Drawing Blood

Chapter Seventeen

"I don't know," Annie spoke, her mouth thinning at the corners. "Adam was pretty furious, last night, Rose. He was adamant you're not safe here anymore."

I felt my stomach drop. She appeared to be wrestling with her conscience, and I could tell she was taking things seriously. I had asked her to try and convince Adam to stay long enough to enjoy her birthday, even promising to organise a party for her, myself. But it wasn't going well. "Please, Annie," I begged. "He's not going to listen to me, anymore."

"I don't think he'll listen to me, either!" she exclaimed. "Not after this!" She paused, to shake her head. I got the impression she was trying to disturb some ideas, or clues, that she had been pondering in her mind over the past twelve hours; a bit like the way you would shake a snow globe. "Someone knows you're here, and Will told me what was in that note, so you can't lie." She raised her hand to silence me the moment I began to protest again. "I've already told Adam what was in it!"

I grimaced. It was obvious my antics last night hadn't gone down well with her, once her initial shock had worn off. "That's not fair, Annie."

"I don't think you realize what you've done!" 

It was the next day, and we were in Wills kitchen. She had popped in to see me before her shift at the store. I was sitting at the table; my leg tapped up and resting on a chair, opposite. She was pacing the floor, wearing out the stone beneath her feet, waiting for the kettle to boil. She had been okay up until this point, but something had shifted, and now she was berating me. I didn't blame her. I would have done the same. In fact, I had been beating myself up all night. My stay at the hospital hadn't lasted too long, and I had come back home in the early hours. Despite feeling tired, I had remained awake, not from the pain, but from worrying about what was going to happen next. "Adam didn't mention who the fourth person was, I take it?" I asked her cautiously.

"No." She went to the cupboard and grabbed two mugs, throwing a tea bag in hers; adding coffee to mine. It felt strange that she knew this place as well as I did, and I thought; maybe it had been her idea to organize things in my absence. I observed her as she retrieved the milk from the fridge, and I noted her movements were strained, and nervous. I felt like a terrible friend. "Whoever it was couldn't have been too dangerous, though," she added as an afterthought, "otherwise he wouldn't have left town."

Her words relieved some of my anguish. I had wondered the exact thing during those turbulent few hours before darkness and dawn. "Do you think Adam will be back soon?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she finished making our drinks before crossing the room, handing me mine. She took up a place by the sink, to stare out of the window. It was so unlike her to be that distant, that cold. She had always been on my side for as long as I remembered,  even throwing herself under a bus for me when it was needed. However, that wasn't the case, today. Maybe she didn't want to answer because she had spoken to him. Maybe he had told her we were going. Perhaps, she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.

"Annie?"

Her stillness was awful. It was like dying a slow death. As though it was real, I could suddenly picture Adam bursting in through the back door to say goodbye to her; dragging me away then, despite my protests, throwing me over his shoulder as he had promised. Unable to challenge him, I would go with him, to sit in the passenger seat of his Jeep. He would drive away from this place without a backward glance. I would be defeated and bruised; wringing my hands together in my lap to steady my nerves. We would end up in a safe house, and he would leave me to go and buy food. We would sit there in silence while we ate, all the while knowing it was my fault we were there. Miserable, I lifted my head and stared at her, again. She was still gazing out of the window, lost in her own thoughts, and I suspected she was as troubled by his swift exit as I was. "I don't know," she eventually murmured, "He just asked me to keep an eye on you, and under no circumstances are you to leave this house."