The Sleepless by Liam Bell

Author:Liam Bell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fly on the Wall Press
Published: 2023-07-05T12:15:17+00:00

26

As he was being untied, Grafton looked across at Debbie. He wanted to catch her eye, wanted her to understand that if the hammer hadn’t been a step too far then the acid certainly was. She held his gaze for only a split second, before spinning around so that her back was turned to him. The disciple next to her followed suit. Then another and another. In a matter of seconds, Grafton was faced with a roomful of white-robed backs.

“Come on.” Eddie grabbed him by the arm and lifted him from the chair. He grimaced and set his teeth together, but didn’t give Eddie the satisfaction of crying out. With Eddie on one side and Whippet on the other, Grafton was marched out of the A-frame.

He found it hard to stay on his feet as they dragged him down the hill. His ankle caught on the gravel and he felt the warmth and wetness of blood. It was as nothing, though, compared with the acid burn on his arm. Eddie’s grip stopped short of the wound itself, but he tugged and twisted at the skin around it like a masseuse trying to unknot a muscle.

It took all he had not to scream, not to whimper. But he couldn’t stop the noise that came from deep in his throat as they rounded the corner. There was a thick cloud of black smoke. Beneath that, orange flames licked through the windows and rose from the bonnet of his little hatchback. The smell of burning petrol scoured at his nostrils.

He screwed his neck back to peer at Eddie. The wee bastard looked delighted. With firelight glinting in his eyes, he gave a cackle of laughter and winked across at Whippet.

Accusations and insults flew through Grafton’s mind. He managed to hold them back. Whatever he threw at Eddie, the answer would be all wide-eyed innocence and protestations that he’d been with Grafton the entire time.

Grafton looked across to the stacked wooden pallets. Ten of them, with black plastic wrapping. They couldn’t contain anything flammable then, surely, or Eddie would have thought to move them further away. Or would he? A wonderful, revenge-fuelled thought of the entire commune being blown to kingdom-come lifted Grafton’s spirits for a moment. It was more likely that the crates contained acid, though. Gallons of it, enough to offer each and every member of the Sleepless the choice that Grafton had faced…

“Here,” Eddie said, letting go of his arm and stepping towards the burning car. He hocked phlegm up in his throat and sent a huge globule of spit arcing over towards the flames. He turned back, arms spread out. “I tried.”

Grafton brought his right arm in close to his body, to cradle it there. His car held not only the tapes but, more crucially, his wallet and house keys. How was he supposed to get back with no money and no car? How was he supposed to get home to Isaac?

Eddie circled around. He gave Grafton a shove in the small of his back.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.