She looks like an animal.
Before he was totally away from the wreckage, Nick stopped and examined his injured neighbour closely. He wasn’t sure why he said it, but he asked, “Can you hear me, Lara?” followed by, “Are you okay?” Both were stupid questions, he knew, but he just couldn’t fathom that a woman he was speaking to only half-an-hour before was now completely out of her mind.
But, of course, Lara gave no response to his questions. She just kept trying to get at him like a dog pawing for a morsel of meat lost beneath the fridge.
Nick shook his head, wishing he could understand what was happening; wishing he could do something.
What is making you want to attack me? It makes no sense. I tried to help you.
He decided to leave his concerns behind for the moment. His primary focus was finding somewhere safe to rest up for a while. Lara would have to stay where she was for the time being.
The garden centre up ahead seemed deserted, but there were a couple of cars sat on its pebbled car park. Nick wondered if they belonged to the owners, or perhaps the cleaners. Either way, when they saw the state of him, they would surely take pity and offer assistance. They could try and phone for help, too; 999 might be back up and running by now.
He climbed a nearby embankment and crossed over onto the pebbled parking area. The main entrance was up ahead: a pair of automatic glass doors with pot plants on either side. He was surprised when the doors opened for him. Considering the early hour – 7:15 according to his watch – Nick had assumed the centre would be closed. He wasn’t about to complain, though, so he stepped through the doors gratefully and looked around.
The first part of the garden centre seemed to consist of indoor planting, incense burners, and wind chimes. Nick almost jumped out of his skin when he brushed past a set of aluminium pipes that immediately began tinkling.
Jesus!
The smell inside the building was one of musky perfumes mixed with the assorted earthen scents of soil and plants. In contrast to the many heady odours picked up by his nose, his ears detected nothing except the fading clinks of the aluminium wind chime.
“Hello,” he called out. “Hello, is anybody here?”
Nick considered that someone must be there as the electric doors had allowed him access. It would be crazy to leave a place like this unlocked and unmanned.
Up ahead was an alcove with a banner above that read: AQUARIUM. Nick headed inside and looked around. The space was full of wall-to-wall blue-lit fish tanks, all of them containing either exotic or mundane species. Nick had once kept tropical fish himself and instantly recognised the tiny plecs that inhabited one particular tank. He also knew that they would eventually grow a dozen-times larger in the right environment. There were also brightly-coloured bettas, fat-bellied mollies, and a playful batch of weather loaches mixed with African dwarf frogs. Then he spotted the girl in the corner, peeking out from a storage closet beside a large tank of Discus fish. As soon as he set eyes on her, she fled back into the cupboard, pulling the door closed behind her.
“Hey,” he shouted after her. “I need help. I’ve been in an accident.”
The girl said nothing. The door remained closed.
“Please,” he said. “I’ve been through hell and I just need some help.”
“Go away!”
“Why?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Go away,” the girl repeated from inside the cupboard. “Before they hear you.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “Before who hears me?”
“The owners. They’ve gone…mad.”
Nick shook his head. Not here as well.
“There’s no one around,” he said. “They’ve gone. You can come out.”
“No. They’re out there somewhere and I’m not coming out. No way.”