Invisible Strings

by Aj Estelliam

  ‘I would love that,’ she said, smiling happily.

  ‘Thank you so much,’ Cathy said, rising to her feet as we began to prepare for their exit.

  ‘You’re more than welcome. I’m so glad this has been resolved.’

  ‘And Mum is safe.’

  ‘Exactly-which is what this was all about,’ I said softly.

  I walked with them to the door slowly and then we said fond goodbyes. As I watched them leave, I felt a strange sense of serenity settle over me. Mary was safe and well and no threat was facing her anymore.

  I waved as their car left and then shut the door behind me. Walking into the house, the phone began to ring. I stared at it dumbly, wondering whether to answer it or not. I walked over to the table slowly and let it go to voicemail. As I listened, I wasn’t surprised to hear my boss at the practice speaking in low, formal tones.

  ‘Hello Annie-this is Marcus. I have an update for you about the case with Mary Montgomery. Call me back when you have a chance.’

  I listened as he hung up and the dial tone filled the room. I pressed end and stared at the phone. I didn’t know whether to phone directly back or not. I turned away from the table with the phone on and went to the kitchen. After making myself a cup of coffee, I sat at the kitchen table and thought about my next steps. I would need to speak to Marcus soon and I needed to know what to say. He would surely reinstate me in my position as doctor at the surgery. The question was-did I want that? I wasn’t sure anymore.

  I sat with my coffee and scribbled out a pros and cons list of returning to my current job. By the time I was done, I knew what I wanted-and it wasn’t my job as a general practitioner at my current surgery. I finished my coffee and went to call my boss.

  Twenty minutes later, I went to the lounge and sat down feeling pleased. I had shared a conversation with my boss about the situation and he had offered my job back. I had refused and asked for a guaranteed reference in exchange for not disclosing the details of how poorly I had been treated in the past few months. He had agreed readily and assured me that he would prepare a reference immediately. He had also informed me that I would receive a compensation payment for the time I had not been working, in addition to the full pay I had been receiving. I was happy to accept that as I knew it may take me a while to find a new job.

  As I sat there contemplating the future, I realised that my mobile phone was ringing. I could hear it in the distance and I got to my feet to search for my bag. It stopped ringing just as I reached it. Pulling it out, I saw an unfamiliar mobile number had rung me. I knew instinctively who it was and I wanted to talk to her. It was Eve. I was sure of it.

  Chapter 10

  I phoned the number listed as a ‘missed call’ and waited as it rang and rang. After two attempts at returning the call, I left the mobile charging and went back to my lounge. I sat down at my desk and powered up my laptop. While waiting to hear back from Eve, I would make use of my time. I would do a job search, exploring my new options now that I had some freedom to make my own decisions.

  As I waited for the log on screen to load, I thought about my future in career terms. No longer tied to working as a GP, I had many options as a doctor open to me. Much of the reason I had gone into working as a GP had been because of my parents’ expectations of me. They had been so proud and I had wanted to maintain that. Now that they were gone, I no longer felt tied to that specific career. I could do anything I wanted to, I mused. I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to.

  I loaded up the internet and began a general search of available jobs in the area. At first I scrolled through many jobs working in surgeries and hospitals and none of it appealed. It was all more of the same and I didn’t know whether I wanted to do that anymore. I felt the need for something different; something more fulfilling. I needed something with a purpose, which would fulfil my need to do something that I enjoyed and found value in. Working in general practice was now going to be impossible. With my psychic ability enhanced by touching the general public, it would be a nightmare to work as a doctor now.

  I explored my options for about an hour before feeling drained and exhausted by the whole thing. Getting up, I went back to my mobile and dialled the number which I thought was Eve calling.

  ‘Hello?’ she answered after a few rings.

  ‘Oh, hi!’ I said, surprised she had answered.

  ‘Annie?’

  ‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘Eve-did you call me?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, I did,’ she said quietly, ‘but I, uh…I can’t really talk right now because I’m at a crime scene.’

  ‘Oh no…I hope everything’s okay.’

  ‘Not really, no, but maybe we could talk later…’

  ‘Sure. You do what you have to do. Give me a call when you’re free.’

  ‘I will. Thanks for calling back, Annie-I’ll speak to you later.’

  ‘Yeah. Bye, Eve.’

  ‘Bye,’ she said briefly before hanging up.

  I looked down at the phone feeling uneasy. She had sounded slightly ‘off.’ Very different to the previous night. I supposed that if she was at a crime scene then it might not be the easiest of circumstances to have a heart-to-heart conversation.

  I wandered back into my lounge and sat down. I realised that for the first time in ages I felt bored. I simply didn’t know what to do with myself. I had been so used to my own company and entertaining myself that I had become used to it. After one night with Eve, all that had changed. I wanted to see her-I felt desperate to see her again. I didn’t want to sit around in this lonely house on my own. It wasn’t right. I had spent so much time on my own that I hadn’t even recognised how lonely I had become.

  Getting to my feet, I decided to head out. I couldn’t stay inside anymore, trapped by the four walls always around me. After grabbing my bag, I walked out the front door and locked up. Heading off on foot, I began walking in the direction I felt pulled in. I didn’t know where I would end up, but it felt like a good day for an adventure. Fresh, cold air surrounded me and I found that it was just what I needed. For too long I had been pent up and claustrophobic in my own little world. It was time to spread my wings a little and fly. I felt like I had just regained my freedom.

  I walked steadily, placing one foot in front of the other in a mindful way. I had no destination in mind and no set plan. That was very much ‘not me.’ I didn’t do spontaneity often and this felt good.

  As I walked, I didn’t think about the troubles of the past few months, I didn’t think about my lost parents and I didn’t concern myself with my job worries. I thought about one thing. Eve.

  She filled my mind in the most wonderful of ways. She consumed my thoughts in a heady, beautiful way. Her smiling eyes filled my vision and the way she had looked at me so intensely flashed through my head in vivid detail. I remembered the things she had said, the way she had joked with me and made me smile and most of all-the way she had kissed me. She had taken me completely by surprise but that was the best thing about it. Had I known it was coming, I would probably have stopped her. The way she had grabbed my arm and swirled me back into her embrace had been incredible. Just thinking about it now made my stomach clench with pure desire.

  Her mouth had been soft and alluring. Her scent had been heady and intoxicating. When her tongue had found mine, I had felt lost in pure pleasure. I sighed as I walked. What was happening to me? This was so unfamiliar for me. I hadn’t felt this way about anyone ever before. I had read about these feelings in books and seen them portrayed in movies but had always assumed they were exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The fact was that they were real and I was feeling them right now. It was overwhelming in intensity and yet I felt excited by it.

  As I came too, I realised I had walked to the beach. I crossed the road and found myself on the cliff top path, which overlooked the beach. I frowned to myself, wondering why I was here. I supposed it was because I was drawn to any connection to Eve. This was her parents’ beach where they worked and
where I had first met her. Maybe I was wishing to recreate that.

  I wandered down the path to the sand and then stepped onto the soft, golden sand. I walked along the beach and found it nearly deserted. I went down to the shore and stared out at the sea. It was a windy day and the waves were rolling in fast and hard. I loved the sight of the tumultuous sea, tossing and turning in wild motion. It was atmospheric and a wonderfully beautiful sight. I stood there for an indeterminate amount of time. I was lost in the wonder of Avon Cove.

  As I stared out at the sea, I felt my sense of normality tilt and my head shifted into another dimension.

  The blows reigned down upon my head hard and fast. I could do nothing to stop him after the initial strike took me down onto the floor. I felt my life force ebbing away as he beat me repeatedly. As I faded away, I felt myself being dragged down the sand.

  As wet surrounded me, I gasped and swallowed air. Unable to open my eyes or fight against the water all around, I knew I was dead. As I died, I thought about my family.

  I startled out of my reverie and looked around me in alarm. What on earth had that been? I felt shaken and worried by what I had seen.

  ‘Annie?’

  I turned at the woman’s voice.

  ‘It is you! Are you okay?’ Alison-Eve’s mother asked.

  ‘I…yes, thank you,’ I said, pulling myself together.

  ‘I was just walking along the front and saw you standing there. You didn’t move for such a long time that I thought I would check on you!’

  ‘Oh, I’m fine,’ I told her, ‘but thanks for your concern.’

  She smiled at me warmly. ‘Would you like to come in for a drink? It’s cold out here today!’

  ‘I…’ I didn’t have anything else to do and the idea of going into the café that Eve frequented so much was alluring. ‘Yes, actually that would be really nice.’

  ‘Come on then! It’s so chilly!’ she exclaimed.

  I fell into step with Alison and we made our way up the sand towards where the café sat, sitting proudly looking out to the sea.

  ‘It’s lovely down here,’ I commented as we walked up onto the patio.

  ‘I know. It’s so serene. I always feel calm when I’m here. It brings me peace,’ she revealed.

  ‘I can see why,’ I commented.

  ‘I’ve always loved it here. That’s why I bought this place.’

  ‘You bought it?’ I questioned.

  She glanced at me sideways. ‘Yes…well, I mean we bought it,’ she corrected herself.

  Her mistake hadn’t been a slip. I had seen the brief moment of panic cross her features when she had said she had bought it alone. I followed her in, thinking fast. So, Eve’s mother had started this business on her own, without her father. I wondered about their history and how it figured in the strange visions I had been having. I resolved to find out more about Eve’s family and figure out what was going on here.

  ‘What can I get you?’ Alison asked as we reached the counter.

  ‘Uh, a coffee please,’ I requested, smiling at the older lady.

  ‘Anything else?’

  ‘No, I’m fine,’ I told her, smiling.

  ‘How are you then, Annie? I’ve been thinking about how well you hit it off with Eve yesterday,’ she told me, a sly grin on her face.

  ‘Oh, uh…I don’t know about that,’ I murmured, feeling embarrassed at her clear appraisal of me as someone who might be well-suited to her daughter.

  ‘I do! I haven’t seen Eve like that…well, ever! You’re a great match, you two!’ she said happily.

  ‘You have no issue with Eve being gay?’ I asked, carefully.

  ‘Issue? Why, no! Of course not! All I ever wanted was for her to be happy. I don’t care whether the person Eve falls for is male or female-I just care that they’re someone who’ll make her happy. Judging by the look on her face yesterday, you make Eve happy.’

  ‘Well, it’s uh…early days.’

  ‘You’re single though?’ she wondered.

  ‘I am, yes.’

  ‘And a doctor, no less! Who’d have thought it? You’re quite the catch, Annie!’

  ‘I don’t know about that,’ I mumbled, feeling embarrassed as Eve’s father walked out from the kitchen.

  ‘Who’s a catch?’ he asked.

  ‘Annie!’ Alison told him.

  ‘Of course she is,’ he grinned, giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder. ‘Hello again, my lovely.’

  ‘Hello Mr Grace.’

  ‘Please! Call me Jack! We’re friends now, right?’

  ‘I, uh…thanks Jack,’ I replied, feeling my cheeks burning with embarrassment. I wasn’t used to feeling so welcome and so well-liked. This strange family atmosphere was wonderful and yet overwhelming for me in many ways. Even when my parents had been alive, they hadn’t been demonstrative with affection and so I wasn’t used to such open, tactile people.

  ‘Are you down here to meet Eve?’ he then asked.

  ‘I’m not, no. I was just walking by the sea when I bumped into Alison.’

  ‘You were staring at the sea for such a long time I thought you were in a trance!’ she laughed, chuckling with mirth.

  ‘No…just thinking,’ I said, laughing at myself too. ‘I must have looked pretty silly.’

  ‘Not silly, no…I just wanted to check you were okay.’

  ‘Eve’s on her way over so you might want to stick around,’ Jack then told me. ‘Apparently, there’s been a murder!’ he said leaning forwards with a conspiratorial tone. ‘Just a little way down the beach in fact!’

  ‘No!’ Alison gasped.

  ‘Yes! Drowned, she said,’ he told us, looking like this was the juiciest piece of gossip he had heard in a long time.

  ‘Did she say murder?’ I asked him. ‘Accidental drowning can be surprisingly common.’

  ‘Well, she said murder on the phone. Apparently she’s been down there for hours and is freezing. She’s coming by when she finishes to warm up a little.’

  ‘I see…’ I murmured, wondering whether to go down to the scene.

  ‘Pretty gruesome, I imagine,’ Jack continued, ‘a drowning. I’ve heard it’s not a pleasant sight.’

  ‘Certainly not. The corpse bloats and is horribly disfigured if it’s been in water a long time. It’s not a nice sight at all.’

  ‘I hope Eve is okay,’ her mother murmured, looking concerned. ‘I can’t imagine her handling that too well.’

  I glanced from Eve’s mother to her father. ‘She’s pretty tough. I’m sure she’ll be fine.’

  ‘Yes; but she shouldn’t be seeing such horrible things,’ Alison said, ‘only people who are trained to deal with the dead should have to do that.’

  ‘It’s a very important job,’ I told her, emphatic with my beliefs. ‘Through investigations after death, no end of information can be found out about the person…how they lived their life, how they died, what led them to their place on the autopsy table. It’s fascinating actually.’

  Alison shuddered. ‘I couldn’t do it.’

  I met her eyes and realised something. Although it wasn’t for everybody, it was something I would be able to do-and do well. I was also interested in it hugely and had enjoyed performing autopsies in medical school. It was something I had bypassed mainly because of the assumption of my parents that I would simply become a traditional GP doctor. They had never once asked if I might be interested in following a different path.

  As I had aged, I had become more aware of the choices I had made along the way to adulthood. They had all been based on my parents’ wishes and demands-ones that I felt I had to oblige because of the fact I was adopted. I wanted to please the mother and father who had chosen me and taken me in.

  I wondered if I would be in a very different place now if I had made my own decisions. Speaking to Eve, it had struck me that I had no end of choices in my life-ending one job wasn’t a bad thing, it opened up new opportunities and new chances for happiness. Maybe it was time for a change, I muse
d.

  I was about to answer Alison when the door opened with a crash of wind and Eve came through in a blustery rush.

  ‘Annie!’ she said, before even greeting her parents. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘I was out taking a walk when your Mum invited me in,’ I told her.

  Eve frowned over at her Mum and then looked back at me. ‘Oh…are you alright?’ she questioned, scanning my face.

  ‘I’m fine-more to the point are you alright? Your Dad says there’s been a murder!’

  ‘Yeah,’ she sighed, running a weary hand over her face. ‘Our late night is catching up on me now,’ she groaned.

  ‘Oh sorry,’ I said, before thinking. I watched as Eve’s mother and father exchanged a knowing look and then looked at us quizzically.

  ‘Something you’re not telling us?’ Alison joked, nudging Eve on the arm.

  ‘Don’t be silly Mum! We were just up late talking,’ she said evasively, clearly hoping the topic would get dropped.

  ‘Up late talking! Oh my goodness,’ Alison exclaimed. ‘You two!’

  ‘Mum! Please…can I have a coffee and then I’m leaving. This is getting too much!’

  ‘Of course honey. I expect you’ll be wanting me to put that coffee into a take-out cup too, Annie?’ Alison asked.

  ‘I, uh…yes please,’ I replied, keen to make my exit.

  Alison prepared the two coffees and then I said my goodbyes. Heading out into the windy air, I followed Eve down onto the sand.

  Chapter 11

  ‘Sorry about my Mum,’ Eve said as we trudged along the soft, wet sand. The rain was falling steadily now and I pulled my coat around myself as I walked.

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ I told her. ‘It’s all done in good humour.’

  ‘I know-I just wasn’t sure if she was making you feel awkward.’

  ‘Maybe a little, but I’ll get over it,’ I replied.

  She glanced over at me.

  ‘Is it true that there’s been a murder?’ I asked then.