Free The Hunter's Prayer by Kevin Wignall

the storm.
    ‘Morning. How did you sleep?’
    ‘Okay, I think. I came up here because the storm woke me.’
    ‘I know. Lucas told me.’
    ‘Oh, he’s up?’
    Chris raised his eyebrows and said, ‘When I got up, he’d just come back from his run. He’s already gone back out, said he won’t be long.’ He kissed her on the top of the head and sat down. She glanced across at the lamp, then did a double-take: the photograph was gone. She puzzled over why he might have moved it. Then Chris interrupted her thoughts, saying, ‘It’s beautiful here. Lucas said we can go out walking this afternoon if we like, just the two of us.’
    ‘I’m sure you’ll both have a lovely time.’
    Chris laughed. She almost laughed too but felt guilty, a guilt she knew was stupid but couldn’t help, because she’d made a joke and her parents and brother were lying in a morgue somewhere.
    A car sounded in the distance and they both looked towards the balcony. Ella walked over. She could still hear the car, the sound probably carrying from a long way off. It sounded like it was headed in their direction and for a moment she thought about what to do if it wasn’t Lucas, if it was another gunman. He wouldn’t have left them alone, though, not if he’d thought there was any danger out there. A few minutes later his car emerged down the lane, splashing through the puddles from the night’s rain.
    She went back in as he came through the door. He smiled and said, ‘Your uncle and his family are safe. They’re under police protection.’
    ‘Did you speak to them?’
    Lucas looked nonplussed by the suggestion and said simply, ‘No.’
    ‘Still,’ she said, ‘it’s something to be thankful for.’ Even so, a voice in her head was asking why it couldn’t have been them instead of her parents and brother.
    ‘Now, get dressed. If you still want to do it, a friend of mine has agreed to put you a will together.’
    ‘Good.’ Chris looked surprised, a quizzical expression which she responded to by kissing him and saying, ‘Thanks for the coffee.’
    She took a shower and came back up wearing more of the new clothes they’d bought in Florence. They were hers but she couldn’t help feeling she’d borrowed them, as if everything she’d had in the world had been lost, as if she had to go back to the drawing board, left with nothing except Chris, and maybe not even him.
    He stood up as she came into the room and said, ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ He didn’t want to go, clearly, but wanted to make it her choice.
    ‘Not if you don’t want to. I’m probably gonna have to do a lot of things on my own in the next few days.’ He nodded but looked relieved, and she was suddenly angry with him.
    ‘Okay, Chris, you know the score.’ Chris nodded sheepishly, because he’d already failed them on that count once before.
    Ella and Lucas left in silence but as they drove away she said, ‘I think he’ll break up with me.’
    ‘He might. You’re both young, but you have to grow up fast and maybe he doesn’t want to. Why should he?’ His response threw her. It shouldn’t have, but she’d half expected the reassurance she’d been fishing for. ‘Were you waiting for me to tell you everything’s going to be fine?’
    ‘No,’ she said, too insistent.
    ‘Good, because it won’t be. Life’s cruel—anyone who thinks otherwise is living a lie.’
    ‘You’re wrong.’ Possibly he was right about Chris but she wasn’t ready to let go completely. She had to believe she’d find a way back to normality, to the kind of life she’d always imagined for her future. ‘I mean, I can see why you think that way but most people lead perfectly happy lives, and even when there are tragedies, they carry on, they have friends, people they love.’
    He kept his eyes on the road. He looked like he was thinking about an answer, but if he was it never materialized. It left her feeling like he’d won the point, exasperated, unable to decide