Fire and Ice

Chapter 2

My heart raced as I sped through the network of roads, horns beeping and angry voices and gestures constantly chastising me. A dribble of sweat trickled down my forehead, and I wiped it away quickly, glancing at my rear-vision mirrors.

I will find you, Louis Tomlinson. I will find you and kill you. Run now, run to your little friend. Only she can help you now.

The words still rang in my head. 95 letters, 31 syllables, 26 words. 26 words that drove fear into every inch of my body until there was no escape, the masked face of the man laughing at my weakness.

He wanted me to run, to be a coward. I guess that was what I was, but to be honest, I’m sure most people would do the same if in my situation. Who wouldn’t run if told face-to-face they were going to die?

I veered around a corner and sped into a small street, pulling up in front of a brick cottage with ivy crawling up and curling around the window sills. I ran up to the door and knocked as loudly as I could, my knuckles pink after hammering the painted-black door. I checked behind my shoulders, worry licking me up like fire.

The door swung open and I spun around, only to come face to face with a terrified looking Eva.

Her too-big shirt fell to mid-thigh, a pair of dotted shorts poking out from underneath. She had a baseball bat hefted over her shoulder, but lowered it when she saw me.

‘Louis? What the hell are you doing at my house at, what,’ she glanced at her watch, disgruntled, ‘2 in the morning?’

‘It’s an emergency,’ I said urgently, checking over my shoulders. Eva looked confused and peered over me, looking for whatever I was looking for.

‘Okay?’ She said, befuddled by my nervousness.

‘Please, I don’t have long. We can’t be seen here,’ I said, and she ushered me in.

‘Tea, coffee?’ She offered, and I shook my head. She wandered over to the couch and sat down in the armchair opposite me, glaring at me with a raised eyebrow.

‘Now, what could possibly be so important to bother me at two o’clock in the morning?’ She asked. I wrung my hands nervously, glancing over my shoulders. ‘And would you stop doing that!’ She exclaimed, and I breathed deeply a few times.

‘A few hours ago, I woke up. I heard a growling noise, sort of like a laugh. I looked around and there was a man in the corner, shadowed in the dark. All he said was this: ‘I will find you, Louis Tomlinson. I will find you and kill you. Run now, run to your little friend. Only she can help you now.’

Eva looked at me like I was an Alien. After a while, she managed to swallow. ‘Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?’ She asked meekly, and I shook my head. She sighed and brushed her hair behind her ears, eyes drifting to an old, coffee-stained magazine lazily thrown on the coffee table.

‘So…you think they meant me? Run to your little friend. Only she can help you now?’ I nodded and she thought for a moment.

‘We need to call the police,’ she said, getting up to get her phone. I grabbed her wrist and she stopped, swinging her head around to look at me. She looked confident, but a spot of fear lingered in her eyes, leaving a bitter taste in the back of my throat. I felt horrible, dragging her into this.

‘No police,’ I muttered, and she looked angry.

‘Why not? How stupid can you be to not call the police?’ She asked. She ripped her hand out of my grasp and stormed over to the phone, calling triple 9.

I collapsed back onto her couch, exasperated, and waited for her to realise.

‘What?’ I heard her say, ‘No Louis Tomlinson? Of course there is! He’s sitting right next to me!’ She shouted, and then hung up angrily.