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The man turns to me and laughs. I get a good look at his face now and he’s not what I expected him to look like. He is in his 30’s, I’d say, not bad looking. He’s got medium brown hair that looks like it’s been recently cut- It's short at the sides and longer on top. It looks like he’s spent time styling it this morning, blow drying it back and spraying it into position.
Strange, I wonder what he was thinking while doing that this morning. He’s wearing grey trousers and a grey jacket zipped up to the top. They look brand new, and very thick and heavy- maybe they are fire proof or something. They must be warm as sweat is pouring from his face.
“Look Mr.! I’m far from scared. You wouldn’t believe the stuff I have been through in the days leading to today. So, let’s just cut to the chase; maybe we can hurry this along. What are we doing up here? And who is the ‘Devil’?
“You’re feisty. Claire was feisty too.”
Who the hell is Claire? I don’t speak I just listen and wait for more. He’s deep in thought. He looks like he’s remembering something happy, then sad, which turns to anger. After a minute or so he snaps out of it, regaining his control.
“Today is the day I finally get revenge. The day when the devil will finally feel the pain he has caused our family.”
“I don’t understand- who are we talking about and what have they done?” I say, still confused but determined to get to the bottom of all this.
“Damien,” he says as if the name pains him.
Ok now we are getting somewhere. My Damien, this guy has some vendetta against him. “Ok, so what has Damien done exactly?”
The guy seems to grow a couple of inches taller, his face turns red and his expression is evil. “HE MURDERED MY SISTER!”
I am a little taken back by this. I do not for one second think that this is true but he obviously believes he did so I am going to be careful in this situation.
“Oh, my goodness, that’s terrible, I am so sorry.” He looks at me a little surprised by my reaction, bows his head and starts to calm a little. “What happened?” I ask.
He stiffens and glares at me. “I am not discussing this with you.” He gets out his phone and types something. I assume its Damien. For the first time since this guy entered my hospital room, I feel a little scared. Not for me. Scared for Damien.
I watch him for a few minutes- he’s clearly nervous. This is obviously a new experience for him. He keeps checking his phone and from his reaction I don’t think Damien has even read the messages. Each time he checks he seems to get a little more panicked.
I try assessing the situation. I don’t know this guy from Adam so I’m not too sure how any of this will go. At least I had known John, so I had some idea how to approach him. There’s no chance of me escaping this time (although it didn’t do much good last time come to think of it). I couldn’t even keep up with him getting up here- there’s no way I will be able to outrun him. My best and only option is to try and make ‘friends’ with this guy and wait for Damien to arrive. That’s if he does arrive. He’s not been to see me at the hospital since I regained consciousness. Maybe he doesn’t want to be in our relationship anymore. Maybe everything with John has made him realise he doesn’t want to be with me. This hurts my heart to think about. But there’s definitely something going with Damien. I just need to see him and we can get through it, I am sure. Maybe all this, with whatever his name is, has got something to do with why he hasn’t been. I hope he is ok.
“What’s your name?” I ask him as he looks at his phone for the 100thtime.
“Pete.” He answers straight away on a reflex, he then looks at me with a scowl realising what he has done. He obviously didn’t want to tell me that.
“Hello Pete, I’m Bella, but you already know that.”
Pete just looks at me, trying to read me, I think. He sighs and leaves the green house. “Don’t move!” he calls at me as he closes the door behind him. As if I could.
I sit up and watch him through the window. He opens the door we came out of and looks down the stairs. He obviously doesn’t see anything so he shuts it and paces up and down staring at his phone and biting his fingernails. After a few minutes of him working himself up, he comes back into the green house.
“Everything ok?” I ask giving him a little smile. He looks at me confused. Yep, this is my plan, kill him with kindness. Pete doesn’t respond; he bends and gets a rope out of his backpack. He sits in front of me not saying a word. He takes my hands and ties them together and he then ties them to my legs. I don’t bother to resist. He ties them tight but he’s the gentlest he has been with me. He mutters something under his breath but I don’t catch what it is.
“I will be back soon. Stay here and be quiet.” He says without making eye contact.
Pete disappears back into the hospital. He has taken his backpack with him. When he returns about 15 minutes later, he smells of smoke and petrol. I hope there’s a way down from this roof without going back inside. My thoughts then go to Damien. I hope he doesn’t get hurt. I need to do something.
“What is your plan, Pete? Burn the hospital down and kill us all? Just kill me and be killed by Damien? or spend the rest of your life in prison?”
Pete looks at me surprised. I’m not sure if he has thought that far ahead.
So, I push. “I can’t begin to imagine what you must have gone through or still be going through but surely your sister wouldn’t want you to be doing this?”
Pete storms at me and grabs my hair. I wince with the pain. He pulls my head so my ear is next to mouth “Do not ever talk about my sister. You know nothing. Revenge is the only option now.”
Ok so maybe I pushed a bit too hard. This guy has a screw loose. He’s unpredictable and obviously doesn’t have much of a plan. He gets out his phone again and smiles to himself. Damien must have read the messages now or has replied. Pete takes a photo of me and seems to send that too. “Won’t be long now princess!” He smiles to himself.
I feel sick. Damien obviously knows I’m here now. He will have a team sorting out my rescue, I am sure. I just need to trust him. I can’t help but worry though. I am starting to panic now. I can feel my blood pressure rising and my heart racing. I need to keep myself calm so I close my eyes and put my head in my knees.
I think about all the wonderful things in my life. There’s my relationship with Damien which I hope to be as strong as ever when all this is over. He’s a wonderful man. There are my parents who love me unconditionally and would do absolutely anything for me. I hope they aren’t too worried about me. I have already put them through hell with the John situation. Then there’s my friends, my absolute best friend Chloe, without whom I wouldn’t be who I am today. All my friends and colleagues at the salon, especially Katie who made me feel at home from the start. I love my work which is more of a hobby to me. I have so much to be thankful for. I think though, once I get down off this roof top, I am going to book a holiday. I need a break.
