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Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. Acknowledgements ♦ Diolchiadau
  50. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

Watching her go was a young man, fair-haired, shielding a cigarette from the wind in order to light it. He inhaled. His eyes narrow. He’d heard the talk in the NAAFI. Heard how they’d dragged three bodies from the sea. He watched as the two senior officers walked back to their black car, his eyes boring into the back of the tallest. He exhaled, flicked the ash away into the sand and wondered where they were hiding the fourth.

13

Hikaaya ♦ Stori ♦ Story

SHE HEARD HIM TALKING first, in his sleep. An agitation to his voice. Asking something she did not understand. Then came a creak and footsteps on the wooden floor. Heavy, purposeful, shocking. She had lain still, fear prickling through her. She steadied her breath. The sound of walking. Abrupt stopping. Laughing. Poltergeist in the dark. She pushed away the covers and walked to her door, eased it open quietly.

He was on his knees, praying now. Not praying, perhaps. Surveying something. His dark eyes wide open. Nefyn watched him, held her breath. He pulled at something on the floor, his nails scraping the boards. He didn’t look in her direction. And then the placing of his hands began. On the floor, in front of him, above him, as if he couldn’t fathom his reality, his palms jarring against invisible walls. His face pale in the moonlight. A translucent barrier, a wall of air around him, pressing in on him – she could see that – his breathing becoming shallower. The placing of hands on himself, his face, his neck. Over and over. He wasn’t talking now either; there were just sounds, as if language had left him. Dh. Gh. Sh. Each offering painful to the ear. He wasn’t there, had left himself in the dark. A shell.

She knew she could not wake him, that it would frighten him, that she could only watch, witness his body speak. The placing continued over and over, testing the air until he got up, abruptly. Nefyn watched, the cold night tightening her skin. He walked towards her, purposefully. Nefyn froze. He stood, his face inches from hers, studying her. His breath on her face. Muttering. But she was invisible. She listened to him, her heart beating heavily, his voice whispering like the winds.