Twelve Days - The Beginning (34 page)

After a while Elise realised that her arms were painfully dead and she flexed them experimentally to see what Dale’s reaction would be, lying as he was on top of her. He didn’t move so she tried again, this time moving her legs a little - still he didn’t move. His breathing was heavy and regular so she tried to wriggle out slightly from underneath him in order to see his face. His eyes were closed and she realised that he was either asleep or passed out – she hoped that it was the latter as that would give her the precious time that she needed to try to escape.

Tentatively, she pushed against his shoulder and he moved slightly and grunted but he didn’t wake. She continued to wiggle underneath him; bit by bit, until eventually she could sit up. Her legs were still stuck beneath his torso but now that she had some leverage she was able to gently rock him until he rolled onto his side. She remained motionless and held her breath, praying that the movement wouldn’t wake him, and when she was sure that he was still asleep, she gently and painfully moved from the bed.

She was in agony; her face burned where he had slapped her, her legs were sore where he had scratched her with his nails, her arm was still numb where he had leaned on it and her side and ribs made even the tiniest movement excruciating. Moving purely on adrenalin, she silently pulled up her jeans around her ripped stockings and fastened them. Fortunately he had left her jumper alone so she slipped on a pair of flip flops, the first shoes that she could find and quickly collected as many of the belongings of her handbag as possible – leaving behind her brand new but now completely battered and therefore totally useless, broken phone.

Silently she exited the room, all the while holding her breath in case he woke and then crept down the stairs, her heart thumping so loudly that she felt certain he must be able to hear it. Every step was agony and it was all that she could do to stay upright, but she knew that this would be her only chance. She had to get away.

Grabbing her car keys from the rack in the hallway, she opened the front door and walked on unfeeling legs to her car. Dimly she was aware of the front door slamming behind her as she exited in haste but she couldn’t worry about that now. Her car and the end were in sight and she concentrated all of her efforts on getting into the car and automatically going through the motions of starting it up and driving.

She had no idea where she was going but she needed to just drive; get away, create some distance from Dale, from this house, from this life. The only thing that she knew with absolute certainty was that she had just embarked on the first part of a journey that would inevitably lead her onto a very long and very painful road.

That she would be embarking on this journey had become inevitable over the last five years but today had been the absolute end. Today she had realised that she could take no more. She was done. She could no longer make excuses for Dale, no longer pretend that she had a marriage and no longer deny to anyone that her heart belonged to Vaughn.

At the thought of him, she smiled against the pain in her face and her gaze dropped to the dashboard where she registered the date – the 25
^th
December. Of course. It was Christmas Day.

Unbidden, another date popped into her head; the 13
^th
December, the date of the office Christmas party, the day that she had first clapped eyes on Vaughn and the day when, unbeknown to her, the path to her future had been totally and irrevocably changed.

The 13
^th
of December. And it was now the 25
^th
of December. That meant that it had only been twelve days since her life had spiralled out of control.

Twelve days since she had had any kind of influence on her life.

Twelve whole days.

And in that significantly short space of time, she had managed to cheat on her husband, fight off unwanted drunken advances, cry almost endlessly and hold her best friend’s hand as he had begun to realise that he too was battling some demons. She had been hit more times than she could remember, she had had phone sex in a disabled toilet, she had passed out on the floor of a car park, been threatened with legal action and had countless knives put in her back by so-called friends.

Those twelve days had unwittingly marked the beginning of her future and they had meant that she had finally found the strength to leave her husband and hopefully her past behind.

And above all else, during those long and trying twelve days, she had done something she never thought she would do again. And she now realised that it was actually for the very first time.

In those twelve days, she had fallen hopelessly and inexplicably, in love.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Present Day

Elise drove aimlessly for what seemed like hours whilst the adrenalin still kept much of the pain at bay. Although she felt like a great weight had been lifted, she was also very much aware that this was just the beginning and when the low petrol light on her car started flashing, she realised that she was going to have to find somewhere to stay and fast. She couldn’t just drive around without direction all night.

The problem was that she really had nowhere to go. In the back of her mind, she registered that she would probably need a hospital but that was the first place that Dale would look for her. Then he would move onto her parent’s house and then Cole’s place so both of those were out of the question too. She could go to Vaughn’s; Dale didn’t know where he lived but Vaughn was out of town and she had no means of gaining entrance – her lifeline to Vaughn was lying in smithereens on the bedroom floor. She also wasn’t entirely sure she could even remember the way.

Briefly, she considered a non-descript hotel somewhere that would maybe buy her some time, but belatedly she remembered that it was Christmas Day, which would mean that would also be a complete non-starter. Any hotel worth its salts would be fully booked this time of year and she was in no fit state to go to anywhere that didn’t have basic hygiene standards.

The dark was starting to draw in now and the rush of the last few hours was beginning to wear off making her become aware of pain and throbbing in virtually every part of her body. Her legs were aching, her head was pounding and her left arm was still partially numb making it awkward to continually change gear. Running out of options, she pulled over to the side of the road and into a fairly secluded lay-by. She needed time to think but she was also smart enough to realise that she had to get off the road. Dale could wake up and start searching for her at any time and she couldn’t just park up here and wait. She would be like a sitting duck.

Frustrated, she banged her hand on the steering wheel, willing her brain to think. Think. There must be somewhere she could go, somewhere she could at least stay the night until she could work things out in the morning when she had a clearer head. Surely her life hadn’t been so controlled by Dale that she didn’t have anyone she could feasibly turn to?

Her handbag was on the seat to the side of her and she opened it up and started rummaging through it looking for her address book. She was hoping that she would come across somebody that she had forgotten about that she could look up in this time of crisis. She didn’t hold out much hope but she felt that it was her only chance.

As she hunted through, her hand connected with her mobile phone and she pulled it out, amazed to see that it still had some charge in it. Not all that much use to her though, as she didn’t have anyone to call. Pressing the power button on the side, the screen flashed into life and the display stated ‘One Missed Call’ and suddenly she remembered that Celeste had phoned whilst Dale had been ‘punishing’ her. A wave of relief washed through her as she realised that maybe she had just found her lifeline.

Dale didn’t know Celeste at all and he sure as hell didn’t know where she lived. Elise did know where Celeste lived and she also knew that she was going to be at home for Christmas as she and Roger were planning to spend the day together. She knew that she was potentially going to be breaking up a very romantic day for the two new lovers but she was desperate, had nowhere else to turn and she just hoped that her friend would understand.

Starting the car again, she groaned at the pain of physically getting her body to drive and tried to keep her breaths even to alleviate some of the pressure around her damaged ribs. Calling upon every last ounce of strength that she possessed, she left the lay-by and joined the main road out of town towards Eastwood, where Celeste and hopefully sanctuary, lay.

Elise found Celeste’s block of flats relatively easily and was relieved to see that the parking was in an underground garage, meaning that her car would be hidden from sight – just in case Dale did happen to drive this way.

Celeste lived in a modern block containing ten flats which had been sympathetically designed to have the overall appearance of a grand Georgian house. There was a main entrance door right in the middle of the property which led to the two ground floor flats, one on each side and then a staircase and lift arrangement to the further four floors; each of which contained another two flats. The fact that the stairs and entrance were in the centre of the property meant that as for the first floor, there was a flat on each side, effectively giving every flat their own half of the floor. This benefitted the residents by allowing them to enjoy the traditional Georgian bay-style window at the front but also a view to the rear of the property which stretched out over the main town area. The flats were, as a result, relatively large and Celeste had often commented that she had been extremely lucky to be able to rent one of them. A few of them were now privately owned but at least half of them were still rental properties although they were so much in demand that they hardly ever became available.

Celeste had heard about it through a friend of a friend who had given her an inside tip off and so she had been able to get in quickly, even before the flat had been advertised. She often complained that the rent was a bit steep, however, and sometimes took on extra bar and waitressing work in order to make ends meet. Elise had asked her if she had ever considered having a flatmate as she had two bedrooms but she was adamant that she much preferred to live on her own so that she didn’t have to make any excuses about her sometimes-eclectic lifestyle.

Celeste lived in number six on the third floor and Elise dragged herself into the foyer and pressed the button for the lift. Usually, she used the stairs as a concession to a general lack of physical fitness in her life but today she would be lucky to make it to the first floor if she took the stairs, let alone the third. When the lift arrived it was empty and Elise was glad. She hadn’t looked in a mirror so she had no idea what she looked like but she could only imagine that it wasn’t a very pretty sight.

Walking into the lift car she realised that her head was really pounding and she could see flashing lights as objects began to spin. Clearly she had been functioning purely on adrenalin since she had walked out, and now that she was coming down from the enforced high, her body was beginning to present the very real physical symptoms of the injuries that she had sustained.

The lift began its steady climb to the third floor and Elise found herself giggling manically as her body started to feel completely weightless and she imagined that she was actually flying. Her feet didn’t feel like they belonged to her anymore and she started flapping her arms about birdlike, in a bid to take to the skies.

Her senses were rapidly leaving her and as the lift arrived at the third floor, she wobbled out on unfamiliar legs and headed towards the door of number six. She was still flapping her arms in a crazy but rhythmic motion and only paused long enough to press the buzzer, and then carrying on with her bizarre movements as soon as she had released the button.

A mere few seconds later she realised that the door was opening and had just about enough sense left to register her friend’s shocked face before she felt the floor coming towards her.

Within seconds of seeing her friend’s face, blackness hit and she collapsed to the ground, flapping her arms no more.

There was an army doing battle in her head and they were being accompanied by a band of drummers - in fact she was fairly certain that the Sergeant Major was leading his very own military tattoo inside her brain. Never had a hangover felt this bad before and she cracked her eyes open fractionally, initially surprised to register that she didn’t recognise the room or the wallpaper. Still thinking she must be dreaming, she braved opening her eyes a little further, and her vision was instantly filled by the darkest and most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen.

Vaughn. Now she knew that she was dreaming. Vaughn was at his sister’s house and she had clearly just overindulged herself on Christmas Day. She was hallucinating. Perhaps the alcohol still hadn’t worn off.

She closed her eyes again to find the army were still crashing around although the Sergeant Major must have given them an order to be a little bit quieter as the volume seemed to have diminished a fraction.

She tried again, but this time she took in a short breath before she opened her eyes, alarmed to feel pain rip across her chest as she did so. Reflexively she lifted up her left hand to clutch at her chest, only to realise that it was weighted down by some sort of dressing. Christ, she must have really made a night of it.

This time when she managed to get her eyes open, she found herself looking into a familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes and she instantly recognised them. Cole. Her best friend in the whole wide world was here taking care of her – she had clearly imagined that she had seen Vaughn when she had opened her eyes the first time.

Knowing that Cole was here with her made her want to smile although when she tried, the pain that seared across her face was unbelievable. Instantly she frowned and nearly cried out in agony as further pain cascaded down the back of her head. Shit! What the hell had she been drinking last night?

“Elise? Elise, can you hear me?”

It was Cole. Her wonderful, beautiful Cole. Come to save the day.

“Elise. You don’t need to say anything - just lift up your hand or something. Do anything that tells me you can hear me.”

Of course I can hear you, Cole. Hang on – did she say that out loud or not? Her eyes had drifted shut again and the army were doing a final march past as her head began to clear a little. A short nap sounded like a good idea now that the army had finished so she allowed herself to start to drift back into a land of total peace and contentment.

“Elise. Elise. Elise. Come on. Open your eyes. Can you hear me? Elise.”

Cole. He was getting annoying now – she wished he would just go away.

Hang on a minute. If Cole was here, then Dale must be out otherwise Cole would not still be standing there alive. Odd. Why would Dale abandon her when she clearly needed him?

Then something else filtered into her brain and she opened her eyes again to take in the unfamiliar wallpaper. She was not at home and she was not in her bedroom. Had she drunk so much that she’d ended up in some random house? If so, how the hell did Cole know where to find her?

“Elise – it’s me, Cole. Please – look at me. I need to know if you can hear me.”

Her eyes began roaming the room, looking for clues, objects, familiar items – and Cole’s eyes - but things had begun to spin and so she abruptly closed her eyes again.

Another sound – this time from her right-hand side. Someone running into the room. She felt the whoosh of air as they ran past her to stand on her left.

“Shit, Andrews. Is she still not responding?” Vaughn?

“No, nothing. She keeps opening her eyes but then closes them again. I don’t think she has a clue where she is.”

“That fucking bastard....” Definitely Vaughn. What the hell was he doing here? Last she could remember she was talking to him at his sister’s house and she was sure it was still Christmas holidays. And who the hell was he talking about?

Too much to process and the army had decided on one last hurrah. She kept her eyes closed and allowed her mind to drift and empty, permitting slumber to claim her once more.