After the End

Chapter 8 - Voicemail

The large leather sofa had been positioned facing the fireplace in the lounge, and Bobby, Tom's spaniel, had fallen asleep against Allegra, who had stretched herself out and fallen into a deep sleep - something she hadn't planned on doing. She wasn't sure she would be able to sleep at all but found her energy had been so drained that she hadn't even realised she was closing her eyes. She was dreaming about snow. Oh, how she missed the snow. It always made her think of Finland, and the beautiful landscapes she had witnessed there during her visit in the winter of 2015. These days, however, it also reminded her of something else; of how her and Tom had spent their first winter together, walking through the snow drinking hot chocolate and helping children build snowmen in Primrose Hill. She smiled through her sleep, nuzzling the leather seat as she fell deeper into her slumber.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, filling the large home with high-pitched, violent trills that woke Allegra and Bobby up unapologetically.

Slowly, Allegra sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she brought herself back to reality, her perfect dreams fading like the fire she had started in the hearth. The doorbell rang again, this time accompanied by a few heavy knocks on the door, and Bobby jumped down, trotting into the hall, ready to greet their unexpected visitor.

She grabbed a cardigan and threw it around her shoulders, forcing her arms into it as she opened the door to nothing but the dark night. Bobby looked in between her legs excitedly, eager to see who was visiting them at three in the morning.

Allegra stepped out onto the porch, her bare feet aching from the icy-cold temperature of the concrete, and looked around, narrowing her eyes to try and see through the darkness. No one was there.

She turned around, shutting the door behind her as quickly as she could, and turned the key, locking the heavy black front door. She stepped back, keeping her eyes on the door as fear shook her.

Surely I can't have imagined that, she thought, reminding herself of all of the horror films she'd seen that had started like this.

She backed herself up until the back of her ankle hit the first step, knocking her onto her bottom as she fell onto the black stairs.

Tom's house was clean and modern, with many colourful paintings decorating the tall white walls and ornaments hugging the shelves and tables.

Allegra pulled her phone from her pocket just as it started ringing, an unknown number flashing up on her screen. She stared at it until it stopped ringing, freezing in the moment when she knew she should be calling for help, like a deer trapped in headlights.

A noise from a room at the back of the house dragged her from her stiffness, and she grabbed the nearest thing she could use as a weapon; a black umbrella. Very slowly and quietly, she snuck through the house, the umbrella poised and ready to strike at any moment.

I'll knock them out and then I'll call someone, she promised herself, trying to keep her breath steady.

The house had never been quieter. Even Bobby had stopped panting and was following Allegra slowly, his paws light on the marble floor like he knew something was wrong. Allegra's breath was so quiet that it was as if she wasn't even breathing.

Another pound at the door roared through the house, this time each knock was heavier and quicker.

Her phone made a noise to alert her that she had a voicemail message. Instead of listening to it, she phoned Naomi, hoping that it was just her standing on the other side of the door.

"Naomi? Where are you?" she whispered.

"At the hotel. Why?" Naomi grumbled, annoyed that she had been woken from her sleep.

"Someone keeps knocking at my door and then ringing me. I'm... I'm scared," Allegra began to cry.

"Why are you phoning me?" Naomi yelled. "Phone the police!"

"I wasn't sure if it was you, or..." she began crying harder, unable to keep her voice quiet. "Naomi, do you think it could be Wayne?"

There was a moment of silence on Naomi's end of the line, and when she answered, her voice was sharper and more alert. "Not if he knows what's good for him."

Allegra stared at the door, tears streaming down her pretty face, and another knock made her jump, causing a small scream to escape her lips.

She hesitated, one hand holding the phone to her ear, her other hand about to unlock the door.

What am I doing? She asked herself, her body screaming at her to phone the police and lock herself in the bathroom. It's not Naomi, it's not going to be Lucy, it's...

"Oh, God," she gasped as she opened the door. "It's ok, it's just Taylor," she told her sister as she looked at the blonde singer standing in front of her.

"Oh, ok," Naomi sighed in relief. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"I'll speak to you tomorrow," Allegra told her, lowering the phone.

"Allie, did you just say –"

She pressed end call.

Taylor stared at her, her body shivering from the cold. She looked like she had just finished a concert; her hair was styled, her makeup looked perfect, and she wore deep blue jeans, a white jumper and a black leather jacket.

"You just can't stop playing games, can you?" Allegra asked her with a sarcastic laugh. She was ready. This was the last straw.

"Allegra –"

"Have you got any idea what time it is, Taylor?!" Allegra motioned her hand violently to the clock on the wall that indicated it was half past three in the morning. "Did you really think that was clever? Knocking on my door and then hiding?!" Allegra was laughing and speaking so quickly that Taylor couldn't get a word or even a letter in. "And then calling my phone on an unknown number?!"

"Allegra," Taylor spoke lowly. "Please invite me in."

"Are you joking?!"

"Allegra," Taylor kept her gaze low and her voice even lower, speaking as quietly as was possible. "That wasn't me. I've literally just run up your drive. Listen to me, it's not safe for you to be alone right now."

"I don't know why they released you from prison," Allegra growled.

"Allegra, please –"

"Get fucked, Taylor." Allegra found much pleasure in saying those words and basked in the moment as she slammed the door in her face.

She stood there in the hall for a moment, laughing at how pathetic Taylor was, and wondering why she had ever trusted her in the first place.

A leopard never changes its spots, her mother always used to say.

She took herself into the kitchen, Bobby raised his head to greet her before going back to sleep, and she began to boil the kettle, craving caffeine after the last 24 hours she had endured.

"She was right, you know," a voice said behind her.

She froze.

She noted that her phone was in her back pocket; just a reach away.

She turned.

"It's not safe for you to be alone."