I have to get away from them, Leah is in danger as long as I am around her. I also need to try and sort out what the hell is going on with me. What happened in the forest? And what is it with these birds?
I have to stop running in the end, I am totally out of breath and my head is killing me. Whatever hit me left a major bump on the back of my head and it is throbbing. Luckily there was only a small amount of blood which soon stopped.
I need to get home and sort myself out. A shower and a change of clothes are definitely in order, I could be mistaken for a homeless person the way I smell. My flat is on the other side of town, so I need to get to a bus stop, even on weekends they should still run fairly regularly. A middle-aged man is walking toward me.
“Excuse me,” I say.
The look on his face says it all, the horror of being spoken to as if he was attacked. I feel like an alien species. He continues to walk past me, looking over his shoulder as he does. OK, it seems I am on my own. I am sure that I can work out where I am on my own.
As soon as I turn the next corner I see a landmark that I recognise, I am near the church. There is a bus stop opposite, and it only takes me a minute to get there. One elderly lady is sitting at the stop and she smiles and invites me to sit down. That makes a change.
“How are you dear?” she asks.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” and I can’t help but laugh and shake my head.
“I have had days like that since my Phil died,” she sighs.
“My name’s Phil,” I say.
A bus approaches, not the one I want, but the lady stands up ready to get on.
Just as she is about to step on she turns and says, “She is yours, go get her.”
Once she takes her seat the bus begins to drive away, and she looks at me through the window. Her eyes are as black as the night.
To be continued…
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