LUCAS BROWN AND THE OTHER MAN PART 2

Then, Lucas and the other man were sat on the door step of a large house in the middle of the night. It was pouring with the rain, the fat droplets cascading down on to their heads but they did not feel a thing. They stayed unwaveringly dry and still.

An old, severely damaged car was creeping slowly up the road. It gently came to a stop directly in front of them. A man sat at the driving seat, a woman on the passenger side. They did not talk to each other. Their faces were wrinkled beyond their age and their pale complexions gave them a worrying look of ill health.

After a few minutes the woman turned to look at the man, he was lighting a cigarette.

“Are you doing it or am I?” she asked, the question clearly demonstrating her reluctance to be the one.

The man paused for a moment, exhaling. He didn’t face her and remained silent. He had made his decision and planned on keeping it. His silence told the woman he couldn’t do what was needed and therefore was asking her to. She was annoyed at his cowardice, it was as much if not more her burden than his.

She used this anger to force her out of the car.

As she opened the door and stepped out, the other man turned to Lucas.

“Do you recognise them?” he asked

Lucas thought long and hard and then shook his head.

“No, I have never seen them before.” He answered.

The woman lifted the hood of her jacket over her head and approached the boot of the vehicle. She opened it and dug something out: a bundle of blankets wrapped around
something small. She purposely did not look down at it.

She walked briskly through the heavy rain and up to the door of the building directly opposite Lucas and the other man. She paced the bundle down on the welcome mat and rang the bell. She didn’t wait for a reply. She turned and jogged back to the car to which the man had already re-started the engine. She got in and slammed the door. The
car sped away.

Then Lucas and the other man were inside the large building.

It was now morning, a pale light was shining in through the long row of windows on the far wall. They were standing in a large square room. On one side were shelves lined with toys and children’s books.

There was a door behind them, through it came the sound of many footsteps getting closer and closer.

Suddenly, the other man began to weep hysterically. He got down on his knees, pulling at his hair and crying out sounds that didn’t correspond to any language.

“What is it?” asked Lucas

The other man looked up at him, his face seemingly more wrinkled that it had been a moment ago, as if he had just suffered some severe trauma.

“Something really bad is about to happen here” he said.