Between

As this feeling grabs me in a stranglehold, I notice other figures around. People walk along the alley, apparently oblivious to the assault. They shimmer in and out of focus, and I half expect to see the blonde man from the night of the accident step from the shadows.

 

The dizzying pain crushes my chest, and I’m aware the sadness I’m feeling is the threat of death. Another figure approaches, and I think he’ll pass by like the others. The man is tall with scruffy clothes and dark, curling hair. If I could move, I’d rub my eyes because he looks like Alek; but a Technicolor, large-than-life Alek, as if I’m watching him on a movie screen in a darkened theatre. He strides down the alley and without looking at me, he grabs the girl’s arm and breaks the connection.

 

The ground comes up to meet me; cold, hard tarmac in a world returned to colour. The sounds of the evening return and the grey clears. Heaving breath into my lungs, I hold my aching chest and rest my face on the cool, gritty ground. From the sideways angle, I watch as the man holds the girl by both arms and pulls her close to him. It is Alek. Where the hell did he come from? The girl fights against him, and to my satisfaction, she finds it as hard to move as I did when she held me.

 

Then he kisses her.

 

Panic pushes in, and I pull myself up on my weak legs. Alek knows her. He’s involved with whatever weird shit this girl is doing to me. But she doesn’t want him to kiss her; he has his hands clamped around her head, crushing her face to his and she struggles, clawing at his hands. My stomach turns over, conflicted by the relief he stopped whatever was happening and his assault of a vulnerable girl. I stumble against the wall, rubbing my palm on the rough bricks to confirm reality. All the while, Alek’s eyes are on me and every cell in my body screams at me to get the hell away and now.

 

The outline of the girl shimmers and I rub my eyes against the hallucination. I can see a ghostly outline where Alek had hold of her, as if I’ve closed my eyes and the imprint of her remains. But my eyes are open and she’s faded. Gone.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

 

 

As Alek turns his attention to me, I prepare to bolt, sizing up the possibility of getting past the gap between him and the wall. I’ve no energy, my chest is burning, and my muscles are weak, so I don’t think my chances are good. Black dots dance around in my vision, but at least the grey has gone.

 

“Rose.” He holds his hand up in a gesture of peace, indicating he’s not going to touch me, but I can’t believe him, not after what I saw him do to the girl. I sidestep him on wobbly legs. Alek doesn’t try to take hold of me, but blocks my exit.

 

“What the hell just happened? I want to go!” I rasp.

 

“I’ll take you home.” He rubs his forehead. “I didn’t think you’d be found so quickly.”

 

“Found? By who?”

 

Alek runs both hands through his hair and shifts his look around the alleyway. “We can’t stay here.”

 

“Where’s she gone? That girl.”

 

“She’s gone to where she needs to go but doesn’t want to. I helped her.”

 

I steady myself on the wall, chest constricting with panic now. His evasiveness isn’t helping calm me down.

 

“It’s bad enough you coming out alone with Finn, but this, as well...” He spits the name. “Where is he?”

 

“How did you know where I was? Are you stalking me?”

 

Alek steps closer and I back up, hitting the wall. He steps away, indicating he’s not trying to trap me. Every muscle in my upper body is tensed, terrified at what he’s going to do.

 

“I won’t touch you.” He’s close enough for me to feel the crackling warmth between us, his hardened eyes fixed on mine. I can’t tell if he’s upset with me, Finn, or someone else.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“A few days ago, I said we needed to talk. Is it okay if we do that tonight?” he asks. “Come back to the house.” My eyes widen at his plea. “I’ll keep you safe.”

 

The cool bricks against my back keep me grounded in this strange evening. Why do I need keeping safe?

 

“From what?”

 

Alek’s chest expands as he heaves in a breath. “Everything, Rose.”

 

Ordinarily, I’d tell him to get lost; I’m not some weak girl who needs protecting. But I don’t think this is ‘macho male protecting the little woman’; I think it’s much more. Something involving disappearing girls who try to tear my life from me and about what lurks in the fog pervading my life.

 

I cross my arms over my chest and shiver slightly.

 

“We should go before anyone else comes,” Alek says.

 

“I need my bag and coat, and I should tell Finn what’s happened…tell him I’m going.” My brain won’t function correctly; even though the fog has gone, the dreamlike world I’m in remains with me.

 

Alek stares at me as if I’m not in my right mind. “No, you shouldn’t. I’ll get your things and tell him you’re not well.”

 

Lisa Swallow's books