First Light (25 page)

Back with my own group, Mae was whispering something to Cheryl. I ignored them and smiled at Adam. Staying on track with the conversation and ignoring my desire to look back in Kalen’s direction proved difficult, but then the door to the pub flew open, shaking on its hinges as it rattled to a close. We all glanced around. Four men I didn’t recognise had entered, their stance and expressions screaming trouble. The one who led them had coal-black hair and small shifty eyes, like pools of tar. He scanned the crowd and waded in our direction towards the bar. I could tell from people’s reactions that the men had some sort of reputation. Everyone watched them without actually making eye contact. Subtle movements and small adjustments to people’s stance and posture as the men walked past showed that no one wanted to get in their way.

As the group reached us, Shifty-eyes took a purposeful stride sideways, barging Adam from behind to get him to move. Adam lurched forward, his drink spilled from the glass, sloshing over Toni.

‘Watch it, mate!’ Adam exclaimed. They were all older than us, maybe in their early thirties, but something told me I couldn’t count on them acting like adults. The guy smirked at Adam and then faced the bar, bumping him again in the process. The group found this hilarious. Adam turned back to us, slightly chagrined, but obviously having the sense to ignore them. Cheryl had other ideas. Irate that Toni had been doused in beer, and too drunk to think better of it, she tapped the guy on the shoulder and started yelling abuse at him.

‘Hey, who the hell do you think you are? At least apologise to my mate, you got beer all over her, you idiot!’

The man sneered, looking over at Adam. ‘Do me a favour, mate, get your bird out of my face.’

I glanced over in the direction of Kal. He was watching us intently. Laith whispered something in his ear.

‘She’s not my bird,’ Adam said hesitantly, ‘but there’s no need to be rude.’

‘Sorry, what was that?’ Shifty was not much taller than Adam, but he was stockier, with a thick neck and muscles that almost popped through his shirt. He leaned in, cupping a hand over his ear, taunting Adam into saying it again.

‘We’re not looking for any trouble,’ Adam said.

I stared between them, watching the looks on the faces of each of the men. We may not have been looking for trouble, but they definitely were.

‘Now, now fellas,’ said the barman, ‘no fighting.’

‘Get lost, Frank,’ said Shifty. ‘I think we have a big shot here.’ He pushed Adam’s chest with both hands so Adam stumbled backwards. I shot another glance at Kalen, he looked about to head over, but Laith grabbed his arm, holding him back.

Adam had his palms upwards, trying to diffuse the situation. Cheryl was still shouting in a shrill way that hurt my ears. Because of her, things were escalating out of control. Adam was going to get hit.

Unable to stand any more, I moved so I was in between them and looked up at Shifty. ‘Please, can we just leave it? We haven’t done anything to you guys,’ I told him, with my best pleading voice. With one large hand he grabbed hold of my shoulder, about to shove me to one side. Another hand locked around his wrist before he had the chance.

‘You heard the lady,’ Kal’s voice was deadly. In one hand he held Shifty’s arm and in the other, a pool cue. Around us, people fell silent. For a second I thought Shifty might back down, but he didn’t. He threw a punch with his free arm, putting all his weight behind it. Kal ducked. The swing went wide and in the second he lost his footing, Kal dropped the pool cue, grabbed Shifty’s head in both hands and smashed it against the bar. Shifty collapsed to the floor, knocked out cold. His friends moved in. Bouncers were making their way across the floor too. The crowd backed away, so Kal was in the middle of a circle with me behind him. An arm hooked around me from behind, hoisting me away from the fight. I turned to see Denver, his eyes fixed on the situation unfolding in front of us.

‘You can walk away from this,’ Kal warned the three men.

They rushed him. Kalen knocked one of them on the floor with a move I didn’t even see and in a split second had the second guy’s arm bent behind his back. The third guy hesitated, as if contemplating what to do.

‘You gonna help him?’ I whispered at Denver.

With resignation he shook his head. ‘He doesn’t need my help.’

I heard the second guy’s arm crack, followed by an ear-piercing scream, just as the third idiot lunged at Kal. Kal swiped the cue from the floor and used it to flip the last attacker off his feet.

On the dark-red carpet in front of us, four men lay, either knocked out cold or moaning in pain. The crowd stared in stunned silence. Kalen backed away and walked to me, taking both of my arms in his hands, just as security arrived.

‘You – out!’ The first one hollered at Kal.

‘Mate, he helped us, it was these guys,’ Adam said, coming forward and pointing to the men on the floor. While the bouncer’s attention was distracted, Kalen ushered me outside. The others followed.

‘You need to get home,’ he said as we burst out into the fresh air. I spun to face him.

‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’

Laith stormed out and slammed the door closed after him. ‘I can’t believe you did that!’ he yelled at Kal. Then he turned to me. ‘You, this is all because of you!’

‘
L, back off.’ Kalen stepped in front of me.

‘A civilian brawl – you got involved in a civilian brawl, man! This is screwed. Hear that?’ he asked, pointing in the air. We could all hear the sirens. ‘That’s coming for us. Are we done here?’

Kalen turned to me, his expression torn, but before he could speak, Adam was beside us. ‘Thanks for that, mate, that was hardcore what you did back there.’

Kalen looked at him for the first time, his eyes narrowed. ‘If you can’t take care of her, don’t take her to dives like this.’

‘Kal–’ I began, but he was still looking at Adam.

‘Get her home safe,’ he finished, with a less hostile tone, as though he could see he'd embarrassed Adam and felt bad about it. Then, without so much as another look at me, he turned away and the three boys walked swiftly towards the beach.

‘Quick then, ladies – unless you want to spend all night explaining that to the police,’ said Adam, clearing his throat. We didn’t need to be told twice. We left the main street in a hurry. My heart was hammering, not because of what had happened, but through worry for Kal.

At the cab rank, Adam called one of his friends and filled him in on the events. From the sounds of it, he thought it made for the best night ever. I didn’t share the feeling.

Cheryl and Toni stalked off, saying they were going to another bar, leaving Mae and I standing in silence, waiting for our taxis to arrive.

Mae shivered. ‘Aren’t you cold?’ she asked.

I wasn’t, I was numb. Kalen had got into a fight and nearly got arrested, because of me. The accusation in Laith’s tone rang in my head.

‘Well, no big shock our night got ruined,’ she continued.

I looked at her sadly. ‘Mae, what happened had nothing to do with Kalen.’

She made a dramatic choking sound as if I’d said something ludicrous. ‘Funny, because to me it looked like he beat up four guys and practically turned The Half Moon upside down.’

‘If he hadn’t done that,’ I pointed out, ‘Adam would have got beaten up by those guys. They were looking for a fight. Kal was helping us.’

‘I don’t think we need that kind of help,’ she spat. ‘I’m calling Taz.’

‘Where is he, by the way?’ I asked airily.

She gave me a cold look and walked away with her phone pressed to her ear. A cab rolled up to the kerb at the same time. I decided to take it before she came back over. Adam came trotting up to me, slipping his phone in his back pocket.

‘You okay, babe?’ he asked with a smile.

‘Just tired. I’m going home. Can you make sure Mae gets a cab okay?’

‘Yeah sure. Hey – who was that guy earlier?’

I sighed, half in and out of the ride that would take me home to bed. ‘He was a friend of my dad’s.’

‘Well, tell him I said thanks again, yeah? I’m gonna head out to Cowford and meet the lads. You okay to get home?’

‘I’m fine.’

He kissed me then. It took me by surprise, and I found myself pulling away quickly. As I slid into the back seat I squeezed my eyes closed to press back my tears.

***

My dream was dark. Full of hazy forms and far-away voices. The bar was less crowded this time, just me, Kalen and the gang who’d attacked us. They sat on one side of the pub, while Kalen bought us drinks. I watched them watching us, I knew they wanted to start something, so we left the bar, finding ourselves in a deserted car park. The men followed. I told Kalen to run. He laughed.

‘I’ll never let anyone hurt you, Red.’

Suddenly we were on the beach, in the pitch of night and the pouring rain. I was wearing my red raincoat. The men who’d followed us charged at Kal. I tried to wake up, but remained trapped inside, forced to watch as Kalen fought for our lives.

He took each of them down with ease, until one of them pulled out a knife.

I cried out.

Kalen swiped the weapon and threw it into the ocean and in one swift movement his arm wrapped around our attacker’s neck. As the man’s life began to drain away I screamed for Kalen to stop. He didn’t hear me. Try as I might, I couldn’t get my voice to rise above the sound of the sea crashing against the pier. My ears rang with noise, as if the beach was closing in on me. The wind, the ocean; a raven’s call from somewhere above me. And then the man’s lifeless body fell into the ocean with a splash that silenced everything else.

Kalen’s dark eyes lifted to mine.

I sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath. ‘Oh my God,’ I said to the darkness around me. ‘It was him.’

27 – Knight In Not-So-Shining Armour

All my tiredness evaporated.
Images flashed through my mind like a shutter speed camera; the body falling into the ocean, my hero, my hope – who was ultimately not a hero at all, but as it turned out, a trained killer. Kal was the one who’d saved my life three years ago. It had been Kalen Smith who’d taken the life of my attacker that night.

I had to see him right away. It just couldn’t wait for morning, or for the moment he decided to grace me with his presence. Everything I’d ever dreamed of hung in the balance. I needed him to admit it before I really believed it.

I looked at the clock next to my bed: three a.m. The night was pitch outside, but I didn’t care. Determined, I dressed swiftly, grabbed my bag and shot out the front door. Outside, the air was stiller than usual, with a thickness that hung around me like an ominous warning that I should go back inside and wait until morning. Ignoring my instincts, I pulled my hooded jumper close to my body and hoisted myself into Dad’s old Land Rover. It wasn’t the most inconspicuous of cars and I only had my provisional licence, but I figured I could use the back roads and make it to the boys’ mansion without anyone seeing me. I’d crossed over to a place of very little sanity, that was for sure. I said a quick thank you to the car when it roared to life and patted the steering wheel. Then I clicked the gearstick into drive and slowly edged out onto the road. Dad had given me plenty of lessons on how to drive, so once I’d come to terms with what I was doing, instinct took over and my heart rate returned to normal. Twenty minutes later (ten minutes longer than it usually took Kal) I rolled into their driveway.

Once I’d turned off the engine I stared around into the darkness. The ride over had been anger and adrenaline fueled, but as the silence loomed around me I started to wish I’d listened to my gut and stayed at home.

Well, I’ve come this far,
I thought. Forcing myself – nausea and all – to get out of the car and quietly close the door, I made my way up to the house. I needn’t have bothered being discreet, the light was on in the one room they all used.

As I approached the kitchen door, the sound of a twig snapping came from behind me. I spun around. Laith stared back at me, with an amused smile that made me shudder.