Chapter 1 (Crap Life. Crap Family. Crap World)
Craig Levy’s head hit the brick wall with such a force that he actually thought for a moment that he could hear birds circling his head. He slumped down onto the wet ground, his cheek resting in a puddle of water and dirt. He glanced up and saw the blurred figure of Colin Dunlop looking down at him.
“I told you, you freak. Told you they were mine.”
Craig didn’t answer. He wanted to tell him where to go. He wanted to get back up like a superhero and fight off this thug, but he couldn’t. If he got up now, he’d never get up again.
“Next time you try a trick like that, you’re dead meat, mate.” He leaned in close to Craig and Craig could smell the cheap fags on his breath. “You hear me, pal?”
Craig nodded, feeling the bruise starting to come out on the side of his face.
“That’s a good boy,” said Dunlop, booting him one more time in the stomach, before Craig heard his footsteps slosh away in the rain.
“Jesus Christ,” came the female voice.
Craig tried to turn to see where the sound was coming from. He was aware of a female figure hovering over him. Now she was kneeling down over him.
“Craig, it’s me. Are you okay?”
Craig tried to open his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Craig, it’s me, Lilly. Are you okay?”
But Craig was not okay. He was never going to ever be okay living in this dump of an estate, and right now he saw no future for himself at all.
Craig and Lilly sat on the bench overlooking the children’s playground. Craig had a bag of peas held up to his face and Lilly was sat across from him, looking worried.
“You really ought to get yourself to a hospital,” she said.
“What’s the point?” said Craig. “They’d only ask me how I did it.”
“And you tell them the truth this time,” said Lilly. “You can’t keep letting Colin Dunlop treat you like a bloody punching bag.”
“I shouldn’t have asked for those NES games back,” said Craig.
“Don’t be stupid. They were yours. He took them. He stole them,” she said, feeling the anger boil up inside of her.
“No use in worrying about it now,” said Craig. “Best just to let him get on with it.”
Lilly growled and turned away, folding her arms. She may have only been 14 years old, but she knew what was right and what was wrong and Colin Dunlop was a thousand kinds of wrong.
“I gotta get back home, Lils,” said Craig.
“When your dad sees you he’ll have a fit,” said Lilly.
“Well I can’t stay out here all afternoon.”
“Come back to mine.”
“The psycho Galloways,” said Craig. “No bloody chance.”
Lilly looked angry and then burst out laughing. “Yeah, bad choice I suppose.”
Lilly turned and spotted a figure in a grey jacket and jeans coming up the path, his thin hair plastered over his forehead in the rain. He was smoking a cigarette and threw it to the ground as he approached the bench.
“Lilly,” said the man.
“Archie,” said Lilly, disdain in her voice. “What do you want?”
“Don’t be like that,” he said, lighting up another cigarette. “Dad wants you back at the house now.”
“What for?”
“Because it’s bloody raining,” said Archie. “And because your teas almost ready.”
“I’m not going,” said Lilly, folding her arms and staring ahead.
“You’ll go if I have to drag you back home,” said Archie.
“Don’t make me angry.”
“Oh, so you’re the Incredible Hulk now, are you?” said Archie, taking a drag on the cigarette. He pointed at her. “Dad heard about what happened to this little tosser,” he said, indicating Craig.
Craig closed his eyes and looked away.
“You stay away from him. We don’t need Colin Dunlop against us.”
“Oh, for god sake,” said Lilly, shaking her head. “Colin Dunlop is a thug.”
“Colin’s also the top man on this estate,” said Archie. “So you don’t get on his bad side.”
“He’s just punched up a kid 15 years younger than him,” said Lilly, angrily.
“He’s got the keys to the estate, little sister,” said Archie. “Now get yourself back to the house or I’ll send Andrea up here to get you.”
Lilly sighed as she watched her brother go. She turned to Craig. “You gonna be alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” said Craig, feeling the peas melt in the bag.
“I’m not staying away from you, Craigy-boy,” she said. She gave him a kiss on his good cheek and smiled. “Get yourself back home and I’ll come see you tomorrow, yeah?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” said Craig.
By the time Lilly got to her street it was almost dark. She turned into Wardieburn Terrace and looked up at her families grim, pebble-dashed semi-detached house, the window casting a glowing, yellow light onto the grey pavement outside.
She hated living here. She hated the violence and the depravity and the poverty. She hated the people and she hated her family.
There was her, her Dad, her brother, Archie, who was in his early 20’s, and her older sister, Andrea, who was 29. They all lived in the grotty little house. She never knew her Mum. She had left home when Lilly was just a baby, but the Galloway’s were notorious around West Fulton. None of them worked and the only income was selling illegal goods down at the market.
The front door opened and a man in a dark suit emerged. He looked smart. Too smart for this area. He had swept back hair with hints of grey, and a neatly trimmed, greying beard. His eyes were dark and mysterious and he smiled at her when she walked towards the door.
Lilly had seen this man before on numerous occasions over the years, but he never seemed to look any different.
“Good evening, Miss Galloway. What frightful weather you’re having.” He sounded positively charming.
“Oh yeah,” said Lilly, “it’s crap, isn’t it?”
The man looked back at the open doorway. “I believe there’s fish and chips on the table. Don’t let them go cold, eh?”
“Thanks for caring, pal,” said Lilly.
The man chuckled. “Good evening, Lilly.”
“Good evening,” she said as charmingly as she could.
She made her way inside, hung up her hat and coat and then made her way into the kitchen. There was indeed fish and chips on the table. Her father was sat at the end of the table. He was going bald and had a pencil thin moustache and sunken in eyes.
Archie was there as well.
Her sister, Andrea, looked like her brother - the same dark eyes and lank, black hair. She looked every bit the thug that the rest of the family looked like.
“Decided to come home, did you?” said Andrea.
“Yeah,” said Lilly, sitting down at the table.
Andrea grabbed Lilly’s plate and took it away from her.
“That’s mine,” said Lilly.
“You were told to come home an hour ago,” said Archie. “You forfeited your dinner.”
“Oh, for god sake!” said Lilly angrily.
“Calm yourself,” said her Dad, staring right at her from across the table.
“I’m hungry.”
“There’s crackers in the cupboard,” said Andrea as she tucked into the fish and chips.
“Oh, piss off!” said Lilly, getting up from the table and flinging her chair across the room.
Her Dad thumped his fists down on the table. “Get her upstairs!” he growled.
Andrea and Archie dived for Lilly who tried to scramble away. She was no match for them and found herself pinned down. The pair of them dragged her up the stairs and to the back of the house where they literally threw her through the bedroom door where she landed next to the bed with a thump.
Lilly was too angry to be upset and ran to the door as they closed it and locked it from the other side. She began thumping on the wood over and over again.
Eventually she stopped and slumped to the floor. She needed to get out of this nightmare. She needed to get out of this world.
And then she heard the sound. Somewhere in the distance, through the window open at the top, she could hear a strange wheezing and groaning sound.
It sounded…alien.
To be continued...
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