The Water Tower - Books 4-5

Chapter 35-1

“And the angels who did not stay within

“And the angels who did not stay within“And the angels who did not stay withintheir own position of authority,

their own position of authority,their own position of authority,but left their proper dwelling,

but left their proper dwelling,but left their proper dwelling,he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness

he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darknesshe has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darknessuntil the judgment of the great day.”

until the judgment of the great day.”until the judgment of the great day.”(Jude 1:6, English Standard Version)

* * *

The world was a blur. Nothing made sense, and nothing ever would again.

“For…”

“For…”The meeting ended quickly after that. Around the horseshoe, Councillors and officials alike stacked their papers, collected their bags, and began to depart. Somewhere, deep within his subconscious, Adam registered the sound of Johnson’s voice bringing the curtain down on proceedings. “That concludes our business for tonight,” he said. “Thank you, Councillors. Have a safe journey home,” although Adam didn’t really process what he’d heard until much later.

Beside him, Jan launched herself to her feet, rushing to exit the room with her phone clamped to her ear. He half-heard her muttering the words “f**k… Kendall…” but he didn’t have the strength to respond.

Fuck… Kendall…”The room started to clear. He remained where he was for a long, lonely time; locked into his seat, watching Victoria, as if held in place by some unyielding, unrelenting force of nature. She was sitting, too, her face pale and her expression still harbouring the trace signs of blunt shock; as if she were trying to come to terms with her own actions. Then she stood, absorbing the stunned responses of her fellow Councillors around the table. They all had something to say; some were startled, others were delighted, a few were despondent. But she wasn’t listening; he saw where she was heading. Who she was walking towards.

All Adam knew in that painful, electric second was that he had to get out of the chamber before she rounded the desk and reached him.

He launched himself to his feet and walked – blindly and unthinkingly – out of the door. He caught sight of Hugo as he stood; both he and Elaine appeared crestfallen. Their faces were ashen. Herbert’s complexion was tinged with purple as he blustered like the bag of hot air he was, crying outrage and hollering across the emptying room about how Victoria had “killed her career – killed it – never mind the fact that the village will lynch her first!”

killedHe saw Vanessa too; staring coldly at the approaching Victoria, levelling her voice in an even, unforgiving tone that delivered two words which ricocheted through Adam’s brain as he grabbed the handle and heaved the chamber door open. “You – liar,” she said, her tone dripping with the unrepentant fuel of emotional poison.

liar“Adam!” Clarissa called as he passed. “Adam – wait! There’s something wr—”

But he was through the door. He was walking down the corridor and then he was in the foyer, in the midst of a mass of people who were united in disbelief and fury.

It had all happened so quickly; as soon as the vote had been taken and the result declared – that the Tower would fall – the meeting had been brought to a sudden and abrupt close. That’s how it always ends, isn’t it? When there’s no more to say, when the decision’s been made and they’ll brook no argument. There’s never anything else. Just the sound of a guillotine falling. And nothing beyond.

that the Tower would fallThat’s how it always ends, isn’t it? When there’s no more to say, when the decision’s been made and they’ll brook no argument. There’s never anything else.Just the sound of a guillotine falling. And nothing beyond.Everywhere he looked, there was blind anger. Clusters of people who, minutes earlier, had been spectators awaiting their chance to hail Victoria Kendall a hero were now stricken by disloyalty; lost in the wilderness of incredulity.

How did this happen? How did we lose?

How did this happen? How did we lose?“For…”

“For…”He couldn’t make out everything they were saying. He didn’t need to; he could see enough on their faces.

“—betrayed us!” someone said.

“—never forgive her for this.”

neverShe betrayed all of us, he thought. She betrayed me.

She betrayed all of us, She betrayed me.“For…”

“For…”Through the sea of noise, he was suddenly aware of a set of footsteps closing in behind him. He didn’t turn; he didn’t dare, in case it was her. And he couldn’t face her now.

A hand reached out and grabbed the elbow of his jacket, trying to stop him in his tracks. He spun on his heels and found himself looking down at Clarissa, an expression of desperation etched onto her face.

“Please, Adam – you need to talk to her,” she implored. “You need to find out wh—”

But he turned away, willing himself to blot out the sound of Clarissa’s voice as it faded behind him the closer he came to the exit.

“Adam!”

Adam!He didn’t know if she’d follow him, so he quickened his pace. Through the throng of people he travelled, where he could feel the shock still resonating, like waves amidst a rising tide of unforgiving resentment.

feelWhy, he asked himself? Over and over again, the question repeated like a drumbeat in his head that he was convinced would never go away.

WhyWhy did she do that? To us? To me?

Why did she do that? To us? To ?His senses were dulled. His mind was numb.

How can this have happened? Victoria… why?

How can this have happened?Victoria… why?He pushed his way through a knot of people. The world around him was just a grey miasma now. His vision tunnelled. There was nothing except the path he was cutting through the crowd; towards the inviting, open door and the cold night air that lay beyond. He needed to get away. He needed to escape. He needed to breathe.

breathe“For…”

“For…”“Addy, what the f**k is going on?” Jan Clifford broke away from a group of people she’d been engaged in conversation with and made towards him. His throat felt constricted, so he didn’t – he couldn’t – answer. He just shook his head, waved a hand to dismiss any prospect of conversation and walked on.

couldn’tThe cool breeze struck his senses as soon as the door opened. The night-time chill washed over him in a rush of sweet relief. He gulped in mouthfuls of fresh air as he raced on; emerging from beneath the stone portico, passing the Corinthian columns and galloping down the steps across Central Square to where Hilda and Madison were waiting.

“Adam – what in the world is happening? Someone told us – they said we’ve lost? That Victoria—”

happeningwe’ve lostVictoria“It’s true,” he answered, desperate to stem the flood of questions he knew would follow, none of which he could answer.

“She – she done this t’ us?” Madison said. “She – I thought she wus—”

Yeah, Mads. So did I.

Yeah, Mads. So did I.He wanted to run, but his legs felt like lead. He couldn’t think. The world around him was defined only by the fog that misted his mind. As he searched for his exit, he felt sure that he would never think clearly again.

All around him, as far as his eye could see, the mass of protestors were trying to come to terms with the news. The same, sharp, penetrating blade of shock had been thrust into the hearts and minds of each of them, twisting further and further beyond its point of entry, carrying with it the same, all-pervading sense of devastation that Adam had felt too. In the moment that she made her choice.

“For…”

“For…”In moment that she had plunged an ice-cold dagger into his chest. In the moment when his world had disintegrated; when the private haven he’d shared with her had shattered in the wake of a single, spoken word.

“For…”

“For…”In the moment that she had betrayed him.

There was a mounting sense of injustice weaving its way through the mass; he could feel it too. It wasn’t just that they’d lost; it was the unfairness of it. The unreasonableness of their new circumstance. The death of the deeply-held belief that their voices would be heard. The final dashing of their hopes that someone, somewhere would be listening. No one was.

“Adam,” he heard Hilda ask as he marched on through the Square, not even sure himself where he was headed, his friends at his heels, “what happened? Why would she—”

happenedThe sound of shattering glass tore through the night, heralded by the wail of a car alarm. They turned their heads in unison. Adam spotted the silhouettes of two figures racing away from the car park at the back of the Town Hall, twisting their necks as they ran, glancing back the way they’d come. They came skidding to a halt in Central Square as one of them spread his arms, yelling in the direction of the car park.

“Who’s laughing now, you fucker? How’d you like that?”

Distantly, Adam could see a stocky, suited figure that he recognised as Neil Marchant jabbing his key fob in the direction of one of the parked cars to silence the alarm. They’d caved in his windscreen; the jagged edges of the glass that still clung to its frame were just visible through the darkening night.

“What – what the hell have you done?” Marchant called. He looked shaken. Adam couldn’t blame him. From the corner of his eye, he registered the slowing movement of the crowd as more people turned to watch.

hell“You can pay for it with a few of them brown envelopes you’ve been taking!” the second figure yelled back.

“I’m calling the police!” Marchant shouted.

“f**k you!”

Then they were gone. The vandals sprinted away, disappearing into the inky blackness of the park that overlooked the Town Hall. There were murmurs, a low purr of sound that rose in pitch as the two figures – both young lads, Adam had gleaned from their voices, one of them dressed in a tracksuit – vanished. No one made to stop them.

He turned away from Neil Marchant, who was still agitating fruitlessly in their wake, but they were too far away now for anyone to intercept them. He looked at Madison, whose eyes followed the runaway figures as they leapt across a park bench before dissolving into the distance.

“You know them?” he asked.

She nodded. “Anthony,” she told him. “An’ Callum.”

“Who was the man with the car?” Hilda enquired.

“Neil Marchant,” Adam answered. Then, with a cynical smile, he added, “He was on our side. Imagine what they’ll do to someone who betrayed them.”

our sideHilda’s face slipped into a shawl of sympathy; the same comfort blanket of understanding that he’d known all his life, the one that he suspected would always be there, no matter how much he wrestled with the fact that he didn’t deserve it.