by Luca Veste
‘They need to get here now. Is someone at my house?’
He waited for an answer in the affirmative and then placed the phone into his other pocket and pulled on the door handle. There was a brief second when he stilled himself, asking himself if what he was doing was the right thing. Then the image of Amy Maguire came to his mind, and it drove him forward.
He left the car, blinking into the dark ahead of him as droplets of rain started to drift down onto him. Stilted illumination came from the occasional street light that still worked, making the path ahead even less inviting. He made his way across to the front entrance of the buildings, knocking as softly as he could, before moving across to the window at the side.
‘Keith, let me in,’ Murphy said, cupping his hands around his mouth and getting closer to the windowpane. ‘It’s important. I have to get Amy.’
There was silence for a while, so he tried again. Then again. Finally, he crossed back to the door and began to put his shoulder to it. Attempting to break in without making too much noise, hoping Ben wasn’t taking Amy out the back door while he was stuck at the front.
‘Keith, let me in, please.’
Murphy banged on the window again, risking the noise it generated. ‘If I have to, I’m going to put my fucking fist through this window. Open the door, now.’
He heard the rattle of a lock within the flat and breathed a sigh of relief. He crossed back to the outer door and waited for it to be unlocked. A crack appeared, a face peering back at him.
‘Oh, you’re real.’
‘Yes, I am,’ Murphy said, looking past Keith and into the hallway.
‘Have you come to try it on with me again, ya big knobhead?’
Murphy shook his head, already pushing past him. ‘No, Keith, I need you to help me . . .’
* * *
Ben gathered up the few possessions he wanted to keep and moved quickly. He knew there would be an entire police force looking for him now, especially since he’d attacked one of their own. He was reasonably sure he had some time left, just not much of it.
He went back into the room which contained Number Four, the smell knocking him back. He placed a hand over his nose and mouth.
‘I’m sorry,’ Ben said, moving towards her. ‘I should have taken better care with the waste.’
Number Four looked up at him, something intangible in her eyes. Something he thought was love.
‘We have to go now. Everything’s going to be okay. I couldn’t do the final ones. I took a knife for you, getting away from them. Stabbed me right in the stomach, but don’t worry, it’s just a flesh wound. I’ve already patched it up. They couldn’t stop us being together. It doesn’t matter that they’re still alive, does it?’
He waited for her to answer, but didn’t get a response.
‘It doesn’t, does it? Answer me?’
She shook her head, causing Ben to breathe a sigh of relief. ‘Good. We can go then. I’ve proven myself, haven’t I?’
She nodded, then tried to motion to her mouth.
‘The tape,’ Ben said, smacking his forehead. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t even think. Yes, I can take it off, but first we have to go.’
She shook her head harder now, the chains rattling against themselves.
‘Okay, you need water?’
Number Four paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously. Ben tried to recall the last time he’d given her something to eat or drink, but couldn’t. ‘I’m sorry, you can drink, but we have to be quick.’
* * *
Amy waited for him to remove the duct tape, knowing that even though every ounce of her wanted to scream at that point, she had to wait. The situation was still too volatile, she could see that. Every motion he made was jittery, stuttering along like someone on drugs.
She had to wait for him to lead her to wherever they were going, and then try something. Screaming, shouting . . . if she got enough freedom, she would rip him apart with her bare hands.
‘Come on,’ he said to her, gripping her by the arm. ‘Drink up, we have to go.’
Amy drank greedily from the cup of lukewarm water which was tipped into her mouth. She still didn’t speak, just waited for her moment.
When he grabbed her again, a gloved hand slipping into her armpit and pulling her up, she realised the futility of it all.
‘Seems like you’ve been lying around for too long. You can’t even stand up.’
He stood over her, grunting with the effort of forcing her to her feet. Her legs were useless, though, weeks of inactivity had left them numb.
‘Come on, we have to g—’
Both of their heads snapped towards the hallway, as they heard banging. One shouted word which made Amy almost cry out with relief.
‘Police.’
* * *
Murphy crept up the staircase, ears straining to hear any sound from above him. The stairs creaked as he made his way upwards, the only light being provided by the open door to Keith’s flat. As he got further up, the light failed him and he walked into the shadows which surrounded the door at the top.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to do once he reached it.
Murphy stood for a few seconds at the top of the stairs, working out his options, wishing he’d thought of this sooner. He’d made no plans for once he got inside, other than to make sure he had a weapon of some sort, but even that wouldn’t get him very far.
There was a young girl inside, Murphy thought. And she needed to be safe.
He was thrown back two years, to a time when he stood in front of a very different door, someone else inside who he needed to keep safe. Murphy hadn’t been able to save that person.
The door was older than the one downstairs, wooden and cracked in places. It matched the run-down feeling within the place – almost as if the whole building was just waiting for its inevitable demise. It would soon be demolished to make way for progress, like so many other places in the area.
Murphy raised a fist and banged against the door.
‘Police.’
He didn’t pause. Stepped backwards with a raised boot and drove his foot into the centre of the door. It didn’t do much other than warp backwards, but he followed up quickly by banging his shoulder into the frame. He felt some give, but it was going to take more than one go.
‘Police,’ Murphy shouted again, his breathing becoming harder as he strained against the weight of the door. ‘Open up.’
He heard a crack in the frame finally and geared up for one last effort.
There was the sound of a cry, then silence. Murphy stepped back, a snarl erupting from him as he crashed through the door.
He could hear a hushed voice coming from down the hallway, then another cry. Murphy moved quickly, his back against the wall as he came to a stop.
‘Ben, it’s me. It’s David Murphy. Come out here, we’ll talk.’
There was no response, so Murphy moved closer to the room, his eyes now fully adjusted to the dim light. Opposite, in another room, Murphy spied a mattress on the floor and a lamp next to it. A holdall lay nearby, half full with items.
‘Don’t come in here.’
Murphy heard Ben’s voice, but it was different to the one he had heard previously in his house. Gone was the confidence, replaced by fear and panic.
‘I’m going to come in, Ben, and we’re going to talk.’
‘No, don’t.’
Murphy didn’t wait any longer, slipping round the corner and raising his arm up, holding the baton in front of him. The room was bare from what he could see. No carpets, just exposed wooden floorboards. Faded light entered from the window opposite the doorway, giving the room a ghostly glow.
‘I told you not to come in here.’
Murphy made his way along the wall, the baton still in his hand as he did so, one hand poised at his pocket. Ben came into view, standing against the opposite wall.
‘You know I had to come in,’ Murphy said, stepping into the centre of the room. ‘I have to take her with
me. You understand.’
Murphy glanced at the woman Ben was standing over. He recognised her from the photograph which adorned her mother’s living room. It was Amy Maguire and she was alive.
Her hands and feet had been chained together, as if she were about to be led into an American prison. She was slumped at Ben’s feet, leaning into his leg. Her clothes were tattered and dirty, her hair matted with weeks of neglect, her face a mask of browns and red. Dried blood had crusted on her cheek and jawline. The smell was worse than Murphy had been expecting; he spied a bucket in the corner of the room.
‘It’s all right, Amy. It’s going to be fine.’
He had said similar words before and been wrong, but as Murphy locked eyes with Ben, he had a feeling he was right this time.
Not a feeling. A knowing.
‘This is it, Ben. It’s done. Let her go and we can get her out of here.’
‘No, no, that’s not going to work,’ Ben said as his eyes darted round the room. ‘You’re going to let us past. We have to go. We have to be together.’
‘That’s not going to happen and you know that. Just step away from her and this’ll all be over.’
Murphy glanced across to the window, hoping to see blue lights flashing, but saw nothing. He looked towards Amy instead, saw a familiar glint in her eye.
‘But, you don’t understand,’ Ben said, stuttering. ‘She’s not a number any more. She’s really mine. She knows what I’ve done. She knows what this is all about. Everything I’ve done is for us. So we can be free.’
Murphy inched towards Ben. ‘In a few minutes, this building will be surrounded by the entirety of the Merseyside Police. Officers with firearms, itchy fingers and all. Is this how you want it to end? Or do you want to walk out, still alive, with me?’
There was silence for a second, then a gasp from Amy. She felt the knife at her neck before Murphy saw it, twisting her head closer to Ben’s leg in an attempt to get away from the blade. Ben was almost at a crouch now as he lifted her head up by her hair.
‘If I can’t have her now, then that’s it for me anyway.’
Murphy controlled his breathing and took another step. ‘No, Ben, that’s not what’s going to happen. I’m not going to let you do this.’
‘Then let us walk out of here.’
Murphy shook his head. ‘I can’t let you do that.’
Ben’s voice filled the room, echoing as it bounced off the walls. ‘Leave us alone. It’s just me and her now. She’s Number Four. I’m not starting again.’
Amy murmured under her breath, Murphy hearing only a few words. He tried to catch her eye, but she had her head buried in Ben’s thigh. The blade glinted as it caught a snatch of a street light from outside. It was pressed into her neck, closer and closer to breaking the skin.
‘We need to talk about what you’re doing,’ Murphy said, blinking and being momentarily thrown into an entirely different room, with a different man holding a weapon against someone’s head. ‘This isn’t what you want, Ben.’
‘What I want is to be left alone.’
Amy lifted her head towards Murphy. He glanced down at her and tried to communicate something with his eyes. He wasn’t sure what.
‘Why this? Why end her life over this?’
‘I should have known,’ Ben said, his shoulders slumping down. ‘It was never going to be right. They’re all the same. It’s her fault, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here. That’s why you won’t let us go. My dad was right . . . they’re all the same.’
Ben raised the hand holding the knife as he spoke. That was all that was needed.
Murphy crossed the room at speed, just as Amy clamped onto Ben’s leg with her mouth, tearing into the flesh of his thigh with her teeth. She snarled as she bit through the fabric of the black combat pants he was wearing. Murphy was on Ben at the same time, an arm locked around his neck, pulling him backwards to the floor. Blue lights cascaded across the room as he dragged him down, cutting off the air supply to Ben’s throat.
‘It’s over,’ he heard himself say.
He turned to Amy, now curled in a ball on the floor, saw the knife glinting in the light six feet away. ‘You’re safe.’
* * *
Keith answered the big detective’s questions, then walked back into his flat, leaving the main door open. He waited at the entrance to his home, listening for any noise from upstairs.
He was the last line of defence. That was what he was. He couldn’t let the man leave with the girl.
After a few minutes, he heard voices from upstairs; the deep sounds from the detective, a higher pitch from the man who lived there. He strained to hear a woman’s voice, but couldn’t make any out. Then he heard a crash and his breathing began to increase. He heard sirens getting closer. At first, he thought they weren’t real, but then lights surrounded him and he ran back into his flat.
He walked over to the window which faced out into the street and pulled the curtains back. He didn’t need to defend anything now. There were people outside for that. Blue lights flashing across the road. People all there, crowding round looking up at the flat above.
Keith waited for them to come and get him, but that didn’t happen. He watched and counted out seconds.
After he’d lost count, he saw the big detective again. He was carrying someone in his arms, someone sprinted over from the ambulance parked across the street and took over from him.
Keith saw only a whisper of the blonde hair, the shape of a leg, the glimpse of cheek, but he knew.
They’d found her.
Amy was safe. She was real. She was back.
After
The room fell silent as she began to speak.
She was still surprised that she had a voice.
Almost three years since she’d been freed from hell, this was the culmination of long therapy sessions and a nice amount of compensation. Not bad for a year spent in a psychopath’s basement.
She’d rented a few rooms in a small building away from the bustle and noise of town, in a nice spot on the Wirral side of the Mersey. The building was anonymous-looking, with no signs outside proclaiming who they were, or what they did. Jemma shared it with some media group, all black jackets and big ideas. They thankfully left her alone to get on with things, too involved in their own business to be interested in what she was doing.
‘Hello, everyone,’ she said, looking round the room at the different faces filling the space. ‘My name is Jemma Barnes, and I’m a survivor. I’m here to talk about my experiences, but also to hopefully help you as you talk about yours. We’re all here for a reason – because we made it through something. Now, I’m sure you know my story – the bloody Liverpool Echo won’t leave me alone . . .’
That always got a polite laugh.
‘But what you won’t know is what I talk about in here. To you people. Because no matter what you think, we all share a common bond. We all survived something. It doesn’t matter how long, or how bad we think the situation was, we’re all survivors. And that means something.’
Jemma went on, talking about her experience in the year she’d been locked away. How she’d felt during that time, the long road she’d had to travel to get to the point she was at now. Then, she went round the room, listening to others talk about their own experiences.
An hour later, she gave them all a break and walked down the steps to the outside of the building. Breathed in fresh air, like it was her first time, then lit up a cigarette.
‘I don’t know. I save your life and now you’re smoking?’
Jemma shielded her eyes with one hand, saw the figure at the end of the gravel path and smiled. ‘That’s the thing about getting a second chance. You get to make your own stupid decisions.’
She walked towards the bulking figure of David Murphy and stopped in front of him. ‘Besides, I’m down to five a day now.’
‘You can do whatever you like, Jemma, that’s the beauty of life. How are you?’
‘Getting there.
Still having the dreams, but they’re not as frequent as they used to be. I’ve stopped seeing things that aren’t there, all that sort of thing.’
‘I’m glad you’re doing this.’
‘You come to see the new place? Only, I’ve got people in there at the moment . . .’
‘That can wait,’ Murphy replied, looking over at the building past her shoulder. ‘I’ve come about something else.’
‘The girl . . .’
‘Amy Maguire.’
‘I read about that. Granted it wasn’t quite as long as me, but a few weeks is plenty.’
Jemma looked away as Murphy scuffed at a piece of gravel.
‘She needs to talk to someone. I think it would be best if it was someone she could relate to.’
Jemma breathed in, turning her gaze back to Murphy. ‘You still have my number?’
‘Of course.’
‘You give it to her. Tell her I’m ready when she is.’
* * *
It had been two weeks since Murphy and Sarah had been sitting in those chairs in their dining room. Facing each other, as secrets and lies they had kept from each other were forced out of them. At first, they had just been happy to be alive. Glad to be with each other and have another chance.
Then came relief, as they both realised how strong they were. That even the secrets they’d held from each other hadn’t damaged their relationship even a little.
Murphy felt safe. Comfortable. Ready. He drummed his fingers on his knee, sitting in his chair in the living room of a house now up for sale. It would never feel the same again, not after what had happened. The decision to move was the easiest one they’d made.
What to do after that had been a more difficult decision. One that Murphy had been avoiding for a long time, but now he was starting to feel differently.
It was time.
His knee bobbed up and down of its own accord, Murphy chewed on the corner of his lip, waiting for blood to burst out if he bit too hard.