squeal as tears fell down her face. She was once again scared little Gina, locked in the shed with no way out. But it hadn’t been like this. Maybe with a lot of fight, she could have broken the wood and climbed out at any time, but fear had kept her a prisoner in the same way that fear had kept her with Terry. Scared of what Terry would do to her if she tried to escape. Another life had been her responsibility at the time. She knew he could have killed her and she always wondered what might have become of Hannah. He’d taken everything with his mind games, controlling behaviour and violence. She’d had nothing left to fight with. She had no idea when he’d been waiting and watching and he’d reinforced that uncertainty at every given opportunity. As far as she’d been concerned, he was always there. Always waiting.
She kicked the wood and held what little of her breath she could. There was no sound, but then again, Terry never made a sound. I am watching. Stalking like a hunter waiting for its prey to move. That’s how Terry operated. Whoever had her trapped in this coffin knew that. They knew too much. They knew Terry.
‘Are you enjoying my little surprise, Gina darling?’ Terry’s voice sounded like it was next to her. It was in her, around her, everywhere.
‘Leave me alone.’
‘You thought you were safe, in the clear. Let me tell you something, I always win. You know I do. You can’t get away from me, ever. I always told you that.’
He would never let her go, however hard she tried to leave him behind and start afresh; he was always there, crawling through her thought passages. His laughter filled the box and the darkness was closing in. Pitch-black darkness.
She shuffled against the side of the coffin away from his tyranny, but she bumped into something soft.
‘See, I’m everywhere.’
She jerked and shuffled to the other side, like a snake slithering sideways but with less finesse. Reaching out, she could feel the material that she’d pulled from the top of the coffin.
‘Miss me.’
Screaming, she held her arms over her head. She’d been drugged, she knew it. ‘Go away. Get off me.’
A few seconds later, the coffin was silent except for the sound of a hooting owl. Her heartbeat ramped up again and the sound of blood pulsating through her head silenced the owl. She had heard the owl; that was the important thing.
With trembling hands, she pulled out a small box from her pocket. She knew exactly what it would be. Shaking it, she listened to the three matches hitting cardboard. As she slid the tiny box open, the smell of sulphur hit her nostrils. She struck and for a few seconds, she could see the horror of her situation. The coffin killer had come for her. Alexander Swinton had not got out alive. She wasn’t going to get out alive. She struck another match and felt a fresh tear sliding down her cheek as she saw the hopelessness of her situation.
Closing her eyes, she imagined herself to be locked in the shed again.
In her mind, she wrapped her jumper around her elbow and jabbed the wooden panels that Terry had nailed across the shed windows, hoping to crack them and the glass behind them. After tearing them off with her bare hands, she felt freedom as the glass shattered and she could climb out. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and if Terry got in her way, she’d jab him with it. What next? She would run to Hannah and grab her from her cot. Then she’d sprint to the road and flag a car down. She had to imagine her victory. That’s what would have happened. She could have stopped his tyranny there and then. She could have found a way but fear had held her back, and love. She swallowed. Whatever punishment Terry had bestowed on Gina, she had loved him once and she couldn’t let go of that person she’d met at the time, the same person who would break down and beg for forgiveness and claim she was his everything.
Her fingers gripped the last match as she remembered the moment she had pushed Terry to his death. For a split second, she saw the old Terry. That’s what had hurt so much. She wiped her tears away. ‘If you ever loved me, Terry, really loved me, you’d never have hurt me so