She put on deodorant and sniffed herself before giving herself a quick once-over in the mirror.
Chris waited on the sofa in the living room. Tom sat by the radiator. Oreo had settled with his head on Tom’s lap.
“You weren’t hurt?” Anna asked.
“No.”
“Tell me what happened?”
“He burst through the door two nights ago. Alone. He had an assault rifle and forced us to sit on the sofa. You were right about Oreo. The poor thing cowered in your room. The soldier said that after you’d warned him, he abandoned his post and went home to his wife and baby.”
“He has a baby?”
Chris nodded. “His wife had run out of formula by the time he came home, and the baby was sick.”
“Are you worried he’ll come back for more? Is that why you barricaded the front door?”
Chris fell silent. Tom stopped scratching Oreo’s ear and her dog whined. The boy stared off into space, his mind obviously elsewhere. His eyes were bloodshot.
“What’s wrong?” Anna asked him.
“He’s just tired,” Chris said. “He hasn’t slept since the break-in.”
Tom scowled.
“Why don’t you go and have a lie-down?”
He grunted in reply and shuffled out of the room. Moments later, a door slammed.
Anna flinched.
Silence filled the room. Chris chewed on her lip. “I doubt that soldier will be back,” she whispered. “I crumbled rat poison into his cereal. I just…I didn’t know what else to do.”
Anna swallowed. “Wow.”
“He threatened us with a gun. Just like you said, I was worried he’d change his mind and come back for the rest.” She scratched her head. “I couldn’t risk it.”
Anna didn’t reply.
Chris laughed nervously. “Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s done. How about you? It looked like you were limping. Were you hurt?”
“It’s just my knee,” Anna said. “I can’t believe Sarah hasn’t made it.” She slumped down on the sofa. Oreo jumped up and settled against her legs. Her gaze darted around the room. Nothing had been moved. Everything looked just like it had when she left.
Apart from the front door.
“So many days wasted. And now we’ve lost half our food.” Anna rubbed her face. Tom’s reaction worried her. He’d been through a lot, but why was he so sullen?
Silence filled the room, and Chris wouldn’t meet her eyes. The tension was palpable.
Something was wrong.
Sarah had promised she’d wait for her here.
Things weren’t adding up, and she didn’t really know Chris. The woman with the bitter lines around her mouth. The woman who’d told her husband that she wished he’d just end it all. The woman who didn’t hesitate to poison a stranger.
Anna shivered.
What was she going to do now?
14
Chris had offered to sleep and keep watch by the front door. She’d pumped up an air mattress, settling by the chest of drawers.
Anna had tossed and turned for a while, her worries keeping her awake, but exhaustion had won, and she’d slept for almost twenty-four hours. When she woke up, she found Oreo at her feet, curled up in a ball.
If for any reason your flat isn’t safe, meet me at sunrise where Mum used to take us every Sunday morning.
Anna peeked through the blinds. It was gone midday. Why sunrise? What was wrong with sunset? She’d have to stay awake to get to Pet’s Corner early enough.
Sarah had said she’d make her way to Anna’s flat, but she wasn’t here. Either her sister had decided that the flat wasn’t safe, or she’d been hurt—or worse.
If her sister had decided the flat wasn’t safe, had Sarah knocked?
Had she met Chris?
But why wouldn’t Chris have let her in?
Anna stretched, massaging her knee. Oreo yawned. “I wish you could speak.” She stroked him. “Chris is a bit odd, isn’t she?”
Odd or not, she had to face her new flatmates.
She got something to eat from the kitchen and found Chris in the dining room with a cross stitch project and gave her a small wave.
Tom sat on the balcony floor. He’d hung a beach towel over the balcony railing, using it as a shield to stay hidden from anyone in the street below. A book lay open on his lap, an unopened chocolate bar on top of it.
The air was mild. Puffy clouds littered the sky.
Anna stood in the balcony doorway and bit into one of Chris’ oatmeal bars. The taste of dried fruit filled her mouth and she wrinkled her nose. “Yuck. Raisins.”
Tom’s shoulders shook as he chuckled into his book. “I don’t like them either.”
Anna politely broke off the piece she’d bitten into and put the rest of the bar back into the Tupperware container. She glanced apologetically at Chris who was sitting at the dining room table, her eyes narrowed as she focused on her needlework. “These are definitely not for me.” Anna grinned and sheepishly added, “Sorry.”
Chris looked up and smiled. “Don’t apologise. More for me. I can make the next batch with nuts if you prefer?”
“Thank you.”
“There’s a cup of gross lukewarm instant coffee next to the sink.”
Anna grimaced, reached for the cup and took a sip, all the while giving her coffee machine a sad look. She missed real coffee.
She stepped back outside and sat down next to Tom. He didn’t look up, his eyes red and glassy.
“Are you okay? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
He didn’t reply, but his eyes flicked between his mother and his book.
“What are you reading?”
“I’m not. I’m just watching the road in case someone else tries to break in.”
“Oh. Did your mum tell you to do that?”
He shook his head. His bottom lip quivered, and he bit down on it. Once again, his eyes flicked to his mother. As if he were afraid. “I miss Dad.”
“Tell me about him?”
“It’s not just dad,” Tom said. “Mum’s been…” He fell silent. “She’s done all these things…I asked her if we could go to James’. He’s my best friend and his dad owns a farm, but Mum said we couldn’t go because they might not have room for us.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. Chris hadn’t mentioned a farm and they’d only spoken about growing food the other day. “Where does James live?”
“Near Ware.”
“Your mum is right. That’s a bit far.”
“You walked all the way to Colchester and back.” Tom tore open the plastic wrapping and offered her the first bite of his chocolate bar.
Anna declined with a wave of her hand. “Enjoy.”
“Ware is a lot closer than Colchester,” Tom added before taking a bite.
“It’s different because I’m an adult—”
Tom snorted. “I’m almost fourteen.”
“Sarah’s my sister. I had to try and find her.”
He gave her a defiant look. “James is my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were little. How’s that different?”
“You’re right. It’s not. I’ll talk to your mum and ask if we can check on James once it’s safe.”
Anna watched Tom chew. He had pale green eyes with long dark lashes. In a few years, he’d have turned heads wherever he went, but now…what a pity.
Instead of enjoying girls and parties, he’d have to hide, fight and survive.
“How long had your dad been ill?”
“That’s not what killed him…” Tom fell silent and rubbed his eyes. They were more bloodshot than when she’d got back. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, which only fuelled the growing worry gnawing at her.
Something had happened.
Being robbed at gunpoint would be traumatic for anyone, let alone a teenage boy, but nobody had been hurt. John had left. Could Tom still be upset over that? Or was there something more?
Anna’s voice dropped to a whisp
er. “Did something happen between you and your mum while I was away? You look scared.”
Tom shook his head and took another bite.
“Do you want to talk some more about what happened to your dad? It’s hard to deal with a suicide. It’s normal to feel sad and angry. It’s normal not to sleep. You need to talk about it. It’ll help.”
“It wasn’t suicide,” he spat, his eyes flashing. “I know he was ill, but he was never that poorly. It’s…it’s my mum. She was…” He swallowed. “She was covered in his blood. I think she’s dange—”
“What are you two muttering about?” Chris asked, interrupting her son, her tone sharp. Tom flinched as if he’d been struck and turned his attention back to his book. He stuffed the rest of the chocolate into his mouth. “Nothing,” he mumbled.
Anna turned and looked up at Chris. Her mind whirled with unanswered questions. Had Chris heard what her son had said?
“He’s upset about his dad,” Anna said.
Tom jumped to his feet, tossed the wrapper over the balcony railing and ran off, slamming the door to the spare room.
Anna frowned, staring at Chris. The woman was so skinny she appeared fragile, like a twig in danger of snapping. The hardness Anna had spotted in Chris’ eyes seemed to have taken up permanent residence there.
“It’s a tragedy, really.” Chris sat down next to Anna. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek, her lips pursed. She looked more pensive than angry. Anna hoped she hadn’t heard what Tom had said.
Could Chris be dangerous?
Anna thought of Bob’s question: How do you spot evil?
The woman next to her didn’t look like Anna would have imagined evil.
At all.
But it was always like that wasn’t it? Whenever friends and neighbours were interviewed after someone had committed a particularly heinous crime, everyone came out and said, “But she was always so quiet and polite.”
Her father was quiet and polite outside the home as well.
“I have one bottle of beer left,” Anna said, trying to break the tension. “Fancy sharing it?”
Chris nodded.
She got up and opened the fridge. It felt weird opening the door and not being greeted by a bright light and cold air.
She exhaled slowly, rolling her shoulders. She hadn’t realised just how tense Chris’ presence made her.
“Anna?”
“Coming.” She grabbed the bottle and opened it with the help of her keyring before handing it to Chris. “I’m sorry it’s warm.” She sat down again and leaned her back against the wall of her small balcony. “I found a note at Sarah’s. She said to come back here and wait for her.”
Anna didn’t mention the secret meeting spot. She kept that to herself. Just in case.
The two women sat side by side on the balcony, the sun bathing their legs in a warm light.
Chris scratched behind her ear, peering at Anna through long lashes. “Where do you think she is?”
“I don’t know.”
The sound of three consecutive gunshots being fired pierced the silence, and Anna got to her feet to look over the railing. She leaned forward but couldn’t see anything.
Was there trouble at Sainsbury’s?
“I’m scared,” Chris said.
Anna hesitated, giving Chris a long look. Was she really scared? Chris looked determined, her mouth hard. “The army hung looters from street signs in Braintree.”
“Seriously?”
“Colchester is on fire. When I left, the smoke was so thick you could barely see your own hand.”
Chris took a sip of beer before handing the bottle back to Anna. “I wonder if they’re withdrawing to the town centre and abandoning the outskirts of Harlow. It doesn’t make sense for them to waste army resources. I’d grab everything and build a fort somewhere.”
Anna stared at the label on the bottle. “Do you think it’s better for people to know we’re here or not? If people see us, they’ll think we have food, won’t they? But people would be less likely to loot somewhere occupied, right?”
“We need guns.”
Anna winced. “Do we?”
“How else are we going to defend ourselves against soldiers? They carry guns.”
Anna took a sip and handed the bottle back to Chris. “It’s weird, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“How much life has changed in just two weeks. How everything we’re used to has gone. How we’ll never have another burger or milkshake. How there are no more books to buy, no museums to visit, no restaurants to eat in. It’s bloody strange.”
Chris chuckled. “You have enough books sitting on your shelves.”
“Who would have thought that one day I’d be glad to have this many books stacked in my flat.”
Chris handed the bottle back to Anna. “Have the rest.”
“I’m scared of what comes next,” Anna said, taking another sip of the lukewarm beer. She made a face and put the bottle down. “Did you end up going to Poundland?”
“We did but then…he took half, Anna. What are we going to do?”
Anna sighed. “I don’t know. How long until we run out?”
“Two months without Sarah. Are you going to set out and look for her again?”
Anna frowned. Was Chris trying to get rid of her?
What if Sarah wasn’t at Pet’s Corner come morning? What if she had got lost? What if she was one of those bodies lying in a field somewhere?
“She could be anywhere. I don’t even know where to start looking.”
If for any reason your flat isn’t safe, meet me at sunrise where Mum used to take us every Sunday morning.
Was her flat safe? Anna’s thoughts drifted to Tom’s sunken eyes. I think she’s dangerous.
Had Sarah shown up while Anna had been away? Would Chris really lie to her?
Or had Sarah seen Tom on the balcony and decided to stay away?
Anna didn’t know anything about Chris, except that her husband had been depressed. Was she even a nurse? Was there any way she could check?
Walk over to the hospital and ask?
If Sarah wasn’t at Pet’s Corner come morning, Anna wouldn’t know what to do next. She had no plan. Nobody to turn to.
Without Sarah, she felt alone. A growing sense of dread sent a shiver down her back.
Perhaps she could ask Tom what he’d meant when he said that Chris was dangerous.
“I’ll take the watch tonight,” Anna said after a long silence. If she wanted to go to Pet’s Corner, she needed to leave the house in the early hours of the morning.
Chris nodded and yawned.
Anna needed to be alone with Tom. Perhaps she could help him teach Oreo a few tricks.
Oreo! That was it! Her chance to discover the truth. “I think Oreo needs to go outside. Would you mind taking him? My knee’s still in a lot of pain.”
Chris struggled to her feet. “Of course.”
Anna waited for the front door to close before getting up. She took some of Oreo’s treats, knocked on the door to the spare room and poked her head inside. “Tom? Here’s some treats you can give to Oreo later. You two seem to be getting along.”
He looked up and grinned for the first time since their arrival. “Thank you.”
Anna took a deep breath. She had five minutes at most before Chris would be back. “I want to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me.”
He pressed his lips together, his eyes hardening.
“Did my sister come here?”
He shook his head but didn’t meet her eyes.
“Tom? Please tell me the truth.” Anna fell silent, waiting for him to look up again. When he didn’t, she whispered, “What did you mean before when you said that your mum was dangerous?”
She heard the front door open and close. Tom winced.
“Is there a problem?” Chris asked, unclipping Oreo’s lead.
Anna closed the door to the spare room. “I was just giving Tom s
ome treats for Oreo. They get along so well.” She could barely keep her voice from shaking.
What had Tom meant when he’d said that his dad hadn’t committed suicide?
Unease made her skin crawl, and she rubbed her lower arm where goosebumps had formed.
15
Anna paced back and forth in her bedroom, walking over the small rug in front of her bed, forcing herself to turn every few steps, but she didn’t dare risk waking Chris. Every few minutes she stopped and listened to the soft snores coming from the spare room.
Moonlight shone through the blinds. Soon, she’d have to set out for Pet’s Corner.
What if Chris didn’t let her back in?
Anna curled her toes into the rug.
What if Sarah had come here, and Chris had turned her away?
What if they’d fought?
What if Chris had…hurt Sarah?
Anna ran her hands through her hair. For the first time since she’d moved out of her childhood home, she allowed the voice in her mind to resurface. To scare her.
What if…
She’d tried not to listen to it when it had first piped up, but it was growing stronger.
Chris had admitted to poisoning the food she’d given to John. She was proactive and determined; she wouldn’t let anything come between her and survival.
I think she’s dangerous.
The hair on her neck stood on end at the memory of Tom’s words. Anna rubbed her bare arms. If only Tom had been willing to talk to her. Perhaps if she had more time alone with him? But how? It wasn’t like she could send Chris out to buy milk and tea bags.
Soft, quiet steps pulled her from her thoughts. The door to her room opened. Anna recognised Tom’s silhouette in the dark.
Oreo jumped off her bed to greet him. Tom bent down to stroke the dog before slipping a folded piece of paper into Anna’s hands.
“Wha—”
He shook his head, pressing his index finger against his lips before tiptoeing back out of the room.
Anna lit a candle on her bedside table with a match and sat down on her bed. She unfolded the paper and angled it so she could read it.
He’d torn it from a notebook.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher Tom’s scraggly handwriting.
Darkness Ahead of Us | Book 1 | Darkness Within Page 13
