Page 24 of Burn for Me

With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I pulled the chair out from under the door handle, ready to run to the deck and throw myself overboard.

The handle wouldn’t push down.

No.

Fuck, no!

Using all my strength, I rattled and hauled at the handle, desperation bubbling up inside of me and coming out in a whimper.

The door wouldn’t budge.

My fists ached as I crashed them against the circular windows, my throat aching as I shouted at the far off people outside.

‘Help me! Someone please help me!’

None of the fishermen so much as glanced my way.

‘He’s taken me. Please?!’

I picked up the chair and thrust the leg into the window, trying with every ounce of determination I could fathom to smash it. My arms ached as a jarring sensation rattled through them with each strike. The glass was too thick.

Grabbing one of the markers in the desk, I wrote on the window pane, making sure the words were back to front.

HELP ME!

An old man walked into view, along the harbour side, with his Jack Russell trailing alongside him. I banged hard on the glass. His head turned, trying to find the source ofthe noise.

‘I’m in here! Help me!’ I cried, the sides of my fists aching as I thumped as hard as I could.

Yes!It was working. He turned his head toward the boat, his eyes scanning for the thumping sound.

See me,I begged the universe, jerking my arms back and forth, trying to make as big movements as possible to attract his attention.

He’d have a phone. He’d be able to call the police. They’d come for me.

The boat shuddered, sending me toppling onto the bed. Engines kicked in, and we moved away from the harbourside.

‘No,’ I screamed, pulling myself back up to the window. ‘Let me go you piece of shit!’

I crashed the chair into the low ceiling, rage coursing through me as the old man shook his head and continued on his walk, none the wiser that he could have saved me.

The port grew smaller and smaller in the window until it was nothing but a dashed hope in the distance.

Curling myself up into a ball in the corner of the bed, I pressed my head into my knees.

Next time, I'll be ready.

THIRTEEN

Phoenix

The island came into sight and warmth flowed through me. It was the closest thing I had to a home. I’d never taken another living being there, bar the sheep and wild ponies who roamed the tiny island, and nerves fluttered in my stomach at the thought of Laura on my land.

It had been one of the few splurges I’d allowed myself since going into the lucrative field of burning evidence for a living. My secret refuge. My terra firma.

I hoped she would love it as much as I did.

Sharp grey cliffs gave way to a sandy beach, the cove leading onto the natural harbour where I would moor the boat. Rocks jutted from the still sea, but I knew the path through them like the back of my hand. Navigating through them, I began to hum, pleasure seeping through me.

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