Janus the Arrival (The Janus Trilogy Book 1) (3 page)

 
  ‘Well I’ve been watching you for ages now, and I reckon you’re
nothing but a virgin who just enjoys messing with bloke’s minds.’

    
Amanda was a little stunned at first but before she could answer, Janus reached
out, grabbed a handful of long hair and pulled her towards him. The guy had the
upper hand but as she came face to face with him, his mouth suddenly met hers.
Although she struggled at first, she realised that he was far too strong, so
she bit into his lip which only excited him further and seemed to send him into
a bit of a frenzy. Amanda became very scared at that point and tensed up
completely as he reached underneath her skirt and ripped her pants off in one
go. She stood staring in shock as he reached down and released his trousers
with his other hand. He wore nothing underneath and his manhood was
already standing to attention as he moved closer and then forced himself on
her. After it was over, Amanda lay next to him crying.

  
 ‘You’re such a bastard Janus!’ she managed to say.

It was then that
he looked over at her with great pity and she could see that he was quite
clearly ashamed of what he’d just done.

 
  ‘Don’t look at me like that, you’re confusing me!’ She uttered
feebly.

   
Then, catching her completely by surprise, Janus twisted, placed his arms
around her and kissed her very tenderly on the lips.

  
 ‘Why did it have to be like that? I’ve waited for you to ask me out for
so long, always hoping that you’d be the first!’

   
Janus lifted his head and looked down gazing directly into her eyes.

  
‘I’m so sorry Amanda. I honestly never realised! The other boy’s always said
you really hated me.’

  
‘No Janus. That’s just not true. I don’t hate you and I never have. Maybe I did
ask for it as far as some people are concerned, but...don’t you realise, I
really fancy you!’

   
Janus cradled her in his arms feeling gutted at his stupidity, and once Amanda
reached out and kissed him tenderly on the lips, they lay together under the
stars making love. He found it extremely unbelievable that she could be so
forgiving after what he’d just put her through. This said so much about the
type of character she was, and made him realise that she would be a very
special person in his life. Focusing back on the present, the lovemaking was
carried out with much more passion, just as it should have been in the first
place. Amanda clung to him and cried again, as he trust back and forth inside
her, but this time they were tears of joy. Janus was the first, and setting
aside what had taken place earlier, what she was experiencing right now was
absolutely incredible. Making love had been far better than she’d ever
imagined, and from that night on they became totally inseparable. What Janus
had done to her was never raised again, it was, and would always remain their
secret. Even though it should have been unforgivable, Amanda loved Janus with
all her heart, while their friends simply nicknamed them ‘Red and Nuthead’
behind their backs.

   
Just as expected, Emma and John totally disapproved of this blossoming relationship
and made it quite obvious to him that they were not exactly happy about the
situation. What upset Janus the most was the fact that they both acted as
though it wouldn’t last very long and that they already knew what the future
seemed to have in store for him.

   
Amanda was waiting near the bench at the
corner of his street one evening, and after a quick kiss they ambled off
towards the clubhouse to watch an amazing young rock band called
Street Preacher
, who they’d taken to
following around whenever they played local gigs. Janus had grown to appreciate
many types of music over the years, but this very much depended on the type of
mood he was in at the time. He wholly believed it to be an extremely powerful
force, mainly due to the fact that it could strongly influence people’s
emotions in so many ways.

   
Although they were officially too young to drink, everyone still brought soft
drinks along with them, which were discretely topped up with spirits, because
that was the only way to get illegal booze past the ever watchful eyes of the
big bruiser of a doorman. Once the band had warmed up and played a few
opening numbers, the whole place was soon heaving
with bodies. Many of the youngsters played along on their air guitars, and
before long the inevitable fight had broken out, much to the amusement of those
stood around jeering as two of the bikers continued to kick the shit out of
each other.

    
Janus put his mouth close to Amanda’s ear.

   
‘These gigs just wouldn’t be the same without a fight, would they?’

   
Amanda nodded her head in agreement as it was a complete waste of time trying
to reply with all the noise going on. Not that she cared very much, as she and
Janus had a whole lifetime to look forward to and could do as much talking as
they wished, whenever it suited them. The chorus of chanting grew even louder
in the area where the fighting was taking place, and this died out a few
moments later as one of the bikers pushed through the onlookers and headed to
the toilet with a pretty nasty looking blood splattered face. The atmosphere
really was quite addictive and Janus hadn’t failed to notice how exited Amanda
had become at the sight of the bleeding man. Women were very strange creatures
indeed and Janus was certainly looking forward to studying this one even
closer. As soon as the gig was over, and the place emptied out a little, Janus
had already decided that he’d better get straight down to some proper business
with his insatiable redhead.

   Janus
and Amanda had been together for four months. Amanda’s friends had informed her
that she was already as good as married, but a large majority of the jealousy
was mainly due to the fact that none of their relationships had ever lasted
very long.
Fortunately, she was made of much
sterner stuff, and Amanda was not in the least bit worried. Yet when Janus
discovered he’d been nicknamed
Nuthead
, he was furious at first. Amanda
did her best to talk to him and simply ended up telling him to ignore it.
Eventually he came around to her way of thinking and decided that it also acted
as a sign that he was not to be messed with. It also helped keep people away
from both him and his private life, which suited him perfectly.

 
   In
the meantime, Amanda was extremely proud of the relationship they had together
and had decided to take him out for a meal. During her short time with him,
she’d fully matured from a girl into a proper woman, and she felt that that
certainly deserved some kind of celebration. Janus was so much wiser compared
to any of the other boys they knew. He never spoke down to her and always
treated her as an equal. All of which only added to one of the many reasons
that she loved him all the more. The initial incident that had occurred when
he’d forced himself on her, was now nothing more than a long distant memory
that she’d put to the back of her mind. She knew that he still had a vicious
streak buried somewhere deep inside him, but he also worshipped the very ground
she stood on, and the feeling was mutual, as she loved Janus with all her
heart.

   
Janus arrived at the agreed meeting place right on time. Amanda instantly
kissed him, and then grabbing his hand, she led him into an Indian Restaurant,
almost knocking over an exiting middle-aged couple in the process. She was
incredibly excited about the whole thing, and it really showed.

   
Once inside they were quickly seated by one
of the waiters, who Janus noticed all wore the obligatory white shirt with
black trousers and a black tie along with really smiley faces, which always lit
up when they were asked something. As expected, they were treated like royalty
throughout the entire evening. Having ordered and gained advice from their
waiter about various items on the menu, the food arrived shortly afterwards and
they soon tucked in and finished off each dish as the evening rushed by.
Totally immersed in each other’s conversation, people sitting at the other
tables couldn’t fail to notice how much in love the young couple appeared to
be. When it came to settling up at the end, Amanda was adamant and paid the
bill, much to the protests of Janus who eventually conceded defeat, after she
sweetly pleaded.  

 
  ‘Listen! I’ve seriously been saving up for just such an occasion as
this, so please don’t spoil it for me babe! It really is my treat.’

    
Janus flushed as he felt as if the customers were staring at him, and having
thanked the restaurant staff for such a fantastic time, they finally set off
into the fresh night air. It was far too early to go straight home. They also
felt extremely full up and decided they needed to walk it off for a while.
Therefore, they thought it best to take the path towards the railway
embankment, where they eventually huddled together on the grass. They sat and
stared at the world through rose coloured glasses, while making all sorts of
plans for a future together and stopping to kiss every now and again. Amanda
gradually started to get a little cold as the night began to draw in, and so
they eventually stood up and took the short cut home across the tracks. It was
something they’d done a good many times in the past and never really thought
about the dangers involved. Janus naturally charged ahead, chatting away about
how much he’d enjoyed the meal, but Amanda stopped halfway across to blow her
nose for some strange reason, so she wasn’t really taking too much notice of
her surroundings. Unaware that the set of points she stood between were about
to change for an oncoming express train, she quickly realised her mistake by
the distinct click of a trackside relay, which was immediately followed by the
hiss of escaping air.
 
This caused the
heavy metalwork beneath her to shift sideways, and in doing so, it
automatically clamped her foot tightly between its heavy jaws. The terrified
young woman let out an awful scream as the pressure of the metal rails crushed
her limb and emitted an awful sound of splintering bone. Amanda struggled with
all her might, but the bleeding stump that had been her foot just a few seconds
before, refused to come loose from the tangled remains of her shoe, which had
stuck fast in the track below.
  

   
Hearing the scream, Janus instantly turned
and thought she was messing around at first. He honestly thought that she was
playing one of her silly jokes, but the look on her face told a completely
different story before everything in his head became slightly dazed. It didn’t
make any sense. He pictured the whole event happening in his mind just moments
before it was literally about to occur. Janus ran back towards his girlfriend
as fast as his legs would carry him, with tears streaming down his eyes as he
shouted out her name. He’d already realised the speeding train would beat him
to her and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

   
 In the instant before she died, the terrified young woman had still
managed to observe a strange look in her boyfriend’s eye’s just as the train
ripped into her body and tore her apart. Janus closed his eyes hoping to
block out the whole thing, especially as he’d gotten so close. He felt
extremely sick and was totally unable to breathe before collapsing to the
ground, where his face became buried in the damp leaves as he cried out
Amanda’s name again and again. How the hell would he be able to continue on
without her?

  
 Having finally found the strength to stand again, Janus noticed something
white lying just beside the trackside. He immediately reached down to pick it
up, and that was the moment when he swore that nothing so precious would be
taken away from him ever again. The solemn figure left the scene firmly holding
a silken handkerchief bearing the initials A.R. up against his face. This,
along with all the loving memories he retained, was all that remained of their
love; a love that had been doomed from day one according to his damned parents.

Misadventure
was finally declared, following several weeks of intense police investigations.
Both sets of parents had to shake off a whole deluge of reporters, which
brought back many distant memories to Emma and John.
  

   
When things gradually began to settle back
down his parents tried in vain to find a way of regaining their sons trust
during his period of grief, especially as he’d made it perfectly clear that he
blamed the two of them for what had happened. Following a good few months of
silence between then, Janus eventually began to speak again. Neither Emma nor
John had realised the true extent of his love until after Amanda’s death. Yet
they’d both known that the accident was destined to happen, and unfortunately
it was something that Janus had to suffer in order to prepare him for the
future he was soon about to face.

Janus had not
been troubled by any dreams during the whole time he’d been with Amanda, but
one night they decided to return with a vengeance. At first he honestly
believed he’d be able to cope all by himself. However, these were much, much
worse than the ones he’d suffered previously. These were even more realistic
and belonged in a different league altogether. Plus they’d also begun to keep
him awake at night. He soon realised that unless he sought some kind of
professional advice, things would only start to get worse.