Chapter 2

As the car drove back the same way it had come, Elliot’s mind was still on the game and how’d they’d thrown it away.

However, as they rounded the corner doing about twenty over the limit, Owen drove all thoughts of the match from out of his head.

“Mum stop!” Owen shouted as he stared out of the passenger-side window.

Elliot was almost thrown through the windscreen as Mrs Lloyd slammed her foot on the brake and Owen jumped out of the car before it had come to a complete stop.

Once the shock was over, Elliot jumped out of the car as well to see what the hell his friend was going on about.

“I saw something out there.” Owen said pointing at a spot just off the road, directly in front of a large patch of woodland.

For all Elliot could see however, it was just a bunch of trees. He squinted trying to find anything that would have caused his friend to jump out of a moving car. But he couldn’t see anything.

Then he saw it.

Standing between two of the larger trees, a pair of red eyes glowed directly back at them. Then as quickly as Elliot had locked his gaze on them, they were gone, vanishing back into the darkness.

“Did you see it?” Owen said pointing in the direction that the red glow had just vanished.

“Yeah I saw it.” Elliot replied, craning forwards, trying to get another look.

“Well.” Mrs Lloyd’s voice came from behind them and bringing them both back down to earth with a thud. “I don’t know what you two think you saw. But I saw nothing. Ergo, there was nothing there.”

“But-” Owen said.

“No ‘Buts’ Owen Lloyd.” Mrs Lloyd said, enraged that someone, not least her own son, had dared to talk back to her. “Now don’t you dare contradict me again.”

Elliot stood still, awkwardly watching the argument play out.

“But-” Owen tried to start again, but stopped when his Mum slapped him across the face. The sound was like a firework had suddenly gone off. It reverberated around the empty country lane.

“Don’t you dare interrupted me boy.” Mrs Lloyd almost screamed at Owen. “You’re already going in the doghouse tonight for contradicting me. Do you want to make it a week?”

Elliot watched this all as Owen rubbed his cheek where he’d been smacked.

“No Mam.” Owen said, a lot more quietly than Elliot had ever heard his friend speak before. He was usually the quieter one. But right now, Owen had the mannerisms of a whipped dog.

“Good. Well as you and your friend clearly want to be out of the car so much, you can both walk back.” Mrs Lloyd said. And after throwing Elliot’s rucksack onto the pavement by his feet, she got into her car and drove off, the rear red lights disappearing just as the red eyes had.

Owen just stared at the retreating lights. Though it seemed like he’d come to terms with it as Elliot picked up his rucksack and slung it over his shoulders. They were, he guessed about four miles away from the hostel.

Elliot groaned at the thought. After the game, he didn’t want to do anymore exercise. Especially over an hour of walking.

“Come on.” Owen said, resigning himself to the long walk back. And for him, Elliot knew it would be even longer. “Wanna get back before midnight.”

His Mum was not at all happy when she heard what had happened on the way back from the match and the resulting walk home. And Elliot was treated to a show of her bellowing down the phone at Mrs Lloyd, using curse words that even he’d never heard of in her anger of leaving him on the side of the road. All the while promising to flay her alive if she ever saw her again.

Breathing like a wounded bull, his Mum turned to Elliot, who instinctively took a step backwards. Fearing that the anger would be turned on him for not putting up more of a fight.

But her expression broke, and concerningly like Jekyll and Hyde, she reverted back to normal.

“How was footy?” Amanda asked as Elliot threw his kit onto his bed.

“Good. I finally got a full game.” Elliot replied as he next threw himself onto the bed to join his smelly kit.

His Mum smiled at him at the comment. “Told you you’d get your chance.”

Elliot tried to jerk out of the way. But his Mum grabbed him and began hugging him.

“Mum, get off.” Elliot said, but he smiled despite the embarrassment.

“Oh, come on. None of your friends are here.” Amanda said as she let go, rather reluctantly.

Elliot glanced towards the windows. Instinctively he was checking to make sure that that statement was correct. Then he remembered they were on the third floor of the hostel, and he relaxed.

“Mum. Are we going to be okay?” Elliot didn’t know why he asked the question. Whether it was due to the brief conversation that he’d had with Mrs Lloyd that morning or not. The thought had suddenly come to him that this summer might be their last chance.

“Of course we are?” Amanda looked almost offended that he would ask the question. Almost instinctively Elliot could tell that he was not getting the truth.

“Mum?” Elliot didn’t want to be lied too anymore. He just wanted an honest answer.

“Elliot,” his Mum replied and taking his arms, she held Elliot arms in a firm grasp. “I know we’ve had some bad years. But this one is going to be better. I know it.”

A moment of silence followed these words. Like both knew that it was a lie. But it was impossible to expose it.

“Okay.” Elliot finally broke the silence and got up. “I’m going to watch some TV.” It was all he could think to do. Or was it. Had the urge to go into the lounge been his own, or something else guiding him there.

Calling this the room the lounge, may have been a bit of an overstatement in Elliot’s opinion. It was big enough, if it was just him and his mum and his sister. But it wouldn’t be if they ever got any guests.

In the far corner, a small bar area had been crudely shoved in. But Elliot had been given specific instructions. That whilst he was allowed to use the room freely and decide what was on the TV when nobody was here. If he ever so much as thought about taking any of the alcohol from the fridges, then he’d be in big trouble. Like never being able to watch TV again kind of trouble. And TV was the only thing that made this place bearable, so Elliot did not want to try and test his luck.

“Authorities have found the missing boy at a service station late last night.” Elliot stared at the screen in the empty room that his Mum had designated as a lounge, or it would be, if people actually came here.

The news reporter continued to babble on, but Elliot was focused on the picture that had accompanied the news piece.

It was Danny.

“Sources are confused as to where the boy was last seen, and Police are investigating various sources.” The News Reporter finished his story, and moved onto the next one.

Elliot stared at the screen for another moment. Before Isla came and sat down next to him.

“Mind if I change the channel?” Isla asked as she grabbed hold of the remote.

“I-” Elliot started.

“Oh, right I forgot I don’t care.” Isla finished as she flicked through the channels.

Elliot slumped back down on the sofa thinking. Danny had gone missing, like actually missing. Had he gone on his own free will, or had something bad happened to him. He quickly opened his phone to the almost never used news section. It didn’t take him long to find the story that his twin had interrupted.

MISSING BOY FOUND AT SERVICE STATION

Authorities have today found Daniel Mason, aged 13, at a service station on the A16 late on the evening of Saturday 7^th June 2025. The boy, who reported missing by his parents was last seen that Thursday prior when unconfirmed reports of him being admitted to a local hospital after an accident at a local youth football practice for a broken arm. An arm that has since miraculously healed in the following two days that Daniel was missing.

Police are requesting residents who saw anything out of the ordinary on the night of Thursday 5^th June 2025 to contact them immediately, no matter how out of the ordinary it might be.

Questions still remain as to how Daniel managed to end up at a service station twenty miles from his last known appearance. When asked, the detective in charge informed the BBC East that they were investigating that question.

When asked if foul play was involved, we received no comment.

And then the article trailed off into links to other sites and a notice telling people who to contact if they were affected by issues raised in the article.

But Elliot flicked back upwards to the line about where Danny had been found: ‘twenty miles from his last known appearance.’

Elliot read, and re-read that statement over and over again. “Holy shit.”

“What?” Elliot turned to see Isla staring at him.

“What?”

“You said holy shit.” Isla said, looking at him like he was retarded. “What’s holy shit.”

“None of your business.” Elliot said as he pocketed his phone, and was rewarded with a punch to his arm.

“Ow.” Elliot said massaging the soon to be bruise. Then seeing their Mum walk into the room, he dramatically fell to the floor, clutching his arm.

“Oh. Grow up Elliot.” Isla said as she ignoring his play acting and began flicking through the channels.

“Mum.” Elliot said standing up, forgetting that he was supposed to be injured, then suddenly remembering and clutching his aching arm once more. “She hit me.”

“Isla don’t hit your brother.” Their Mum said in a bored tone and began pulling one of the chairs over. Elliot smiled, it had worked, that was until his Mum turned to him. “And Elliot. Be more convincing, even I can’t fake sympathy for such a pathetic display.”

It was Isla’s turn to smile now, as she flashed Elliot a grin crossed with a you’ll pay sort of look.

“Sit down on the sofa Elliot. I need to have a talk with you and your sister.”

Elliot sat down, making sure to leave just enough of a gap that his twin couldn’t renew the assault.

“Are we selling this dump?” Isla asked, sitting up on the sofa with excitement.

“What. No. Wait what do you mean dump?” Their Mum replied, looking between the two of them.

Elliot chose not to say anything about his message from Mrs Lloyd, he didn’t think it was the best time. The offer had been made before. The phrase: shoot the messenger. Yeah, that wasn’t just a phrase on that occasion.

“I know that it hasn’t been easy for you guys. But I honestly know that this year is going to be different. I know it.” This was weird, their mum was not telling them, she was begging them to believe in the fantasy.

“Yeah Mum.” Elliot said quickly, choosing to indulge, it was the only thing he could think to do at this point.

“Yeah.” Isla joined in on the understanding.

“Okay.” Amanda said.

“What’s this about Mum?” Isla asked, and for once not sounding insincere with the question.

“Alright. You’ve both heard about this boy they’ve just found?” Amanda asked looking at the pair of them.

“Yes.”

“No.” Isla replied.

“Well.” Amanda said nervously. “I don’t want either of you outside after dark. Not until the Police find out who’s behind all of this.”

“What that’s not fair.” Isla said standing up.

“It’s just until they find this creep. Until then, you can hang out with your brother after dark.” Amanda said.

“That’s fine for him. He’s got no friends or life.” Isla continued, gesturing at Elliot.

“Isla apologies to your brother now.” Amanda said blocking Isla’s retreat back up the stairs to the rooms.

“No!” Isla shouted back.

“Isla you come back here this-” that was when a buzzing noise came from the front hall, or as they were insisting upon calling it: the reception.

His Mum looked up at the sound. After three years that sound was obviously music to her ears. The sound of customers, the sound of business.

“It’s okay Mum. Go and deal with whoever’s here. I’ll be fine.” Elliot said as he sat back down on the sofa. He could take his Mum choosing this place over him, she’d been doing it ever since she’d bought the dump.

The buzzing sound came again. This time lasting a little longer. Like the person on the other end was holding down the buzzer. His Mum’s eyes flashed between him, and the door that led to the reception.

“I- I gotta take this Elliot. But don’t worry. Once I’m done, I’ll finish punishing your sister.” And with that, Amanda rushed off towards the reception, a slight skip in her step at the prospect of a customer.

“Sure Mum.” Elliot said as he watched the TV. He was used to always being put third in this family. What difference would it be to be put forth in the pecking order.

That was when an urge to find out who had shoved him even further down came over Elliot, and turning off the TV and throwing the remote onto the sofa, he hurried after his Mum.