Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Lisa looked at me with smug triumph as Maria gave another scream and shook violently. I would’ve felt foolish but I was holding back the bile at the smell and the disgust at Lisa’s expression. She had found her clue, and that was all she cared about. I supposed, in that moment, that she had been right, coincidences happen. There was a nagging feeling in my gut that this was more than that, someone had led us here.

Anna whispered something over the screams which continued to rattle around me. The bed shook and several bottles on the nightstand tumbled to the floor.

‘What did you mean?’ Lisa hissed, ‘what medicine?’ Since I was unable to speak Spanish, I was left bewildered again.

Vala didn’t say anything to us, she simply nodded and left the room. She returned clutching a beaker with thick dark liquid swirling inside. The horrible smell of decay worsened and I saw Vala visibly pale, the smell was coming from the liquid.

At the return of Vala, the screaming jolting girl stiffened and sat up weakly. Anna placed a hand on her arm and spoke soft words. Maria’s eyes were fixed on the liquid, not the container, they were following its movement. It was placed in Anna’s hands and the old woman bent over Maria, pushing her back onto the covers. She tipped the beaker into her mouth and Maria drank hungrily. Anna had to snatch it away as Maria’s hands reached out weakly for more. There were dark lines running from her mouth, the liquid looked reddish in the light.

The girl slumped back into the covers, quiet and barely moving, but she had a small smile on her face as Anna wiped her mouth.

‘What is that stuff?’ Lisa asked.

‘The only thing which calms her,’ Vala said as she took the beaker back into her hands and screwed up her face at the smell.

‘It’s medicine?’ Lisa’s voice was more forceful, harsher.

Vala hesitated. ‘Not exactly,’ she said, refusing to look into Lisa’s eyes.

‘What is it?’ The kind, patient tone had definitely left her voice.

‘It was left at the door,’ Vala said.

‘You gave Maria something that was left at your door?’ Lisa asked in disbelief.

‘There was a note,’ Vala went on, as though this excused everything, ‘it said that this tonic would help her.’

‘May I see this ‘tonic’ closer?’ Lisa asked.

It was handed over reluctantly. I peered at the liquid and the smell of decay was so forceful that I gulped back vomit. There was a pearly sheen over the surface like rainbows in spilt oil. The smell was like dead fish lining a beach, like spoilt meat and rancid milk. It was almost indescribably horrible, there was nothing else it compared to. I saw a twinge of red at the corners of Maria’s mouth and I felt the vomit rising again.

‘This doesn’t look like any medicine I know of,’ Lisa said in the doctor voice. ‘It’s probably poisoning her.’

‘What choice did we have?’ Vala’s eyes were filling with tears again, ‘we found a doctor, but he wouldn’t help her, he demanded money before he had even seen her, we don’t have anything to give.’ She said the last line apologetically.

‘I don’t think Maria is pregnant,’ Lisa said calmly, ‘I have seen poisons like this before. They give the sufferer some temporary relief, but it is this tonic which is hurting her. Maybe even killing her.’

Vala gasped, ‘she is dying?’

‘Maybe,’ Lisa said.

‘We’re just trying to dull her pain,’ Vala said, her tears making black tracks down her face through the heavy mascara.

‘You have to tell me what project forty five is,’ Lisa said. It came from the blue, I was shocked she had brought it up, she was clearly getting impatient of the situation and the stifling room.

Vala faltered, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ she said blankly.

‘I know you do,’ Lisa hissed back, all the soft edge evaporated. ‘I heard Anna speak about it.’

Vala threw a furious look at Anna, who was smoothing Maria’s hair back from her serene face. ‘You misheard,’ she shrugged.

‘I don’t think I did,’ Lisa sneered through gritted teeth. ‘Do you want Maria to die?’ Vala shook her head with her eyes on the floor.

‘She will die if you don’t tell me.’

‘Lisa no,’ I grabbed her arm to try and awaken her humanity, if she had any. Then I realised my terrible mistake.

‘I though you said your name was Karen,’ it was too late, Vala’s eyes were narrowed on us. ‘Are you even a doctor?’

The next thing that is really clear was the door being slammed in our faces. I remember there was shouting and pushing from both sides, Lisa’s crazed, determined eyes and Anna’s bewildered cries from across the room. It all happened in a second, Lisa was left shouting and banging on the door.

‘I can help you!’ She screeched while her fists mashed repeatedly against the peeling paint.

‘Give it up,’ I shot back angrily.

‘You idiot!’ She shouted at me, flailing her arms out like a child having a tantrum. ‘Why did you have to blow our cover?’

‘Why did you say you could help her?’ I snapped, ‘why did you say she was dying?’

‘I warned you how far I would go,’ she wagged a finger, ‘I expected you to get the message, but you never do. Nothing seems to penetrate your thick skull.’

I rubbed my face with my hands, glancing out of a window I saw that it was now totally dark. Once again we hadn’t listened to good advice and we were left unprotected in an environment we knew was dangerous. It was even worse this time because I knew what was out there, but I knew what was glaring at me from across the corridor. I would take my chances with the darkness rather than spend another second with that psychopath.

‘I’m going to find a hotel,’ I said blankly, making for the stairs.

‘We should do a little more digging while we can,’ Lisa smoothed down her clothes and followed me. ‘Now that it’s dark we’ll probably have more luck with certain unsavoury times. The kind of scum that comes out at night know a lot about what goes on in a city.’

‘I don’t think you heard me,’ I said as I clenched my fists in my pockets, ‘I’m going to find a hotel, you can do what you want.’

Lisa laughed at me, it was loud and harsh, her laughter hit me like fist and I was ready to abandon her in that moment, to turn my back and never think about her again.

‘Fine,’ she sad through her laughter, ‘you’ll need me again sooner or later.’

There wasn’t any energy left in me to fight with her, I simply stood up and walked away.

Maybe she was right, perhaps I couldn’t cope without someone who could climb walls or lie convincingly. I had never had to cope on my own before, in my job there was always some manager or head of department to take the fall for my mistakes, and now, when for the first time in my life I had needed to survive, I had Lisa to rely on. It was good to walk back down those rickety stairs not knowing the way back to the city centre.

I didn’t hear her following me even as I left the front door, I didn’t know if she had found another way out or if she was just so quiet that I didn’t notice her behind me. There was still a man sitting on the steps smoking a fat cigar, it could even have been the same cigar, I didn’t know how long we had been in the flat for. In that room with that smell and the poor screaming girl, it felt like hours. I shivered thinking of her, and thinking of what that dark liquid looked like.

I It was ten O’clock, not too late, I hesitated before I walked on, did I take my chances with the criminals back in the bright, popular centre or continue on these closed cramped streets. For some reason, the closed in skies comforted me then, it was almost like a protection, these were surely family homes, places where everyone knew each other.

So I continued in the same direction, winding through the small alleys. I thought about the structure of the city, and imagined that eventually I would find the district known for cheap tourist accommodation, old flats too run down to be used for more than a night. I knew it existed and, counting my money, it was all I could afford tonight.

As I walked I had that strange creeping feeling I was being watched. I put it down to the darkness and unfamiliarity of the location before I realised that I couldn’t trust my assumptions anymore, not after everything I had seen. I hid in a doorway and peered around the corner, the closeness of the buildings didn’t help the failing light, and there were no street lamps here. I stared out into the nothingness, squinting hard to find shapes.

My heart caught in my chest as I saw a shape emerging, a half formed shadow pushed through the darkness. Was it a shadow? The edges were blurred, I couldn’t see a human shape, it might have been a dog, but for some reason the sticky night turned cold.

I ran into a demon and screamed. I let out a high pitched squeal and beat my fists into something solid. I heard a harsh metallic clash as my hand smashed into steel, I heard my fingers crushing and snatched my hand back, it was throbbing and loose, hanging limply from my wrist.

It was a statue, a hooded monk, standing over the entrance to a shop. I would’ve laughed if my hand hadn’t hurt so much.

There wasn’t much of a chance to appreciate my safety, there was a rustling like dry leaves and something heavy hit me in the back of the head. I felt warmth as black spots covered my eyes, the warmth spread through me as I fell to my knees. Through closing eyes I saw grey suits legs rushing towards me.

A warm hand clasped my arm, and for a moment I was wide awake, all pain was gone. My fingers didn’t even hurt anymore, I could’ve got up any walked away. The black spots left my eyes and the ground ahead of me was clear. There was another feeling that came with this clear vision, I remembered someone I hadn’t thought of in a long time. That warm hand was like another that had touched me before.

A man’s voice shouted through the night and the warm hand dropped my arm. As all the pain returned I remembered falling on my face in the concrete.

Chapter Eighteen

Please read everything that comes before this or the story won't make sense

Chapter Eighteen

I realised my mouth was hanging wide open as I stared at the determination in her eyes.

‘You don’t think it’s just a bit of a coincidence?’ I tested, being as tactful as I could.

Lisa stared around the corner just to make sure the two women were still in front of us. ‘Sometimes coincidences happen,’ she shrugged.

‘No,’ I shook my head firmly, ‘no they don’t, not like this. The first conversation you happen to overhear and it’s over? You know how ridiculous this all sounds.’

She made yet another shushing movement with her hands and carried on her slow creep, apparently oblivious to the truth.

The sun followed us in pockets down the dark alley and where the shade was deepest it was surprisingly cold. I shivered a little. There were houses here, or they seemed like homes, tiny windows that were too dirty to look in and music cutting into the silence every now and then. It was a dull place, away from the bright colours that drew in the tourists.

‘When I’ve had a feeling about something before,’ Lisa whispered, ‘have I ever been wrong?’

I tried to think of a time when she had been wrong about anything, but I couldn’t. It made me angry to think that someone so together with their head screwed on right would be seduced by a string of familiar words. The road seemed never ending, and it was growing darker by the second, the buildings overhead seemed to close on me like a ceiling.

‘We had a plan,’ I reminded her, ‘buried somewhere, we had a good plan. Talk to the police, find out about local murders, we should be doing that.’

‘Trust me,’ Lisa muttered.

‘I don’t think I can,’ I answered honestly, ‘you don’t know what you’re doing.’

She turned and looked at me, with one eye still firm on the women, ‘it’s not just that,’ she said, ‘it’s not just those words,’ and from the anger in her eyes I thought she would have spoken harsher.

‘So what else have you heard?’

‘Anna, the woman with the cane,’ Lisa whispered, ‘her granddaughter is pregnant, by a man they don’t know called Alex. She’s ill and needs a doctor but she’s only seventeen and it’s shameful, so they can’t go to a doctor they know. When they talk about medical help they keep saying the number forty five.’

‘That could be the doctor’s age,’ I hissed back immediately, ‘it could be his address.’ Lisa sniffed at me as if I were being stupid. ‘You’re dragging us into someone’s family,’ I continued, ‘I don’t want to be involved in this.’

I had spoken too loudly, the woman named Anna turned and looked at me. She stared at me with eyes filled with a blank and empty hopelessness. I wondered how hard life had been for her, how much she had suffered and how much she had seen. I felt guilty for being there, for following her and for listening to her problems. I felt myself blush with embarrassment as she stared.

‘You follow?’ She asked in thickly accented English.

‘You speak English?’ Lisa asked.

‘Little,’ Anna’s eyes were still fixed on mine, the other woman was staring at Lisa with distaste, looking her up and down repeatedly.

‘I couldn’t help overhearing,’ Lisa said, ‘I speak a little Spanish myself and I heard you need a doctor.’

The second woman gasped out loud but Anna continued to stare at me without a change in expression. Though I noticed fresh tears threatening to leak from her eyes,‘ none of business,’ she said, and they turned.

The other woman started hissing angrily in Spanish. ‘You’re right,’ Lisa shouted after them, ‘I am being rude.’ Something harsh sounding was directed at Lisa.

‘But I am a doctor,’ Lisa said, ‘I can help you.’

I tried to hide my own gasp as Anna was still staring at me. I felt colder than I had felt since we had been in Cuba, the sweat still trickling down my forehead felt like ice crystals.

‘You doctor?’ Anna asked suspiciously.

‘Yes,’ Lisa said, more convincingly this time, and she took a step towards the women with a reassuring smile. ‘I won’t ask questions, I just want to help, won’t tell anyone.’

Anna glanced at her companion, who shook her head firmly. I waited for a few agonising moments while Lisa spoke to them in Spanish, eventually the tone of voice got calmer, but everything else grew darker still. Overhead a woman glanced out from her balcony at the scene, she smoked a cigarette and ignored the childish screams from inside the flat.

‘We’re following them,’ Lisa said with something strange shining in her eyes. The look was of insane triumph, unfounded suspicions and leads that wouldn’t really lead anywhere. The pressure in the small alley was so harsh that I felt I was being boiled alive. I became lightheaded as the heat continued to close on me, a headache was forming and I felt unsteady on my feet.

She gave me another insane grin and bounded along after the women. Anna’s eyes were dry now, and she had a weak smile on her lips. She walked only on the support of the cane now and there was a noticeable gap between her and the other woman. The other woman threw dark glances back at us and whispered under her breath, words that apparently weren’t intended for anyone but herself.

Anna answered her often in a tone that suggested hope and blind faith in these two strangers who had agreed to help her with nothing to gain from it themselves. I walked on a few paces behind Lisa, who was still distancing herself from the women, though she spoke to Anna with the same hopeful tone to her voice.

After a few moments of enduring this I caught up with the missing steps to talk to Lisa.

‘Could you please tell them that I want to talk privately to you?’ I asked.

Lisa stared at me, ‘they won’t be happy about that,’ she scowled, ‘there’s a sick girl, had you forgotten?’ I felt that boiling sensation again and rolled my hands into fists to stay calm. ‘We could lose our only possible connection that way.’

I was aware of the way my mouth hung open in shock, though I was surprised that anything about Lisa could shock me anymore. ‘I really have to speak with you,’ I said through gritted teeth.

She stopped Anna and said something which made both women fix their eyes on me, since Anna had taken her eyes off me I had relaxed a little, but I remembered what it was like to be faced with that stony, helpless gaze and my anger only increased.

They sat down laboriously on the steps to a grubby front door. They sighed and creaked into the stone, still barely speaking to each other though, the other woman’s mouth was puckered into a thin line of disapproval.

I took Lisa into an archway which looked private enough.

‘What are you doing?’ I rounded on her.

‘Following a lead,’ she shrugged, for the thousandth time since I met her I wondered how she could be so cold and unfeeling.

‘You’re not a doctor,’ I spat at her.

‘They’ll hear you,’ she whispered, stealing a glance around the corner.

‘You’re not a doctor,’ I repeated, ‘how are you going to help this girl?’

‘I’m not,’ she said, plain and straight faced. ‘But what if this is the Alex we’re looking for? If I can get this girl alone for just a moment I can ask her.’

‘This is the worst thing you’ve done yet,’ I hissed back, ‘and you’ve done some pretty bad things.’

‘Sometimes you have to,’ she said, ‘to get what you want.’

That darkly determined look returned to her face and I took a step back. I knew she was capable of pretty much anything, but if we were messing with this young girl’s life, stealing time away from a real doctor, that made us morally bankrupt. I couldn’t help wondering if I was losing a part of myself in cooperating with this.

‘You don’t think you’re going too far this time?’

It happened before I could blink, she slapped me hard across the face. I felt her hand stinging once she had taken it away.

‘Listen,’ she hissed at me, her teeth were grinding together and her eyes were wide and crazed. ‘This is about my family, my sister, it always has been.’

‘I know that,’ I said in a diminished voice, I squinted hard to prevent my eyes from watering.

‘Then you should understand something, it’s only too far when I say it’s too far, because I would have done anything for Angelica. That doesn’t change even after her death.’

I could only nod, her eyes were like the fires of burning skyscrapers, I could see screams and pain behind them, all the things she was capable of. I had been scared of her before, but this was new. She relaxed her face into the reassuring smile she had reserved for Anna. Her expression changed so suddenly that I took another step back from her. Only when her back was turned and she was talking softly with Anna did I allow myself to press a cool hand to my face.

I looked back down the twisting alley, the way which we had come. It was brighter than the way ahead, but where would I go? Like a dog I crawled back to Lisa, kicked and down but still faithful. I had no idea why.

We entered an intricate system of turnings and alleyways. I would never have been able to find my way out again alone. With the two women leading the way the streets grew darker and narrower around us. Instead of tall and straight the buildings were squat and fat, with fixtures that looked stuck on, crumbling balconies and tin chimneys.

There had once been bright paint on these flats, but it was peeling and broken so that everything seemed grey, under the garish colours the wood looked delicate and decaying, this whole part of the city seemed under threat of collapse. There were no beggars down these streets, when we did pass people they were coming back from the town centre, clutching Styrofoam boxes of food, chatting freely and laughing. There were children playing football in one street. An elderly man banged against his grimy window every time the ball hit.

We stopped, mercifully, by the entrance to what looked like a block of flats, flats that had been taken from three completely different blocks and stuck together. The door was painted turquoise with a black rusted knocker. The paint was flaking, but the colour was still visible over the grey. On a balcony a young woman nodded sombrely at Anna and her friend and eyed us darkly.

We dodged past a man smoking a fat cigar on the tarnished steps. Frothing water wound through the crack separating this building from the next.

As we made our way up the rickety winding stairs I turned to Lisa. ‘If I carry on, I can’t go back.’ I whispered.

‘Of course you can go back,’ she sighed, ‘just follow the path we came on.’ She pretended she didn’t know what I really meant, but of course she knew.

Anna stopped by a door also painted brightly, a lime green this time, a light in the dark hallway flickered and buzzed, I could see the outlines of dead moths inside the glass globe. She turned to speak to Lisa and Lisa answered in that caring, understanding voice that made my stomach turn. Anna placed her hand on Lisa’s and ran the other along a cross which hung from a gold chain around her neck. I panicked inside, what were we about to face, if Anna was so willing to put her trust into a stranger. She briefly looked at me again, with sad, kind eyes.

As soon as the door was opened two women came rushing to us. One was the woman we had seen on the balcony.

She looked young, but there were worry lines pressed into her face. ‘English?’ She asked.

‘Yes,’ Lisa pushed forwards, ‘I’m Karen, this is Jack.’

‘Vala,’ she said with narrowed eyes, she looked at Lisa’s outstretched hand but she didn’t take it. Vala’s eyes were heavily made up and her hair curled from a loose bun. The blue eyeliner had worked into the creases above her eyes, I noticed this as she turned the other woman, whose name we still didn’t know, and they exchanged dark glances.

Anna pointed to us and spoke to Vala. They spoken pleasantly enough, and the suspicion died from Vala’s eyes a little. She still puckered up her mouth into a thin line though, it was a look of distaste we had seen from Anna’s companion, and I had to assume they were related.

The second younger woman seemed just a teenager, and she stayed behind, demurely or sullenly watching the floor, I hadn’t decided which yet.

‘Can we trust you?’ Vala asked us in clipped English.

‘Yes,’ I Lisa said firmly.

‘We don’t want the authorities informed,’ she went on, ‘and we don’t want the local doctor to know. Are you practising in England?’

‘Yes,’ Lisa lied, ‘I’m a family doctor. We’re on holiday here.’ She signalled to me and I wished she wouldn’t acknowledge me. Vala’s eyes rested on me just a little too long, my expression must have betrayed how I felt.

‘I’m sorry,’ Vala smiled, ‘but we’ve already had problems with one doctor, and Anna is willing to trust anyone. You understand.’

Lisa nodded, one look conveying her promise of discretion and an unwavering honesty that was so far removed from Lisa’s real character I could have laughed. A shrill scream ran through the small flat.

‘Maria!’ Anna wailed and she rushed through a doorway.

‘What exactly is wrong with her?’ Lisa asked Vala. The scream had shaken me and left me cold, but Lisa was composed as ever. Hanging next to the balcony there was a washing line, the garments on it were bright and fashionable, the sort of things a teenage girl might wear, there was a poster of a shirtless movie star on the door which Anna had rushed into. I swallowed hard to hide my guilt.

‘She is having a baby,’ Vala turned her eyes to the floor. There was a blush in her cheeks and disapproval painted into her creased face. I couldn’t understand the fear, but I knew how different my own society was to this one, and Anna wore her faith for everyone to see. That was when I saw the religious icon juxtaposed with the movie star, there was more shame here than just in what the neighbours thought.

‘She is in labour?’ Lisa asked.

‘No,’ Vala shook her head firmly, ‘she has many months to go.’

‘How far along is she?’ The concerned doctor voice was surprisingly well rehearsed despite this being that particular persona’s first outing.

‘We don’t know,’ Vala said, she seemed shocked by the question.

‘Is she showing?’

Vala stared blankly at Lisa.

‘I’m just trying to get a clearer picture before I examine her,’ Lisa smiled, ‘are you sure that is the problem, that she’s pregnant?’

Vala sighed at the floor. ‘She told us,’ she sounded angry, ‘after she met that boy,’ she hissed the word angrily, ‘she fell ill, she stopped eating and drinking. She couldn’t move from the bed, and she complained of a fever, then she felt extreme pains in her chest. She told us what she had done because she was worried the pain might mean the baby was in danger.’ Another scream seemed to shake the whole flat.

‘I would very much like to meet her now,’ Lisa said calmly, ignoring the screams.

‘She may not be able to speak,’ Vala said with her voice shaking, ‘she has moments of intense pain where she can’t talk to anyone.’

Lisa nodded. Vala barred the door when I tried to enter, ‘my boyfriend is a medical student, he might be able to help.’ Another lie, lies just fell out of Lisa effortlessly.

She looked at me, I knew she didn’t believe for one second that I was a medical student, but I was allowed to enter the room all the same. I wish I could’ve waited outside, but in my strange way I really did hope I could help. If Lisa was so far into all this that she would carry on the lie at the risk of the young girl’s health I might be able to stop her, somehow.

The room was dark, heavy black curtains were drawn across the windows and the lights were off. The teenage girl who had come to the door was leaning against one wall biting her lip, and Anna was kneeled at the foot of the bed, she looked as if she were praying, the other older woman was comforting her with a firm hand on her shoulder.

It was the smell which hit me first, it was a burning acidic smell, too sweet. It was the smell of decay, and I recognised it with a flush of excitement which sickened me. It was the same horrible smell that had been on the children in Norway.

Lisa approached the bed, adopting an official look to her movements. The smell made my eyes water, it was like stagnant water in an open sewer. I found it strange that it was confined to this room.

‘Maria?’ Lisa asked the thing on the bed with gentle concern.

At first I thought the bed was empty, it was so dark I couldn’t see properly, but the person in the bed was so diminished that their body was moulded into the sheets. I forced myself to move closer as the smell got worse. She was deathly pale, shinning in the dark, and her mouth was slightly open, her lips dry and cracked.

Dark hair was spread out on the pillows like weeds on a beach, tangled and greasy. The body was giving off small jerks every few seconds.

‘Alex!’ The girl called out so abruptly that it made me jump. Then she screamed again and jolted, her arms thrashed out wildly. Anna grabbed the flailing arm and whispered scared prayers to her granddaughter.

‘She keeps asking for Alex,’ Vala’s lip curled up in disgust.

‘And Alex is?’ Lisa asked.

‘Who do you think?’ Vala spat back, ‘are you going to try and help her?’

‘Of course,’ Lisa said briskly, she approached the bed. I thought I saw her stumble for just a moment. She said something to Anna who nodded and wiped back tears as she stepped away from the bed. Lisa peeled the blanket away from Maria’s frail body but the girl lashed out with her arm, her body jerked as she screamed again. Lisa pulled harder and the blanket fell away to leave a starving thin body.

Lisa gently knelt down and pulled the nightgown over the girl’s thigh. I gasped, there was a deep gouge on her leg, a chunk of flesh had been ripped away, the skin was torn and rough, I could see that much. There was purple bruising around the wound, and the dried blood was black in the dark room.

‘How did she get this?’ Lisa asked in English.

‘We cleaned it properly,’ Vala said, ‘it’s not a problem,’

‘How did she get it?’ Lisa asked, less calmly.

Vala looked at the floor again. Anna began to speak, Lisa’s face was somewhere between disgust and intrigue.

‘I’m sorry you had to hear that,’ Vala said, ‘Anna is not as mindful of her words as she should be.’ She threw a reproachful glance at the old woman.

‘What did she say?’ I asked as Maria called out for Alex again. A solitary tear fell from Vala’s make-up caked eyes.

‘She told me that she knows all about European men and the kind of depraved things they like to do to women.’ Lisa said.

‘You mean?’ I held my breath as she smell crept over me again.

Lisa nodded, ‘he bit her.’

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

The Cadillac pulled up at Revolution Square. We watched the cars pass by from the concrete, everyone in Cuba drives at breakneck speed and my hands were wet from gripping the seat. Our driver flew away and we were left alone. It seemed like a good place to start, but now that were here the buildings loomed over us and the sun glared angrily from the road and the gleaming traffic lights.

It was two thirty in the afternoon, apart from a bus load of tourists the Square was deserted. We stood on the edge looking up at the statue, the sun even glaring off the grey stone.

‘Who was he?’ I asked pointing at the statue at the foot of the monument. Lisa as took a big gulp from her water bottle, her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and I couldn’t help looking at her neck and noticing how slender it was.

‘Their national hero,’ she shrugged, ‘Jose Marti.’ She knew as little as I did, that was reassuring for once, the Taxi driver had told us the same. The flag flapped in the hardly existent breeze as I strained to see the top of the pillar. From the other side of the street the face of Che Guvara stared down at me.

So here we were, in the Cuban capital, without a clue and without a plan. Lisa smiled at me, it was a crooked smile and the sun cast a wide shadow across half her face. I wasn’t sure what it meant, it was a little mocking, like she knew how overwhelmed I was.

I looked out over the city, or that part of the city I could see, and my head span with the ridiculousness of our situation. ‘Where now?’ I asked, and I really meant it, I had always relied on Lisa for answers before.

‘Lets go up there,’ she pointed at the monument. ‘Lets do the tourist thing.’

I looked up at the steps and wiped the sweat from my face, a tourist pushed past me brandishing a camera like a weapon and an old man held out cigars for sale which were probably stuffed with banana leaves. He ambled over to us on a crutch and Lisa pushed me out of the way.

She walked across the concrete and I dragged my heels behind her. She had chosen the wrong moment to display her enthusiasm, I was feeling like curling up in a cold room and sleeping for a very long time.

Lisa bounded up the stairs with the other tourists, a woman with glazed eyes charged us two pesos each for entry. Everything in this Cuba had a price. I held onto the stone for support as the sun dared me to keep climbing. I was getting pretty sick of the sun, it was there laughing at me, all the time, all throughout this country. We had gone to the other side of the island and I still couldn’t loose it.

It was impressive though, the solid stone structure reaching high into the sky, and by the time we had climbed all the stairs I could see a lot more of the city. Lisa leaned against the stone and looked out over the huge buildings and cars beeping below. Beyond the square we could see the presidential home from one direction and in the other there was a splash of colour from the centre of Havana.

‘A whole city,’ Lisa said, ‘we have a whole city, where do we begin?’

I felt my heart drop as I glanced at her, she was still smiling only now it was a wide grin. To her this was a challenge, another puzzle to figure out. I imagined that in her mind Havana looked like a police report, she had to sift out the interesting details from the mass of words. In this case the paper was a landscape.

‘I had hoped you knew where to start,’ I said, trying to bite back the weariness in my voice.

She laughed and pulled out her tourist map. I was starting to get angry as I felt my already red skin flare up once more with the heat constantly on it, I knew this meant a lot to Lisa, so why was she acting like it was a game? The adrenaline seemed to have been drained from my body and passed directly into hers.

‘We should go to the old colonial part of the city,’ she said, studying the map. ‘It should be busy at this time of day.’

‘And once we’re there what should we do?’ I sounded bitter, but I couldn’t help it.

‘Ask around,’ she said, ‘find out about recent murders, we need to get a local newspaper, maybe find a police station.’

‘Ask around,’ I muttered under my breath. ‘Do you realise how many people there are down there?’

‘We’ll find something eventually,’ She said.

‘Eventually,’ I sighed.

‘You’ve barely said a word all day,’ Lisa shot at me, she turned and removed her sunglasses. I had no idea how she could be so positive when she looked as tired as I felt. ‘Lawrence, I told you back in the resort that you could leave, but you chose to come with me, are you going to help?’

I couldn’t argue with that, I nodded.

‘Are you going to stop acting like a grumpy teenager?’

I nodded again, she seemed satisfied with my answer, but I was seething inside now. My shoes were filling up with sweat as I looked into the tangle of blues and yellows in the distance, homes. Did any of those people know more than we did?

As we left the scorching concrete and climbed into the grey Mustang I had a painful cramp seize my leg, I remembered my promise and bit my lip instead of complaining. Revolution Square faded a little, but that great grey column still hung over everything as I looked out of the rear window.

The driver took one look at us and figured us for tourists. It was an easy assumption to make, with me being so pale and sunburnt. ‘You are staying tonight somewhere?’ He asked in English. ‘Is not safe at night.’

‘We have a hotel,’ Lisa lied. I was starting to get worried about that myself, the last time we hadn’t listened to someone telling us the same thing, we had been attacked by teenagers.

I looked imploringly at Lisa and she shrugged. My anger with her was increasing at every gesture she made and every word she spoke with bouncy lightness. Still, I couldn’t stop watching her neck or the curve of her shoulder, I was thinking about our kiss.

Once again I got out of the taxi praising the fact that I was on solid ground again, shaking slightly and my cramp still a dull twinge. The streets here were packed, all around us the smells of hot food mingled with the warm still air, the people were greedily buying things from huge steaming pots while dark shop windows advertised gleaming white trainers.

Parents were pulling their children along the narrow pedestrian streets, talking loudly, a tour group stopped so the guide could tell them about these markets. People stood wearily next to stalls of wooden jewellery and cheap souvenirs all baring the black outline of Che Guvara.

We had to push through the crowd, not certain of where we were going or what it was leading to, just following the curves of the road. Buildings painted garish colours seemed to dip and lean into the cobbled streets. Wherever we walked the sellers called out to us to with their gaudy trinkets, Lisa was good at silently dismissing them, I always felt embarrassed.

The cramped colonial streets opened out into a plaza with a fountain in the middle, bars and restaurants circled the fountain, all painted bright yellows and purples, the air was thick with cigar smoke and the sound of glasses clinking. Wherever you went you couldn’t escape the beggars though, many of them were just holding out their hands, the elderly toothless and expectant. There were children with tears in their eyes as they hobbled on crooked legs.

‘We should really talk to some of these locals,’ Lisa said thoughtfully as she dismissed an ancient man made a slow progress towards us. ‘They’d tell you anything for a few pesos,’ she sniffed.

‘Except they don’t know anything,’ I said, ‘and we don’t have enough money to ask everyone.’ Even this plaza was crawling with pan-handlers, I didn’t want to think about the staggering amount this city held.

‘I’m trying to find a starting point,’ Lisa said. I wish I hadn’t worn sandals, even the exposed skin of my feet was burning.

‘It’s a dead end,’ I said rubbing my eyes.

‘Then where do we start?’ Lisa asked, the irritation creeping into her voice.

I looked towards the bar, ‘I’ll start with a drink.’

She laughed hollowly, ‘okay, I suppose you think the bar man might have some answers?’

‘I’m just hot and thirsty,’ I said, ‘and I’m sick of wandering aimlessly.’

Two elderly women walked past right through the space separating me and Lisa. Though she was supported by a crutch, one held the other woman’s arm also, and there were tear tracks down her face.

Lisa ignored them, ‘you think that’s what we’re doing?’ She asked, she almost sounded hurt, and for the first time that day she sounded tired.

I had to melt at that, ‘no,’ I said, ‘it’s just that neither of us has a clue where to start.’

She was silent at that, and I stared back at her as blank as her own gaze. I thought I had finally cut to something deep, but she turned away from me and started walking in the opposite direction. She was heading for a side road winding off the plaza, I struggled to keep up as she broke into a power walk.

I muttered apologies as I pushed through the same tourist group discussing the significance of the sparkling fountain. I grabbed Lisa by the arm as she continued to storm down a twisting alley. It was darker here than the other bright streets, and it was practically deserted. I saw just ahead of Lisa the two older women making a slow progress.

‘Lisa, what?’ I asked angrily and she made a shushing sound and waved her arm warningly.

‘Those women,’ she whispered, ‘you didn’t hear?’

‘I can’t speak Spanish,’ I reminded her and once again she shushed me. She pulled my arm roughly into a doorway as one of the women looked behind her, she adjusted her shawl and carried on her rapid conversation.

‘I know,’ Lisa hissed, ‘but one word stuck out, Alex.’

I rolled my eyes, ‘it doesn’t mean anything,’ I said, ‘it’s a name that a million people have.’

‘She said something else,’ Lisa smiled manically, ‘ she said, forty five.’

Part Two: Chapter Sixteen

Part Two

Chapter Sixteen

It twitched. I looked again, trying to shield Lisa with my outstretched arm.

It was too late. ‘They say it does that,’ she whispered calmly, ‘after death, it’s a muscle spasm.’

I nodded and swallowed, the shimmering black of the body bag was still writhing in the sun as the thing inside twitched again, the arm shot violently and suddenly upwards, the plastic straining with the movement.

Somewhere in the distance I head Maria’s screams, I didn’t know which was worse. I had seen them restrain her, they tied her to the chair, they gave her drugs, but she was still screaming in pain. I looked up at the aircraft, I didn’t know if I wanted to get on, I didn’t know where it was taking us or if we’d be safe. At that moment it looked like a giant white coffin, the front windows formed angry eyes.

The door shuddered open and two of the men got out, both wearing the same pale grey suits. As the door opened I heard the screams louder than ever, Lisa shivered underneath my arm. The men approached and I saw that symbol again, embroidered in gold thread on their suits, a simple clove of garlic in a circle.

They spoke to each other in French, their voices were both guttural and coarse. Neither of the men looked like they had shaved for days and both had long unkempt hair hanging out of grubby baseball caps. But their suits were immaculately clean and pressed.

‘What’s happening to her?’ Lisa asked as they approached us.

‘She fine,’ one of them shrugged, to each other they were very vocal, to us they had barely said a word, and I knew they could speak more English than they were letting on.

Lisa had tried talking to them in French, but they still wouldn’t talk to her, they seemed to take it as almost an insult that she would use their language. It was always the same thing, shrugged and half hearted reassurance.

One of the men surveyed the area, his eyes fixed on the twitching body bag, he didn’t seem disturbed by this at all, though there was something dark in his eyes, hatred or anger. He said something muffled to the other man, holding his hand up to his mouth, probably because he knew Lisa would understand him

The second man, completely indistinguishable from the first, pointed at the body bag, and then pointed at me. ‘You help,’ he croaked out, a voice thick with years of cigarette smoke.

I didn’t have a choice, they had saved us, and wherever we were heading, it was to answered questions, I had to go with them. I approached the body bag, still twitching. I braced myself for that smell again, the overly sweet smell of decay that made my head spin. I didn’t smell it this time, I was thankful for that small mercy.

I bent down and picked up what I assumed were the feet. The body within felt soft, I knew there was flesh beneath the plastic and I held back a shot of bile as my stomach curled. The French man gave a short grunt and lifted the head, I could see the plastic moulding around a face and I looked away, I stared into the bright sunshine and felt a trickle of sweat run down my back.

I didn’t struggle with the weight, whoever this was, he had been a skinny guy. I had no doubt that it was the person in this bag who had been chasing us, we owed a debt to these men. I walked as quickly as I could, trying to block out the reality of what I was doing, the French man seemed intent on walking slowly and methodically and my hands started to shake as he carefully ascended the first step back onto the plane. I noticed that the screams had died now, was Maria not in pain anymore?

The body gave a lurch, the whole thing jolted under my hands. I gasped audibly, my hands were wet against the plastic. I stopped moving, but the other man continued to walk backwards up the steps. I looked back at Lisa, she was pale, her hair was plastered down to her forehead and she was looking diminished and if possible for Lisa, shy and helpless.

She gasped too as the body lurched once more, I held on as hard as I could, though my hands were slipping. I forced myself to look back at the body, one hand was raised, the bag was tight around an arm reached just a few inches upward. The man had stopped moving on the stairs, he was looking back at the body with that empty mixture of hatred and anger.

‘That’s not natural,’ I said under my breath. The man glanced at me with glazed eyes.

The other arm raised, it shot upward with unnatural speed. The hands were outstretched, the fingers extended. I saw the body clawing at the plastic.

I let out an involuntary scream and dropped the feet, they landed on the dusty earth with a dull thud. The man yelled something at me in growling tones. I took a step back and felt for Lisa’s shaking hand, The body started to crawl, in sickening slow motion it pulled itself onto it’s front and slithered along the ground like a snake.

The man yelled back at the plane, and as the body advanced towards us the screams started again inside the aircraft.

‘Let him out!’ Lisa screamed just as loud, her voice piercing as a fire alarm.

‘He dead,’ the man shrugged, and he lit a cigarette. I stared at him with my mouth open and I backed further away from the body, it still moved towards us, one hand was held out in a begging motion. A trail of dust followed the movements, Lisa’s hand in mine was like a steel vice.

The first man immerged again and began shouting at the other, who shrugged nonchalantly and continued to smoke. The man pulled a tiny pistol from a back pocket and shot through the plastic. The head sprang back like coil, foul smelling blood was thrown everywhere. I screamed.

I ran, I grabbed Lisa and dragged her along with me. I raced back through the airport as angry voices at passport control yelled at us. I pushed through trolleys laden with bags, clothes and souvenirs spilt out around us.

I didn’t care about the answers anymore, we could get a flight and be out of here by the next day, I could be away from this and everything I had seen. I would still have to face the nightmares, but if I could just see my flat again, have a normal job, forget this, even for a few hours a day.

People bashed into me roughly as I ran through the crowded streets. It seemed like no one was moving out of the way for us, but I didn’t care, I tore through the people as if they were paper. Shoulders and elbows contacted painfully with my own. I knew we were being followed, I didn’t have to look behind to see that clean grey suit, probably still smoking his cigarette.

We approached a large open air book market and Lisa pulled me into an abrupt stop that had me digging my heels into the concrete.

‘I’m not going back,’ I hissed.

‘I know,’ she whispered back at me, with large eyes, her other features were lost.

She walked calmly into a large stack of curled books, the well thumbed pages yellowed and dog eared. She crouched down and I could feel her heart ripping against her chest.

‘We wait,’ she said. ‘We hide.’

I looked out at the books on their rickety wooden stand, I couldn’t look out into the crowd, if I accidentally caught his eye we would we dragged back onto the plane. Something got m attention, a cover I recognised, I focused on that to calm my breathing.

Then I realised what the book was, the title was written in Spanish but it was unmistakably Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I began to cry.