I couldn’t say how long Gabriel had driven for, but when he finally stopped the only sound I heard was the racket of seagulls, and distant waves crashing against the shoreline.
Whatever Gabriel had injected me with was wearing off, and the spinning sensation I’d had throughout the journey had left me with a thumping head, and a weak feeling in my limbs. Or perhaps that was from where he’d thumped me against the door. But one thing I knew for certain: he hadn’t intended to kill me with whatever he’d put in the syringe, or knock me out for long. He had a plan.
He got out of the car and slammed the door. Within moments, he’d flung open the back door, and was pulling back the blanket and yanking me out. We were at the edge of a roughly gravelled car park, and I had no strength to fight him as he pulled me away, through long grass, my legs like rubber.
He stopped and let go of me, and I dropped to the ground as if my bones had melted. ‘Get up!’ he ordered.
I drew my knees up to my nose, and wrapped my arms over my head in a pathetic attempt to protect myself. The slam of his foot in my side was agonising.
‘I said, get up!’
I raised my head, my eyes meeting his, as I cowered like a frightened puppy. I was witnessing evil. I wouldn’t come out of this alive. Perhaps it’s meant to be.
Above him the sky was a clear blue, and the sun shone, the seagulls I’d heard earlier circling like black spectres, cawing. Would they eat human flesh?
I glanced to my right. I was so close to the cliff edge, the sound of waves crashing below merging with the pounding in my chest. ‘Aughris Head,’ I whispered, recognising where we were with a horrified lurch in my stomach.
‘Very good, Colleen.’ Gabriel slow-clapped, before grabbing my wrists and yanking me to my feet. He turned me to face the sea, inches from the edge, and tears spilled down my cheeks. ‘Do you remember?’ His voice was a rough whisper. ‘You wanted to drop into the ocean to be with Bryony. And I saved your life.’
I stayed silent.
‘Colleen!’ His voice was a roar.
‘Yes. Yes, I remember.’ Tears came faster.
‘Well, I’ve decided you can now end what you started all those years ago.’ He was calm again. ‘You can be with Bryony. She’s waiting for you.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ It was an effort to push the words out, and pointless anyway. He’d got it all worked out.
‘I’m doing you a favour, Colleen.’ He was behind me, large hands tight around my upper arms. One push and I would crash down onto the rocks.
‘I want to live.’ I was sobbing now. ‘I’ve been given a second chance with Ella, and I don’t want to leave her.’
‘Fuck’s sake, Colleen!’ His laugh was harsh and loud. ‘Do you honestly think that stuck-up little cow wants anything to do with the likes of a tramp like you? She hardly knows you, and she certainly won’t miss you.’
‘You’re wrong.’ I’d never felt this pathetic and weak, even when I was with Jake. Whatever Gabriel had injected into me was still making my legs wobble, and I knew if he let go of me, I would fall.
A sudden determination flooded my body. With as much strength as I could muster, I rammed my elbows backwards into Gabriel’s stomach, catching him unawares. He released me, and I turned to see him stagger backwards and crash to the ground. I teetered close to the edge of the cliff, before falling backwards on top of him.
He grabbed my hair and threw me away from him like a bag of trash, and I wondered how he’d ever covered up this side of him. There was no trace of the charmer I’d bumped into in Sligo. The man I once knew. ‘You fucking bitch,’ he spat.
I scrambled to my feet and began to run. It was useless. He was behind me in seconds, one hand closing around my ankle, and as I hit the ground the breath slammed out of me. He flipped me over and climbed on top of me. ‘I loved you once, Colleen,’ he said, stroking my cheek with his sweaty hand.
I needed to change tack. I had one more chance.
‘I loved you too,’ I said, through gulps for breath. ‘Why are we doing this? You were everything to me … you can be again.’
He lifted his hand from my cheek, and furrowed his forehead, staring into my eyes. His were cold, but filled with tears.
‘We could be together, Gabriel,’ I went on, forcing myself to touch his face, my skin crawling. ‘Like before.’
He dashed his forearm across his eyes.
‘We were so good together, weren’t we?’ I continued.
I wasn’t sure when he stopped believing my words, or if he ever thought they were true, but he clenched his fist. The pain as he struck my face made me reel.
He rose, and hauled me up like a rag doll, saying nothing. I’d made things worse. Now I was going to die.
‘Colleen!’ For a second I was transported back to that terrible day – Bryony in the sea, Celia rushing into the waves. But it wasn’t Celia. Ella?
I was disorientated, dizzy as Gabriel dragged my useless body back to the cliff edge.
‘Colleen!’ A male this time, closer.
Gabriel turned towards the voices, his grip on me loosening. I could just make out two figures, one much closer, the other falling behind.
‘Colleen,’ the man cried again.
Gabriel seemed to unravel. He hadn’t planned for this, and his grip on me loosened further. So much so, I pulled free.
Gabriel turned back to me, his hands like claws as he went to grab me once more. But he knew. He knew I now had the upper hand.
One push sent him over the cliff edge, and his body twisted and writhed, as he tried to grab hold of something that wasn’t there, before smashing against the rocks below. His scream would haunt me forever.
‘Colleen?’
I turned. ‘Reagan.’ He yanked me away from the edge. ‘I killed him,’ I said, my voice raw.
‘No. He fell.’ There was something definite about Reagan’s words as he wrapped his arms around me. ‘He was too close to the edge and he fell.’
Reagan’s words settled into me, as Ella stumbled towards us.
‘Thank God,’ she cried, taking hold of my hand, as I drifted into unconsciousness. ‘Thank God you’re safe.’