Chapter Three
Summer
Jesus Christ, I feel sick.
I’m floating in the sea, the waves carrying me far away. I feel as though that Mungo Jerry song – Summertime has been whirling around me for eternity, my subconscious has allowed me to see my dad once again, but the memory wasn’t necessarily a good one. He seemed different, on edge as though something was weighing heavy on him, but I didn’t press him.
Maybe I should have...No I definitely should have.
Thinking even hurts right now, everything is empty but painful. The memories are soon replaced with more recent ones. I can feel myself being pulled from the smoke, by my ankles and my back sliding across the cold bathroom tiles, my eyes rolling but I can smell the smoke and I can see it, I couldn’t feel anything but the overwhelming weakness attacking me and engulfing me.
Forcing my heavy lids open, I lay on my back, staring ahead of me. Blinking and wiping my eyes, the waves of nausea roll over my body, The fabric above me is stained in a dark brown shade, I’m not sure whether it’s dirt, or something else as the floor beneath me continues to jump and shift. Shuddering at the thought, my head rolls side to side, but nothing stands out. The walls are dirty, bare and dark. There’s a pungent and overwhelming smell of damp and dried liquor that invades my senses, I can feel my stomach turning once again.
I manage to roll onto my front. A wave of light-headedness flashes through my vision and my body continues to sway. With my palms flat on the surface beneath me, my nails dig into thin carpet whilst my body jerks back and forth.
Are we moving? Am I in a van? Oh shit….
The pain searing through my body is brutal with any movement, it feels as though someone has got a blade dug into my side. My grey hoodie is soaked in a deep burgundy shade, clinging to my skin. Placing my hand over the damp patch, I feel the sweat beginning to fall from my brow.
Where the hell am I? What happened?
The only light creeping in comes from a small dirty window on either door as I look ahead. With all my force, I push to my knees, still clutching onto the floor for support. Trying to plant my feet firmly on the floor, I steady myself and begin to move closer to the door, holding my hands out for balance. I manage to brace my hands onto each door, before staggering and falling to my knees again.
“Ow.”
I mutter weakly.
The doors wobble, reaching for the handle, they seem to push open slightly. Freezing, I look over my shoulder, but nothing can be seen from here, whoever is driving can’t see me. Taking a deep breath, I push hard against the doors, they creak, and shake followed by a sickening noise of screeching metal that permeates my ears, causing my hair to stand on end and the shivers rush over me.
My entire body feels like it’s made of jelly, as though I have no bones at all. With one final shove, I feel my body fall against the door, losing my balance altogether. My body falls, my vision is blurred but it’s not long before I feel my palms followed by the remainder of my body hit concrete, followed by a sickening thud.
“Ow.”
I managed to whine as the burning in my palms hurts more than my bleeding wounds right now.
Lazily lifting my head, I can hear garbled shouting, I look into the direction of the noise and see blurred silhouettes approaching. The sound of the van begins to disappear but as it does, I feel my body give up entirely and I hit the floor again as the concrete connects with my face. My heavy eyes win the battle.
Later…
“Where the hell did you find her?”
An unfamiliar voice hisses from the distance.
I feel something cool placed across my forehead and gently wiping down my cheeks, my skin feels like it’s on fire, but the soothing sensation feels calming in this moment. My eyes are heavy, I can see nothing but black.
“Look, she was out in the street! Look at her, I couldn’t just leave her, Rob.”
I feel the surface dip beside me, the gentle cool patting on my face continues.
“Where the hell does Daniel think you are, huh?”
“Working.”
I can make out a woman and a man’s voice. The woman is closer to me, but the man is further away, and his tone is more agitated and irritated whereas hers is a lot calmer.
“And when you come home with no money, what do you think will happen then?”
His tone is clipped and harsh. “Or when you don’t come home at all, and he turns up here!”
“What do you think mom would say, Rob? If I just left this poor girl out on the streets, especially in that area. I know what I saw!”
I hear the man let out a heavy sigh. Trying to open my eyes slightly, they feel heavier than before, as though someone has glued them shut. For a moment I feel panic slash through me.
What if I’m in some sort of coma? But I can hear everything, and I can’t move….
When my eyes fly open, I’m met with a hazel pair staring back at me. Alarmed, the young woman sits back slightly, the damp rag in her hand stained with blood and my gaze widens whilst I stare in shock at it. Placing it onto the side, she turns back to me as her expression softens, almost with pity in the depths of her warm eyes.
“Are you OK?”
she asks softly.
A young man immediately approaches, and I feel my body begin to retreat where I lay. My eyes dart between the two, but their looks are kind and sympathetic and not harsh or nasty like I was expecting. I go to open my mouth, but no words seem to come out, it’s as though I have forgotten how to speak. Pushing beneath me, my fingers spread through a blanket as I push myself back and brace myself against something hard.
“Get her some water.”
The young woman snaps and gently smacks the man across the stomach.
Breaking away from the three-way stare, he quickly disappears from the room before returning a moment later with a glass filled with water and passes it to me. Reaching out with a shaky hand and my grasp now firmly around the receptacle, I lift it to my lips, I gulp and slurp as droplets of water fall past my chin. The relief of feeling the water rush through my body is amazing, I can actually feel it making its way through me. Panting hard, it falls into my lap whilst I wipe my mouth. The young girl quickly takes it from me, passing it to the young man with a flick of her head. He moves without hesitation and a moment later, brings back a fresh full cup. Taking it, I manage to force a weak exhausted smile as I look between the pair.
“Thank you,” I mutter.
This time, I take a small sip as I look down to the unfamiliar baggy clothes. When my brows pinch and I pull at the unknown fabric the woman speaks again and points towards my old, discarded clothes laying on a chair in the corner.
“I’m really sorry, I couldn’t leave you in those stained clothes.”
Her brows crease, offering a small apology.
Reaching for the wound on my side, I pull the T-shirt up to see a thick white bandage wrapping around my hip. The blood is beginning to seep through but for now it looks OK. My fingers graze across the fabric before I shoot them both a questioning look, my heart sinking in the process. Quickly realising this wasn’t all a bad dream after all, someone indeed shot at me before breaking into my apartment.
“The bullet grazed your arm; I pulled wood and splinters from your hip.”
The man speaks and my eyes flash to his.
“Are…Are you a doctor?” I ask.
The young woman scoffs slightly but smiles warmly towards the man and he merely rolls his eyes at her.
“He’s a vet.”
“Veterinary assistant,”
He corrects dryly.
I swallow hard and nod, before my eyes travel the small space I’m in. The curtains on the opposite side of the room are open and I can see it’s already dark out.
“Where am I?”
I ask meekly.
“Do you remember what happened?”
the woman asks, leaning a little closer to me.
I find myself blinking a couple of times, allowing the memories to flood back into my mind as the icy chill rushes over me.
“I was in my apartment, there were shots. I couldn’t reach Bhodi, so I tried James…Then…I fell.”
“You fell?” she asks.
“Someone was trying to get into my apartment and then I locked myself in the bathroom and could smell smoke.”
Taking a deep breath, I continue. “I woke up in a van, I felt really sick, and it was moving.”
“Do you remember how you got out?”
My gaze lands onto the night sky, and my brow furrows as the memory of me hitting the hard concrete rushes back and I glance to my raw palms.
“The door wasn’t locked properly; I just pushed and fell out.” I shrug.
The flicker of panic falls over me, my words stuck in my throat as the shivers skitter across my skin, the feeling of dread knitting a wet cold blanket across my skin.
“Where…Where are they? The people in the van?”
The panic in my voice cannot be mistaken.
“Hey, shhhh.”
The young woman leans forward, gently placing her hands on my shoulders, she pulls my eyes to hers. “It’s OK, you’re safe. I found you as the van drove off, no one stopped, and no one knows where you are.”
Slowly nodding, I hold her gaze, allowing her words to repeat over and over in my mind whilst the fear leaves my body.
“Where did you find me?”
I ask quizzically.
The young woman sits back slightly, her eyes flick away from mine and towards the man. He’s eye bawling her, and a wave of disappointment washes across his face. Shaking his head he leaves the room and slams the door, causing me to jump in the process. Her eyes find mine again, however this time the warmth was replaced with a shameful look, her body visibly sags and she looks so defeated.
“I was working…Well technically, I wasn’t working but was about to start. My first day in my new job.”
Her tongue clicks against her teeth, whilst her voice trails off. “Daniel had me fired from my last job, so stripping is about the only thing left.”
“Daniel?”
She shakes herself from her thoughts, giving me a warm smile and shakes her head.
“Nothing, sorry.”
She shakes her head, trying to push past her declaration.
I feel her mood shift and a cold mask slide over her face, a look I know too well. It’s the same look I’d have planted on my face almost daily and I can’t help but shudder. The awkwardness of the statement hanging too heavy in this small room, and not wishing to push into her private affairs any further, I decide to change the subject.
“I’m Summer.”
She looks to me, cocking her head to one side and studies my features for a moment as a warm smile spreads across her lips.
“It suits you; you look like a Summer. I’m Eva and that moody prick is my brother Rob.”
My face cracks into a smile, nodding my head.
“Thank you, you know…for helping me.”
She nods, sharing a knowing look with me. As she does, I feel my expression change and shoot her a questioning look.
“I’ve seen my fair share of bad things.”
She shrugs. “It would have been wrong not to help you.”
When the realisation finally hits that I’m not with the people that took me, I feel the pull towards Bhodi come storming back to me. My stomach drops wondering where he is, what he’s doing and if he knows where I am. I feel reality smack me hard in the face and I need to get back to him and tell him what I found.
Throwing the blanket to one side, I swing my legs out of the bed. As soon as I rise from the bed, I feel the overwhelming waves of dizziness knock me to the ground.
“I really should go; I need to see Bhodi.”
I mumble, continuing to stagger and fight to remain upright.
“Who’s Bhodi?”
she asks, steadying me.
“I need to see…I need...To tell..”
I feel myself falling but everything moves in slow motion, I feel my body hit the ground hard, unable to throw my arms out to stop. I fall down like my limbs are made of jelly, I have no control over any function and the pains in my body are phenomenal. All I can hear before my body hits the ground again is someone calling out my name in the distance, I try to open my eyes, but I can’t. Everything on the edge of my hearing continues to drift away, my body floating between consciousness and falling into the depths of darkness.