The Dark Place (#FrightFest2016 Gold Winner)

The Dark Place - Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

1

Jim Wilmot always liked to make sure his cellar was sorted before he opened up for the morning shift behind the bar. He was just stacking the crates of mixers when he heard the familiar creek of the narrow, wooden steps behind him. When he turned he saw his wife standing at the foot of the stairs clutching a glass of brandy in her trembling right hand.

"Kate, you look terrible." He left the mixers and walked over to her. "What's wrong?"

She raised the brandy glass to her lips and emptied its contents into her mouth.

"Hey, go easy there girl. Don't want to go drinking all the profits away now, do we?" Wilmot tried to take the glass from her but she wouldn't let go.

"I can't believe you're being so casual about this," she spat as she knocked back the last of her drink.

"About what?"

"About Sarah, that's what."

"Come off it Kate, she's a big girl now."

Wilmot watched his wife put the glass to her lips again before she realized that it was empty. "I told her that she had to be back home by ten last night."

"And I told you that she phoned later on in the evening to say that she was staying over at the Sheen place with Amanda."

Shit, here we go again; he thought when Kate's eyes narrowed spitefully at him.

"You always let her get her own way don't you?"

Wilmot turned away from his wife and headed back over to the mixer crates. "I really don't see what the problem is."

"The problem is that you let that little miss wrap you around her finger, don't you? When are you going to be a father and start backing me up?"

Wilmot picked up the crates without looking back. "Maybe if you'd just give the kid a chance..."

 "Somebody has to let her know that she can't just get what she wants whenever she wants; somebody has to set an example," Kate interrupted.

"And I suppose that someone's you, with a glass of booze in your hand every second?"

 "Don't be so bloody stupid," yelled Kate. "Haven't you seen what she's been like since she's been hanging around with that Sheen girl?" she threw her brandy glass and it shattered against the wall in front of him, missing his head by centimetres.

Wilmot dropped the cases and spun around quickly. "Christ, you almost caught me with that, woman."

If his wife had heard his words she showed no sign of it; she was already half way up the cellar stairs.

2

Alan Stephens heard the sounds of the people as they passed by him. Groggily, he opened his eyes to find himself sitting down on the bench by the war memorial in the town centre.

How long have I been out of it?

He rubbed his eyes and blinked in an attempt to clear his head, then he looked down at the blurred face of his watch and gave his eyes a chance to adjust.

11:45am.

Christ, an hour and a half of my life wasted on this stupid bench – he couldn't even remember closing his eyes – still, the pub will be open soon. He smacked his lips and felt the dry thickness of his tongue in his mouth. Time for a drink I think. He stood up, dusted himself off and headed in the direction of the Manor Public House.