Gate 24

Chapter Sixteen

All I can do is sit alone in my bedroom, holding onto the last cigarette in the packet. The edges have been torn and the tobacco hangs from the rolled up stick; I hang my head. I’m not leaving alive? Does she want to kill me or something? Reaching for the lighter, I decide that it’s finally time to smoke the last stick and put the addiction behind me forever. That way, I won’t be able to return to smoking as a distracting habit; I must face this problem head on.

Puffing little clouds of smoke as I remove the excess ash from the cigarette, I realise that this is the last time I’ll see the fluffy grey shapes dance around me; this time, they’ll disappear forever. It really sucks that I’m giving this up, but what’s sadder is that I’m not in any way traumatised by the situation or the cigarettes. My addiction is – essentially – why I ended up being kidnapped. If I hadn’t have needed the urge to smoke, I would’ve been able to have made it back to the UK with no trouble.

Then again, I wouldn’t have met the people here that I have done. Speaking of my workmates, Frankie is popping over later when Lisa is performing the game show – and the kids show and bingo; she’s basically doing everything tonight. That gives Frankie the time and the privacy to explain what she wanted to tell me earlier. The look on her face was unmistakable; I shivered once both females had walked away and left me with Frankie’s brother.

Bryon and I managed to brush off the warning earlier before I ended up almost throwing myself at Lisa as she walked past me again. Bryon managed to hold me off before informing me that hasn’t told Lisa that he’s leaving. In fact, Frankie is going to try and come back to the UK with us before Lisa goes ballistic and tries to stop them. By the sounds of it, her methods of stopping others isn’t by negotiating, but by silencing and killing them.

I never expected her to be so sadistic. Lisa, the woman who seemed so innocent and fun to be around now possesses the traits of prisoners in maximum security confinement. Whatever happens to be going through her mind is actually disturbing to think about; I put my trust in her and now she’s turning into a bloody psychopath! God knows what she’s said to the others in the past. No matter what, I will be leaving Turkey alive and I will be going back to the UK.

As I put the stick between my teeth, this rapping against my door is audible. Praying that it’s Frankie, I slowly creep towards the door; my footsteps barely make a noise against the floor. As I reach the little peeking hole, I crouch down and hope that they haven’t thought to look through the hole themself. My eye becomes level with the glass; I peer through and see the redhead that I hoped it would be instead of the blonde maniac that I’m trying to avoid. Bryon stands with Frankie, looking petrified.

My heart stops thudding as I pull back the heavy door and reveal myself to the siblings. “Come on in.” The statement is blunt and the two of them look emotionless as I pull back the door and allow them to intrude. They make their way over to where the two cushioned chairs are – these chairs are like the stools that people sit on to play piano, only much more comfortable. Throwing myself onto the bed, I see a pizza in Frankie’s hand and bag of sweets in Bryon’s arms. “So what’s happening? What’s Lisa been up to?” I ask them.

“Well,” Frankie says, looking at the younger boy next to her. Frankie opens the box, presenting the cheese pizza to us. “Believe it or not, Lisa isn’t a good person.” No shit, Frankie. “Yeah, that organisation that kidnapped you? She was also behind it. Does the name Vivian Moiré sound familiar to you?” The silence surrounds the three of us as I think of lovely Vivian from the training. Oh Vivian, the one who listened to our complaints and smothered us with kindness. How did I not notice before?

Vivian sits in front of me, holding her paper and pen. “Mr Hanniford, it’s time for your weekly rant.” She’s basically a therapist to me; she helps me deal with the social anxiety that I have suffered with in the past. “What do you wish to discuss this week? Absolutely anything; it’s all confidential, as you know.” Thinking about what’s bothering me, I bow my head and let my breath out.