The author t j blake, p.14
The-Author T. J. Blake, page 14
wooden flooring here in the hallway and the
carpet in the sitting room, I notice red
footprints leading from the sitting room into
the kitchen. It looks like blood, and that
thought sends shivers down my spine, making
the hairs on my arms stand.
I leap from the bottom step into the flames.
My shirt catches alight as I run towards the
sitting room. Screaming in pain, I run straight
into the wall and fall to the floor. I pat my
shirt down and crawl into the sitting room.
The chair where I fell asleep and the
footprints appear from nowhere. They begin
in front of the chair where I slept, around
behind the chair. The prints lead out into the
hallway and into the kitchen. I duck down and
follow the prints into the kitchen. I look to
the sitting room door which has flicks of
flames blowing into the room.
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My sight blurs and my legs are numb, I fall
onto the soft carpet. I rest my head back and
look up to the sitting room ceiling where the
smoke gathers and the flames appear, carving
away at the ceiling’s paint. The crackling of
the flames strengthens. My eyes begin to grow
heavy; my muscles are limp and relaxed.
I need to get up I say in my mind. Get up!
I take a deep breath and sit up.
The door frame has snapped, causing part of
the wall to collapse. I look down to the
footprints and crawl along, following the
prints.
I drag myself into the kitchen. The air is
barraged by smoke, making it difficult to keep
my eyes open.
The footprints lead to the kitchen table and
then to the back door.
The prints are much clearer in here; they are
thick and messy, with rivulets leading away
from the prints. This is blood!
I stand up with my knees slightly bent and
look onto the table. To my horror, there is a
piece of wood with two nails sticking out
through the top of it. It must be the wood I
saw Shola holding before; the piece that he
threw into the road when I first moved here.
All the suspicious things going on here must
be him. The fox in the shed makes perfect
sense to be him, scientist and vet being able to
lure a fox to him? He has a fox running in his
house as if it’s his pet. Why didn’t I think of
this before?
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I stare at the wood. The nails sticking
through have blood on them. The blood has
dripped on the table to create a pool.
I need to confront Shola, why has he done
this? He must have set the house alight.
I turn to the front door but the flames still
block it. I turn around and look at the back
door and to my horror; blood is smothered all
over the wall and door.
The blood reads ‘sin beaten them’ across the
wall and on the back door multiple times.
What does that mean?
With not much time to think, all I need to
worry about is getting out of here alive to stop
Shola. He must be the man committing these
murders, he’s the one who’s been watching
me; maybe he fears I’m on to him.
The back door is locked. I turn to look at the
front door but the kitchen has now caught
alight. The worktops have flames burning on
the top of them. The cupboard door hinges
have snapped and the doors have fallen onto
the floor. One door lands on the worktop and
one falls onto the floor. I position myself to
run through the flames and to the front door.
It is the easiest way to escape.
As I take a deep breath, I am blown off my
feet. In mid air, my natural reaction is to cover
my face with my arms. My back smashes into
the back door. The windows smash
throughout the house. The kitchen door’s
window smashes and the glass lands on me.
The table flies across the room along with the
piece of wood.
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All my whiskey must have caused that
explosion, along with some electrical works
through the house. I crawl away and as I do,
the kitchen ceiling caves in. Debris lands on
me, pinning me to the ground. There’s
another explosion in the house somewhere
and I watch part of the hallway ceiling
collapse.
I try to crawl, the weight on my back
unbearable. I use all the strength in my arms
to try and pull myself out of the rubble but I
can’t move. The flames begin to burn all
around me in the kitchen.
“Help!” I shout as loud as I can. My voice is
muted by the flames and the smoke.
“Help! Help me!” I shout again and again but
no one can hear.
I try turning onto my back to see if that
makes a difference - it doesn’t.
I squirm on the floor. Staring at the front
door, hoping, wishing, praying that someone
has heard me.
I look out of the window next to the front
door, there are people out there, blue and
green lights circulating, flashing through into
the window. I can only hear the sirens if I
listen really carefully. I seem to be losing my
senses. I think death is upon me…
As I feel myself beginning to drift off into a
sleep, I hear a BANG from the hallway.
Someone is choking and coughing. Their feet
drag along the floor. Pieces of rubble slide
past me. The weight on my body reduces by
the second. This person stands in front of me
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and pulls me up off the floor. I don’t get to
look at them, my sight is blurred, and my
hearing is like there is water in my ears. The
voice of this person is deep, it must be a man.
He says: “Ryan get out, run as fast as you can
to the front door.” Whoever it is, they could
be about to save my life. “Go now!” The man
shouts.
I run, my body weight is uneven; I swerve to
the left and right. Nothing will stand in my
way to reach the front door. I run through the
flames, putting my hands over my face. As I
reach the hallway, I arch my back, put my
shoulder out in front of me, partially turning
my upper body so that I’m looking towards
the basement door, and launch myself
through the front door.
Outside, my vision is blurred. The big fire
engines, the police cars and the ambulance are
all unrecognisable shapes.
I run onto the grass, the temperature outside
is a complete contrast, it caresses my entire
body. I take my first clean breath of air for a
few minutes. The change affects my body
making me feel faint again. I fall onto the
grass and roll down the slope. I can see that I
am rolling but I cannot feel it. I stop part way
down the slope and stretch out my arms in
front of me, resting my cheek on the grass.
My eyes feel heavy once again, until three
people come running over to me. I hear
screams and jumbled voices. There’s someone
with green latex gloves on. I look up to see a
man and woman dressed in green, they must
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be paramedics. I see a man wearing a thick
black and yellow protection suit with a yellow
helmet on.
“He has severe burns we need to get him out
of here now!” I hear the female paramedic
shout.
The male paramedic places a plastic nozzle
over my nose and mouth. I toss my head
trying to get away from it.
“Take it easy Mr Milligan, breathe normally
you’re safe,” the male paramedic says.
There’s another man collapsed near to me.
His bald head shines from the lights of the
vehicles. He looks up to me to confirm that
Paul Brooke saved my life.
“Thank you.” I whisper through the plastic
nozzle, reaching out to him.
“That’s okay mate,” he says between choking.
A paramedic kneels next to him. “I’m fine
don’t worry about me love, look after my
friend,” he says to another female paramedic
and he nods towards me.
He stands up and walks over to Leanne as
she embraces him.
I look up at the crowd; no one is here for me
now that Tanya and the kids are gone.
My eyes begin to well up with tears, I’m
completely alone.
“Can you stand up Mr Milligan?” the female
paramedic asks.
I nod to her and struggle to my feet.
I look down to my shirt which once was
white but now is grey and black and partially
burnt revealing part of my chest. My trousers
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have holes revealing my left shin and right
knee.
“That’s great, we need to take you to
hospital; you’re in a bad condition. You must
have inhaled a massive amount of smoke.”
“I tried staying low.” I say, wheezing.
“We can tell; you could be dead now if you
hadn’t.” The male paramedic says.
“Come on, let’s walk to the ambulance.” The
female paramedic says.
As they walk either side of me to the
ambulance, Sandra and Sam are standing
outside the Cann’s house. She looks at me
with relief. Her make-up is smeared around
her eyes. Her nostrils are red and her lipstick
is ruined. Sam looks at me and smiles.
“Thank God.” Sam shouts.
Sandra stares at me and smiles. As the
paramedics open the back doors to the
ambulance, Sandra runs over to me.
“Can I hug you?” Sandra asks me.
“I’m in pain,” I bluntly reply.
“I wouldn’t recommend it. He has burns all
over his body. He’ll be in hospital the next
few days.” The female paramedic tells Sandra.
“Okay. I will come and see you,” she says to
me, smiling whilst trying to stop her lip
quivering.
I nod to her and step up into the ambulance.
They put me onto the bed inside.
“Take it easy now Ryan, you’re in safe
hands,” the female paramedic says as she
stands over me, placing the plastic nozzle over
my mouth and nose again.
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I look out through the doors as the male
paramedic shuts the back door of the
ambulance; I look out through the other,
open side.
Tanya stands there, staring at me.
Is that really you?
I stare at her.
“Tanya.” I say.
“What’s that sir?” the female paramedic asks.
I do not reply. I wait to see if it really is her.
The male paramedic shuts the other door.
I look through the window of the door.
Tanya stands there still; all I can see now is
the outline of a female’s body. She stares. The
ambulance pulls away from her and the figure
remains, watching the ambulance drive away.
As the figure shrinks into the distance, my
head falls onto the pillow on the bed. My eyes
gain the weight again and I drift away…
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Recovery
Killing For Your Love
Chapter 26
So who is this Mr S? I have no idea whatsoever
but whoever he is, I need to find out and I need
to finish him.
This is all becoming very risky, I’m being
hunted for the wrong reasons. I would never
harm my family, no sane man would.
I sit in darkness planning my next moves,
nobody knows I’m here, the man who used to live
here no longer does; he’s not even alive anymore.
I made sure of that.
It’s funny that this house has no name and not
even a number.
Chapter 27
I’m out in the night once again. I trek up to the
morgue where Don works. No one is around but
the lights are on inside.
I walk right up to the door and open it slowly. I
walk into the morgue entrance and look around
me, with no one in sight down the hallways; I go
out the back to find Don.
I take stealthy steps through the corridor.
There’s water running through the pipes that
run along the ceiling and top of the walls. The
wind outside is vicious as it pushes against the
building making the windows and the frames
creak.
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I reach the area where Don has taken me many
times to see the bodies; right out into the morgue
area. When people are here I have to go into the
white room and look through a window but when
no one is around, I’m allowed to come out the
back.
I look through one of the double doors’ windows.
There are beds and lumpy objects under each
sheet, but no Don.
I push the door open with my finger tips and
creep into the back area.
There’s a strong smell of bleach out here. The
temperature is freezing.
Ahead of me is a door, I think that it’s the
security office but with no one here there won’t
be anyone in there.
I continue to look around; on a bed on the right
lays a blonde woman under the blue sheet. I
don’t know her.
Lifting the cover up on another bed, I look at a
man. I believe it is the man who was in my
house. His head is covered in dried blood; it
doesn’t sit normally as his neck is bent back at an
awkward angle.
I must have caused a lot of damage with that
bat.
“What are you doing here?” Don’s deep voice
bellows from behind me.
“I’ve come here to see you.” I reply.
“Why would you want to see me?”
“Because I have some questions to ask you.” I
say as I turn to face him.
“Go on.” Don replies carelessly.
“Don, enlighten me, who’s Mr S?” I ask.
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“I… I can’t… I can’t tell you, I’ll be killed.”
Don stutters.
“Oh Don. I’ll kill your wife and your kid, I’ve
already warned you. Tell me what I want to
know.”
“I don’t know who Mr S is. I really don’t, that’s
all he is to me, Mr S.”
“Why is he after me? What does he want from
me?”
“Mr S is a bad man Daniel. I would stop
investigating these murders if I were you. I
would stop trying to find out who Mr S is and I
would stop coming here.”
“I can’t leave Lizzie and the kids.”
“You have to.”
“Why does he not want me sniffing around?”
“Daniel, do you really not know?”
“No, I don’t.
“Mr S has contacts, many contacts. He knows
the police, he knows detectives. They are all after
you, they believe you killed all these blonde
women, they believe you killed Lizzie and the
kids, if you come here again,” Don pauses and
stares at me. “I will kill you.”
“I didn’t kill Lizzie or the kids. I will do
anything to find them so if you, Mr S and the
other two get in my way, don’t be surprised if I
kill you.”
“I doubt that very much, Daniel.”
I turn around and leave the morgue.
More enemies. That is not what I need to find
Lizzie and the kids.
Someone is setting me up.
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I open my eyes. I’m blinded by bright lights
which cause my vision to blur. I hear
mumbling and a high pitched beep sound
every couple of seconds. I look straight up
and see a figure standing over me. Their head
blocks the light and it shines around their
head.
I hear mumbling and the beeping. Each time
I hear the beep, I get flashbacks of the flames
in the house crawling into each room,
catching the house alight.
My senses return to me slowly, my sight
regains some normality. There’s a nurse
standing above me as she checks my machine.
Of course, I’m in hospital.
“Mr Milligan how are you feeling?” the nurse
asks.
“Rough,” I reply.
“That’s no surprise. You will begin to feel a
lot better now though. You’ve been
unconscious the whole night, we’ve kept you
in just to keep an eye on you; you must have
inhaled a lot of smoke. Could you sit up for
