Rough Sleepers

by Nem Rowan

  I said goodbye to the lonely feline, who seemed relatively satisfied now that he had had something to eat. There were two more packs of tinned food in the cupboard, so Ceri went and put them on the neighbour's doorstep. I wrote out a note pretending to be Kelly, saying she had had to leave town at short notice and asking if they could feed him until she got back, before apologising profusely underneath with lots of kisses and hearts. Ceri said it looked like it had been written by a 14-year-old girl, and I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. After I had shoved the note through the letter box, I met Ceri on the pavement and we shuffled back to the safety of the car, the roof of which was already covered by a layer of woolly snow. Once inside, Ceri turned the ceiling light on and took the A-Z out of the glove compartment so that he could flip it open to the page he had earmarked with a sticky note, carefully examining the route he was going to take. He flinched when he felt my hand touch his head, startling him upright as he looked round at me, alarmed.

  "Sorry, did I hurt ya?" I inquired ashamedly, wondering if I had accidentally poked his swollen eye. He relaxed visibly, shaking his head.

  "No, I didn't realise you were touching me, is all." He grinned. His healthy eye closed contentedly when I stroked the side of his face, careful not to go too near his injury.

  "I'm still worried about that swelling. You should go get it checked out. We can pop in the hospital on the way home," I suggested but he grumbled something under his breath, his expression dampened by my words.

  "I'll be all right. I don't need to see a doctor. Don't fuss over me, woman." He shifted the A-Z onto my lap before turning the key in the ignition.

  "Hmm, I'll fuss over you all I like." I leaned close and pinched his cheek. "You'd better get used to it. You said you were in it for the long term, so you're gonna have to learn to put up with me long term, too."

  He made a chuffing laugh under his breath as he reversed the car out of its space, the tyres crunching ice as they twisted on the spot before we moved off down the road.

  Nineteen

  It was only a fifteen-minute drive to our next destination. It might have been even quicker if not for the fact that the roads were dangerously thick with snow, and so Ceri took us along at a hesitant pace, carefully waiting at each junction should another vehicle come speeding toward us. The storage site was tucked away in the industrial culmination that took up most of St. Philips, hidden on a drab, pavement-less road over which the railway track bridged. It seemed the closer we got to the centre of town, the more likely it was that people were driving about, and fortunately the roads weren't as treacherous there. Potholes in the road caused the car to rock about, and I cursed when I accidentally dropped cigarette ash on my knee, so Ceri reached to swipe it off, leaving a greyish dust mark on my blue trouser leg. A late-night train thundered overhead, passing noisily along the clacking track above as we turned into the compound, the car trundling over the uneven gravel.

  I pinched my cigarette between my lips and opened the passenger door as soon as Ceri parked the car up in the dimly lit yard, which was separated from the road by a six-foot tall greystone wall. Multi-coloured shipping containers were stacked in a seemingly disorganised fashion, with steps and platforms alongside them so that customers could reach the doors. Their walls were scratched and gouged from years of use, some of them dripping rust and spattered with seagull droppings. Snow pitched in my hair and on my eyelashes as I followed Ceri towards the steel fence erected between the parking area and the storage facilities, smoke trailing from my nostrils like a steam train. I could see there was portable hut near the entrance as a light was shining through the window; no doubt a security guard was sitting in there, watching us on camera.

  "I don't even know where to start. I guess we'll begin by yere and work round until we find the right one," Ceri said gruffly. His wounded eye was still badly engorged, but his puffy eyelids still tried to blink away the snow that pitched on them.

  "After you," I gestured with a nod of my head.

  He checked the number on the keyring and together, we walked between the shipping containers, my sharp eyes picking out the codes painted on the sides of them as it was poorly lit, and Ceri's eyesight wasn't up to scratch. Well, we must have wandered around that place a dozen times before we realised that not a single container matched the number on the key. We checked and checked, and double-checked, but no, the code we had was different.

  "Let's go see the security guy. Maybe he'll know," I said as Ceri helped me light another cigarette. The previous one had been squashed into the snow somewhere fifteen minutes ago.

  "Good idea," he agreed, using the lighter to ignite his own, the end of the cigarette glowing orange beneath his face.

  We made our way back to the giant green Portaloo and Ceri knocked on the plastic door. I could hear movement inside, but no one came to answer, so he knocked again, this time louder and more urgent. Finally, footsteps approached and with a clunk, the door opened a fraction. An eye squinted out at us over the safety chain.

  "What do you want?" came the voice of a young man. He sounded a strange cross between apprehensive and disinterested.

  "We're looking for our friend's storage container, but none of the numbers match ours," Ceri held up the keyring so the eye could see properly. "Any reason why that is?"

  There was a pause, and the eye looked us both up and down.

  "You're at the wrong site, mate. That's probably why. You want the site up in Coalpit Heath," he finally told us.

  "There's another site?"

  "Yeah, two of 'em. This one and Coalpit Heath. That's probably why it don't match, innit," the young man reasoned. He sounded as though he was in a hurry to get rid of us, and I thought it was rude that he didn't open the door so we could see his face, but I suppose he might have been attacked before. It was pretty creepy and lonely here.

  "All right. Cheers," Ceri looked down at the keys in his hand. The security guard didn't waste another second talking; he slammed the door shut again and bolted it.

  "Manners cost nothing!" I called to him, knowing he would hear me, and Ceri chuckled, pulling me away from the cabin by the hem of my coat.

  "How far is it to Coalpit Heath?" he inquired as we walked side by side back to the car.

  "Hmm, maybe about half an hour. It's out near Bradley Stoke, you know where I mean?" I glanced at him, blowing a breath of smoke out through my nostrils.

  He shook his head.

  "Well, I can direct you there. But once we get there, I don't know where the storage place is. Should've asked the security guy for the address." I smirked as I opened the car door, Ceri matching my movements on the other side.

  "Didn't think of that. I'll be back now in a sec." He shut the door again and instead went jogging off back to the cabin.

  I sat in the car and waited for him, opening the window briefly so that I could blow the smoke out. This was turning out to be a rather long and dreary night. I mean, even if I had been tucked up in bed, I would probably have been having nightmares anyway, but at least my fingers and toes wouldn't be frozen off. I was glad when Ceri came back so that he could get the engine running and the heaters fired up. He jumped into the driver's seat and took us speeding off down the lane in the direction of the city centre while I examined the map in search of the road we needed to get to; it was right smack bang in the middle of a rural area, just down the road from a cluster of houses and a pub, so actually finding our way there might prove to be a bit of a pain in the behind.

  We listened to the radio as we travelled, leaving the major city for the motorway, where thankfully the snow had mostly stopped. Only the occasional bluster of snowflakes rushed round the windscreen as we hurtled along the sparsely populated dual carriageway, the lights of other cars shining through the dark to let us know that we weren't alone out here. We didn't talk much; both of us were pretty tired, and I was worried that Ceri was struggling to stay awake at the wheel.

  When we reached Coalpit Heath, I referred t
o the map to guide him. We took a couple of wrong turns and had to spin around to find our way back, both of us cursing and groaning with annoyance as we sped down black country lanes. We very nearly drove right past the site because it was so dark; there were few lamps lighting the place, perhaps because it seldom got any use at this hour, unlike the other site we had visited. We drove through the open gates, ice cracking under the tyres and the bonnet of the car steaming in the freezing air, our heads turning this way and that to get a better look. I could see the lines of shipping containers in front, the timid glow of hazy flood lights illuminating their hulking shapes. What I couldn't see here was a security cabin, but perhaps it was hidden round the other side, out of view. Ceri stopped the car and unbuckled, resting his wrists on the steering wheel.

  "Well, I guess this is it," he remarked, both of us peering through the window together.

  "Damn. Not sure I like the look of this place..." I commented in an undertone. "But, here we are. Let's get a move on; I'd like to get home before daylight."

  We stepped out once more into the chill night. There was something not right about this place; I could feel it right in my very bones. Maybe I was picking up on an olfactory clue, and I wasn't aware of it, I don't know. I stayed close to Ceri was we headed towards the containers, partly because I felt anxious and partly because if anyone attacked us, I would need to be there to protect him from harm. The numbers painted on the nearest walls were similar to the one we were looking for, so row by row, we quietly wandered, checking each stack as we passed. I was certain there was no security here; I couldn't see a single CCTV camera, nor a single cabin for any staff to spend the night in. What we were standing on was little more than a concrete field lined with metal boxes. Number by number, we made our way to the far end of the yard. Even Ceri was muted, his eyes shifting this way and that as though expecting someone to be lurking in the shadows.

  "There it is," he whispered as we reached the end of the row. We were right by the fence that separated the site from the adjoining field, and beyond that all he could probably see was black, but I could see houses in the distance.

  "Are you sure about this? I mean, I got a really bad feeling. Like, something isn't right, I don't know, can't put my finger on it," I spoke, my voice barely audible.

  "You think this is an ambush?" He looked round at me, clearly concerned.

  "No, no. I don't know." I shook my head warily. "But I guess we've found it now, so we'd better take a look."

  Ceri had brought a torch from the car and he switched it on, using its dazzling white beam so that he could see what he was doing. Fortunately we didn't have to climb any of the rickety, rusted walkways to reach the door as this one was on the bottom of a stack, so while he fiddled with the keys, I looked around, making sure there was no one there. I stood at his shoulder as he removed the padlock and hooked it through the door handle, folding back the hasp so that it wouldn't swing around before cautiously opening the door. The hinges creaked, in need of a drop or two of oil to lubricate them.

  "Jesus Christ, smells like someone shit themselves," I complained, covering my nose with the sleeve of my coat. A foul stench wafted out from within, the stink of decaying faeces and ripe ammonia burning my nostrils and making goosebumps rise on my skin. In my time on the street as a werewolf, I thought I had become accustomed to all manner of smells, but what my nose picked up on there and then was enough to put the willies up me.

  Ceri chuckled, pointing the beam of the torch into the dark space; the white light washed over the angular shapes of boxes and disused furniture, piles of old magazines and bin liners of soft objects, probably stuffed toys. As the torch reached the far corner, there came a sudden shuffling sound that caused both of us to flinch sharply.

  "What was that?" he uttered, frozen to the spot.

  "A rat, maybe?"

  "A big fucking rat..." he murmured. He was breathing deeply, and I could tell he was afraid. Neither of us wanted to step inside and look around.

  "Come on, let's take a look," I prompted, deciding that if I didn't make a move first, we'd end up stood there all night.

  I crept through onto the sheet metal floor, trying to breathe through my mouth as the smell was so abhorrent, and I bent and stretched to peer over the densely packed junk that filled the space. A narrow walkway had been left alongside the bulk of it, so I shimmied through, unsure of what exactly I was looking for. Ceri followed me in and opted for the other side where he had found a gap in the heaps of boxes, shining the torch around and occasionally flashing me in the eye with it.

  "This stuff looks like it's been yere awhile. It's got cobwebs all over it. Just a load of old rubbish, from what I can tell," he answered from the other side of the junk mountain.

  "Well, if there's nothing here then we might as well go home." I paused, turning so that I could try and see him, but the furniture blocked my view. "I could do with a cuppa actua—"

  Suddenly, a shrill voice shrieked, deafening me as two outstretched hands were launched into the bottom of my back like a set of iron ramming rods, the impact sending me shooting forward into the wall of the container. My face slammed into it with a loud thud that washed vibrations through the entire structure, and I tumbled to the ground, clutching at my open mouth as I tasted blood. A pair of naked, white legs stepped over me, the bare feet pattering across the metal flooring, and as I rolled onto my back, I saw the pale shape of a nude person fleeing through the door and into the night air. Ceri appeared in my field of vision, rushing out to chase them. I had to get up; I was faster than him.

  Struggling to my feet and groaning from the pain in my jaw, I bolted out of the shadows, following Ceri between the looming towers of the containers, our sights set on the luminous figure in front. Sucking air deep into my lungs, I charged at full speed, my breath pumping as I overtook Ceri, who began to slow once he realised he was never going to keep up with me, and I silently wished Mecky was here as she was faster still. The nude figure had made it out onto the road, its mess of brown hair flailing in the breeze. I thought it was a woman, and only when the wind blew her scent towards me did I know for sure. A terrible thought reared in my mind.

  Was this Kelly? Was this where Wallace had kept her since she was taken?

  "Kelly!" I shouted after her, but she didn't stop or look round. "Kelly, we're trying to help you!"

  We were approaching a crossroad junction and I was scared that I was going to lose her. No matter how I shouted her name, she seemed not to hear me; she just kept running, too afraid to stop and listen to me. I had to catch her before anyone saw her.

  "Kelly!" I cried out as she stepped into the road.

  All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, a four-wheel drive that had been tearing down the main road whirled into view. I skidded in my tracks, screaming as the dark green vehicle crashed into her before she could make it to the other side, and I watched helplessly as she was flung into the air, rolling across the roof and falling to the asphalt where she continued to spin over and over for several metres. The rover screeched to a halt about ten feet away, the engine chugging loudly, and I picked up on the sound of another woman howling from within, her horrified voice audible through the metal and glass that shielded her. I didn't know what to do; my heart was thumping, and my head became a void filled with astonished shock. Breathing hard, I began to stagger forward, my whole body shaking and my hand trembling before me. She was just laying there on her front, not moving. Blood pooling on the frigid ground. I stepped closer still, wondering if she was dead, if the hit from the car had killed her. Was she still human?

  No.

  Her arms drew back towards her shakily and I watched as she lifted herself up, blood streaming from the flesh on her thighs and belly where the rough surface of the road had torn through her skin. I didn't see her face. As soon as she was on her feet, she started to run again. Instinctively, I took off after her, but she out-sped me effortlessly, even despite being injured in the collision. Panting, I fought
to keep up, until I realised where she was heading. At the end of the road, I could see the lights from a pub, the moving figures of people standing outside drinking and smoking, the distant sound of music and voices drifting towards me and warning me to stay back. As she grew further and further out of reach, I had no choice but to let her go.

  "Shit...!" I gasped under my breath as I moved off of the road, climbing through the hedge into the field that ran alongside it as I was anxious that I might be seen.

  Instead I watched through the twisted branches as the men outside gathered around her, all of them shocked by what they were seeing. One of them removed his coat and put it round her shoulders as together, they hurried her inside the pub and out of view. I didn't wait around much longer; instead, I took off through the field, heading back to the storage site where, as I clambered over a wire fence, Ceri was already waiting in the car for me. I nearly tore the door off its hinges in my haste to get in, the suspension groaning as I leapt into the seat and slammed the door shut behind me.

  "Let's get out of here; she's gone into a pub!" I exclaimed, huffing noisily.

  Ceri didn't waste another second hanging around; he slammed his foot on the accelerator and we shot off in the other direction, the little car zooming down the road before turning off down a country lane, getting us as far away from prying eyes as possible.

  Twenty

  Mecky set down two steaming mugs of tea on the table in front of us, my mouth watering at the sight of the drink before me. I hadn't realised just how thirsty I was. Ceri leaned his elbows on the table, groaning as he held an ice pack wrapped in a tea towel to his injury, but his groans seemed to be more from frustration than from pain. Mecky pulled her plaid dressing gown together at the hems and seated herself between us, at first regarding Ceri but then turning her attention to me after deciding it might not be worth asking him just yet.

  "So? What happen? What we do?" She shrugged her shoulders, her expression wary with dread.