His Silence - Chapter 88

Oliver’s sitting in the armchair in the dark, staring straight at me. It’s almost like he’s in a trance. I think of him and Mum together, Oliver, slowly undressing her, running his hands across her back, whispering into her ear. I swallow. He doesn’t say anything. My heart thumps hard. I run my tongue over my lips and step towards him.

‘Oliver, d’you know what Mary told me?’ I say, stepping closer.

He fixes his eyes on me. ‘I don’t know, what did she tell you?’ his voice almost sounds defeated.

I crouch down and take his hand in mine. His skin’s cold. ‘She told me you’re my Dad, my . . . biological Dad. I know you wanted to be a part of my life, you wanted to be there for me, and Mum didn’t allow that, but now I need you, I need you more than ever.’

He heaves a deep sigh. ‘You can’t leave, Danielle,’ he says, tears sliding down his cheeks. ‘I won’t let you out of my life again.’

I squeeze his hand tighter. ‘Oliver, I’ll think more of you than ever if you help us now. If you don’t, you won’t mean anything to me, I’ll . . . I’ll never forgive you.’ I fight back the urge to cry. He can’t let me down. He’s got to help.

He rubs his forehead then stands up. ‘Leave it with me.’

I follow him out of his room, my heart racing. Oliver carries on walking ahead of me. He looks up to the rooms on the first floor of the house, there’s no light on upstairs. At least it doesn’t look like Mary’s up, her light would be on in her room if she was.

‘Oliver we need Callum’s car key,’ I say. ‘D’you know where it is?’

‘Mary keeps the keys for the minibus in her room; I suspect it’ll be with her, that’s if she hasn’t got rid of it. Wait out by the car.’

He’s got to get the key, I have to trust him. He slips into the hallway, Callum and Eve both head for the door.

‘What are you doing?’ Callum hisses at me, grasping onto the door handle.

I ignore him and follow Oliver up the stairs. I haven’t seen Mary’s room; I don’t even know which ones hers. We reach the landing and Oliver turns, edging further down the corridor, close to my old room. Shit, Mary’s rooms opposite mine. I hold my hand to my mouth. Oliver twists the handle and pulls the door open. I take a step back. So Mary doesn’t lock her room of a night. Of course, there would be no need for her to. Mary’s asleep, her body’s turned away from us, facing the left hand side of the wall, rising and falling under the covers. I’m surprised she’s actually fallen asleep so quickly. Like there was in Noah’s room, there’s a desk under the window. Oliver creeps forward. I remain standing in the hallway, my eyes fixed on Mary. He eases open a drawer in her desk. Eve and Callum must still be standing by the door. A few seconds pass. Oliver looks over his shoulder, holding something in his hands. I nod. He eases the drawer shut and edges towards me. Mary doesn’t stir.

‘Come on,’ he says, pulling Mary’s door shut.

We hurry back towards the stairs. I think of everyone asleep in their beds behind their doors. I push myself forwards, my fingers brushing against the smooth wall as we make our way down the stairs. Callum and Eve aren’t by the front door, they must’ve gone outside.

‘What about the gate?’ I ask, as we reach the front door.

‘You get in the car, I’ll sort that,’ Oliver says.

I nod and race out of the house. Callum and Eve are standing by Callum’s car; Callum's face is pinched tight with nerves. I throw the keys towards Callum and he catches them. The car flashes as he unlocks it and we climb in. My heart’s screaming. I don’t even know where the controls are to work the gate. Come on Oliver, come on. I pull my phone out of my pocket. I have one bar of signal out here. I stare at the gate, nothing’s happening, the gates remain closed. A shadow falls in the doorway of the house. My stomach drops. No. Mary’s pushing Oliver out, he has his hands raised; she’s in her dressing gown. There's a knife in her hand. Oliver’s doing his best to keep a straight face. He can’t have even got to the controls for the gate. Was Mary even asleep when we were in her room, or was she just waiting to see what we were going to do?

‘Did you think I didn’t hear you just now, Danielle?’ she calls out to me.

I reach for the door handle, but Callum grabs my hand. ‘Danielle, no.’

‘Call the police, now,’ I say.

I shake him off and climb out, dropping my phone into the seat, so Mary doesn’t see it. I resist the urge to look back at Callum. I got us into this mess, now I’m going to get us out.

Oliver and Mary ease out of the door of the house towards me, the steel blade of the knife glints in the moonlight. I shudder. What the hell do I say?

‘Let Oliver go, Mary,’ I say, swallowing. The sea breeze stings my cheeks, making my eyes water.

‘What did you say to him, Danielle?’ she says, spitting the words at me.

Oliver squeezes his eyes tight.

‘I asked him to do the right thing, please, Mary, this can all end now.’

Mary raises an eyebrow. ‘And he listened to you?’

‘He’s my dad,’ I say, stepping closer. Oliver’s just standing there. What’s going through his mind right now? He can’t fall back into Mary’s hands. He can’t. ‘Please, Mary, drop the knife, you don’t have to do this. I understand what you went through all those years ago, but this isn’t the way to avenge what happened to your son.’ I try to keep my voice soft and steady; I can’t let fear slip in.

Her lips curl into a snarl. ‘You know nothing of what I’ve been through. Ha, here I was I thinking Oliver was just as strong as my son was, but he’s not, is he? After all I’ve done for him these past three decades, you’ve failed me, Oliver, you were weak back then and you’re still weak now.’ Oliver cries out and falls to the ground. Blood drips from the knife onto the ground.

‘No,’ I cry, my knees crashing to the ground.

‘I didn’t want to do that, Danielle,’ she says, wiping her eyes, the knife in her hand trembles. ‘Now I’m afraid, I can’t have you running around as a witness.’

My chest burns. ‘What about the other’s, they’ll know somethings . . .’

She swats her hand. ‘I’ll pick up from where Oliver left off. They’ll listen to me. They’ll always listen to me, unlike you, you nasty little –’

A siren splits the silence, making my jump. Turning my attention towards the gate I see blue flashing lights dancing in the darkened sky. Mary growls and charges towards me. My feet won’t move. There’s a flash of movement.

‘Callum, no!’  I yell.

Callum wrestles Mary to the ground. The knife spins out of her hand and lands in the grass. I run towards it. Police officers swarm. One of them, a woman takes hold at me and I scream. I need to get the knife. I need to get the knife away from Callum. Mary’s going to kill him.

‘It’s me, Grace, it’s me . . . it’s Sarah.’

I stare up into her eyes and heave a sob. I glance to my left. Callum’s standing, Mary’s in a crumpled heap on the floor, rocking backwards and forwards. I wipe my lips. He’s alright. He’s fine.  

‘Oliver, please help Oliver,’ I say, before I collapse into Sarah’s arms.

The last thing I see before I black out is a ghostly image of Callum pelting towards me.