Winter of Discontent (Four Seasons Book 1) (14 page)

‘Well, I’m up for that,’ he laughed, as he made his way over to the bar.

‘Right, Trump, I reckon we should let Chris sit next to both of us. That way the rest of them won’t know for sure if I’m the house wallflower again.’

‘Fine. On one condition, though.’

‘And that is?’

‘Please stop calling me Trump. It really winds me up,’ I pleaded.

‘Of course it does. Why do you think I do it?’

She had that same twinkle in her eye that she’d had the first day she’d called me Trump. I wanted so badly to curse her about it but how could I? To her, it was very nearly a term of endearment and I know for sure she’d never allow anyone else to call me it. In the end, I just smiled and raised my eyebrows; sometimes you just have to give in and let Kacey have her way.

The rest of the evening was spent laughing and joking. Most of the jokes were Kacey’s and most were aimed at her stepmother. I have to say I could understand why she wasn’t keen on her. She’d come over earlier in the evening and had made some really spiteful remarks to both Kacey and me.

‘You really should have worn the black dress, Kacey, it’s far more flattering than the red,’ was the one that really stung. I’d stuck up for her instantly and said how amazing she looked, and what did I get for my troubles? A quick look up and down and a ‘I hardly think you are best placed to comment on fashion, my dear’. Kacey didn’t jump to my defence like I had with her. I was a little put out but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I didn’t want to have my first drunken fall out with my best friend on the night I was supposed to be stopping over. Besides which, I felt sorry for her. I know I didn’t have my mom around but the people I did have were all on my side whereas I’d guess there were a lot of times that Kacey felt like a stranger in her own home. Not a great place to be.

The band played a good mix of sixties, seventies, and eighties but very little of what I’d go out and buy. That wasn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. The three of us danced for most of the evening and when we weren’t dancing, we were drinking. When I checked my watch it was almost midnight and I was dying to pee. I grabbed my purse and headed into the house. There was a bit of queue for the bathroom but I couldn’t go back and wait. I knew I couldn’t hold it that long and I also wanted to reapply my lipstick. The chimes would sound in a few minutes and I wanted to be sure I was well placed to bring in the New Year with Chris. He had paid me a lot of attention and I’d even forgotten about how I’d felt when I first arrived. I wanted our first real kiss to be the one that bought in the New Year; I felt quite giddy at the thought. When it was my time for the bathroom I dropped my panties as quick as I could and applied my lipstick mid-pee – I wasn’t sure I had time to do both tasks separately and laughed at the thought that this was multi-tasking at its most efficient. That thought amused me so much, I giggled all the way back outside to where Kacey’s father was at the microphone.

‘5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!’ he shouted as he raised his glass.

I looked around anxiously – I couldn’t see Kacey and Chris anywhere. I ran back over to where I’d left them but they were nowhere in sight. I looked around and everyone else was hugging and kissing, congratulating each other on the end of the old and the arrival of the new. I felt quite deflated. My big moment lost just because I couldn’t hold my bladder. I sat down by myself on a chair at the side of the stage, still looking round trying to find my friends. I hadn’t been there too long when I thought I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. I rose rather unsteadily from my chair and made my way toward the back of the stage. I should have guessed it really, when I hadn’t been able to find them.

‘Oh hell. Sorry, Sarah, must be the drink,’ said Kacey, as she hurriedly tried to straighten her clothing. Chris just blushed furiously and said nothing.

Without thinking, I just turned around, grabbed my things, and went running through the house, down the driveway and onto the street.

There was no way I was gonna stay at Kacey’s tonight, not now. I wanted to break down and cry, and I think that at any other point in my life, I probably would have. However, with everything I’d experienced lately, this hiccup was pretty low down on my list of disappointments. I stood for a moment looking back at the house; I should really have gone back inside and called a cab. In the end, I decided to start walking. It was only twenty minutes to the main road and I’d be able to hail a cab from there. That was my first mistake.

Chapter Twenty-five – The Second Mistake

Sarah

When I got into town, the queue at the taxi rank and outside the cab office was horrendous. I didn’t really want to walk all the way home, not in my condition. I’d walked off some of the fumes but I still felt a bit unsteady and it was getting on for 1 a.m. – not the best time to be on the streets alone. There was another cab office about six blocks up, just past Carterbrook. I decided I’d take my chances that the queues there would be shorter. That was my second mistake.

En route
, I had to pass by Flanagan’s. It was an Irish Bar with a reputation for serving minors and getting raided every weekend. The sidewalk was littered with drunken youths throwing up in the road. I crossed over as I approached it, rather than face the inevitable abusive comments from jocks thinking they were men. The street lighting was poor on the other side and I tried to stay as close to the road as I could. I was about a block and a half from the cab office when I crossed back over.

I’d just passed the school when I heard shouting from behind me.

‘Well, what do we have here boys? Looks like the entertainment’s finally arrived!’

I knew the voice immediately; it was Ryan Enders. I didn’t turn around. I quickened my pace. My heels weren’t particularly high but I doubted I could outrun them, even in the state they were in.

‘Come on, Sarah, don’t be tight. We just wanna have a bit of fun,’ said a voice I didn’t recognize.

I wasn’t far from the cab office now. I could see up ahead that the lighting was getting better. My pace quickened and my pulse felt like it was gonna burst; I almost jumped out of my skin as, all of a sudden, I had them on both sides of me.

‘Nice skirt, Trent,’ said Enders, as he tried to force his hand up the back of it.

‘Get your hands off me!’ I shouted, trying to push him away.

They all laughed.

Then all at once, Enders’ face changed from laughter to a cold, almost hollow, expression.

‘Grab her,’ he ordered.

The other two had me by the arms and pulled me toward an alley at the side where the bus would pull up each morning.

I screamed and kicked but no one heard me. I wasn’t gonna go down without a fight. It was at this point, I wished I’d put stilettos on; I could have done real damage with those.

Enders started to tear at my blouse; I could feel his hot, drunken breath on my neck. I couldn’t move my arms – the others had them outstretched and forced against the wall. I fought as hard as I could but I knew I wasn’t strong enough. I knew I couldn’t win. I turned my head away from him as he tried to force my mouth open. I shut my mouth tight; if he’d got his tongue in I determined I’d bite the fucking thing off. I closed my eyes and prayed it would be over quickly.

Enders had just managed to rip my blouse off when I heard a piercing cry and the sound of the trash cans that were in the alley being knocked over. I realised I could move my arms and that I couldn’t feel Enders pressing up against me. I looked around to see what had happened, why they had stopped. I couldn’t have been more surprised and more relieved. It was Jared.

‘You’ll be OK,’ he said softly as he took off his jacket and placed it around my shoulders.

I didn’t know what to say. I could hear someone screaming and it took me a moment to realise it was me. I just collapsed into a heap on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

‘Come on. Let’s get you home. Erik will take care of these.’

‘Erik?’ I looked up toward the end of the alley and there he was, standing just out of the shadow. I started to shake – I’m not sure if it was shock setting in, the drink wearing off, or the drop in temperature.

‘How did you know I was here?’ I asked, turning to Jared. I tried hard to stop my voice from shaking.

‘We were just walking past and heard you shouting. Just good luck really.’

‘Oh right, OK. What do you mean Erik will deal with it?’

Erik still hadn’t said a word. He hadn’t taken his eyes off my attackers. As he walked toward me I could feel the fear I felt last time we spoke welling up inside me. He hadn’t been as brutal as Enders and his friends but he had still terrified me. As he got closer he did the same thing he had before, he took a wisp of my hair and tucked it behind my ear. I felt myself go rigid at the thought of what had come next, the hand around my throat, the harsh push against the door, but not this time. This time he just smiled and ran the back of his hand gently down the side of my face. I watched him as he walked past me and over to Enders, who was just coming around. The other two were stood now. After having been thrown across the alley, you’d have thought they’d have made a run for it but they didn’t; they didn’t move, not one inch.

‘What the fuck’s going on?’ said the one. ‘I can’t move, what’s happening?’

‘Stand up,’ Erik demanded calmly.

Without a word, Enders got to his feet.

‘So, what do I do with you? Hmm … I guess I could just kill you and be done with it.’

‘No!’ I screamed. ‘Please don’t.’

I didn’t care about them but I couldn’t bear the thought of him doing that. Erik turned to me briefly and then quickly turned away. His eyes were blacker than I’d seen before, more menacing, more soulless.

‘It would appear you have a reprieve. Do you understand how lucky that makes you? Tell me you understand.’

‘I understand,’ said the three of them, in unison.

At that moment I felt myself sober up, almost instantaneously, as they spoke.

‘None of you will ever score another touchdown, ever make another basket, or win another race; no matter how hard you try. Do you understand? Tell me you understand.’

‘I understand,’ they said again.

‘None of you will ever raise a hand to another human again in anger, not even in defence. Do you understand? Tell me you understand.’

His voice never wavered; it was almost hypnotic in its calm.

‘I understand,’ they said once more.

‘You will go straight home from here and you will not remember this conversation. The last thing you remember is leaving the bar and heading home. The only thing you will hold in your subconscious is my instructions; they will never leave you. Now go.’

Almost zombie-like in their stance, they walked slowly past us, emotionless, as if they didn’t see us and walked out of the alley and across the street.

‘Come on,’ said Jared. ‘Let’s get you home.’

Erik turned toward us. His face was still in some kind of transition, his eyes were still the deepest black and he looked so angry. It was hard to believe that such a calming voice had come from someone so full of anger and rage.

He came close to me. I felt Jared’s arm tighten around my shoulder.

‘Go home, Erik. I’ll meet you there.’

He came close to me, his face unchanged; for a moment it was like he didn’t quite know me.

‘You should have let me kill them,’ he snarled.

‘It’s OK, Erik,’ said Jared as he placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘She’s safe.’

I relaxed a little when he said this. Jared was reassuring him that I was OK and, whilst this sudden outpouring of concern for me didn’t make a lot of sense, it did make me feel secure.

Jared’s car was just at the end of the alley; I got into the passenger seat and pulled his jacket tight around my shoulders. Instead of heading home, Erik got in the back, just behind me. Jared looked across at him as he reached down to secure his seat belt. I knew that look on his face; they were Whispering.

‘OK?’ he asked me as he started the engine.

I didn’t answer; I just nodded and turned my face to the window. The shock of what had happened was just starting to take hold. I struggled to hold onto my tears and by the time he pulled up outside home I was a bit of a wreck.

Erik jumped out of the back seat and opened my door. I figured he was waiting to get in the front; it hadn’t dawned on me that I should really have gotten in the back.

‘I’ll see her inside,’ said Jared firmly.

Erik just shook his head. Placing his arm firmly around my waist he led me toward the house. I looked back at Jared for reassurance; he just smiled and Whispered.

‘
It’s OK. You’ll be fine, he’s come down now
.’

It was quite a strange feeling. Erik had been the only one to Whisper to me before now. Jared had a real way about him, a real empathy – he made me feel safe, made me feel how Erik once had. I smiled back at Jared as I opened the door and stepped inside.

‘Thank you. I’ll be OK from here.’

I didn’t look back again. Instead, I just closed the door behind me, fell down to the floor, and cried for all I was worth. What had started out to be the best New Year’s ever turned out to be the worst. But I was OK; thanks to Jared and to Erik I was safe. Finally, after I could cry no more, I made my way upstairs, took out the make-up wipes and cleaned my face. As I tucked myself under the duvet, it suddenly dawned on me. Jared had said they were just walking past. How the hell were they ‘just walking past’, when his car was parked at the end of the alley?