Illyria V1.0

#1
Alright here's a novella I've been working on. It's only a first draft and it's my first serious attempt at writing so it's not perfect but here it is so enjoy.
 
#2
Illyria

By

Scott Alexander Davis​



Wesley awoke to the sound of Illyria barking. He shuffled out of bed and reached for his cigarettes, he lit one and inhaled deeply. ‘Alright, alright I’m coming’ he said and reached for his glasses. He put them on and went to the bedroom door. He opened it and saw Illyria sitting in front of him, wagging her tail with delight at the start of a new day. Bark. ‘Mail huh?’ Wesley said then went downstairs and collected the mail at the foot of the door. He walked towards the kitchen, cigarette clamped between his teeth leaving a trail of smoke behind. He stubbed his cigarette out on the ash tray on the table and sat down and looked through his mail with disinterest.



Junk

Junk

Postcard that was meant for next door.

Bill

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So all junk why am I not surprised he thought to himself. Illyria sniffed at her bowl then barked. Wesley looked down and saw that it was empty. ‘You know if you keep eating like this you’re gonna get fat’ Wesley said and stood up and went to the cupboard to get some dog food for Illyria. He filled her bowl with a tin of dog meat, although he often wondered how much meat and what kind of meat there was actually in it, after awhile he decided it was probably best not to know. Illyria sniffed at her bowl for a second, unsure of its content then decided to eat it anyway. Wesley put the empty tin in the bin then washed his hands. He looked through his fridge and found some ham and decided to make a sandwich. He eat peacefully at the kitchen table and wondered what the day would bring him.



Afterwards he went back up stairs and took a long shower. Afterwards he dried off and got dressed for work. He worked at a library in the west end. He had taken the job after he was let go from his previous. He had only meant it to be temporary but it turned out to be permanent. That did not matter though Wesley enjoyed his work and most of all the silence that came from working in a library.



He went downstairs and took Illyria’s leash off the hook by the front door. ‘Come on girl time for your walk’ he said. Illyria rushed through the kitchen door towards him in a hurry. She sat in front of him wagging her tail patiently. He clipped on hear leash then opened the door. ‘Alright girl let’s go’ he said and started outside.



Wesley walked over to his neighbours and slid the postcard through the door. Illyria was getting impatient now and started barking. ‘Alright let’s go.’ Wesley said and started for the park across the road. He sat on a bench overlooking a steep hill. It had been snowing heavily for the past week and gave the place a winter wonderland feel to it. Wesley let Illyria off the leash to go do her own thing while he sat and lit himself a smoke. He smoked it down to the filter and then stubbed it out. He looked around and saw Illyria attempting to chase some birds, and failing at doing so. He let out a sigh then stretched out his legs. They felt stiff and weak. I’m really going to have to start working out again Wesley thought to himself. He stood up and called Illyria back. She came running right away and was carrying a ball in her mouth. She dropped it at Wesley’s feet and looked up at him in hope that he would play fetch. ‘Not got the time right now girl, we’ll play fetch later’ he said and clipped Illyria’s leash back on and started back home. As he crossed the street he noticed an unusual white van parked not far down the street. He saw that it belonged to a company called Wolfram and Hart. He saw a tall bald man sitting in the front seat looking at the houses on the street. Well he’s probably an electrician or something, stop being so paranoid.



Around mid-day Wesley went to work at his office, he worked as a librarian for the local university. He arrived and was greeted by his assistant. ‘Hello Mr. Pryce, can I get anything for you?’ his assistant Rupert asked as he sat down at his desk. ‘No thank you’ Wesley said and began running through his files to see when the next orders of books were due. He worked till around 6pm, cataloguing, approving book loans, ordering more up to date books etc. Once he was finished he walked down the fiction isle examining books, he had a passion for reading which was one of the reasons why he had taken the job and not a higher paid salary as an office worker or the like. He saw a young woman eyeing up a Shirley Jackson novel, ‘can I help you with anything?’ he asked. The woman didn’t seem to notice his approach and was startled by the the sound of his voice. She turned and met his gaze and loosened up a little as she saw who it was. ‘No it’s alright, I was considering taking out this book, the haunting of hill house by Shirley Jackson, have you read it?’ she replied and showed him the book. Wesley nodded and told her that it was a great novel, but would be best for her not to read it at night if she was easily scared. The woman chuckled and said that she had more things to be scared of than books. Wesley smiled at this, he was instantly taken to her and wanted to continue talking to her. ‘Well let me take that book and stamp it out for you then’ he said and took the book and walked over to the receptionist desk with it. He stamped and dated the book and handed it over to the young woman. ‘Well here you go, may I ask what your name is?’ Wesley said as he handed the book back to her. ‘My name is Anne Callahan’ the young woman replied and smiled. Wesley nodded in approval. ‘Well take good care of the book Anne, be sure to bring it back in 2 weeks or else they’ll have to be a fine’. Anne let out a giggle and bid Wesley farewell and left. Wesley decided to go home; Illyria would be getting hungry soon, so he left the fort to his assistant.



He got home around 8pm. Illyria was waiting at the door, wagging her tail with excitement. As soon as she got the chance she jumped up and greeted Wesley with a series of barks and licks. ‘Easy girl, I know you missed me’ he said and patted her on the head. Illyria immediately went over to her bowl and barked. ‘I know you’re hungry as well’ Wesley said and started towards the kitchen. He poured Illyria some dog biscuits then made a sandwich for him and eat it while reading an article about sex trafficking in Sweden. After her was finished he stood up and went to the front door. ‘Illyria, walkies!’ he called. Illyria came bolting through the living room and up to the front door and sat there wagging her tail. Wesley put her on her leash and took her across the road to the park. It was getting towards dusk and the park looked good in the fading light. He lived in a good part of town where there wasn’t much crime besides the occasional fight between a couple a few houses down or a little litter. He sat on a bench and lit a cigarette while Illyria chased around some pigeons. He sat there, enjoying his smoke and thought about what he should do for his upcoming holiday next month. Could go see Toni for a bit down south he thought to himself. Toni was an old friend who Wesley cared about a lot, they had spent a good few years together getting into trouble and getting high as a kite while listening to glam rock from the 80’s. He quickly dismissed this idea, knowing that Toni would most likely be busy in December, the busiest time of year for a person in the sales industry. Well I could go up north and visit.... who? He thought, he realised he did not know anyone up north and laughed a little. Well I’m sure I’ll find something to do he thought then stubbed out his cigarette.



A couple of days later he was in waterstones browsing for a new book to buy. He ended up buying the Millennium trilogy, The Fog by James Herbert, Pet Sematary by Stephen King and a collection of H.P Lovecraft’s work. After his purchase he returned home, Illyria pleased to see him as always. He prepared dinner for himself and gave Illyria the scraps. He sat down in his study and began to read through his new books. It wasn’t until later when he heard a knock at the door that he stopped reading. He went down stairs and stood by the door asking who it was. ‘It’s Rooker’ a voice said at the other side of the door. Wesley let his guard down and opened the door. ‘Sorry about that I wasn’t expecting you’ Wesley said and motioned for Rooker to come inside. Rooker did and headed towards the living room, Illyria followed him, wagging her tail with joy at the visitor. ‘So what’s it going to be today?’ Wesley asked as he entered the living room and sat across from Rooker. ‘well I was hoping we could go get some beers and get bloody pished out of our heads.... if you’re not too busy of course’ Rooker said and then chuckled. Wesley grinned and nodded. Rooker was a friend he made back when he was in the security industry, they had both worked together long nights doing rounds and keeping buildings safe. ‘Alright then let’s go’ Rooker said and they both got up and started towards the door. Illyria followed, hoping to coming along. ‘No Illyria you stay here and watch the house, I won’t be too long’ Wesley said and locked the door behind him.



They headed too rays pool hall where they started off on buds then gradually moved onto stronger stuff. They played a little pool, Wesley winning 3-1 much too Rooker’s dismay. ‘You son of a bitch only if your mother was as good in bed as you are at pool’ Rooker said and chuckled as he went to get the next round in. Wesley laughed and started stacking up the balls for the next game. Rooker returned with 4 shots of absinthe. ‘Bottoms up’ he said and downed 2 in a row then startled to lose his balance. ‘you always were a lightweight Rooker’ Wesley said and laughed then took his 2 and started to feel a little like he was on a ship in a storm. An hour later they parted; Rooker got a cab home unable to walk far without falling on his ass.

Wesley got home and stumbled up the steps of the porch, he reached into his pocket, fishing out his keys which turned out to e as difficult as on e of those carnival games where you had to get your prize with a claw. He fumbled the keys out of his pocket and was about to put them in when he noticed that the door was ajar. You got to be fucking kidding he thought to himself. He pushed the door open slowly and stepped inside; he noticed that the lock on the door had been pried open, most likely with a crowbar. He listened closely to see if there was anyone else in the house. He heard nothing. This worried him greatly, Illyria should have been barking like mad. If they hurt her I’ll kill them he thought to himself and started moving through the house. He found that he had been robbed; his TV and laptop were gone along with other items. He could not see or hear Illyria anyway. He called on her but she did not come. Wesley then moved towards the phone and dialled 999 and asked for the police.



The police arrived quickly as Wesley was looking through the rest of the house to see if anything was missing, a few bits and bobs and finally enough the first aid kit which he kept on top of the bathroom cabinet was gone. The police questioned him about what was missing, where he was, did he know who could have done it etc. Wesley answered carefully and accurately, he then asked what he should do about his dog, whether she was taken or not. The officer who was taking down the information considered this for a second then shook his head, ‘it’s unlikely dog napping isn’t exactly a large business, especially with a common breed, my guess is that Illyria bit one of the robbers, who then went to get the first aid kit which you mentioned was stolen and afterwards chased them as they fled with the stuff they stole, my guess is your dog is fine and will probably come home soon but maybe you should put up some lost dog posters just in case the dog ended up chasing them farther than she knows’. Wesley considered this and nodded it seemed like a logical explanation to him. ‘Thank you officer’ Wesley said showing him to the door, which luckily Wesley himself could install a new lock into before the night was threw. ‘no problem sir that’s what we’re here for, I’m not sure if we can catch who stole your stuff but I’m sure your dog will turn up fine’ the officer said then left. Wesley closed the door then went into the cupboard and took out his tool box, he installed a new lock in half an hour, a leftover from his previous career afterwards he ran a shower then got into bed, he could not sleep and was thinking about whether Illyria was o.k.



After Wesley left Illyria had went onto the couch and slept awhile. She awoke to some people talking and toddled towards the door. Before she could bark the door was broken into and 2 men entered, she growled at them and went and bit the first ones leg. The man she bit shouted something she couldn’t make out then gave her a kick sending her backwards. The second man seemed to move around the house taking objects of Wesley. The first man looked at his leg and cursed then went upstairs, Illyria was hurt but not too bad and followed him upstairs as fast as she could, she saw the man enter the bathroom and take down the first aid kit on top of the cabinet. She growled at him and let off a large serious of barks. The man looked frightened then Illyria jumped up and bit his arm that he was using to shield his face. Illyria held onto the man’s arm tightly, drawing blood and getting a copper taste in her mouth in the process. the man hit her on the nose making her lose her grip and then the man fled down the stairs, the second man was waiting by the door for him , shouting at him too hurry the hell up. The first man ran with a limp out the door. Illyria caught up as fast as she could and chased the men into a car; she clawed and scratched furiously at the window. Both men looking scared shitless, they started the car and drove off, Illyria in great anger followed them as fast as she could. She ran pretty well and managed to keep up with the car for awhile before it sped out of her sight. She was feeling great pain now in her body; she looked around an empty street and didn’t recognise it. She walked over to a dark alley and laid down beside a stack of newspapers, she rested for awhile and then fell asleep.



Lilah woke up at around 07:00; she got into the shower and washed, made breakfast. She at the table and drank a cup of coffee while looking over the mail, nothing of interest in it. She got up and put her cup in the sink and rinsed it. She stopped and looked at the bin, overflowing with rubbish; she sighed then bagged it and took it downstairs. She went out into the alley and placed the bag in the trash can. She noticed there was something moving beside a stack of papers beside the bin, she carefully moved the papers aside, being cautious of any rats that might be lurking. She discovered a dog beneath the papers. ‘Oh you poor thing’ she said and kneeled down besides the dog. It looked badly hurt to her so she decided to take it inside. Once she had the dog lying on her couch she examined it and noticed that she had cut her paw. Lilah quickly went to her bathroom cabinet and got some bandages. She bandaged the dog’s paw, the poor little thing whimpering in pain, and then petted her. She looked for a collar and dog tag but could see none and came to the conclusion that the dog might be a stray. Just like me she thought and sighed. She got up and the dog looked at her wearily. ‘Don’t worry you; I’m just going out for a bit to the shops I’ll be back soon... I’ll bring you back a doggie treat how does that sound?’ Lilah said and looked at the dog who attempted to wag her tail but gave up. What am I doing she thought, I should just call the rspca or something but still I couldn’t bear to think of the poor thing in a cage all alone it’s not a nice experience...

She went down stairs, avoiding the upcoming behemoth that was Mrs. Dudley, and exited the building.



Wesley woke up later than expected. He expected to be woken up by Illyria as usual but since she was no longer here he woke up feeling down. He ran a shower then went downstairs and made some breakfast. After a little while he decided he couldn’t just sit there doing nothing and decided to make some missing pet posters. He booted up his desktop and went to work. About half an hour later he finished the poster and printed of 25 copies. He stacked them at the side of the table and looked at them. I hope these work he thought to himself then shut down his laptop. He took the posters downstairs with him and went outside to put them up. He visited the local newsagents, off license and bus shelter and put them up, the rest he put on some car windshields. Should have more he thought to himself then began to cry a little then started back home.



Lilah got home around mid-day. She opened the front door to find Illyria sitting at the door, expecting her it seemed. ‘Hey girl how you feeling?’ Lilah said as she went to the kitchen, Illyria slowly following, and put her shopping bags on the kitchen table. She took out a new bowl she bought from the pet shop and a tin of dog food. She turned and looked down at Illyria who sat beside her looking up. ‘Poor thing let’s get you something to eat’ she said and sat the bowl down and emptied the whole tin into it. Illyria sniffed at the bowl for a second then started to wolf the food down like she hadn’t eaten in ages. Lilah watched and felt sad for her, she knelt down and petted Illyria as she eat, Illyria turned around and licked Lilah’s face happily. ‘Easy girl I know you’re grateful’ She said and rose up and wiped her face with a cloth by the sink. The phone began to ring, Lilah froze and looked at it, sweat dripping from her brow. Illyria stopped eating for a moment and turned and looked at Lilah before proceeding back to her meal. Lilah walked over to the phone and picked it up. She didn’t say anything, only listening to see who it was. ‘Lilah this is Nicole, it’s been awhile thought I’d check up on how you’re doing Hun’, Lilah let a sigh of relief and said she was fine but had to go. She set down the phone and looked at Illyria, the bowl was now spotless, ‘that was a close one girl wasn’t it?’ she said then went to the window and looked outside. She had the sudden feeling that she was unsafe here and that he may be in town.

2 weeks had passed and Wesley had still not found Illyria. He was in the library stacking books, some new novels by Stephen Leather, and then went to the front desk. He sat there typing up a report when a young woman came to the desk. ‘Hey I have some books to return’ the young lady said. Wesley looked up at the young woman, feeling a faint sense of recognition then it came to him.
 
#3
‘Ah hello Anne, glad too see you brought my books’

‘Yup I told you I would’

‘How did you like the haunting of hill house?’ Wesley said as he took the books and put them in a pile next to him

‘Couldn’t finish it to be honest, was just too scary’ she said and blushed in embarrassment.

‘Yes it is pretty scary but it’s still a good book’ he said and gave her a smile. Anne looked at him for a second and then asked if something was wrong. ‘Wrong?’ Wesley said. ‘Yeah you look upset about something, you want to talk about it?’ she said and gave him a warm smile.

Wesley looked at her for a moment then sighed. ‘Well I was robbed a couple of weeks ago and my dog has been missing since then, been worried about her a lot’ Wesley said and looked down at his paper work, wondering what had happened to Illyria.

‘Awww I’m sure she’s alright, did you make any missing pet posters?’

‘Yeah a few, posted them up around my area but haven’t heard anything back yet’

‘Alright well do you have one with you? If so give me it and I’ll keep an eye out for your dog and show it too my friends, we’ll find her I’m sure’ Anne said and laid her hand on Wesley’s shoulder. Wesley nodded and gave her the last poster. Anne stared at it for a few seconds then said what a nice dog Illyria looked like. ‘Thanks’ Wesley said, offering her a genuine smile. ‘No problem, well I’ll be off I have classes, don’t worry about Illyria I’ll find her trust me. Anne said and gave Wesley a Wink then went on her way. Wesley sat there for a moment, thinking about Illyria and then went back to work.



Wesley got home and raided the fridge for a beer. He sat down on his couch and lit a cigarette and drank his beer. He flicked through his contacts on his mobile until he came across Matheson. He pressed dial and listened to it ring. A voice appeared at the end, ‘hey Wesley it’s been awhile, how you been?’

‘Alright I guess, well was robbed a couple of weeks ago and my dog’s missing though’

‘Damn that sucks anything I can do for you mate?’

‘Yeah there is, can you stop by tomorrow with that package I left you... you know the one’

‘Sure thing but what you going to do with it?’

‘I dunno just go through it, for old time’s sake you know’

‘Alright well I’ll drop it off tomorrow night, how’s that?

‘That’s fine thanks; I hope you’ve been taking good care of it’

‘Of course, the stuff costs a lot’

‘Good, well I got to go now but I’ll see you tomorrow, I’ll have some beers for you as well’

‘You got yourself a deal’

Wesley hung up and stubbed out his smoke then finished off his beer. He remembered that he left the package with Matheson after he was fired from his old job at a security company. Now there’s something to think about, damned asshole.



Outside Lilah’s building, under the cover of darkness, a man stood. He looked up at the windows, scanning them to see which floor she lived on. He had beaten a friend of hers within an inch of her life to get the information about where she lived.



He had showed up at Darla’s house and kicked in the door, the sound of splintering wood made him feel powerful. He walked down the hall and as Darla came out of the kitchen he hit her in the throat, probably not the best move when you want someone to talk he had thought to himself, but he’ll have some fun first. Darla staggered backwards clutching her throat, turning around towards the wall where the knife rack was. ‘Oh no you don’t deary’ He said and grabbed her amber hair backwards and threw her to the ground. He looked down at her and grinned. He spat on her face then punched her in the face. He heard a cracking noise and saw that he had broken her nose. He was full of glee as he watched the blood run down her face and onto the floor. ‘What do you want?’ she croaked, still clutching her sore throat. ‘You know what I want’ he said and kicked her ribs, another cracking noise and a scream made him feel ecstasy. ‘Now if you tell me I won’t hurt you, well that’s a lie I am going to hurt you but how much depends on you’ he said and grinned. Darla looked up at him, shaking and in a horrible amount of pain. She shook her head. He sighed and kicked her in the ribs. She tried to scream but was now out of breath. Upstairs a child was crying. ‘Well if you’re not going to tell me I’m going to have to get real nasty he said and turned away. Darla realising what he might do tried to grab his ankle and missed, he walked out the kitchen and went upstairs. She lay there for what seemed like forever before he returned with her little Dawn in his arms. ‘Hush little baby don’t say a word, and never mind that noise you heard’ he said in a quiet voice to Dawn. He looked at Darla laying there on the floor. ‘Now If you don’t tell me where she is right now you’re little princess is going to have an accident’ he said and walked over to the oven and switched it on. Darla tried to scream for him to stop but could only manage a whimper. She looked up at him and nodded. He grinned and put the baby Dawn on the kitchen counter. He knelt down beside her and listened to what she had to say carefully. Once she divulged everything he wanted to know he went back over to Dawn and picked her up. ‘Thank you for telling me what I needed to know but I’m afraid It’s not enough, you see you took something that I loved away from me and now I must take something you love away from you’ he said and then got a knife from the magnetic knife rack. Darla watched in horror as she saw him repeatedly stab her child, watching the blood on it and listening to her daughters screams, unable to help her. After he was finished he walked back over to Darla who was trying to scream, tears flowing like a river from her eyes. ‘Hush now’ he said and descended upon her, undoing his belt and jeans as he went. It was all over 5 minutes later. He wasn’t sure what had happened to Darla, only that she had stopped breathing at some point during his fun. He got up and kicked her in the face. ‘What a bloody mess, but that’s what you get when you take what doesn’t belong to you you BITCH!’ he said then left.



Now he stood outside Lilah’s building, waiting. He decided he should go back to the hotel and come back in the morning to see if he could find her then. He walked away, remembering Darla and smiled to himself.



Lilah woke up the next day and found Illyria sitting at the foot of her bed. ‘Well you’re up early’ she said and smiled. She got up and dressed then took Illyria across the road to the park. She watched Illyria sniff some dogs and attempt to chase birds but failing. She’s still not completely better but she’s getting there she thought to herself. She called Illyria over and patted her then took her home.



She went to work and left Illyria by herself. Illyria sat at the door and gave a bark goodbye before turning her attention to sniffing around. After awhile she gave up her sniffing expedition and decided to lie down. She slept for a little while but was woken up people shouting outside the front door. She heard a man and a woman argue about something but couldn’t make out what. She let out a bark to tell them both to shut up but they would not. She then went back to Lilah’s bedroom and slept.

Frank entered the apartment building and began looking at the names on the doors. He knew that she wouldn’t be stupid enough to use her own name, although he hoped so it would make his job easier, but checked anyway. He walked up a flight of stairs and was confronted by a large woman. He stopped and stared at her. ‘Well move!’ the woman said and motioned her hand at him at the same time. ‘Try losing some weight first dear I think you’re interfering with the earth’s gravity.’ Frank said coldly. The large woman started shouting at frank about a lot of things then, if they had been alone and at night he would have given her a lesson. He heard barking coming from the door next to him, the large woman who said she should be addressed to as Mrs. Dudley went on and on. Frank began to get a headache and decided to leave. He had not found out which apartment was Lilah’s but he could rule out the one he saw Mrs. Dudley come out of and the one across, knowing that Lilah didn’t have a dog.



He decided to wait outside across the street for her to appear and when she does well that would be something. He waited.



Lilah headed to the coffee shop after work, she needed a dose of caffeine after dealing with a rather unpleasant customer, and she ordered her coffee then sat by the window looking outside. ‘Hey Lilah!’ a voice said and she turned around. It was Anne, one of the few friends she has. ‘Hey girl come sit down’ she said and gave Anne a smile. Anne sat down and they both talked about what was going on in each other’s lives. After awhile and after a few more coffee’s they decided to part. Lilah was just out the door when Anne mentioned that she hadn’t been to see Lilah’s home yet. Lilah considered this for a moment then decided it should be alright for Anne to come; after all she had no ties with the life she left behind. ‘Alright girl well let’s go, I got a bottle of wine we can have and some Patrick Swayze DVDs we can watch’ Lilah said and gave Anne a thumbs up. Anne returned the thumbs up and they both burst out laughing.

Frank was getting tired of waiting now. He had been standing there for hours, getting a few suspicious looks from people walking by in the process, and still he had not seen Lilah. He was about to give up and go back to the hotel when he caught a glimpse of purple hair from across the road. He recognised the owner, Lilah. He started to cross the street when he noticed that she was not alone, she was being accompanied by another girl, younger than Lilah. He stopped and clenched his fists. He wanted that bitch alone! He needed to teach her a lesson because he loved her and cared for her and wanted to hurt her because deep down he knew that that was what she needed. He stopped and watched her and her companion enter the building; she had not seen him which was good. He considered stealthily following them to see which apartment she lived in but disregarded the idea quickly, for one thing he might be seen and secondly that fat bitch might see him and start shouting, brining unwanted attention on him. Well I’ll just wait for her friend to leave, and then have a nice little chat with her like I did with Darla he thought and grinned.



Lilah fumbled the keys out of her purse then unlocked the door and invited Anne in. Anne looked around and nodded to Lilah with approval. All of a sudden a dog pounced up and greeted Anne almost knocking her to her feet. ‘Whoa down boy’ Anne said and patted the dog. ‘Girl’ Lilah corrected and closed the door. ‘My mistake, who’s a good girl?’ Anne said and petted Illyria, who was always happy to meet new people. ‘You never told me you got yourself a dog’ Anne said then sat on the couch. ‘Well I didn’t really; I found her outside and hurt. She didn’t seem to have an owner so I took her in’ Lilah said while getting a bottle of wine out of the fridge and a couple of glasses.’Oh I see’ Anne remarked and watched Illyria. Lilah sat next to Anne and poured them both a glass of wine and made a toast. ‘So does she have a name?’ Anne asked and sipped her drink. ‘Mmmm yeah her collar has the name Illyria on it, I’m not sure if that’s her name or just the companies name that made the collar but she seems to respond to it.’ Lilah said and took a sip of her own. ‘Illyria’ Anne said and had a feeling that she had heard that name before somewhere, recently at that but she couldn’t put her finger on where.



Illyria sat and watched them both talking, occasionally rubbing up to Lilah to be petted. She then went to her bowl and saw that it was empty and let out a small bark to let Lilah know. ‘Oops she needs fed’ Lilah said and got up and started to the kitchen. As she was feeding Illyria Anne tried to remember where she had heard that name before. She couldn’t remember then went into her bag to find her cigarettes. Then she found it, it was the librarians missing pet poster, she looked at it for a second and realised that the dog in the poster and the one in the kitchen were the same. ‘Lilah come here quick’ Anne said and sat the poster down on the coffee table in front of her. ‘Yeah what is it?’ Lilah said and sat back down next to her, Illyria was still in the kitchen eating away. Anne pointed to the poster and Lilah picked it up and began to read. Once she had finished she placed it back down and sighed. ‘Well I guess that explains what happened to Illyria then’ she said and took a drink. Anne nodded then told Lilah about the librarian at the university and the poster. ‘Ahhh I see well I better call him and let him know I have his dog then’ Lilah said with a touch of regret in her voice, she had grown attached to Illyria the past couple of weeks. ‘Better leave it to later he’ll still be at work, hell I should still be but I decided to take the day off’ Anne said. ‘Alright well I’ll call the number later, meanwhile how about we watch Ghost?’ Lilah said and gave Anne a warm smile. ‘Way ahead of you’ Anne said and got up and began looking for the DVD.



Wesley was sitting in his room when he heard the doorbell ring. He went downstairs in a hurry and opened the door. ‘Hey Matheson’ he said and invited him in. Matheson was carrying a medium sized brown cardboard box that looked old and scruffy. They walked into the living room and Matheson placed the box on the table. He turned and looked at Wesley. ‘I hope you’re not going to start any shit with this’ he said and nodded at the box, ‘I know it’s almost around that time but something’s are best left alone’ he continued. Wesley sighed and offered him a beer, he accepted and they both sat on the couch and drank. They discussed how life was treating them so far, both knowing that talking about the contents of the box were best left alone. After awhile and a few more beers Matheson left, a little tipsy, and started back home. Wesley sat on the couch looking at the box, eventually he decided to open it. He looked inside and began to cry. He took out a small teddy bear holding a heart and held it to his face and smelled it. The smell was nostalgic. ‘God Becky it’s been too long’ he said aloud then placed the bear to the side. Next he took out some old photographs. In them he was standing beside a young girl and holding her tightly. He dropped the photograph to the table and began to weep. He went through the rest of the items slowly, an old envelope, a cinema ticket stub and other trivial things. Finally at the bottom of the box he found a small box for a ring. He held it in his hand but dared not open it. He clutched it tightly and placed it on the table carefully. He then quickly fell asleep and dreamt about something that happened long ago.



He was driving towards town to pick up Becky from work. She was working as an editor for a small newspaper, much to Wesley’s pride. He stopped at the traffic lights and fished the small box out of his pocket to see if it was still there. He found it and opened it. Inside was an engagement ring. He smiled and closed the box and put it back in his pocket. He knew that he was going to propose to her tonight, still not sure how he would but he knew that tonight was the night. The lights turned to green and he drove on. He stopped outside the newspaper office where Becky was waiting for him. She climbed in the car and kissed him passionately. He drove on towards the restraunt where he had booked a table for 2 and they both discussed how their day was. Hours passed and they were both sitting at their table, meals finished and discussing their future over a bottle of wine. Wesley grew nervous he thought that maybe he should propose to her now, just get down on one knee and do it. He did not. Instead he smiled at her and then kissed her. Afterwards they were driving home. Wesley was driving quickly to get home before it got too dark. Becky had asked him something but did not hear her; he turned his head to ask her what she had said. The moment he took his eyes off the road a white van came around the corner and crashed into the car at 40mph. Wesley was knocked out, his head bleeding. When he came to a few minutes later he turned to Becky and asked if she was alright. No answer. He gently shook her shoulder but got no reaction. He began screaming her name and checked her pulse but could not find one. He screamed and howled clutching her tightly. He had lost the only person he ever truly loved.



He awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. He got up and answered it, wiping faint tears from his eyes as he did. ‘Hello?’ Wesley said and waited to see who was calling him at this time of night. ‘Hello is this Wesley?’ a voice on the other end spoke.

‘Yeah this is Wesley, can I ask who’s calling and why?’

‘My name is Lilah, I’m phoning because I found your dog Illyria’. Wesley perked up instantly at the sound of his dog’s name. ‘Really?!’ he said with excitement in his voice. ‘Yeah I’m a friend of Anne’s and she showed me the missing poster you had made, I actually found her a couple of weeks ago and took good care of her, she was a little hurt but she’s all good now’ Lilah said and then went into more detail about how she had taken care of Illyria. ‘Thank you so much! When can I come pick her up?’ Wesley said and lit himself a cigarette. ‘Ummm well I’m free anytime tomorrow, do you know Bachman Park? We could meet there at around 11:00?’.
 
#4
‘Sure that would be great I’ll be there, thank you again and thank Anne for me I owe you both a lot.’ Wesley said and smiled. He hung up the phone and then stubbed out his cigarette. He thought about how glad he knew that he’d get Illyria back tomorrow. He looked at the items on the table on front of him and his heart sunk for a moment. He picked up all the items and placed them in the box carefully then re-sealed it. He took it down into the basement and left it on a shelf. He didn’t feel right leaving it there but he knew that it wasn’t the time to bring up those memories right now. He went back upstairs and slept peacefully for the rest of the night.



Wesley arrived at the park at 10:45, he wanted to be early. The snow was thick on the ground now and children were having snowball fights and building snowmen. Wesley sat on a bench near the old stone bridge that went over a large pond which was now frozen. A woman was shouting at her son to get off the ice in case it were to break, this reminded him of a scene in The Dead Zone where Christopher Walken tried to convince a man not to let his son go play ice hockey because “THE ICE IS GONNA BREAK!â€. He looked at his watch it was now 11:00. He looked around to see if Lilah had shown up with Illyria but could not see her; she had said that she’d be wearing a pink woolly hat. He sat there and waited. Eventually he saw a woman in a pink woolly hat come across the bridge, she was holding a dog’s leash. He stood up and saw that it was Illyria. Illyria saw him and pulled herself free of Lilah’s grip and ran towards Wesley. She pounced on top of him, knocking him to the ground and began to lick his face with joy. ‘Easy there girl, I know I missed you too’ he said and patted her than got to his feet. Lilah walked quickly over and asked Wesley if he was alright. ‘Yeah I’m fine thank you’ he said and watched Illyria run rings around him. ‘Good’ Lilah said and smiled at Wesley. Wesley returned the smile then got on his knees to check Illyria. She began to lick his face again happily, from what Wesley could see she was as healthy as ever. ‘Thank you again for taking care of her’ he said to Lilah as he stood up. ‘No problemo’ she said and gave him a thumb up. ‘I feel like a should probably give you a reward or something’

‘Nah it’s alright, I was more than happy to take care of her, she’s something special’

‘She sure is but still I feel like I should do something for you, do you fancy getting something to eat right now’

Lilah considered the offer for a moment then nodded. ‘Sure what did you have in mind?’ she said and petted Illyria who was now running around her as well. Well I suppose a restraunt, not to fancy. Then again I should probably take Illyria home right now so...’ he said then trailed off. ‘Well I have an idea, how about we leave her at my place for now, it’s just across the road really, then we can go eat and you can pick her up afterwards how does that sound?’ Lilah said and smiled at him. She felt attracted to him for a reason she couldn’t quite explain, also she didn’t feel like giving away Illyria yet, even to her owner. ‘Sounds like a plan.’ He said and smiled at her. They both walked through the snowy park towards her house, Illyria leading the way.

Frank had followed Anne home. He had watched her leave Lilah’s apartment and followed her. Outside her house now he wondered what he should do now, he couldn’t really think straight, his head was throbbing with pain and he hadn’t slept or eaten in a long time. He thought it over and decided it would be best not to go down the same route as last time. The incident with Darla was a close call; he did not want to get caught before he had time alone with Lilah. He decided he would go back to the hotel and sleep for a bit, afterwards he would come back to Lilah’s friends house and try to get information out of her another way. Yes I was wondering if you could help me, I’m looking for an old friend... fuck that plan was stupid. He disregarded it and thought awhile longer. IT began to snow again. Alright I’ll go round to Lilah’s apartment tomorrow, I’ll just casually go up and knock on someone’s door and ask is Lilah there, if it’s not her who answers I’ll explain she gave me the address of the building but not the flat number and hopefully they would buy it and tell him which number it was. Yes this was a much better plan, why bother following this bitch home in the first place? He began to head back to the hotel but then stopped. He turned back towards Lilah’s friend’s house and watched it. The lights were out, she must be sleeping. Maybe I’ll pay her a visit anyway, it’s awhile back to the hotel and I’m sure her friend will be tasty enough. He started towards Anne’s house. The snow began to fall heavier.

At Noel’s Cafe Wesley and Lilah were having a light lunch. They had talked about Illyria and had agreed that she was healthy now, Illyria barked loudly at them both as they left her in Lilah’s apartment, then their conversation turned towards their personal lives. ‘Well I’m 27, I live alone, and I wanted to be a singer while I was growing up’ Lilah said as she finished off her glass of water. ‘Ahh I see’ Wesley said and smiled. ‘Well I’m 30, I live alone...Well with Illyria and when I grew up I wanted to be a writer’ he said and let out a little chuckle. He had attempted writing a novel a few years ago and had given up on it proclaiming that it would be easier to become an astronaught. ‘Well I guess things always turn out differently than what we want’ Lilah said as she looked down at her empty plate.

‘True but things can always get better with change’

‘I suppose’

‘Am I making you uncomftable?’

‘What? Oh no sorry was just thinking about the past’

Wesley nodded thinking of his Becky now. They both sat there in silence for a moment, next to them to old women were discussing the x-factor, until Lilah broke the silence. ‘Well Wesley it’s been nice meeting you’ she said and began thinking about where she should go from here, should she pursue a relationship with this man? ‘Yeah it has been’ Wesley said with a touch of sadness in his voice, he was beginning to enjoy talking to someone else in a friendly open manner. Plus she’s kinda cute he thought to himself. ‘Well I shoul-‘

‘Wait umm I know this is sudden but would you like to go out later?’

‘Huh, you mean like on a date?’

‘Well sorta I guess, there’s a horror movie marathon running at the GFT right now would you be interested?’

‘Sure! I mean yeah that would be nice, I always did like horror movies what are they showing?’

‘A double bill, Pet Sematary and Misery’

‘Ohhh well it’s a date the’ Lilah said and began to blush, get a hold of yourself girl she told herself. ‘How about I pick you up at 20:00?’ Wesley said and stood up and paying the bill. ‘That’ll be good’ Lilah said. ‘Great well let’s go pick up Illyria then we can meet again at 20:00’. ‘Alright but I have one condition to this date’. ‘Oh?’. ‘You buy the popcorn’. ‘Lilah you drive a hard bargain but I accept your terms’ he said and gave her a wink.

Wesley got Illyria home around 14:00.Illyria ran through the house with joy, searching to see if anything had changed. Wesley was glad to have her back. He lit a cigarette and went to sit on the couch. Illyria came up and sat beside him. He was thinking about Lilah, he tried to think about what made him ask her out on a date, so soon after meeting, but he couldn’t come up with an answer. There was just something about her that attracted him. He thought about her some more, there was something she was hiding when she said that things turn out differently than they way we want them; it was a touch of sadness in her voice he realised. He wondered what it could be that upset her but thought best to leave it for now, she would tell him in due time he thought, perhaps.

He stubbed his cigarette out then played some music, My Way by Sid Vicious, and began looking through what to wear for tonight.



When Lilah got home she ran herself a hot shower, the cold outside was making her feel numb. The hot water against her body was bliss. Afterwards she sat on her couch with the television on but not really watching it. She looked around her home and noticed how empty it seemed without Illyria there. This thought brought a touch of sadness to her. She began to think about Wesley. She was surprised he had asked her out on a date, although she didn’t know why exactly, still it was a pleasant surprise. She thought about how it would end up then stopped quickly. She thought that she might have been too hasty to agree to it, she was still unsure of how to be in a relationship after her last one. Don’t be silly girl, now you will go out tonight and have some fun a part of her mind said. Still she had her doubts and sighed.

It had been 8 months since she had left her ex fiancé Frank. He had been great at first but ever since that incident something in him changed... she quickly shook the thought out of her head. No need to think about the past now, not ever again she thought. She began looking through her clothes for something to wear tonight.

Wesley picked up Lilah at 20:00 as they agreed. They both met outside her building. Wesley smiled at her as she came down the steps, god she is cute he thought to himself. They headed to the cinema in Wesley’s car; they got there at 20:30, a little later than expected due to the snow. In the foyer after getting their tickets Lilah nudged Wesley with her elbow, ‘don’t forget the popcorn’ she said and smiled. ‘Of course not’ Wesley said wand walked over to the kiosk. He bought a large popcorn and 2 large diet Pepsi’s. They went into screen 1 and sat down in the back row. ‘Have you seen Pet Sematary before?’ Wesley asked thinking he should have asked that before. ‘Nope I haven’t’ Lilah replied and took some popcorn. ‘Ah good although I must warn you it is very scary’ he said and took some popcorn for himself. ‘Well if it is I’ll just have to cuddle into you wont I?’ she said and smiled at him. The lights dimmed and the movie began.

‘So how did you like the films?’ Wesley said as they got outside, it was snowing lightly again and made the night sky look almost magical. ‘Was pretty good, well besides that one scene...’ Lilah replied and shuddered. Wesley put his arm around her and gave her a hug. ‘Yeah sorry I probably should have warned you about the hobbling scene’ he said and they started towards his car. ‘It’s alright so did you enjoy yourself?’

‘Very much so’

‘Good, so are you going to kiss me some time tonight or do I have to wait till the second date?’

‘Well I was thinking about it...’

‘But?’

They stopped at Wesley’s car. He looked down at her then kissed her gently on the lips. ‘No buts’ he said and smiled. Lilah looked up at him and smiled, blushing slightly. They got into the car and Wesley began to drive her back home.

When they arrived at Lilah’s home they were greeted with a broken door. ‘Shit’Lilah muttered under her breath as she stared at the door. ‘Wait right here, I’ll check it out’ Wesley said and started through the door but stopped as Lilah grabbed his arm. She looked up at him, tears coming from her eyes. ‘I’ll be alright just wait here’ he said and stepped inside.

The place had been trashed, the television was broken, and furniture was turned over, paintings torn off the walls. Wesley proceeded to go through the apartment slowly, checking every room. Whoever did it had left. He thought about what he had seen for a moment and came to the conclusion that this wasn’t a robbery, nothing of value was stolen it just seems like someone let a bull loose up here he thought to himself. ‘It’s alright you can come in Lilah’ Wesley shouted and began looking for anything that might give a clue to what happened exactly. Lilah stepped into the living room, her eyes were wide open, her mouth slack an unable to speak. Wesley went over to her and hugged her tightly. ‘It’s alright there’s no one here, and nothing seems to be stolen’ he whispered to her then kissed her cheek. ‘Nothing was stolen?’ she said and hugged him tighter. They looked around the apartment some more. Wesley heard Lilah let out a small scream from the bedroom. He rushed as quickly as he could inside and saw her standing over her bed. She seemed to be holding something in her hand. ‘What is it?’ he asked and stepped towards her. She didn’t answer, only looking at whatever she had in her hand. Wesley got closer and saw that is was a photo, but could not make out what of. ‘What is it?’ Wesley asked again and put a hand on Lilah’s shoulder. She jumped and turned around; there was fear in her eyes. She hugged Wesley tightly as she clutched onto the photo and began to cry. ‘Hey it’s alright, what is it?’ Wesley said and held her. She looked up at him then wiped the tears from her eyes. ‘I know who did this’ she said and sat on the edge of the bed, Wesley sat on the edge of the bed next to her. ‘Who did it?’ he asked and put his arm around her.

‘His name is Frank’ she said, and Wesley detected the bitterness in her voice. She handed him the photograph and he looked at it. It was a photo of Lilah and Frank; she looked a little younger then, must have been taken a few years ago. ‘Who?’ Wesley said and looked at the photo again. ‘Frank, he was my ex fiancée a few years ago...’ she said and wiped her tears. ‘Why would he do this?’ Wesley said and felt anger stir up inside him. ‘It’s a long story’

‘Well I’m here for you now’

‘Alright well we met in high school and started dating then, he was great at first... then we moved in with each other and he proposed and I said yes... it was good for awhile but then I got pregnant’

‘I see but then what happened?’

‘I had a miscarriage’

‘Oh god’

‘Yeah afterwards Frank began acting strangely and became obsessive of me, he hurt me a lot when I would make a mistake’ Lilah said then burst out crying. ‘He blamed me for the miscarriage, he hated me for it’ she continued. They both sat there in silence for a moment as Wesley processed this information. God this girl’s been through hell he thought then hugged her tightly. ‘I finally left him two years ago with the help of my friend who got me set up here, he was never supposed to find me’ she said and sobbed. ‘It’s ok’, I’ll call the police right now and we’ll explain to them what’s happened’ Wesley said and took out his mobile phone. Lilah looked at him for a second, her eyes were full of pain and fear and this hurt Wesley. ‘It’ll be all right’ Wesley said and dialled 999. Lilah nodded then looked at the photograph as Wesley called the police.

The police arrived soon after and done their job. They took down both their statements then left, with some advice that maybe Lilah better stay with a friend tonight. She was standing in the living room with Wesley by her side. ‘I guess I should call Anne and tell her I’ll be staying at her house tonight’ she said and went to the telephone. Wesley nodded and went over the information in his head, from what he was told he gathered that this Frank wasn’t your usual nutter with a grudge, a crazy person was dangerous enough but one with a grudge could be deadly. He turned and saw Lilah holding the phone to her ear; she appeared to be listening to nothing. ‘Something wrong?’ Wesley said and walked over to her. ‘There’s no answer, it just keeps ringing out, she must be sleeping I guess’ she said and hung up the phone.

‘Ahh I see, well you can’t stay here tonight so why not stay at my place? It’s safe and I’m sure Illyria would like to see you as well’

‘Are you sure? I mean it kinda seems weird, we did just meet’

‘Well a little but that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t stay here, besides I thought our date went well so far’

She offered him a weak smile. ‘Alright let me go pack some stuff ok?’ she said and hugged him. ‘Sure I’ll be right here’ Wesley said and kissed her forehead. She went into her bedroom and began going through clothes to take with her. While she was doing Wesley went around the apartment slowly, looking for something the police might have missed. He searched for about 5 minutes but couldn’t find anything at all. He shrugged then went to the bedroom too see Lilah.

‘All set?’

‘Yup, let’s go I got everything I need’
 
#5
‘Good, what about your valuables will they be safe? I mean the lock on your front door isn’t any good now’

‘Ahh well the caretaker will take care of it, I’ll leave him a note under his door before we leave’

‘Alright well let’s go’ Wesley said and walked to the front door. Lilah watched him for a moment, god he seems so confident, doesn’t he realise what franks capable of after seeing this and what I told him. She quickly followed and wrapped an arm around his. She looked up at his face and gave a warm smile; well even though this is our first date I think I might be falling for him already. She left a note under the caretakers door on the bottom floor explaining what happened and that the door and lock needed repairing. They walked out the front door to see that that snow had stopped for now before starting to Wesley’s house.



Illyria sat at the front door waiting for Wesley. As Wesley opened the door she pounced up on him, happy to see him as ever. She then saw Lilah come in to the house and decided to welcome her as well. ‘Easy girl, I know I missed you too’ she said and petted Illyria. Illyria let out a bark then ran towards the kitchen. ‘She really did seem to miss you’ Wesley said and smiled. Lilah blushed and placed her travel bag on the floor. ‘So where will I be sleeping then?’ she asked and observed the house, it was a lot bigger than she expected, seemed like a family house except Wesley had no family. ‘I have a spare room upstairs let me show you’ he said and carried her bag up stairs. He showed her into a spare room across from his own; it was simple, a single bed, and a small bedside table. ‘It’s very nice’ she said and placed her bag on the bed. ‘Thank you and make yourself at home, you’ll be safe here’ Wesley said and looked at Illyria who was coming up the stairs to see what was going on. ‘I’m sure I will be’ she said and gave him a thumb up.

‘Well you can sleep now if you like but I was going to make some food if you want some?’

‘Sure what did you plan on making’

‘Pasta’

‘Yum well lay on McDuff’

After some food they both sat on the couch and watched some television. They were watching a show called Deadliest Catch, Wesley didn’t care for it much but Lilah seemed to enjoy it. He thought about all that had happened. He looked at Lilah who was cuddling beside him and thought whether he should ask about more about what happened between her and Frank. He took a cigarette from the pack and lit it, he offered one to Lilah but she shook her head, she seemed to be caught up in the show. Well if Frank decides to keep this up its best that I find out all I can about him he thought to himself then tapped the ash into the ashtray on the table in front of him. ‘I know you probably don’t want to talk about this right now but I was thinking about Frank’ Wesley said and felt Lilah stiffen at the sound of Franks name. ‘Ok... what do you want to know?’

‘Well everything, from the beginning’

‘Wesley, are you sure you want to know? It’s not a happy tale’

‘Yes I’m sure, I think its best that I know as much about Frank as possible right now’

‘Alright well I already told you how we met and about the miscarriage and the trouble started then, at first he seemed distant from me, I didn’t blame him for that we just lost our child’

‘I’m still sorry to hear about that’

‘I know, anyway a couple of weeks later he seemed to warm up to me again, except he also started having fits of rage whenever I did something wrong... the first time he hit me was when I accidently broke a glass in the kitchen, I was picking up the pieces when he came in and just kicked me in the stomach, saying that “you shouldn’t be interrupting me Hun†then he got one of the glass shards and pushed it into my hand, cutting me, I still have a few small scars from that time.’

‘Christ’

Lilah continued, unaware that Wesley spoke.

‘The other times were similar, I’d make a mistake or something and he’d hit me, slap me, curse at me.... but when he wasn’t doing that he seemed like his old loving self, he still kissed me the same way, the sex was still good... but then he lost his job, he was a doorman you see, he had one of his fits of rage while working and had beaten a guy up so he had lost his job and SIA license. After that it was all mostly beatings. The good part of him died when I had the miscarriage, and I think he wanted to be good still but he had changed, losing the baby had changed him’

Wesley hugged Lilah tightly, ‘So how did you get out of it?’ he said.

‘My friend, Darla, I told her about what was happening and she told me to leave him, I didn’t at first because I thought the anger was just his way of grieving, but when it got worse she put her foot down and said that I’m going to end up dead if he carries on this way... So she helped me move here, well to Glasgow anyway, she doesn’t know where I live in case Frank came and asked about.... oh god’

‘What is it?’

‘I need to use your phone! I need to call Darla, she was the only one who knew I lived there he must have found out from her!’ Lilah said and began to panic. She stood up and looked for a phone. ‘Here use my mobile’ Wesley said and handed it to her. She quickly dialled Darla’s number and waited. ‘Fuck’ she muttered, Wesley could tell that there was no answer. ‘I’m sure she’ll be al-‘

‘NO! Fuck how could I have been so stupid, she didn’t know what apartment number I live in the only other person who knew that would be Anne!’ she said and quickly dialled another number. Wesley watched all of this with disbelief, everything was moving so fast, he felt like a pinball being padded around a game top. ‘There’s no answer at Anne’s either, oh god I know he’s done something to them both’ Lilah said and began to cry Wesley hugged her tightly and she cried in to him. ‘Look it’s late, chances are both of them are asleep, why don’t we get some sleep tonight then tomorrow we can go see Anne at her house, you have her address right?’ Wesley asked and looked into Lilah’s eyes, his heart sunk as he saw the fear in them. ‘Yeah I do but...’

‘No buts, look from what you told me Frank is dangerous but look at it this way he wants you, he’s not going to attract attention to himself if it’ll stop him from getting to you, he probably found out where you lived somehow else, now let’s go to sleep and we’ll go see Anne tomorrow’ Wesley said and kissed Lilah’s forehead. ‘Alright’ she said and hugged him tightly.

Wesley didn’t get to sleep easily; he kept turning the facts over in his mind and the possible outcomes. He decided it would be best to see Anne tomorrow and if something did happen to her he’ll call the police, even though they were already looking for Frank he thought they’d be more able to catch him if it was more serious, although Wesley hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Across the hall Lilah was sleeping in the spare bed. Illyria was at the foot of the bed awake. She had sensed that Lilah, her saviour, was in trouble and decided to guard her through the night instead of sleeping in Wesley’s room like she usually did.

Across the city, in Anne’s home Frank was in the shower singing Bad Moon Rising. He felt good after today. He had gone in to her home and trashed the place, destruction always made him feel better. He grinned and got out of the shower and dried himself. He walked into Anne’s bedroom naked. She was also naked, and tied to the bed. ‘Now how about a bed time story before sleep’ Frank said and approached her. He sat down next to her and stroked her hair. She looked at him with pleading eyes, but could not vocalise the thoughts because she was gagged. ‘Shhhh it’s ok, if I’m right then our Lilah will come see you tomorrow, and if I’m wrong well she’ll come by eventually and till then I can still have fun with you can’t I?’ Frank said and began to bite.



The next morning Lilah woke up to the view of Illyria sitting at the end of the bed watching her. ‘Hey girl’ she said as she got up. Illyria barked then went out the door to find Wesley. Lilah quickly got dressed and went downstairs. ‘In here’ she hard Wesley say from the kitchen. She walked in and saw that Wesley had prepared breakfast for her, toast, eggs, coffee and some bacon. Lilah smiled and sat down at the table. ‘Is this for me?’ Lilah asked and picked up a slice of toast and buttered it. ‘Yup, I’ve already eaten’ Wesley said and sat down across from her and drank hiss coffee. Lilah eat the food quickly, working her way through from the toast to the bacon. She heard Illyria whimper and looked down and saw her begging for some bacon. ‘Now Illyria you’ve had your breakfast’ Wesley said and smiled. Illyria barked in protest. ‘Oh I’m sure one slice won’t do any harm’ Lilah said and gave the last slice of bacon to Illyria who wolfed it down in a second then barked in thanks. ‘You’re gonna get fat Illyria you know that right?’ Wesley said and chuckled, Illyria cocked her head at him puzzled. ‘So what’s the plan for today then?’ Lilah said. She had been thinking about what was going to happen today the previous night, wondering whether Anne and Darla were alright. ‘Well I figured you’d get showered and dressed, then we take Illyria out for her walk and then we go see your friend Anne’ Wesley said and finished off the rest of his coffee. ‘Sounds like a plan’ Lilah said and tried to sound hopeful but knew there wasn’t much. ‘She’ll be fine’ Wesley said, as if he could read her thoughts. ‘Now you go shower and dressed while I phone your work and tell them you’re ill’ Wesley said and got out his mobile. ‘Alrighty then, just make sure it’s a good excuse’ Lilah said as she got up and went up stairs to shower.

Wesley called her work and talked to a man named Mr. Williamson. He bought the story of Lilah having the flu hook, line and sinker. Afterwards he petted Illyria. ‘You want to go for a walk?’ Wesley asked her. Illyria replied with wagging her till and a series of barks. ‘Alright then just wait for Lilah’ he said.

Lilah came down half an hour later. ‘Sorry I took so long, I like having long showers’ she said and blushed. ‘It’s alright’ said Wesley as he clipped on Illyria’s leash. Illyria was now excited to be going out with her owner and her new friend. ‘Yup, hey ho let’s go’ Lilah said and gave Wesley a thumbs up.

In the park across the road Wesley and Lilah sat at a bench and watched Illyria run around. She was running around in the snow, trying to lift it up with her nose to find something underneath. ‘Are you worried?’ Wesley asked Lilah as he took out a cigarette and lit it. Lilah thought about it for a second then nodded, she had always been afraid something like this might happen. ‘Yeah I am’ she said and took a cigarette for herself. Wesley lit it for her with his Zippo and then tucked it back in to his pocket. ‘Well like I said I’m sure she’s fine, both of them in fact, Frank probably found out where you lived some other way... like from a social network site or something’ Wesley said and inhaled the smoke deeply. Lilah noticed Wesley making a fist as he mentioned Frank’s name. ‘I don’t have one, I know something’s bad has happened to them and here I am sitting on a bench watching Illyria, it seems stupid’ Lilah said and began to cry a little. Wesley stubbed out his cigarette and put his arm around Lilah. ‘I’m sorry, it’s all happened so fast it seems unreal’ Wesley said then kissed her. She kissed him back and tightened her grip on him. ‘Yeah I’m sorry, I wish I never brought you into this mess Wesley, I really care about you... which probably sounds silly seeing as we’ve only known each other for 2 days’ Lilah said and let out a weak laugh.

‘No it doesn’t, more like Ka’

‘Ka?’

‘Sorry there goes my bookworm side showing again, I meant fate, look at it this way if I wasn’t robbed Illyria wouldn’t have went missing and you wouldn’t have found her, so I say it’s fate’

‘Well I hope fate has a good twist soon, like Frank gone’

Wesley suddenly remembered a conversation he had with Becky. They had been talking about Becky’s father who had abused her as a child. He knew that if he had met the man he would have killed him, cancer got to him before he could though. Sitting there now with Lilah he realised she was similar to Becky, is that why I feel the way I do for her? He thought. He looked at Illyria coming over with what appeared to be a ball in her mouth. I’m not going to lose Lilah, I lost Becky and that was hard enough, still is, if it comes to it I’ll do whatever it takes to protect her.

‘Wesley?

‘Huh?’

‘You were spacing out, are you ok?’

‘Yeah sorry was just thinking’

‘Oh, about what?’

Wesley considered telling her about Becky but decided it would be a bad idea, the timing was bad. ‘Illyria’ he lied. ‘I was thinking about how she manages to find things with ease’ he said and took the ball from Illyria’s mouth then threw it. She ran after it like a bat out of hell. They sat there for awhile longer, taking turns at throwing the ball for Illyria, both knowing they were really just stalling. ‘Well I guess it’s time to go back’ Wesley said and stood up. ‘Yup, come here Illyria’ Lilah said. Illyria came running, minus the ball, and jumped up on Lilah. ‘Easy girl’ she said then clipped on her leash. They walked back to Wesley’s and had a quick coffee before leaving for Anne’s.

Illyria was alone in the house. Wesley and Lilah had left her alone. She wandered around the house thinking about the tension between the two of them and what it was about. She quickly forgot about it as she found a chew and went to work on it.

Wesley and Lilah arrived at Anne’s an hour later. They sat in the car and looked at the house. ‘You ready?’ Wesley asked as he lit himself a cigarette. Lilah didn’t say anything and got out of the car. Wesley followed and locked the car. They both slowly walked up to the door and stood there for a moment. Wesley noticed that the curtains were closed, a little unusual for this time of day but thought that Anne may have slept in. Lilah pressed the door bell. They could hear it ringing from the other side of the door. They stood there in silence, listening to see if anyone was approaching the door but could not hear anything. Lilah rang the bell again. Nothing. ‘Well she could be out somewhere’ Wesley said but before he noticed Lilah had opened the door. ‘It’s unlocked’ she whispered and stepped inside. Wesley followed her inside then quietly closed the door behind him. Why am I being quiet he though? Because Frank could be here his mind replied. ‘Anne?’ Lilah called out and stood in the hall listening. The house was completely silent. ‘Where’s her bedroom? She could be sleeping’ Wesley said and walked in front of Lilah. ‘It’s up stairs, first on the right’ Lilah said and began moving towards the stairs. Wesley followed her up the stairs, flinching as he heard a floorboard squeak beneath his feet. He had a feeling something bad had happened after all, it was too damn quiet. They reached the bedroom door and stopped outside it. Lilah knocked on it gently. ‘Anne?’ she said and she turned the handle and opened the door slowly. She let out a scream which made Wesley jump. Wesley passed by Lilah and entered the room. He saw Anne lying naked on the bed. She was covered in blood and what Wesley would only realise later was covered in bite marks, some chunks of flesh were clearly ripped out with teeth. He turned and looked at Lilah then snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. ‘Go down stairs and get in the car and lock the doors’ Wesley said and handed her the keys. Lilah stood there for a second then ran downstairs and out the house. Wesley quickly dialled 999 and called the police and told them what he had found. Afterwards he approached the body he noticed there was something written on her flesh. FUCK YOU BITCH! Wesley read it then threw up to his side then left the room. He stood in the hall for a second, his head felt light like he was going to faint. Suddenly he heard Lilah scream which snapped him out of it. He ran downstairs as fast as he could, knocking down a vase at the bottom. He ran outside and to the car. He saw Lilah inside, staring in his direction. He ran to the car and Lilah opened the door for him. ‘What is it?’ he asked, breathing heavily now. ‘It was him, I saw him there’ Lilah said and pointed down to the garage next to Anne’s house. Wesley turned and looked at it. He couldn’t see anyone. ‘Close the door and lock it I’m going to check it out’ Wesley said and started away. He could hear Lilah telling him not to go but it barely registered. He walked to the garage and peered through the window. There was an old Volkswagen beetle inside, he couldn’t see Frank. He went to the door and opened it slowly and stepped inside. The garage was dark and damp, Wesley almost tripped over a toolbox that was left in front of the door. He bent down and picked up a claw hammer and
 
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looked around. He couldn’t see anyone. He moved slowly around the car, holding the hammer tightly in his right hand. He noticed that there was another door at the back, thinking that it might lead to a closet. He approached it carefully. He placed his hand on the handle while gripping the hammer as tight as he could. He felt a sharp blow to the back of his head that stunned him. Before the second blow arrived knocking him out he dropped the hammer and turned around. He saw Frank.

Frank was in the garage looking for a shovel. He had gotten carried away with Anne like he did Darla and decided to take care of the body, still thinking he had time before Lilah would come around. He was looking through some tools and found a shovel. He started back outside when he saw a car. ‘Speak of the devil’ Frank said aloud as he saw Lilah. He started towards her but then stopped at she spotted him and screamed. Damn bitch he thought and quickly ran back in to the garage. He was looking took out the keys for the Volkswagen beetle from his pocket and climbed inside the car. He dropped the keys as he tried to put them in the ignition. He found them just under the seat and grabbed them. At that moment he heard the garage door open. Oh has Lilah come to confront me he thought to himself and grinned. He slowly and carefully raised his head and saw that it was not Lilah but some strange man. Oh another friend of hers, not that she deserves them he thought. He watched the man move to the back of the garage. Frank quietly got out of the car and picked up the shovel again. He crept up slowly behind the man. Interfering prick, you’ll get what’s coming to you he thought and then hit the man on the back of the head with the shovel. The man staggered for a second and turned around. Frank hit him right in the face as hard as he could. Knocked the bastard out good he thought and then turned around to face the front of the garage. ‘Now to take care of you’ he said and started for the garage door.

Lilah watched as Wesley entered the garage and began to panic. Why didn’t I try to stop him? She thought to herself then began to cry. It just keeps getting worse she thought. She heard the garage door open again and looked up in that direction, expecting to see Wesley. She saw Frank coming towards her holding a shovel which appeared to have blood on it. Oh god he killed him too she thought and began to scream. She saw the look on Frank’s face as she did; he appeared to be enjoying it. He was only a few feet away from the car now. He could see him grinning like the Cheshire cat. She watched him raise the shovel, about to break the car window when she heard sirens approaching. Oh god thank you she thought to herself. She turned back to Frank and saw the rage on his face, he had been expecting to finish her in a few moments but now his chance was gone. He dropped the shovel and ran in the opposite direction of the sirens. Lilah sat there crying and saw a police car pull up in front of the car. Two officers got out, one hurried into the house the other came to the car and knocked on the window gently. ‘ma’am, were you the one who made the call?’ the officer asked. Lilah opened the door and got out then fell to her knees as she fainted.



Wesley awoke to a strange room. He didn’t know where he was it first. He left and felt a sharp pain run through his head like lightning. He cursed under his breath then noticed a heart rate monitor beside him. So I’m in hospital... how did I get here he thought to himself and turned his head back up to face then ceiling and grimaced at the pain. What happened the last thing I remember was that I was in a garage because Lilah said... He bolted up right and his head felt another thunderbolt. Fuck I remember now that bastard Frank snuck up behind me somehow then knocked me out... but what happened to Lilah? He slowly turned his head and saw that the room was empty. Shit I hope she’s ok he thought as he began to get out of bed. At that moment a doctor came in to the room. He looked at Wesley for a second and sighed. ‘I knew when you first got here that you’d be troublesome’ the doctor said and came over to the beds side. ‘Stay put, you’ll be alright, and you just received a bad knock on the head’ the doctor said as he checked his clipboard. ‘I have to find Lilah’ Wesley said quietly, it hurt just to talk. ‘She’s alright, she’s waiting outside for you, and I told her she couldn’t come in though you have to rest’ the doctor said without looking at Wesley. Wesley thought the doctor seemed pre-occupied with something else on his mind.

‘Doctor?’

‘My name’s Tiberius Chan, but most people call me TC’

‘Well TC can I see Lilah for a moment? It’s very important’

‘I figured as much the police want to talk to you as well about what happened but in your condition...’

‘I thought you aid I’d be fine’

‘Well yeah but if you were to see someone I’d have to stay here and watch that you don’t strain yourself, which would be troublesome’

‘Look just send Lilah in and tell the police officer that I’ll see him after please’

‘Hmmm alright just stay put, but if you strain yourself and ‘cause more pain that means I have more overtime which I don’t want’ TC said and turned to leave the room. ‘Thank you’ Wesley said. TC waved his hand disregarding Wesley’s thanks. What a strange person Wesley thought to himself. TC came back in to the room and Lilah followed. She saw him and gasped. ‘Glad to see you’re ok’ Wesley said and smiled but it hurt. TC seemed to notice the small gesture and scowled at him. Lilah walked over to Wesley’s bed and put her hand on his. ‘The doctor said you’re going to be fine, you’ll have to spend the night in though’ Lilah said and looked troubled. The doctor began to walk to the window and looked outside.

‘I’ll be fine anyway; I don’t go down so easy’

‘Good, I thought Frank had killed you as well’

‘Almost did I guess, what happened to him? Are you alright?

‘Yeah I’m alright, after you went in to the garage he came out holding a shovel and approached the car, luckily the police came just in time.... but Frank ran off before they could get him’

‘Ahh I see, I take it the police are hunting for him now then?’

‘Yeah, I answered their questions and told them what had happened; they want to talk to you as well though’

‘Yeah TC told me’

They were both silent for a moment. TC was still looking out the window, as if he really didn’t want to be here, which by Wesley’s guess was probably true. ‘I’m sorry about Anne’ Wesley said, finally breaking the silence. Lilah didn’t say anything, only looked down at her hand on Wesley’s. ‘They found Darla as well... and her kid, he killed them both’ Lilah said and began to cry.

‘It’s my entire fault!’

‘No it’s not’

‘It is, he came looking for me and killed them because of me’

‘Lilah you can’t blame yourself for what he did, if you want to blame someone blame him’

Lilah looked up at him; an expression of realisation was on her face. She nodded. ‘I already do, I may have been able to forgive him for hurting me but for what he did to them and you... I hate him’ she said and squeezed his hand tightly.

‘Time’s up’ TC said and approached the bed. Wesley saw that he looked exhausted, and was probably right anyway, the pain was starting to grow and he’d need something to take it away. ‘Alright but Lilah I want you to stay at my place, Frank doesn’t know where I live so you’ll be safe, and I need you to take care of Illyria for me’ Wesley said. Lilah nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. ‘Alright, I’ll let the police know as well just in case’ she said then kissed him. The kiss seemed to take all of Wesley’s pain away and he felt love for Lilah. ‘You can come by tomorrow morning and take him off my hands’ TC said to Lilah and gave her a tired smile. ‘I will doc’ Lilah said and gave him a thumbs up then left the room. TC cocked his head then looked at Wesley, ‘Nice girl, sorry I couldn’t help but over hear your conversation, I wish you 2 the best luck, sorry if I seem a little moody, just been one of those days you know’ TC said and popped a pill in to Wesley’s mouth then gave him a sip of water. ‘Well I’m out of here, I’ll be back to check on you in the morning, if you need anything or start hurting again just push the button next to your bed and a nurse will come to give you whatever you want, well except sex of course, a patient tried that once and ended up needing to spend more time in here because of it if you get what I mean’ TC said then gave Wesley a genuine smile. Wesley chuckled, ‘Alright TC’ he said then began to drift off in to sleep.



Wesley awoke the next morning to the sound of TC clattering around the room. He sat up, the pain now down to a dull throb thankfully, and looked at him. TC noticed Wesley then smiled. ‘Sorry to wake you, I lost my lighter in here last night was looking for it’ he said then stood up straight. ‘How are you feeling today anyway?’ he asked as he looked around the room.

‘Head hurts a little but feels a lot better.’

‘That’s good, well it’s only seven in the morning, and your girl ain’t here yet’

‘Yeah I hope she’s alright’

‘I’m sure she’s fine, most people don’t come to pick anyone up till nine’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, god knows why though, anyway don’t suppose you’ve seen my lighter anywhere?’

‘Well I’ve been a sleep so nope’

‘How troublesome, ah well I’m sure it’ll turn up eventually’

‘Probably, or you’ll just have to by a new one’

TC stared at Wesley for a moment then shook his head. ‘Can’t do that, sentimental value you know, don’t know what I’d do if I lost it for good’ TC said then began looking under the table beside the bed. ‘I know what you mean’ Wesley said. ‘Gotcha’ TC said and reached under the table and grabbed his lighter. He showed it to Wesley. ‘Nice Zippo, looks better than mine’ he said and chuckled. ‘Ta, anyway I got to be off, got more patients to check up on, I’ll be back around 9 to see if you’ve checked out then’ TC said and left the room.

Strange doc Wesley thought then drifted back in to sleep.

He awoke a couple of hours later to find Lilah standing over him. ‘Wakey wakey’ she said and smiled. Wesley sat up and looked at her; she looked like she hadn’t gotten much sleep, not surprising he thought. ‘How you feeling?’Lilah asked and watched him carefully to see if he was in pain. ‘Just a bit of a sore head but that’s it’ he said and gave her a smile. She kissed him then lifted up a bag, ‘I brought you some clothes, figured you wouldn’t want to go home in a hospital gown’ she said and placed the bag on the bed. ‘Thanks how were you last night?’ Wesley asked but already knowing the answer anyway. ‘I didn’t sleep much to be honest, apart from that I’m fine... oh and Illyria misses you, she was wandering around the house looking for you Lilah said and got up to leave the room. ‘Ah well we’ll talk about it more when we get home, I mean my place, and I know it’s not your home... Although you are welcome to stay and make it yours till this blows over’ Wesley said and began going through the clothes. Lilah nodded then left the room. She’s acting strong but she’s
Wesley thought then got dressed.

Wesley checked out half an hour later. He was glad to be outside; although it was only one night in hospital he didn’t like it much. He fumbled through his pockets and realised he had no cigarettes or his lighter. ‘Shit’ he muttered under his breath. ‘Don’t worry’ Lilah said and took out a pack of Marlboro from her pocket and Wesley’s Zippo. ‘You’re a god send’ he said and kissed her. He watched Lilah blush and thought how cute she looked. He lit himself a cigarette, and inhaled deeply. Lilah lit her own, she preferred menthols. They were walking to Wesley’s car when they heard a voice from behind. ‘Yo Wesley’ TC said and ran towards them. He reached them and appeared to be out of breath. ‘I thought doctors were supposed to be healthy’ Wesley said and stared at him.

‘Yeah well I’m also a heavy smoker’

‘Don’t doctors condone smoking?’

‘Yeah but I figured since I’m helping save people’s lives god will cut me some slack and now allow me to get cancer’

‘Interesting theory’ Wesley said and chuckled. ‘Anyway I just wanted to give you this’ TC said and handed Wesley a small paper bag.

‘What is it?’

‘It’s a sedative’

‘I thought I was fine?’

‘You are but take it just in case, shouldn’t really be doing this though’

‘Well I don’t want to get you in to trouble’

‘Nah it’s no trouble, everyone steals from hospitals, this stuffs still going to someone who needs it’

‘Well thank you’ Wesley said and shook TC’s hand. ‘Well I gotta get back to work, some asshole decided to stick his dick in a toaster and got it stuck’ TC said then sped off back to the hospital. ‘What an odd man’ Lilah said and watched him run. ‘You can say that again, but he’s a good man’ Wesley said then got in to the car. ‘So we’re going straight back to yours?’ Lilah asked. ‘Not yet I want to stop off somewhere first’ Wesley said and started the car engine then drove off.



Wesley parked the car outside of a small house in the west end area. ‘What are we doing here?’ Lilah asked as she stared at the house. ‘Have to see a friend, come on it won’t take long’ Wesley said and got out the car. They walked up to the porch and Wesley rang the door bell. ‘What friend?’ Lilah asked as they waited.

‘His name’s Rooker, we go way back’

‘Alright but why are we here?’

‘He owes me a favour’

‘Hmmm?’

‘You’ll see’ Wesley said as the door opened. ‘Wesley you bloody poof what you doing here? And what happened to your head?’ Rooker asked as he saw the bandage on Wesley’s head. ‘Long story, can we come in?’ Wesley said and smiled. ‘Alright come on in, just don’t steal anything’ Rooker said and laughed. Wesley and Lilah entered the house and Rooker showed them to the living room where they sat. ‘Can I get you a drink Wesley and?’ Rooker asked. ‘My name’s Lilah’ Lilah replied, ‘And no thanks I’m fine’ she continued. ‘I’m fine as well’ Wesley said and took out his Marlboro’s and lit one.

‘Alright then what do you want?’

‘I have a job for you?’

‘Oh?’

‘Need some security installed’

‘From the look of your head I’ll say that’s about right’

‘So can you help me out?’
 
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‘Alright, how much you want done?’

‘Security sensors, better locks, that kinda stuff’

‘Alright when do you need it done?’

‘Right now’

‘Hey Wesley we’re friends but I’m not a miracle worker’ Rooker said and laughed. ‘Yes you are, I remember the job you did a few years ago’ Wesley replied and blew it smoke. ‘Fine but it’s going to cost you, why do you need it anyway?’ Rooker asked and looked at Lilah. ‘Made myself an enemy I’d rather keep out’ Wesley replied. Rooker stared at Wesley for a second then Lilah; he understood what was going on and sighed. ‘Alright let me get my tools and gear together and I’ll be over around 6 and will have it done by 9’ Rooker said and stood up. Wesley stood up and shook his hand. ‘Thanks Rooker I owe you one’ Wesley said then turned to Lilah. ‘I think we should get going now’ he said and led her outside. ‘So your friend installs security equipment?’ Lilah asked ad they were driving back to Wesley’s. ‘Among other things’ Wesley said and gave her a smile.

They got back to Wesley’s around 3. Illyria was waiting at the door as usual and began barking with joy and wagging her tail as she saw Wesley come home. ‘Easy girl I missed you to’ he said and knelt down to clap her. She licked his face then jumped up to welcome Lilah also. ‘Fancy some takeaway?’ Wesley asked Lilah. ‘Wesley I think we should talk about what happened first, then maybe eat’ Lilah replied and petted Illyria. Wesley sighed, I guess she’s right. ‘Alright’ He said and they walked to the living room and discussed what had happened the previous day.

‘I saw in to his eyes, it was like there was nothing there’ Wesley said and finished his story. Lilah hugged him tightly and kissed him. ‘Well I’m just glad you’re alright, he could have killed you, you know’ she said. The door bell rang and Lilah jumped a little. ‘It’s alright it’s probably Rooker’ Wesley said and got up and went to the door. Illyria was already sat at the door barking at whoever was on the other side. Suppose I should check just in case Wesley thought and looked through the peep hole. It wasn’t Rooker like he thought it was but a Detective and a police officer. Wesley unlocked and opened the door.

‘Wesley Pryce?’

‘Yeah that’s me, can I help you?’

‘My name is Detective Leather, I’m here about the Frank Hollander case’

‘Ahh I see, did you catch him?’

‘Unfortunately no but there has been another body discovered, can we come in and discuss this?’

‘Sure’ Wesley said and led them in to the living room. Wesley saw the look of panic on Lilah’s face as she saw them enter. ‘Ah Miss Brown, this concerns you as well’ the detective said and sat down on the couch, the uniformed officer stood by his side.

‘You told us that your friend, a Darla O’Connor was also in danger from this Frank, we checked her house and found that she and her child were killed’

‘Oh god’

‘I know this isn’t easy but I just need you to look at a photograph and identify that it’s actually her’ the detective said and took out a photo out of his brief case and showed it to Lilah. Lilah looked at it for a moment then nodded, she didn’t have to say anything to confirm it was Darla. ‘I’m sorry for your loss Miss Brown but I assure you we’ll get him soon, he had booked a hotel room a few days ago with a credit card, he hasn’t been there since but if he does use the credit card again we’ll be on him in a second.’ The detective said and put the photo back in his brief case.

‘How’s your head Mr. Pryce?’

‘Hurts a little but I’m fine’

‘That’s good, well I’ll be off, if you need me here’s my number’ the detective said and handed a card to Wesley. ‘Thank you’ Wesley said and showed them out. When he came back in to the living room he saw Lilah crying which made his heart sink. God I hate seeing her like this he thought. He went over to her and put his arm around her and hugged her tightly ‘He’s a monster’ she said and sobbed. ‘I know’ Wesley said and began thinking of Frank.

After Frank had ran away from the police the previous day he holed himself up in an abandoned building by the docks. It was cold and dark but he didn’t mind. What he did mind was that that bitch got away from him again. Lost her again, now how will I find her? And with the police looking for me as well it’s going to be hard. He looked out a dusty window and could see it was beginning to snow again. I’ll get her eventually, even if it kills me I’ll get her, and her new friend as well of course he thought to himself and smiled.



Rooker had arrived and installed the equipment fairly quickly. He had set up 4 cameras, one at the front door, one at the back door, one overlooking the garage and the last one in the living room. He had also installed new locks on the doors and windows and assured Wesley that someone would need a sledgehammer to break them. Wesley thanked him for the favour and slipped him one hundred pounds as he left.

Wesley was sitting in the living room beside Lilah, she was half asleep now. Wesley switched off the TV then got up to take Illyria out for one last walk. ‘Here girl’ he said quietly as not to awaken Lilah. Illyria came running, enthusiastic as ever. ‘Good girl’ he said and clipped on her leash. He left the house, checking to see if the new lock worker properly first and walked across the road to the park. He wiped the snow off a bench and sat down and let Illyria off the leash to run around. The park was illuminated by a few lamp posts that gave the falling snow an orange tinge. Wesley lit himself a smoke then inhaled deeply.

He thought about Frank and how close he came to being killed. Well he’s dangerous there’s no doubt about that but there’s something else, something that was in his eyes. Wesley inhaled the smoke deeply and exhaled. No not that there was something in his eyes it’s that there wasn’t anything in his eyes, he didn’t even see me as a problem at all Wesley thought and looked at Illyria who was sniffing for a ball. That man won’t get the best of me next time though Wesley thought and stood up. ‘Alright let’s go home Illyria’ Wesley said and clipped her leash back on and started back for home.

When he got inside he noticed that Lilah was no longer on the sofa. ‘Lilah?’ he called out and looked in to the kitchen but she was not there. ‘Coming!’ he heard her say from up stairs. She came down the stairs wearing only Wesley’s bath robe. ‘Sorry I was having a shower to wake me up, hope you don’t mind’ she said and blushed. ‘Not at all’ Wesley said and smiled. She walked over to him and kissed him passionately. ‘Thank you for everything Wesley’ she said then took his hand and put it under the bath robe so that his hand touched her breast. Wesley blushed himself and kissed her while squeezing he breast, she let out a small moan. That night they made love for the first time.



Wesley woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He looked to his left and saw Lilah sleeping next to him. He smiled then kissed her softly on the forehead. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him and smiled. ‘Hey’ she said and kissed him. He kissed her back passionately. ‘Hey yourself’ he said and kissed her again. Illyria came running in to the room and jumped up on the bed and began licking Wesley and Lilah. ‘Alright, alright just let me get dressed and I’ll take you for a walk’ Wesley said and petted her. Illyria barked then ran out the room. Wesley turned and looked at Lilah, ‘sorry she’s very stubborn when it comes to her morning walk’ Wesley said. ‘It’s alright, I’m going to have a shower first anyway’ Lilah said and kissed Wesley then got out of bed and got dressed.

Once Wesley got back from taking Illyria for a walk, Illyria had chased another dog around the park, Wesley found Lilah in the kitchen making breakfast. Lilah looked at Wesley then smiled. ‘It was my turn to make breakfast anyway’ she said. Illyria barked and sat looking up at Lilah. ‘Don’t worry I didn’t forget about you’ Lilah said and put some dog food in Illyria’s bowl. Wesley sat down at the kitchen table and began looking through the mail. All rubbish again he thought to himself. Lilah brought over a plate of bacon and eggs for Wesley and some for herself as well.

After breakfast they were sitting in the living room watching some Diagnosis Murder. They both sat in silence; Illyria was sitting at the foot of the couch sleeping. Lilah finally broke the silence.

‘Wesley?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I’ve been wondering about that girl in that picture that was on your bedside table’

‘Ahh’

‘Who is she?’

Wesley sighed and then took out a Marlboro and lit it. ‘She was my fiancée’ Wesley said and inhaled deeply. He had never really spoken about Becky to anyone since the accident, it brought up to many memories. He had tried talking to Rooker about it before but it didn’t work out well so he had given the box to Rooker in hope that he could get over what had happened. He didn’t.

‘What happened to her? Did you break up?’ Lilah asked, already thinking that it was a stupid question. ‘No, she died in an accident’ Wesley replied and inhaled the smoke deeply and held it there for a few moments. ‘I’m sorry’ Lilah said and hugged Wesley.

‘It’s alright, it was an accident and it happened quickly, she didn’t suffer’ Wesley said and stubbed his cigarette out in the ash tray. ‘How did it happen?’ Lilah asked. Wesley spent the next half hour telling Lilah about the accident.

‘God’

‘Yeah I know’

‘I’m so sorry Wesley’

‘Thanks’ he replied but felt hurt deep down inside. Lilah looked at him for a second then nodded. ‘You shouldn’t blame yourself though’ she said. Wesley sat there for a moment then sighed. ‘Can we talk about this another time please?’ he asked and lit another Marlboro. ‘Alright’ Lilah said and lit her own. If he keeps bottling it up like that it’s not going to do any good... then again who am I to judge she thought. She looked down at Illyria whose leg was twitching. Must be having a dream, hope it’s a good one she thought.



Frank was now pacing up and down streets with no real go. He was furious that Lilah got away from him again, not only that but the chances of finding her again were almost nonexistent. There’s no way she’ll go back to her apartment he thought and kicked a glass bottle that broke in too many crystal like shards. What was he to do? He was being hunted by the police; he had gotten sloppy with both Darla and Anne. You’re dad also let his anger get the best of him remember? A voice spoke in his head. He dismissed the voice, sure his dad had gotten angry, maybe even hurt him a little but he knew it was for his own good, besides he knew that he was better than his old man. Frank stopped at a bus shelter and found a half eaten big mac on the bench. He considered it for a moment then eats it furiously; he had not eaten in what seemed like days, and no doubt was. He looked around and thought about going back to the abandoned building at the docks, staying out here would just get him caught. But something caught his eye on the bus shelter. It was a poster, a missing pet poster to be exact. He looked at it for a second, something was clicking inside his head slowly, trying to process an important but corrupted bit of data. ‘That dog’ he muttered aloud and stared at the poster. He remembered he had heard a dog from Lilah’s apartment when he was checking to see what floor she was on, and also remembered than while going through her place he had found dog biscuits. He read the poster closely then sighed; it appeared that some man called Wesley had lost his dog, not Lilah. He started back towards the abandoned building and then suddenly stopped. His mind had just come up with another bit of data, he had heard Lilah call that man he had encountered Wesley. He turned back to the bus shelter and tore the poster down and read it over once more. It was a long shot but he thought that the missing dog poster might belong to the same Wesley, and what do you know it even came with the persons address. That’s stupid, how many people called Wesley who own dogs do you think there are the voice in his head said. Frank ignored it then tucked the poster in to his pocket. Sure it was a long shot, but he would check it out anyway, carefully this time. He was feeling much better now and started back to the abandoned building where he would plan his next move.



The next morning Wesley and Lilah were in the park walking Illyria. Neither of them had mentioned their discussion the previous evening. Illyria was once again playing in the snow and looking for any lost balls. Wesley lit himself a cigarette and inhaled deeply. ‘So what do you want to do today?’ he asked Lilah.

‘Today?’

‘Yeah, we can’t hold ourselves up inside the house forever you know’

‘Yeah but Frank...’

‘Yeah I know but look at it this way, he doesn’t know where you are or where I live and if we’re somewhere public and he does find us he’s not going to start something... and if he does well he’ll be caught and everything will be back to normal’

‘I suppose’

‘So what would you like to do today?’

‘Well... we could go shopping’

‘Shopping it is then’ Wesley said and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘Here Illyria’ Lilah called out. Illyria came running through some bushes and jumped up to see Lilah. Lilah clipped on her leash and gave her a pat. ‘Good girl’ she said and they started back home.



They drove in to town and parked in the St Enoch Centre. They first got something to eat at Ichi-ban before going shopping. They sat and eat noodles and drank some warm sake, much to Wesley’s liking, and discussed where to go shopping. ‘Where do you want to go?’ asked Lilah as she slurped down her noodles. ‘Anywhere is fine with me, although I’d like to go to waterstones and pick up some books, how about it?’ Wesley replied and finished off the sake. ‘Sure thing’ Lilah said and gave Wesley a thumb up. They left Ichi-ban after their meal and started towards waterstones. On the way there Wesley stopped to light himself a smoke.

‘I hate having to smoke outside, even on a nice day’

‘I can see your point; the cold doesn’t exactly do well for your hands’

‘Not just that, they don’t taste as good’

‘Ahh I see, well I prefer menthols anyway’ Lilah said as they reached waterstones. Wesley stubbed his cigarette out under his heel and they stepped inside. ‘Well at least it’s warm in here’ he said and looked for the fiction section; Waterstones had a habit of moving their sections around often making in troublesome to find what you wanted. Lilah nodded and went over to a stack of books displayed
 
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on a table in front of them. She picked up a new hardback book and read over the back. ‘This one sounds interesting’ she said and showed it to Wesley. Wesley read the back cover quickly; the book appeared to be about a man seeking revenge on a demon who had killed his wife. Wesley sighed, ‘How many revenge stories have to start with someone’s family or friend being killed at the start’ he said and handed the book back. Lilah stood there for a moment silent, she thought about Anne and Darla. ‘Because friends and family are what’s important to people the most, you want to protect them and when they are taken from you you want payback’ Lilah said and placed the book back down on the table. Wesley stared at her for a second then nodded, ‘I see your point’ he said.



Around the time Wesley and Lilah entered Waterstones Frank had found Wesley’s house. He stood and looked at it from the park across the street. He was careful not to be seen, although the park was near empty due to the fact it was freezing cold outside. Nevertheless Frank wasn’t prepared to make any mistakes again. He watched the house for a full hour before moving for a closer look. He had seen no sign of anyway being inside and there was no car in the drive way so no one appeared to be home. He crossed the street slowly and carefully, more to avoid falling on his ass than oncoming traffic. He stood just outside the gate and opened it slowly. It made a small squeaking noise that irritated Frank and made him grit his teeth. He mounted the porch and peered through the window. He looked in to the living room and saw nothing and no one. He went to the front door and examined it. The door looked to be slightly damaged, as if someone had broken in to the house lately, which would mean a new tougher lock would no doubt be installed. Frank looked around the street to see if anyone was watching but could not. He started around the back of the house and found the back door leading in to the kitchen. He could see that the door was old but did not appear to have a strong lock on it like the front. Frank considered about trying seeing if it was unlocked by chance then decided against it. He was going to take this slowly and carefully so that she won’t get away again. He walked back around the front of the house and decided to take another look through the window. Again he could see nothing and was about to turn away when all of a sudden a dog jumped up at the window and started barking loudly. Frank was startled and fell backwards. The dog continued to bark at him, Frank thought that perhaps the dog sensed what he wanted to do, either way the dog could become a problem when the time comes he thought to himself. He quickly hurried away from the house to the sound of Illyria barking at him.



‘Did you find what you wanted?’ Lilah asked coming over to Wesley at the fiction section. ‘Yeah, how about you?’ he replied and stacked the books he was carrying under his arm. ‘Yup I did, took awhile though, this place is confusing with the way it’s laid out’ Lilah said and looked at what Wesley was carrying. She saw he was carrying books about detectives written by Raymond Chandler. ‘Detective novels?’

‘Yeah well I’ll read just about anything really’ Wesley said and smiled. ‘What do you have?’ he asked. Lilah showed him the 2 books she was carrying; the covers had scantily clad men carrying women in their arms. ‘Just a couple of romance novels, I have a thing for them’ she said and blushed. ‘Alright well let’s go pay for them then we’ll go home how does that sound’ Wesley asked. Lilah attempted to give her usual thumbs up and dropped the books instead. ‘Oops’ she said and got on her knees to pick them up. They took their books to the counter and paid for them, Wesley insisted that he should pay for hers as well, so that he could get more points on his waterstones card. They left shortly after and started back for home.



Illyria was sitting at the door waiting for Wesley and Lilah to return. She had a bad feeling about the person who was snooping around the house earlier. When they got home Illyria greeted them both with the usual barks of welcome. She followed them into the kitchen and sniffed at her bowl and looked at Lilah. ‘You want fed girl?’ Lilah asked her. Illyria responded with a bark and wagged her tail. Lilah poured some dog biscuits into the bowl and Illyria immediately went about eating them all. Afterwards she went into the living room and sat on the couch next to Lilah. Lilah began to pet her, to her enjoyment. She licked Lilah’s hand in thanks. She heard Wesley enter the room and ran to him and jumped up on him, knowing what time it was. ‘Alright girl come on’ he said. He also said something to Lilah but didn’t make it out over her own barking telling Wesley to hurry up. Wesley clipped on her leash and went across the road to the park. It was getting dark now but that did not bother her, what she couldn’t see she could always smell or hear. Wesley let her off the leash and she began running through the snow looking for a ball to play with. She ran into a nest of trees not far from the bench where Wesley was currently sitting enjoying a smoke. She sniffed around the area, finding new scents was always a hobby of hers, and stopped as she heard coughing from in front of her. She walked along slowly and quietly as she could towards the sound. Through a thin patch of bushes she could see a man lying on the ground. She did not approach him however, she recognised the man as the same one from earlier. She considered barking at him but decided to go tell Wesley what she had found; the man on the ground gave her a bad feeling. She ran back to Wesley as fast as she could. She found him just about to start calling for her and jumped up on him and told him what she had found and what happened earlier. Unfortunately for her this was one of those times Wesley could not understand him. He clipped on her leash and she tried to drag him and show him what she had found instead. Wesley however was having none of it and took her back home. Back inside Illyria attempted to relay the same message to Lilah but she could not understand her either. ‘What’s got into her?’ Lilah asked. ‘Not sure, probably saw a fox in the park or something’ Wesley replied. Illyria walked over to the front door and sat in front of it. She didn’t think the strange man would come back, but if he did she intended to be there just in case.



Frank was now watching the house. It was night time now and he could see no lights on. He stared at it for a long time thinking of what he should do next. The guy shouldn’t be too much of a problem but I can’t take that chance he thought to himself. He started across the road towards the house. He did not know why he had to get close only that he needed to be close. He stopped at the front gate; his head was beginning to hurt more now. He considered just going up to the door and kick it in but he shook his head to get rid of the idea which just caused him more pain. Tomorrow, whatever happens it will be tomorrow he thought to himself and started to walk away back to the abandoned building.

The following morning Wesley woke up with an aching head. He took some painkillers but they had no effect. ‘The doctor did say that might happen’ Lilah said as she stood next to him in the kitchen. ‘Maybe you should take those pills he gave you?’

‘Maybe but they would just about knock me out for most of the day and I had planned to take you out tonight.’

Lilah kissed him and smiled. ‘Not tonight, you go back up to bed and take those pills and rest alright?’

‘But’

‘No buts’, you helped take care of me now it’s my turn to take care of you, and don’t worry I’ll take care of Illyria.’

‘I guess there’s no point in arguing is there?’

‘Nope’ Lilah said and kissed him. He returned the kiss, ‘I love you’ he said. ‘I love you too, now you go back to bed and leave everything to me.’

Wesley went back up stairs and got the pills the doctor had given him out from his bedside table. He dry swallowed two and got back into bed. He soon felt drowsy and fell asleep. Lilah came up to check on him and saw that he was asleep. She went back downstairs and called for Illyria. ‘Alright girl time for walkies’ she said and clipped on Illyria’s leash and took her for a walk.

Frank was walking through an ASDA looking for what he might need. He found the kitchen section and picked up some knives. He also bought some vodka and food as to not seem to suspicious when he paid for them. Hell he was starving and needed to eat and drink something anyway. He paid for the items with the remaining little cash he had and went back to the building which he now occupied. He sat and eats the food which didn’t amount to more than a few packets of crisps and a chocolate bar. Still they gave him some energy and the vodka had taken his headache down to a dull throb. He did not finish the vodka however; he intended to be sober when he visited Lilah tonight. He took out the knives he had bought and stared at them for a moment. He thought about why he had bought them. He knew that the house would no doubt have knives and other things he could do his work with but he thought that he may need his own just in case. He took the largest knife and brought it downward, enjoying the sound of the air being sliced. He then took the smaller one and frowned. Can’t do much with this he thought but put it in the back of his trousers just in case. Always good to have a backup he thought to himself and fantasised about what was going to happen that night.

Lilah got back from walking Illyria and then made herself some lunch. She then went up stairs to see how Wesley was doing. She found him sleeping still. She watched him for awhile then went over and kissed his forehead. She left him sleeping. He needs it too she thought. He’s done so much for me in such little time, yet I still feel that this whole thing is going to come to an end soon. She looked at Illyria who was sitting in the hall watching her. I think she knows it too she thought and started downstairs and Illyria followed.

Later that night while Lilah was watching eastenders Frank was across the street watching the house. He could see only one light on in the living room but that was all. Alright I’ll give it half an hour then I’ll make my move he thought to himself and walked in to the park and thought about how he was going to get inside the house. He knew breaking the front door down would be risky, noisy and most important of all might not work from what he saw. He considered the back door to be the safest way to enter.



Lilah switched off the T.V after eastenders and went to the front door. ‘Illyria, walkies’ she said and Illyria came running as usual. Lilah left the house and headed across the street to the park. She saw that it was beginning to snow again and let Illyria off her leash to run around. Lilah lit herself a smoke and inhaled deeply. She thought about Wesley and if he would be feeling better tomorrow. She had in fact wanted to talk to him for some time now about moving away from all of this. Abroad perhaps, somewhere that isn’t so cold she thought to herself.

While Lilah was thinking of sunny Spain Frank had managed to sneak around the house to the back door. The lights were off. He stood there listening for any noise but could not hear anything. His heart was racing with excitement, his headache had returned but it seemed of no importance to him now. He drew a deep breath then kicked in the door, praying that there was no alarm. The door frame shook as the door gave in with a crash. Shit too much force he thought and entered. He found himself in the kitchen. He took the kitchen knife he had bought, although wish he hadn’t bothered seeing as he was in a kitchen now, and gripped it tightly. He slowly crept through the door facing the front of the house that led in to the living room. He looked around quickly but saw no one. He crept through the room examining it. He looked at pictures of people he did not know and books he did not read. He quickly left the room by the door to the hallway and saw the staircase. Catch them in bed perhaps? He thought to himself and felt like giggling with excitement. He was slowly making his way up stairs when he heard a noise from outside. It was Lilah and that damn dog he heard. He looked around quickly then started back towards the kitchen and closed the door and listened closely to what he could hear.

Lilah walked back across the road, with Illyria dragging her forward. ‘Alright girl calm down’ Lilah said and fumbled the keys out of her pocket and dropped them at the front door. ‘Shit’ she muttered under her breath and knelt to pick them up. Illyria was barking like crazy now. ‘Alright alright’ Lilah muttered and unlocked the front door and went inside. As soon as she was in Illyria quickly ran up stairs to check on Wesley. Guess she’s worried about him Lilah thought to herself and closed the door behind her. She walked in to the living room and sat there for a moment to warm up. Coffee would warm you up much better you know a voice in her head told her. She sighed and got up and headed to the kitchen.

Frank could hear footsteps coming his way. He gripped the knife tightly and walked slowly backwards in to a corner behind the door. It opened. He saw Lilah walk through it and turn left. If she had turned right and looked behind the door she would have found him. He peeked round the corner of the door and saw her. Anger swept through him now. Gotcha he thought and slammed the door closed.

Lilah jumped as she heard the door slam shut behind her. She turned around and saw Frank standing there grinning at her. She couldn’t summon any words at that moment she was in shock. ‘Hello dear’ he said and approached her. She saw something shining in his hand and noticed it was a large kitchen knife. Oh god he’s really going to kill me she thought and tried to take a step backwards but bumped in to the counter. ‘Now, don’t try anything stupid you little bitch’ he said and charged at her.

He tackled her and pinned her against the counter. ‘Now we’re going to have a little chat’ he said and then punched her in the stomach hard. Damn that felt good he thought. Lilah collapsed to the floor on her knees. She was winded and could barely breathe. ‘What? You thought I’d just kill you quick and be done with it did you?’ he said and kicked her in the gut. She laid there for a few moments then Frank pulled her up by the hair and stood her up straight. ‘I’m sorry about that love, you know I care really’ he said and brought the knife to the side of her face. He made a shallow cut on her cheek. ‘You know you had this coming don’t you? For what you did’ he said and looked in to her eyes. He saw that she was terrified, but not just terrified there seemed to be a look in her eyes that he had never seen before.

Lilah stood there with her back towards the counter and stared in to his eyes with hate. She felt behind her for something she could use as a weapon. She found something made of glass, most likely a coffee jar, and gripped it tightly. I hope this works, I just have to stun him long enough to call the police she thought and gripped the jar tighter. Frank was about to cut her again when she brought the coffee jar from behind her back and slammed it in to the side of Frank’s face. It broke and shattered as it hit his face and as he stood there in shock and pain she kicked him backwards and ran towards the door and opened it. She looked around for her phone but could not see it anywhere. She searched again in panic until she heard Frank come in to the room.

‘That wasn’t nice you bitch!’ he screamed and charged at her in blind fury. The blow had hurt and a few shards of glass were imbedded in his skin, one was caught inside his eye. The pain was intense but he pushed it aside. He wasn’t prepared to let her beat him. As he dived for her she quickly dodged him. He fell to the floor with a crash. He saw her about to run away then he grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the floor. He crawled on top of her and pinned her down under his knees. ‘You little cunt’ he said and took the knife and brought it to Lilah’s neck.

At that moment Illyria ran in to the room howling. She saw someone on top of Lilah and ran at him. He turned around as he heard her coming however he was too slow to stop her from sinking her teeth in to his arm. She gripped his arm tightly in her teeth and heard him howl in pain. Illyria then felt a sharp pain in her stomach and let go of the man’s arm and howled in pain. She had been stabbed. The man then picked her up and through her across the room. Illyria laid there whimpering in pain.

‘God damn dog’ Frank muttered and turned his attention back to Lilah who was still beneath him. Lilah struggled to get out from under him but could not. She tried moving her arms but could not and felt a sharp pain in her right. ‘Now you little bitch, how about a kiss for old time’s sake’ frank said and moved his face close to Lilah’s. Lilah spat in his face then turned hers to the side. He slapped her across the cheek, drawing blood from her mouth. ‘You know I really did love you, but you had to hurt me... and I can’t forgive that’ he said and brought the knife back to her throat.

‘Get off of her’ a voice said from behind Frank. Frank turned around and saw Wesley standing in the door way. To Frank he looked ill and slow. ‘Now now, this is between me and her you wait your turn’ Frank said to Wesley and stared at him. Wesley looked at Frank then at Lilah beneath him. He heard a whimpering from the other side of the room and looked in that direction. He could see Illyria laying hurt. ‘You break in to my house, you hurt my dog, you hurt the woman I love, you’re going to pay’ Wesley said and charged at Frank. Frank took the knife from Lilah’s throat intending to stab Wesley as he charged at him. Frank however was caught off guard when Wesley pulled out a baton from behind his back and hit Frank in the arm. Frank felt his arm break at the blow and dropped the knife. Wesley then hit him square in the jaw with the baton knocking him off Lilah. ‘Wesley!’ Lilah shouted and stood up and hugged him. Wesley hugged her back and kissed her quickly.

Frank at that moment grabbed the knife in his other hand and stood back up. He was over wrought with pain now and can barely stand. ‘You fuckers I’ll kill you both he said’ he said and charged at them. Wesley pushed Lilah out of the way and caught Franks hand as the knife pierced his stomach. He gripped on to the hand tightly, trying not to let the blade sink deeper in to his stomach. ‘Kill you both’ Frank said and forced the blade in a little more. Wesley grimaced at the pain. The pills he had taken earlier were still wearing off and he wasn’t at full strength, he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out against Frank.

Wesley started losing his grip with both hands now when all of a sudden Lilah picked up the baton Wesley had dropped and swung at Franks head. Frank let go of the knife and fell to the ground. Wesley collapsed next to him and took the knife out slowly. Lilah was now standing above frank and looking down at him. ‘Leave me alone!’ she screamed and brought the baton down on Franks head again and again and again. Wesley watched this, unable to move, and passed out.



Wesley woke up facing a ceiling he did not know. His head and stomach were in great pain and he tried to recall what happened. He looked around the room and saw that he was back in hospital. ‘Well well well had enough beauty sleep?’ a voice said coming from his left. He turned his head in that direction and saw that it was TC. ‘You know you’re a real troublesome bastard’ TC said and gave Wesley a smile. ‘Where’s Lilah?’ Wesley said in a quiet voice, his throat was also hurting. He suddenly remembered what had happened and sat up straight quickly and felt a bolt of pain in his stomach. ‘Whoa settle down there’ TC said and laid him back down. ‘If you move quickly like that you’ll bust your stitches open, then I’ll have to re do them which would require me to use effort, and we don’t want that do we’? TC said. Wesley looked at him and could not tell if he was being serious or not, he asked again where Lilah was. ‘She’s alright, well her arms broke, a couple shallow cuts and bruises but apart from that she’s alright’ TC said and pressed the buzzer and called for a nurse to bring Lilah in. The door opened a minute later and in came Lilah and a nurse. Lilah saw Wesley and rushed to his side and kissed him. ‘Are you ok?’ she asked with impatience. Wesley smiled then turned his head towards TC. ‘I don’t know am I doc?’ Wesley asked.

‘I’m afraid not you see you only have 24 hours to live’ TC said and stared at Wesley intensely. Wesley stared back at him in disbelief when all of a sudden then nurse next to TC slapped him hard across the back of the head. ‘You don’t joke about shit like that you twit!’ the nurse said and slapped him again. The nurse then turned to Wesley and smiled. ‘Sorry about him, he’s a little off in the head as you can probably tell’ the nurse said. ‘Hey I’m right here’ TC said from behind her.

‘And if you open your mouth again I’ll make sure you won’t be, you got that?’ the nurse said and turned and looked sharply at TC. She turned back and faced Wesley. ‘As I was saying, my name is Laura Sullivan, and you’re fine, you just got a small concussion and stitches in your stomach, they’ll probably be a scar there once the wound has healed but that’s all’ the nurse said and gave him a smile. ‘Thank you nurse Sullivan’ Lilah said to her. ‘It’s alright, now we’ll leave you two be in private.’ Laura said and then motioned for TC to keep his mouth shut and leave the room.

Lilah and Wesley looked at each other for a moment before either of them spoke. ‘What happened to Frank?’ Wesley asked. Lilah looked down at her hands for a second then began to speak. ‘I killed him, I kept hitting him and I killed him. The police said it was in self defence so I won’t be arrested’

‘That’s good’

‘Is it? I killed him, sure he was a monster but he wasn’t always, I still think about how he used to be’

‘He may have been good but that doesn’t stop the fact that he was a monster who killed people and if you hadn’t done what you did he would have killed us both’

‘Yeah...’

‘What about Illyria?’

‘Huh? Oh right sorry, she’s at the vets, she has a shallow cut on her stomach and that’s all, she’s fine and we can go pick her up soon’

They both sat there in silence for a moment. Wesley looked at Lilah who was beginning to cry now. ‘Lilah, you did the right thing, its ok it’s over now’ Wesley said and held her hand tightly. Lilah looked up at him with amazement. She had not really thought about it all being over but she realised now that it was. She nodded and looked at him. ‘You’re right, it’s over and now I can start again for the better’ she said then leaned over and kissed him.

A month later they were sitting on the couch cuddling, Illyria was lying under the couch sleeping. Wesley looked at Lilah then kissed her nose. ‘I love you’ he said. ‘I love you too’ she replied. Wesley pulled something out of his pocket and held it in his hand. Lilah looked at it for a moment but could not see what it was. Wesley opened his hand and revealed that it was a ring. Lilah gasped at the sight of it. ‘Lilah, will you marry me?’ Wesley asked. Lilah was awestruck for a moment then came to her sense. ‘Of course I will!’ she said and hugged Wesley tightly. Wesley hugged her tightly then slid the ring on to her finger. Illyria woke up from her sleep and looked at them both. She saw that Wesley and Lilah were ecstatic with joy. This made her happy and so she went back to sleep.



The End