Into the Dark (ORIGINAL AND UNEDITED EDITON)

Eight

"And you'll meet the reason why very soon." I smile, ignoring the voice almost entirely.

"Ahh, the key thief?" Ed chuckles.

"The very same."

***

The house feels different now. It's isn't the place where I lost him anymore. It's not the place I'll spend nights crying over us in different rooms anymore. Like me, it seems to have shaken off the deep depression that had been filling every nook and crannie for the last six weeks.

Six weeks ago when he walked out of here I was convinced he'd never set foot in it again. Tonight when he steps inside of it, this circle of loss will finally be closed.

After opening all the windows and unpacking my two stuffed suitcases, I go downstairs and open the back door and whistle for Fred. I really want him to see that I'm not the pile of misery I was when I left, and show him that it's safe to come back now. Much like I'd done with the house, I'd also been affecting every living thing within range with my dreary, heartbroken outlook. I rattle the bag of cat treats for almost five whole minutes to see if I can entice him home but with no success.

Later though, as I'm hanging out the second batch of wet holiday clothes on the line in the garden, I feel his warm fur wrap itself around my ankle.

The next couple of hours I spend dusting the house and washing, drying and putting away clothes. He hasn't contacted me which causes a tiny sliver of fear to worm its way around the base of my spine - and I do well to mainly ignore it. This can't become a habit. If this is going to happen then I need to trust that he can keep himself safe when he's not with me. I'll drive myself insane otherwise.

Around 6pm I decide to go for a run; all the way to the end of the village and halfway down the long country road which leads into it, and then the long way home. It's a pointless attempt to keep myself busy and expel some of the increasing sexual tension fizzing through my veins.

Like always it fails to have any effect. I think about him the entire 55 minutes. Because I was trying not to worry about him, I had instead averted my mind in another direction. I'd thought about how he looked the moment I saw him on the patio last night. The way his eyes had ignited with heat as he'd stared at me, the way his body felt as he held me in his arms last night and the way his mouth had felt as it pleasured me this morning. By the time I get home I want to tear him apart with my bare hands. I honestly don't know why I still think running helps to quell the Jake induced sexual frustration. I'm more frustrated than ever when I get home and strip out of my running clothes.

At eight pm my phone vibrates on the bedside table. My heart lifts and my body relaxes when I see it's from him.

//Baby I'm sorry. Been driving since I left you. This is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. On my way back to London now - call when I get there. Jx//

He's safe. That's all that matters. The tiny gnawing niggling voice that I'd refused to give any mind to for the last 10 hours had feared I might not hear from him at all. It was the fear that Dan knew everything and Jake had been lured back into some trap. Because Jake had lied to Mark earlier about them not knowing who was talking to the police and I still wasn't sure why.

My rational mind had of course, reasoned, that if Jake had been lying about this part, then he wouldn't have gone back to meet Dan at all.   He was smarter than that and I have to have more faith in him.  Again, if I don't want to go slowly insane with paranoia and fear then I have to trust he knows what he's doing and that he can navigate his way through this.

I write out the text quickly.

//I can't wait to see you. I love you. Axx//