Helen Douglas - After Eden

The pizza arrived at eight o’clock. Travis went to the door to pay for the food. Connor would be here in two hours. Maybe the two of us would have a chance against Travis, but I doubted that.

I called him while Travis paid for the pizza.

‘What now?’ he said.

‘Forget what I said earlier,’ I said.

‘Fine. You’re acting really weird.’

‘I know. I’m sorry. Just don’t come to the farmhouse, OK?’

‘Fine. I’ll call you in a few days.’

I hung up and slipped my phone back in my pocket, out of sight.

Travis carried two boxes of pizza into the living room. ‘Cheese for you and meat feast for me,’ he said, placing both boxes on the coffee table.

‘I’ll go and get us plates,’ I said.

He didn’t try to stop me. I went into the kitchen and took two plates from the cupboard. Then I quickly looked through the cupboards and drawers for something I could use as a weapon. There was nothing. No bread knives or meat knives. Just ordinary knives and forks. I was about to settle for a fork when I noticed a corkscrew with a sharp end. It might do a good job on a cork, but I wasn’t sure it could harm a strong man. It was all I had to work with so I put it in my pocket next to my keys.

Back in the living room, I handed one of the plates to Travis.

‘I’m going to get another beer,’ he said. ‘Sure I can’t tempt you?’

I shook my head. He returned with two more bottles. He’d already drunk the bottle from earlier as well as the bottle he’d brought for me. If he drank these, that would be four. Maybe he would drink too much and pass out. I looked at him again. He was big. Lots of muscle. The bigger you were, the more alcohol you could tolerate without becoming drunk. It would take a lot for Travis to pass out. But perhaps if he drank enough, he would get sloppy. And then I could stab him with the corkscrew. Would it do enough damage if I could? Maybe if I went for a soft place like the inside of his nose or his eye it would hurt him enough for me to make a run for it. What if he overpowered me and stabbed me instead?

‘You’re checking me out again,’ he said with a grin. ‘We have a couple of hours to kill. I wouldn’t say no if you’re interested.’

I ignored him. But his comment made something clear to me: if he was going to hurt me – or kill me – he wasn’t planning to do it until Connor was here. He must need me to lure Connor to the farmhouse. But Connor wasn’t coming. What would he do when he realised I’d called Connor back and told him not to come?

I picked at my pizza. Usually I love it, but there was no way I could swallow more than a few bits of stringy cheese.

Travis finished his pizza and lit a cigarette.

‘Smoke?’ he asked, offering the pack to me.

I shook my head.

‘You’re so uptight with your good-girl routine. But it’s starting to unravel, isn’t it? Getting drunk in the park, lying to Miranda, checking out older men.’

I picked my drink up off the floor and sniffed it. Perhaps if I played along, pretended to loosen up, I would be able to get him drunk and escape. I sipped at the liquid and swallowed. It tasted sour and I pulled a face.

‘You don’t like beer?’ he asked.

‘No. I prefer water.’

He took another drag on his cigarette and exhaled in my direction. ‘You’re no fun.’

But he fetched me a glass of water.

‘Let’s talk,’ he said, pushing the glass into my hand. He sat on the couch, close, so that our knees were nearly touching.

‘About what?’

‘First of all, when are you planning to attack me with the corkscrew? We can get that over with now if you like. I can put my hands in the air and let you try and stab me with it.’

I blushed. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Travis laughed. ‘Go ahead. Stab me.’

‘I’m not going to stab you.’

‘In that case would you mind giving me the corkscrew?’

I pulled the corkscrew out of my hoodie. Travis removed his jacket. ‘Come on then,’ he said, winking at me. ‘I think I can handle a corkscrew.’

I put the corkscrew on the table and sat back down on the couch.

‘Like I said before, you’re no fun.’

He sat back on the sofa next to me. I could smell his deodorant or soap, the faintest hint of sweat.

‘What are you going to do to me, Travis?’

He put his hand on my bare knee and squeezed it in a gesture that he must have meant to be reassuring. I tensed. ‘I’m just going to talk to you, OK? I need to know how much Orion told you. And then we’re going to figure out how to keep the future safe. Does that sound OK to you?’

I nodded.

He stood up. ‘Right, I’m going to take a leak. And then we’ll talk. Don’t try anything stupid. I know you think you’re a good runner, but you can’t outrun a car. And there’s nothing to be afraid of. All we’re going to do is talk.’

He strode out of the room and I heard him thumping heavily up the stairs. A bolt of adrenalin surged through me. I clutched the car keys in my pocket and calculated the time it would take me to reach the front door. Perhaps ten seconds. To get to the car? Another ten. To fire up the ignition and drive away? Another ten. Thirty seconds.

This was my chance. He was upstairs. He could probably zip his fly and run down the stairs in ten seconds, but he would only do that if he knew I was trying to escape. And he didn’t know about the car. I tiptoed into the hall and quietly opened the front door.

I bolted. I pressed the unlock mechanism on the car as I ran. The lights of the car flashed like an erratic heartbeat and I heard the locks unclick.

‘Eden! Wait!’

I pulled open the driver’s side door and threw myself inside, banging the door shut behind me. I pressed down on the central locking just as Travis reached the door of the car. He pulled at the door handle.

‘There’s no need for this!’ he yelled. ‘You’re overreacting. Open the door!’

Trembling, I pushed the key into the ignition. Travis banged so hard on the window that I was afraid it would shatter. The engine shuddered to life. Clutch. First gear. Gas. Release brake and clutch. I slowly released the clutch and the car crept along the gravel driveway.

Travis walked alongside the car, continuing to bang on the window.

‘You can’t drive. This is ridiculous. Stop the car! I won’t hurt you. We need to discuss how to deal with this.’

I dipped the clutch and moved into second. Travis began running. Once I reached the lane I could shift into a higher gear and there was no way he could outrun me.

My instinct was to go home to Miranda. Lock the doors and tell her everything. She had always kept me safe. She would know what to do. But what if she wasn’t home? What if she’d given Travis a key? And if I told her everything, she would just become part of the ‘mess’ Travis wanted to clean up.

At the top of the lane, I stopped. Miranda’s car was in the driveway. Decision time. I checked my rear-view mirror. A black car with tinted windows was approaching at speed. I put the car in gear. And stalled. Travis approached from behind. He had slowed down, but not enough to stop. I was thrown forward with a jerk as he rammed into the rear bumper.

Shaking, I turned the key in the ignition again, and the engine roared to life. A red light flashed on the dashboard but I didn’t know what it was. I ignored it and pulled on to the coastal road. He followed. I had no idea where I was going or what I would do. The coast road led to Perran and stopped. There was nowhere else to go in this direction. My only option would be to stop in Perran or turn around and head back out of town on the bypass. There wasn’t even a police station in Perran.