FEEL IT TWICE

chapter 8 - bodies & broken rules

"There's no need to threaten us," Shawn said. "There's plenty of room and food for all of us."

"You're not alone? I thought you were alone?"

"My...girlfriend is also here."

"There is a woman here?" The man's eyes narrowed and his expression changed in a way that made Shawn uneasy.

"Where have you come from?" Shawn asked, stepping backwards as the man edged closer.

"We was renting an Airbnb just up the road, but we had no power and no phone service and no food...."

"How many of you are there?"

"There were three of us, but me mates decided would be safer to go into the village," he gave a short laugh.

"Did they go then?"

"They did, but I passed them on the way here, frozen solid in the snow. Idiots." He smiled, showing a broken tooth. Shawn could see grazes on his face and a trail of dried blood coming from under his knit cap and on his clothes. When he moved forward again, Shawn noted he dragged one foot and one arm hung limply at his side. The man was hurt, he had obviously had a hard trek.

"Look, you're injured, come in, we'll patch you up and make up a bed for you."

"I don't want you to make up a bed for me, arsehole," he spat. "I want YOUR bed and YOUR woman in it and all YOUR fucking food." His eyes were crazed and he suddenly launched himself at Shawn, axe raised. A black blur erupted from the atrium and the man screamed shrilly as Hagrid latched onto his one good arm just above the hand that held the axe. He dropped the weapon and fell backward and Shawn heard the sickening crunch as his head hit the paved floor. He lay still and Hagrid stood above him, growling ominously.

"Good boy! Hagrid, sit!"

Shawn ran to kick away the axe and then bent to check for a pulse.

"What the fuck Shawn, oh my God!" Camila stood behind him, in the entrance to the kitchen.

"How long have you been there?" Shawn asked. From the angle the man had been standing, he wouldn't have seen her.

"For most of it I think," she said. She had stayed quiet, the smart thing to do in this case. Well, will wonders never cease!

He couldn't find a pulse. He pulled the cap off the man's head and gasped. There was a gash that opened the man's head clear to the bone and even through it in one place. The fall backward had made it worse, but he had already been a dead man walking without serious medical care.

"He's dead," he said in a shaking voice.

"Jesus Christ!" Camila said, her hand over her mouth.

He could have used her help but he didn't want her to have to touch the guy, so he grabbed him under the arms and dragged him into the barn. The exterior barn door was wedged open by snow and Shawn knew what he must do, he dragged the man to the door and pushed him out into the snow. He would soon be frozen solid, and that was the closest thing to a morgue they had for now. The chickens were all huddled in their nests due to the drop in temperature because of the open door but had quietened downn now. Shawn grabbed a shovel and got most of the snow out so he could close the door, then he locked it and barred it and shuttered the window. Looking around, he could see a pool of blood in the middle of the barn and a trail to the door. He would have to clean that up later. He returned to the kitchen where Camila sat waiting.

"I could have helped you know, I'm not a helpless child," she said angrily.

"I know that, but one set of fingerprints on him will be easier to explain. I've left him in the snow."