The Downfall Series Box Set

by Edie Baylis

  There was a slight pause until one officer piped up. “Will there be any surveillance on the flat tonight?”

  DI Charles’ brow furrowed. It was a question he’d thought about at great length. “I thought about putting someone in place to keep tabs, but as there’s very little going down of late, I made the decision to go with the raid as is, rather than waste resources watching a dark stairwell for six hours.”

  Several heads around the room nodded in agreement.

  “They’ll probably go out somewhere to get rat-arsed, but will be back in their filthy pit by the time we kick their fucking door down.” DI Charles chuckled to himself. “If that’s all gentlemen, then I’ll see you back here at 3.”

  “DO YOU THINK HE LIKES me?” Maggie asked tentatively, hoping she wasn’t going to get her head bitten off for speaking during the crappy sci-fi serial Eliza had been glued to all day.

  Momentarily pulling her eyes away from the screen, Eliza stuck her fingers into the packet of peanuts resting on the arm of her chair and glanced at Maggie. “Who?”

  Rolling her eyes, Maggie pulled a face. For God’s sake, Eliza obviously hadn’t listened to a word. “Zed! You know the one I’ve just been telling you about?”

  Eliza reached down for her can of cider then returned her gaze back to the television.

  Maggie took this to mean the conversation was over and started picking at the edge of her bandage on her wrist. If Zed was at the party, she’d make her interest more obvious. She may as well since Bryn had decided to fuck off and disappear on her.

  SITTING ON THE FLOOR in the bathroom, Seth rested his forehead against the cool wall and popped another couple of pills into his mouth.

  Nothing was doing the trick. He felt like he was on a roller coaster running out of track and it was only a matter of time before his carriage hurtled off the rails at breakneck speed towards the ground.

  With shaking fingers, he lit a cigarette and took a long drag. He screwed his eyes shut, but everything continued to play on repeat in slow-motion in the back of his mind.

  Taking a long gulp of whisky from the bottle by his side, Seth swallowed another two pills. He leant his head back and a lone tear escaped against his will, running slowly down his unshaven cheek.

  What the fuck was happening? They’d lost the baby. He’d lost his job. Everyone thought he was losing his mind and he was sure he was losing Jane. Running his hand through his hair he sighed. He wanted it all back.

  He was on edge and angry with everything and everyone. The net was closing in from all directions on every angle of his life and he was beginning to feel like he was running out of oxygen.

  Pushing himself quickly to his feet, Seth slammed his fist hard into the wall, smashing a gaping hole. He wiped the blood from his knuckles down his jeans and wished to fuck he could find some oblivion.

  If only for a few minutes.

  TEDDY WAS HOT. Come on Ian, do something!

  He’d been told to stay under the green thing and say nothing until he was told to. The problem was, he’d been under here for ages and not only was he bored shitless, but was sweating like a pig in an abattoir. How much longer would this go on for?

  He wasn’t even sure what Ian was trying to achieve. Apparently the plan was to freak Digger out so that he’d break emotionally. Then it would be easy to curse him, he’d said. All of his body hair would then be plucked out with tweezers to use as stuffing for a voodoo doll.

  Teddy wasn’t sure why, but presumed Ian knew what he was doing? He knew Ian was livid that Maggie had got away from him again because they’d been having a great shagging session until she’d slit her wrists.

  She was bloody mental that girl, Teddy thought trying to ignore the overwhelming itch developing on his hairy chin.

  Try as he might, he couldn’t quite see Ian’s fascination with the girl. Ok, so he wouldn’t have said no - not that he’d ever been allowed to have a go, but he preferred Debbie because Maggie was more unstable that a two-legged chair and it did his head in.

  Apparently once Digger had been sorted, Ian would get Maggie back. There were only so many places she could be, he’d said. Fucking hell, he’d been raging when he’d discovered the thick cow was no longer in hospital.

  Teddy secretly reckoned that was what had triggered this Digger thing, although Ian had assured him he’d been planning it for ages because his brother had told him to.

  Teddy frowned sure Ian’s brother had died years ago. Shrugging, he froze, remembering he was supposed to remain stock still under the green thing which was covering him.

  JANE FELT IN A RATHER extraordinarily good mood by the time she’d parked her car. Humming a tune, she ran up the steps to the flat and even the familiar figure of Stuart peering out of the window wasn’t enough to irritate her.

  Giving him the finger, she laughed watching him retreat behind the curtain.

  Shutting the front door behind her, Jane dropped her bag and listened for any movement. “Seth?”

  Pushing the bathroom door open, she saw a new hole in the wall. What the fuck? Rapidly swinging around she saw Seth lying in the bath with his clothes on, his eyes open and staring into space.

  “Hello Jane,” he slurred.

  An unexpected but overwhelming rush of love for the man in front of her washed over Jane. “What’s the matter?” Sitting on the edge of the bath, she dipped her fingers into the freezing cold water. “Seth?”

  Seth’s eyes moved across to Jane as she pulled the plug out. “I’m sorry, babe.”

  “What for?”

  “Everything....”

  As Jane turned the hot tap back on, Seth stared at the water rushing into the bath and felt himself begin to warm up. He hadn’t even noticed it had gone cold, but then he had no recollection of even getting in there. He sniffed both lines of coke Jane handed him. “Jane, I....”

  “What’s wrong, Seth? Like I mean, I know what’s wrong, but oh, you know what I mean...” Tipping a glass of vodka down her throat, she slipped off her clothes.

  “What? Apart from everything? I’m losing you and I’m losing everything.”

  Frowning, Jane leant over the bath and turned the tap off knowing his eyes were studying her. “You’re not losing me,” she whispered.

  “Come here.” Grabbing her hand, Seth moved his legs to make room as she stepped into the bath. Pulling her down, he breathed deeply as the coke buzzed through his mind. “Jane?”

  Jane couldn’t discuss what Seth wanted to discuss. If she did, she might fall apart and she couldn’t take that risk. Her life was fucked just like his and she didn’t need to ask him what was going through his head to know that because they were two halves of the same person.

  Seth dealt with things by going in on himself, whereas she went out of herself and no amount of anything would change that. She wanted obliteration. He wanted annihilation.

  Same difference wasn’t it?

  “Shh...” Putting her finger to Seth’s lips, Jane pressed her mouth onto his, her teeth nibbling his lip.

  Coming back to life, Seth’s tongue greedily pushed into Jane’s mouth and he fumbled with the buttons of his jeans under the water. Pushing himself out of the bath, he lifted her out easily and carried her down the hall while she slipped in his wet arms, giggling.

  This was the Seth Jane knew and loved. The depressed Seth scared her to fuck because they lived off each other’s moods. If he was down, then she was too and she feared she’d drown. She needed to keep wired and take him with her.

  Jane was thrown onto the bed and gasped when Seth buried his face in her, his tongue working its magic inside and around her. She moaned loudly as the familiar sensations built within her.

  As she wrapped her fingers in his long curls he pulled his head away from between her legs and transferred his tongue to her mouth. Pushing himself into her he picked up a fast pace.

  “I love you, Seth,” Jane whispered softly.

  Seth smiled as he slammed into her over and over. All
he wanted now was for her to say it when he wasn’t making her come.

  Lifting her hips higher, he upped the pace further. “Not as much as I love you.”

  FORTY ONE

  MAGGIE WATCHED THE MAN standing like a statue in the corner of the kitchen. His chin touched the lapels of his green velour jacket as he lost himself in the kaleidoscopic colours of the acid trip hurtling through his mind at the speed of light. A woman naked from the waist down leant against him for support whilst another man ran his tongue faster between her legs.

  Blinking slowly, Maggie centred herself on the relaxation she’d happily experienced since toking on a large bong. Eliza had made sure Ian wasn’t lurking anywhere, but then neither was Zed, so she’d focused her attention on Tony who propped the wall up in the lounge, looking bored.

  Stuart skulked out of the party the same way he’d got in, with no one noticing. He wasn’t in the mood for sex and it seemed that was all that was happening there tonight.

  After seeing Seth and Jane, he’d realised he had the perfect chance to act and as he limped down the street, even his knee giving him jip wasn’t enough to remove the smile off his face.

  He shook his head with amusement. Just how much coke Seth and Jane had done was anyone’s guess. They’d lit up the room with the excess energy emanating from them and would be so fucked by the end of the night, they wouldn’t notice jack shit!

  Smiling, Stuart headed back to the flat where he knew Jane’s car was parked, ready and waiting for his attention. After he’d dealt with that, he was going to bed to watch that new porno he’d bought from the strange bloke down the market with the extra finger.

  FEELING RELATIVELY CLEAR-HEADED, apart from the throbbing pain pounding at the back of his skull, Digger had regained sufficient clarity to act. What he’d initially presumed to be handcuffs restraining him, was in fact rope which would be easy to snap from brute force alone. He just needed to wait for the right time.

  He’d now spent several hours listening to the continued ramblings of the hooded fuckhead in the black dress as the gimp had loped back and forward across the room, waving his arms to summon up his ‘inner incubus.’

  “Yes, he’s scared. Yes, he knows he’ll pay for his sins to eternity. Yes, he’s almost ready to be taken over...”

  Digger presumed that it was him the freak was referring to, but hadn’t liked to point out that not only was he not remotely scared, but was also quite happy to pay for his sins. Furthermore, he wasn’t being taken anywhere!

  After careful consideration, he decided the green lump on the sofa wasn’t worth considering because it still hadn’t spoken or moved. It had however, proved it wasn’t an inanimate object by coughing several times and a hand had appeared to scratch consistently at what he’d presumed was its head.

  Suddenly it all fell into place. Digger was ninety-nine percent sure who these dickheads were and he was going to kill them both. As Black-Dress moved closer, chanting and holding a pair of tweezers he knew it was the right time.

  Snapping the rope, Digger yanked his arms and legs free and delivered an upper cut to the man’s jaw, sending him sprawling onto his back.

  Enjoying himself now he’d got his meaty hands around the scrawny fucker’s throat, Digger crushed down harder and ripped the black hood away from Ian’s head. “Do you like purple, you cunt?” he hissed, grinning savagely. “Well you’d just fucking love the colour of your mug right now!”

  Hearing a shuffling noise, Digger turned to see the green shape attempting to move off the sofa. “Oh no you don’t!”

  Smashing his fist into where he thought the thing’s face might be, the lump flopped back unconscious onto the sofa.

  Digger grinned pleased his shot had been a damn fine guess. “Don’t know what you were trying to achieve, but you and your mate have made a very, very big mistake...”

  A gargling sound escaped from Ian’s mouth and his eyes bulged out of their sockets, reddening as the blood vessels began to break as Digger pushed down further on his windpipe.

  JANE WAS BLITZED TO fuck. Putting the pipe of the bong down, she swallowed another glass of neat vodka and watched Maggie unsuccessfully drape herself over Tony.

  Accepting the random kiss from the girl sitting next to her, Jane wondered where her bag was. She needed a smoke and some more pills.

  Seth lay on the floor with his arms behind his head. He was finally starting to lose the grating edge and it seemed the pills were finally working. Smiling, he opened his mouth as someone chucked two small triangular orange pills in. Bring it on, he grinned and swallowed them dry.

  “Hey baby!” Kneeling down, Jane kissed Seth hard on the lips. Giggling, she flicked her tongue across his teeth, letting his hands run over her bare breasts. “I’m going to have a bit of fun with Clint, yeah?”

  Seth raised an eyebrow. He’d noticed it was turning into one of those parties again. Tony had already fucked some blonde bird next to him and there were plenty of bodies scattered around engaged in various acts, but to his surprise he was so mashed and relaxed that for once he was up for whatever she wanted.

  Winding his hand in Jane’s hair he reined her in closer. “Whatever you want, Princess. Just come back to me!”

  “I’ll always come back to you, Seth.” Jane kissed him again as he traced his finger down her face. “Oh, and Eliza wants you.”

  “Does she?” he laughed, “and you want me to do that do you?”

  Jane shrugged, her feet tapping to the drumming music. The rushing in her head was getting strong. Really strong.

  Clint appeared, standing guiltily behind Jane as she pushed herself to her feet.

  “No tongues now, do you hear?” Seth winked, silently wondering why the fuck he wasn’t smashing the prick in the face. He slipped a couple more pills into his mouth, watching as Clint quickly took Jane’s hand.

  Jane shoved Eliza towards Seth. “Your turn...”

  “Don’t tempt me!” Eliza laughed.

  “Just go for it!” Jane grinned, swaying against Clint.

  When Jane disappeared Eliza faltered, not knowing what to do. She wasn’t sure how to take her tonight. Jane had already turned her down for a threesome again, but then she’d seen her snogging a woman, so was she serious about offering Seth to her?

  Eliza sat down next to Seth, who smiled lazily. “Are you ok?” she muttered, uncomfortably aware that he was enjoying her embarrassment.

  “Hear you want to kiss me, Eliza,” Seth laughed watching her blush.

  AS THE PRESSURE INCREASED on his windpipe Ian tried to scream, but nothing came out. Through his watering eyes, he attempted to focus on the grinning lunatic pinning him to the floor.

  How dare this cunt rip his hood off! It was a sacred item of clothing charged with power in exactly the way Nigel had explained. In fact, he’d followed the instructions to the letter, so how come this monster was still living? He didn’t understand it.

  More importantly where had Nigel gone?

  Ian could hear nothing in his mind now apart from a loud rushing sound. Calling silently for his brother, he waited for the answer that would no longer come.

  Colours flashed behind his eyes and the roaring in his ears was completely distracting him, making him feel panicky. He had no air left at all and just couldn’t drag any from anywhere. The rushing was getting louder and the weight on his neck heavier, but someone was still screaming at him.

  Ian tried to smile, but his muscles had locked. A heartbeat thundered away inside his head.

  It was getting darker now, really dark.

  A JOLT OF JEALOUSY ran through Seth seeing Jane wind her arms around Clint’s neck. Quashing it, he forced himself not to be jealous.

  Don’t stress remember, he told himself. He wouldn’t let anything spoil tonight. They were supposed to be having a good night with no shit. Ok, so he hadn’t realised that meant they’d be messing with other people and if he was honest, he’d rather not because he was fine just chilling out. Shrugging his sho
ulders, he knew he was in no state to argue. If that’s what Jane wanted, then he’d have to handle it.

  Sneaking another glance as Clint’s mouth explored Jane’s, Seth wondered whether he could handle it. Forcing his hands from clenching into fists, he stared at Eliza. Grabbing her by the hair, he pulled her sharply towards him.

  Eliza almost fainted as Seth plunged his tongue into her mouth and felt her heart thundering in her chest that was now pressed against his.

  Pulling away, Seth smiled as he took a swig of whisky. “There you go. Will that do?”

  “Shit!” Eliza panted. “No! I want more!”

  Seeing Seth’s body crushed against Eliza’s, Jane shut her eyes and opened herself further to the rushing flooding through her body as the overload of drugs and drink coursed through her veins.

  Maggie wasn’t getting as far as she wanted. She’d managed to get a kiss out of Tony, but that had been about it. It had been a bit half-hearted in all honesty and her drink-fuelled confidence was faltering.

  She backed off under the excuse of finding another drink and quickly popping a cigarette into her mouth, asked someone avidly watching two girls kissing on an armchair for a light. Without even moving his eyes in her direction, the man waved the lighter at Maggie.

  Was she that irrelevant?

  Sulkily moving back towards the lounge, she stepped over a bloke inconveniently lying unconscious across the doorway when her eyes were suddenly drawn towards Jane heading upstairs with Clint.

  Maggie’s nervousness returned. What the hell was Jane doing and where was Seth?

  She scanned the room and watched Eliza mauling Seth on the floor. She sighed, knowing it would kick off sooner rather than later and she needed more drugs to calm her down before that happened.

  LYING BACK IN BED STUART was very pleased. He’d found Jane’s car exactly where she’d left it. It hadn’t taken long and all he had to do now was sit back and wait.