The Puppet Master Read online

  The clock struck five and in a surprising surge of dexterity, she detached herself from cables and wires and was out from her cubicle and on the street, ready for her fifteen-minute trek home. The pain from her injuries flared with the movement, after so much time sitting down. She stopped to cross the road, and that’s when her body’s sixth-sense kicked in and the hair on her neck prickled with fear and her heart rate increased. She was being watched. It was like she was sixteen all over again. The fear threatened to encompass her, she wanted to run away screaming. But she forced herself to look all around her. She felt marginally relieved when she saw no one, but the feeling that someone was staring at her would not go away. She took a deep breath, she needed to stand awhile until she composed herself. Unfortunately she was elbowed hard in the side by an impatient elderly gentleman who wanted to cross the road and she nearly crumpled to the floor in pain. Convincing her shaky legs to move, she set off for the short walk home. Shoulders in, head down, navigating by the pavement.

  Billie was just dropping off to sleep when she heard a buzzing noise so loud that it vibrated her bed. She shot up and looked around trying to work out where the murderer was hiding. When the noise vibrated the bed again, she realised that it wasn’t someone breaking in and that the sound was coming from under her bed. As her brain struggled to catch up, she practically fell to the floor next to her bed, cursing at the pain this caused. She reached around blindly under the bed trying to locate the source of the noise. She realised it was coming from the box. She had been so worn out from struggling through work and the pain that she had collapsed into bed as soon as she got home. She pulled the phone out of the box, she looked at the phone, it had received several messages. Before glancing at them, she saw that it was 9.30pm. Apart from the weekend, she was always in bed by then. Not having anyone in her life there wasn’t much else to do. She didn’t trust herself to read during the week as the pesky books kept her up all night. She couldn’t put them down. She knew that she shouldn’t but she had opened the messages on the phone, the logic and reason sections of her brain had apparently given up functioning for the night.

  Adam: Hey, I hope u havn’t thrown the phone away.

  Adam: R u ok?

  Adam: Stupid qu.

  Adam: Plz txt bk.

  Adam: At least just tell me u’ve got the phone and u’ll keep it 4 emergencies.

  Billie: I’ve got the phone, you didn’t have to. Thank you.

  Adam: I wanted to, I’ve been worried about u after yesterday. U OK?

  Billie: I’m okay thanks, don’t worry I’ll be fine.

  Adam: So how was ur day?

  Billie stared at the phone. She knew that replying would be asking for trouble, being alone was the only way to stay safe. It would be removing a brick from her painstakingly built barrier from the world. She sat back on the floor, leaning against the bed and sighed, her head was thumping in pain, protesting against the internal war going on in her brain. Before meeting Adam she had been easily able to keep the world out as she was so bruised and battered from her old life, she was actually scared of people and the world outside her flat and her job. But as hard as she tried she wasn’t afraid of Adam.

  She knew she ought to be, he was a man after all. Men only wanted one thing. But she had seen the anger in his eyes at the thought of those boys hurting her, and she had experienced his gentle touch. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t discern anything evil or duplicitous in him. If she was honest with herself, she ached to trust him. Even after everything she had gone through, she couldn’t contain her urge to be normal. Purposefully ignoring the flash of memories her brain tried to throw at her to make her ignore Adam, she instead hit the reply button. Every fibre of her being prayed that she was making the right decision. She didn’t think that she could pick herself back up a second time around.

  Adam

  Adam had always been good at reading people and sensing what they needed. It was a necessary skill he acquired as he learnt to survive living alone with his drunken father. Too many times he had asked his father an innocent question like, ‘please can you sign my permission slip’, only to realise that his father was in one of his angry drunk moods. When he was in that state Adam was lucky to get away with a clip around the head. So, after spending time with Billie he realised that he was only going to get her to spend time with him, let alone trust him, by keeping her on the back foot. He needed to be as calculating as she was, had to be in order to do the atrocious things she’d done. He needed to be spontaneous and persistent if he was going to bypass the installed rejections she had ready. She oozed loneliness so he knew that deep down she wanted to say yes, but something was stopping her.

  Her acceptance of the phone was a good start. As soon as she texted back, he knew that he had crossed the threshold of the protective walls around her. He just had to keep going until she trusted him enough to tell him what he needed to know. He was quite surprised how much she revealed about herself when they were texting. It was evident that she was more confident when texting him. He thought it was amusing how she spelt out every word in text instead of reverting to ‘text speak’ like he did. It was progress, though, as he would never have discovered half as much about her if they were face to face. It annoyed him that she was actually quite likeable. She loved to read, and to his surprise they had read a lot of the same books. It got to the point where he thought she belonged in some sort of book herself, she was a very complex character. It was unreal how sweet and engaging she was, but he mustn’t fall for it. He couldn’t fall for it.

  Chapter Four

  Billie

  They had messaged all through the night and all the next day. Billie was so exhausted from her ordeal that she didn’t move from her bed all day. In that time, she had learnt a lot about him. He was twenty-seven, he worked for a Worcester newspaper writing his own column called ‘Bizarre things to do in the West Midlands’. It suited him to the ground as he was very bizarre himself. He didn’t ask her standard questions. Instead, he asked her things like; what was the last thing to make her laugh hysterically? What would you grab if your flat was on fire? What animal would she be if she could choose? Did she believe in the supernatural? All night he had bombarded her with strange and amusing questions. From her time at university, she had found a way of anticipating what people wanted to know about her and she had pre-prepared lies ready. But she had never been asked anything like the questions Adam was asking her. It intrigued her, and it also made her open up more than she would have. For so long she had been hiding away, and it was nice to have a conversation. After a while, she felt brave enough to ask him why he was in the park, and she was surprised by the honesty of his reply.

  Adam: I wonderd wen u would ask me that. I went to Once Upon a Time evry day since we met, hoping to bump into u. I saw u leaving as I was walking 2 the shop and I followed trying 2 catch up and say hi.

  His response caused conflicting responses within her. Suspicion and flattery. After everything she had been through she knew she was a fool. But despite the injuries she had, she couldn’t remember smiling so much.

  In one of their many text conversations, he had asked her what her two favourite things to do were. She deeply regretted admitting her love of nature as a minute later he was organising a trip to his favourite place as he also loved to be outdoors amongst wildlife. She tried to turn him down, but he was persistent so now here she was, a week later, tramping up a hill trying desperately to hide the sounds of her gasping for air. She would stop and try to catch her breath every time he wasn’t looking back at her. Luckily she was short and could blame her lagging behind on that. She was so nervous; it had been so long since she’d spent time with another person. She was worried she had forgotten how.

  Once again she wished she had the strength to turn him down, but she had never been very assertive and he had easily brushed aside her protests. The worst part was that he knew exactly what he was doing and made no apologies for it, it was like he knew every
excuse and thought that was going through her mind. He was aware that she wasn’t comfortable with him, and she had even been brave enough to say that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. But he just carried on, unwilling to take no for an answer. Deep down, she knew the reason that she was such a pushover was that she enjoyed his company. Despite the hullabaloo, her common sense was trying to tell her that she was repeating her past mistakes. But there was a small part in her heart trying to persuade the rest of her that not everyone was evil. After her run-in with those kids, she was sure that any sane person would be even more wary of Adam. But she just couldn’t manage it, and he wasn’t giving her the chance to.

  They reached the top of the hill that was trying to kill her with its height. Adam sat down on the ground, out the way of the brown dirt that was supposedly a path. He was rummaging around in his bag.

  “Well, this is embarrassing.” He looked up at her, shielding his eyes. His cheeks were red from embarrassment or exertion she wasn’t sure which.

  “What’s wrong?” Curious what could embarrass this confident man that had waltzed into her life.

  “I packed a picnic for us, but I grabbed the wrong bag. So all we’ve got is half a bag of Minstrels and an empty Lucozade bottle.” He pulled them from the bag as he spoke. She chuckled, warmed by the fact that this apparently perfect guy had actually messed up. It made her feel better to know he wasn’t perfect.

  “I’ve been craving Minstrels all day.” His face lit up in relief.

  “I totally knew that,” he laughed and lay back on the grass.

  She sat down next to him on his coat that he had insisted she sit on. “Ow,” she cried as something small and hard jabbed into her. Standing back up she picked up his coat and found the offending object. “What’s this?”

  “Ahh that is my trusty Dictaphone. Don’t go anywhere without that. Never know when a story or something I need to remember might happen.” He took it from her, rather possessively, then lay back down.

  “It makes a lousy cushion.” He sniggered and then changed the subject. “It’s so lovely to be outdoors in nature.” She nodded in reply. “We can look out at all the boring people staying at home.”

  “Perhaps they have a good reason to stay inside. Some might say it’s safer inside.” She had spoken without thinking. He shot her a questioning look.

  “One day, you’re gonna tell me what happened. Not yet, but one day.”

  “What are you talking about? What do you think happened?” She was startled at how on the mark he was but she tried to laugh it off.

  “Didn’t I tell you I’m a mind reader? Seriously, you can trust me.”

  She was speechless. In many respects, he was carefree, confident and fun to be around but it looked like he had hidden depths. A small part of her was suspicious of him. But then she supposed that she did say and act strangely around him. It had been a long time since she’d spent this much time with another person. Would everyone be able to tell something had happened to her? It was a shame really that she knew that she would never trust him the way he wanted her to. It was just too dangerous.

  Adam

  Adam had bombarded Billie with invitations. He was crafty in his build up to asking her, making sure she couldn’t refuse him. The first time, he managed to convince her to leave her flat and come with him was to the Malvern Hills. He had it all planned out. He had the picnic, he was going to take her to his favourite spot and it would be a great way to get her to open up. It was going to be hard for him, spending so much time with her when the knowledge of what she had done hung around him like a bad taste in his mouth. But he couldn’t let himself think about it, he needed to concentrate on gaining her trust. Today would be a perfect opportunity. After all, what else is there to do on a picnic but talk and eat? He didn’t account for his stupidity when it came to taking the wrong bag so they only had Minstrels to eat. But she didn’t seem too bothered.

  Even though he had a purpose and a plan, it was so good to be up on the hills. The blowing wind and the vibrant shades of green were a heady cocktail that left him feeling energised and happy. It was like all his worries and stresses were being held at the border between civilisation and natural beauty, and he could escape and enjoy the peace and quiet.

  When picking up on something she said about needing to hide didn’t get him any closer, he thought that by opening up to Billie about his family, it might encourage her to do the same. He was open and honest hoping that it might bring out the same in her. Adam watched her intently as he told her how his mother died when he was only seven and that subsequently his father became a drunk. He also ended up telling Billie all about his uncle, the one true shining light in his life. She listened so intently that he couldn’t help but open up to her. It was rare that he got this sort of attention, someone actually taking an interest. He told her how his uncle had recently moved to the area, having moved away from the Lake District and despite his uncle’s troubles, it was nice having him around. Her face remained almost impassive through his entire story, he saw the appropriate amount of sympathy in her eyes, but that was it. When he stopped talking, she didn’t offer anything about herself. It puzzled Adam, how on earth was he going to draw her out? He thought he was good at that, but she was proving otherwise.

  He hated that he had been so frank to someone who didn’t deserve his time of day. It was going against all his morals and principles, spending time with her and being nice to her when he knew that what she really deserved was to be humiliated and despised. But that is what he would make sure happened, he reminded himself. Focusing on the damning article he would write, he concentrated on his task. Surreptitiously turning his Dictaphone on from inside his pocket, he tried different ways of bringing the conversation around to her past. He tried talking about her parents, but she shut him down, only admitting that she was estranged from her entire family and had been for five years. He didn’t bother asking why because he wagered she had a practised response for that too. So he asked her where she went to school and where she grew up, but she just brushed it off, saying, “Oh just a public school up north, you wouldn’t have heard of it.” She wasn’t giving anything away. He decided to leave it and try again via text messages. She seemed to be more confident in virtual communication. He was definitely going to have to be smarter. After all, he knew she was a master manipulator; she wasn’t going to be fooled easily.

  Chapter Five

  Billie

  Adam was becoming a problem. He was pulling her away from her solitary existence in her flat and throwing her into all the experiences life had to offer. Since their walk in Malvern they had spent so much time together. He never wanted to do anything normal so she found herself agreeing to the crazy things he suggested. They had gone kayaking down the Severn; though they may as well have gone swimming in the river as Adam had terrible balance and she was useless with her left and right, and so more than once they had capsized. Even though she was soaked through she had never laughed so much in her life. That was until Adam said he needed her help with an article and so she was dragged to the Coffin Works museum. It advertised a journey into changing attitudes to death but for her, it was a further insight into Adam’s sense of humour. His dry observations and immature comments had her in stitches, much to the disapproval of the staff. Most of the things that they did were for Adam to write about in his column but it was obvious how much he thrived on doing things out of the ordinary.

  When they’d gone for the picnic in Malvern, he had opened up to her about what a miserable childhood he had suffered as a result of his alcoholic father. He said that he knew his mother would have wanted him to have a full and vibrant life so he was doing his best to make up for lost time. His honesty and openness with his past and his feelings put Billie to shame. It was partly the reason that she was so amenable to his requests, she knew how much parents could shape your life, and she wanted to help. She also enjoyed herself. It was like Adam had replaced her common sense and fear with excitement
and fun and she couldn’t help but let herself be pulled along for the ride.

  Billie felt a connection with Adam, in particular through their lack of decent parents. It was nice to hear that Adam had an uncle, though. Billie had no one. But she was in no way ready to share the tragic circumstances of her upbringing.

  She was really awed by Adam’s outlook on life. His struggles in childhood had spurred him into being a positive and kind person, everything his father wasn’t. While her experiences had led her to hide away. It was like she had been hiding in an igloo in the North Pole and he was the explorer that had discovered her and was determined to take her on his travels. Even though each night she berated herself because she knew this could only end badly, she couldn’t help it. By spending time with him, she was beginning to be enticed into dipping her toe into the waters; to explore what life had to offer.

  Adam

  Billie was really getting under Adam’s skin. When he first met her, it was really easy to believe everything that he knew about her. But it was the old cliché, the more he got to know her the more he couldn’t believe it. There were so many things that she did and said that just didn’t add up. The biggest red flag for him was her instinctive reactions and micro expressions, the things that people couldn’t control. He noticed it but didn’t want to acknowledge it the first time he spent proper time with her.