Roachville

I walked home shaking with anger. There must have been some birds and butterflies flying about, but I sure didn’t see them. Everybody at the party thought I was bonkers, but I was convinced that Tann would be back soon.

I closed the door behind me and put down the small rucksack through which the naga was glowing. I paced inside the lounge, trying to decide if I should take my car and drive away, but where to? Tann and Sommai could be watching me right now.

‘What should I do?’ I asked the naga, but there was no answer.

Someone knocked on the door and a thousand horses galloped inside my ribcage. I trod as lightly as I could to the door, psyching myself up for violence with the tall silhouette behind the frosted glass. I grabbed a steak knife from an open drawer.

‘Who is it?’ I asked the face concealed inside a dark green hoodie.

‘Hi, Manga Girl, let me in quick, will you?’

I dropped the knife to the floor and lost my balance.

‘Careful with that knife.’ Ely caught me as I stumbled backward.

I fixed my stare into his grey and blue eyes, wanting to say something, but there was no connection between my mind and my mouth. Ely seemed equally stuck in a motionless state. Instead of speaking, I leant forward and gave him a clumsy hug.

‘Finally, you’re back,’ I whispered.

‘Yeah, sorry I didn’t reply to your last email.’

‘What happened?’

‘Long story.’

Our lips touched lightly and he gave me an intense look, as if asking for my permission.

‘Tell me,’ I asked.

‘I will.’

We kissed again and our tongues mixed. I threw my arms around his neck and he ran his hand down my back. Moving me against a cupboard, both his hands groped my body, making me gasp, but we both knew we had to stop. I pressed my hand on his chest. He shook his head, breathed out slowly and walked into the lounge.

‘Let’s get the hell out of here, yeah?’ he said.

I darted around and found the essential items I had got ready the day before.

Five minutes later, we moved towards the front door and looked at each other.

‘Maybe not such a great idea to go out this way, don’t you think?’ I said.

‘Definitely not,’ Ely replied, ‘although I’m sure nobody followed me. And I watched the neighbourhood for a bit before knocking on your door and Tann or the bloke who was following me weren’t here.’

‘That’s good to know. I think they’ve stretched themselves thin. But there’s a good chance they’re back and watching right now.’

‘Okay, so this way then?’ Ely pointed to the garden.

It seemed to me that we were making a lot of noise climbing over the wooden fence and into the dogless neighbour’s garden, and then into the back alleyway. There was no need to consult each other about leaving my car where it was parked. Instead we made our way out of Legoland via the small pathways running behind the fenced off gardens.

‘Are you limping?’ Ely pointed to my foot.

‘Yes.’

‘Has this got anything to do with Tann’s visit?’

‘Hm-hm.’

‘What happened? What did they do to you?’ He stopped in his tracks.

‘Let’s keep going and I’ll tell you.’

During the thirty minutes it took to walk to Parkway station, I told Ely what had happened in the last few days. The night I spent trapped in the courtyard, how Kalaroo had found me, Tann and Sommai’s visit, the confrontation with the faceless man, and the cockroaches appearing in my dreams and in reality. As we boarded a train into the town centre, Ely gave me a penetrating look.

‘I’m not risking you getting hurt again,’ he said.

I nodded, wanting to take all his clothes off right now, but I had to know where he had been and besides our car was full of people. As the train rocked us into the town centre, Ely whispered his story in my ear.

‘You know that night in the squat? My instincts took over. I had to get these people away from you. After you climbed out of the window and I had shut it, I fumbled in the room to find the white bag. There were at least two people going through the rooms. As soon as I found the bag, I ran out and I barged into one of them. I pushed as hard as I could and managed to make my way out.’

‘Wow...’ I said, star-struck.

‘I ran to Mina Park and somebody ran after me. It’s fortunate I know St-Werburghs so well, because it helped me keep just ahead, until I was in the allotments. I came out on the other side and there was a taxi about to go. I flung myself in it and asked him to wait for a bit, until an Asian guy came running out of the allotment. He saw me, but that’s what I wanted.’

I put my head on his chest and he enveloped me in his arms before carrying on. A couple of people glanced at us.

‘I had to improvise and decide what to do and my priority was to go far, because I was sure that if they got to me, there’d be hell to pay for both of us. So I headed to Templemeads and managed to board a night train to Aberdeen.’

‘I still can’t believe you did all that for me. Do you think you might be under the influence of the naga?’ I asked.

He smiled at me and shook his head.

‘Yeah, I wondered about that, but in the end I don’t think it matters. The naga may have kickstarted me into action, but I wouldn’t have helped you if I didn’t like you.’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘What happened next?’

‘As the train started to move, I saw the Asian guy appearing on the platform. We stared at each other and once I was sure he’d recognized me, I went back in.’

‘That’s just crazy!’

‘Don’t get me wrong, I was truly scared, but it had to be done.’

‘I wonder how he managed to follow you to the train station.’

‘Tann wasn’t far behind in his car as he was chasing me through St-Werburghs, so they were able to keep up with the taxi. Again, luck was on my side, because there was a train about to leave as I got into the station. Then when I arrived in Aberdeen, it seemed natural to carry on North. I got a train ticket for Inverness that was leaving in the afternoon. So I hung around, eating and watching out for the Asian guy. I wanted him to see me, but I didn’t want to get caught, so that was tricky, but yet again he saw me on the platform, just as the train was leaving and I jumped in the open door. He looked angry as hell. I was worried about you, but I had to hope you could look after yourself. You understand, don’t you?’ he said, with an uncertain expression on his face.

‘You did the exact right thing and I did kind of look after myself...’ I replied, wriggling my toes about. ‘So how was Inverness?’

‘All I remember is a lot of grey.’

‘You weren’t exactly there to do the tourist thing, were you?’

‘Nope... I was there to keep them away from you. And so, after Inverness I kept going, onward to Thurso, but I took the slow route, via the West Coast.’

‘Where you planning to go across to the Orkney Islands.’

‘The thought did cross my mind, do you know that part of the world?’

‘I don’t,’ I said. ‘I’m just good at geography, it’s a special talent I have, I should have been a cartographer.’

‘Interesting. Is it colouring the countries that appeals to you?’

‘Yeah, that. And I guess visualising the world in two dimensions.’

‘So, you’re still weird?’

‘Yep, I’m afraid so.’

‘Excellent.’

‘So how did you check your emails?’ I asked.

‘I found a public library where they let you use the computers in Aberdeen, and then the same in Inverness. After that, it was more difficult, because it took forever to get to Thurso. Going round the coast felt so long, like I was stuck in a dark forest and I just had to keep going, because if I stopped they’d catch up with me.’

‘I felt it too, like all the clocks weren’t moving. I had no grasp on time anymore,’ I said, watching Ely’s fingers as they rested in his lap or as he gestured to accompany his story. ‘But did you see Tann or Sommai again or even Mulalloo?’

‘I never saw Mulalloo, but I wondered many times if there was somebody else on my trail. Sometimes I thought I was going mad, imagining things, but now after what you told me, I know that he tracked me too. As for Sommai, I did see him a few times. Very often as I was leaving for somewhere else. I’d see him through the windows of a bus or a train. He must have hated me, but it was like a cartoon, where the same thing keeps on happening. Every time I saw him, I felt relieved because I knew he’d be after me and not you.’

‘But did you ever find him waiting for you at the other end? I mean, he could have followed your bus in a car, couldn’t he?’ I asked, puzzled.

‘Well, I did see him follow me a couple of times, but every time that happened, I got off at the first busy stop and I made my way through crowded areas. To be honest, I thought he was going to catch me a few times. It was plain nerve-racking. And it seemed to go on and on for ages, even though it was only a couple of days. When I got to Thurso, I realised I’d not seen him for longer than usual. I saw your email and I came straight back here.’

He frowned. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t realize earlier.’ He stroked my foot with his.

‘It’s not your fault,’ I said, ‘but tell me, did you not think of giving all this up? Of properly losing him? After all, you barely know me. I still can’t believe you’ve done all this for me.’ I shook my head.

‘Listen,’ Ely said, pointing his face towards the ceiling. ‘I’ve always wanted to go on some sort of road trip. It wasn’t exactly what I planned, but despite the fear of being caught, I still enjoyed it! And even though I’m physically exhausted, I’ve got more energy than I’ve had in years. I have an appetite for life that I didn’t have before I met you and I don’t know, I can picture a lot of positive things, whereas my life was just about work before.’

‘What kind of things can you picture?’ I asked, wide-eyed.

‘Well, mainly something with you in it.’

‘I picture something like that too,’ I said, ‘but the picture isn’t one hundred percent clear yet.’

There was no need to add any more because we both knew we had to get rid of Tann first and give back the naga, too.