Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
Scarlett had finally stopped crying. Her eyes were so swollen and sore that she could barely open them.
‘Let us out, please.’ Her throat was dry and felt scratchy, her voice hoarse; she’d been shouting for what felt like forever.
She was tired, every part of her body ached.
There was a thin mattress on the floor, and she’d resisted sitting on it for ages, but now she was in so much pain she curled up on it.
Scared to think about who else could have lain on top of it.
What if someone had died on it? She let out another sob.
‘Hey, he’s not here. He can’t be, wouldn’t he have shut us up by now?’ the voice in the cell next to her whispered. ‘Save your energy, you’re just wearing yourself out.’ The woman sounded much better than before, not as groggy and confused.
‘I’m so scared.’
‘I know, I am too, but we can’t let him win, can we? He killed my friend and dragged her into the water. Why didn’t he kill me?’
Scarlett sat up, tucking her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. ‘He did the same to my friend Dawson. My other friend ran away; I don’t know if she’s alive or dead.’
‘God, I hope she got away. What’s her name?’
‘Tori.’
‘I think that Tori got away and will tell them what happened, so they must be out there searching for us and they’re going to find us sooner or later. We need to remember that. Thank God for Tori.’
Scarlett hadn’t thought about that. She hoped that Tori had managed to escape and tell the police. She was right; if she had, they would be out looking for her and that gave her a tiny bit of hope.
‘Do you know where we are?’
‘No, it feels as if we’re in some kind of cellar, but I don’t know where. It’s so cold and echoey in here.’
Scarlett had her coat on, and she unzipped it then put it on back to front, not sure if it would make any difference, but she lay down so her back was at least covered by the mattress, and drew her knees up again.
All there was in this cell, and it was a cell – she didn’t know how else to describe it – was a bucket which she assumed was to pee in and the bottle of water.
She thought about how much damage she could do with the bucket.
It was plastic so not a lot, but maybe if she peed in it and threw it in his face when he opened the door, it might give her enough time to shove him inside and lock him in.
That was a lot of mights and what ifs. She knew that it would probably be pointless, but she had to try, didn’t she?
Otherwise she may as well roll over and die now.
‘Have you got anything you could use as a weapon?’ Janey asked.
‘No, have you?’
They were both whispering now in case the creep was in here somewhere.
‘Whatever happens you have to fight him. If he comes in to your space, do your best to attack him. Scream, cry, pull his hair, kick him in the nuts, whatever it takes, but do not let him hurt you without trying to stick up for yourself. I read loads of true crime, watch the documentaries, and most of the time these weirdos are not as brave as you would think. They’re only brave when they have the upper hand, let’s make sure we don’t give that to him again.
The first time he caught us off guard and we weren’t expecting him to attack us, next time we’ll be ready. ’
Scarlett nodded, she got that and kind of agreed with Janey, but come on, all she had was a plastic bucket to defend herself with and she didn’t think that was going to do the trick.
‘I’m sorry about your friend.’
Scarlett saw Dawson’s icy blue eyes, his long black fringe and chipped fingernails.
She could smell his aftershave too. He always wore the same one that he got for his birthday and Christmas.
She didn’t know the name, always too shy to ask him, but she would know the woody amber and vanilla scent anywhere.
His parents would be devastated and what about Tori, where was she?
They had been a bit off with each other before they got out of the car.
Tori had been snappy with her because she’d been flirting with Dawson, but she couldn’t help it, she had fancied him like mad and had never told him that.
She couldn’t ever tell him how much he meant to her now, and she felt herself crumble as her whole body shook with the grief and heartbreak at the thought of losing her two best friends.