Blue at Midnight (6 page)

Chapter
13

After reading a novel about betrayal, love and revenge then listening to
the radio, night-time was upon us. Working in the dark had been a habit of mine
but after a while I’d strain my eyes, and give myself a nasty headache. That’s when
I decided to close my curtains and put on my desktop lamp, as I could never
relax in a brightly lit room. I noticed the old clock tower read eight o’clock.
Four hours in my room had gone by like a brisk wind.
 

Just as I was about
to pull across my velvety smooth, plum curtains, a dim light shining from the
top window of the old shoe factory caught my eye. Carefully, I leaned forward
but I wasn’t close enough to see. The ice cold glass was starting to blur from
the warmth of my breath. Impatiently I pushed my window open not realising how
far out I was, until a prickly cinnamon-coloured leaf slapped me in the face,
startling me. I looked down in shock to see a blurred version of the street.
Almost losing my balance I dug my hands into the window sill, quickly pushing
myself back, only to trip over my college bag, landing uncomfortably on the
floor. In panic I froze expecting my dad to run up the stairs and shout ‘what’s
going on?’ but luckily, nothing. He hadn’t heard anything. With a sigh of
relief I shoved my bag underneath my bed and got up to look at the speck of
light again, except it was gone.

I could have
sworn I saw a light, followed by a moving shadow. After much thinking I
convinced myself it was a cat because the thought of it being the shadow of a
man seemed a bit frightening. Especially after what Sonia had told me about the
dead body that had been found in that very same building! I wasn’t sure about
what I’d seen but if I kept going around and around like this in my mind I
would drive myself crazy, or crazier, according to Jenny.

Suddenly, a high
pitched ringtone startled me half to death. It was Sonia (I really needed to
calm down).
 

“Hello.”

“Hey,
how you doing?”
It was
always refreshing to hear her bubbly voice.

“I don’t know.
I’m a bit freaked out.” I couldn’t help it. I needed someone to give me
realistic reasons for the strange events that had occurred. Even though asking
Sonia, with her wild imagination, probably wasn’t the best idea, she was the
only one who wouldn’t judge me.

“Freaked out?
Why? What’s happened? It’s not that stupid Jenny.”

“No, no, it’s
nothing to do with her,” I interrupted. I could handle her, I thought.

“Then what is
it?”

“OK, this is
going to sound a bit crazy but I’m just telling you what I saw. I’m not making
any assumptions, I just need you to tell me what you think and be honest. If I
sound crazy just tell me OK?”

“Yeah, sure, you
haven’t witnessed a crime or something?”

“No,
nothing like that!
Seriously you need to take a break from those detective mysteries,” I
chuckled.
 

“Who?
Me? Nooooo, so what happened?”

“You know that
old shoe factory opposite my house?”

“The
one where they found the dead homeless person?”

“Yes that one,”
I hissed.

“Well last
night, I saw a shadow in there.”

“A
shadow?”

“Yeah, it was
moving then disappeared. I thought it was probably a cat.”

“Or a dog –
could even have been a donkey,” she giggled back.

“Listen, I
thought the same too until just now. I saw a light in the top window!”

“No
way!
You sure it was
a light?”

“Well it
couldn’t exactly be a magical donkey now could it?”

“When did you
see the light? Is it still there?”

“No, it went
suddenly. I don’t understand what this means.
Any ideas?”

“What time did
you see the shadow?”

“I don’t know
,
it was late, like past midnight.”

“A perfect time
to break in, don’t you think?
Especially into an empty
factory.”
I could hear the scratching of a pencil. Now I definitely had
her attention.

“So how about this:
imagine you’re a dodgy person, you break into an old factory when it’s dark so
no one would notice you and you need to keep a low profile so you keep the
lights off unless it gets too dark.”

 
“Yes and so you light a candle or even use a
dim lamp,” I responded.

“Which window
did you see the light from?”

“The top one,” I
said.

“That’s the
office and the shadow was on that floor too?”

“No, I saw the
shadow through the window below, second floor. Do you think he was making his
way upstairs and he passed the window on the second floor?”

“Yes...” Silence
intervened and I could tell she was putting the pieces together in her head.
What a relief it was to find out what I’d been thinking was normal and not an
over exaggeration. Finally things were starting to make sense. Just as I was
about to say something Sonia was back, with a much higher tone of voice.

“What I don’t
understand is why, out of all the places, would someone break into the old shoe
factory? I mean that’s where the dead body was found!”

“Maybe...” I
tried to explain that it could have been someone who didn’t know but Sonia was
thinking aloud.

“Unless, oh my
life! He is related to the murder somehow. Maybe he thought that he could come
back to check or collect something now that this whole murder investigation is
over.”

“Why would he
come back?”

“Curiosity.
It’s the easiest mistake to make especially when you
think everyone has forgotten or moved on and now he’s there!”

“So you’re
telling me a murderer or someone weird is living opposite my house?” The worst
thing was that the police had reported that the homeless person had died from a
stroke but Sonia and a few of the locals were convinced it was a murder yet I
never really knew what to believe.

“Yes, you might
have a killer living across from your house.” As quick as a spy I ran to draw
my curtains.
 

“So what shall I
do?” I screamed down the phone.

“Make sure your
doors are locked and your windows are closed. I’ll be at yours in twenty-six minutes!”

I couldn’t
believe this was happening. I’m glad she was coming to my house but was anxious
over what might be to come.
Quietly I tip-toed downstairs,
into the kitchen, to make some peppermint tea.
I needed to calm my
nerves.

Speaking
louder than usual meant that my dad was speaking on the phone, in the living
room.
Probably to Dr
Mathews but I couldn’t care less. I wasn’t going unless I wanted to. Personally
I thought I could never really be ready to talk about my personal life to a
complete stranger. What was even worse was the fact that my dad would have told
the therapist I attempted suicide regardless of what I had said. According to
him the first step to recovery would be admitting that I tried to end my life
and that I have a problem. The fact that my mother passed away last year would
become a contributing factor to this idea and I would then be helplessly
drowning in a sinking ship. Sadly my mother had spent many years suffering with
ill health and deep down I knew that she was losing the strength to fight. The
thought of her being able to finally rest in peace without suffering was what
helped me grieve.
 

Right now I knew
I had no choice but to sort this mess out myself.
 

“Sonia’s coming
to see me.” I shouted quickly, barely opening the living room door. Before my
dad had a chance to respond I’d already made my way upstairs.

Vibrations
flooded the driveway and unsurprisingly it was twenty-six minutes since I ended
my phone conversation to Sonia.

 
She sounded out of breath and I’d barely said
hello before telling her to follow me upstairs to avoid speaking to my dad.
After shutting the door it dawned on me why she was so out of breath.

Collapsed on the
floor and half rolled over was a camping rucksack almost the same size as
Sonia. Probably the same weight too.
 

“And why are you
dressed like a ninja?” I asked whilst desperately trying to hold back the urge
to laugh hysterically at the appearance of a short but slender girl wearing
shades, black gloves, slim-fit jeans and a ribbed top, accompanied by black
pumps. It was as if a piece of night itself had walked into my bedroom. This
was clearly a big deal as you had more chance of seeing an eclipse than Sonia
out in public without her high heels. Even her slippers had heels!

Maybe telling my
weird but wonderful friend what I’d seen was a bad idea after all.

“Isn’t this a
bit over the top?”

“Over
the top!
Izzie, you
don’t understand the danger you could be in! The danger we all might be
in!
 
Either he’s come back to kill again
or to secretly live in the old shoe factory, opposite your house!”

Sonia had
thought of all the possible reasons the stranger may have been here and out of
all ten possibilities only one of them didn’t involve danger. I couldn’t help
but wonder if she was right and whether ignoring what I had seen would be a big
mistake. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out but I certainly
wasn’t brave enough to attempt it.

“Why have your
brought a rucksack?” I felt almost too afraid to ask her about her plan as I
knew whatever she was going to say next was not going to be legal.

“Look we need to
find out what’s happening there. Who knows, we might even find a person that’s
in need of help. We could save someone’s life!”

“Why don’t we
just call the police? They can do all that for us and we can watch from here.”

“You really think
they’re going to take seeing a shadow and a dim light as sufficient evidence
for searching the place? Trust me they are too preoccupied with the rest of the
goings on in this area.” She did actually have a good point there. Who would
believe us? Especially with my reputation at the moment and one conversation
with Sonia would be enough for them to think we were both crazy. As petrified
as I was with the idea of breaking into a place, especially one where they
found a dead body, I couldn’t help but wonder whether there was someone in
there that needed help. We all need help when we are in real trouble, just as
someone helped me when I had drowned, even though I can’t remember exactly who
it was. Perhaps someone was being held prisoner or even injured with nowhere
else to go.
 

If I wasn’t
careful I’d get myself into deep trouble. I knew I needed to make decisions for
me not based on the fear of getting found out. I looked at Sonia seriously –
and she gave me the exact same look back.

“If we do this
no one can find out. We can’t leave any tracks. It’s got to be as if it never
happened.”

“I understand.
My lips are sealed. We’re both in this together.” Relieved by her loyalty I
started to change out of my red-and-black checked pyjamas.

“Here, I got you
a matching black top like mine. Put it over your tank top. It’s a bit cold out
there,” smiled Sonia.

Whilst I was
quickly slipping into a pair of black slim-fit jeans and black converse
trainers, Sonia was emptying some of the contents of her rucksack. Turned out
she’d packed for the both of us. Out rolled two mini torches, marbles, a black
pepper jar, 2 tennis rackets, a bottle of water, two black string bags, a towel
and a fashion magazine.
 

She then handed
me one of the string bags with a personal alarm to clip onto my jeans and a
pair of sunglasses.

“Why have you
got... actually leave it, so what’s the plan?” I didn’t have the energy to
question any more. I thought I’d just let her lead as she was clearly more
determined than me.

“Ok, it’s ten
p.m. We’ll have to wait for your dad to go to sleep before we leave.”

“But we can’t
make a sound, otherwise he’ll know and the whole thing will be over.”

One of my dad’s
house rules were that no one leaves after nine thirty at night as that’s when
the criminals come out and by being outside you were more likely to get
yourself into a bad situation. Explaining to my dad that I would not be out by
myself and that I would be travelling by car was pointless as he was not the
reasonable type. Therefore, it was critical that he didn’t find out. First I
had to pretend Sonia had left so that she could move her car and park on the
next street.

Chapter
14

Everyone would be gathering at savoc thought Christian as he sat at the
old wooden desk in the factory office. Even though there was a working lamp on
the desk, he didn’t like its light. Instead he’d been sitting there in the dark
for well over an hour, thinking about how complex the girl he’d saved was. She
seemed to be protected by a hard shell which guarded her vulnerability yet her
honesty and beauty managed to seep through. This was the last thing he expected
from a human and even though he felt more drawn towards her, a part of him was
hoping he’d seen proof of what the elders had taught him for all those years.
Evidence that humans were transparent, not deserving of the gift of life, not
appreciating the ground they walked on. Yet the truth was far from this, and
not so black and white.
 

Still there was
a chance he could return back to Orsa. No one would ever have known what
happened apart from Morbidma, who was forbidden to tell unless asked. Why would
anyone ask if they never knew? However, going back would go against every
impulse in his body. The question he couldn’t answer was whether he was ready
for what was to come if he stayed? This would start a war.

For the first
time he didn’t want to look out at the sea. Instead he decided to walk to the
front of the office where he glimpsed two shadowy figures, suspiciously running
out of the driveway of the house opposite. Why were they running towards this
building?

Avoiding the puddles lying in the holes of the damp ground, I found
myself almost skipping towards the old shoe factory. Sonia appeared to be
taking long leaps over as much of the ground as possible, clearly trying not to
get her pumps wet. Yet she remained as graceful as a fairy.

As we reached
the entrance Sonia started to push the front door. Worried about anyone seeing
us, I kept watch.

“What are you
doing? That door is locked,” I hissed impatiently.

“I can’t believe
it. He fixed the door.” She stepped back staring at it. Just then I heard a car
driving along the street and it was going to pass us any minute. Dressed the
way we were would raise suspicion, so I grabbed Sonia’s arm and dragged her
into a narrow alleyway at the side of the factory.

“Who fixed the
door?” Sonia asked.

 
“What are you talking about? There’s always
been a door there.”

“No, I know that
but the door was loose. I remember it used to swing back and forth.” This made
me a bit suspicious so I asked Sonia how she knew this. It turned out that her
ex-boyfriend used to be a part of some secret society. Apparently, the sessions
were held in this factory.

“They used to
prop a box against the door on the inside when they held the sessions and they’d
take everything with them, leaving the door open when they left. I know. Sounds
crazy – don’t ask.”

This proved that
someone was either living up there or hiding something, maybe even both.
Reality dawned on me; I was actually breaking into a building that had been
secured by a stranger or even a criminal. Whoever it was I didn’t want to get
on this person’s bad side.

“I guess we’re
just going to have to leave it. I mean this is illegal. We have to physically
break in.”

“Yes but don’t
you understand there could be someone else in there, needing our help, and the
only chance they have is us. What if there is a criminal in there who should be
in prison, not roaming around in the open amongst us or even little children.”

Even if she was
right it was not our job to do this.
 
I
reached into my back pocket and started to call the police. Suddenly, Sonia
leapt on me like a crazy cat, snatching my phone.

“Are you insane?
He’ll see the light off your screen. That’s the same as saying: here we are come
and kill us!”

“What else do
you expect me to do? This is too dangerous.” Tempted as I was to run across the
wet street and sneak back into my bedroom, I knew that I couldn’t leave my
friend. I needed to make a compromise so we decided that we would try and find
a window or a back door to sneak through and at the first sign of danger we’d
race out of there as quick as lightning.

Amongst the
rotting waste emitting the stench of cabbage in the forgotten alleyway sat a
large lonely bin. If we were actually going to do this successfully I needed to
be as focused and determined as Sonia. I pointed at the small smashed window
above the bin which I could easily climb up to, being taller. Using the
strength in my arms I pulled myself onto the bin and peered slowly through. The
window revealed a filthy boiler room. Carefully I put my hand through the
smashed window looking for the handle to open it, except it had been snapped
off. Great this was all I needed.

“Pass me the
towel,” I whispered. Now, I was impressed by Sonia’s packing except I still
couldn’t figure out why she thought she needed to bring a fashion magazine. I
covered my hand with the thick towel and used it to push the glass pieces that
were around the edge of the window frame out of the way. I then covered the
bottom of the frame with the towel.
 
Next
I knelt down to give Sonia a hand as she was too short to reach the top. She
was heavier than I thought, not that I would ever tell her that. Swiftly I
climbed through, relieved to see that the floor wasn’t far from the window.
Although the door to the boiler room wasn’t locked, I was petrified to see what
was on the other side.

Christian heard
the crunching of crushed glass from the back of the building. He hoped it
didn’t have anything to do with the strange looking figures that he’d seen,
making their way towards the factory. Either way it wasn’t anything that he
couldn’t handle so he ignored the sound, thinking if he heard something again
he’d pursue it.
 

Sonia stuck her
arm through the tiny gap in the doorway and took a picture with her camera.
Even though the flash was off, the light from the street lamps was shining in
so we could see that there wasn’t much in the room but a chair and an old
fireplace. Surprisingly the room was larger and tidier than I thought it would
be.

“Look how clean
the fireplace is. There’s even wood in it,” whispered Sonia. Slowly we started
to make our way up the stairs, which took us almost three times longer than it
had taken us to break in. Every time we heard a creak we froze waiting for a
response from the stranger.

Christian had
been sitting patiently in the office listening to every sound the strangers had
made. Casually he walked to the top of the spiral metal staircase and sat there
with a clear view of the second floor including the top of the staircase the
trespassers were walking up. He found their pace and whispering quite amusing
and realised that they were two curious and suspicious females. Next he saw a
skinny hand reaching out, holding a mobile phone. He knew all there was about
technological devices as they were constantly made aware of any progress the
human race was making. As he was sitting in the dark, he knew he wouldn’t
appear on the picture.

 
“It’s clear! Let’s go but
carefully,” I instructed.
 
Again there
was another room with a fireplace which must have been in use as it was warmer.

“I think this is
his living room. Look!
Candles.”
 
Sonia pointed at the small box of used
candles which were all different shades of blue.

“I think he
likes blue,” I smirked. Suddenly, we were interrupted by the sound of something
falling and rolling across the floor above us.

“Sonia, did you
hear that?”
 

“Ssshhh I can
hear tapping – someone is trapped!”

“Or chopping
something, maybe fingers,” I was desperately controlling the urge to scream and
run for my life when I heard a door slam followed by a loud thud at the top of
the stairs.

“Oh
no.
That’s the dead
body! It fell!” We both locked eyes and raced down the stairs like maniacs
without a care in the world for the amount of noise we were making. I missed
out the bottom two steps and leapt towards the front door which both of us
rushed to open. We could hear a man singing out of tune, followed by loud
footsteps that seemed to be skipping towards the staircase which led to this
floor. With an almighty fear pounding in our hearts we yanked the door back and
ran through the doorway, into the street. Screams escaped our mouths as we
finally gasped for air.

It felt like
we’d been running forever when we arrived at Sonia’s car. Quickly we jumped in.
Sonia locked the doors and fired up the engine before speeding off around the
block. We’d planned not to go back to my house straight away in case we were
followed.

“Oh my life, Izzie,
he had a dead body.” Panting and on the verge of a nervous breakdown I sat
there with my hand on my heart whilst listening to Sonia completely freak out.
I was doing the same thing but non-verbally.

“We are so lucky
to get out of there alive! We are never going back there!” I shouted. I made
Sonia promise. We agreed that we could find our answers from my bedroom window,
where it was safe and warm.

Silently, I
turned the keys in the front door and managed to sneak back to my bedroom. I’d
told Sonia to race off as soon as I got in and text me when she got home. It
was such a relief seeing closed curtains blocking the view of the frightening
factory, we had just left. I soaked in the warmth of the heating and the
softness of my ocean blue fleece blanket. What was even better was that my dad
didn’t even notice I’d sneaked out. I changed back into my black-and-red
checked pyjamas but
decided to wear a black
hooded jumper as I couldn’t shake off the chills.
 

Everything I had worn
and taken with me was shoved to the back of my wardrobe as I never wanted to be
reminded of that fearful moment again. Half an hour later I received a text
from Sonia telling me she was going to take a break from the detective
programmes. Also that she had emailed me the photographs she’d taken for us to
analyse and discuss, when we next met.