Prologue
The sidewalk winked in the moonlight as Alice Culler hurried up the lonely street. Her high heels click clacked in the quiet, frequently breaking rhythm. A result of all alcohol she consumed that might. The cold air was sharp, and her naked legs stung from the cold Christmas and New Year had been and gone, leaving a cold unimaginative void. Shop windows slid past, soaked in darkness. An Indian man sad inside, humped in the glow of his laptop, but didn’t noticed her as she walked by.
Alice was so fuelled by anger, she stopped and leant against a wall to catch her breath. Turning back she saw she’d come quiet far and was halfway up the hill. Panic climbed in Alice’s chest as she looked around. The houses were set back from the road, tucked behind tall hedges and iron gates. If she could reach the top of the hill she probably got a reception and screw it, she thought she would call her father’s driver. She buttoned up her little leather jacket, wrapped her arm over her chest and set off up the hill, the old iPhone still cradled in her hand like a phylactery.
Sound of a car engine rumbled behind and she turned her head, blinking unto the headlights, feeling even more exposed as the bright light played over her bare legs. Her hopes that it was a taxi were dashed when she saw that the roof of the car was low and there was no “for hire” sign. She turned away and carried on walking. The sound of the car engine grew louder, and then the highlights were on the top of her, a few more seconds passed but the lights were still on her. She could almost feel their heat. She glanced back and the car slowed and crawled along a few feet behind.
She felt furious when she realized whose car it was. With a flick of her long hair, she turned back and carried on walking. The windows were tinted black. A sound system boomed and fizzed making her car itch. She stopped. The car came to a second later and then reversed few feet back so the driver’s window now leveled with her. The sound fell silent.
Alice leaned over but only her face reflected back. She leant down and tried the door, but it was locked. She knocked on the window with the fold of her pink clutch bag and tried the door again.
“Either open the door or…. or …. “ She shouted
Alice tucked her bag under her arm, gave the tinted glass the finger and stalked away, climbed the last of the hill to its top. The sky was starless and the brown-orange cloud seemed that her arm might brush against it. The car slowly inched forward.
Fear began to trickle through Alice’s body. She took a breath and made to run across the road “catch me if you can” she murmured. She caught her foot on one of the thick tree roots bulging up under the sidewalk. She lost balance, her clutch bag and phone skidding away as her hip hit the corner. She fell down on the road.
She heard a door open and tried to get up but the road…..
She put out her arm expecting someone to help her up, but instead in a swift move, a leather gloved hand clamped over her nose and mouth. The other arm encircled her upper arms pining them against her body. She was yanked up, dragged swiftly to the rear door and slung inside. The car, landing lengthways on the back seat. Alice lay in shock, not quite comprehending what had just happened.
What the f**k are you doing? She shouted I’ll scream, you know how loud I can scream!
Something hard and heavy came down on the back of her head and then everything went black. The road remained silent and empty as the first specks of snow began to fall, twirling lazily to meet the ground. The car sleek with its tinted windows pulled away almost soundlessly and slid off into the light.
