Page 6 of The Player
“I love you too. And I told you, you don’t have to worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to me.”
She bit her lip and then added, “I know you’re staying in Kate’s apartment while she’s away, watering the plants and taking care of the place, but maybe you should come back to your mum’s for the time being?”
I shook my head.
“There’s no need. I won’t alter anything in my life because of what I’ve heard tonight. Why should I?” I reached across the table and took her hand again. “I can handle anything that comes my way. It’s going to be okay. And anyway, there’s state-of-the-art security at Kate’s. It’s a hell of a lot safer than here.”
I didn’t add that the state-of-the-art security consisted of mock CCTV cameras over a communal front door that was never locked, and that those cameras only served to catch flies in the multiple cobwebs that covered them. But what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.
She sighed, squeezed my hand, and then smiled across the table at me. “You’re your mother’s daughter, that’s for sure.”
And she was right.
“Amen to that.” I smiled.
Paula always insisted on doing our readings for free, but she didn’t live in the nicest part of town, and even though she’d give you the shirt off her back, I knew she struggled for money. It was pointless asking her to take my cash, she’d refuse. I’d tried before. But she was providing a service and she deserved to be paid. So after the session, while she was taking our cups back into the kitchen to wash up, I slipped an envelope of money into her handbag. I’d text her later to tell her it was there, she’d tell me off for putting it there, but I’d do it the next time and the time after that. Paula was good people, the best, and she deserved to know that, despite how dire the reading had been.
ChapterTwo
BRYONY
Where my mum lived was the worst for parking, so I’d left my car a few streets away. I didn’t mind walking back to it, though. It was a cool autumn evening, and there was no rain. Plus, I had nothing to rush back for tonight. A Netflix box set and a tub of ice-cream was all that was waiting for me back at Kate’s.
Turning the corner into Coopers Close, I cursed the shitty streetlights and how dark and gloomy it was. I knew my way around here, but if you didn’t, you wouldn’t want to wander here alone; it was that dark. The streetlights were there, but the council never came out to fix the ones that were broken, and most of them were. They didn’t care about a neighbourhood like this, a poor neighbourhood.
Why bother to fix it up?
Investing in the basics for a town like ours was money down the drain to them. We weren’t the part of society they channelled their resources into. To them, we were best forgotten.
“Welcome to Merivale,” I quietly mused as I stalked further into the darkness. “The town the rest of the world forgot.”
I kept a steady pace as I walked with purpose down the street, past the scruffy terraced houses on the estate. Most of the windows were boarded up, and those that weren’t had blankets or old newspapers plastered to them to hide the inhabitants from the outside world. The pavements were uneven underfoot. Most of the slabs were broken, with weeds pushing through the concrete like they were trying to escape the drudgery of this shitty town too.
There was no one out at this time, and the only sounds I could hear were from the TVs blaring inside the houses I passed, and my own footsteps and deep breaths. There was also the occasional wail of a police siren and the hum of the traffic rumbling in the distance. But as I strode down the street and my car came into view, so did a shadowed figure leaning up against it.
I couldn’t help but give an involuntary gasp as I felt a surge of adrenaline twisting and tying my stomach into knots. My footsteps faltered for just a second as the echoes of what Paula had said to me moments ago whispered in my brain.
You need to be careful.
Someone is watching you.
Someone wicked.
Maybe I was about to encounter that wickedness sooner than I’d imagined.
Or maybe they were about to find out that following me hadn’t been their smartest idea.
I kept a hawk-like focus on that dark figure as my breathing remained steady. With determination, I continued walking forward, slipping my hand into my pocket and closing my fist around the cool metal of my knife. But most importantly, I stayed calm, the rhythmic beat of my heart reminding me that I was in control, I wouldn’t be intimidated. Like a metronome grounding me; a gentle, natural timer maintaining my solid state of mind, it kept me focused and gave me clarity. I had to think like a hunter and believe in myself, because when all was said and done, I was no one’s prey.
As I moved closer towards the dark figure, my fist tightened in my pocket, gripping the knife harder, preparing to defend and attack. The figure hadn’t seen me yet, and they continued to lean against my car, keeping their head down. I guessed it was a guy from their stocky build, but they had the hood of their jacket pulled low over their face, so I couldn’t be one hundred percent sure. It didn’t matter, though. Whoever it was, I’d fight them with everything I had. I wouldn’t be a victim.
I took a few more steps, and as my feet crunched over pebbles and rubble, it alerted my awaiting shadow to the fact that I was drawing near. Their shoulders visibly tensed as they pushed themselves off my car and turned slowly to face me. Their muscly arms flexed as they slipped their hands into the front of their jeans. Not the smartest move if they were about to confront me, but I wouldn’t let that simple act trick me into a false sense of security. I was alert and ready for anything.
And then, as I stepped closer and pulled my knife out, they took their hands out of their pockets and slipped their hood off. Instantly, the breath I’d been holding came whooshing out of me with a twisted sort of relief laced with fury and anger.
“What the FUCK are you doing, Will?” I snapped, pointing my knife at him regardless and spearing him with my most savage glare.
“Woah!” He held his hands up in surrender then nodded to my outstretched arm. “No need to bring out the big guns, Bee.”
