Raven

by Heather Atkinson

  Raven drove past the house and onto the next street. As this street was small and quiet she continued on, not wanting to leave her car somewhere it would stand out. Communities like this lacked the anonymity of the big city.

  Luckily she came across a small supermarket. She parked her vehicle on the car park, hopped out and opened up the boot, looking about to make sure no one was watching before opening the secret hatch. She retrieved a gun with a silencer already attached and slid it into one of the deep pockets of her coat, locked up the car and casually strolled to her rival’s house, taking her time, just another person out for a walk, enjoying the spring sunshine.

  She turned down a narrow, quiet road that ran behind her rival’s house, wondering if there was a back way into the grounds. There wasn’t and it would be foolish to vault over the wall in broad daylight. She headed down a side street and emerged on the main road close to the front of the house. There were people walking up and down the street and cars on the road. It was far too busy for her to make her move now, she would leave it until after dark. Thanks to the tracking device, she’d know if he moved.

  It was just after midnight when Raven returned to her rival’s home in Horsforth. She assumed it was his home as he hadn’t moved all day. She still had the gun with a silencer in her pocket and a couple of knives for good measure.

  Dressed all in black, she left her car on the other side of Horsforth, well away from her rival’s house. She wanted nothing connecting her to his murder and a strange car close to the scene might well be noticed, despite how late it was. It was an area she was unfamiliar with, so she was taking no chances.

  When she came to his house she continued walking, glancing up the driveway to see a light burning in one of the downstairs rooms. As the curtains were closed she couldn’t see inside. She kept on going and headed around the corner and up the side street she’d walked earlier, leading to the back of the house.

  She stopped by the wall, which was just low enough for her to scale. Looking up and down the street, she saw no one was around. Running at the wall she jumped and grabbed the top of it, hauling herself over before landing in the bushes on the other side.

  Raven remained crouched in the shrubbery to study the house. There didn’t appear to be any cameras covering this area, neither were there any lights on in the rear of the house. From here she had access to three downstairs windows and the back door, which posed no obstacle to her.

  Cautiously she crept out of her hiding place, being careful not to stand on anything that might make a noise.

  She froze when a group of figures emerged from the bushes, fanning out to surround her. In the weak fuzzy glow of the single street light, she could make out bald shiny heads, tattoos and angry faces. Terry’s friends, all five of them.

  They looked around when the back door opened, casting light into the darkened garden and her rival stepped out, smirking. “I told you she’d come boys. All you needed was a little patience.” He held up the metal bracelet she’d slapped on him in the supermarket, which he’d somehow managed to remove. “Thanks for this by the way, it’s proved to be very handy. This isn’t my house, the owners are away. I just needed to set the stage.”

  He went silent, fully expecting her to come back at him with some retort, his grin faltering when she remained silent, staring back at him impassively. Raven had never seen the point in aimless banter and she certainly wasn’t going to allow him to rub her nose in it.

  “Terry’s friends are pissed off about what you did to him,” he continued.

  “You mean what you did to him.” She looked to the glowering men surrounding her. “He killed your friend, not me. I saw him inject him in the neck.”

  “Bollocks,” said Pitbull, Terry’s second-in-command. “You were the one given the contract on Terry, it was all your doing. So you’re going to pay.”

  “Go for it,” said her rival. “Enjoy yourselves.”

  Pitbull licked his lips. “We intend to.”

  Her rival stepped back into the house, closing the door, blocking out the light, plunging them all into blackness.

  “We’re going to kill you, you bitch,” spat one of the men, a ring through the septum of his nose.

  “What’s she doing?” said a short, squat man when Raven produced a pair of sunglasses and put them on.

  “Who cares?” said the first man with the nose ring. “Get her.”

  As they rushed forwards, Raven produced a device from her pocket and threw it to the ground. When it hit, blinding white light shot out of it, causing them all to cry out and clamp their hands down over their eyes. One Eye’s gadget hadn’t failed her.

  The light glowed for a full five seconds before dying away. While the men were still blinded, Raven yanked off the sunglasses and struck out at the man with the nose ring, punching him in the face, knocking him flat on his back. She kicked out at the man standing beside him, knocking him sideways and a gap opened up for her between the gang, allowing her to run through it. She raced past the side of the house, into the front garden and down the drive. There were shouts from behind her but the men were still blinded, stumbling about, knowing she was escaping but unable to see her. The blindness wasn’t permanent but it would give her some breathing space to escape. She expected her rival to make chase but he didn’t, no doubt tucked up warm and cosy inside, clueless as to what was going on outside.

  Raven left the grounds of the house and turned right, heading down the main street, head bowed, hands stuffed into her pockets. There was a little traffic on the road but no other pedestrians, nothing but high walls either side of her, shielding the large, luxurious homes from view of the public. Glancing over her shoulder she saw no one was following.

  This time she’d done her research on the village and left her car parked at the train station, which had long stay options, so it wouldn’t stand out. However it was a ten minute walk.

  As she reached the end of the street she became conscious of voices getting louder. Looking back over her shoulder she saw Pitbull and his men several yards behind her.

  “There she is,” cried a deep voice. “Get her.”

  The group broke into a run and Raven raced on ahead, easily outrunning the stocky men, who quickly began to tire. She raced across the road, narrowly avoiding a car and when she looked back over her shoulder they weren’t even in sight.

  Raven slowed to a brisk walk as she made her way through the centre of Horsforth. As the town had several pubs there was some nightlife, although it was a lot quieter than what she was used to in Leeds. There were quite a few people out on the streets as well as cars rolling by. Normally this would make her feel quite secure from further attack but Pitbull and his friends were dumb enough to come after her in front of an audience. They certainly hadn’t let it hold them back at the nightclub.

  Now she wished she’d left her car on the main street. Instead she had to leave behind the lights and people and delve into the quieter part of town, where she would be isolated. The gun in her pocket made her feel a bit better about that but the only person she had any interest in shooting was her rival, after she’d made him tell her who he was and why he was targeting her. But it appeared that would have to wait until another time. On top of that, how had he got the bracelet off? He must have an incredibly high tolerance for pain to have managed that, which he had failed to display at the supermarket. Someone must have cut it off for him, it was the only explanation, most likely Pitbull or one of his cronies.

  As she left the town behind, keeping her hands thrust into her pockets, the left one holding the gun, another group of men emerged from around the corner. Judging by the way they all came to a halt, glaring at her and how they bore a striking resemblance to Pitbull and his little gang, she assumed they were part of the group too.

  They spread out into a line, blocking her path. Immediately she turned on her heel and calmly walked back onto the main street, the men following.

  Raven stopped in the middle of the street whe
n Pitbull and his men finally caught up, blocking her escape that way.

  Calmly she pressed the button for the zebra crossing, waiting for it to change to red, the two groups of men walking down the street towards her. She crossed the road, Pitbull’s group rushing across before the lights turned back to green, the other group, who were too slow, forced to wait on the other side.

  Without pause Raven walked straight into a pub that was full of revellers, consequently no one really noticed her in the press of people. At the back of the large room a rock band played, everyone’s attention on them.

  One advantage she had over Pitbull and his men was that they were all male and therefore unable to follow her into the ladies’ toilets. She just kept on going, sliding past the queue of ladies waiting to use the loo.

  “I just need to wash my hands,” she pleasantly explained to the line when they groused at her for pushing in, holding up her hands for them to see, which were grubby after scaling the wall. The four women all smiled and nodded at her to go through, although they were careful to watch that she didn’t place herself before any of the stalls.

  Raven washed her hands in the sink while eyeing up the windows. Naturally they were frosted glass, meaning she couldn’t see out. They were also painted shut. No escape that way.

  Calmly she dried her hands under the drier, nodding at the women as she passed, heading back out into the main bar. Pitbull and three of his men were huddled together in a corner of the bar, nearest the window. Perhaps it had been better that she hadn’t gone out the window, his friends were probably waiting for her out there.

  Raven pondered what to do. As long as they were surrounded by so many people they were powerless to attack her, however this pub wouldn’t stay open all night, they would make her leave at some point and she did have other things to do.

  She considered her options. There were numerous gadgets in the capacious pockets of her coat but she decided it wouldn’t be wise to use any of them in this confined space. When she saw the huge, beefy man standing close to Pitbull and his men, his arm around a very attractive blond, watching the band, a plan formed in her mind.

  She made her way to the exit, walking between Pitbull and his men and the beefy man and his girlfriend. She smacked the blond hard on the backside, making her yelp and she whipped round, outraged. Raven pointed to the shortest of Pitbull’s men, who wilted when the woman’s monster of a boyfriend turned to glare at him.

  “Did you touch my bird?” he demanded.

  “No, it was her,” he said, pointing at Raven.

  “Do you think I’m a fucking lemon or something?” snarled the man. “You touched my bird.”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “Yes he did Kev,” said the woman. “He slapped my arse and it really hurt.”

  “Bastard,” said Kev, drawing back his huge fist.

  The eyes of Pitbull’s friend widened and his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his throat as that enormous fist came towards him.

  As Raven stepped outside there was a confusion of shouting. Pausing to take a peek, she saw Pitbull and the others leap into the fray while four more giants ran to back up Kev. That little lot wouldn’t be following her anywhere for a while.

  While inside the pub descended into chaos, she let the door swing shut, dulling the sound of shouting and swearing and smashing glass. The second group of Pitbull’s men were loitering outside the restaurant next door, which was closed for the evening. The street was a little quieter, although a couple of taxis were parked at the kerb and three women marched together down the street, arm-in-arm. She could get a taxi to take her to her car however, in order to do that, she would have to walk past Pitbull’s men, who were all glaring at her.

  Instead she waited for the three women to walk past her and tagged on behind them. The women, seeing the group of intimidating-looking men in this usually pleasant place, moved to the far side of the pavement in order to give them a wide berth. As they were just about to pass them, Raven dipped into her coat pocket and produced another of One Eye’s devices. When this one hit the ground it began hissing out smoke, causing the women to screech, Pitbull’s men vanishing behind a curtain of smog.

  While the women ran down the street, eager to escape the encroaching smoke, Raven leapt into the back of one of the taxis, its engine already running.

  “Jesus, what was that?” said the driver. “Did a bomb go off?”

  “I don’t think so,” she replied. “There was no bang. Maybe it’s sewer gas?”

  “Sewer gas?” he said, appalled. “Let’s get out of here before we get poisoned.”

  He set off down the street at a pelt, Raven watching through the rear window but she couldn’t see any of her pursuers. Pitbull and his men were still fighting in the pub and the rest of them were caught up in the smoke. Raven smiled. She’d escaped ten assailants and had barely lifted a finger.

  She got the driver to drop her off around the corner from where her car was parked, not wanting him to see her vehicle. After the strange events that had unfolded in the usually peaceful Horsham this night, she thought a stranger might be remembered.

  Once the taxi had set off down the road she walked around the corner to the train station car park, just wanting to get home and indulge in a hot shower before curling up in bed with a cup of tea.

  That plan was scuppered by the dark shadow lurking around her car. Earlier she’d been hell-bent on killing her rival. Now she just wanted him to bugger off so she could go home.

  CHAPTER 12

  “How did you know this was my car?” sighed Raven.

  “That’s for you to work out,” said her rival. “I’m a bit disappointed to be honest, I thought you were smarter than this. I’d anticipated you’d have it all worked out by now but you’re stupider than I thought.”

  “I’m not stupid. I don’t have a complicated past. In fact the number of people I’ve interacted with in my life is rather small. I’ve looked into the very few possibilities that exist and you’re not connected to any of them.”

  “See, stupid. You’re only thinking of the living.”

  She blinked at him. “You’re connected to someone who’s dead?”

  “Well, yes. If someone’s not alive then there’s only one other thing they could be. Jesus, how have you managed to stay on top for so long?”

  “You call me stupid but you don’t seem to have learnt that insults have zero effect on me. It also seems that you harbour a lot of anger against me when you mean absolutely nothing to me.” She smiled when his eyes flashed. “There’s that anger again. I wonder what or who planted it there?”

  “You think you’re a fucking psychiatrist now.” His face split into a grin. “I bet you know a lot about them, after your mum.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “You keep mentioning her. That’s the connection, isn’t it? You knew my mum?”

  His eyes lit up with a malicious glee. “Getting warmer. Finally.”

  “My ex-stepfather knew nothing about all this and he had no idea who you could be, so you can’t be anything to do with our home life.”

  “What?” he snapped when she laughed and shook her head.

  “You knew her through the mental hospital she was in, didn’t you? You were there too?”

  “Finally, you’re starting to get it. Yes, I was there.”

  “As a patient?”

  “No,” he scowled. “My dad was.”

  “The nerve of you making jokes about me having a relative in a mental hospital when you did too.”

  “My dad was in for depression. He was in and out in under six months. He wasn’t a lifer, schizo nut job like your mum.”

  “Blah, blah, blah. Can we get to the point please? I’m tired.”

  He gaped at her. “Why aren’t you getting angry?”

  “Why should I?”

  “Because I called your mum a schizo nut job.”

  She shrugged. “So?”

  “Well, it’s an insult.”


  “You really are a slow learner. As I said, insults have never bothered me. Besides, you’re right. She was a schizo nut job.”

  “Aren’t you going to attack me then?”

  “In a minute. You’ve not explained why you’ve been doing what you’re doing to me.”

  “Oh yeah. Well, your mum attacked my dad while they were in the hospital at the same time. She had one of her psycho moments and went at him with a pair of scissors. She stabbed him in the arm.”

  She nodded. “I remember being told about that.” Truth be told, Neil had taken great delight in giving her all the gory details about how her mum had to be sedated and restrained in a straight jacket.

  “It pushed my dad over the edge. He was just starting to get better when your mad bitch of a mum attacked him. He couldn’t handle it so he killed himself. They found him in the bath, he’d cut open his wrists with a pen. A fucking pen. Can you imagine how off his head he must have been to do that?”

  “I agree, that is truly terrible but it still doesn’t explain why you’ve been stealing my contracts and setting up neo-Nazis to kill me.”

  “Because I want you to pay for what was done to him.”

  “He did it to himself.”

  He blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

  “He killed himself. I could sort of understand your logic, maybe, if my mum had killed him but she didn’t.”

  “He wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t stabbed him.”

  “You don’t know that. No one knows what was going through his head.”

  “He wouldn’t have, I know it.”

  “No actually, you don’t. I’m sorry about your dad but you’re taking it out on the wrong person. Anyway, my mum’s dead. Isn’t that revenge enough?”

  “No it’s fucking not. My mum couldn’t cope with my dad’s suicide. She got depressed too. I had to take over running the house, doing the shopping and the cooking and cleaning. I wanted to go to college, then uni, I wanted to be a doctor but I couldn’t leave my mum alone, so I had to say goodbye to my dream. I hardly left the house, I had to watch her all the time, in case she did what Dad did. I was terrified I’d come home and find her in the bath with her wrists cut or hanging from a light-fitting. I spent all my time at home. My friends drifted away, my girlfriend left me. I had an uncle and aunt but they couldn’t deal with watching my mum go the same way, so they moved away, pretended it was to get their son into a better school catchment area, but I knew it was bullshit. They didn’t want to know. So it was just me and mum, all the time. Until she died of an aneurysm four years ago.”