Private Royals

Chapter 36

Abbie threw up again.

She was on her hands and knees, vomit on her chin and in her hair. The comedown from her drug high had already kicked in when her world had begun to violently sway and screech, the contents of her toilet bucket sent spilling across the floor and over her bare feet. It had all been too much for Abbie’s stomach. She had puked, crying with misery as she did so.

She had then been thrown forward like an empty dress, crashing into the hard metal wall, blood running from her nose, her bones aching. She had stayed there for a while, curled into a ball and content to moan in her misery, but then the bile had returned and she’d rolled onto her hands and knees as she gagged.

It was in this position that she saw one of the walls to her cell pulled away. Seeing blue skies replace the swirling patterns of black and white, Abbie wondered if she was still tripping after all.

The harsh sunlight that flooded into the room made her squint, and she turned her head away quickly, only vaguely aware of a silhouette that appeared in front of her.

It was the silhouette of a man. The way he leaned heavily to one side reminded her of the injured soldiers she had once visited in hospital.

‘Abbie.’ She heard her name. The word was spoken through pain. ‘Abbie,’ the voice said again. A man’s voice.

‘I’m Peter,’ he told her, and she looked up.

She saw a face that was dirty with blood, but there was kindness beneath it. An open honesty. Abbie didn’t know why, but she felt as if she should trust this man.

He put out his hand.

‘I’m here to take you home.’ He managed to smile, but Abbie didn’t see it.

She was watching a second silhouette appearing next to Peter.

And then Peter fell down.