Free The Thirteenth by G L Twynham Page B

she knew for certain that she was alone, she lifted her pyjama sleeve to find out which symbol was causing her so much pain. It looked like the pi sign Val had seen in maths: two straight columns with a flat line on the top. Not only did she not know what it was, she didn’t really care as the noise was getting out of control, just like the cars had on the previous day. Realising that the screams weren’t going anywhere, Val started to search the bathroom to find where they were coming from and spotted a flicker in her dad’s shaving mirror. She pulled it on its flexible bar, drawing it closer to her. Now she could see where the screams were coming from. An old lady was being tied up by a young woman. “That’s terrible,” Val mumbled under her breath, barely able to think straight under the double assault of the pain in her arm and the terrible screams.
    For the first time, Val knew she had a choice of sorts. She could touch the mirror and possibly be transported into a very dangerous situation, or she could go back to bed and suffer with the excruciating pain in her arm and the old lady’s wails resounding in her head. Fantastic! Well, at least there were options for a change.
    Val took a deep breath. “OK lady, here I come,” she said, touching the mirror. The pain in her arm faded, along with any control over the rest of her body. It almost felt this time as if she had been put through a blender and spat out the other side. Val landed on the curb of the road with quite a jolt; the fact that she only had her pyjamas on didn’t help.
    Standing up and brushing herself down, Val checked herself out: arms - two; legs - two; head - one; It all seemed to be there. Val turned around, absorbing the panorama. Where was the old woman? In her vision, she was being tied up to a chair and there were definitely no chairs in the middle of the street.
    The place she had landed in definitely didn’t look familiar. She wasn’t even sure what country she was in. As she started to walk down the street, the only light to aid her journey was that coming from the streetlamps, which, at three in the morning, were still lit. What now, she wondered? She didn’t know what step to take next. She had been expecting to fall directly into the situation with the old lady, and now she was completely lost. How was she supposed to find the woman? She looked around carefully. Surely there would be a clue somewhere. Ah! Could that be it? About four houses down and set back from the road, was an open front door. A tree partially obscured it, making it impossible to see in, but as Val cautiously made her way towards it, she could already hear faint cries. She reached the path in front of the house and started to make her way up the gravel drive. “Ow!” Val yelped as a stone cut deep into her foot. She didn’t have time to look at it, but it really hurt. Note to self, always wear slippers or possibly heavy-duty military boots in bed from now on . There was a red Ford KA parked in the driveway so Val used it as cover, and quietly made her way around it in the hope that no one would spot her. She reached the open door safely.
    “Please don’t hurt me. I will do whatever you say.” The pleading voice reached her quite clearly. It was definitely an old woman’s voice; it could have been Val’s grandma. She didn’t know how she was going to do it, but she was going to help this woman. As Val stepped into the doorway she spotted what looked like a rounders bat leaning on a sports bag against an inside wall.
    Odd thing, Val thought, for an old lady to have. Maybe it belonged to one of her children or grandchildren. It didn’t really matter; it would make a perfect weapon. Picking it up, she slowly made her way down the hall.
    Her nerves were beginning to get the better of her and it sounded almost like her heart was beating in her head. She was surprised that she could still hear the cries through the drumming. The old woman’s moans had become