Carved in Stone: Monochrome Destiny (24 page)

She
traced Andrew’s lip with her thumb.  “Don’t apologise, don’t ever
apologise for that.”

“But,
we didn’t . . . I didn’t . . .”

“Use
protection?”

He
only nodded.

“I
put myself on the pill after our last um night together.  I’m sort of glad
I did, because I’ve never felt anything like that Andrew and I don’t know what
it means, but. . .”  she hesitated to tell him, and she pulled her ruined
blouse together feeling a little too exposed before she finished, “your eyes are
blue.”

Andrew
stared.

“They’re
blue, pale, beautiful blue.”  She felt like laughing, screaming.

“You
can see colour?”

“Only your eyes.
  I told
you I’d never felt anything like that before.”

Andrew
remained still and them a slow smile spread his lips.

“Never?”

She
shook her head.

“Well,
I think we’d better explore that, don’t you?”

Andrew
pulled her off the kitchen unit and kissed her thoroughly before guiding her
upstairs. 

This
time they made slow powerful love, savouring each other under crisp sheets. 
When Robyn took him inside her again, impaling
herself
and moving slowly above him, it was almost more than she could bear to watch
his reaction.  The heat between them did not wane with the less wild
approach, nor did the intensity of their orgasms.  Robyn took great
pleasure in controlling their joining.  Being in control of Andrew was
erotic in itself.

They
were bonded.  She was different with him, and she could feel the link that
they had formed.  Robyn knew nothing of the hold that James Truscott held
over Andrew, but she knew, without any doubt, that she could trust him. 
Her previous caution had been unnecessary.

Curled
up in Andrew’s arms, sated, she felt that it was time.

“I
lost them.”  Her voice, only just above a whisper, was loud enough to be
heard in the silent house.  “Both, at once really, although the times
might have been different, it was together that they were taken from me.”

Andrew
leaned over and kissed her temple.  “You don’t have to tell me this.”

She
looked up at him.  “Yes, I do.” God, he was so handsome.  “We were
close, my parents and I, really close, and I know that’s something you didn’t
have as a child but I did, and I miss it, every day.  I’m an only
child.  There was just the three of us and we were inseparable.  They
cared, really cared about what was going on with me, and I kept nothing from
them, because they were my best friends, not just Mum and Dad.”  She
paused as a shudder drove through her.  The memories were hard. 
“They took me out after I got a small promotion at work.  I’d only been
there a year, but it was my dream job and I was moving up to where I wanted to
be.  We had a meal in a place we normally couldn’t afford and it was one
of the most memorable nights.  Dad drove, allowing mum and I to have a
drink.  He’d had a couple of glasses with dinner which was his
norm.”  She breathed in deeply.  “On the way back we were hit. 
A truck failed to stop at a junction and he slammed into the passenger side of
the car.  I don’t recall the collision but it was nearly a week later when
I woke up in hospital.  I panicked at first.  I had no idea where I
was, but the most frightening thing was that everything was in black and
white.  The nurses calmed me down and called the doctor to explain what
had happened.  They did some tests and told me that my head injury had
left me with
achromatopsia
.  They didn’t know if
or when I’d get my colour vision back.”

“It
must have been quite a shock.  But you’ve come to terms with it.”

Robyn
sighed.  “I lay for hours feeling sorry for myself before my father came
in.  I’d been so consumed with my own issues that it hadn’t even occurred
to me to question why he wasn’t there, at my bedside, when I woke, or soon
afterwards.  I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw him.  He’d
lost weight and gained years.  His hair was whiter.”

Andrew
frowned.  “You don’t have to tell me this now.”

“I
do.”  Tears were forming and she had to go on before she lost the
strength.  “He’d been over the limit.  He’d known he was pushing it,
but he’d driven anyway.  He hadn’t seen the truck.  It was night time
and it was raining and the lights of the cars coming the other way had blinded
him, so he’d not made any manoeuvre to get out of its way.  The truck had
slammed into the side of the car where my mother and
me
were sitting.  It killed my mother on impact.”

Andrew
pulled her close as she began to shake, but she had to carry on, get it all
out.

“I
screamed at him.  I told him I never wanted to see him again.  I told
him that it was his fault; that Mum’s death was his fault.  I didn’t see,
I didn’t notice the sadness, the despair.  He’d been so pale but I’d been
so furious and confused.  He left the room with his shoulders slumped and
he walked straight to an overpass where he jumped to his death.  I killed
him.”

Andrew
cradled her tighter.
 
“You were
struggling with your own problems, you can’t blame yourself.”

“I
didn’t blame myself, not at first.  I was so angry.  I left the
hospital and went back to work only to be told that I could no longer keep my
position due to my new disability.  No-one wants a research biochemist
who
can’t see the difference between copper sulphate and
potassium permanganate.  Even modelling software is
colour
specific.  I lost everything and I blamed him.  I didn’t even go to
the funeral.”  She closed her eyes, but she could no longer stop the tears
falling.  “But I didn’t know, not until later, how hard it was to
survive.  I was alone.  I’d become bitter and vicious and my friends
all left.
 
I had nothing. 
Everything I’d strived for was gone.  One day I woke up and the only thing
I could feel was despair.  I didn’t want to feel that anymore. 
Oblivion sounded better.”

Andrew
tensed. 
“Oblivion?”

She
opened her eyes to look up at Andrew.  “The reason that the police didn’t
look any further into Kat’s disappearance was that they discovered I had been
in treatment for depression.  I admitted myself after oblivion started to
feel more appetising than life.”

“You
tried to kill yourself?”  His arms loosened as the words escaped his lips.

“No,
but if I hadn’t taken steps to heal myself I would have.  It’s all on
record somewhere.”

She
started to roll away, to get out of the bed, leave, but Andrew stopped
her. 

Robyn’s
breath hitched.  “You don’t have to say anything.  I understand,
believe me.”

“You
think that I won’t want to know you now?”  His cadence was soft and deep
and it broke her heart to hear it.

“No-one
else has.  I’ve lost everybody.”

Long
arms wrapped her in a protective embrace.  “You won’t lose me.”

“I
fight the darkness every day, Andrew.  I don’t know if I’ll ever fully
recover.”  She needed to give him his opportunity to get out, now.

“I’m
not going anywhere.  I won’t leave unless you ask me to.”

When
she turned to him, she saw nothing but compassion and strength.

“I
was broken when I came here.  To some extent I still am.  There’s a
void in me that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to fill.  But Kat, she was
there.  She befriended me when I needed her, helped me, and I owe her
something for that.”

Andrew
nodded as understanding grew.

“I
know that you’re mad about the church thing, but I’m not going to give
up.  My parents died and yes, I do blame myself for my father’s
suicide.”  Andrew went to say something but she stopped him.  “I
wasn’t there for him when I should have been.  He must have been hanging
on by a thread whilst I was in a coma.  He needed me, and I blamed
him.  I blamed him unnecessarily.  He couldn’t have avoided the
collision.  The truck driver had been cheating the tachometer and had been
driving for five hours over his allotted time.  He was ploughing through
the town, half asleep with no lights on.  My father wouldn’t have seen him
until it was too late even if he’d never had a drink at all that night.  I
made that mistake once and I won’t make it again.  Kat needs me and I
won’t give up on her.”

A persistent but
light drizzle had been falling all day.  Above and around Robyn the
foliage was saturated and dripping in streams onto her already soaked clothing.

She
knew that it was crazy to be there, but she’d gone beyond crazy when she’d
broken into the church and nothing made any sense anymore, least of all the
puzzle that surrounded Kat’s disappearance.

Robyn
cautiously watched the giant building in front of her.  Glowing in pale
mist as fluorescent bulbs fought against the rain to illuminate the outside, it
stood in a wet fog, plain but nevertheless foreboding.  The walls were
corrugated under a slightly pitched metal roof and the only windows were set in
banks along the top of the building.  A huge roller door was locked at the
front, but at the back, the fire door was open.  Inside, light shone
despite the late hour and people were currently lining up to enter the
building.  Just inside the door, standing where Robyn couldn’t quite see
them, someone stood and greeted those who walked in.  In the twenty
minutes she had been stood watching, many had gone in, including some that she
recognised, but none had come out.  Of those she couldn’t name, some were
unknown to her, but most, thanks to the weather, were obscured under hoods, or
umbrellas.  What Robyn could say however, was that no children appeared to
be part of this large group, for none of the people entering were small
enough. 

Turning,
Robyn faced Andrew and was yet again comforted by his presence.  After
hearing her confession he’d promised to help her, now that he understood that
she would not let this go.  She doubted that he would have to put himself
out for too long though, because this was the last idea she had.  If Robyn
and Andrew found nothing here to suggest the reason for Kat’s leaving, then she
had no other moves to play.  The game would be over.

They
stood fifteen feet from the treeline, hidden in a particularly dense patch of
foliage.  The building was a further thirty feet away, across a flat,
stony lane that served as a roadway for forklifts.

It
was Friday, Good Friday to be exact, although the religious significance had no
connection and Robyn hoped that her hunch was right.  Her last conversation
with Kat had been about this abattoir and the strange line of people queuing up
to enter it.  Now, Robyn intended to see what exactly all these people did
here on a Friday night.  She had an
idea, that
if
proved correct, would give her all the evidence she’d need to get the police
involved again. 

Robyn
shivered.

“We
should get out of here.” Andrew had noticed her discomfort, they were both
soaked to the skin, but she hadn’t finished yet.

“No,”
Robyn shook her head adamantly, “we’re staying until we find out what’s going
on.”

Andrew
pulled her back, further into the trees after the door closed.  They would
wait until the meeting was over.  He tucked her into his arms against a
tree trunk and held her tight.

Finally
after only about half an hour, people started to exit the building.  They
walked sombrely to their cars, which were parked around the front, with no hint
of excitement on their faces.  They didn’t converse.  They barely
even looked at each other.  Whatever the meeting had been about, it didn’t
look like anybody had been having a good time.

Robyn
and Andrew waited until all the vehicles had departed before they stepped out
from the treeline.

“Are
you sure that you want to do this?” Andrew whispered close to her ear.  The
rain and wind would cover any noise they made but it would be foolhardy to not
at least try to be soundless.

Robyn
turned to stare at him, his eyes still blue to her otherwise colourless
vision.  “I’m not stopping until I have answers.”

“There
is still someone inside.  Don’t go in, just look from the doorway.”

Andrew
was right.  At least one individual remained in the building, because the
fire door was wide open and the lights within blazed.  It did not stop
Robyn though.  She skirted sideways in the trees, running parallel to the
building until she put the open door between her and anyone who might be
inside.  She then ran across the narrow lane and hid behind the
door.  Breathing heavily and looking back to see Andrew watching from the
trees, giving her the all clear, she looked around the door and into the room.

Lit
by industrial strip lights, what she could see of the large room within, with
its smooth concrete floor, was empty.

Robyn
had to get a closer look.  She stepped over the threshold, looked left and
right, found it was clear and then darted into the shadows made by a great
tower of pallets, stacked to the right of the door.  She crouched down and
breathed.  Her heart was racing with adrenaline and her body trembled
slightly, but she had to do this, she had to know.

Robyn
knew that she was not alone.  She could hear footsteps scuffing on the
concrete floor and echoing off of the barren walls of the interior.  Keys
jangled as the footsteps moved, but as long as she stayed hidden, they wouldn’t
know she was there.

Turning,
spinning on the balls of her feet, she looked back the way she had come and
froze.  Bright in the light,
lay
a trail
footprints, fresh, wet and muddy.  They led directly to her position.

Panicked,
aware that she could be caught at any moment, but desperate to find something,
anything, Robyn moved further behind the pallets to some shelving that held
lots of brown cardboard boxes.  None were labelled, so she started opening
lids.  Damn, these boxes contained unprinted food labels and plastic trays
for meat packing.

Robyn
moved to another shelf but stopped when she heard the footsteps near. 
Soft soles moved across the floor with an unhurried gait.  Robyn held her
breath, hoping that whoever had been left behind would overlook the trail of
fresh mud that pointed so readily to her hiding place.  So many people had
entered earlier, that perhaps they would dismiss the marks.

Suddenly,
the lights went out and Robyn was thrown into pitch blackness.  For a
frightening moment she was crouched in total oblivion.  Panic and fear
urged her to flee, but she was trapped and in the dark.  There was no way
that she could find the door without making the other person aware of her
presence.  She forced herself to stay still and allow her eyes to adjust.

Shadows
began to creep into being, black against grey, when she was grabbed from
behind.

Had
it not been for the hand across her mouth, she would have cried out as she was
yanked backwards, further into the shadows of the shelving.  She would
have fought, kicked, scratched, but terror took her body as she flew back
against her assailant’s chest and her legs collapsed underneath her.  She
was merely a rag doll.

“
Shhh
,” the sound was right next to her ear, his lips so
close she felt the warmth of his breath, “it’s alright, stay still and quiet.”

The
relief was indescribable.  Even as a whisper, she recognised Andrew’s
voice as he crouched behind her, holding her slouching body to his as she
regained the feeling in her legs.  He didn’t let her attempt to stand
though.  He held her fast and shook his head against her ear in the
dark.  Andrew kept both of them absolutely still as Robyn saw light.

The
white beam of a torch bounced across the floor and the pallets.  It played
across the shadows were Robyn had first crouched when she’d entered the room
and then glanced over the cardboard boxes on the shelving that they currently
hid behind.  Twice, as the beam danced, it came within inches of Robyn’s
feet but she fought the urge to pull her legs in tighter, knowing that any move
would be heard at this proximity.

Whoever
had been left behind, had heard something and had come to investigate.

The
wind outside picked up and made the open door move, its hinges squeaking
slightly as it swung back and forth.  The beam of light darted to the new
noise and its owner let out a sigh.

“Flaming wind.”
He cursed and
proceeded to walk to the door.

The
white torch-light switched off as the footsteps headed away from them.

Listening
carefully, Robyn heard the door squeak on its hinges before closing into the
metal frame.  Metal scraped over metal as the lock engaged leaving them
alone in the dark.

Robyn
remained still until Andrew relaxed his grip.

“I
think we’re alone.  Cover your eyes.”

She
did as she was told.  Andrew switched on his phone and used it to light
the small space they had secreted themselves in.

“What
the hell did you think you were doing coming in here?” his voice was almost a
growl.

“This
place has evidence of criminal activity, I’m sure of it.  I need to find
it to help Kat.”  She shrugged out of his hold and stood up before opening
another box only to find more trays for meat packing.  She closed that one
and moved to the next.

“Are
you still stuck on the idea of smugglers?  I told you I’d never seen any
activity at the cove.  You must be wrong.”  She couldn’t see his face
thanks to the light he held out for her, and she was somewhat pleased about
that, knowing the effect his anger had on her.

“It’s
the only conclusion that makes sense.  If people come here to buy the
illegal goods and Kat saw them, she might well have been intrigued enough to
check it out.”

“Without telling you?”

Robyn
sighed and turned to him.  The next two boxes had proved fruitless
also.  “Well, six weeks ago I would have been surprised too, but I’ve
learned a lot since then.  Kat didn’t tell me everything, obviously, and I
can almost believe that she waited to tell me about this until she had the
whole big story.”  Robyn looked to the ground and shook her head.  “I
don’t know her motives, I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did, but Kat
being threatened into leaving and then somehow concluding that the smuggling
was happening at the church and coming back to check it out makes more sense
than her just leaving without saying a word.  It also accounts for the
phone being where you found it.  What if they saw her there?  What if
they did something to her to stop her talking?  Andrew she could be . . .”
She couldn’t say it; couldn’t even think it.

Andrew
put the phone on a shelf and pulled her to him.  He kissed her, swift and
hard, before letting her go.  “If there’s something here, we’ll find it.”

The
boxes held nothing that wouldn’t be expected in an abattoir.  When they
had finished opening each and every one, they moved out from the shelving and
into the expanse of the room.

The
concrete floor was immaculately clean, cleaner than Robyn would have expected
for such a place and had no trapdoors or grills indicating that there was
anything underneath this building.  The main room was open, right up to
the ceiling where ducting snaked just under the roof providing ventilation and
climate control.  Long chains suspended the lighting.

Further
into the room three long, aluminium topped tables gleamed in the light from
Andrew’s phone but were empty.  Beyond the tables was a very large, walk
in, chiller.  White walled, with a great white door, large enough for a
forklift, it dominated the room.  To the right of the chiller, a set of
grey metal stairs led up to what Robyn assumed were offices. Above the chiller,
she could see a walkway with a metal rail and several windows and doors.

Disregarding
the staircase, instinct drove Robyn to the chiller.  It was the perfect
place to hide something.

“If
we find anything in here, we’ll photograph it and get the hell out of here.”

“The
sooner the better,” Andrew responded looking around the room.  He had been
getting more nervous with each minute they remained in the building.  She
could hardly blame him.

Robyn
pulled the handle on the chiller and heard the click of the catch disengaging
before a whoosh of air broke past the rubber seals.  Cold air billowed out
as the door pulled backwards on a long, but efficient, piano hinge down the
side of the door.

The
misty vapour swirled around the entrance before settling and dissipating and
allowing them to see a curtain of clear plastic strips that had become opaque
thanks to the condensation covering them.  Using both hands, Robyn parted
two of the sections and stepped through.

Directly
in front of her, appearing out of the
mist,
was
another face.  Dead, lifeless and expressionless, it had glaring black
eyes and sallow skin.  Picked out by the sharp light of Andrew’s phone,
the contrast between light and dark was extreme and gave a frightening
appearance to the macabre corpse.  Robyn gasped and jumped back.

The
face was not human but that of a pig.  Swinging by its hind legs, the pig
hung from a rack above her head.  The eyes, black like the head left in
her fridge, had become opaque from degradation of the retina.  This was
not a fresh kill and behind this one carcass were hundreds of others. 
They had all had their throats
cut,
blood drained and
were hung by their hind legs, ready for butchery.  Robyn reached out and
pushed aside the cold body.  It moved smoothly on the sliding rack of
hooks above her head.