He clasped his hand over her mouth and nose. It was then it came to her. The smell. It was decomposing flesh.

She felt herself falling, almost losing consciousness. If she stopped struggling it would all be over so much quicker. There would be no more pain, no more suffering. Just a state of what? Nothingness. Emptiness. Non-existence.

She wasn’t ready for that. She wasn’t going to give in. Not now. Not after everything she had been through.

With all her force she managed to wrench his hand away from her. Then she stretched out her arms, her fingers searching the empty space before her.

‘You want to feel my face, don’t you?’ he said. ‘Just like you did before.’

He pulled her towards him, almost as if he were bringing her to him in a passionate embrace. He grabbed her hands and forced them to his face.

‘There you go, feel away. See me.’

She could smell his sickly sweet sweat and the stench of cigarettes and beer on his breath.

Cassie ran her hands over the contours of his face, her fingers moving like the arms of an octopus. He had a strong jaw, a square face, a high forehead. Just like – but it couldn’t be possible.

He started to laugh.

‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said.

‘But – but,’ she cried. ‘I don’t understand. You’re the same, but –‘

‘But what?’

At that moment she forced her thumbs deep into his eye sockets. He screamed in pain, rearing backwards and knocking over a chair. She flailed around, desperate to find something – some shape, object or surface – she could picture in her head. The atmosphere was hot, oppressive. Or was that just fear tightening her throat? She felt like she was swimming, drowning in black tar.

She staggered back to the car. She felt the hood of the car, pulsing out heat. If he had opened the carport doors automatically there must be a remote control somewhere. She dropped to her hands to try and get a sense of the place. She started to trace the edge of the tiled floor – she could feel the ridges, the grouting, the cool surfaces – but then she felt something wet and sticky. She reeled back in panic. Slowly she brought her hands forwards. It was only oil.

She worked quickly, at first moving like a crab across the floor. Then she found the bottom of a table leg. She followed it upwards until she felt its surface. The top was covered in masses of objects – there was what felt like a spanner, a small alarm clock, a box of tissues, a set of keys. If she found the car key she could always lock herself in the vehicle. But what if he had a spare set? Even if he didn’t he could always smash one of the windows. No, she needed to find the remote. She needed to get out of there. Fast.

She heard him move across the room. A violent lurch, then a collision with a piece of equipment. He still couldn’t see. They were working from an equal base now. And she had to remember that even though she was trapped in a strange place she had the advantage. After all, she had spent years heightening her other senses. She tried to take a couple of deep breaths.

‘Bitch!’ he shouted. ‘Where are you?’

She heard him moving closer, and she silently stepped away.

He threw something – a can of oil, a screwdriver? - across the room.

‘There’s no place to hide in here,’ he said. ‘I’m coming to find you.’

Then he started to move, slowly at first, banging into things. She heard him swinging something through the air, something heavy. Oh my God. It sounded like a chain.

She felt the air move near her. She squatted down, narrowly missing the swing of the chain. She heard him breathing. He was near now. She tried to steady her own breath. Do not make a sound, she said to herself. Not so much as a whisper of a breath.

She was conscious of the tread of his shoes on the floor, the smell of oil on the ground.

How long would she have before his vision came back? Probably only a matter of minutes. Seconds even.

As she heard him move away – swinging the chain as he did so - she stood up as silently as she could and walked back towards the table. What if the remote was on the key ring she had felt earlier? She knew it was a gamble because as soon as she picked the keys up he would know where she was. She would have to be quick on her feet. And lucky.

She took a deep breath and waited for him to be as far away across the room as possible. Then with a swift movement she reached for the keys. As she lifted them she prayed she was right.

At the first jangle of the keys she heard him stop swinging the chain. Then his footsteps. Then the noise of the chain reeling through the air once more. In her direction.

She quickly worked through the keys, fingering each one for a soft rubber button or something similar.

‘I’m coming,’ he said, now half way across the room.

There. She had found one. She was sure of it. She pressed it, twice in quick succession. The car next to her locked, then unlocked itself. Fuck.

‘You’re getting desperate,’ he said. His voice was closer now. She could hear the chain whipping through the air.

Her fingers carried on working the keys.

‘Give it up, blind girl.’

She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself. But she stopped herself. He might be able to hear the keys, but she didn’t want to give him any extra clue to her location in the room.

Then her fingers found it. The remote key. She pressed it down and heard a click, followed by the scrape of metal. The door begin to groan open. She ran towards it. She felt the rush of air on her face. She heard the sound of traffic in the distance. Freedom.

She bent down to squeeze herself under the door, but as she did so she heard the swish of something in the air above her head. A moment later the chain lashed into her shoulder. She felt herself fall to the floor. It was over. He had won.

39

Kate looked at her watch. Again. Cassie was forty five minutes late. She bit her lip, wondering whether to call the cab company or just wait a little longer. But now the roast chicken looked like it was slowly turning into crispy duck and the sweet potato wedges resembled something from a forest fire. She had already tried Cassie’s cell, but either it was switched off or she was in an area where there was no reception. Fuck it. She pulled out her phone from her jeans pocket and pressed speed dial.