weird. So I asked if I could go home. I asked for the address so I could call my mum and dad to come and get me.
That was a bad move. My phone was whipped out of my hand and flung against the wall on the other side of the room. It’s broken now.
‘You’re not going anywhere until I say so.’ First there was anger, but then a shaky hand reached out to stroke my hair. That was worse.
‘Don’t touch me,’ I squealed.
‘Don’t be silly, baby. It’s okay if I touch you. I was meant to touch you. See, like this. It doesn’t hurt, does it? Let me kiss you.’
Those lips came down and touched my cheek. They felt dry and cracked as they scraped my face and planted kiss after kiss on me. I felt sick. An arm went round me to pull me into a hug. There was a wet patch on the T-shirt and the smell of fresh sweat. It was horrible, but I couldn’t move. I was too scared.
‘I want to tell you a story, Abbie. It will be our secret.’
So I listened. And then I understood. In the end, it wasn’t the words. It was the voice that I remembered.
I panicked, and started to scream. I knew I was in trouble. But I stopped when I saw what looked like a belt from a dressing gown. I knew what was going to happen as it was dangled in front of my eyes.
‘Why are you behaving like this, Abbie – as if you hate me? I thought we could be friends. I would have let you go, once you’d promised to keep our secret.’
‘We can be friends,’ I cried.
There was a laugh. A nasty laugh – another reminder.
‘You’re lying to me – don’t you think I know when you’re lying?’
I begged and begged not to be tied up. I promised not to move. I kicked off my shoes to show that I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t escape.
But it was the parcel tape I was most scared of. That’s how people die. I was too scared to speak. I just kept thinking that I know how to be quiet. Shh. Be still. Be quiet. Not a sound. I remember, see! I know how to be quiet.
I don’t know what happened then. There was a beep from a phone. Not my phone. But for the first time the intense, wild stare of those eyes was off me. I would only get one chance, because now I knew. I knew too much, and I couldn’t be allowed to go free.
I was close to the back door. I prayed that it would be unlocked. I picked up the glass of Coke that I’d been given when I got there – when we were being friendly. I hadn’t drunk any - I was waiting for Chloe. I threw myself out of the chair and grabbed for the door handle, turning round to hurl the contents of the glass at the horrified face behind me. Enough to make it impossible to see for a second. It worked. I was out of the door and running.
* * *
Ellie had been glad to get away from the house after the scene earlier with Sean. She’d managed to make it through lunch, but shuddered as she thought about how close she’d been to inadvertently revealing everything to Max. He, of course, had made light of it and laughed about Miss Scarlet in the library with the candlestick, but she had found it hard to join in. And she knew he was still puzzled by her reaction. Worse still, she didn’t know what Sean was going to do next, but she knew that it wasn’t finished. Not by a long way.
This week was supposed to have been an easy week for Ellie, with three short shifts and the rest of the time free to spend with Max and the twins. But it had turned into something of a marathon, working every day. In many ways, it was probably for the best. She couldn’t resent little Abbie, and it got her out of the house. Max had tried so hard last night, and she had come close to telling him everything. But then she’d seen Sean emerge from the depths of the garden and terror had overtaken her. And now she was wondering about Max. If he really was seeing Alannah and planning something with her, why would he have behaved like that last night? None