Legacy (7 page)

I couldn’t get over how the questions that they were asking me had changed from authoritative and controlling to almost desperate, but one thing that I knew was no matter how many more questions they wanted to fire at me, I could not recall anymore.

But little did I know that the sheet of paper that was given a few moments ago was a copy of the Coroner’s preliminary report on the body and it stated that the cause of death had almost certainly been from the force of impact when he was thrown against the wall, but multiple puncture wounds were also found on the victim’s neck made by some kind of animal with very long sharp teeth.

It also reported that there was insufficient evidence that anyone else was at the scene at the time of the attack, therefore rightly confirming my innocence, but I knew that whoever saved me in that alleyway was definitely not an animal.

The disappointment on the older policeman’s face was visible for all to see as he conceded that there were no more grounds to keep me for questioning.

              “Thank you very much for your help, Miss Gallagher. WPC Litten will stay with you for a few moments while we organise the clothes that we collected from your home earlier, after which you are free to leave.”
And as he finished, the two men turned and knocked the door which was promptly opened from the other side and they both left without saying another word.
 

I remember giving out a sigh of relief and I sat back a little more relaxed in my chair, waiting with the female officer for my change of clothes.

              “Is Tanya out there waiting for me?” I asked the policewoman.

              “Is that the girl you said was sharing your flat with you?” she asked me.

I nodded my head.

              “We found no sign of anyone else living in your flat. There was no answer when we knocked the door, but one of your neighbours – a Mrs. Wheeler - had a spare key to your flat and she helped us to get some clothes for you. You were really lucky as she had only just returned from her son’s house in Scotland less than half an hour before we arrived. Your flat was all locked up when we got there and the inside was immaculate - nothing like how you described to us when we booked you in earlier.” she explained.

I sat in the chair speechless after hearing what the policewoman had to tell me and I desperately tried to make some kind of sense out of everything that was happening around me.

My life was beginning to get stranger as every minute passed.

In less than twenty four hours, I have been plagued by the most strangest of nightmares, I have been attacked and almost raped right next to my home only to be saved by a complete stranger who killed my attacker before disappearing, therefore leaving me as a suspect to endure questioning in an interview room of the local police station and now the police actually think that an animal was responsible for killing the man.

But to top it all off – I have just been informed that my flat mate Tanya has now disappeared off the face of the earth, leaving me looking like some kind of lunatic to the police.

I can’t wait for my clothes to come so I can get dressed and leave this place a free woman once again to hopefully start regaining some kind of normality to my life.

CHAPTER SIX

It seemed like an eternity for my clothes to finally arrive and I got dressed without a moment’s hesitation and flew out of the Police Station like a bullet, even though my body ached from head to toe from the pounding that I had taken.

But the pain strangely served as a reminder of how lucky I was to still be alive right now and even though I had just gone through hell in a Police Station for the last few hours, I could easily have never seen another day again - so the sunshine that welcomed me right now as I stood on the steps made me stop momentarily and reflect.

But however nice this moment was, the only place I wanted to be right now was back at my flat where I could soak in a hot bath and scrub away ever single feeling and trace of my attacker off me as the heat of the water helped to ease my aches and pains.

And even though I wanted to be back at my flat, I felt uneasy at the prospect of passing that alleyway again and the thought of being alone after such a traumatic experience was not something to look forward to either - what the hell had happened to Tanya? Surely she wouldn’t have left me at a time like this.

Until the early hours of this morning, I had a mediocre and uneventful life sharing a flat with someone and within a few hours, all of that had been turned on its head.

So maybe a little walk might help to clear my head before returning to the flat - and as I started to walk down the steps of the Police Station, I saw a blind move in one of the first floor windows to my right and caught a glimpse of a man looking down at me.

It was the older policeman who had been questioning me a few minutes ago and just the sight of him made me want to get away from this building as soon as possible.

With every step I took in the burning sunshine, my mind was constantly trying to find some reasonable explanation of what had happened to me earlier and what I had witnessed in the alleyway was certainly outside the borders of normality and even being a disbeliever, I would have to admit that it was almost supernatural.

The person who saved me was most definitely a man, but one of the questions that they asked me back at the Police Station made out that they were looking for some kind of animal which just seemed to add to the confusion already flying through my mind.

And what exactly did happen to me when I looked into that man’s eyes?

Why did I suddenly blank out and then witness those people being killed around me in a place that I have never been before?

Or is everything that has happened to me really one of my nightmares that I’m about to wake up from at any moment?

So many questions are flying through my head right now that I’m finding it almost impossible to think straight.

Although I’m a free woman again and it’s a glorious day, I’m being to grow incredibly uneasy at the number of people walking around me right now and I don’t know whether paranoia is beginning to set in, but I feel as if a few of them are watching me a little too much - especially a man walking directly across the street from me.

I’ve walked a few streets since the Police Station and I’ve noticed that this man seems to have been on the opposite side of the road for most of the way. At first glance, he looks no different from the other people walking around, but the more I look at him, the more sinister he becomes.

The last thing I want right now is a male admirer and I’m currently wearing a fashion ensemble chosen by my elderly neighbour Mrs. Wheeler who has the same eye for fashion as Stevie Wonder - so I’m not exactly dressed for flattery.

So, there’s only one way to find out if he is really following me.

Even though the pain shooting through my legs right now is nothing short of agonising at times, I start to walk a little faster and sure enough, the man opposite has done the same and even though our eyes haven’t met at all, I have that feeling that his eyes are trained on me.

The thought suddenly crossed my mind that maybe it could be the same man who had saved me last night and I could be condemning someone who may be looking out for me - so I took a longer look and immediately realised that this man was definitely not him.

Or maybe he could be a plain clothes policeman following me around to see what I was going to do next, but there was a real eerie aura about this guy and he was really starting to freak me out as he easily kept up with my pace which was now speeding up a little more.

He dodged the other people walking on the pavement opposite, momentarily disappearing only to reappear moments later and this was beginning to get more and more unlike coincidence as no matter what turn I took, he was always there and the hairs on the back of my neck shot up as I saw him crossing over.

He was now walking behind me, but he did not instantly move in too close, now making it almost impossible for me to keep an eye on him without turning around and even worse, the crowd of people around us was starting to become smaller and smaller and I was getting more and more scared at the prospect that I could very soon be left alone with some weirdo wanting to harm me once again.

This was quickly turning into a strange cat and mouse game and right now I was most definitely not the cat!

I am trying all I can to shake off this guy, but my body is beginning to show signs of fatigue - not just from any of my injuries, but also from the fact that I haven’t eaten or drunk anything since last night and the only thing that was keeping me moving right now was pure adrenalin.

But my pursuer was showing no signs of slowing down and I’m fighting with myself to remain calm and not break into panic mode.

And a split second of reasoning in my head made me realise that all was not lost – I knew these streets like the back of my hand and with that knowledge, would be able to lead my pursuer somewhere that I could feel safe and get help.

So, after a series of twists and turns through different streets, I found myself ironically not far from where I had started my journey from – the Police Station.

I couldn’t think of anywhere safer than inside a building surrounded by policemen and even though the majority of the ones that I had met earlier were extremely arrogant, I know that they would protect me.

And even though I never wanted to see the building again, under the present circumstances, I was honestly glad to see its drab exterior beckoning me towards it.

I knew of a short cut down a small side street that was chock-a-block with small shops which meant that there could possibly be a sufficient amount of people hanging around to stop my pursuer from doing anything silly with so many witnesses around.

I felt a brief moment of pride that I was succeeding in my plan and with my sanctuary just around the corner, would the man following me realise where I was heading and leave me alone?

And just when it looked like luck was on my side, disaster struck - as I was passing one of the shops, a young woman pushing a pram suddenly stepped out and blocked my path, causing me to grind to an abrupt halt.

I looked at the woman and she could obviously tell by my expression that I was not happy about her stopping me in my tracks and she timidly apologised and went on her way with her child, completely unaware of what she had just done.

But even though she had moved on, I froze to the spot with fear as I realised that my pursuer was no longer a few yards behind, but instead within touching distance of me, breathing down my neck.

I looked across the road and caught sight of the Police Station’s rear car park and noticed a sole figure making his way from the building.

It was now or never to make my break for safety and like a flash, with all the energy I could muster, I sprinted across the road, not even bothering to check if any cars were coming.

I was literally yards away from the car park and whether my legs were tiring or my pursuer had sped up, I could feel his hand on my right shoulder trying to grab me – it was at this point that I screamed for help loud enough to wake the dead.

The man in the car park was about to step in his car and he instantly stood up and looked around the car park to see where the scream had come from - and it wasn’t long before he caught sight of me running towards him, my face filled with terror.

As soon as he realised how serious the situation was, he ran towards me, causing the guy chasing me to come to a halt.