saw her.
Not just her injuries shocked me, but the look in her eyes stunned me to a standstill. Carol’s eyes stared a hole in mine, brimming with despair and hopelessness. As a matter of fact, her stare was like that of a cadaver; empty, decaying and late. Beyond return, she ground her teeth openly, partly from the cold, but mostly from the very real inner turmoil of a battle between her will to live and despair. Carol wasn’t even wearing a coat. Only a shirt hung loosely over her skinny shoulders. Her jeans were bloody and dirty, especially on the knees, and she wore no shoes.
‘Carol, it’s Katie,’ I called to her. I looked to see if there was any spark of recognition in her eyes, but only dead blackness leered back at me.
‘You asked for me, and I’m here. I’m here for as long as you need me, alright?’ I said.
Carol didn’t stir an inch. But I knew I had to keep talking to keep her mind off her intentions. My only consolation was the fact that she had bothered to ask for me, instead of just throwing herself from the tower straight away. That had to be a positive. Such an action proved that she needed to talk, to offer someone the opportunity to persuade her to the contrary. It was a sign that she still allowed a margin in which someone could still state a case against the demons that she imagined had her by the ankles.
‘Carol, can you come away from the wall?’ I shouted. ‘We can’t talk from there. The police won’t allow me to come any further.’ Letting her know the decision was taken out of my hands seemed to have worked. In getting her to talk, anyhow.
‘I only called you here to say goodbye,’ she said in a low buzz of a voice that gave me chills deeper than the cold ever could. ‘Look!’ she smiled eerily as she climbed up onto the wall. She lifted her anchor foot on this side so high that it would soon topple her over the wall. My immediate reaction was to lunge forward, but I managed to stop myself in case she saw it as an attempt to grab her.
‘I could join a circus and do the tightrope act!’ Carol burst out laughing and just kept her foot in the air, minding her balance ... for now.
‘That would be great, Carol. You know you can be anything you want.’ I could hear the nervousness in my voice and was grateful the sound of the wind was masking it.
‘No, I’m afraid where I’m going I won’t be needing a job.’ Her lips curled back and revealed gaps between her teeth. They must have been knocked out in the latest assault, I realised with great sorrow.
‘Hell.’ She sang the word with a high falsetto that matched a sudden gust of wind.
‘I’m coming over there,’ I said as casually as I could manage; I was several feet across the roof before the police officer could pull himself up and restrain me. Looking back, I saw frustration on his face.
I had never been so terrified, not even that day when I fell from that plane and straight down at the earth below. As I stepped closer to Carol, I felt an impending evil quiver through my body, and it was all coming straight from her. I was never a spiritual person, but at that very moment, I felt true malevolence emanating from her as if she was ambushed and annexed by a devil of sorts. Look, I don’t entertain such superstitions in the stead of psychological scrutiny, but I distinctly felt the sensation of something holding onto Carol, influencing her actions.
In that case, I was completely under-qualified. Perhaps the priest would have been better suited.
Chapter 10
Time seemed to freeze as we stood barely a few feet away from each other in a stalemate on the tower roof. I could feel the cold bite into my bones, my extremities burning from its claws. Without even thinking about it, I removed my coat and held it out to Carol as I tentatively moved closer.
Keep talking, Katie. Keep talking to her.
‘Put this on or you’ll catch your death,’ I said, not realising the aptness of my words to the situation. Carol
Not just her injuries shocked me, but the look in her eyes stunned me to a standstill. Carol’s eyes stared a hole in mine, brimming with despair and hopelessness. As a matter of fact, her stare was like that of a cadaver; empty, decaying and late. Beyond return, she ground her teeth openly, partly from the cold, but mostly from the very real inner turmoil of a battle between her will to live and despair. Carol wasn’t even wearing a coat. Only a shirt hung loosely over her skinny shoulders. Her jeans were bloody and dirty, especially on the knees, and she wore no shoes.
‘Carol, it’s Katie,’ I called to her. I looked to see if there was any spark of recognition in her eyes, but only dead blackness leered back at me.
‘You asked for me, and I’m here. I’m here for as long as you need me, alright?’ I said.
Carol didn’t stir an inch. But I knew I had to keep talking to keep her mind off her intentions. My only consolation was the fact that she had bothered to ask for me, instead of just throwing herself from the tower straight away. That had to be a positive. Such an action proved that she needed to talk, to offer someone the opportunity to persuade her to the contrary. It was a sign that she still allowed a margin in which someone could still state a case against the demons that she imagined had her by the ankles.
‘Carol, can you come away from the wall?’ I shouted. ‘We can’t talk from there. The police won’t allow me to come any further.’ Letting her know the decision was taken out of my hands seemed to have worked. In getting her to talk, anyhow.
‘I only called you here to say goodbye,’ she said in a low buzz of a voice that gave me chills deeper than the cold ever could. ‘Look!’ she smiled eerily as she climbed up onto the wall. She lifted her anchor foot on this side so high that it would soon topple her over the wall. My immediate reaction was to lunge forward, but I managed to stop myself in case she saw it as an attempt to grab her.
‘I could join a circus and do the tightrope act!’ Carol burst out laughing and just kept her foot in the air, minding her balance ... for now.
‘That would be great, Carol. You know you can be anything you want.’ I could hear the nervousness in my voice and was grateful the sound of the wind was masking it.
‘No, I’m afraid where I’m going I won’t be needing a job.’ Her lips curled back and revealed gaps between her teeth. They must have been knocked out in the latest assault, I realised with great sorrow.
‘Hell.’ She sang the word with a high falsetto that matched a sudden gust of wind.
‘I’m coming over there,’ I said as casually as I could manage; I was several feet across the roof before the police officer could pull himself up and restrain me. Looking back, I saw frustration on his face.
I had never been so terrified, not even that day when I fell from that plane and straight down at the earth below. As I stepped closer to Carol, I felt an impending evil quiver through my body, and it was all coming straight from her. I was never a spiritual person, but at that very moment, I felt true malevolence emanating from her as if she was ambushed and annexed by a devil of sorts. Look, I don’t entertain such superstitions in the stead of psychological scrutiny, but I distinctly felt the sensation of something holding onto Carol, influencing her actions.
In that case, I was completely under-qualified. Perhaps the priest would have been better suited.
Chapter 10
Time seemed to freeze as we stood barely a few feet away from each other in a stalemate on the tower roof. I could feel the cold bite into my bones, my extremities burning from its claws. Without even thinking about it, I removed my coat and held it out to Carol as I tentatively moved closer.
Keep talking, Katie. Keep talking to her.
‘Put this on or you’ll catch your death,’ I said, not realising the aptness of my words to the situation. Carol
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