Gavin walked inside the room, taking note of the various bandages adorning the wounds. “Mr Crane…I trust I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”
Crane blinked and gave a small twitch of his eyebrows. “Who are you…” he croaked.
“I’m not surprised you don’t remember after your ordeal. Such terrible business. Gavin Mcveigh, from Sovereign.”
Crane adjusted his position. “I have nothing to say to you…”
“Good, I’ll do all the talking. I would, however, like to invite you to our offices when you’re ready. To discuss the attack and what you saw.”
“I didn’t see anything.”
Gavin smiled. “I understand you had to shield yourself from questioning and that’s fine for others. But please don’t insult my intelligence. I know what school your daughter goes to. I know how long you and your wife have been married. I know you still owe over four hundred thousand dollars on your mortgage. I know you handed in your resignation to the Police force and I know what you saw that night.”
Silence confirmed to Gavin that he could go on. “You’ve been closing in on this secret for so long. You’ve only scratched the surface. There are all manner of things out there, aren’t you curious?”
“I was before I got my throat hacked. I just want my family safe. This isn’t for me.”
“Very well, but if it were me, I’d want to know what was waiting for me out there as to better protect my loved ones…here,” he said, placing his business card on the tray, heading for the door. “If you change your mind, give me a call.”
“Wait…” Solomon called. “What else is out there?”
Gavin smiled. “Oh, my word, Mr Crane. You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Chapter Twenty
The Walls Are Closing In
Alex rolled over in a state of just waking. Dreams of golden flames woke her. The strangest thing. Also a voice. Speaking to her through the flames. She saw the flames evaporate and she was then standing in a hallway of rock. Walking down a dark flight of steps, towards a light at the bottom. The light stretched out, coming from a room she couldn’t she yet. A tapping sound could be heard. Like a dripping tap falling into a pool of water. She was in a cave. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs she could’ve sworn she saw a shadow of a figure appear in the light, but then she woke up.
She yawned and sat up, pressing her fingers into the back of her neck as she checked the time on the alarm clock by her bed. 3 am. She groaned.
She and Michelle had been dropped off at Central, but all trains had been stopped. The weather had covered the lights of the tracks so it had been decided buses would replace trains. The station ticket office was packed with angry, confused passengers and their families. Michelle had managed to snare two of the last tickets on the final Greyhound of the night. They rode it until the very last stop at Katoomba and found a nearby motel. The journey wasn’t long but with the packed buses and eerily quiet streets it felt stretched and tense. Always looking over their shoulders. Wondering if they were being watched or followed. This was their second night here, but truthfully, the days were starting to blend together. Alex could see and feel a misery in the air, evidenced by the receptionist that handed over their keys.
“Alex…”
The word wasn’t spoken harshly. Hell, it was barely above a whisper. But she jumped all the same. She hadn’t imagined it. She had heard her name. Yet again she heard it, the same soft tone. It was coming from the drawer under the TV.
“You are close, but you still have ways to go. The Caves. Find me, Alex…”
She hoped it was not a morbid sense of curiosity that made her rise and walk over to the drawer and open it, but she did.
Something was leading her eyes. She could feel it. For she looked down to the bottom drawer and seemed to know it was in there. But was it? How do you know where something is when you have no idea what you’re looking for?
Alex pulled an old shoe box out to find it was as light as a feather, yet a rattle of metal could be heard upon shaking it. Popping the lid, she found what she assumed was a toy. A necklace with a shining pendant. No, a glowing pendant. The pendant was a red V, pulsing a searing crimson colour in the box. It was beautiful.
She flicked her gaze from the pendant to the TV screen. She stared at her own reflection. She recognised all but one aspect of herself. Her eyes were coloured a rich, liquid gold. The effect was startling, but strangely Alex did not feel fear.
A bright flash of lightning, just outside her window, made Alex jump again.
“Alex…”
She froze. The voice didn’t come from the pendant. It came from behind her, yet Alex could see no one. “Alex, please. Come to the caves. We don’t have much time.”
Just as she turned, she found herself jolting awake. Back on the bed. She had been dreaming. Of course she had been.
Alex quietly moved into the bathroom for a shower. The pipes in the wall rumbled before the water spat out of the shower head with the consistency and colour of mud. It left a sticky, dark residue on Alex’s fingers when she tested it. She grimaced and dressed in fresh clothes. After making herself a coffee from water they had placed
