Somebody's Voice by Ramsey Campbell

Author:Ramsey Campbell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thrillers; gothic fantasy; dark fantasy; flame tree press; creepy stories; Ramsey Campbell; suspense fiction
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Published: 2021-05-25T12:39:22+00:00

ALEX

As soon as the glass lift brings Alex into sight, Ruth stands up and shows him the palm of one hand. “Stay there, Alex.”

“I’d quite like to use the men’s before we hit the road.”

Rather too much like a frustrated parent she says “Please be quick.”

“I will, but I thought I was early.”

When Kirsty nods, Ruth gives her a sharp glance. “I’d have preferred to be through the traffic by now,” she informs them both.

After using the urinal Alex almost scalds his hands at a tap beneath a warning notice and leaves the hand dryer to roar to itself. Ruth has recalled the lift he let go and is holding it open with one glossy black shoe. The instant she sees Alex she urges Kirsty inside and follows, barely waiting for him to join them. “I hope that will hold you for the journey,” she tells him.

“Can you just remind me why I’m needed?”

“I want you and Kirsty there in case any points about the book need to be raised with Mr Batchelor.”

The heads of the crowd on Euston Road produce faces as the lift sinks to ground level, and then the glass box darkens like an omen of a storm as it continues downwards. In the extensive subterranean car park she hurries to a diminutive black Fiat, which Alex concludes would be blue except for the amber lighting overhead. “You take the back, Alex,” she says.

“Girls to the fore,” Kirsty says like a possibly apologetic joke.

Ruth spares him a terse look in the mirror as he clips his safety belt. “Make yourself comfortable, Alex. We won’t be stopping once I’m on the move.”

At least she’s calling him by his first name, though it makes him feel more patronised than befriended. She speeds up the ramp to the street and barely waits for the mechanical barrier to defer to her. Despite how heavy the traffic is, she veers to overtake whenever she sees a gap. Every trample on the brake vibrates through Alex’s groin, and every forward lurch sends him sprawling backwards if he doesn’t brace himself. When he plants his legs wide to stay braced she sends him a reflected glance not far short of a rebuke, and he can only hope the route to Manchester won’t take much time to become as clear as she plainly feels it should.

As soon as the traffic starts to thin out she inserts an item in the dashboard player, and a vaguely northern voice says “My stepfather nearly killed my mother, and I used to wish he’d killed me.…” It’s the audiobook of When I Was Carla, and Alex finds it disconcerting to hear words he’s written read aloud in an unfamiliar voice. Along with the accent, which the performer may have assumed for the task, the voice is light but perceptibly male, which renders Carla’s experiences oddly ambiguous. Gathering that Ruth plans to listen to the entire book, Alex says “Are we supposed to be taking notes?”

“I shouldn’t think you of all people need to familiarise yourself with this.

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