Becoming The Part - Chapter Three

Robyn awakes to her brother shoving her shoulder and opens her eyes to see her Aunt and Uncle’s house. It looks like heaven after what she just witnessed.

“Wake up! We’re here!” Her brother is saying.

Robyn sits up straight and gets some money out of her pocket to pay the taxi driver with. Then they both get out of the taxi, which drives away, and make their way up the steps to the front doors of heaven.

They look at each other and smile. Then Connor rings the doorbell and they await their welcome.

Connor and Robyn are sat in their Aunt and Uncle’s living room; two couches face each other with a coffee table between them and a flat-screen TV placed on the wall beside them. The couches are beautifully decorated with all kinds of cushion and blankets, which Connor and Robyn have covered themselves in as they sit on one of the couches, opposite their parents, Aunt and Uncle.

“So talk us through what happened.” Their father says delicately.

“Well,” Robyn starts, “the night began normally, you know we were just sat having tea, watching a film and then Connor got a call from Joe.”

Connor nods. “He said that a murderer had got into their house and killed their father but Joe and his mother got out and were ringing everyone in the car to warn them.”

“So we decide it’s best to leave and I tell Connor to go to the front door whilst I go get money and the keys from the kitchen. And whilst I’m calling the taxi service... um...” Robyn feels her breathing becoming shallow and her eyes become wet as she tries to tell the story. “I see something move outside. So I look out and there he is. The murderer, stood with a bloody knife in his hand. He didn’t see me at first so I turned the lights off and hid behind the counter. Then we decided to call Graham...”

She feels a wrench in her heart as she says his name and her freezing cheeks are warmed by her tears. “So he comes over to help but the murderer kills him. Then I called Frank and he fought the murderer but he was killed as well... um... then we ran. All the way to the pond and the taxi was there waiting for us. But the murderer was following us and he was just gaining on us. Luckily, we got into the taxi on time and then the last thing we saw was two police cars pulling up and the murderer kneeling on the floor with his hands behind his back.”

Robyn covers her face with her hands, sobbing into them. She closes her eyes for a brief second but opens them straight away as she sees flashes of the events: Graham’s lifeless body, Frank’s lifeless body, the murderer’s horrific smile that showed no guilt or compassion, and that bloody knife. Her parents surround her and Connor, wrapping their arms around them. And in that moment, she feels safe, even if it’s just for a little while. She feels protected by her parents’ arms.

“I know you were planning on staying only one night more,” their Uncle Garry says, “but I think it’s best you stay here for a week or two.”

“Of course. I completely agree.” Their Aunt Amalie nods. “There’s no way you could go back there so soon after this has all happened.”

Robyn’s mother looks up at them and smiles. “Thank you.”

“I just can’t believe this happened.” Their father frowns. “Especially when we were away. I’m so sorry you had to go through that alone.”

“We are never leaving you alone again.” Their mother says.

Usually, Robyn would object, saying she’s twenty-years-old; she’s old enough to be left on her own. But under the circumstances, she never wants to leave her parents’ side. She doesn’t even feel safe in her own home anymore.

“I need to sleep.” Robyn sighs.

“Sure.” Garry stands up. “I’ll show you to your room.”

“Thanks.” Robyn stands up and follows Garry to the door.

“Hey.” Her mother calls and Robyn spins to look at her. “It’s going to be okay now. You’re safe here.”

Robyn smiles and nods, only to please her mother, and then she follows Garry out of the room.

Robyn doesn’t get to sleep at all. She just lies in her bed, snuggled under her covers and stares up at the ceiling. She turns her head to look at the clock and sees it is two o’clock in the morning. She sighs and rolls over, staring at the clock as the ticking drills into her mind. She closes her eyes for what feels like half an hour before opening them again and rolling over to her other side, unable to get to sleep as she becomes more and more restless. She sits up and turns the lamp on, bringing her knees to her chest and pulling a hand through her hair. She knows that she is going to have nights like this for a very long time.

Robyn takes three deep breaths in and breathes out longer on the last one. She replays the events of the night in her head, thinking and re-enacting everything she could have done. Everything she should have done. She shakes her head and turns the lamp off then lays back down, covering herself up. Her eyes begin to feel droopy and she smiles slightly, knowing she’s finally going to get some sleep. The tick-tocking of the clock seems to sooth her, relaxing her body. Suddenly, screaming pierces the air and she sits bolt upright. It’s a scream she knows all too well.

She scrambles out of bed and sprints into her brother’s room, swinging the door open the same time her parents get there.

“Another night terror.” Robyn states.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Connor shouts. “GET AWAY!”

Robyn and her parents approach Connor. “Connor, it’s okay.”

“STAY AWAY!” He screams. “DON’T COME ANY CLOSER!”

“Connor, it’s okay.” Robyn says. “It’s us.” They continue walking towards him.

“STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!” He screeches.

Robyn and her parents stop moving and Connor goes quiet for a while, breathing heavily.

“Connor, sweetie.” Their mother moves closer. “It’s just us. You’re fine.”

“Look out.” Connor murmurs. “LOOK OUT! HE’S BEHIND YOU!”

“Who is?” Their father questions.

“HE’S IN THE CORNER!” Connor begins to go into a state of panic. “HE’S THERE!”

Robyn wishes they could do more. She wishes they could wake him up but they can’t. It might make it worse if they try to comfort him.

Connor starts thrashing around as he screams and Amalie and Garry run into the room. “What’s going on?”

“He’s having a night terror.”

“GET THEM OUT! GET THEM AWAY!” Connor screams.

“Should we leave?” Amalie questions.

“MAKE THEM GO! MAKE IT STOP!”

“I think so.” Robyn nods.

Amalie and Garry nod and leave the room, closing the door behind them.

“HE’S LOCKED IN!” Connor cries, thrashing his arms around. “HE’S LOCKED IN HERE WITH US.”

“Do you think it’s about the murderer?” Their father questions.

“Possibly.” Their mother nods. “I think we should open the door.”

Robyn runs to the door and opens it, the light from the corridor streaming into the room.

“CLOSE THE DOOR!” Connor yells. “THERE’S MORE! THERE’S MORE OUTSIDE!”

Robyn closes the door. “Connor, you’re okay. We’re here.”

Connor suddenly goes quiet. His breathing shallows and he flops on his bed.

“I think it’s stopped.” Robyn whispers. “We should leave him to sleep.”

Her parents nod and walk over to the door where Robyn opens it, leading them out.

“Goodnight. We’ll see you in the morning.” They go back into their room.

Robyn stands at Connor’s door for a second, looking at him sleep. She thinks about how chaotic everything was and then it just suddenly stopped. Just like that night. The night their lives changed, possibly forever.

“What are you doing?” She hears Connor’s quiet and tired voice coming from his bed. “Why are you in my room?”

“You were having a night terror.” Robyn walks over.

“I was?” He sounds so timid.

Robyn nods and sits down on his bed. “Yeah. That’s the third time this month.”

“It’s getting better then.” Connor says. “I haven’t had as many recently.”

“I know.” Robyn smiles but her eyes are filled with concern.

Connor looks down at his hands, beginning to fiddle with his fingers. “It’s probably going to get worse from here, isn’t it? After what happened.”

“I don’t know.” Robyn replies. “There’s no way to tell.”

“What was it about this time?” Connor asks.

“I’m not too sure. You just kept saying that ‘he’ was there and there were more outside.” Robyn explains.

Connor nods. “Sounds like it was about him.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Robyn says. “We saw him get arrested.”

Connor stays silent and frowns.

“What?”

“It’s just... we didn’t actually see them get him in the car. We just saw them handcuff him. We don’t know what happened after that.” Connor says.

Robyn opens her mouth to speak but closes it again, unsure of what to say. “Wait, so you don’t think he’s locked up?”

“He might be. They might have got him. But how do we know when we didn’t even see the whole arrest?”

Robyn, Connor, their parents and their Aunt Amalie and Uncle Garry are all sat in the living room, surrounding the TV as they watch a news report about the murders.

“Just last night, at seven-thirty pm, a murderer attacked Riding Road, London, killing five people and harming three. Most of the street had cleared out when they heard what was happening but unfortunately for some, it was too late. Police arrived to the scene after a distressed call from a young boy.”

Robyn looks over to Connor who is clinging on to a pillow, his eyes fixed on the screen.

“They arrested the man and have yet to release the information of who it was.”

Connor glances at Robyn and smiles. The murderer was caught. It really is over.

“I can’t believe you two were there.” Amalie frowns. “This is horrible.”

“We completely understand if you don’t want to go back. You can stay here for as long as you want.” Garry says.

“We’ll stay here until the end of this week but the only problem is Connor has to be at school.” Their mother replies.

Robyn shakes her head. “But Mum...”

“It’s okay.” Connor cuts in. “He’s been arrested. He can’t hurt us anymore. I can’t live in fear. I have to carry on with my life and that includes getting an education. It’s like what Will Smith said when he went skydiving. The whole time before it, he was terrified when in reality; he said everything up to the stepping point, there was actually no reason to be scared. It only just ruins your day. I’m not going to live in fear. He is not taking my life away from me. I’m not giving him that.”

“Okay,” their father smiles, quite proud of his son’s courage, “it’s decided.”

Robyn and Connor are sat in Connor’s room on his bed, sorting through a pile of laundry.

“Are you sure you’re okay with going back home?” Robyn asks. “I mean, you just had a night terror last night about all this. How are you going to deal with being in the same house it all happened in?”

“I’ll be fine. We have to go back at some point. We might as well just get it over with.” Connor says.

They sit in silence for a while and Robyn can’t believe how brave her brother is being. Perhaps she doesn’t need to protect him anymore.

“Connor,” she looks up at him, vulnerable, “I’m scared.”

Connor seems to look back at her in surprise. As if he really believed this courageous act she was holding up to protect him. And then his face softens and he takes her hand. “I know. Me too. But we’re safe now; he’s been arrested. I’m sure once we settle back into our lives; everything will go back to normal.”

“I’m starting to think that normal doesn’t exist.” Robyn states.

“It doesn’t.” Connor agrees. “It’s just a social construct created so that we have a sense of security. But everything will go back to how it was. I’m sure of it.”

Robyn smiles and nods before they both carry on folding the laundry. Suddenly, their little cousins: Liam and Harper run into the room, laughing. They’re twins, around the age of seven years old and they clearly have no idea what has happened. Robyn and Connor smile at their happiness and energy, bringing some sense of relief that maybe things really can be okay again. It’s like a breath of fresh air they’re been craving for so long has finally caught up with them.

“Play with us! Play with us!” Harper repeats as she and her twin run around Connor and Robyn in circles.

Connor laughs and picks Liam up, sitting him on his lap. “What do you want to play?”

“Come to playroom with us!” Harper dances excitedly as Liam hops off Connor’s lap to copy his twin sister.

Robyn smiles. Their innocence seems too pure for this world and all she wants is for their happiness to never fade. She wants them to stay this young and this excitable for as long as possible. She wants that spark that lives inside them to never go out.

Harper grabs Robyn’s hand and drags her off the bed. “Down to playroom.”

“Okay, okay.” Robyn laughs. “We’re following you.” She looks back at Connor, who is carrying Liam, as they make their way down the stairs into the playroom.

Harper and Liam’s playroom is filled with boxes and boxes of toys, with a rocking horse at the window and a toy kitchen set up against the wall.

Liam runs to the rocking horse and gets on, Connor rocking him whilst Harper takes Robyn over to the kitchen and starts ‘cooking’ with her.

“What are we cooking, then?” Robyn asks.

“Spaghetti Bolognese.” Harper answers. “Liam is coming soon so we need to have it ready.” Harper goes into the cupboard and gets out plastic plates. “Set these out.” She hands them to Robyn, who sets them out on the floor.

Meanwhile, Liam is still rocking on the rocking horse with Connor supervising him. “Come on, pony! We’re going to be late for dinner.”

“I think he’s getting tired.” Connor plays along.

Liam strokes the side of the horse. “It’s okay. There isn’t much more to go.”

Harper takes a bowl over to where Robyn has set out the plates and puts the bowl down in the middle. She then looks at her wrist, pretending that there is a watch there. “They’re late!”

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon.” Robyn says.

“Dinner will be getting cold!” Harper puts her hands on her hips and sighs.

Liam hops down from the rocking horse. “Here!” He and Connor walk over to Harper and Robyn.

“You’re late!” Harper hits Liam’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry. Pony was getting tired.” Liam pouts.

Harper turns away and sits down at one of the plates on the floor. “Come in for dinner then!”

Robyn sits down next to Harper, joined by Connor and Liam. They all pretend to serve themselves and eat the ‘dinner’ that Harper ‘cooked’. Then, Amalie and Garry enter and they all look up to them.

“We were thinking of going into town for a shopping trip.” Amalie states. “Do you want to come?”

“Yeah!” Harper stands up in excitement. “Shopping trip! Shopping trip!”

“Okay, well tidy up your toys first and then we’ll go.” Garry smiles before he and Amalie leave.

“Come on, then.” Robyn stands up. “Let’s tidy up.”

Connor picks up the plastic plates and Harper takes them from him. “I’ll put them away!”

Harper and Liam put all their toys away with the help of Robyn and Connor then they all go through to the kitchen to meet their parents.

The whole family walk through the streets of Brighton, looking in shops that they pass by. By now, they have stopped for lunch in a café and are all enjoying their food when Robyn stands up to go to the toilet. She walks through the café and glances to the side. Just for a second. But she swears she saw a man in a black hood. She takes a second look but there is nobody there. Just her mind playing tricks again. She shrugs and continues to the toilet.

When she is washing her hands, she glances in the mirror and sees someone stood behind her. He’s here. She knows it. She feels it. She doesn’t need to take a second glance because she has the exact feeling she had when she first came face to face with him. All her emotions have been drained and all that’s left is heart-wrenching fear. Her mouth goes dry and her pulse quickens as she feels her heart beat out of her chest. It all seems to happen so slowly but so rapidly all at once. And then she finds herself on the floor, screaming until her throat goes sore. But even then she doesn’t stop.

She feels a pair of hands on her and she tries to shove them away. It’s only now that she realises she has her eyes closed from the intensity of the scream. She feels the hands on her again and she swears this is it. This is the end. She holds her breath, her throat sore and her face wet with tears.

“Look at me! Look at me!” She hears her mother’s voice before her.

Robyn opens her eyes and looks up at her mother who looks back at her with a distraught expression masked by concern. She sits down next to Robyn and wraps her arms around her, bringing her into a hug.

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Robyn is back at her Aunt and Uncle’s house, sitting on the couch with her mum, cups of tea in their hands as they have a private conversation about the events of the day.

“What happened today?” Her mother asks.

Robyn takes a sip of her drink, wondering whether or not she should explain the whole thing. She doesn’t want to come across as crazy. “I don’t know. I just keep seeing that murderer everywhere I go.”

Her mother frowns in concern. “And you thought he was in the café, in the women’s toilets?”

Robyn shrugs. She knew she was crazy. “I guess. It just seemed so real. It genuinely felt like he was there.”

“Okay. But he wasn’t.” Her mother tries to reassure her. “There’s no doubt that you’re going to be traumatised after experiencing what you did. But just think, why would he come all the way to Brighton just to kill a young girl?”

“Because he’s murderer and didn’t finish the job.” Robyn looks away; she can’t bear to look her mother in the eyes.

“He was arrested. You even saw it happen.”

“But maybe he escaped.”

“And you believe he would track you down?”

“I guess.” Robyn frowns, confused.

Her mother sighs. “I think we should go home.”

Robyn looks up, startled. “No, Mum we can’t go back. Please don’t make me go back.”

“You can’t live your life in fear. What you’ve been through, nobody should have to go through and there is no doubt that you are traumatised by it but you can’t let it control your life. The best thing to do is to go home and—”

“But it’s not home if I don’t feel safe there anymore.” Robyn interjects.

Her mother purses her lips and stares at Robyn for a second. “Your brother has to finish school. You have to get a job. The murderer is in prison. He can’t hurt you. We have to go home and you have to face this fear because you need to live your life just as any normal twenty-year-old does.”

“Mum, I think we both know that I’m not any normal twenty-year-old girl.”

“No but you can be.” Her mother puts her cup down on the coffee table and stands up, about to walk out of the room. “We’re going home. And we’re not going to argue about it.” She leaves the room, leaving Robyn with her thoughts. Little does she know how dangerous that is.