Page 66

Chapter 65

Margot

It’s a commotion of crackling and sputtering noises that brings me back to life.

I open my eyes but it’s close to pitch-black in here, and when I try and focus on anything, it’s blurred. Even when I have had the hangover from hell it hasn’t felt as bad as this. Am I injured? Have I had a stroke or a brain tumour? Am I in hospital?

A scent of smoke swiftly follows and grabs my attention. It’s vague at first and I can’t be sure if it’s getting stronger because I’m regaining my senses or something is on fire. Is it the house? The fear of God flashes through me.

Hurriedly, I try and sit up in my bed but I barely budge. I can feel my hands, fingers and feet moving from side to side but they won’t lift up. Something is stopping them, a weight pushing all of me down.

And then I realise this isn’t a mattress I’m lying on. It’s way too firm, it’s freezing and my clothes are damp. As my vision gradually returns, I know that I need to get out of here, wherever here is. I curl my fingers in on themselves and there is something binding them together – it feels like cling film but it won’t stretch or tear. It’s more like a plastic wrap.

Wherever I am, I’ve been put here deliberately. Something around me explodes, but as I scream I realise my mouth isn’t opening as it should. There’s a gag tied around my head, stretching tightly across my face each time my jaw opens and my lips part. I want to be sick but stop myself. I twist and turn my head, and finally the gag is pushed down to my chin.

‘Help me!’ I yell, but my throat is hoarse and I sound pathetic.

I start coughing as the smoke slowly grows thicker. I wriggle and squirm in a bid to breathe in unpolluted air until I can just about turn my head. And it’s only when my ear reaches the ground that I realise something is lodged inside it. Before I can figure out what it is, there are more thunderous outbursts, and through gaps in whatever I’m trapped inside, I spot flickers of multicoloured bright lights.

Only then do I know exactly where I am and why I can’t escape.

I’m trapped in the centre of a burning bonfire.

I scream and toss back and forth, contorting my body, but I’m limited in my movements because of the wrap I’m cocooned inside. Suddenly, something in my pocket makes my thigh vibrate, quickly followed by a resounding ringing in my ear. I realise something is both inside it and balancing on my ear, like a hearing aid. It must be one of those hands-free Bluetooth devices, but I’m powerless to answer it. Then I remember they often have touch-sensitive tabs attached to them, so with one press, you can answer the call. I rub my ear as far as I can upon the ground beneath. When nothing happens, I lift my head up and slam it down on the ground, over and over again, my ear stinging with each slap. Meanwhile all around me there are more and more explosions as the heat becomes more intense.

And then I hear a voice through the headphones.

‘You’re conscious then.’

‘Please help me,’ I cry, barely able to get my words out. ‘Someone is trying to kill me and I need you to ...’

My voice trails as his words sink in. You’re conscious then . He knows where I am.

‘Please get me out of here,’ I beg.

‘Do you think I’d go to all this trouble just to free you?’

‘I’ll do anything.’

It’s only when he laughs that I recognise his voice.

It’s Anna’s husband, Drew.

‘I’m begging you, I’ll do anything. Just help me.’

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t. You are going to burn alive in a bonfire of your own making.’

‘ What? Why?’ My mind whirls pointlessly for a moment and then I come out with it. ‘What did I do to you?’

He laughs again.

‘I’ll tell you what you did. You killed me first.’