Page 79 of Then She Vanished

I place my hand on my tummy. ‘If you’re in there, I want you to know how much Mummy already loves you.’ I pull upmy blue dress and stroke my curved belly just above the line of my underpants and smile. I have a good feeling about this one.

A moment of panic runs through me. Last time I was pregnant, my biggest worry was childbirth. I try to reassure myself: I’m healthy, I’m young – I can do it, and I can do it on my own.

I’m starting to feel a little light-headed and I realise that the ventilation system isn’t gently whirring away. It’s time to get up. I can’t stay here all day with my legs in the air. Besides, I’m hungry.

Walking through to the kitchenette, I pull out some cheese from the mini fridge and begin making a sandwich. A clunking sound comes from behind the metal door. He must be back. Maybe he can look at the ventilation. It must be broken. It’s happened before, but he normally fixes it quickly. It’s not like I’m going to keel over and die instantly. Besides, I have the oxygen tank as an emergency backup if that happens.

‘Albie,’ I call out. He doesn’t answer. ‘Albie.’

‘It’s not Albie,’ the man replies.

Visions of my post-miscarriage fever dream stab me like a bolt of lightning. There was another man. I know I tried to mention it to him and he dismissed it but I know for sure now. My mind has never felt clearer. I thought he was trying to drown me, but after, I realised he was trying to force me to swallow medication. Maybe he was a doctor. ‘Who are you?’

‘That is the question. Why did you talk to the children? You shouldn’t have talked to the children. Now they know about you, and because they know, I can’t let you live.’

It’s as if the air had been sucked out of my lungs. I want Albie. Where is he? ‘Albie?’ I yell. I wave at the cameras hoping that he can see the distress in my face. He will come. He loves me. We’ve waited for centuries to be together again and now I’m going to be taken from him. It’s like fate has decided wecan never be properly together. I imagine him going through everything again in another life. He will have to take me again, unless of course we’re fortunate to meet and fall in love the easy way, like my mum and dad did. I will remember our children that never made it. I clutch my belly protectively.

The loud clunk makes my throat nervously contract. There’s nothing stuck in my windpipe, but I feel like I’m choking. My heart bangs, sending erratic beats pumping through my veins. It’s so loud, I can’t hear the creaking sound of the door as it’s nudged.

‘Albie,’ I call again, but I know he’s not coming, and there can only be one reason for that. He’d come if he saw me like this, in distress and potentially carrying his baby. He can’t come because this beast of a man has killed him.

I run into the bedroom compartment and hide under my blanket, shaking. Albie was always scared of him, he told me. The man roars in anger from the other side of the door.

I grip the cupcake scarf. What if no one ever knows I was here?

I think of Mum, Dad and Meowdon. I grab a pen and crawl under the bed where I saw the other names written on the wall.

Joanie.

Elissa.

Underneath her name, I write mine: Felicity (Lissy). I add my shortened name in brackets because that’s what my cousin Marie always calls me. I miss her so much, too, and I want her to know that none of this was her fault. I know she introduced him to me, but things worked out like this because of fate, not because of what she did.

The man bursts through the bedroom door and I scramble off the floor and cower on the bed.

Before I know it, he’s upon me.

Another set of footsteps thunder into the capsule and I pray that whoever bears the heavy step has come to save me.

FIFTY-ONE

As they pulled up at the station, Gina sent Pete Bloxwich a message. A ripple of fear passed through her. Tick, tick, tick. How long until all the horrible photos and accusations against her were out in the world.

Have you dealt with it?

She exhaled and pondered over whether to send the next message. The users of Men-R-Takin-It-Back knew she was MikeTheMan, so even going into their forum and looking was dangerous. She only hoped that he was doing all he could to help her. She knew she’d have to part with the precious memory stick, but maybe they could both have a fresh start. She thought of all the horrible things she’d seen on Gary Pritchard’s computer and she wondered if there could be a link.

Can you search the site for a user called White Knight?

She hit send. He replied instantly.

What’s in it for me?

She almost wanted to sit with her head in her hands. She had nothing else to give him that he might even remotely want.

I erase you from my radar and you get to go home to Devon and live your best new life. It’s about doing the right thing, Pete. It’s not too late to do something good; something to help someone other than yourself.

It was as if time stood still, waiting for his reply.

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