Blue at Midnight

by S D Wile

  “Well I’ve made you an appointment with Dr Mathews,” informed my dad.

  “Who’s Dr Mathews?” I asked.

  “He’s a psychologist. He’s very well known, I kn...”

  “Wait, who said I need to see a psychologist?” I interrupted angrily. “And who told you to make me an appointment?”

  “Izzie!” snapped Naomi.

  “I don’t care. I’ve had enough and you can stuff your cake!” Tempted to throw it across the room, I slammed the cake on the table and stormed upstairs, locking myself in my bedroom.

  “Your appointment is Saturday at 11a.m.,” shouted my dad, from the bottom of the stairs, completely oblivious to my response.

  All I could do right now was ignore him. However, I couldn’t shake off the feverish rage rising within me, dying to burst out. As still as a lifeless body I sat there on my bed. My skin was like the hard shell of a bomb, holding everything in. Fiercely, my mind re-enacted the idea of trashing everything in my room. I could never push myself to do this physically as all the things I’d be destroying were my own so I would only be hurting myself, which I didn’t deserve. Plus money was tight and the last thing I needed to do was to destroy my own belongings.

  Suddenly, I heard the front door shut and I ran to the window hoping both of them had gone out. Disappointingly, it was just my sister leaving in her boyfriend’s four by four. Even though she’d sat there quietly I knew that was why she had been at the house in the first place. They had decided to refer me to a psychologist together. If she disagreed she would have defended me but she just sat there with a sympathetic expression on her face, which then changed to frustration when I confronted them. I checked my phone for a text message from her as she was always the first one to text me after an argument. After a ridiculous excuse, she’d usually remind me of what I was allowed and not allowed to do whilst living under my dad’s roof. Luckily, she’d moved out with her boyfriend two years ago and was able to afford a place of her own. This left me stuck here, working part-time and going to college with the hope of having enough money to leave one day. Without my mother, who was brilliant at mellowing everything out, I felt that my only choice was to avoid making conversation. This was easier now that I knew that he was against me.

  Chapter 13

  After reading a novel about betrayal, love and revenge then listening to the radio, night-time was upon us. Working in the dark had been a habit of mine but after a while I’d strain my eyes, and give myself a nasty headache. That’s when I decided to close my curtains and put on my desktop lamp, as I could never relax in a brightly lit room. I noticed the old clock tower read eight o’clock. Four hours in my room had gone by like a brisk wind.

  Just as I was about to pull across my velvety smooth, plum curtains, a dim light shining from the top window of the old shoe factory caught my eye. Carefully, I leaned forward but I wasn’t close enough to see. The ice cold glass was starting to blur from the warmth of my breath. Impatiently I pushed my window open not realising how far out I was, until a prickly cinnamon-coloured leaf slapped me in the face, startling me. I looked down in shock to see a blurred version of the street. Almost losing my balance I dug my hands into the window sill, quickly pushing myself back, only to trip over my college bag, landing uncomfortably on the floor. In panic I froze expecting my dad to run up the stairs and shout ‘what’s going on?’ but luckily, nothing. He hadn’t heard anything. With a sigh of relief I shoved my bag underneath my bed and got up to look at the speck of light again, except it was gone.

  I could have sworn I saw a light, followed by a moving shadow. After much thinking I convinced myself it was a cat because the thought of it being the shadow of a man seemed a bit frightening. Especially after what Sonia had told me about the dead body that had been found in that very same building! I wasn’t sure about what I’d seen but if I kept going around and around like this in my mind I would drive myself crazy, or crazier, according to Jenny.

  Suddenly, a high pitched ringtone startled me half to death. It was Sonia (I really needed to calm down).

  “Hello.”

  “Hey, how you doing?” It was always refreshing to hear her bubbly voice.

  “I don’t know. I’m a bit freaked out.” I couldn’t help it. I needed someone to give me realistic reasons for the strange events that had occurred. Even though asking Sonia, with her wild imagination, probably wasn’t the best idea, she was the only one who wouldn’t judge me.

  “Freaked out? Why? What’s happened? It’s not that stupid Jenny.”

  “No, no, it’s nothing to do with her,” I interrupted. I could handle her, I thought.

  “Then what is it?”

  “OK, this is going to sound a bit crazy but I’m just telling you what I saw. I’m not making any assumptions, I just need you to tell me what you think and be honest. If I sound crazy just tell me OK?”

  “Yeah, sure, you haven’t witnessed a crime or something?”

  “No, nothing like that! Seriously you need to take a break from those detective mysteries,” I chuckled.

  “Who? Me? Nooooo, so what happened?”

  “You know that old shoe factory opposite my house?”

  “The one where they found the dead homeless person?”

  “Yes that one,” I hissed.

  “Well last night, I saw a shadow in there.”

  “A shadow?”

  “Yeah, it was moving then disappeared. I thought it was probably a cat.”

  “Or a dog – could even have been a donkey,” she giggled back.

  “Listen, I thought the same too until just now. I saw a light in the top window!”

  “No way! You sure it was a light?”

  “Well it couldn’t exactly be a magical donkey now could it?”

  “When did you see the light? Is it still there?”

  “No, it went suddenly. I don’t understand what this means. Any ideas?”

  “What time did you see the shadow?”

  “I don’t know, it was late, like past midnight.”

  “A perfect time to break in, don’t you think? Especially into an empty factory.” I could hear the scratching of a pencil. Now I definitely had her attention.

  “So how about this: imagine you’re a dodgy person, you break into an old factory when it’s dark so no one would notice you and you need to keep a low profile so you keep the lights off unless it gets too dark.”

  “Yes and so you light a candle or even use a dim lamp,” I responded.

  “Which window did you see the light from?”

  “The top one,” I said.

  “That’s the office and the shadow was on that floor too?”

  “No, I saw the shadow through the window below, second floor. Do you think he was making his way upstairs and he passed the window on the second floor?”

  “Yes...” Silence intervened and I could tell she was putting the pieces together in her head. What a relief it was to find out what I’d been thinking was normal and not an over exaggeration. Finally things were starting to make sense. Just as I was about to say something Sonia was back, with a much higher tone of voice.

  “What I don’t understand is why, out of all the places, would someone break into the old shoe factory? I mean that’s where the dead body was found!”

  “Maybe...” I tried to explain that it could have been someone who didn’t know but Sonia was thinking aloud.

  “Unless, oh my life! He is related to the murder somehow. Maybe he thought that he could come back to check or collect something now that this whole murder investigation is over.”

  “Why would he come back?”

  “Curiosity. It’s the easiest mistake to make especially when you think everyone has forgotten or moved on and now he’s there!”

  “So you’re telling me a murderer or someone weird is living opposite my house?” The worst thing was that the police had reported that the homeless person had died from a stroke but Sonia and a few of the locals were convinced it was a murde
r yet I never really knew what to believe.

  “Yes, you might have a killer living across from your house.” As quick as a spy I ran to draw my curtains.

  “So what shall I do?” I screamed down the phone.

  “Make sure your doors are locked and your windows are closed. I’ll be at yours in twenty-six minutes!”

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. I’m glad she was coming to my house but was anxious over what might be to come. Quietly I tip-toed downstairs, into the kitchen, to make some peppermint tea. I needed to calm my nerves.

  Speaking louder than usual meant that my dad was speaking on the phone, in the living room. Probably to Dr Mathews but I couldn’t care less. I wasn’t going unless I wanted to. Personally I thought I could never really be ready to talk about my personal life to a complete stranger. What was even worse was the fact that my dad would have told the therapist I attempted suicide regardless of what I had said. According to him the first step to recovery would be admitting that I tried to end my life and that I have a problem. The fact that my mother passed away last year would become a contributing factor to this idea and I would then be helplessly drowning in a sinking ship. Sadly my mother had spent many years suffering with ill health and deep down I knew that she was losing the strength to fight. The thought of her being able to finally rest in peace without suffering was what helped me grieve.

  Right now I knew I had no choice but to sort this mess out myself.

  “Sonia’s coming to see me.” I shouted quickly, barely opening the living room door. Before my dad had a chance to respond I’d already made my way upstairs.

  Vibrations flooded the driveway and unsurprisingly it was twenty-six minutes since I ended my phone conversation to Sonia.

  She sounded out of breath and I’d barely said hello before telling her to follow me upstairs to avoid speaking to my dad. After shutting the door it dawned on me why she was so out of breath.

  Collapsed on the floor and half rolled over was a camping rucksack almost the same size as Sonia. Probably the same weight too.

  “And why are you dressed like a ninja?” I asked whilst desperately trying to hold back the urge to laugh hysterically at the appearance of a short but slender girl wearing shades, black gloves, slim-fit jeans and a ribbed top, accompanied by black pumps. It was as if a piece of night itself had walked into my bedroom. This was clearly a big deal as you had more chance of seeing an eclipse than Sonia out in public without her high heels. Even her slippers had heels!

  Maybe telling my weird but wonderful friend what I’d seen was a bad idea after all.

  “Isn’t this a bit over the top?”

  “Over the top! Izzie, you don’t understand the danger you could be in! The danger we all might be in! Either he’s come back to kill again or to secretly live in the old shoe factory, opposite your house!”

  Sonia had thought of all the possible reasons the stranger may have been here and out of all ten possibilities only one of them didn’t involve danger. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was right and whether ignoring what I had seen would be a big mistake. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out but I certainly wasn’t brave enough to attempt it.

  “Why have your brought a rucksack?” I felt almost too afraid to ask her about her plan as I knew whatever she was going to say next was not going to be legal.

  “Look we need to find out what’s happening there. Who knows, we might even find a person that’s in need of help. We could save someone’s life!”

  “Why don’t we just call the police? They can do all that for us and we can watch from here.”

  “You really think they’re going to take seeing a shadow and a dim light as sufficient evidence for searching the place? Trust me they are too preoccupied with the rest of the goings on in this area.” She did actually have a good point there. Who would believe us? Especially with my reputation at the moment and one conversation with Sonia would be enough for them to think we were both crazy. As petrified as I was with the idea of breaking into a place, especially one where they found a dead body, I couldn’t help but wonder whether there was someone in there that needed help. We all need help when we are in real trouble, just as someone helped me when I had drowned, even though I can’t remember exactly who it was. Perhaps someone was being held prisoner or even injured with nowhere else to go.

  If I wasn’t careful I’d get myself into deep trouble. I knew I needed to make decisions for me not based on the fear of getting found out. I looked at Sonia seriously – and she gave me the exact same look back.

  “If we do this no one can find out. We can’t leave any tracks. It’s got to be as if it never happened.”

  “I understand. My lips are sealed. We’re both in this together.” Relieved by her loyalty I started to change out of my red-and-black checked pyjamas.

  “Here, I got you a matching black top like mine. Put it over your tank top. It’s a bit cold out there,” smiled Sonia.

  Whilst I was quickly slipping into a pair of black slim-fit jeans and black converse trainers, Sonia was emptying some of the contents of her rucksack. Turned out she’d packed for the both of us. Out rolled two mini torches, marbles, a black pepper jar, 2 tennis rackets, a bottle of water, two black string bags, a towel and a fashion magazine.

  She then handed me one of the string bags with a personal alarm to clip onto my jeans and a pair of sunglasses.

  “Why have you got... actually leave it, so what’s the plan?” I didn’t have the energy to question any more. I thought I’d just let her lead as she was clearly more determined than me.

  “Ok, it’s ten p.m. We’ll have to wait for your dad to go to sleep before we leave.”

  “But we can’t make a sound, otherwise he’ll know and the whole thing will be over.”

  One of my dad’s house rules were that no one leaves after nine thirty at night as that’s when the criminals come out and by being outside you were more likely to get yourself into a bad situation. Explaining to my dad that I would not be out by myself and that I would be travelling by car was pointless as he was not the reasonable type. Therefore, it was critical that he didn’t find out. First I had to pretend Sonia had left so that she could move her car and park on the next street.

  Chapter 14

  Everyone would be gathering at savoc thought Christian as he sat at the old wooden desk in the factory office. Even though there was a working lamp on the desk, he didn’t like its light. Instead he’d been sitting there in the dark for well over an hour, thinking about how complex the girl he’d saved was. She seemed to be protected by a hard shell which guarded her vulnerability yet her honesty and beauty managed to seep through. This was the last thing he expected from a human and even though he felt more drawn towards her, a part of him was hoping he’d seen proof of what the elders had taught him for all those years. Evidence that humans were transparent, not deserving of the gift of life, not appreciating the ground they walked on. Yet the truth was far from this, and not so black and white.

  Still there was a chance he could return back to Orsa. No one would ever have known what happened apart from Morbidma, who was forbidden to tell unless asked. Why would anyone ask if they never knew? However, going back would go against every impulse in his body. The question he couldn’t answer was whether he was ready for what was to come if he stayed? This would start a war.

  For the first time he didn’t want to look out at the sea. Instead he decided to walk to the front of the office where he glimpsed two shadowy figures, suspiciously running out of the driveway of the house opposite. Why were they running towards this building?

  Avoiding the puddles lying in the holes of the damp ground, I found myself almost skipping towards the old shoe factory. Sonia appeared to be taking long leaps over as much of the ground as possible, clearly trying not to get her pumps wet. Yet she remained as graceful as a fairy.

  As we reached the entrance Sonia started to push the front door. Worried about anyone seeing us, I kept watc
h.

  “What are you doing? That door is locked,” I hissed impatiently.

  “I can’t believe it. He fixed the door.” She stepped back staring at it. Just then I heard a car driving along the street and it was going to pass us any minute. Dressed the way we were would raise suspicion, so I grabbed Sonia’s arm and dragged her into a narrow alleyway at the side of the factory.

  “Who fixed the door?” Sonia asked.

  “What are you talking about? There’s always been a door there.”

  “No, I know that but the door was loose. I remember it used to swing back and forth.” This made me a bit suspicious so I asked Sonia how she knew this. It turned out that her ex-boyfriend used to be a part of some secret society. Apparently, the sessions were held in this factory.

  “They used to prop a box against the door on the inside when they held the sessions and they’d take everything with them, leaving the door open when they left. I know. Sounds crazy – don’t ask.”

  This proved that someone was either living up there or hiding something, maybe even both. Reality dawned on me; I was actually breaking into a building that had been secured by a stranger or even a criminal. Whoever it was I didn’t want to get on this person’s bad side.

  “I guess we’re just going to have to leave it. I mean this is illegal. We have to physically break in.”

  “Yes but don’t you understand there could be someone else in there, needing our help, and the only chance they have is us. What if there is a criminal in there who should be in prison, not roaming around in the open amongst us or even little children.”

  Even if she was right it was not our job to do this. I reached into my back pocket and started to call the police. Suddenly, Sonia leapt on me like a crazy cat, snatching my phone.

  “Are you insane? He’ll see the light off your screen. That’s the same as saying: here we are come and kill us!”

  “What else do you expect me to do? This is too dangerous.” Tempted as I was to run across the wet street and sneak back into my bedroom, I knew that I couldn’t leave my friend. I needed to make a compromise so we decided that we would try and find a window or a back door to sneak through and at the first sign of danger we’d race out of there as quick as lightning.