Even Angels Fall (35 page)

Alex laughs scornfully and backs away, much to the surprise of the others who are still keyed up and ready for a fight. Although it would give him immense pleasure, Alex isn’t about to give Marcus the satisfaction. He has said all he needs to say.

“In future, you stay the fuck out of my way, and I’ll keep out of yours…” He isn’t naïve enough to think that Marcus will abide by that request for even a second, but he says it anyway, in an offhand attempt to cut all ties for good. Alex is done with this game, he isn’t stooping to his level and biting back anymore… it’s over.

“You think it’s that fucking simple son…?” Marcus shouts, his temper flaring, shattering his perfect routine of the big man on top who is never riled, never angered and never beaten, “You don’t just walk away from me…”

Alex continues to stride towards the exit with the others following behind, steadfastly refusing to react in any way to Marcus’ angry taunts. They are almost through the door and out of the room when Alex’s pace begins to slow and the over powering anger he felt before returns with full force. Marcus is desperate for a reaction, and he plays the only card he knows is guaranteed to work.

“You can point the finger of blame all you want Alex but we both know the reason your best friend was nearly six feet under. You think you’re big league, eh? You’re just a bunch of fucking kids and it’s your stupidity that nearly got Warner killed thinking you could play with the big boys and be any sort of match. Warner’s gonna rot in prison because of you Alex… no one else… YOU…”

Alex’s intense fury completely over powers him and he turns on the spot mid stride as everything else in the room blacks out. He launches himself forward with tunnel vision and all he can think about and focus on is hurting Marcus. Hurting him the way he is hurting, the way Tom is hurting. It is all that matters now; regardless of the consequences. He needs to pay for what he has done.

Alex’s fist connects powerfully with Marcus jaw and he collapses back against his desk, desperately trying to steady himself. His right hand man jumps forward in an attempt to defend him but Alex dodges the attack with ease, unconcerned and almost unaware of anyone else in the room.

Darren tackles the guy to the floor and reigns several punches down on him in quick succession, until he is struggling for breath and choking on the blood that is gushing from his nose. Liam head butts another of Marcus men before he even has chance to process what is happening and as Nathan takes a punch from the third, he stumbles backwards into the wall next to the pool table. The man charges forward, smiling triumphantly, and Nathan scrambles for one of the pool cues, swinging it back and slamming it hard into the side of the man’s head. He falls to the ground and Liam runs forward, kicking him repeatedly until he too is unconscious.

The whole fight lasts less than a minute and as Darren, Liam and Nathan catch their breath, they remain alert, quickly scanning the carnage and making sure that their opponents have stayed down. When they finally turn their attention back to Alex, their mouths drop open and they stare at him in abject horror. He is kneeling over Marcus, pounding on him with all his strength.

Alex’s eyes are black and his face is twisted into pure rage as he punches Marcus repeatedly in the face. The left side, then the right side, over and over, again and again, as all the loss, pain and devastation come pouring out of him.

“ALEX, THAT’S ENOUGH…” Darren shouts, throwing himself forward and grabbing hold of his shoulders in an attempt to pull him back, but he is far too strong and the frenzied trance he is in is seemingly unbreakable.

Alex keeps on punching, keeps on thrashing, crying out and yelling as tears start to build and empty sobs escape from his chest. Marcus’ face is black and blue and swollen beyond recognition, and Darren begins to panic as Nathan and Liam rush over to help him prise Alex away.

“That’s enough man, come on… that’s enough…” Nathan cajoles, and he finally relents. They all stagger backwards and Darren instantaneously pulls Alex to his feet and over towards the door as Liam glances down at Marcus, hesitating above him and pleading quietly under his breath.

“Liam, come on…” Nathan shouts, pushing Alex out of the room.

“Is he dead?” Darren’s voice is laced with fear as he stops in the doorway and turns back towards Liam, who is frozen and unable to move, waiting anxiously for any sign of life.

“No…” He gasps, finally, “No, he’s breathing…” Relief floods through him as Marcus’ lips part and a gargled breath escapes from the back of his throat. He is alive, but for how much longer?

Liam turns without further delay and quickly catches up to Darren as they sprint out of the office, down the stairs and through the back exit of the club, to the sound of Marcus’ men, coughing, groaning and slowly regaining consciousness behind them.

A
bbey has absolutely no idea why she is here. Out of all the places she could go to seek comfort and solace, she ends up standing on the steps of Eden Comprehensive, a place that she has hated since the very first time she laid eyes on it. Although it may hold bad memories for her… it is also where she met Lucy, Nathan and Liam, and is the place where she finally started to feel hope for the future again after a year of loneliness and heartache. Perhaps that is why she is here? Because she so desperately needs to be reminded of that sense of hope? She needs to feel that reassurance and know that everything is going to work out, get better, and be OK despite how impossible it may seem.

Ever since Alex took his revenge on Marcus the situation has become even more complicated. Alex is happy. Happy that Marcus finally got what he deserves. They all feel a sense of justification and for now at least, things have seemingly died down between them. Marcus survived the attack, but only barely. Therefore, there will no doubt be repercussions at some point in the future. They all expect that Marcus will plan his revenge but he is in no fit state to take Alex on any time soon.

Despite the relief that respite brings, there is still a horrible sense of gloom within the group. Tom is still in a coma. He hasn’t woken up, and it has been over a week since they predicted that he would. If he is unresponsive for much longer the doctors will be forced to re-asses his injuries and decide if there is any likelihood that he will wake up at all. Depending on the results that the various tests and scans reveal – his life support may be switched off.

There is still an obvious divide within the group as a result of everything that has happened. Abbey is still hiding her guilt and Alex’s mood swings are truly starting to affect her. For the most part he is still very much the man she loves, but whenever he is reminded of Tom and the fact that he may still die, he lashes out in anger. It is an anger that he feels towards himself but as the closest person to him, Abbey seems to be taking the brunt of his grief. She wouldn’t mind so much if she knew a way to help him… but she can’t make this any better. She just has to try and be patient.

Lucy is being an absolute rock as usual - as are Nathan and Liam - but Gemma is still furiously blaming Alex and her coldness towards him isn’t in any way subtle. Darren is trying his hardest to keep the peace but Sophie is Gemma’s best friend and it puts him in an increasingly awkward predicament.

They are all still hurting and grieving massively and everything is a total mess, hence the reason why Abbey needed to escape for the afternoon, to get away and clear head. She had started walking over an hour ago and without consciously thinking about where she was heading, she ended up here.

The school looks smaller somehow, as if her world has expanded immensely since she was the shy, meek, self-conscious new student. It feels like a lifetime ago since she sat in the principal’s office on her very first day and as she thinks back to how she felt in that moment, her heart constricts when remembering Mr Harper and the kindness he had shown her.

Surprised by the direction her thoughts have taken, Abbey impulsively throws her cigarette butt to the ground and twists her foot over it before pulling her hood up and climbing the two flights of stairs that lead up to the walkway. It is 4pm and the students are long gone for the day, but the school entrance is unlocked and propped open as the janitor struggles outside with several bags of rubbish in his arms. She waits until he has cornered the building out of sight, before ducking through the doors and into the reception area. It all looks exactly the same. She has changed so much in the last year - everything about her life is different - yet the fact that her old school is exactly how she left it several months ago is oddly comforting to her.

She strolls through the empty corridors, past her old locker and up towards the English rooms, smiling to herself as she remembers Lucy and Liam’s prank with the puppets and how happy and carefree they all were back then.

Abbey and Alex’s relationship was brand new and she had felt so much excitement and promise. Her heart sinks a little as she considers how much he is struggling now and how much he has come to depend on her. She loves him. She should be back at the flat making sure he is OK. Not here, aimlessly wandering around her old school as if she is miraculously going to find the answers she is searching for. ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ Abbey thinks to herself, frowning and shaking her head as she slowly comes to her senses.

As she is about to turn back, she hears a slight movement in the classroom next to her followed by a faint cough as someone clears their throat. Unable to fight her curiosity she creeps quietly over to the open door and there, sat at his desk marking a stack of papers, is Mr Harper.

For some bizarre reason that Abbey doesn’t fully understand, she feels a huge, overwhelming sense of relief and happiness as she loiters in the doorway watching him. She had instantly noted his good looks on her very first morning at Eden, when he sauntered into Principal Grants office smiling broadly and doing all he could to support and reassure her. He was kind, friendly and caring, and seeing him now in his suit with his top button undone and his tie slung over the back of his chair, his brown hair ruffled and his sleeves casually rolled up to the elbows, he seems so much younger than she originally remembered… and so unbelievably normal.

Suddenly feeling a little scared and strangely uncomfortable, Abbey takes a small step backwards, but Mr Harper catches the movement in the corner of his eye and looks up, blinking hard as he stares at Abbey in wide eyed disbelief. She stands frozen to the spots as he asses her closely and his face is etched with deep concern, causing a lump to form in Abbey’s throat.

He turns in his chair very slowly, before leaning forward and resting his arms in his lap. They stare at each other for the longest time and Abbey gets the distinct impression that he is just as happy and relieved to see her.

“Hi…” He whispers cautiously, and Abbey can’t find her voice to respond, unsure whether she should be here at all let alone engaging in conversation with her ex-teacher. She takes a step forward, fiddling with the sleeve of her jacket, and smiles meekly, “How are you?” He prompts.

“I’m OK…” She replies in a timid voice, “I’m not really sure why I’m here to be honest; I didn’t mean to disturb you…”

“You didn’t. Do you want to come in?” He gestures to the chair next to his desk, trying very hard not to spook Abbey by taking the ‘softly softly’ approach that usually infuriates her. She hates being treated like a child, but right now she doesn’t seem to mind. For once, she actually does feel that fragile.

“If you’re busy I can go…”

“No, please, here…” He pulls the chair round so that it is directly in front of him and Abbey sits down, looking up from underneath her hair and meeting his gaze properly for the first time.

“Abbey…” He whispers, leaning forward so that they are inches apart, “Are you alright?”

The wall that has been holding back all of Abbey’s true emotions suddenly crumbles and that one simple question brings reality crashing into her with full force. She has being pretending for so long, trying to tell herself that everything will be fine and refusing to acknowledge how dangerous, serious and disturbing her world has recently become. She isn’t alright. She is so unbelievably far from alright and she has had absolutely no one to confide in.

“No…” She chokes out, shaking her head and biting her lip.

“I didn’t think so. You know your family have been really worried about you, they just want you home…”

“I can’t go home…” She shakes her head again, more forcefully.

“Why not? Abbey they won’t care about where you’ve been or what’s been going on, they just want you back with them…”

“I can’t leave my friends…”

“Your family need you…” he urges, softly.

“So do they. I know they aren’t perfect, I know they’re fucked up. But they took me in when I had nowhere else to go and I can’t leave them now it’s not fair. They’re good people, they are… but everything is so messed up…”

“Ok, it’s alright, just calm down and tell me what’s been going on…” Mr Harper nods encouragingly and although she is reluctant to open up, Abbey finds that she can’t stop herself.