Page 59 of Hollywood Games
‘Rory!’ snapped a voice so imperious it could shatter diamonds.
Barbara had arrived. She was fully clothed and looked immaculate. Only her unsteady breath betrayed the fact she must have had to change and run through the castle to arrive at the drama on time. She glided past Brad and took Vlad by the arm.
‘Your Holiness,’ she began, her voice a velvet glove covering an iron fist. ‘I think it’s rather late, let me escort you back to your room.’ She steered him back towards his door, opened it, pushed him through and closed it again. She turned to the rest of the corridor, ignoring Rory and Charlie. ‘Now then,’ she said brightly. ‘Back to bed. Early start tomorrow.’ She eyeballed everyone until the doors were shut and the only people left in the corridor were her, Brad, Rory and Charlie. She stared at a point on the wall. ‘We are not savages. I expect people to behave with decorum, and display Christian values of tolerance and forgiveness.’ She looked at Brad. ‘If you will give me half an hour I will re-join you shortly. Charles, kindly fetch the first aid kit and meet us in the flat. Rory dear, please come with me and I’ll stitch you up.’
But Rory was done. The pressure had become unbearable. The only person who could calm him down now was Zoe. He shrugged Charlie off and stalked away, his mother calling after him.
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Zoe had fallen asleep waiting for Rory to return. The cabin was quiet, the only sounds the gentle scurrying of Basil in his cage and an owl hooting in the distance. She woke, hearing Rory’s truck pulling up, then his feet on the decking and the door opening. She opened her blurry eyes and screamed, sitting up in bed as he crossed the room towards her and took her in his arms. ‘Oh my god! Rory! Rory! What’s happened?’ She pushed him away to look at him.
‘I’m fine. I’m okay. It’s all okay,’ he soothed, stroking her hair as she reached out to touch him. Crusted blood was smeared down his face and neck. His shirt was covered in dark stains.
‘Did Brad do this to you? We need to get you to the hospital. Come on, we need to go.’ She got out of bed and pulled at him.
He held her hands. ‘It looks worse than it is. Head injuries always bleed like bastards. I’m fine, I just need you.’
‘Rory! You are not fine! Have you even seen yourself? What the hell happened?’
‘Kirsten Bjorkstrom happened.’
‘What? How?’
‘Shauna told me you were coming back to the castle for the night so I went to bed to wait for you. I fell asleep, then woke up to find Kirsten...’
‘With a bottle? A hammer? What?’
‘She was, er, in bed with me,’ he mumbled. ‘I was in such a hurry to get away, I fell out the bed and cut myself on the table.’
Zoe went ice cold. She stood up, shakily pulling on her clothes.
Rory looked at her. ‘What are you doing? Where are you going?’
‘I’m going to fucking kill her. That’s where I’m going.’ She walked to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. Rory twisted it out of her hand and held her to him.
‘If I can’t kill Brad then you can’t kill Kirsten.’
‘But she assaulted you!’
Rory held her close. ‘Only my hair. I’ll live. I just need to get cleaned up. Let me wash the blood off and we can see how bad the cut is.’ He led her into the bathroom and stared at his reflection, shaking his head. He threw his clothes off, got into the shower and switched the water on. Zoe took off her pyjamas and followed him in, wiping the blood off him with her fingertips. His face, so familiar to her, now revealed itself and she looked at his injuries, one eye beginning to discolour with bruising, the cut above it still bleeding.
‘If we put pressure on it, it should stop, then we can see if it needs stitches,’ she told him.
Rory picked her up and sat her on the shelf. ‘I’ve brought my army medic kit from the truck. I can sort it in a bit. Right now, I just need you. Please?’
‘Yes,’ she replied without hesitation, wrapping her legs around his back and pulling his mouth to hers.
The next morningZoe awoke to the sounds of banging on the cabin door. She saw Rory, standing naked at the Rayburn, loading it with more wood. He walked to the door, opened it enough to see who was there, then exploded with a roar, flinging it open and disappearing outside. Zoe stumbled out of bed in panic and ran after him. Brad? Vlad? What was going on? She ran out onto the deck to see a naked Rory chasing two men up the track, one of them snapping photos over his shoulder. Had Rory been wearing boots he would have caught them easily, but the track was full of sharp stones and the sound of a car screeching away told Zoe they’d made it out alive.
A few minutes later Rory returned, limping. She sat him down on a chair. The soles of his feet were cut and bleeding. She filled the washing up bowl with hot water, returning with a cloth to wash them and see how badly he’d injured himself. ‘What’s going on? Who were they?’
‘Fucking gutter press.’
‘But why? What are they doing here?’
Rory sighed. ‘Can you bring me my medic pack and I’ll fill you in while I get my feet sorted.’
