Silent - Part 9

Gavin, Saturday May 2019, 7.30am,Leeds city centre.

Go to the police and hope for the best. I linger by a set of traffic lights and start to panic again, aware of how weird my story will sound to strangers, like I've done somrthing to Lucy but want to pin the blame on a fictitious man who calls himself The Angel of Mercy. He's real, though.

I turn round and leg it to the coach station, shaking all over. I'm cracking up, just as I did that summer nearly two years ago. Can't go through any more intense police interviews. The way they played with my head last time.  

But I can't go back to London either.    

On the run.  

The perfect answer. I've thought about it so many times since starting Uni. I just wasn't expecting to disappear today, under these circumstances.

The trembling stops. Yeah, I'm going.  

On the main road, a coach sets off for London and I watch it disappear round a corner.

I'm on the run, and happy about it  - or, at least, relieved to have escaped.

Disappear.

***
LUCY, still trapped in unknown location after being snatched by an unknown man who appears to have abandoned her temporarily. She suspects that the man is linked to her past.

Silence.  

In the stillness, past mistakes come back to taunt her.

Getting involved with Maxine's brother Ashleigh.  

Taking on the job at Lyme House two years ago.  

Lying to her adoptive family about her whereabouts.  

She also lied to Maxine, in a way.  

Not exactly lied, but kept information to herself.  

Information that hurt.

***
Two Years ago:  
Summer School, Day 1

She took a walk through the fields before the start of the evening shift, hoping to clear her head. Coming to a tree stump, she wiped away flecks of twigs and leaves. She sat down and texted Ash. Wish you were here.  She added a heart and imagined him sitting by her. They were cuddling, kissing.  

Ash and Maxine planned to drive over next weekend. She couldn't wait to see Ash again, although they wouldn't get much time alone together. They'd been going out together for about six weeks. They hadn't yet told Maxine about it.  It seemed awkward.

Sometimes, when Maxine was off modelling, she and Ash would lie in bed together in his room, but she didn't feel comfortable going any further than that, especially with Maxine being such a good friend.  Ash was keen to go all the way. He was gorgeous, and he knew it. Full of himself. The bravado and bragging were really all part of a huge front and he was sensitive deep down.  

Lighting a cigarette, she inhaled deeply.  Bleakness. Empty fields. Beyond, the private driveway leading to Lyme House. She'd lived there for a while, shortly before the fire. In those days, she'd shared the Harlesden surname and attended the Prep School, but she'd found it difficult, especially after spending the first few years of her life in the south of the country. She'd never managed to get used to the Lancashire cold, the winter gusts, the biting chills, the rain. And then, an almost unbearably stifling summer had followed, ending with the murder of her mum and dad in the fire.

Now, after ten years, she was back, staying in a bungalow at the rear of Lyme House with a couple of girls. Wanting the truth. Wanting to clear Dad's name.

She took a deep drag on the cigarette, then flicked the stub to the ground and stamped on it to put it out. Opening the pack, she lit another cigarette. Her adoptive parents didn't know she'd returned to Lyme House and taken on the job under a false name, lying about her age. They'd gone on a cruise to celebrate an important wedding anniversary, and big sister, Bossy-Olivia, was away with the boyfriend. Everyone thought she'd gone on an extended walking holiday with a group of friends from Lower and Upper Sixth.  

Instead, she was here. New identity (Ash had a mate who'd done all the paperwork and Maxine had produced references and bank details). A couple of friends from Lower Sixth had agreed to cover for her in case her adoptive sister Olivia got suspicious.  

Her job?  Serving breakfast and dinner to the piano students and music staff for the next three weeks. Thankfully, no one had recognised her yet. They would though. She, Maxine and Ashleigh planned to disrupt the final concert in three weeks time and demand the truth in front of a packed audience.

She glanced at the time.  Her shift would start in a while. She inhaled hard on the cigarette until stars danced before her eyes and her chest hurt.  She shut her eyes. The cigarette was making her dizzy and sick.

Horrible, stinky town.

Even the House looked totally different. A team of builders had ripped out the interior and rebuilt the structure, irradiating all traces of Mum and Dad.  

She wished she hadn't come back.