The Daemon's Disguise (Sequel to He Was A Dog + previously Out There)

Out There (Sequel to He Was A Dog) - Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

India:

It was a Sunday afternoon when Isaac came crashing through the front door, his hair unkempt and his face unshaven. Outside, the rain pelted down, the sea crashing against the rocks in front of the house. Elijah jumped at the noise, head swivelling around to see who was making such a fuss. When he realised who it was, however, he went back to staring out of the window.

“Could you be any louder?” I muttered darkly. “Don’t you dare drip on my floor.” I pushed past him into the living room, blinking in surprise at the sight the greeted me. Bruno and Elijah, sat on the floor, looked up in surprise, distracted from the puzzle they had been silently piecing together for the last half hour.

Isaac was drenched to the bone, his hair sodden and his face thunderous.

“Turn on your television,” he barked angrily, barging passed me and snatching the remote from Marshall, who had been lazing on the sofa. His shouts of protest were silenced by Isaac changing the channel to the news, and all of us watched the screen in horror.

Big Ben was burning, the grand clock tower in flames as terrified civilians rushed to escape the inferno. Westminster was alight, the reporter calling it an act of terrorism, and the Prime Minister sending the United Kingdom into a state of lockdown.

“It’s not an act of human terrorism,” Isaac snarled bitterly. “Inga is at the bottom of this.”

“Jesus,” Bruno murmured, his eyes wide. “You’re a nutter – one woman couldn’t send Britain into a state of emergency.” Marshall nodded in agreement, only for Isaac to shake his head in disbelief, turning to look at me.

“She’s doing this to lure you out of hiding. You’ll stay here.”

As if there was any question of us going anywhere else. There was nothing I could do but nod my head. My hand found Elijah’s pulling him close to my legs. I felt a duty to protect my son, but my mind had spiralled – how many people had died in the flames? How many families had lost children whilst I was trying to protect my own?

It was something I pondered deeply as I put Elijah to bed that night, and something that kept me awake until the early hours of the morning. I glanced at the clock beside the bed. Three in the morning. Groaning softly, I rose from the mattress, pulling on my shoes and a coat and disappearing out through the door.

The cold ripped through me, a bitter reminder that this was all real. The afternoon had felt like a blur, as though nothing was really happening. But as the day’s terror unfolded, a realisation had dawned on me. How far would Inga go? How many people would die in order for us to live? I swallowed, making my way down the beach and towards the water, feeling the cool water lap at my canvas covered toes.

“India!” I started at the sound of my name, whipping around in disbelief and staring as Bruno made his way down the slope, his hair sleep mussed and his cheeks flushed in the cold.

“Do you know how worried I was when I-” he started, his face angry and his brows pulled together as though it pained him to say what he was going to say.

“What? When you what?” I challenged, the wind whipping my hair around my face violently. Behind us, the waves crashed and the gulls cried, our words drowned by the ferocity of the storm brewing above our heads.

“When I realised you were gone!” Bruno shouted. We paused, our chests heaving from the effort it took to scream at each other, taking each other in. And I really saw him, really drank in all of his features as though this was the last opportunity I would get to see him.