Chapter 41
Chapter forty-one
Isla
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Ergh, why do we always stay in places that are run down? I’m sick of being woken up to the sound of a leaky roof.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Right, that’s it I give in.
‘I’m up!’ I throw the duvet cover off of me, but don’t yet have the mental energy to stop cuddling my beautiful pillow.
God, this thing is the absolute best thing to happen to me. Who knew a body-sized pillow could bring so much comfort?
Screw Liam, this thing is staying forever, even when the wee guy comes.
Come to think of it, where is Liam?
Tap. Tap. Tap.
I look around, searching for the source of such a ridiculously annoying sound. But I find nothing… the ceiling has no cracks and doesn’t show any signs of a leak. What the fuck is it and why does it think it has a right to wake me from my slumber?
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With a growl I launch upright, still surprisingly quick for a pregnant gal if I do say so myself. A very grouchy one at that.
Why does everything insist on getting on my nerves? I’m supposed to be in my zen era. Meditating with the pigeons and doing breathwork with the mooing cows not scowling into an empty room trying to figure out where an irritating tapping sound is coming from.
Just as it starts up again, I realise the distinct sound of the surface it comes from. Glass.
I pad over to the window not bothering to slip into my slippers, too fuming to care about cold toes right now.
I rip the curtains open, ready for war. ‘What—’
Caught straight in the act Hilda’s beak is ready to connect with the window but she stops last second as she spots me.
‘What are you doing girl?’ I ask more concerned than angry now.
She never comes to wake me up. Half of me suspects that is because she understands my situation and knows that these last few weeks are the only hope I have at getting any shut eye. So why is she here, adamant to get me up.
I crack open the window seeing if she wants to come inside. Maybe her man has pissed her off and she needs some time to destress.
Come to think of it, where is my man?
‘You want in girl?’ I coo holding out my finger for her to perch on. The window doesn’t open very far so she might struggle flying through with her wings.
Like the lovely lady she is, she lands on my finger but the second I begin to pull back into the room she begins frantically flapping her wings, not letting go of her grip on my finger as she does so.
‘Whoa, whoa girl. What’s up? What’s wrong?’
She looks back at me as if pleading for me to follow and because I’m no idiot, I listen to my pigeon. ‘Okay, girl I’m coming.’
Quickly, I slip on my trusty slippers, grab my dressing gown and head outside.
Hilda meets me at the door like the smart girl she is and I follow her out. Is there something wrong with her nest? Has one of the others injured themselves maybe?
She doesn’t head to their nests, instead heading right to where The Skulls keep their equipment. And more specifically, their masks.
I follow her inside and my blood runs cold as understanding hits me. She pecks at the empty hook she is perched on top of, emphasising exactly what she’s been trying to tell me this entire time.
Hilda and I look at Liam’s hook, the one with his missing skull mask.
‘No,’ a sob creeps up my throat.
He’s left. He’s left exactly like everyone else. Exactly like him and my bastard brother promised he wouldn’t.
Anger rages inside me, and I turn my back on the masks and go straight to pick up my machete. The only thing that I can rely on in my life.
Storming outside and into the stadium floor I internally scream.