Free Between by Lisa Swallow

mine. I can’t tell if he’s upset with me, Finn , or someone else.
    "What’s going on?"
    "A few days ago, I said we needed to talk. Is it okay if we do that tonight?" he asks. "Come back to the house." My eyes widen at his plea. "I’ll keep you safe."
    The cool bricks against my back keep me grounded in this strange evening. Why do I need keeping safe?
    "From what?"
    Alek’s chest expands as he heaves in a breath. "Everything, Rose."
    Ordinarily, I’d tell him to get lost ; I’m not some weak girl who needs protecting. But I don’t think this is ‘macho male protecting the little woman’; I think it’s much more. Something involving disappearing girls who try to tear my life from me and about what lurks in the fog pervading my life.
    I cross my arms over my chest and shiver slightly.
    "We should go before anyone else comes ," Alek says.
    "I need my bag and coat , and I should tell Finn what’s happened…tell him I'm going." My brain won’t function correctly; even though the fog has gone, the dreamlike world I’m in remains with me.
    Alek stares at me as if I’m not in my right mind. "No, you shouldn’t. I’ll get your things and tell him you’re not well."
    When Alek disappears into the building, I slump against the wall and stare up at the cloudy night sky. I’d run, but I don’t have the energy. Rubbing my cold hand over my face, I consider whether Alek just saved my life. And if he did, from what? Running could be a bigger mistake; what if there’s more like her?
    A flustered -looking Alek steps out of the pub, my jacket and bag scrunched in his hand. "Come on."
    I hesitate, expecting Finn to follow him out. Alek’s arrival and my decision to leave with him must seem odd. Finn doesn't appear and I wonder what their conversation entailed because last time, their exchange wasn’t polite.
    In the split -second decision that follows, I don’t realise the choice I’m making. "Okay. Take me home."
     
    ****
     
    Alek drives a beaten-up white sedan, which doesn’t match his image as well as a motorbike might. Why am I thinking things like that? He opens the door for me, surveying round us as he closes it. Inside, I rub my arms. Alek puts my jacket on the back seat and I don’t have the energy to reach for it.
    "How do you feel now?" asks Alek, turning the car ignition.
    "Like I could sleep for a week." I snuggle down in the seat.
    "No, you can’t do that," says Alex tersely.
    I cough a laugh , and then wince at the pain the movement sends through my chest. "I can’t sleep?"
    "Stay awake." Alek leans over, flips the air temperature as low as it can go and turns the output to max.
    Goosebumps spring up on my arm. "What the hell? It’s freezing!"
    "Like I said, stay awake."
    Halfway home and fed up with shivering, I turn the temperature up. Alek immediately turns it back down. I repeat the action.
    "Do you want me to slap your hand?" he growls.
    "Excuse me?"
    Alek turns the air back to the lowest temperature. "If you fall asleep now, you might not like where you are when you wake up."
    I shrink back in my seat, unsure now whether I should’ve stayed with Finn instead. His veiled threat tightens my chest further and I glance at the door handle. Maybe if we stop at traffic lights , I could get out.
    And go where?
     
    ****
     
    By the time we reach the house, the woozy feeling is edging my consciousness into the grey fog again. I stumble through the front door and make a beeline for the sofa, flopping onto it like I’m drunk. I just want to sleep; what is his problem?
    "Rose!" Alek storms over and stands over me. He’s moving his fingers as if he wants to touch me but won’t. "Sit up! Before you go to sleep."
    "I’m too tired…" I mumble.
    "Lizzie!" he yells.
    Nobody responds. I yawn and huddle against the back of the sofa, wishing I had a blanket. At least my chest doesn’t hurt as much now. The red-haired girl comes into the room, and I smile weakly at her. Alek turns to follow my line of