She lay in her own bed now. They had found her, Alex had to kick the door down all three had been horrified at the thought of what they might find, images had flashed through there minds in those desperate minutes. Lara hung by a sheet. Lara, throat slit by a razor. Lara with gun in hand and a thin trickle of blood escaping from the single wound in her head. Lara dead. Lara gone.
Still they hadn't expected what they found and this terrified them most of all. It was Bryce who had looked in the cupboard; Alex was inspecting an air conditioning vent, Pimms staring terrified out the window dreading to find anything. When they found her she was a mess, they had called her name, stroked her hair, Pimms had even slapped her in as friendly a manner as he could, but for now at least she was lost to them. Alex had picked her up in his strong arms lifting her as if she were the child she resembled. She had clung on to the cupboard to begin with but as soon as she had let go a light had turned off in her mind as she was gone again.
They had washed her, not daring to remove her clothes, Lara hadn't even remembered this as a dream, things weren't real anymore. They had called Lara's physician who had come and said there was nothing he could do until she came round, still she slept on.
One of them had always been there for her sitting on the side of the bed talking to her singing even begging her to wake up. Sometimes her eyes opened, it made no difference she was still as far away.
The police had come and gone and come again, they had found nothing in Hillary's room, one policemen had even come up with a scenario where by Hillary's corpse had hidden the chain then walked itself across the room. They didn't say what they thought they knew, Lara's case was brought on by guilt, case closed.
It was two days later when she came to. Pimms was seated in an armchair by her bed, a book lay open on his chest and his eyes, hidden by his girlish locks, were closed in sleep.
'Look at him, your protector in this hour of need and he's fallen asleep.' Lara no longer knew which voice this was.
'Don't you want to reach out and…'
'NO.'
'Reach out and...'
'NO.' One hand against her will found the bed side table; it found the lamp then set it square with the rest of the desk. This terrified her on some deeper level than the voice.
'Don't you want to reach out and take him for yourself?'
'No, he's Pimms, I would never.'
'He look's so innocent sleeping their like a child, don't you want to take that from him?'
'NO.'
'We could have him in this bed, nobody else needs to know.'
'It wouldn't be right.' But as she spoke thoughts entered her mind, sweaty bodies entwined, Pimms calling her name feeling pleasure flow through her body…
'Pimms.' She called softly to him…entwining together
'Pimms wake up,' entwining she thought again
'Pimms.' Fingers entwining about his neck, his face turning purple as he struggled, as his naked limp body struggled beneath her as the air was forced out of him.
'NO.' Pimms woke up with a start.
'Lara you're awake, we were so worried about you, how are you.' The concern in his voice was real, Lara gave a small smile trying to rub over the thoughts in her mind.
'The others are downstairs; Bryce is trying to make a robot that would do all the domestic chores he was going to call it…' He trailed off his eyes finding the floor.
'It's okay you can say his name.'
'Yeah it's just..'
'Anyway I need a shower, you don't need to worry about me, go on down I'll catch up.' He left clearly wanting to say more but his meagre courage was, for now spent.
As the water cascaded over her naked body she tried to find the voice, like a tongue inspects a hollow tooth. It was gone for now, hiding somewhere she couldn't reach. She turned the taps and the water turned to cold standing under it for a further minute, she got out and got changed.
She went to go downstairs, to see them again but there was somewhere else she had to go first. She turned the handle, or tried. It stuck beneath her hands, locked.
'We thought it was best, the police wanted it locked as well.' Alex had walked up behind her as silent as a cat. She smiled at him.
'Oh I was just going to...'
'Save it Lara, it doesn't matter and I wont believe it.' They had walked down the stairs, there stood Bryce kicking a contraption slightly bigger than the usual bugs he made.
'Bloody thing won't wax to save its life. Oh Lara Pimms said you where up how are you feeling?'
'Better Bryce thank you.'
'Maybe I can make us something to eat.' Alex smiled as well while he spoke. Everyone was smiling it was all so safe whilst they smiled.
'I will Alex, I'm not completely incompetent at cookery.' She rooted around in the fridge and found the right stuff for spaghetti Bolognese. Putting some water on to boil she started frying the meat to a brown then turned back and started chopping vegetables.
'So when's the funereal?'
'Two days time we where trying to put it off until you where…better.'
'Who's coming?'
'Pretty much us, Hill… he didn't know many people from outside work, a few school friends mostly.' There was something so tranquil about cooking thought Lara it really cleared the mind she started humming a tune she half remembered.
'The police..?'
'They didn't find anything, they want to talk to you when your feeling better.'
'I'll have to talk to them after lunch then.' She looked up and realised that her three friends were all staring at her.
'That song.' Muttered Bryce.
'Lara when did you learn to cook?'
'Why silly?'
'It's just…just; you're doing it exactly like he did.' Lara looked down at her hand's, having recognised what they were doing she almost cut her thumb open, as if the spell where broken.
'It must have been cause I…cause I watched.' Lame she thought, because this wasn't what she was really thinking.
'Yeah that must be it, look do you want me to finish, Pimms can help you with that cut.'
'Yeah sure thanks.'
She was back in her own bed, as much as she had begun to hate it, she thought of it as a prison, she was doing her best to act normally. The police had been interested in what she had to say, they had asked for her to see their psychologist and come in for further questioning after the funereal. Sleep wouldn't come to her after two days of it she wasn't surprised. Finally her thoughts turned to what was troubling her most.
'Hillary are you there?' Nothing answered.
'Hillary if you can hear me at all, I'm sorry, I...I don't know if I did it but I'm still sorry, It should never have happened like that.'
'Nobody here but me and you sister.' The voice was back.
'What do you want?'
'I'll always be here for you, what you thought little old Hilly-Willy was in here too, well fat chance sister.'
'What do you want?'
'There's nobody here cept me and you and soon your gonna like it that way.'
'No.'
'Your gonna like it and soon its gonna be just us, just you and me sister.'
'No.'
'Yes, your gonna do it.'
'No.'
'Yes, your gonna do it and your gonna like it.'
'No.' With that it was gone again, leaving her alone and soaked in a cold sweat, slowly, so slowly it hurt, sleep came and took her with it.
