Carved in Stone: Monochrome Destiny Read online

  He pulled out of her slowly, aware that he’d taken her hard and she may be sore. He shoved himself back behind his fly and did his trousers back up.

  Robyn looked dazed, “ I. . . .I’m . . ,” Christ, what was he supposed to say?

  Andrew looked so lost that it was almost laughable. In the space of a few minutes he’d gone from bitterly angry, to passionate beyond thought, to lost. Robyn stopped his apology with her finger for she knew what he would say. He’d taken her like some wild beast and he was ashamed, sorry. Well, Robyn wasn’t. She’d never had such excruciatingly explosive orgasms. No-one had ever ridden her quite like that or gotten her body to respond in such a way. It was enlightening, empowering and she wanted more.

  She put her fingers to his lips to stop him and smiled into blue eyes. It was the weirdest thing. Everything else remained colourless, but Andrew’s eyes were blue and blue they remained. She didn’t know if this was a permanent change, the doctors were always so evasive when she asked about the possibility of getting her vision back, or if it was just a figment of her thoroughly fucked imagination, but she was going to make the most of it.

  She traced Andrew’s lip with her thumb. “Don’t apologise, don’t ever apologise for that.”

  “But, we didn’t . . . I didn’t . . .”

  “Use protection?”

  He only nodded.

  “I put myself on the pill after our last um night together. I’m sort of glad I did, because I’ve never felt anything like that Andrew and I don’t know what it means, but. . .” she hesitated to tell him, and she pulled her ruined blouse together feeling a little too exposed before she finished, “your eyes are blue.”

  Andrew stared.

  “They’re blue, pale, beautiful blue.” She felt like laughing, screaming.

  “You can see colour?”

  “Only your eyes. I told you I’d never felt anything like that before.”

  Andrew remained still and them a slow smile spread his lips.

  “Never?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well, I think we’d better explore that, don’t you?”

  Andrew pulled her off the kitchen unit and kissed her thoroughly before guiding her upstairs.

  This time they made slow powerful love, savouring each other under crisp sheets. When Robyn took him inside her again, impaling herself and moving slowly above him, it was almost more than she could bear to watch his reaction. The heat between them did not wane with the less wild approach, nor did the intensity of their orgasms. Robyn took great pleasure in controlling their joining. Being in control of Andrew was erotic in itself.

  They were bonded. She was different with him, and she could feel the link that they had formed. Robyn knew nothing of the hold that James Truscott held over Andrew, but she knew, without any doubt, that she could trust him. Her previous caution had been unnecessary.

  Curled up in Andrew’s arms, sated, she felt that it was time.

  “I lost them.” Her voice, only just above a whisper, was loud enough to be heard in the silent house. “Both, at once really, although the times might have been different, it was together that they were taken from me.”

  Andrew leaned over and kissed her temple. “You don’t have to tell me this.”

  She looked up at him. “Yes, I do.” God, he was so handsome. “We were close, my parents and I, really close, and I know that’s something you didn’t have as a child but I did, and I miss it, every day. I’m an only child. There was just the three of us and we were inseparable. They cared, really cared about what was going on with me, and I kept nothing from them, because they were my best friends, not just Mum and Dad.” She paused as a shudder drove through her. The memories were hard. “They took me out after I got a small promotion at work. I’d only been there a year, but it was my dream job and I was moving up to where I wanted to be. We had a meal in a place we normally couldn’t afford and it was one of the most memorable nights. Dad drove, allowing mum and I to have a drink. He’d had a couple of glasses with dinner which was his norm.” She breathed in deeply. “On the way back we were hit. A truck failed to stop at a junction and he slammed into the passenger side of the car. I don’t recall the collision but it was nearly a week later when I woke up in hospital. I panicked at first. I had no idea where I was, but the most frightening thing was that everything was in black and white. The nurses calmed me down and called the doctor to explain what had happened. They did some tests and told me that my head injury had left me with achromatopsia. They didn’t know if or when I’d get my colour vision back.”

  “It must have been quite a shock. But you’ve come to terms with it.”

  Robyn sighed. “I lay for hours feeling sorry for myself before my father came in. I’d been so consumed with my own issues that it hadn’t even occurred to me to question why he wasn’t there, at my bedside, when I woke, or soon afterwards. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw him. He’d lost weight and gained years. His hair was whiter.”

  Andrew frowned. “You don’t have to tell me this now.”

  “I do.” Tears were forming and she had to go on before she lost the strength. “He’d been over the limit. He’d known he was pushing it, but he’d driven anyway. He hadn’t seen the truck. It was night time and it was raining and the lights of the cars coming the other way had blinded him, so he’d not made any manoeuvre to get out of its way. The truck had slammed into the side of the car where my mother and me were sitting. It killed my mother on impact.”

  Andrew pulled her close as she began to shake, but she had to carry on, get it all out.

  “I screamed at him. I told him I never wanted to see him again. I told him that it was his fault; that Mum’s death was his fault. I didn’t see, I didn’t notice the sadness, the despair. He’d been so pale but I’d been so furious and confused. He left the room with his shoulders slumped and he walked straight to an overpass where he jumped to his death. I killed him.”

  Andrew cradled her tighter. “You were struggling with your own problems, you can’t blame yourself.”

  “I didn’t blame myself, not at first. I was so angry. I left the hospital and went back to work only to be told that I could no longer keep my position due to my new disability. No-one wants a research biochemist who can’t see the difference between copper sulphate and potassium permanganate. Even modelling software is colour specific. I lost everything and I blamed him. I didn’t even go to the funeral.” She closed her eyes, but she could no longer stop the tears falling. “But I didn’t know, not until later, how hard it was to survive. I was alone. I’d become bitter and vicious and my friends all left. I had nothing. Everything I’d strived for was gone. One day I woke up and the only thing I could feel was despair. I didn’t want to feel that anymore. Oblivion sounded better.”

  Andrew tensed. “Oblivion?”

  She opened her eyes to look up at Andrew. “The reason that the police didn’t look any further into Kat’s disappearance was that they discovered I had been in treatment for depression. I admitted myself after oblivion started to feel more appetising than life.”

  “You tried to kill yourself?” His arms loosened as the words escaped his lips.

  “No, but if I hadn’t taken steps to heal myself I would have. It’s all on record somewhere.”

  She started to roll away, to get out of the bed, leave, but Andrew stopped her.

  Robyn’s breath hitched. “You don’t have to say anything. I understand, believe me.”

  “You think that I won’t want to know you now?” His cadence was soft and deep and it broke her heart to hear it.

  “No-one else has. I’ve lost everybody.”

  Long arms wrapped her in a protective embrace. “You won’t lose me.”

  “I fight the darkness every day, Andrew. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully recover.” She needed to give him his opportunity to get out, now.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I won’t leave unless you ask me to.”

  When she tu
rned to him, she saw nothing but compassion and strength.

  “I was broken when I came here. To some extent I still am. There’s a void in me that I don’t know I’ll ever be able to fill. But Kat, she was there. She befriended me when I needed her, helped me, and I owe her something for that.”

  Andrew nodded as understanding grew.

  “I know that you’re mad about the church thing, but I’m not going to give up. My parents died and yes, I do blame myself for my father’s suicide.” Andrew went to say something but she stopped him. “I wasn’t there for him when I should have been. He must have been hanging on by a thread whilst I was in a coma. He needed me, and I blamed him. I blamed him unnecessarily. He couldn’t have avoided the collision. The truck driver had been cheating the tachometer and had been driving for five hours over his allotted time. He was ploughing through the town, half asleep with no lights on. My father wouldn’t have seen him until it was too late even if he’d never had a drink at all that night. I made that mistake once and I won’t make it again. Kat needs me and I won’t give up on her.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  A persistent but light drizzle had been falling all day. Above and around Robyn the foliage was saturated and dripping in streams onto her already soaked clothing.

  She knew that it was crazy to be there, but she’d gone beyond crazy when she’d broken into the church and nothing made any sense anymore, least of all the puzzle that surrounded Kat’s disappearance.

  Robyn cautiously watched the giant building in front of her. Glowing in pale mist as fluorescent bulbs fought against the rain to illuminate the outside, it stood in a wet fog, plain but nevertheless foreboding. The walls were corrugated under a slightly pitched metal roof and the only windows were set in banks along the top of the building. A huge roller door was locked at the front, but at the back, the fire door was open. Inside, light shone despite the late hour and people were currently lining up to enter the building. Just inside the door, standing where Robyn couldn’t quite see them, someone stood and greeted those who walked in. In the twenty minutes she had been stood watching, many had gone in, including some that she recognised, but none had come out. Of those she couldn’t name, some were unknown to her, but most, thanks to the weather, were obscured under hoods, or umbrellas. What Robyn could say however, was that no children appeared to be part of this large group, for none of the people entering were small enough.

  Turning, Robyn faced Andrew and was yet again comforted by his presence. After hearing her confession he’d promised to help her, now that he understood that she would not let this go. She doubted that he would have to put himself out for too long though, because this was the last idea she had. If Robyn and Andrew found nothing here to suggest the reason for Kat’s leaving, then she had no other moves to play. The game would be over.

  They stood fifteen feet from the treeline, hidden in a particularly dense patch of foliage. The building was a further thirty feet away, across a flat, stony lane that served as a roadway for forklifts.

  It was Friday, Good Friday to be exact, although the religious significance had no connection and Robyn hoped that her hunch was right. Her last conversation with Kat had been about this abattoir and the strange line of people queuing up to enter it. Now, Robyn intended to see what exactly all these people did here on a Friday night. She had an idea, that if proved correct, would give her all the evidence she’d need to get the police involved again.

  Robyn shivered.

  “We should get out of here.” Andrew had noticed her discomfort, they were both soaked to the skin, but she hadn’t finished yet.

  “No,” Robyn shook her head adamantly, “we’re staying until we find out what’s going on.”

  Andrew pulled her back, further into the trees after the door closed. They would wait until the meeting was over. He tucked her into his arms against a tree trunk and held her tight.

  Finally after only about half an hour, people started to exit the building. They walked sombrely to their cars, which were parked around the front, with no hint of excitement on their faces. They didn’t converse. They barely even looked at each other. Whatever the meeting had been about, it didn’t look like anybody had been having a good time.

  Robyn and Andrew waited until all the vehicles had departed before they stepped out from the treeline.

  “Are you sure that you want to do this?” Andrew whispered close to her ear. The rain and wind would cover any noise they made but it would be foolhardy to not at least try to be soundless.

  Robyn turned to stare at him, his eyes still blue to her otherwise colourless vision. “I’m not stopping until I have answers.”

  “There is still someone inside. Don’t go in, just look from the doorway.”

  Andrew was right. At least one individual remained in the building, because the fire door was wide open and the lights within blazed. It did not stop Robyn though. She skirted sideways in the trees, running parallel to the building until she put the open door between her and anyone who might be inside. She then ran across the narrow lane and hid behind the door. Breathing heavily and looking back to see Andrew watching from the trees, giving her the all clear, she looked around the door and into the room.

  Lit by industrial strip lights, what she could see of the large room within, with its smooth concrete floor, was empty.

  Robyn had to get a closer look. She stepped over the threshold, looked left and right, found it was clear and then darted into the shadows made by a great tower of pallets, stacked to the right of the door. She crouched down and breathed. Her heart was racing with adrenaline and her body trembled slightly, but she had to do this, she had to know.

  Robyn knew that she was not alone. She could hear footsteps scuffing on the concrete floor and echoing off of the barren walls of the interior. Keys jangled as the footsteps moved, but as long as she stayed hidden, they wouldn’t know she was there.

  Turning, spinning on the balls of her feet, she looked back the way she had come and froze. Bright in the light, lay a trail footprints, fresh, wet and muddy. They led directly to her position.

  Panicked, aware that she could be caught at any moment, but desperate to find something, anything, Robyn moved further behind the pallets to some shelving that held lots of brown cardboard boxes. None were labelled, so she started opening lids. Damn, these boxes contained unprinted food labels and plastic trays for meat packing.

  Robyn moved to another shelf but stopped when she heard the footsteps near. Soft soles moved across the floor with an unhurried gait. Robyn held her breath, hoping that whoever had been left behind would overlook the trail of fresh mud that pointed so readily to her hiding place. So many people had entered earlier, that perhaps they would dismiss the marks.

  Suddenly, the lights went out and Robyn was thrown into pitch blackness. For a frightening moment she was crouched in total oblivion. Panic and fear urged her to flee, but she was trapped and in the dark. There was no way that she could find the door without making the other person aware of her presence. She forced herself to stay still and allow her eyes to adjust.

  Shadows began to creep into being, black against grey, when she was grabbed from behind.

  Had it not been for the hand across her mouth, she would have cried out as she was yanked backwards, further into the shadows of the shelving. She would have fought, kicked, scratched, but terror took her body as she flew back against her assailant’s chest and her legs collapsed underneath her. She was merely a rag doll.

  “Shhh,” the sound was right next to her ear, his lips so close she felt the warmth of his breath, “it’s alright, stay still and quiet.”

  The relief was indescribable. Even as a whisper, she recognised Andrew’s voice as he crouched behind her, holding her slouching body to his as she regained the feeling in her legs. He didn’t let her attempt to stand though. He held her fast and shook his head against her ear in the dark. Andrew kept both of them absolutely still as Robyn saw light.

  The white beam
of a torch bounced across the floor and the pallets. It played across the shadows were Robyn had first crouched when she’d entered the room and then glanced over the cardboard boxes on the shelving that they currently hid behind. Twice, as the beam danced, it came within inches of Robyn’s feet but she fought the urge to pull her legs in tighter, knowing that any move would be heard at this proximity.

  Whoever had been left behind, had heard something and had come to investigate.

  The wind outside picked up and made the open door move, its hinges squeaking slightly as it swung back and forth. The beam of light darted to the new noise and its owner let out a sigh.

  “Flaming wind.” He cursed and proceeded to walk to the door.

  The white torch-light switched off as the footsteps headed away from them.

  Listening carefully, Robyn heard the door squeak on its hinges before closing into the metal frame. Metal scraped over metal as the lock engaged leaving them alone in the dark.

  Robyn remained still until Andrew relaxed his grip.

  “I think we’re alone. Cover your eyes.”

  She did as she was told. Andrew switched on his phone and used it to light the small space they had secreted themselves in.

  “What the hell did you think you were doing coming in here?” his voice was almost a growl.

  “This place has evidence of criminal activity, I’m sure of it. I need to find it to help Kat.” She shrugged out of his hold and stood up before opening another box only to find more trays for meat packing. She closed that one and moved to the next.

  “Are you still stuck on the idea of smugglers? I told you I’d never seen any activity at the cove. You must be wrong.” She couldn’t see his face thanks to the light he held out for her, and she was somewhat pleased about that, knowing the effect his anger had on her.