Free Worth Pursuing by LK Chapman Page A

There were "no smoking" signs in the corridor, and an old
blue carpet on the floor – the sort of hard-wearing carpet you’d normally find
in a public space. I stood helplessly for a while, wondering where to go. There
were doors in both directions, but nothing that was obviously a bathroom. Concluding
that I had to make a move sooner or later I headed to my left, walking as fast
as I could, my head down. Thankfully there was no sound from any of the other
rooms and even better, when I rounded the corner I found a door with a little
sign that said "bathroom". I sighed with relief and reached out for
the handle, but before I could take hold of it the door opened, making me jump.
    I found myself facing a man dressed in blue jeans and a stained white
t-shirt. He looked to be in his mid twenties, with hair so fair it was almost
white, and his face still scarred from teenage acne. Although initially he was
as surprised to come face to face with me as I was with him, he quickly
recovered, and instead of moving out of the way and letting me through he
looked at me for an unpleasantly long time and positioned himself in the way of
the door with a smirk.
    ‘Sorry,’ I said, gesturing at the door, ‘could I...’
    ‘Sure,’ he said. He stepped a little out of the way, but still not
enough that I could get through. I felt a flash of anger, especially when I saw
he was still smiling. He was laughing at me.
    ‘I need to use the bathroom,’ I said. I felt ridiculous now.
    ‘I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,’ he said.
    I glared at him. He still had that stupid look of amusement, though it
hadn’t spread to his eyes, which were dull and hard. When he spoke he had an accent,
but I couldn’t place it. I assumed he was one of the other residents of the
house, and that embarrassing any women who ended up here was his way of
entertaining himself.  
    ‘Are you going to let me through or not?’ I asked.
    This time he did step aside, but he still hadn’t finished with me. ‘Let
me guess,’ he said, ‘you’re one of Jay’s, right?’
SEVEN HOURS AGO
    ‘Do you have family round here?’ Jay
asked.
    ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘my dad, and my two brothers—’
    I stopped as I noticed a flash of emotion in his face, as though he
didn’t like what I’d said.
    ‘You close?’ he asked, an edge creeping into his voice.
    ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I see my younger brother nearly every day — hold on,’
I said suddenly, interrupting myself as I remembered. ‘My friends. Ellie and
Sarah, I’d better go and—’
    Jay’s face softened again. He took his hand away from my thigh and
reached up to my face. ‘They left,’ he said, ‘remember? They told you they were
going on somewhere else.’
    I frowned. Had they said that? I had a vague memory of them coming over
and saying something to me. Maybe they’d been trying to persuade me to
go with them.
    ‘Oh,’ I said, with an uncertain laugh, ‘yeah, I forgot.’
…
    I hesitated, even though I was desperate
to get into the bathroom, and looked at the strange man who seemed so
determined to upset me. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
    ‘So you are then?’ he said, ‘you are one of Jay’s.’
    I remained silent, and he nodded. ‘I can always tell,’ he said. ‘They’re
all the same. Always blonde, always creeping round the house trying not to be
seen.’
    I felt another rush of anger but I swallowed it back down. It wasn’t
worth it. Whoever this guy was, he was clearly trying to wind me up. If I
showed my anger, all I would have done was let him win. ‘I’m not listening to
this,’ I said, and I pushed the bathroom door open.
    ‘He writes them all down,’ he said, ‘in a little diary.’
    ‘He... what?’ I said, so surprised I froze.
    ‘Ask him,’ he said, ‘if you’re lucky, maybe he’ll tell you what he’s
going to write about you. Or maybe he’s already written it.’
    I glared at him. ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘what’s this got to do