The Silent Deceivers

Chapter 20

Evidence

After Connor left, I burrowed myself into my bed and fell asleep. Sleep took away the pain and thoughts but when I woke up I was numb. I had no emotions. Well I did I just wasn’t going to display them. I managed to lift myself out of my bed, pull on every piece of black clothing I had and stumble down stairs. As I descended the stairs I could hear the chatter of monkeys in the kitchen but when I turned the corner I was met by an awkward silence and sympathetic glares. I exhaled. Today would be a struggle and once again I will be the victim to the voice in my head. I stood their staring blankly at their faces when a pair of arms appeared around my waist, I looked down to see Luke staring up at me.

“I love you!” he said.

“Come on monkey, breakfast.” Lisa said to Luke tugging at his arm.

He let go and ran to grab the last piece of toast on the table. Moans and insults filled the air. I couldn’t stay. I spun on my heels and walked towards the back door.

“Leah, breakfast?” Lisa reminded me.

“No thanks.” I muttered and left.

I walked into the woods glancing over my shoulder, to check no one was following me. Then I pulled out my iPod that I had stuffed into my pocket and put my head phones on. I carried on through the woods, breaking into a jog when I was certain no one was behind me. As my feet carried me away from the life I so badly wanted to escape I thought back over Connors reaction to the letter. Why had he left? Why was he so mad, they’d got what they wanted so why were they unhappy? I couldn’t make sense of it all. I carried on jogging for a couple more miles until my lungs caught fire. I slowed down and gradually came to a stop. Gasping for oxygen, I walked around hands on head waiting for the burning in my lungs to stop. I sat down on a log, placed my head between my knees and counted my breaths. I pulled my headphones out and sat up. Silence. Not even a bird singing. I looked around, trees and bushes surrounded me in every direction. I didn’t recognise it but it was familiar in a sense. I picked up as stick and started to cut down the nettles and thorns around me. I carried on until I saw a pathway leading further into the woods. The nettle and thorns weren’t going down without a fight, I was scratched and bleeding by the time I had fought my way through but I welcomed the pain. As I climbed out of the bushes, I remembered exactly where I was. The clearing I’d found many months ago. Nothing much had change. Bushes and weeds had become over grown but I could fix that, the grass was lime green and the flowers that had sprung up around the edge made it look like an art gallery. A carpet of cherry blossom petals had decorated the floor and the small stream was flowing fast. I walked further and sat down. I pushed away the grass to find ashes and burnt twigs still in formation since the fire I’d burned months ago. Remembering the box I had buried, I lifted up the stone to fine it intact. I picked up the loose change and dropped it into my pocket. Placing the stone back down with a bang, I picked up the stick again and started slaying the over grown bushes and creating a pile of branches and leaves that I could burn when the cold months came. After working up a sweat I collapsed onto the grass and looked up at the sky. The clouds were soaring past and the sun was slowing making its way into full view. I lay there, finding shapes in the clouds until my mind filtered back to the Connor, and David’s letter.  Slowly I rocked back and forth. As I sat there I felt the space begin to close in on me, my surroundings became fuzzy, my palms began to sweat and my throat became tight. I threw my head down and clasped onto the rope. My eyes focused on a single stone that lay on the ground beneath me. Staring at the stone and reciting my seven times table I finally calmed myself down. Lifting my head back up, I decided I had to leave the clearing but i wasn’t ready to go back. So I tied my hair up, plugged my headphones and fought my way out of the clearing back to the log.  I covered up the path way with more twigs and leaves to make it unrecognisable to anyone else who ventured this far into the wood. It was midday and the sun was beating down. Standing at the cross roads, I turned and walked away from the path I had arrived on, deeper in the part of the woods I didn’t know. I carried on walking, putting one foot in front of the other. I walked until I came to the edge of the woods. I found myself standing to the left of Oakley Care Home at the bottom of the field that stood in between us. I followed the edge of the wood all the round, keeping an eye on Oakley surrounded in the middle. Occasionally I darted in and out of the woods following paths that people had made. As I walked I got closer and closer to Oakley until I was standing in the wood that guarded Oakley in the driveway. I still didn’t want to go back, it was too much being around happy little kids so I diverted onto a path of trodden grass that lead me into the woods but not so far that I couldn’t see the house. I followed the path until it came to a dead end behind some bushes close to the edge of the wood directly in front of Oakley house. I looked down and you could see the trampled on grass, the place where someone had stood quite recently. There were no tree in sights, so the view was clear. You could see every part of Oakley, every entrance, every exit, every part the roof from where I was standing. My mind instantly became suspicious. Why would someone want to spy on Oakley Care Home? Searching for a well explained theory, I finally decided the trail had been made by a police man searching for evidence after David died. Accepting my made up theory, I turned around and began to walked back the way I’d come but as I did so I kicked the leaves of a fern bush. Before they fell neatly into place again i noticed a black object underneath it. I kicked it up again to see if I was imagining things but sure waiting there was a black ball of fabric. My heart began to race. Picking up a nearby branch I hooked the piece of fabric on the end and pulled it out. I dropped it onto the floor in front of me where it unfolded. I stared down at the charcoal black hoodie in front of me. I recognised it. My head was telling me to run; leave the hoodie where I found it but my instinct was telling me that I needed to hide it. Something was wrong, I could feel it.

I swiped off my jacket and picked up the grey hoodie that lay crumpled on the ground. I studied it carefully, white zip, medium size, white toggles and string, grey hood and grey inside. I pulled it up by the hood and grabbed the sleeve, it was glowing red, as I touched the cuff red flakes fell onto my hand, I held my hand up in front of my face to inspect it. I looked back at the cuff, it was encrusted with red and as I moved my hand up the sleeve I saw splashes of red on the sleeve. My brain clicked; blood. It was blood. That’s when I panicked, I turned around, and ran out of the woods, across the courtyard and up the steps, stopping at the back door. I pulled down the handle and pushed open the door with my right hand, holding the hoodie carefully in my other hand. I pushed the door shut with my foot and then raced through the house towards my room. As I climbed the stairs, I saw that my bedroom door was open. I stopped. I swore I had closed it before I left; I always close it. My heart began to beat fast. Clasping the hoodie I slowly edged my way in, I stood shielded by the door; I peaked my head round to find a figure leaning over my dressing table. Before I knew they had begun to turn around, I gasped. I didn’t dare to breathe. I closed my eyes and prayed it was all a dream, that there was no figure and there was no hoodie.

“Leah?” My eyes flew open. 

“Connor!” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Sorry! I was looking for…….. Oh my hoodie thanks.” He said.