I cringed, not wanting to go into the whole sorry mess of a situation. “Let’s just say he didn’t believe me about something. Which I suppose is fair; I mean, it is pretty unbelievable.”
V frowned at me for a second and then understanding seemed to filter into her features. “Edinburgh?”
I nodded slowly.
Veronica’s mouth opened again, wider this time. “You were trying to tell me something, outside the Inn, and then with your text. B, I’m so sorry I never… what’s been going on?”
I sighed, suddenly completely exhausted. “A hell of a lot, and I will tell you, I just… I can barely function at the moment, I haven’t slept at all. Can we just talk about this some other time?”
She looked like she was about to burst from excitement and anticipation. “Please?”
I groaned, and V nodded, giving in. “OK, fine. So, anything else happen over the past two months? Irish men and Norman aside?”
I tried to think of something that would take the focus away from the Edinburgh conversation.
“I got a text from Tom.”
Veronica raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. “Tom Durden, your ex-boyfriend, Tom?”
“The very one.”
“Oh my God, what did he say?”
“Not much, really… it was a bit odd. He asked how I was and said he was finishing his Uni course soon. I replied, but there was nothing. For a second, I thought-”
She cut me off. “You thought he was coming back to England?”
I nodded, embarrassed.
“No offence, B, but you’ve been thinking that ever since he left. Remember the whole year you spent moping around, feeling sorry for yourself, binging on ice cream…”
I smiled reluctantly. “Yeah, thanks for that, V. I remember.”
“I just thought you were over all that?”
I shrugged. “I am. It’s just, hearing from him after all this time… it was weird.” It had made me feel like crap, but I didn’t want to admit that to Veronica.
I tried to think of something to get away from this depressing conversation. Then it hit me. “Hey, I may have been asked out by a certain Random Violation front man…”
V stood up dramatically, her hands over her mouth like she’d just heard something too shocking for words. “Don’t mess with me, B!”
I laughed and launched into the story, allowing myself to forget about my messed up life for just a few minutes.
***
A couple of days later, I was sitting on my bed with Keaton next to me, staring at my laptop screen. It still took a great deal of concentration to do anything; I hadn’t had more than a few hours’ sleep since the night of Fright Fest. This, along with the extreme awkwardness between me and my parents, had helped with my decision to finally leave Little Forest.
It wasn’t the most sensible idea ever as I didn’t really have enough money yet (especially as I hadn’t sorted out a job down there), and Veronica had opted out of the plan exactly for that reason. Now that I knew about the whole adoption deal, her dad had taken back his offer of financial support.
She’d tried to convince me to stay but I just couldn’t see how I was going to get over everything that had happened when I was constantly being reminded of it all. I hadn’t yet got round to telling Will, though, or my parents, or The Couple. I just didn’t know how to break it to them.
Every time I was alone my mind would drag me back to that night, holding onto that tree and waiting for the gunshot. It had only been a few days but I didn’t see any sign of the nightmares stopping.
My only option was to get out of this village while I still could. It had been my plan (well, mine and Veronica’s plan) anyway, and if I stayed, I could see myself becoming totally dependent on Will and being too scared to even leave my front door or look out my window. Being a recluse at the age of twenty-one really didn’t appeal.
I thought about Will again. We hadn’t mentioned the kiss since that night, and it really didn’t seem important anymore in the grand scheme of things, but I’d miss him. A lot.
I’d asked the police and they said I was OK to leave as long as I agreed to come back when a date had been set for the trial. I was one of the key witnesses and they needed my statement in court, something I definitely wasn’t looking forward to, especially as I would have to edit my story a hell of a lot; if I started rambling on about weird feelings and seeing people that couldn’t possibly have been there, they’d probably cart me off to the Birston Clinic.
By now the whole Norman fiasco had swept around the village, as I knew it would, and everyone was torn between gossiping about that and gossiping about the adoption ‘scandal’. I hadn’t heard from Connor for a couple of days, but I didn’t want to push him to talk to me.
I knew he’d told his mum everything and that, as expected, she hadn’t taken it well at all. It had been confirmed that Connor’s father was one of the bodies in the hole, and they were in the middle of working out who the others were. My guess, from what Norman had said, was that they were people who had just been travelling through briefly; there certainly hadn’t been any missing people in Little Forest for years - until John, of course.
I’d tried to forget the image of the woman pointing down the hole at me with something glinting in her hand, but my subconscious wouldn’t let me. She appeared in every single nightmare I had - even more so than Norman - and despite her constant presence in my mind, I still hadn’t told anyone about her. I was already worried that my parents were going to send me to some sort of counsellor and this would definitely give them more reason to.
I’d told Veronica about Doris and my recent run-ins with similar situations, but I didn’t think she’d quite understood exactly what I was saying; she couldn’t have completely understood unless she’d seen what I’d seen, and I just didn’t know how to explain it properly. Every time I tried, I got frustrated that I couldn’t describe it well enough, and so I eventually stopped trying. Veronica said she believed me - she’d been in the Edinburgh mausoleum after all - but she didn’t seem to understand the extent of what had been happening to me. I couldn’t really blame her; I didn’t understand it either.
I tried to concentrate on my laptop again. My train ticket to London had arrived that morning and I’d managed to intercept the post before my parents could see it.
I was now looking up hostels in the city - the cheaper the better - and I’d just found one near Piccadilly Circus that looked promising. |I was about to book it for a few nights when there was a knock on my door.
No doubt it was my mum checking for the millionth time if I was OK. I groaned inwardly but called out, “Come in!”
It wasn’t my mum, it was Will. He stood hesitantly at the door, not quite knowing what to say.
Smiling at him, I patted the bed next to me. He walked over, picked up Keaton (who meowed in protest), and sat next to me, plopping the cat on his lap. “You OK? I haven’t heard from you for a couple of days.”
“I’m getting there. Just needed some space, you know?”
He looked up from stroking Keaton. “Oh, do you want me to go?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t mean that.”
I glanced at my screen and realised too late that I’d left the hostel page up. I was about to minimise it when Will asked, “What are you up to?” and leaned over to look.
I cringed as he registered the site.
“Beth… please tell me you’re just taking a weekend break in London?”
I looked up at him and shook my head, feeling awful.
He nodded to himself and started to get up, knocking Keaton off his lap. “So you’re leaving. Perfect.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him back. “I’m sorry, Will. You knew this was my plan anyway. I just can’t be here anymore. It’s too… painful.”
He wriggled out from under my grasp and stood up. “When?”
I gestured to the ticket on my desk. “In three days.”
He stared at
me, disbelieving. “I get it. It just would have been nice to have been told. I’ll see you later.”
And with a few strides to the door, he was gone.
***
The next day I was surprised to get a text from Will asking me to meet him at the Diner, and I gladly went along. At least he was letting me explain my decision to him, and I didn’t want to leave without us clearing the air.
I knew something was wrong as soon as I got outside Stars & Stripes; despite it being lunchtime, the blinds were down as if it was closed. Will was waiting outside the door, a smirk on his face. I walked towards him hesitantly, trying to read his expression. As I got to the doors he winked at me and whispered, “I told you I’d get you back, didn’t I?”
I kicked myself for ever throwing him that stupid surprise party. “No, Will, please. I didn’t want everyone knowing I was leaving.”
I could see my pleading wasn’t going to make any difference, and I supposed I owed him after he’d saved my life and all, so I gave up and agreed to go in. Will grabbed my hand - probably to stop me if I tried to run away - and led me inside.
I was shocked to see how many people he’d rounded up at short notice. Obviously, there were all the regular Diner staff, including Justin, then there was Veronica, Connor, Rach, Max, my parents, Veronica’s parents (I still couldn’t think of them as just Rob and Rebecca or David and Laura, it was too strange), my work colleagues… even my boss. It wasn’t the welcoming party that Will had got at the Inn, though; everyone looked pretty mad.
I leaned over to Will and whispered, “I don’t get it… is this a leaving party?”
He looked sheepishly back at me. “Not exactly.”
At that point my parents came up to me and started having a go at me for not telling them my plans. Great, so this was more of a get-yelled-at party. An intervention. I’d have to remember to thank Will later.
After I’d spent a few minutes ignoring what my parents were saying, The Couple came up to me. Max looked more awkward than usual but Rach just hugged me. “You can’t leave me here to deal with her!” She glanced at our boss and I burst out laughing, mouthing ‘Sorry’.
I looked over at Hannah and smiled. She was the only one apart from V who knew I was planning to leave (I’d handed in my notice the other day), and I had to give her credit; as far as I knew, she hadn’t blabbed about me going to anyone.
Connor came up to me next and I gave him a big hug. I hadn’t seen him in person since we’d left the police station after giving our statements, and I was glad I got to see him before I left. Pulling back from the hug, I looked him over. “Are you OK?”
He started saying yes then stopped, settling for an, “I’ll be alright. I’m not so sure about me mam.”
I squeezed his arm, not knowing what to say.
“I’d be better if you were stayin’, though! You can’t leave now, Beth. Who am I goin’ to run around the woods with?”
I grimaced, and so did he. “Too soon for jokes, hey?”
Before I could even reply, Veronica flew into me. “Beth, you can’t go to London without me - we had a deal. Just wait a while, and we’ll earn the money and go together when we can afford it. Please stay. For me.” She smiled hopefully.
“I just can’t, V. All the memories…”
Veronica just gave me her ‘so what?’ expression: hands on hips and eyebrows slightly raised. “You’ll have the memories wherever you are, and don’t you have more good memories here than bad? I mean, yeah, nearly getting killed was bad, I’ll grant you that…”
I glanced at Will in disbelief. “Is she for real?”
Will shook his head, his hands covering his face. “Hey, she’s your sister, not mine.”
Sister. Wow, that sounded weird.
Grabbing my hand, Veronica pulled me over to our usual booth in the corner. “Look, just sit and chill with us for a bit. Then you can make up your mind about whether you want to run off to London on your own or stay here with your amazing friends and family.” She flashed her brightest smile at me.
Laughing, I sat down next to her. How did I know that leaving would be easier said than done?
***
A few minutes later I was drinking a chocolate milkshake with the gang and almost feeling normal again.
Rach had tentatively asked me how things were at home, and although I knew she was dying to talk to me about the whole adoption thing, she could tell this wasn’t the time to bring it up.
That didn’t stop Will from bringing it up, though. “I still can’t believe you two are sisters. Well, twins.” Apart from Connor, Will was probably one of the only people who had heard about our little family scandal second hand, rather than having watched it play out on Main Street himself. V and I had told him everything, but I got the impression that he was annoyed he hadn’t seen the whole ‘reveal’ for himself.
V smiled enthusiastically. “Just call us the Sweet Valley High girls.”
I laughed. We’d both loved those books and the TV show when we were young. “But without the blonde hair and, you know, being identical.”
Will sat up in his seat. “You know, if you both wore long, blonde wigs and V took off her five inches of make-up, you’d look pretty similar.”
V hit him playfully over the head.
“What? I think you should try it. I’ve always liked blondes.”
I laughed, shaking my head; a few months ago, a comment like that from Will would have made me groan in disgust. He winked at me and got another slap from V for his trouble.
Veronica was back on top form, and once she’d finished abusing Will, she started asking me, Connor and Will to tell The Couple everything about Norman. I’d already been through some of this with Veronica but she didn’t know the whole story, and as usual, she wasn’t going to stop until she knew absolutely everything.
It took a long time, but we went through what happened, starting with the day after mine and V’s fight. Everyone ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ in the right places, and Veronica and Rach gasped in shock when I told them about our infiltration of Hill Top Farm. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Max; I was surprised none of them ordered a bowl of popcorn to go along with the show.
Needless to say, I didn’t tell them everything. Veronica was one thing, but The Couple didn’t need to know about what had happened in the Jerusalem room at Norman’s, for instance, other than the creepy photograph and letter.
I’d just got to the part with the bones in the hole and I could tell that everyone was sufficiently freaked out. “I couldn’t look at them anymore, so I looked up towards the moonlight, and there was this…” I stopped. I’d nearly mentioned the woman, and even with my best friends, I couldn’t quite bring myself to recount that memory.
I noticed that everyone was staring at me. Veronica looked confused. “This what?”
I couldn’t think what to say; I’d never been very good at lying. “What? I meant that’s when Connor arrived.” I looked at him to see what his expression was. I’d often wondered if Connor had seen any sign of the woman at the hole when he got there, but was too scared to ask in case the answer was no. He looked a bit confused like everyone else, but that was about it.
No one said anything further so I filled them in about getting out of the hole and the confrontation with Norman, ending in Will’s amazing appearance just in the nick of time.
Rach looked at Will in awe, poking Max at the same time. “Take notes.”
Max ignored her.
Attention now turned to Will as he told his side of the story. I’d heard it before, of course, but he seemed to be in his element with a larger audience. He got to the end of his tale, when his converged with mine and Connor’s, and everyone sat back in thought.
Rach was shaking her head. “I can’t believe Norman’s a murderer. He always seems so nice… so normal. It doesn’t make any sense.”
I didn’t want to defend him, but I did want to make Rach understand. “I don’t think he would have
even thought of harming anyone a few years ago… I guess grief does weird things to you.” And the constant nagging of your dead wife, I thought to myself.
Rach nodded and turned to Connor. “And you say he kept referring to his wife like she was there?”
Connor looked at me uncomfortably. “Yeah, it was like he was tryin’ to blame ‘er for his actions or somethin’.” Or something.
“I guess grief really does do weird things to you.” Rach looked up at Connor, her mouth open. “Oh God, sorry Connor.”
Connor smiled. “It’s OK, I think a part of me always knew I’d never see me dad again.”
There was a moment of silence before Veronica rapidly changed the subject. “Well, Will, all I can say is it’s a good job you weren’t listening to your music at your usual ear-splitting volume, or you would never have heard that gunshot.”
I thought back to Will’s birthday party when I gave him his shiny new mp3 player, telling him about the sound quality, the volume, how he’d better not use it as an excuse to ignore my phone calls…
Will’s face was rapidly becoming tomato coloured. I knew there was something about his story that didn’t add up. Veronica was right; he listened to his music with the volume turned up to eleven. I could only ever get in contact with him when he was in the woods because he usually played with his phone at the same time and could see when his display lit up.
Will still wasn’t saying anything, and I was really intrigued now. “Will?”
He slumped onto the table. “OK, I’ll tell you the truth.”
“You haven’t been telling us the truth?”
He glanced around the Diner to see if anyone else was listening. Most of the people had turned the intervention into an impromptu party and seemed to be having a great time, which is probably what the village needed after the revelations of the last few days. “Not the whole truth.”
He leaned in and signalled for everyone else to do the same. He gave me a fleeting look that I didn’t understand, a strange mix of embarrassment and guilt.
My skin prickled.
“You’re right, V. I was listening to my music at full blast, there was no way I would have heard that gunshot if I’d carried on listening at that volume. The truth is, something made me turn my music off completely.” He shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. “It sounds weird, but I suddenly, erm, sensed that someone was there with me. I looked up and there was this… woman… there.”