Sweet Revenge thriller

Chapter Eighteen

BONE CHILLING WHIRLS OF THUNDERY CLOUDS whip around me as I spin deeper and deeper. There is no light. Just swirls of various gradients of darkness. Down and down I go. And then a hand appears from nowhere at the same time sheets of brightness illuminate objects. No, not objects, an orange shirt...dark hair, is it a woman or a man? I'm shaking. Frightened. I try to speak. She puts her finger over my lips. Then she disappears and I see her walking away from me. She gets smaller and smaller until she disappears into the thundery clouds.

I'm not sure how long I lay on the lawn in front of the old villa. When awareness of my whereabouts shoves the thundery clouds from my subconscious I'm so fucking angry with myself. I could have become a statistic. I touch the side of my head and am surprised my fingers aren't sticky with blood. I have to get out of here. The motherfucker that planted me one, could be back at any moment. As I pull myself up to an almost upright position, I hear a car start. I scan the street and see an old truck pulling away. Fingers of ice slither down my spine. Is he the motherfucker? Is he pissed I'm still alive? Will he come for me again?

I slink back down onto the ground and virtually crawl across the grass, back the way I came and take refuge at the back of the old villa. My heart in my mouth, I peer around the side of the building. Time passes and eventually I am confident I can head to my car with my wits about me. I can't let this happen again.

Getting to my car is harder than I thought and I find it's two steps forward then one step sideways, to the left, the same side I have been thumped. My eyes are fucking sore and every twenty seconds I see a burst of stars. Bright lights!

My journey back to Red's apartment has me whimpering in fear and thwart with 'is that car following me?' 'do they know where I live?' All the while his words crash about in my head, 'One warning! Stop poking about.' A man's voice. And then I feel a mix of stupidity and relief—it was a warning. He wasn't going to kill me. And then I feel doubly stupid! He may not have planned to kill me tonight, but it is fair warning. He will probably kill me if I don't stop investigating. What to do?

Athena Morisot wants to go home.

I grind my teeth and taste the anger surging up through my gullet.

Red Picasso is fucking pissed off!

* * *

When I awake, my headache has subsided

I have a small bump on the side of my head and I realise my left hip must have slammed into the trunk of the old Oak tree when I fell to the ground. The purple bruise spans over six inches long and several inches wide. Needless to say, I spend the next few days moping about the apartment. I am now positive my early feelings that someone was watching me, was accurate. May not have been the man in the Black Sedan, but someone knew where I was going tonight. Who is it? And what are they warning me about? Sneaking into Ryan's offices? Or is it the big picture, stop poking about in your parents deaths? Is that what the warning was about? It is obvious that someone knows something and they're prepared to go to great lengths to keep it a secret.

I am so going to have to be careful!

The idea of calling in to Athena's Doctor is fleeting. An explanation will be hard to come up with. Anyway, after two days of bed rest I am feeling almost back to my normal self although paranoia is at its highest and I check the street below for anyone lurking on the sidewalk at least twice every hour and I note that even though I've put the Black Sedan to rest, my eyes cant help but scan parked cars for any resemblance of it.

Anger for the motherfucker who pulled the trigger is at the top of my priority list and for the last two nights I have drunk myself to sleep so it's no surprise when daybreak arrives I slip into a moody state. I know if I let it, depression will take me over. But I don't seem to be in control.