services, holding her pink handbag aloft, almost like a siren, calling them onto the rocks.
“Typically British,” Delta thought to herself as she waved. “Like you guys say, they are like buses: nothing, then they all arrive at once,” she told the injured man who, thanks to Val’s electric slap, was now conscious. All Delta was genuinely concerned with was finding her friend, getting out of this smoky situation and returning to civilisation and a hot skinny latte.
Delta leaned over the man, keeping far enough away from him not to get herself any dirtier than she already was. “Do you know where you are?” she asked.
The man lifted his head slightly. “I was on my way to Lanron. It’s two miles from here,” he responded weakly, then his head fell back onto the grass. Delta didn’t have the slightest clue where that was. Why didn’t they have more descriptive names in this country? If the man had said they were two miles from the nearest designer shopping outlet or Starbucks, she would have known where they were. Not that she was seriously worried. She was absolutely sure that she could get home eventually. Having Daddy’s plastic in her purse was a first class ticket to anywhere. What Delta didn’t know, was where exactly her best friend had popped off to. Val could be on Mars for all she knew!
Val stood for a moment trying to get one clear thought into her head. “Come on,” she banged her forehead with the palm of her hand, “sort yourself out.” She looked around wildly for any visible clue to give her some sort of direction. She started to pace the shop floor. Pushing her hands into her jeans pockets she felt the sharp stab of cardboard under her nail making her wince in pain and pull out her hand. After inspecti
ng her finger for damage, she cautiously reached back into her pocket and pulled out a business card. On the front, in what looked like gothic text, were the words; ‘The House of Art’ Proprietor: Shane Walker, tattoo artist, Address: 10 the High Street, Arcsdale, AE2 4JR Tel 01675 849666. Val pulled her phone out. “Great, no signal!” she spat at the screen, flipping it shut and shoving it back into her pocket.
She needed to get to Shane’s. At least she could tell him and he (possibly) wouldn’t think she was as barking mad as the police would. “Don’t worry Delta, I’ll find you,” she said into the mirror before swiftly turning to leave the bookshop.
Back at the crash, site Delta was surrounded by several hunky police officers and a few attractive paramedics. She smiled and for a few moments soaked up every second of attention, hoping that firemen were coming as well. She directed them all to the man on the floor, telling them quite bravely that she was fine. At that point, a young and very attractive policeman introduced himself as P C Flinch and asked Delta to move to one side of the road with him.
“So tell me, madam, what exactly happened?” The young man leaned towards Delta, obviously drawn in by her American bombshell magnetism.
“I have to be honest and say I don’t know. When I arrived he was on the floor and unconscious,” Delta replied sweetly, flicking back her blond hair and moving closer. Becoming visibly nervous he realised he was way out of his depth and staggered backwards, clumsily making room between himself and Delta.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he stuttered. “I still need to ask you some more questions. I’m just going to get some advice from my Sergeant; we need to know what to do with you now.” He stumbled backwards almost falling into the ditch in his haste to get away from her.
Delta watched as he made his escape towards what looked like the man in charge.
“I think it’s time to leave; I need to find my friend,” she said under her breath. Looking around, Delta spotted a road sign. Making her way through the gathering crowd of uniforms she pulled out her phone. The sign read ‘Lanron 2’. Well better Lanron than nowhere. As she started walking, she flipped her phone open and began dialling.
Out on the street Val ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Luckily Shane’s was only a fifteen minute stroll from the bookstore and, at speed, a five minute sprint.
All Val could think about was where Delta was. She was so distracted that she almost missed the shop completely. Coming to a halt just past the doors, she paused for a split second, questioning whether Shane could be trusted. Well, it’s time to find out, she thought to herself, bursting through the double doors, which were heavily decorated with art.
As Val stepped inside, she began to feel the effects of her sprint. Flopping over completely breathlessly, her hands firmly placed on her hips for support, she took deep gasps of air. Her intense focus on her mission had made her oblivious to the poor man who was face down in front of Shane having Marilyn Monroe’s face tattooed across his back.
“What day is it?” Val gasped.
“Wednesday, and hello to you too, Val,” Shane responded.
“Good, I haven’t lost a day then.” Val strutted up and down. “Shane, we need to talk, now!” Val stopped to look at Shane.
He knew that she was genuinely in need of immediate attention, but it wasn’t that simple. “Val, I’m just with a client at the moment.” Shane’s looked down at the man’s back and for the first time, as if by magic, Val became aware of him.
“I’m sorry, but this is an emergency. I need you now.“ Val made a crazy-eyed expression whilst patting her arm, in the hope that Shane would interpret this as very important.
Shane tapped the guy on the back and, what had looked like a table top, now sat up. Even in the seated position he was nearly as tall as Val.
She stepped back, troubled that she had actually got that close to him in the first place.
“Val would you mind going out back to the office while I finish with this customer?” Shane smiled at her with exaggerated politeness.
“But…” Val started to speak but Shane had placed his glove-covered index finger to his lips.
Val knew instinctively to do as she was told. Walking past them quickly, she moved through a swing door and found herself in a corridor with three more doors. The one to the left was obviously the toilets as it had the girl/boy sign on it. The one in the middle said Private and the one to the right had no sign at all. Well, that was just great. She had to go somewhere. She decided most offices where private so she would go straight ahead, but when Val pushed the door, something instinctively told her that this was wrong. Nonetheless, she just had to keep going.
She peeped around the door and her eyes were met with the most glorious sight. Nothing could ever have prepared her for this. There were paintings from floor to ceiling. Not tattoos, as you would imagine, but art. Val stepped inside mesmerised by the beauty that was spread out before her like an extravagant canvas rainbow. Most of the paintings were of women, although there was one woman in particular who stood out because of her extraordinary beauty. She looked almost like a bird with jet-black hair that flowed down her back, a somewhat pointed nose the deepest green eyes that Val had ever seen. She was standing transfixed by the beauty of the paintings when a heavy hand grabbed her from behind. Val let out a scream and spun around to see who had collared her.
“This isn’t my office,” Shane said with a stern tone in his voice.
“I’m so sorry, I got lost.” Val was honestly sorry and she really didn’t care about anything but getting her friend back. “I really didn’t know which one was your office.”
“Come with me.” Shane pulled Val gently back out of the room and led her to the door with no name.
In the small and cluttered office, Shane sat on the edge of a large white desk and Val stood in front of him, like a patient at the doctor’s. “What seems to be the problem? Is it your tattoo?” Before she could answer, Shane pulled Val’s shirtsleeve up and began inspecting her tattoo.
“I need to tell you so much and I don’t know where to start.” Val took a deep mouthful of air as if she was going to get it all out in one breath. She started with more or less the same story she had told her friend, Delta, except now she had a slightly longer version with the addition of the car crash incident. As Val talked, she slowly gathered steam and then realised that the pressure Shane had on her arm was getting more restrictive, as if with each word, he was holding onto reality a little tighter.
“Are you OK, Shane? I understand that what I’m saying must sound crazy, but I don’t know where my friend is and you are the only person I can trust.” Tears started to form in Val’s eyes and she looked like a fiveyear-old who had just lost a favourite toy.
“Val, this is the craziest story I have ever heard, and believe me, you hear them in this job. If it wasn’t for the fact that you are now also missing the Aries symbol from your tattoo, and you are the most honest-looking person I have ever met, I would have kicked you out about ten minutes ago.”
Shane stood still, holding onto Val’s arms with slightly less vigour. “Tell me, where do you think your friend, Delta, could be? Did you see any distinctive signs at the place of the accident?” Releasing Val, he turned and walked towards a grubby black radio on top of a filing cabinet that looked almost ready to burst. He switched it on and music started to blare out.
“Do you really think that this is an appropriate time for music?” Val felt quite puzzled by Shane’s actions.
“I want to see if anything will come on the news about an accident. It might give is a clue” Shane now sat down again on the corner of his very untidy desk.
“How well does your friend Delta know the Arcsdale area? You said she comes here on holiday every year.”
“I think she knows where the shops and cafés are, but she uses a satellite navigation system to get her from her bedroom to the toilet.” Val gave a feeble grin and then started to cry. “This is my fault. She’s lost because of me. Ho
w am I going to tell her parents?” Val put her hands over her eyes.
Shane leaned over and put his hand on her arm. “It’s going to be OK. She’ll be fine and I’m sure she’ll find you soon enough.” As the words came out of Shane’s mouth, Val’s pocket started to vibrate then sprang into life with the soundtrack from ‘Star Wars’.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?” Shane asked.
“Yes, just a second.” Val leaned around almost like a dog chasing its tail as the phone was in her back pocket. If it hadn’t been such a sombre moment, Shane thought he might have laughed at her. As she pulled it out the expression on her face seemed to melt. She flicked the phone open and gasped, “Where are you? Are you OK? Is the man OK?” Val stopped talking for a second, fixed on listening. A different type of tear now seemed to be running down her cheeks. She looked up for a second at Shane as he mouthed the words “Is it her?” She smiled back nodding.
Val continued talking to Delta, explaining what had happened to her, and how she had ended up back at the bookshop, knocking herself out on the mirror. As Val talked, she worked her way out of the office. She explained how she had come to see Shane. Shane, now intrigued by the fact she was on the move, followed her as she headed out of the swing door and across the black and white tiled shop floor. When she reached the front doors, she turned around pushing them open with her back. Out on the street she stopped so suddenly that Shane almost bumped into her.
Val closed the phone and turned to Shane. “I can’t thank you enough for helping me today.” She grabbed his hand tightly and, as she turned back towards the road, a taxi pulled up. A beautiful blond girl jumped out and ran towards them. Val released Shane and opened her arms but, just before Delta reached her, she stopped dead.
The Thirteenth Page 5