The Watch – Part 215:

(Tom’s perspective)

I could have sworn that I walked further than I did. It appears that I only got as far as the shop where I took the bars from. It’s now all closed: the security lights are on and the metal shutter is down.

I know exactly where I’m going. It’s strange, really strange. The fact that now I’ve got an objective to work towards, that my body suddenly gets warmer – not so warm that I don’t have to worry about the cold anymore, but warm enough that I actually am able to control my shivering – and even stranger still when my hands, which are still underneath my arms, stops stinging.

Soon, I was turning back into Pogo Street and heading back towards the abandoned house. Now that I’m looking at the house at night, it got a whole lot spookier. It does look as if it should be in some horror film. All these houses that I’m walking by, each and every single one of them, fit for living in. If only I knew which one isn’t currently occupied, I would be able to settle there. The more that I think about it, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that going with Tim isn’t half bad. We’re out of the way from the public, living in our own home, with enough resources to keep us going. It doesn’t sound half bad, actually. Except that we’re away from the public eye. That bit I’m still a little be hesitant on, but what choice do I have. I don’t want to stay out here, freezing. I know that Sebastian would have gone with his instincts and right now, my instincts are telling me to trust Tim.

However, if it goes south very fast, Sebastian has the watch to get him out of any sticky situations, whereas I don’t, but if I used the watch to come help weigh up any situation, I would be doing anything or getting anywhere… yeah, I know, just because my instincts are telling me to trust Tim doesn’t mean that I should – the cold could be triggering those instincts as a survival mechanism (does it work like that?) – but what else do you think I should do?

I stopped in front of the gate once more and looked around. Tim, as I expected, wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It would be a really bad idea if I called his name. Would he even know that I’m here if I waited? He probably might notice me, but not after at least a few hours, and by then I would have gotten very cold again. I can already feel the uncontrollable shakes starting to creep up my spine once more. Have I just wasted my time? I don’t know.

What I do know for sure is that if he isn’t here in the next (I don’t know the time so I can’t judge how long I’ll be standing here for) few minutes, then I’m turning around and this time, not coming back. Where I’ll go from there, I’m sure I’ll figure out something.

Why don’t I try and figure out something anyway? If I can come up with a plan, it would save so much trouble of worrying about whether I should follow my instincts or not. I should just get on with it and think of something that’s a lot better than going with a stranger. I might know his name, but he’s still a total and complete stranger, no doubt about that.

OK, so, I don’t really want to sleep in that house in front of me, so I can cross that off my list. I don’t want to walk around all night as that would not only make me exceptionally cold, but hungry, thirsty and tired, and the last thing I want to do is make myself unwell. I’m going to rule out trying to find a hotel to stay in straight away as that idea really wasn’t one of my best, I could go so far and say that it was positively my worst idea I’ve ever had… in fact I think I actually did that, I’m not sure. And I don’t care. I need to care about finding a place to stay and dwelling on bad ideas is not the way to do that. Moving on.

‘I’m not going to say that I was expecting you back, because I wasn’t,’ Tim’s voice said behind me. I turned around and saw him standing there, smiling. Now that he wasn’t standing behind a window, I was able to see that he stood with a hunch, his clothes were indeed baggy, but he still wore his friendly smile.

‘I came to see if your offer is still on the table,’ I said.

‘It is,’ he nodded.

‘Mind if I take you up on that?’ I asked.

‘That is why it is on the table,’ he said.

‘And this is a genuine offer,’ I said, ‘it isn’t some ploy or something. The last thing I want is for you to be tricking me.’

‘I would like to apologise again for my poor first impression. I do have a ‘abit doing that.’

‘That’s alright,’ I said. The least I could do is accept his apology if he is indeed genuine, which I’m starting to believe more and more. ‘And I would like to apologise for thinking you were some kind of… you know.’ I didn’t want to say it.

‘Please, don’t worry about that. It was me that drew you to that conclusion. Now, follow me and I’ll introduce to the rest of the family and your living quarters. I’ll explain everything.’

‘You haven’t asked for my name,’ I said.

‘Oh,’ he said, realising that himself, ‘you’re right I ‘aven’t,’ and he chuckled. ‘Yet another symptom of my not being able to give first impressions. May I ask your name?’

‘Tom,’ I said.

‘Nice to meet you, Tom,’ he said with a friendly smile.

‘It’s just, it’s a rather complicated reason as to why I need a home for the night, you see,’ I said.

‘Tom, we all have complicated stories, I can ‘ssure you that. We wouldn’t be ‘ere if we didn’t.’ True. ‘I totally understand if it’s because of that complication you are struggling to trust me, but I am only ‘ere to ‘elp, nothing more, nothing less,’ he explained.

‘But if I don’t like it, I can leave if I want to?’

‘Any time you like… And that sounds creepy, doesn’t it,’ he said, trying to lighten the mood. It worked because I couldn’t help by chuckle, but I quickly recovered and thought about what to do for a couple of seconds.

I have no other choice. I have to do what my instincts are telling me, otherwise I would be wondering the streets the entire night.

‘OK,’ I said.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)