Rain In My Heart (24 page)

Chapter Forty Seven

            
 ‘
Let me go!  Let me go
!
’ 

I screamed and kicked, but Marshall held tighter, pinned my legs with his knees, pushed my face into the ground.  Gemma tried to get him off me, but he shoved her back.  I could
n’
t believe that a person
I’
d once been madly in love with was now being so aggressive.  I felt disgusted to my core.

‘
Why are you doing this to us
?’
I cried, saliva pooling under my cheek.

            
 ‘
I’
m
not doing anything
,’
said Marshall.
 ‘
Yo
u’
re doing it to yourselves.  If yo
u’
d only stayed where
I’
d put you, there would
n’
t be a problem
.
’

            
 ‘
But we do
n’
t want to stay!  We want to get out of here!  Tha
t’
s all w
e’
ve wanted to do since the flood started!  Why are you making us stay?  You said yo
u’
d come to rescue us
!
’

              He pinched my mouth.

‘
That was before I discovered you were cheating on me
,’
he hissed.
 ‘
How do you think that made me feel, Kate?  I came all the way to help you and then I had to watch you ramming your tongue down that little boy's throat.  Yo
u’
ve hurt me, Kate.  Just like you did before
.
’

              There was no way I could reason with him.  H
e’
d gone to a place beyond rational thought.  I closed my eyes, considered my next move.

‘
So, yo
u’
ve got a problem with me
,’
I said.
 ‘
Deal with
me
, then.  Do
n’
t take it out on my friends.  Let Gemma go
.
’

              Marshall snorted.

            
 ‘
Good try.  But w
e’
re in this together now.  If I let her go, sh
e’
ll go running to the police and spin a load of liesabout how nasty
I’
ve been
-
’

              Gemma glared at him. 

            
 ‘
Ther
e’
s no way
I’
m getting into trouble for this
,’
Marshall insisted.
 ‘
I have
n’
t done anything wrong.   Okay, I played a few pranks, but they were a joke, a bit of fun, to wind up a cheating girlfriend.  Anyone would see my point of view
.
’

‘
No, they wo
n’
t
,’
I warned.
 ‘
What yo
u’
ve don
e…
it is
n’
t normal.  Yo
u’
ll end up in prison.  Yo
u’
ve already been in court once.  The
y’
ll take that into account
.
’

I considered the list of possible crimes.  Harassment?  Intimidation?  Kidnap?  Endangering the lives of others?
Manslaughter
?  Marshall gripped my face tighter.

            
 ‘
You reckon
?’
he said.
 ‘
Look what happened there.  That wimp, Alex Menzies, dropped the charge.  Case got thrown out of court.
I’
m invincible.  Unstoppable
.
’

As he said this, I saw red.  The anger splintered my head.  I wanted to throw him off me, punch him in the face.  For the first time in my life, I wanted to punch someone, punch them so hard they saw stars.  I shook, but I could
n’
t move my arms. So instead, I used my mouth.

            
 ‘
Do you know what yo
u’
ve done
?’
I shouted.
 ‘
Do
you?   You
knew
we were in trouble and then you deliberately made it harder for us.  Yo
u’
re sick.  Yo
u’
re disturbed.  Because of your malicious pranks, we blamed everything on Byron.  Now, h
e’
s missing.  Greg is...is missing.  Leon is hurt, and for all we know, he might be drowning. Not to mention the fact that Curtis is unconscious, sick to his stomach.  The
y’
re my
friends
.  Yo
u’
ve hurt my friends and if you think tha
t’
s something yo
u’
re going to get away with, then yo
u’
ve got another thing coming.  I promise you, Marshall, when we get out of here, yo
u’
ll be in so much trouble yo
u’
ll be locked away for years.  And
I’
m
not going to be bullied into dropping any charges. 
I’
m
not afraid of you
-
’

              Marshall twisted tighter on my arms, breathed his nasty tobacco breath into my ear.

            
 ‘
Ouch.  Kat
y’
s got an attitude.  Wh
o’
d have thought?   My little Princess Kate.  Did
n’
t know you had it in you
-
’

            
 ‘
Ther
e’
s a lot you do
n’
t know about me, Marshall.  And tha
t’
s because yo
u’
re NOT MY BOYFRIEND ANYMORE.  And you
never
will be. 
I’
ll never forgive you for what yo
u’
ve done to us
.
’

            
 ‘
IT WAS A JOKE
!’
said Marshall.
 ‘
Pay back for your sleazy little kiss with lover boy.  Wher
e’
s
he
now, then?  Wher
e’
s he?  I do
n’
t see him rushing to help you.  Oh no, I forgot, he ca
n’
t walk
-
’

              If I felt I was losing my temper before, at this, I totally snapped.  The rage burst out of me. I surged and broke free.

            
 ‘
I HATE YOU
!’
I screamed.
 ‘
Yo
u’
re
poison
!
’

              I lashed at his face, dug my nails into his cheeks. He seemed shocked at my outburst, but I wanted him to know the full extent of my feelings, so that there could be no doubt.

            
 ‘
Yo
u’
re
nothing
to me
,’
I hissed.

              I expected him to grab for my arms again, but instead he broke down.  His eyes filled with tears.  He began to sob.             

‘
It was a joke, Kate.  Just a joke.  Do
n’
t say
I’
m nothing to you.  You know tha
t’
s not true.  You
know
I love you
.
’

              When he saw Gemma watching, he pulled me aside, looked for privacy.

            
 ‘
I love you, babe
,’
he whispered, stroking my hair
.‘I’
m sorry.  Le
t’
s not fight.  I came to save you, did
n’
t I? Tha
t’
s how much I love you. 
I’
d do anything for you.  I ca
n’
t have you telling me
I’
m nothing to you.  Put it right, will you?  Tell me you love me back
.
’

              Maybe, given the circumstance, telling Marshall I loved him would be the right thing to do.  Maybe it would make him let us go.  But I could
n’
t. My heart was a stone.

            
 ‘
Say it, Kate.  Tell me you love me
.
’

              I opened my mouth, but the words would
n’
t come. 

            
 ‘
Say it
.
’

              I just could
n’
t.

            
 ‘
SAY IT
!
’

              He flipped again, grabbed my hair, yanked my head back.  It happened so quickly I did
n’
t have time to resist.  I felt my neck twist, the hair rip from my scalp.

            
 ‘
Ow
!
’

            
 ‘
SAY IT
!’
he screamed.

              I could hear Gemma shouting in the background, pleading to Marshall.  Marshall just pulled tighter, dragged me to the floor.  There was nothing I could do.  He had the strength, the power.  Then I heard a screa
m–
one crazy, mammoth, animalistic screa
m–
and all of sudden, Marshall was off me, and everything was a blur.

Chapter Forty Eight

              The next thing I saw was Byro
n’
s skinny body swinging from Marshal
l’
s back.  Byron was screaming, howling like an animal.  Marshall looked startled, like he did
n’
t know what was happening.  In the confusion, he tripped over, fell flat on his face.  Byron leaped onto his back, pinned him down and threatened to bite off his ears. 

Gemma and I ran to each other.  I could tell she was as stunned as I was by Byro
n’
s appearance and, like me, did
n’
t know whether to be pleased or afraid.  It was obvious Byron and Marshall were
n’
t friends, but while we knew for certain that Marshall had it in for us, Byron was still a mystery.  It did
n’
t help that he looked completely terrifying.  His face was bruised and swollen.  His shirt and trousers were covered in blood and his eyes were wild.  He looked, I guess, like a psychopath.  Way more than Marshall did, anyhow.

As soon as Marshall managed to push Byron off, he picked him up by the collars and slammed him against the wall.  As insanely terrifying as Byron looked, ultimately he was no match for Marshal
l’
s six-foot build.

‘
You again?' Marshall sneered.  'I thought you'd know better than to come back here.  How's the leg?'

So Marshall was the one who'd slashed Byron's knee.  Byron hadn't been making it up.  There
had
been something - or some
one -
in the water.

'Think yo
u’
re a hard man, do you?  Think you can scare me
?
’

He reached into the waistband of his jeans, pulled out a shard of glass, like the one
I’
d used to cut the gaffer tape, anddrew the point to Byro
n’
s throat.

            
 ‘
I'll cut you again.  Do you
know
who I am
?
’

              My lungs felt like they were turning inside out.  Marshall quivered the glass under Byro
n’
s chin.  It was more of a teasing gesture than a proper attempt to stab him, but I knew he was capable.   I had no doubt that Marshall, lost in his rage, would go further than Byron.  H
e’
d cause injury.  Or worse.

              The situation would only calm down if Marshall calmed down.  And for that to happen, he needed space and quiet.  He needed Byron not to do or say anything antagonistic.  I bit my lip, closed my eyes, and willed him to keep his mouth shut.

‘
Do you know what
I’
m known for
?
’ Marshall repeated, relishing the moment, his ugly ego in the spotlight.
 ‘I’
m the one from the papers.  They actually gave me a nickname.  They called me th
e‘
Bus-stop Brut
e’
.  The world thinks
I’
m a scary guy.  So should you
-
’

I held my breath.  Do
n’
t speak, I prayed.  Do
n’
t respond. 

‘
Only one of the papers called you the Bus-stop Brute
,’
said Byron breezily.

Too late.

Marshal
l’
s eyes narrowed.

‘
The other papers described you as a jealous middle-class dropout wh
o’
d watched too many gangster movie
s–
their words, not mine.   Not everyon
e’
s scared of you.   For instance,
I’
m not. 
I’
m scared of that piece of glass and where yo
u’
re pointing it, which, if you must know, is rather uncomfortable for me.  But
I’
m not scared of
you
.  Not in the way you think I am anyway
-
’

Marshall pulled a face, like he was confused.  But he did
n’
t lose i
t–
yet.  Then Byron opened his mouth again.

‘
Kat
e’
s not scared of you either
,’
he said.
 ‘
In fact, sh
e’
s done everything she can to erase you from her memory
.
’

This did it.  Marshall snapped.  He grabbed Byro
n’
s neck and pulled back the glass, aimed the sharpest point right at his throat, poised, ready to lunge.  Byron stared him down.  He even blew a raspberry, but Marshall was
n’
t amused.

‘
Yo
u’
re going to die
,’
said Marshall.

And he meant it.