LESLIE'S POVPRESENTI struggle with a tent, twisting and folding. Unable to tell where it starts or ends. Somewhere, Kian talks his grandfather’s ear off about how this whole sleeping outside in a tent near the beach thing is a terrible idea. Well for the first time, Kian and I agree on something.
LESLIE'S POVMy excitement somewhat dampens when she mentions that one bit of information. I hate to think about it but it is always there at the back of my mind. It never leaves. My boss is prickly to everyone but not to the one woman who manages to break a smile from him. Beverly is everything I’m
KIAN’S POVGod, I hate surprises. And everything else attached to it; the shock, the confusion, the momentary loss of control, the fight to get that control back and the aftermath of losing it. It’s all a fucking mess wrapped together in a thing called surprises. I can’t emphasise enough about how
“How long?” I croak. I try to think about it. About any slip-ups that could have made grandfather suspicious. I think about how long he’s known that I have been fooling him and that I had dragged Leslie into it. The fact that he knows about Beverly’s pregnancy means he knows about the divorce. He k
LESLIE’S POVNight has fallen and for some reason, the sky is dark tonight. Way too dark. There is not a single hint of star in the sky and the moon keeps peeking in and out of dark clouds that keep floating past it. I find it ominous that the moon chose tonight to be powerless. It chose the very m
I sit like that in silence until I feel someone’s presence beside me. Grandfather. The rock is wide enough for two and he doesn't ask for an invitation before he sits beside me. If I wanted to jerk away from him, it’s already too late. So, I just sit, trying hard not to let my anxiety show. “The
LESLIE’S POVI heard him wrong–that’s the first thought that crosses my mind. The waves are loud. They must have muffled his words, distorted them somehow and made me hear something entirely different. Something ridiculous. So I wait, I wait for the waves to crash and for the momentary silence that
LESLIE’S POV“Why?” I croak out, “Why did you make us believe you were ill?” Why did you deceive me? I want to ask but I tuck the question away, afraid of how vulnerable and hurt I’ll sound to him. He didn’t deceive just me, he deceived Kian as well. Grandfather avoids looking at me as he begins,
LESLIE’S POV I join Kian’s mother outside the room, closing the door behind me. She is still stewing in anger, face red with rage that’s waiting to be unleashed. Usually, I would do anything to pacify her so I wouldn't be at the receiving end of that unbridled rage. Now? Irritation is all I feel at
LESLIE’S POV (One Week Later) “If the police show up again, spray them in the face with the fire extinguisher or something.” Cole’s irritated voice filters through my phone’s speaker and it makes me crack a smile for the first time in a week. “Pretty sure I would get arrested for that.” “Not
LESLIE’S POV My reflexes work faster than they ever have. Fast enough to help me roll away, and bump into Beverly in the process. Mike relentlessly stalks towards me and that’s when I get a good look at his affected leg. I time his movement and before he can take another angry swing of his weapon
LESLIE’S POV Seconds after Beverly crumples to the ground, my breath is still caught in my throat. I’m still trembling as I watch her sprawled on the floor, body jerking uncontrollably. I’m amazed at my strength to still remain standing despite the traumatising scene in front of me. To still grip t
LESLIE’S POV Our hearts are already in our mouths before we see what jumped at us—a ginormous rat, every bit as scared as us. It runs at full speed and scurries into the nearby bush. “All clear.” She mutters and we both step into the shed using her phone’s flashlight. It’s a full shed; a bunch of
LESLIE’S POV We’re barely two minutes away from the abandoned school gate when the engine starts to sputter, the entire truck shaking with the intensity. “No…no…no…no, not now!” Beverly lets out a panicked groan. I am preoccupied with looking behind us to make sure we’re not being followed but at
LESLIE’S POV Kian doesn’t know it—the name of Mike’s sister. I can tell from the way his entire face has gone even paler than it was before. Earlier, it had been pale from the pain of the injuries from the accident that I still don’t know the extent of. Now, he has turned ashen from something m
LESLIE’S POV The sound of my name reaches me from somewhere distant. The sound is repeated just like the throbbing ache in my head. When I finally manage to pry open my eyes, the feeling of deja vu washes over me. My hands and legs are bound tightly just like three years ago in that warehouse.
BEVERLY’S POV The familiar beeping sound that comes from my phone causes me to jerk upright. My eyes train on the screen, following the movement of a blinking red dot on the map. He’s on the move. I slam a couple of bills on the coffee table before hurrying out of the cafe where I had been havi