Tom (5 page)

Charley – Wednesday: 19:08 Hrs.

M
y afternoon decorating with Dad was just like it had always been. I was happy that for one afternoon it was just us – me and my dad. I sat cross legged on the floor, watching him hang decorations from each corner of the living room ceiling. He didn’t stop until the room looked like a winter wonderland.

‘Okay,’ he said, placing his hands in the small of his back and stretching, ‘just one last thing. You know what to do.’

This was my favourite part. I reached into the cardboard box we stored the decorations in and pulled out the fairy. She was tatty looking but I wouldn’t dream of replacing her. While I straightened her hair and dress, Dad put on his Elvis Christmas CD. It was the same every year and had been for as long as I could remember.

So as Elvis started to sing
White Christmas
, I reached up on
tiptoes and placed the fairy on top of the tree.

‘Doesn’t it look cool,’ I sighed.

‘We certainly did a good job,’ he said and squeezed me tight. We stood together, the Christmas tree lights twinkling on and off and Elvis playing in the background. I couldn’t help but feel happy. I still doubted my father believed in my flashes, but perhaps he had realised being mad at me the whole time was the wrong approach.

‘So what are you hoping Santa will bring you this year?’ he joked.

I looked at him. ‘For us to be friends?’

He loosened his arm from around my shoulders, his face crestfallen. ‘We’re more than just friends, Charley.’

‘I know, but we seem to argue so much these days,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to fight with you over Christmas. I don’t ever want to fight with you again. Can we just agree to disagree about my flashes?’

Dad looked at me and then sighed. ‘Okay, okay. If it will make you happy, then I’m happy.’

‘Perhaps Tom could come over …’

‘Don’t push it,’ he said, jabbing a finger at me.

‘You’d really like him, if only you gave him a chance,’ I said.

He glared at me for a long moment. Was he going to get mad again? His shoulders tensed and the muscles in his jaws flexed as if he was about to shout at me.

‘Please?’ I whispered.

Then, his face relaxed and the knot in my stomach loosened.

‘Okay,’ he sighed with a shrug of his shoulders.

‘Yes! Dad, you’re the best,’ I said, pulling him close and kissing him on the cheek.

‘You’d better tell him to bring some beer,’ he grumbled, crossing the room to the window.

‘I’ll tell him,’ I smiled, skipping about the room.

My father pulled back the curtain and looked up at the sky. ‘Looks like it might just snow. I’d better go and rustle up some fares
before it starts to come down.’

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Do you want me to save you some dinner to warm up later?’

‘No, it’s okay,’ he said, putting on his coat. ‘I’ll get something while I’m out.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Sure,’ he said, kissing me on the forehead. ‘I’ll catch you later.’

As he opened the front door a blast of icy air blew into the hallway. I shivered.

‘Thanks, Dad,’ I said.

‘What for?’ he asked.

‘You know what for,’ I smiled.

‘No worries,’ he said, and disappeared out into the cold.

I heard his car drive away, and snatched my phone from my pocket. I scrolled down the contacts list and pressed Tom’s name but all I got was a recorded message telling me the number was unavailable.

I punched out a message:
Call me X
, then went to the kitchen. My stomach rumbled and I couldn’t stop thinking about cheese on toast. I had only just got the bread from the cupboard when my phone buzzed. I yanked it out of my pocket. One new message. I opened it.

Charley, help me!

I reread the message, mouth dry and tasting of road kill. Where had that taste come from?

‘Leave me alone,’ I whispered. ‘Please just leave me alone, whoever you are.’

The phone buzzed so violently it flew from my hand and spun across the kitchen floor, coming to rest by a chair leg. Unable to move, I stood and looked down at it. I saw the message box had lit up again. With my head in my hands, and that disgusting taste in
my mouth, I screwed my eyes shut, hoping it would make the nightmare go away.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

With my eyes closed, I inched my way across the kitchen towards the phone. The buzzing grew louder, like a swarm of bees circling my head. I prodded the phone with my foot, hoping that would somehow make it stop. It didn’t.

I opened my eyes. A new message burned across the front of the screen.

Charlie, please talk to me

‘I don’t want to, Kerry,’ I breathed. I knew what she wanted – she wanted to talk about what had happened to her. But was it really Kerry who had sent the message? Or was it some sick joke?

I picked up the phone with trembling hands. Part of me expected the flashes to come, but they didn’t. Then the phone buzzed again. I felt like I was being watched so I looked behind me. There was no one there.

I opened the message.

Charlie we really need to talk. Follow the lights.

Biting my lower lip so hard I drew blood,
Talk about what?
I typed.

Within seconds of hitting the ‘Send’ button, the phone started to ring. My Coldplay ringtone echoed back off the kitchen walls, sounding as if it were coming from far away, like the other end of a tunnel. I looked down at the screen. I recognised the number flashing across it. It was Kerry’s. With my thumb twitching so badly I had to draw breath to calm myself, I pressed ‘Answer’ and slowly raised the phone to my ear.

There was a faint scratching sound, like fingernails clawing at
the underside of a coffin lid. That had been the sound I’d heard the night before. It hadn’t been shovelling at all.

‘Who is this?’ I whispered, eyes screwed tight, heart racing in my chest.

There was a voice, but it was barely a whisper. It came again, this time louder but still unrecognisable. It sounded like whoever was trying to talk was choking on a throat full of dirt. My skin broke out in gooseflesh and shivers raced up and down my spine.

‘Who’s there?’ I whispered, eyes still shut. ‘What do you want?’

There was a sound of choking in my ear and I started to cry. I was trembling with fear. Scared my legs would buckle beneath me, I dropped to my knees on the kitchen floor, cradling the phone to my ear. The line went dead and with it went the disgusting taste in my mouth.

Now all I could hear was my own racing heartbeat.

Charley – Wednesday: 20:07 Hrs.

A
knock at the front door made me scream aloud. I wiped away the tears from my cheeks and approached the front door. The knocking came again, slow and deliberate. I closed my eyes and saw Kerry standing outside, her fingernails black with mud, earth dribbling from the corners of her dead, bloated lips.

‘Who’s there,’ I whispered, my voice wavering with dread.

The knocking came again.

‘Hey, Charley,’ a voice said. ‘It’s me, Tom.’

‘Tom?’ I gasped, running to the door and yanking it open.

He stood in the dark. There was someone with him, a man I didn’t recognise. Snow fell in powdery flurries.

‘Hey, Charley, is everything all right?’ he asked.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ I lied. I didn’t want to explain in front of
the stranger.

‘Can we come in?’ Tom asked.

I stuffed the mobile phone into my pocket and stepped aside. ‘Sure.’

The tall guy brushed snow from his shoulders and stepped into the hall.

‘Charley, this is my inspector, Detective Inspector Harker,’ Tom said.

‘Very pleased to meet you,’ Harker said, holding out his hand.

I took it and he pumped it up and down. His grip was strong. Was he here because he had discovered I’d called Kerry’s phone? Tom had told me there would be trouble. What would they both say if they found out I’d been receiving and sending texts, too? What would they say if I told them I just had a call from that phone and thought I heard someone choking … suffocating. What would either of them say about that?

Harker released my hand, but not once did he take his eyes off mine. I started to feel uncomfortable.

‘Do you want a coffee?’ I asked Tom, trying to think of something to say. ‘You look frozen.’

‘No, I’m fine,’ he said. ‘Guv?’

Harker shook his head.

‘Come through to the kitchen,’ I said. ‘I was just about to have some cheese on toast, but I’ll wait.’

‘Please, don’t let me interrupt your tea,’ Harker smiled.

‘It’s okay,’ I said.

There was an uncomfortable silence. We all sat down at the table. The silence continued. I looked at both of them; I couldn’t bear the tension. ‘Am I in some sort of trouble?’

‘No,’ Tom said quickly. ‘No, nothing like that.’

‘Like what then?’ I asked.

‘Tom has told me about your … your
flashes
,’ Harker said. ‘
Flashes
– that’s what you call them isn’t it?’

‘Yes,’ I said, looking straight back at him. Then, as if he had slapped me hard across the face, my head rocked to the right.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

I saw a black leather purse.

Flash!

‘Do you want a lift?’ A man’s voice whispered in my ear.

Flash! Flash!

Trust me.

Flash!

Get in, love.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The sound of a car door opening. The same car as before.

Flash!

My brain felt as if it was swelling inside my skull. There was a crippling pressure on my forehead and my face began to prickle, as if it was burning. I heard the sound of chair legs scraping as Tom ran to the sink for a towel.

‘What’s happening?’ Harker said. ‘What’s wrong with her?’

‘It’s the flashes!’ Tom said, stuffing a cool wet towel into my hands. He gently eased my head back as I placed the towel to my face.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

‘Where you heading?’ I heard the man’s voice again. It was muffled – barely there – but I could hear it.

Flash!

‘I don’t know you,’ another voice said. This one female. Young.

Flash! Flash!

‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ the male voice said, and in the flashes I could see he was holding something in his hand. Bright. Silver.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

A girl in a car. Pretty. Very pretty. Hazel eyes. Light brown hair.

Flash! Flash!

‘What’s your name?’ he asked her.

Flash!

‘Alice,’ she smiled. ‘Alice Cotton.’

Flash! Flash! Flash!

The pictures and voices disappeared as quickly as they had come. I opened my eyes; the kitchen seesawed. Tom hovered at my side, wringing his hands. Harker was still seated opposite me, his face grave.

‘Are you okay?’ Tom asked.

I nodded slowly.

‘Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,’ Harker said, getting up from the table. ‘I think I should go.’

‘If you go now,’ I whispered, ‘you’ll never really know what happened to Alice Cotton.’

‘What did you say?’ Harker said, flinching, his blue eyes growing wide beneath those bushy eyebrows.

‘That’s why you came here, wasn’t it, Inspector?’ I said, forcing myself to my feet and staggering around the table towards him. ‘You wanted to see if I could tell you about Alice.’

‘Who’s Alice?’ Tom asked, but neither I nor Harker answered him. We were too busy staring at each other. It was like Tom didn’t exist any more, like he was someplace else.

‘That’s right isn’t it, Inspector?’ I said, reaching for his coat … I was exhausted. ‘You would only believe me and Tom if I could pass some kind of test. That’s why you brought Alice’s purse with you.’

‘How do you know about—’

I lunged for him, and he flinched away. But I had hold of his coat. Fearing I might just drop to the floor at any moment, I used what little strength I had left and slipped my hand inside his pocket. My fingers brushed over what I was looking for. I pulled the black leather purse from within his coat and held it up in my trembling hand.

‘Alice Cotton’s purse,’ I whispered, my legs buckling as the flashes came again.

I fell backwards, eyes closed. It felt as if I was falling down a bottomless well. My head hurt, like it was being crushed in a vice.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

‘Don’t hurt me,’ Alice whispered in my ear, her breath warm against the side of my face. ‘You said I could trust you.’

Flash!

‘I’m not going to hurt you, Alice,’ the man said, running his finger down the curve of her neck.

Flash! Flash!

Beer cans, cigarette ends, rubble and earth. They were in the tumbledown house.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

‘I can get you money,’ Alice said. ‘My dad is very rich.’

‘I don’t want his money,’ the man roared. ‘I just want to get to know you. Here, have a drink. This stuff is nice and strong. It’ll help you relax. Take your fears far, far away.’

Flash!

‘How?’ Alice asked, drawing her knees up to her chest. I could sense her fear. I knew what she feared the most. What she feared more than death. ‘Please don’t hurt me.’

Flash! Flash!

‘Talk to me,’ he said, his voice soft again. ‘Tell me about you. I want to know everything.’

Flash! Flash! Flash!

I want to see you! I screamed inside my head. Just show me your face!

Flash!

The sound of trains close by. The fence with the hole. Alice lying comatose on the ground in front of it.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

I heard the man’s heart as he listened to the fast approaching
train. I felt his excitement; my body tingled with it.

Flash! Flash!

He picked her up and carried her through the hole in the fence. His heart was beating as fast as the approaching train.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Alice stirred. The smell of alcohol on her breath so overpowering, I wanted to cover my nose.

He lay her down, folding her arms across her chest like she was asleep.

Flash!

‘Sweet dreams,’ he whispered, stroking her unblemished cheek.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Bright lights, but not the flashes. The front lights of the train bearing down.

Flash! Flash!

In his car now. Sitting behind him, there’s the sound of a small child sobbing beside me.

Flash!

Keys swinging from the ignition as he sits and waits in the dark – listening to the sound of the approaching train.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Alice opened her eyes at the very last minute. A drunken gurgle of a scream in the back of her throat. The noise was deafening. I wanted to cover my ears. Knowing that Alice was dead, the killer twisted the keys in the ignition. The engine rumbled into life. And the killer slowly drove away in his car.