B008GMVYA4 EBOK (8 page)

“It was nice meeting you, Madison” he said through the open
door of the taxi, one arm rested on the open door and the other lent on the
roof of the car. His perfect features were calmer now and more genuine then
before.

“You too…bye” was all that Madison could manage.

“See you around” Brendan said softly, slamming the car door
shut.

Madison wondered for a moment whether she would
see
Brendan around
, before realising that London was a large city and the
likeliness of her running into him again was extremely low. Not to mention the
fact that she didn’t know where she was going to live or how he would find her,
he hadn’t even asked for her mobile number.
 
Behind the tinted glass of the taxi, Brendan’s eyes remained confident
and a part of Madison couldn’t help but buy into that. As the taxi pulled away
from the pavement, Madison and Brendan kept eye contact until he was out of
sight.

“Where too, miss?” the taxi driver asked in a husky voice.

Madison thought for a moment, realising that she hadn’t
planned this far ahead. She knew she wanted to come to London, but what she
would do or where she would go now that she was here remained a mystery. For
now, a travel lodge seemed the most feasible option, and to look for something
more permanent tomorrow along with a job.

“The nearest travel lodge” she said strapping the seat belt
on firmly and gazing back out the window.

The two sets of black hollow eyes haunted Madison thoughts.
The ghostly expressions of the two boys floated around her head like a
nightmare that she couldn’t awake from. As her brain mudded over every instance
that had occurred tonight, her subconscious kick-started and began to rationalize
with her with what she had actually seen.
She had been under a lot of
stress? Phil had struck her, maybe she was suffering slightly from concussion?
The lights in the train terminal may have caused a shadow from the two boy’s
hoods causing her imagination to get the better of her?

Eventually she came to the conclusion that her eyes must
have been playing tricks on her and that it was better if she forgot what she
saw entirely. However, rationalizing couldn’t prevent the sinking feeling in
her gut that implied what she had seen was real and somehow it would lead her
to danger. Exhaustion and anxiety crept back in now that the fuzzy feeling of
Brendan being around had now disappeared. Anxiety gripped at her chest,
tightening it and causing her discomfort. The taxi hit a bump in the road,
Madison shifted in her seat trying to get comfortable again. She rested the
side of her head against the cold glass of the car window. Her thoughts hovered
over the image of Brendan’s face, his pale smooth skin, the 9 o’clock shadow
that covered his jaw line and around his pink slim lips, the hypnotizing beauty
of his crystal blue eyes, and how they drew Madison in - undressing her body
and soul. Madison shuddered as a shiver flew down her spine causing her whole
body to tingle from head to toe. She was infatuated with him, he was the most
gorgeous man she had ever seen and probably would ever see in her life time.
She winced and grabbed her chest as the deep aching hole that once contained
her heart threatened to erupt through her rib cage. She inhaled and exhaled
slowly, breathing through the pain and fighting back the tears that threatened
to spill out over her cheeks. The cold window of the taxi felt refreshing on
her forehead and she found comfort in the image of Brendan’s face. Slowly
Madison eyelids fell shut, instantly allowing her body to become light and
float freely into sleep.

A stabbing pain filled the soles of her feet; it sent a
shockwave of pain up her legs to her hips which distributed out evenly over her
body. She had tunnel vision and everything around the corners of her vision was
blurry and distorted, only allowing her to see what was directly in front of
her. The air wiped around Madison like a bird of prey – circling her.
 
Slowly, she began to realise she was running.
The pounding of her feet as each foot leap out in front of her, the vast breeze
of air that wiped by either side of her body as she built up speed. The aching
of her calves as her muscles flexed, pushing her faster. She ran into nothing
but darkness. The concrete beneath her feet was damp and simmered under a dim
glow of a street lamp. Two green dumpsters lined a grey brick wall to her left,
newspapers and empty takeaway containers scattered around the large dumpsters.
She was running down an alley. The alley started to narrow and became
increasingly darker as she ran on. The buildings around her were about fifty
feet high and towered over her small frame. She began to feel Closter-phobic,
the building threatened to fall upon her, trapping her in a mass panic. She
picked up the pace and pushed herself faster, ignoring the sharp pain from the
impact of both feet on the solid concrete with each stride. Her heart thumped
hard in her chest, not just because she had pushed her body to move at great
speed, but because she was terrified of something. Some unknown danger that she
wasn’t aware she was running from until now. Madison’s face was pure horror,
tears streaked her flushed cheeks as her eyes scanned the alleyway franticly
for a place to hide or to escape from the unknown danger. The alley was closing
in on her and the blackness that had always been lying there in front of her
had now become threatening. There was no escape, only acceptance of what was to
come. Madison wasn’t ready to accept the inevitable just yet, she wouldn’t go
without a fight – so she kept running. She spun around trying to catch a
glimpse of unknown danger that perused her, but the alleyway was empty. There
was nothing but the darkness which swallowed the alleyway behind her. Even
without the appearance of the danger, Madison knew it was still pursuing her –
just outside the line of darkness. The thudding of her heart echoed through her
ears and throbbed painfully in her head. A sense of complete hopelessness and
surrender washed down upon her. Realisation that she could not escape this kind
of danger was becoming clear. Her legs were like jelly and threatened to buckle
beneath her. The strain of running and sheer terror was becoming too much for Madison
and her weaknesses were beginning to show. She spun again, this time catching a
glimpse of something lurking within the pursuing darkness. Her heart jumped
into her throat, her sense became erratic and breathing increased with fear and
panic. Madison’s eyes scanned the alleyway frantically as she prayed for a
place to escape. Tears poured down her face and dry sobs croaked from her
mouth. Two hands grabbed at either sides of her arms and she was lifted from
her feet and pulled backwards so quickly that she didn’t have time to scream…

“Miss? Miss?”

Madison woke up with a jolt as she was rudely pulled back
from the dream world.  A bead of sweat ran down her cheek and dripped off
the tip of her chin. Her eyes were weary with confusion. She glanced at the
taxi driver, then back out of the car window before gazing back to the taxi
driver once again. Madison touched her forehead with the palm of her hand; it
was wet and sticky from the drying sweat. She eyed the Travel Lodge from the
window. A beam of white light spilled out into the car park from the full
length glass doors of the travel lodge. The taxi driver had stopped outside the
entrance of the travel lodge, the engine of the car still running. Warm, musty
air flowed out from the air vents of the car, causing Madison to feel slighting
nauseous. The Travel Lodge was a newly built compared to the Travel Lodges in
Thatcham, it was elegant and trendy and the reception walls were made
completely out of glass. A few cars scattered the car park, but mostly the
Travel Lodge looked nearly if not completely vacant.

“Where here…” the driver said after a pause. He had twisted
the whole of his upper torso around so he was peering at Madison from the front
seat. His small pin-point eyes frowned at her suspiciously under two large
thick bushy, grey eyebrows. He was in his late fifties, slightly overweight and
had a very distinctive face with a large rounded nose complete with a thick
grey moustache.

“Um…thanks” Madison said, still feeling disorientated.

“That’s £18, please” he said.

Madison unzipped her handbag and pulled out her purse, her
hands shook as she tried to pull open the zipper. The nightmare had affected
her more than she realised, it had completely unnerved her. Normally, when you
wake from a nightmare and realise it was just a dream the fear vanishes, but on
the occasion the fear still remained. The terrible feeling you get just after
you wake up from a nightmare still haunted her. Madison just about pulled out
at £20 not and handed it to the taxi driver.

“Keep the change” Madison said grabbing the door handle and
pushing the car door open. The driver also got out of the car and met Madison
at the rear of the car - he pulled the large blue suitcase out of the boot and
placed it down on the concrete. In the dim light of a street lamp and overspill
from the entrance of the Travel Lodge, dark circles were visible underneath his
eyes. Deep lines creased his forehead and small wrinkles clung to either side
of his mouth. Madison felt compassion for the old taxi driver, it was clear
that he worked long hours trying to make ends meet and there was something in
his eyes that showed a type of loneliness that she could relate to.

“Good night” he said, slamming the boot shut and proceeding
to get back into his vehicle.

Madison watched him get back into the car, start the engine
and do a U-turn before stopping at the junction to pull out onto the road. The
night air was refreshing against her clammy skin; she inhaled a few deep
breaths and watched until the taxi had travelled up the road until it was out
of sight. Reluctantly Madison turned towards the two full length glass doors,
grabbing the suitcase to which her arm protested immediately sending flares of
pain up to her shoulder. She lugged the suitcase awkwardly towards the doors;
they opened automatically as she approached. Inside the lobby the walls were
painted a simple cream, stylish and modern paintings hung from each wall
representing that the Travel Lodge was located in a stylish part of London. The
colours of the painting swirled into each other - an array of different shades
of reds and purples, beautifully separated with a thick strip of gold paint
between each variance of colour. A few large pot plants filled empty corners of
the room, making the lobby seem more homely. Three red, sink sofas circled
around a glass coffee table centered in the middle of the room. The sofas were
furnished with a cream cushions and fluffy white throws. In the centre of the
far wall was a long wooden desk, it curved round so each side was closed off
against the back wall. A wooden hinged allow reception staff members to enter
and vacate the reception desk. The desk was a sandy beach colour which was
varnished to shimmer under the bright florescent lights of the lobby. A mass of
curly blonde hair was visible from the top of the receptionist desk.

Madison took another deep breath and proceeded to walk
slowly across the lobby to the front desk, pulling the suitcase behind her. The
wheels of the suitcase squeaked on the polished wooden floor. As Madison
approached the front desk, a young woman in her early twenties looked up and
smiled at her. She had shoulder length strawberry blonde, curly hair and her
features were soft - almost childlike. She wore little makeup apart from a
tinted red lip gloss on her slim, small lips. She dressed a Travel Lodge
uniform, which consisted of a light grey suit jacket, a grey skirt and a white
shirt with a gold name badge which read,
Tracey
.

“Hi Welcome to London Bridge Premier Travel Lodge, my name
is Tracey. Can I offer you a room for the night?” she said vigorously, a toothy
smile spread across her face.

 “Yes please” Madison said faintly, surprised at the
level of excitement in her voice.

She placed the palms of her hand down on the smooth surface
of the front desk, letting go of the handle of the suitcase. Madison needed to
steady her shaking hands more than anything. The events of the past few hours
had taken its toll on her and now her body was starting to suffer the effects.
She was emotionally and physically drained, it was a constant fight to stop her
eyelids from falling shut and being sucked back into the dream world. Her mind
still wondered over what had occurred with Phil and the distorted faces of the
two hooded boys. The irritating ache of her damaged face still ate away at her
and the crippling pain of a crushed heart remained beneath the surface.

“Name?” Tracey asked.

“Madison Davies” she said reluctantly.

Tracey fingers tapped furiously on the keys of the keyboard,
her eyebrows narrowed as she concentrated on the computer screen.

“That’s £45 for the night” she said, looking up from behind
the computer screen. Her eyes focused on the inflamed red patch on Madison‘s
cheek, her smile slowly began to fade. Concern and curiosity flickered through
her eyes as her brain ticked over all types of conclusions for Madison’s
injury. Madison cleared her throat breaking Tracey’s stare. Tracey blinked
several times, composing herself and making eye contact with her once again.
Madison placed her handbag on the desk, unzipped it and pulled out her purse.
She pulled out her debit card and inserted it into the
chip and pin
machine – thumbing in her pin number. Madison put her debit card back inside
her purse once the transaction had been approved and returned her purse to her
bag.

Tracey opened a small draw in the desk fiddled around for a
few seconds until she handed Madison a small flat piece of plastic the size of
a credit card. Shyly Madison took the card and examined it.