Lost in Paradise

Chapter 1

5 YEARS ON

The wind painted rain drops against the gleaming windows whilst thunderous clouds loomed above. Branches extended like arms and fingers from trees - gingerly tapping against the windows, forcing a rhythmic tune. Gina sat at her dinner table, a cigarette in one hand and a glass of straight vodka in the other. She reminisced on the times that she used to spend spending money in the stock market, making more cash than she had sense. She reminisced on taking a big lump some every Saturday and gambling it all away in the casino, sometimes with big returns. She remembered getting married to who she'd expressed as her 'one true love', a famous footballer. She'd had everything she'd ever wanted. Now she found herself desolate and alone, to only be comforted by the last of the raindrops that drizzled against her bungalow, and the ever ringing sound of almost pure silence.

She stared straight ahead despite the shadow that was cast upon the tiled kitchen wall. Her back was to the doorway - she wasn't to know who had just walked in. She wasn't to know who's breath it was that lingered against the back of her neck - surprisingly smelling of toothpaste. She wasn't to know that this person was so fueled with rage that they almost couldn't control themselves. Except, she did.

"Take me." She said. And that was it. One instruction. She was taken.

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Yasmine shuffled around her home, her belly large and round from the life form growing inside of her. She finally took a seat on the sofa, feeling the pressure from her ankles seep away through her slippers. 

"Mummy," her son said, waddling over to her, "am I gonna have a little sister?"

"Well, Callum, me and your daddy don't know yet, maybe. Maybe you'll have a brother - is that okay?" The boy shook his head at his mum's remark. With that, a man walked through the door bearing a plate of assorted biscuits and a cup of strong tea. The steam rose up to his face to fog the man's glasses.

"Here you are dear," he said, handing over the tea to Yasmine.

"Thanks James," she said, sighing as she took the tea. She sipped it and instantly felt as if she was in heaven - the warm liquid gushing in her mouth made her feel alive. She thought that it felt so nice because she hadn't had any sexual goings-on with James in so long and 'this was the closest to an orgasm she was going to get'. She felt guilty for thinking it - but sometimes being pregnant was a burden.

"Now, Callum, as we've told you, the baby could be a girl or a boy, we'll have to find out in a couple months time wont we?" James smiled, placing the plate of biscuits on the coffee table. He took a seat at the other sofa, flicking between channels on the television.

"Daddy, if it's a girl can we call her Angel?" Callum asked his father, a troy tractor in hand.

"We'll think about it," he chuckled, switching over to the news. An instant familiar face swooped on the screen in that moment and Yasmine gasped before James flicked the channel once more.

"Switch it back," Yasmine snapped. 

"Pointless is on," James informed her.

"Switch it," she snapped again and the news channel sprang once again on the television screen. She knew who it was. She hadn't seen that face in so long - that gingery-brown hair and chestnut skin was so distinct she couldn't miss it. She asked James to turn it up - she needed to hear what had happened.

"Georgina Lucy Falcon was found dead in her home today. The cause of her death is currently unknown but is being treated as suspicious by the police. According to our sources two people have been arrested for the death." The spokeswoman said.

Yasmine couldn't believe it. Gina was dead. Yasmine hadn't spoken to her since all that had happened - she'd just seen her a few times on the streets. She didn't know that she would meet this end. The thought of her lifeless body sent shivers through Yasmine's spine and her prickly hairs rose up like trees all over her body. The sight of Gina's face brought back the terrible memories - Spain, the boat, Joe's disappearance, Jessica, Robert, Dylan, Emma - she felt sick. 

She continued to listen to the broadcast.

"Georgina was well known for raking in money from the stock markets - whilst working a part time job at the local pub, The Lion's Head. She lived by herself after being married to football legend Rowan Keetland for only one year. She has been in the public eye her fair share of times." The woman paused. "We are just receiving news regarding the two suspects arrested for Georgina's murder. The first is a woman called Leela Markey, a colleague who worked with Georgina at The Lion's head. The second person has also reached his fair share of public eye after being kidnapped and held hostage on a boat by crazed killer Kevin Falcon, Gina's brother, seventeen years ago."

Yasmine couldn't believe what she was hearing. The only person she could think of would be Dylan at this stage - how could he have killed. Or rather, how could he kill again? She'd never even known that he'd returned from Spain with Emma. They had identities out there - a new life. What had brought him back to England?

"The suspect is in fact nobody other than," 

and Yasmine gasped, her tea rolled down her body, setting her legs and stomach on fire. She couldn't breathe or think or hear.

"Robert Varley."