Page 37 of Close Protection

Before I can reach the stairs I hear a soft muffled whimper coming from the soon-to-be swimming room. With the curiosity and confidence of the character that dies first in a horror movie, I move closer to the sound and stop when I see a bound man on his knees, blood dripping from his face and neck, his bare arms bruised and bleeding.

‘Interesting how such a strong, proud man can end up in such precarious positions,’ I hear a female voice say as she walks towards him. With the lighting so dim and her back turned to me I can’t make out any of her features, but I notice something metal in her left hand, glinting in the moonlight seeping in from the lightwell in the hallway.

‘Look at you,’ she says, disdain dripping from her voice. She uses the metal object to tip up his chin as he continues to sniffle. ‘You poor, disgusting, disgrace of a man.’ She smashes the metal across his face, causing him to fall sideways.

A silent gasp pours out of my mouth.

It’s a gun.

She has a gun.

A person has a gun in my basement and is torturing someone.

‘Malcolm, we were supposed to do this together, you and me.’ Her voice is shockingly sincere as she drops to her haunches. ‘You weren’t supposed to be the wild card. You were supposed to be the person I could depend on. But now, just because you’re scared, you want to throw in the towel? Unfortunately for you, darling, that’s not an option. I’m going to give you one last chance to tell me the truth. What did you find?’

From where I’m standing I can’t see the expression on his face, but I hear the determination in his voice. ‘I’m not going to tell you anything. Not any more. So, do your worst.’

‘Malcolm,’ the woman whines, ‘please don’t tell me this is all because of the child.’

A child? What child? And who in the world is Malcolm?

‘No, it’s not. I’m just choosing to do the right thing for once in my life.’

‘That’s admirable, it really is. But it’s also rather disappointing, Malcolm, and frankly, rather embarrassing,’ she says, mock pity soaking her voice. She gently runs her free hand over his bloody and now swollen face, before releasing a laboured sigh, striking him with the same hand she soothed him with. ‘Well.’ She perks up. ‘I don’t needto remind you what happens to disappointments, do I?’ I can practically hear the smile in her voice. She stands up and sets the gun down, out of Malcolm’s reach, before she retrieves a knife from her back pocket, twirling it haphazardly in her hands.

Bending back down, she repositions Malcolm so he’s kneeling upright.

I shouldn’t be here.

I shouldn’t see this.

I turn to leave but stop when I hear a gasp. I look back, only to find Malcolm staring right at me as the woman plunges the knife into his chest. He drops lifelessly to the floor, eyes still open.

All I can hear is white noise as I stumble over my feet on my way up the stairs. I don’t stop running until I’m up the next flight of stairs and safely in my bed.

I’ve barely caught my breath when I hear footsteps climbing the stairs. They come closer and closer and don’t stop until they’re at my bedroom door.

I bury my head into the pillow, shaking violently as the door opens and the footsteps enter the room.

‘Daphne?’

My eyes burst open at the sound of a loud knock. I look around and realize I’m lying on top of my bed, still wearing the mismatched clothes from our eventful shopping trip.My bedroom door creaks open and my father walks in tentatively, smiling gently when he sees that I’m awake.

‘Hi, darling, I just came to check on you.’ He comes to sit on the end of my bed, still hesitant.

‘Hi, Daddy,’ I whisper as I start to adjust.

It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real.Sitting up in my bed I look over to him. ‘How did I get upstairs?’

‘Well, Henry was driving around aimlessly after he came to get you and Milosh, just to make sure there was no one following you, and you ended up falling asleep in the car. Milosh carried you up and you’ve been asleep for about,’ he breaks to look at his watch, ‘six hours.’

Six hours? Milosh carried me upstairs?

I look at the clock beside me, shocked to see it reads 8:40 p.m. I think back to the car journey and I honestly can’t remember a thing.

Huh.

Milosh carried me upstairs.

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