Wastelands: A Broken World

CHAPTER 2: CLICKBAIT

TWO YEARS EARLIER.

'So, Mel reckons that Linda and Des definitely have a thing going on.'

I take a sip of wine, smiling as I hold the glass close to my mouth, cradling it in both hands. It's been a long day. A bloody long day if truth be told, but my favourite bottle of rosé is on the table and Tom's fluid commentary about his day at work is already working its magic on the tension that has been haunting my muscles since this afternoon.

I raise a brow. 'Is this the same Mel that was certain Mr. Fisher was having it away with Doreen in the school canteen after-hours?'

Tom holds up his hands in easy submission. 'Okay, granted, she was way off the mark with that one, but she said she's caught Linda and Des conspiring together three times already this week.'

'Conspiring? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?'

Tom smiles, a brash grin that lights up his face and ignites sparks in his eyes. 'Hmm,' he says, reaching out a hand across the table which I take instantly. He brushes his thumb feather-light over the delicate skin of my wrist, and I have to stop to catch my breath. 'Fancy getting out of here and doing some conspiring of our own?'

He always does this. Always slips seamlessly from one lively, and often hilarious conversation meant for anyone within earshot, to making me feel like I'm the only one in the room he sees. It's like watching everyone around us fade into nothing. Erasing them all with a coat of titanium white until there is no one left on the canvas but me and Tom. I could fill that canvas now with great sweeping brush strokes of scarlet and copper and violet. An explosion of colour and vibrancy reminiscent of Rothko and Frederic Church and Afremov. That's how he makes me feel. How he always makes me feel. How he's making me feel right now, in the middle of the restaurant full of people being erased from the picture, as he caresses my wrist and consumes me with a look that knocks me for six.

Tom pays the bill, even though we haven't finished the wine, and practically runs us out of the restaurant and I'm laughing but also excited, thinking about everything we're going to do to each other when we get home.

We don't make it home, of course.

Outside on the street, Tom takes my face in his hands and kisses me hard. This is another of his things. Public displays of affection and desire that make me feel dizzy. Like I'm walking on air, floating on a cloud of bliss, as the world spins around us. I clutch at his hips, holding him there and getting off on the fact he's just as excited as I am. He pulls out of the kiss and grins, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the alley down the side of the restaurant. The night is still warm from the heat of the summer's day and I can feel our heat, as we kiss again, smiling giddily at each other every time we break off. Tom's mouth is on my neck now, his hardness pressed against my stomach, his hand sliding up my thigh under my dress. His fingers reach the lace hem of my underwear and everything is perfect and beautiful and so bloody hot and...

'What was that?' I say, my head jerking towards the back of the alley where it stretches round behind the building.

'What was what?' Tom replies, the smile still there, eyes bemused.

There's a crash, and a thud, like the sound of a body hitting the ground and we're both looking now. Nothing happens, just a stillness that crackles like static in the air.

'Do you hear that?' I whisper to him again, as I strain to listen. 'I think it's an animal.'

There's a pained mewling coming from where the shadows merge.

'It's a dog,' I say, alarmed. 'It must be hurt.'

I start to walk along the alleyway, towards the source of the sound.

'Evie...' Tom says from behind me, his fingers brushing against mine, trying to pull me back, but I keep walking. I couldn't bear it if it was an injured dog. The noise really does sound like a creature in pain and I'm thinking about the old spaniel we had when I was a kid and the noise it made when it got hit by the car outside our house. I remember how I'd stood there on the pavement, unable to move, even as the poor thing tried to drag its broken body towards me, seeking comfort, seeking help.

I had to help now. Had to.

'Evie, it'll be fine, come on, let's leave it, yeah?'

I hear him, but my feet won't stop. I'm almost at the end of the alley now and even as I get closer to the sound, the unease is already creeping along my shoulder blades.

It no longer sounds like a dog, but I have no idea what it can be.

I get closer still and the sound changes.

A clicking.

Click-click-click.

What the Hell is that noise?

Click-click-click-click. 

I reach the end of the building. My mouth falls open, a chasm opens up in my chest, my heart plummeting the depths.

What is that?

Oh my God, what the fuck is that?