SO COLD (18+) currently editing

Chapter 36

SO COLD

The dogs were whining for food. There were a handful of kibbles in the packet and Fat knocked over the bag and pushed his head through the opening, reaching for crumbles. I got out a couple of biscuits for them to chew on while I went to go hunt for food for them. I couldn't call Cole and ask since my phone died almost a week ago and none of the house phones worked without a code and Cole refused to tell me and told me I could light the house on fire if I really needed help.

The dogs were in the kitchen and I walked to the storage room, it was about the size of the shower back at Jade's flat. There were shelves with packaged and canned food, water bottles, boxes of protein bars, supplements, dry powder for shakes Cole made for himself each morning and boxes at the very top. Ghost woofed as I headed past him, carrying a chair back to the storage room. "Stay," I commanded and stepped on the chair and reached for a box. I peeled back the lid and found a couple of burner phones. The second box was empty. The third contained a gun. Six bullets. I thought hard about slipping it in my waistband and picked it up only to set it back down and push the box back on the shelf.

I shut the door to the storage room, and slid the chair back under the table. The gun could be my escape but it wouldn't happen now. Right now I needed dog food. I unlocked the door to the garage and walked down the steps, first stopping to admire a sleek black Nissan GTR (it was my sort of car) and a silver BMW i8. I would love to take them out for a test drive but Cole rarely touched them let alone would hand me the keys to the babies. I rounded the cars to a door and twisted the handle. It was a very small room. Spare tires, tools, rope, paint littered the floor. I spotted cans of dog food on a shelf and stepped on a tire to reach for a couple and soon discovered a hidden row of bottles. Temazepam, cyanide (handwritten label), agomelatine, benperidol, diphenhydramine and other names I could hardly pronounce without twisting my tongue into knots. There was a sealed plastic bag with a crushed purple plant, green leaves, marked as aconite. Of course Cole would hide pills and poison in his home, the man was out of his goddamn mind.

An idea formed in my mind. Tomorrow would be the eighth day I was imprisoned in this house and it would be my last. Cole be damned, I was getting out of here. Tito barked and I quickly concealed the pill bottles and hurried back in to the kitchen to finally feed the dogs.

*

Fat rested on my stomach. For lack of a better thing to do, I surfed the late night programmes, my thumb pressed on a button, remote control in my hand and the other gently patting Fat's back. At close to midnight a car pulled up the house and moments later the front door was opened. Quiet footsteps and then he paused in the doorway. "You alright?" He dropped his keys on to the coffee table and slipped off his coat, folded it in half and then placed it on the end of the sofa.

The room was mostly shrouded in darkness with the only dim light being from the television, the fireplace was crackling and Tito and Ghost were cuddled side by side on the shaggy carpet. "I just got them to sleep," I held a finger to my lips and motioned to the dogs.

He laughed softly and then walked out of the room. My eyes darted to the keys and I tensed up. A tap ran for a while and then he returned to the room, sitting down in an armchair. "Have you ate?"

"Yeah. A while ago...you want something to eat? I can heat up leftovers."

"I had dinner with James."

"Oh."

A couple of minutes passed and he spoke up again. "Have you been watching this all day?"

"Mm-hmm." Netflix on my own, and searching the house – I didn't tell Cole about the latter, of course. "What have you been doing? I hardly get to see you anymore."