• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 340 0

on my elbow. I reckoned I must have whacked it off the bedpost at David’s, but then again the bruise did look like it was a few days old. Maybe it had been there for a while and I just hadn’t seen it. The headache was back, worse than ever. I had dozed off around 6 a.m. and despite being exhausted I had started to dream. I didn’t dream about the drunk man and the angry driver and the brown leather bag. I dreamed about lying on a damp carpet of twigs with a heavy body pressing down on me and hands groping me. It was like what I’d felt at David’s. But this dream was even more terrifying than the other one. In this dream I wasn’t just an observer; I was a participant. An unwilling one. I don’t scare easily, but I couldn’t help feeling frightened now. The dream was so real I felt like I had actually been attacked. Even after I’d woken up I couldn’t shake off the terror I felt inside. And when I’d been on the bed I had been awake. Flashbacks from last night kept coming into my mind, the most heart-wrenching one being the look of confusion on Nick’s face. I couldn’t think about him now though. I had to get going.

I got out of bed, went into our tiny bathroom and turned on the shower. As I took off my pyjamas my heart started to beat faster and faster. There was another bruise, and another and another. My body was covered in them. Big black dirty bruises, all along my shoulders and chest and thighs. The one on my neck was so dark I couldn’t see my heart-shaped freckle. I was about to scream but stopped myself. Mum didn’t need to know about this. She would freak out and drag me straight to the doctor. I was so frightened, but I desperately tried to calm down. I had a quick shower, shivering even though the water was scorching hot. My mind raced, trying to find a logical explanation for these marks on my skin. They hadn’t been there when I was getting ready for bed. Surely if I’d been thrashing around in my sleep Mum would have woken up and stopped me? Maybe they weren’t bruises … they didn’t hurt at all … maybe they were just stains of some sort. I scrubbed at one on my shoulder but it didn’t budge. What the hell was happening to me? I was on the verge of tears but I held it together. I needed to get to the healer’s house.

I dressed quickly, throwing on anything I could find. Mum wasn’t anywhere near the house so I left her a note saying I’d be back in a couple of hours. Then I ran up towards the mines until I could get enough coverage, my blue Doc Martens splashing in last night’s puddles, spattering rainwater on to my denims. I took the card from my pocket and dialled the number.

‘Hello?’ A woman’s voice answered.

‘Hello,’ I said. ‘Um, I was given Ger Rapple’s number and I need to see him urgently. Today.’

‘I’m sorry, dear, but he’s fully booked today. And I’m afraid he’s busy for the next two weeks. But I can make you an appointment for then.’

My heart sank and tears sprang into my eyes. I couldn’t help it. ‘Please,’ I said, my voice shaking. ‘This is an emergency. Dr Cahill said this might be the answer to some … headaches I’ve been having. They’re getting worse and I can’t sleep. Please help me,’ I begged, no longer caring if I sounded desperate.

‘OK, dear, just calm down. Do you think you can get here in the next ten minutes? He’s just had a cancellation. If you can, then I’ll ask if he can see you.

‘Yes, that’s fine. I’ll be there.’

‘OK, now, can you give me some details.’

I gave her my name, address and date of birth, then rooted around in my bag for a piece of paper and scribbled the directions on the back of my Cupcake Café receipt.

Ger Rapple’s house was on the side of a mountain, about a twenty-minute walk from the mines. To make it I’d have to run the whole way there. I didn’t hesitate. It was uphill all the way, but I kept running. My stomach churned and my head thumped with every heavy step, but I had to keep on going, I had no choice. The sun blasted down on the road and I squinted, searching for Ger Rapple’s house in the distance. I wasn’t familiar with this part of Avarna; the scenery was all new to