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“You heard the lady! She’s busy!” Bellows the deep gruff voice that makes my stomach flip and blood rush around my body. Josh. Thank goodness. I turn and give him a little smile in relief. He nods and quickly takes charge of the situation. The paramedics arrive, followed by parents and carers of the kids. Damien’s here now too, organising and delegating. The police continue with their statements.
“Miss Smith, can you give me a description of the man you saw?”
“Yes I can, he has very short shaved hair………. actually, I can do better than give you a description, I have him on video.” With being so busy in the chaos of the situation I forgot that I had filmed the event. I play the video and I am shocked to see I captured all the shootings. Josh is sat next me, he takes my hand and gives it a squeeze.
“I think she’s been through enough now officer. We can send you copies of the video and then arrange for any further questions another day. Come on Chloe I am taking you home.” Josh stands and pulls me up with him. I can tell the policeman isn’t happy about ending the questions there, but he wouldn’t dare argue with Josh.
Josh drives me home. I am currently staying with Bella and Damien until I find a place of my own. Their home is out of this world. It was Damien’s parents’ house until they passed away, now Damien and Bella live there. We drive down the long driveway. The house is surrounded by trees, we seem a world away from the busy London city. I knew moving to London would involve new experiences but I didn’t think I would experience murder and shootings in my first couple of weeks. I have never even seen a gun, before today. We pull up to the steps at the front of the house. Bella is stood waiting at the door. As soon as I exit the car she pulls me into the biggest hug, her eyes are full of tears. “I am so glad you are ok, I wanted to come but Damien wouldn’t let me. He rang me and said you were ok though, well, as much as you can be. Oh Chloe, I’ve been so worried.” We go into the front sitting room.
“I’m fine Bella, shocked but fine.” Am I fine though? I’m not sure? If Bella had just been through what I have, I would be extremely worried and adamant that she would not be fine. But it all just feels so surreal. I’m worried about the kids. They may be teenagers but they’re still kids. I’ve only known them a couple of weeks, but I’ve seen them most days and really bonded with some of them. My heart breaks for Tyler. He was a cheeky chappy and always up to no good, but he didn’t deserve this. Bella brings me a cup of tea. “Would you like something to eat? Anything you fancy I’ll get it for you?”
“No, I’m fine thank you. I couldn’t eat anything right now.”
“I’ll put the tele on then.” Bella cuddles up next to me and puts ‘Friends’ on. It’s always been our go-to programme when one of us isn’t feeling well, or is upset about something. Usually, I will talk none stop and pull Bella out of whatever mood she is in. Bella doesn’t talk much. It’s a confidence thing, she worries too much about what to say. I usually wish she would talk more, but not today. Today, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr, ‘Silence is golden’. We sit together and watch one of our favourite episodes. It’s the one where Joey dresses in all Chandler’s clothes “Look at me, I’m Chandler, could I ‘be’ wearing anymore clothes!” We both say the line out loud. I start to feel a little better, until suddenly thoughts of Tyler and the other kids pop into my head. The episode finishes and Bella suggests going for a swim. The house has its own pool, well full leisure centre, actually it’s huge. I’ve lived here weeks now and visited multiple times previously and still I haven’t seen all the rooms. Bella knows that when I am stressed, I like to exercise to release my frustration. We turn off the tele and leave the room, as soon as we do Josh and Damien appear. “Are you girls ok?” Honestly, they are like spies and have a sixth sense when it comes to us I’m sure. Especially Damien with Bella. They’ve been checking in on us this whole time, I’ve seen their reflection in the mirror. I’m not used to someone looking after me, especially not a male. “We’re going for a swim.”
“We will come with you. I fancy a swim.” Says Josh. I roll my eyes, he doesn’t fancy a swim, he just wants to watch me, make sure I am alright, I suppose. But it’s not like I’m going to break into little pieces.
We all swim lengths, not stopping, in worlds of our own. When I notice Bella has climbed out, I join her in the steam room. The door of the steam room has one-way glass. I watch as Josh gets out of the pool. With one swift push of his big muscular arms and shoulders, he’s up on his feet and walking over to the jacuzzi. His blue shorts are stuck to him leaving little to the imagination. I sigh a little too loudly, Bella giggles knowing full well I have just been ogling Josh. “So, what’s going on with you two then? You both obviously fancy the pants off each other, has anything happened yet?”
“Nope. Josh thinks of me as his little sister or something. I thought something was there at first, but it’s more like a weird protective thing. Maybe he feels he needs to look after me, because I’m his best mate’s girls - best mate or something, I dunno. But I don’t need anyone to look after me, I have done perfectly well looking after myself up to now.” Bella just nods, her attention is now on Damien. They are both in the jacuzzi. Damien and Josh are both very attractive men. Damien in an obvious tall dark and handsome way and Josh in a sexy, mysterious way. He can look quite scary at times, but every now and again, his eyes flicker and I get a glimpse of something that makes me feel…... safe? Protected? I’m not sure why I like this feeling, I don’t feel unsafe or that I need protection.
I say my good nights and go to my room. I feel exhausted so I get straight into bed. Now I am alone I replay today’s events over and over in my head trying to think of a way I could have prevented what had happened. I feel mentally drained, I really need to sleep but my mind will not switch off. When I was younger and I couldn’t sleep, my grandma always told me to write my thoughts down and leave them at the side of my bed. Then I could forget about them for now, knowing they’d be there in the morning. This has usually worked for me, but these thoughts I am having tonight, I couldn’t bring myself to write down. They are too horrifying to put pen to paper.
I am a very strong person, it takes a lot for me to cry. But what those kids and their families are going to go through for the rest of their lives breaks my heart.
After a while, I eventually cry myself to sleep.
I can hear screams and cries of children. Harrowing, petrified sounds nobody should hear let alone make. He’s here. The evil man with a gun. I need to save the children, but I can’t get to them. I run but I don’t move, I shout but no words come out. He grabs me, I punch out but my arm moves in slow motion and has no power. The screaming gets louder, I try and shout for help.
I feel my body rocking and I start to feel calmer. The screams quieten down and the evil man disappears.
I am back in my room. I’m in Josh’s arms, being cradled like a baby. He is rocking me gently. “Hey, its ok, its ok Chloe, Josh has got you.” He says to me softly. I am panting, completely out of breath. My hair is stuck to my face with sweat. I let myself calm down for a few minutes while I work out whether I am still dreaming. But no, I am actually, in the arms of a handsome hunk, being rocked like a baby. Once I am fully awake, I push out of his arms and scramble up my bed. “What the hell are you doing Josh?!” Josh stands and faces me looking shocked.
“I heard you screaming so I came to check you were ok.”
“Well, I am fine thank you, so you can leave now.” Josh nods and leaves the room. I put my head in my hands. I am still trembling. I have always dreamt a lot but that was something else. It was so real. I switch my light on and scroll through my phone, trying to take my mind off it. But it’s no use. I decide to get up and go to the gym. I feel guilty about the way I reacted to Josh. He looked hurt by my reaction. He was only trying to help me, I will apologise in the morning.
The gym is two floors down. As I go down the bottom few steps I hear music and someone running on the treadmill. “Sorry I didn’t realise anyone was down here.”
“I was just leaving.” Josh says as he stops the machine and grabs his towel.
“You don’t need to leave, I wanted to….” But he’s gone.
Chapter 2
Josh
What is her problem? I heard Chloe screaming from the kitchen. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was having a nightmare. I know from experience you should not wake someone from a nightmare, but Chloe was thrashing about so much I worried she would hurt herself. I decided to hold and rock her while whispering calming words. This then woke her slowly. When she first woke and her eyes held mine, I thought I had made a breakthrough with her. But obviously not. I am done trying with that girl now. She is so cold and continually pushes me away. I just wish my other body parts thought the same way as my brain. You know when you really want something but it’s really bad for you, but you want it anyway? That’s Chloe, she is my double-edged sword.
It’s 3am, I don’t sleep much and tonight will be one of those nights that I don’t sleep at all. I decided to stay here at Kingson Manor tonight to keep an eye on Chloe. Much to her annoyance, I am sure. I don’t understand why she dislikes me so much. I may as well get some work done seeing as I can’t continue my workout. Damien has a good office set up, so I kill a few hours in there going through our new job assignments, matching the King security team to the most suited role. One particular assignment I have taken responsibility over. Chloe. Damien and I both agree it is necessary to have eyes on Chloe for a while, at least until the gunman is behind bars.
I watch the video again that was taken on Chloe’s phone. The man had 15 teenagers petrified and begging for their lives. 3 minutes in, he shoots a teenage boy in the leg, then another. The third boy he executes, shooting him between the eyes. The gunman regularly uses a gun and by the remorseless expression on his face, this isn’t the first time he has killed someone. As of yet, we don’t have an identification. The police want to speak to Chloe tomorrow. Hopefully, they will have made some progress. I check the home security system and see that Chloe is in the kitchen. I assume she didn’t go back to bed. I could do with some coffee.
“Hey” Chloe jumps off the bar stool she’s sitting on.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to frighten you”
“I’m not frightened. I’ve not slept, so my reflexes are more jumpy than usual” Yeah right, she’s been affected by the shooting much more than she realises. Not surprisingly really. She puts up this ‘I’m a strong independent woman that needs no help from anyone’ persona, but she’s only human like the rest of us. “Would you like some coffee?”
