Before I knew it, I was at the top of my street and my house was just around the corner but now I had stopped and my breath could finally catch up with me I was panting and sputtering. I reached into my bag and found one of the bottles of water I had put in earlier and drank. The water helped soothe the burning in my chest and within a few minutes my breaths regulated and the burning sensation disappeared. The road leading to my house was clear I couldn't see anybody about but even so I remained on full alert. Just because I couldn't see anyone didn't mean nobody was there. I didn't like standing so out in the open if, anybody was still in their houses they only had to look out the window to see me.
Most of my neighbour's front gardens had been dug up to create a drive for their cars, but most of the residents living there had either packed up and left or their cars were no longer parked there so, hiding places were slim to none. I could just make a quick dash for my house and hope that it was empty but something told me to wait. I needed to come up with a plan and typically I had no idea, all I could think of was diving in front of my neighbour's bush to stay out of sight. Mr. Brown had lived here in this house for over sixty years. He was a lovely old man, had lost his wife many years ago and never remarried he always said hello and asked how my day had been but he was a man that kept conversation sort and sweet which was probably why I found him endearing, he was always in his garden and kept it in pristine condition everything was neatly trimmed not a leave or branch was out of place. I hoped that he was ok?
I had to lie on my stomach to make sure I couldn't have been seen and even then, I couldn't be a hundred percent sure. Even so, I lay there watching trying to find some sign that my house was empty.
The hedge I had picked to hide behind was not really any choice at all it was all that was available and so my viewpoint to my house was equally not my choice. I could only see the very side of it and couldn't actually see into the house at all. The road into our street looked a bit like a horseshoe with one entrance in and out. Houses lined both sides of the road all ranging in size and shape looking similar but not the same a few of the larger houses had been renovated into small apartments. Mine and Mr. Browns house were almost but not quite opposite to one another and if I wasn't hiding behind this dam hedge I would have been able to see much more than I could but as it was the view I had was crap; my house was just on the bend and all I could see from down here was the side wall of the house and part of the front garden. The front door was on the other side so, I tried shifting over as far as I could and was almost under the actual bush but it was no good.
Chapter 12:
Ihad been lying under the hedge for ages and had pretty much convinced myself that I was alone and it was safe to get up when I heard what sounded like a motorbike roar to life. I couldn't see it but could hear the bike as if it was right in front of me. I Shrank back under the hedge and tried to make myself as small as possible. I still couldn't see anyone but I was now re-thinking my assumptions about how safe I really was. I heard shouting but couldn't make out the words over the motorbike engine.
What was going on? Why hadn't I just made my way back to the jeep and back to Susanne and Eric's?
Time was getting on now and thankfully because it was June the sun still hadn't set but it wouldn't be long, it had dipped beyond the houses and I could see less and less of its warming rays. I wanted to make a run for it but with the commotion across the street I dare not move and stayed stuck lodged under the hedge.
I waited and within a few minutes the road was buzzing with noise, a car fired up but sounded more like an American muscle car than the normal day to day hatchback or the likes of. Both the motorbike and car revved their engines as if they were at the starting line of a race track. After what felt like a lifetime of hiding they slowly drove past me.
With only one way in and out of our street, they must have parked around the bend where I couldn't see. I watched as the motorbike came first with a big fuck off dude sitting on it, he was carrying no passengers, had a big gun on his back and a scarf around his mouth. He was dressed in all dark clothes and had the same red ties on his upper arm as I'd seen before, he looked scary as hell, someone not to be messed with. The car that drove past after didn't look any less scary. The car itself was no mussel car but something that looked like it had been transported out of the mad max film. It was possible it had been a 4x4 in a previous life but now it had been stripped down and a roll bar of sorts had been put in place of a roof, a gun was mounted to the bonnet and it had metal spikes sticking out from the wheels. The mutant 4x4 was filled with people, I counted at least six. They all had guns or big knives on them thrashing them about in the air and looked to be shouting something out but with the sound of the motorbike and the car, whatever they were shouting about got lost amongst the other noises.
The common thread between them all apart from the guns and shit was they all wore that same red scarf thing around their upper arm so, were clearly all mixed up together. They looked joyful and happy but not oh what a lovely day kind or I’ve just heard the best news kind of happy. They look wicked, almost evil it was their eyes that held me the most, shook me to the core. They were all glowing red. I would have thought I was imagining it if I hadn't seen the same thing before.
Fear of being spotted gripped me I hid so far in Mr. Browns hedge so that I wouldn't be seen I felt like part of the bloody thing, even the rat that ran straight past my face and my unyielding, totally ridiculous fear that they were going to eat me and take over the world didn't make me move, not even an inch. I stayed glued to the spot until it got dark.
After the scary dude on the bike and the mutant 4x4 went off things went back to being quiet, I stayed where I was for a little while after they had gone to make sure it was safe.
I was getting cold, needed a wee and couldn't feel parts of my body where I had been laying at an awkward angle for so long. I was scared to move in case the gang came back but terrified of staying where I was and getting caught. I wondered for the umpteenth time if Mr. Brown was in and if he was ok?
With a glance around to make sure I was still alone I army crawled to Mr. Browns front door and knocked as quietly as I could. A small part of me wished for him to be home so I could go in, have a wee and see if Mr. Brown knew what was going on. But the larger part was relieved when nobody answered the door. I didn't want poor Mr. Brown caught up in anything to do with me that might put him in danger.
Crouched in front of the doorway I weighed up my options; there was no way I was getting into my house tonight so, I could either go back to hiding under the bush or try and make my way back to the jeep. Knowing I could be found either way I took a deep breath, checked to see if I could see anyone, which I couldn't and made a run for it.
I kept checking behind me to see if I was being followed but couldn't see anything, even so, I didn't stop. I made my way back through the village hiding behind anything that could conceal my presence. A car had gone by and had scared me to death, I'd heard the noise of the engine just moments before it came into view and jump into the ditch next to me to hide which, I didn't know had filled with water during the rain storm we'd had, I was now soaking wet, cold, sore from laying under a bush for hours and desperately needed a wee but twice I had to change course and go a different way due to hearing people in the distance.
It was strange the darkness that was night had brought people out of their homes but with that, the sense of danger tripled. I felt on constant guard like I was being hunted and because I was now convinced someone was after me or better put a lot of someone's, every noise I heard had me jumping. I couldn't be sure of course but too many things added up to that conclusion and there was no way I was betting my life on me being wrong better to just avoid people until I knew what was going on.
It made me want to find Alice all the more.
The night air felt different I couldn't put my finger on what it was but I could definitely feel it. All the hairs on my arms and neck were raised, danger felt
like it was lurking around every corner. Where only a few weeks ago this had been my home, where I’d felt safe and didn’t have a care in the world, now felt strange and scary like I had been transported to an alternate universe.
I finally made my way back to the newly built housing estate at the edge of Apple Wood and had reached the field from where I had started earlier. All I had to do now was cross the field, the woods, get back to the jeep and drive back to Susanne and Eric's. Saying it like that made it feel like I still had a mountain to climb, my nerves were raw I was a jittering, paranoid mess.
I'm not sure when I had pulled the knife from behind my back out but now I was carrying it. I took strength from the weapon I held, jumped over the fence and told myself if I had made it this far...
I needn't have worried in under an hour I was standing beside the jeep, still a jittering, paranoid mess but I had made it back. I had been telling myself that once I was back in the jeep I was pretty much home and dry. I thought I'd feel like the hard part was over and I was nearly safe but I didn't, fear was nipping at my heels only I felt alert and wired at the same time. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body and as scared as I was it was the most alive I'd felt in weeks. I was tempted to sit in the car until morning, the drive back in the dark felt far more ominous now than it did this morning especially with that gang driving about but something told me it was now or never so, I started up the jeep and slowly made my way out of the woods. I had to turn my lights on as it was too difficult to see but they looked so bright I felt like I was a giant beacon and turned them back off. I thought maybe the side lights would be less conspicuous.
At first, I started driving like a little old lady on her way to church not exceeding more than twenty miles per hour but as the minutes ticked by my pace sped up by the time I reached the village of Cherry Tree I was tearing along at near on 100 miles an hour.
It was as if the more miles I added to the clock and the faster I went, the more the fear inside me rose. I had such an intense feeling of needing to get back I raced through the villages not caring that it meant I had to put my lights back on full beam and made me stick out like a sore thumb, all I wanted was to get back to Susanne and Eric's. When I pulled up at the front gate I thought I feel relieved or something but as I got closer I noticed that the gate was now open.
I had made sure that when I'd left this morning I had closed it. That meant either someone had been here or was here. It could just be Susanne and Eric, of course, it was their house after all but I was betting on the way my luck had been going it was going to be some other fucker. I contemplated leaving the jeep here and going on foot to see what was going on but decided against it in favour of wanting a getaway car close at hand. It still had just over half a tank of petrol left and for some reason, I thought it would be safer on this side of the gate rather than the other side.
I drove in darkness up the driveway a little, to be extra sure no one would take it. I hid the keys in the front wheel arch close but not as easy as leaving them in the ignition.
I crept the rest of the way trying to make as little noise as possible. The front door was closed and I could see no lights on inside. Digging the spare key out my back pocket, the one I'd found in the kitchen when I'd first arrived I wondered whether it was a good idea entering this way. I thought about going around the back but that would take me into the kitchen where I had boarded it up to stop Bert from getting in. Even if, I hadn't blocked off entry to the rest of the house I knew with all the glass and broken stuff lying about the noise I would make, would cancel out any surprise attack. With no other choice, I slowly slipped the key in the lock and turned the handle.
With everything that had happened in the last few hours I just wanted to go to bed, not work out if some intruder had broken in and was still here. Even so, fully alert and with the knife, in my hand, I pushed the door open and crept in as quietly as I could, I had taken no more than two steps inside the door when I heard footsteps from behind crunch on the gravel path. Before I could stop to think I spun around so quick, my leg swung high as I roundhoused the assailant straight in the chest. I heard a slight noise come from his mouth just before he hit the ground but not before his head smashed on one of Susanne's flower pots, looking like it knocked him out cold. I was on top of him within seconds ready to punch him straight in the face if he moved.
I expected it to be someone from the biker gang that had taken over my house, that they had followed me home or one of those strange cloaked guys had found me. I couldn't see if he had red eyes but I didn't get the same vibe off this bloke like I had the other men I'd seen tonight or the red-eyed thing I'd seen in the woods. Something about those things made me feel like I had picked up some kind of Spidey sense and I knew without a doubt they were dangerous wanted to do me harm. Nothing about this man gave me that feeling
The man lying on the ground underneath me had no red band around his arm, he had nothing protecting his hands or mouth. He looked no older then maybe late twenty's early thirties with dark hair possibly the same colour as mine but as I only had the light of the moon to go but it could have been lighter. His face looked chiselled and hardened but maybe that was the beard sculpting his cheeks and chin giving him that look.
Suddenly I heard Bert bark I jumped up and spun around just in time in to see a familiar shadow exiting the front door. Blinking, I had no idea how he'd managed to get here, didn't care, with tears clouding my vision I ran into my big brother's arms
“Sol you’re here” was all I managed to say before I became a gibbering mess and melted into his chest as his strong arms wrapped around engulfing me in a massive hug.
"I'm so sorry about Ryan sis how are you holding up?"
A lump rose in my throat and I couldn’t speak so I just hugged him even tighter as the tears flowed.
I hadn't seen much of him over the last two years he had said he was crazy busy at work and just hadn't had the time to visit. I thought boys were meant to stop growing at 18ish but it was like he had doubled in size over the last two years, he was massive.
My tears slowed and he released his grip and looked over me
“Hey sis you ok?”
I gave him a sort of nod and went to ask him the same question when he looked over my head and said: "Shit, what did you do to Will?"
I turned around to look at the man lying on the ground, with Sol unexpectedly showing up I had forgotten all about him.
"Oh erm, I was walking into the house and he came up behind me and scared the shit out of me so, I kicked him and he fell over and hit his head, sorry I take it he's a friend of yours?" Sol nodded and bent down to look at him, while I just stood there shocked that my brother was still here.
Suddenly a little light bulb went off in my head. “When you say Will you don't mean your boss William Conner do you?”
“Actually, I do.”
“What’s your boss doing with you here and how is he so young?”
The words blurted out my mouth before I could stop them. Wills youthful appearance shocked the hell out of me I had expected him too much older than he appeared to be.
I had asked Sol loads of times what it was he did at work and every time all I got was an evasive answer about how I knew what he did he worked for CELF (Conner enterprise law firm). His evasive answers had led to me joking that he secretly worked as a CIA or MI5 agent. Of course, he laughed me off told me not to be silly he was a glorified errand boy or office assistant, taking notes in meetings or mailing letters. I knew he got a good wage not massive but more than the office assistant. They had found him when he was 18 and had asked him if he wanted an apprenticeship, he had worked there ever since. Companies don't cross continents to find errand boys. Things didn't add up, so one day I looked up Connor Enterprise up on the internet, it had said it was law firm located in New York, there was about a page of info on the company but that was is. There was a brief mention of the owner William Conner how he had taken over from his father 15 odd years ago
but no picture, no idea on age or children and very little on a family. It did state that the Conner family had come over from Ireland in the 1920's. I looked through pages and pages for information and found almost nothing. I had contacted Sol the same week and told him of what I'd found or rather how little and we had a massive argument with Sol telling me to stay out of his business.
Sol and I rarely argued growing up and even less the older we got, all we had was each other. So, when he really kicked off about his work I knew I had pressed the wrong button and had promised to stay out of it as long as he kept his eyes open and if he saw anything illegal or just not right to get the hell out of there.
I think Sol realised I was only looking out for him and he said he was sorry for losing his temper. He had promised me I was worrying over nothing that the company he worked for was all above board. They did good work for good people but they preferred to pick their own cases and didn't want to be put all over the internet. I'm not sure if I believed him a hundred percent but had agreed to not say anything more on the matter. I was now thinking that maybe I should have pressed a bit harder because some things really weren't adding up like how was this his boss he was clearly no older than 30 push it 32-33.
What did he take over the whole company at 15?
"Hey, Sadie are you going to help me?"
I turned around to find Sol had lifted Will up from the floor and had him under his arm. I was surprised Sol had lifted him up so easily as Will was equally as big as Sol if not slightly bigger.
“Erm hello…. Sadie door?”
I think I was still in shock that Sol was here that it took a few seconds for what he was saying to sink in.
“Oh, shit sorry Sol” the wind had blown the door closed so I turned around and opened the door leading them to the living room. Sol laid Will on the sofa turned back to me and before I knew what was happening he started shouting.
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