Page 28 of The Spiral

Chapter 10

Madeline

I don’t know what’s happening as I stare at his limbs hovering around the stairs. His climb is so slow, nothing like his movements everywhere else. He’s normally so strident with everything he does. His walk is fast, persuasive even. In charge. But now he hesitates with every inch he moves forward, checking meticulously for whatever he’s looking for. The bullet, I assume. Why, I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. We’re both alive, thanks to me.

I let my teeth chew my nail as I grab a rug off the back of the chair and pull it around my shoulders. What the hell just happened? It’s insane. Pointing guns, then making love, then pointing guns again. It’s like the whole place is enchanted with dark magic, making me, or maybe even us, do things that are in no way normal. I felt that when we made love here, beneath my feet. And we did make love. It wasn’t sex. We were connected by something. It was powerful, something I’ve never felt before.

I tried to laugh it off when he talked to me as if he knew me better than he does, tried to blank it out and just enjoy what was happening, but it was impossible to deny. Something was mystical about us together, potent and yet so fragile I hardly dared believe it was real. And now I think about it, as I watch his naked form scrabbling about, it started with me dancing in the ball room. Why did I do that? That’s nothing like me. It’s whimsical, something I would have done as I child. Not something that grown up Madeline would ever do, or Maddy for that matter, certainly not with Lewis still in my mind. And where did the clouds come from?

I tip my head over my shoulder to look at the sunlit sky outside. There’s nothing out there but bright blue and a huge yellow globe shining through the glass at me, sending shards of orange and blue across my skin. They’re the same colours he had floating on his skin when he held the gun to his chin, brushing it around his face as he did. I wasn’t scared by that, which mystifies me. I felt calm despite his strange behaviour, as if I knew he didn’t really want to do it. It was only in the last few minutes that I panicked a little, choosing to grab for it when something in his eyes changed.

“Jack. What happened here? Was it…” Something special?

He stops his movements and turns to look at me, his deep hazel eyes narrowing as he frowns at me and sneers. I gaze at him, hoping maybe he understands because I sure as hell don’t. I’d like to, though. If only so that I can get it out of my head if I have to, before I put my clothes back on and get on with my life and plan.

There’s no response other than some muttering about not letting someone down. Perhaps it’s just me then. Perhaps that was just sex and I should remember the reality of what’s happening here. I’m an over-night guest, one who, for whatever reason, just had sex with this man before I stopped him killing himself.

That’s all.

Nothing out of the norm.

I sigh and relegate myself to the facts as I lift from the chair and look for my clothes. It’s time to get on with stuff. Callie, my house, and then Lewis. I’ve got revenge to get on with. I stare at the gun, ready to pick it up and do some real damage with it. It glints at me, reminding me of my new purpose as I try to rid myself of this whimsical feeling.

“I’ll get dressed and call a cab,” I mumble, scooping my jeans up and shrugging into them. I don’t want to shower. I’ll leave him inside me for a while, think about mystical encounters that’ll help me through what’s to come. The thought makes me smile a little as I pick up the gun and wonder about safety catches. “Where’s the safety on this thing?” I ask, turning back to him and grabbing at my t-shirt. He’s busy searching the stairs still, his body tense as he scours the carpet.

Oh, for god’s sake.

I walk to the stairs, skipping the first three and tucking the gun into my back pocket. If finding the bullet’s so damn important then I’ll help. “I’m fine, Jack, and so are you. It doesn’t matter where the thing is.”

“No,” he shouts, snatching at my ankle as I trot by and turn the curve past him.

“Why? They’re just stairs. What’s the problem?”

“I... They’re unsafe. You can’t…”

Unsafe my arse. There’s nothing wrong with this spiral of stairs. It’s beautiful. Old, solid and dependable, it’ll probably last longer than either of us. My bare feet trip up another step, as I tug my t-shirt over my head, looking for the impression of a bullet as I go.

“Madeline, don’t…” I spin to look at him, suddenly slightly concerned by his alarmed voice. He looks fraught with anger, his mouth parted and breathing heavily as his naked body reaches for me. I hover, flicking my eyes around for what could be unsafe about the structure. “Come back down. You can’t go up there.” I stare down at him, watching the way his whole being seems anxious about something, almost like he’s having a panic attack. “Please, Madeline,” he says, his glower deepening as he comes up a step further.

“They’re just stairs, Jack.” He looks straight past me and sneers, barely acknowledging my presence in front of him.

“Get off the fucking stairs. Don’t make me come for you.” Come for me?

His vacant gaze slowly turns back to me, a chill somehow thrown in my direction with its intensity. I freeze to the spot, remembering the man who drank alcohol and frightened me last night, and any sense of power I was rekindling seems to disperse to the stupidity that lies in little old Mads. I quiver in thought, my finger coming to my mouth so I can chew on it as I move a step lower.

“I was just trying to help you find the bullet.” Still he stares, making me feel more uncomfortable by the second. I lower another, hoping to make the scowl of annoyance disappear. “Not that I know why you need to see it so much.”

“To make sure,” he barks out.

“Of what? I’m alive, so are you.”

“Are you?” I don’t know what that means. I look down at myself, pretty convinced I’m alive and fine. There’s no blood stains, no wounds on offer. Nothing hurts.

“Of course I am,” I reply, edging closer to him. “Look, no holes, no injury. Madeline Cavannagh. Alive and well.”

He eventually nods but doesn’t stop looking at me as he takes another slow step, a look of sadness now replacing his anger. It’s an almost palpable emotion that washes over him, reminding me of only a short while ago when he was so focused on me. I can almost sense those flashes again on the floor, feel him inside me, his lips on mine. It all felt so linked and true, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t, still isn’t.

“Jack, listen. I don’t know what happened here, but shall we just get on with getting me gone so you can get on with your life, and me with mine?”

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