A House in London Read online

  Somewhere nearby, a truck was reversing.

  A little further off, a car horn was blaring repeatedly and a man seemed to be shouting angrily.

  It only took a moment longer for the twist of discomfort to return to her belly. On and off for weeks now, she'd been feeling as if something wasn't right in there. There had been the moments of sudden nausea, often resulting in vomiting, which usually came on early in the morning and again after lunch, and she'd noticed a little extra tenderness in her breasts, although she felt that might just be in her imagination.

  What wasn't in her imagination, however, was the fact that she was now more than two weeks late for her period, which was particularly odd since she'd usually been so regular before. She knew she couldn't be pregnant, but she'd searched online for conditions that might show the same symptoms and nothing had really matched. She desperately wanted to find something, anything, that she could take back to Doctor Carlisle as proof that he was wrong, so now tonight, like every night, she was alone in her bedsit with nothing to do except obsess over what might be causing the symptoms.

  Cancer?

  She'd always been so terrified of cancer. Leukemia had claimed her mother many years ago, and then lung cancer had taken her father when Jennifer was just eighteen years old. She'd long since decided that her genes must be cursed, that cancer ran in her family, and that was one of the reasons why she'd decided to never have children of her own. It was this certainty that had fueled her anger when the doctor had suggested she could be pregnant.

  She dipped her fork into the noodles and scooped some more out, before realizing that her appetite wasn't too great. With a sigh, she let the noodles fall back into the box. Great, another symptom, although after a moment she began thinking about adding ketchup and sour cream to the noodles. The idea seemed so gross, but at the same time it was the only thing she felt like eating.

  Suddenly she became aware of a scratching sound at the door.

  She turned and looked across the dark room. There was no sign of a shadow under the door, and she honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had turned up unannounced. She couldn't even think who would visit, since she had no real friends and no family at all. The most likely explanation was that someone had got the wrong address, although even that seemed a little unlikely. Figuring she should go and check, however, she pushed her blanket aside and got to her feet before making her way across the room, hitting the switch on the wall as she reached the door.

  “Hello?” she called out.

  Silence.

  After taking the chain off the hook, she leaned out into the corridor and looked both ways, but of course there was no-one to be seen. Sighing, she stepped back and pushed the door shut, before taking care to slip the chain back into place. Just as she turned to go back over to the bed, however, the scratching sound returned for a couple of seconds. She froze for a moment, next to the small window that overlooked the street, and then she turned and looked at the door again.

  “Hello?”

  No reply.

  She stepped back over to the mat and waited, listening for any hint that someone might be out there. She was reluctant to open the door again, just in case someone was trying to mess with her head, but at the same time she didn't understand why the person would scratch rather than knocking.

  “Hello?” she said again.

  Silence.

  Telling herself to just ignore the noise, she turned and headed back over to the bed.

  A fraction of a second later, something scratched at the door again. Jennifer stopped, as she felt a wave of fatigue creeping through her body. At first she'd been curious about the sound, then a little nervous, but now she was becoming irritated. She had neither the energy nor the inclination to be the object of some idiot's dumb game, but a moment later the scratching sound came again. Turning, she marched over to the door again, and she was just about to pull it open when she reminded herself that as a single woman living alone in a pretty sketchy neighborhood, she probably should be a little more careful.

  “Okay,” she said out loud, “if there's someone out there, can you just knock it off? I have to be up early and -”

  She gasped as suddenly she felt a sharp jolt in her belly. Leaning against the wall, she winced as a cold sweat broke out across her face, but the pain was already subsiding.

  “Great,” she muttered, turning and heading back to her bed. “Just what I need.”

  As she sat back down, she heard the scratching sound again, but she forced herself to keep from going back over. If someone was fooling around, they'd get bored. If some stray, angry cat was causing trouble, it'd eventually give up and wander off. Grabbing her laptop, she started checking the news, but the scratching continued with more ferocity than before, as if it was trying harder to get her attention. She wanted to call out and tell whoever or whatever was out there to leave, but she figured she'd only end up encouraging them. Instead, she focused on checking the latest news, while studiously ignoring the sound at the door. Her belly was feeling a little uncomfortable, too, as if the scratching sound was causing the pain to flare up, and she quickly found herself searching online to see whether she might have some kind of ulcer. For the next half hour, she scrolled through page after page while the scratching sound continued, and finally she grabbed some headphones and plugged them in, preferring to listen to music. She kept searching for another couple of hours, before starting to feel exhausted. Sighing, she took the headphones out and looked over at the door.

  The scratching sound had finally stopped.

  Checking the time on her laptop, she saw that it was a few minutes after nine. Still so early, but she was exhausted and all she wanted was to get some sleep.

  By the time she'd showered for bed and brushed her teeth, she was starting to feel as if the whole scratching incident had been a case of confusion. Glancing at the door, she listened to the silence for a moment before figuring that she might as well take one last look before going to sleep, just to see if there was any sign that someone had been out there. Heading over, she unlocked the door and cautiously pulled it open, before stepping out into the corridor and taking a look both ways. There was no sign of anyone or anything, but she stood in complete silence for fully half a minute, listening in case there was the slightest hint of a presence. When nothing came, she finally turned and looked back at her door, at which point she gasped as she saw that both the door itself and the frame were now covered in deep, criss-crossed scratches that had been torn through the wood. Some of the scratches had even extended across the pale yellow floral wallpaper that lined the corridor.

  Stunned, she realized it was almost as if something had been trying to dig her out of her own apartment.

  ***

  “You came!” Lucy shouted, her eyes wide with shock as she pushed through the crowd and wrapped her arms around Jennifer. “Wow, I never actually thought you'd show up!”

  “Better than spending a night at home alone,” Jennifer replied, even though the hug made her feel a little uncomfortable. In truth, the pub was far more crowded than she'd expected and she already felt that she might have made a mistake; at the same time, the evening's events had left her shaken and the last thing she needed was to sit at home in her tiny apartment and wait for more scratches on the door. All things considered, a night out with people she barely knew from work felt like the lesser of several evils, even if she'd originally planned to get to bed early.

  Even if she was exhausted.

  “Let's get you a drink!” Lucy continued, grabbing Jennifer's hand and leading her toward the bar. “I should warn you, I'm several shots ahead already but I think you should be able to catch up pretty fast!”

  “I'm not sure I want to drink alcohol,” Jennifer told her. “I think it's just going to be Coke for me tonight.”

  “No way!” Lucy said with a laugh, squeezing behind two guys and finally reaching the bar. “I want to see what you're like when you're wrecked. How else am I supposed t
o get to know you? I've got a good feeling, Jenny, I think we're gonna be really good friends!” She turned and snapped her fingers to get the barman's attention, and then she glanced back at Jennifer. “So how did it go at the doctor's office? I was gonna ask earlier, but I thought I should be more subtle.”

  “I... Fine,” Jennifer muttered.

  “And?” Lucy smiled, before glancing down at Jennifer's belly.

  “And what?” Jennifer asked cautiously.

  “Don't tell me you're not,” Lucy continued, her eyes sparkling in the pub's lights. “I knew it the first time I set eyes on you, but I was waiting for you to 'fess up. Who's the lucky man?”

  “I don't know what you're talking about.”

  “I can always tell. It's something about the face of a pregnant woman, it just... I know this'll sound like a cliche, but a pregnant woman somehow... glows.”

  “I'm not pregnant,” Jennifer said firmly, before turning to leave. “I think I should just go home...”

  “No, don't!” Lucy replied, grabbing her arm to keep her at the bar. “Please, I'm sorry, maybe I overstepped the mark a little. Forget I said anything.” She paused for a moment. “But you know, you can still drink in the first trimester. I know doctors say you shouldn't, but that's just over-protective garbage designed to stop people having fun. The world's full of people like that.” She snapped her fingers at the barman again. “Two beers!” she called out.

  “A Coke for me!” Jennifer added quickly. “Just a Coke!”

  “This place is rammed,” Lucy continued, turning and leaning back against the bar as she watched the crowd. “I know this is gonna make me sound like a total whore, but some of the guys you meet at this pub aren't too shabby. I'm not saying I come here specifically to find men, but it happens sometimes. Actually, I'm a bit of a legend in this place. Everyone knows how much fun I am once I get a few shots down.” She watched the crowd for a moment longer, before turning back to Jennifer. “You seeing anyone?”

  Jennifer shook her head.

  “Got your eye on anyone?”

  “No-one,” Jennifer replied, as the barman set two pints of beer next to her. “And a Coke, please,” she told him.

  “You're a sly bird,” Lucy continued, eying her with a smile. “I think there's more going on with you than you wanna let on. I think you're one of those people who's all quiet, but deep down there's a lot going on.”

  “There really isn't,” Jennifer told her, as a passing drunk guy bumped against her and knocked her into the bar. “I'm pretty boring.”

  “No-one's boring,” Lucy replied, “not when you get to know them.” She turned and handed some cash to the barman, before taking a big gulp of beer that left frothy dribbles running down her chin. Wiping the stray foam away, she let out a gasp and then a loud burp. “Whoops!” she added, giggling at the sound and then grabbing her change from the barman. “Seriously, I'm super glad you came down here tonight,” she continued, turning back to Jennifer. “Some of the other women from the office can be a bit boring, and I kinda get the feeling they look down on me. Just 'cause they've got boring husbands waiting for them at home, they resent anyone who's out for a laugh. Maybe I'm imagining it all, Jenny, but I've got a proper feeling that you and I can be good friends once we get to know each other better. Now pick up your beer, or your Coke if you really insist, and let's toast to a good night out.”

  “Sure,” Jennifer replied, taking a sip from her Coke. She knew she wasn't really in the mood, but she forced a smile anyway. Anything was better than being at home. “I'm just glad you invited me.”

  ***

  “Stop staring!” Lucy yelled, her voice screeching across the loud pub as she waved at a guy next to the bar. “You want it, come and get it!”

  She immediately slumped drunkenly back down into the booth, bumping the table in the process and rattling all the glasses. In her drunken state, she seemed extremely amused as the others all grabbed their glasses to make sure they didn't spill.

  “I hate guys who just stare,” she muttered, before downing the rest of her beer and letting out another loud burp. “It's like, I know when I'm being checked out, and when a guy's giving me the eye, but -” She burped again, before wiping a little more beer from her lips. “I guess I'm just old-fashioned,” she continued, her eyes seeming increasingly unfocused. “I don't like neanderthals, but I appreciate a guy who's got the confidence to come over and try his luck. Where's the -” She burped loudly. “Where's the romance these days, huh?”

  Jennifer forced a smile, but at the same time she couldn't help glancing at her watch. Even though the thought of going back to her pokey little apartment filled her with dread, she felt certain that she couldn't bear the idea of spending much longer out with Lucy and the other women who'd shown up from the office. Having carefully avoided alcohol all evening, she'd also drunk more Coke than she ever thought possible, but nothing had managed to take her mind off the appointment at the doctor's office earlier. She knew Doctor Carlisle was wrong, he had to be wrong, but that just meant she was back to square one, still looking for a cause for her symptoms.

  Cancer.

  She couldn't stop worrying that it might be cancer.

  “Sod this,” Lucy muttered, suddenly getting to her feet. “Hang on here for a bit, okay? I'm gonna go and give that guy a chance to talk to me. You never know, he might actually be able to hold a conversation without staring at my cleavage.”

  She took a moment to undo a button on the front of her shirt, revealing even more of her curves.

  “Frankly,” she continued with a sigh, “I don't even care about the guy anymore. I'll just do anything to get a nice house, and a baby, and some stability. If that makes me a bitch, then...”

  Jennifer turned to tell her that she was going home, but Lucy was already lost in the crowd. Sighing, Jennifer checked her watch again and saw that it was a little after midnight, and suddenly a sense of exhaustion began to fill her body. Whatever had caused the scratches on her door earlier, she figured it had been a one-off and that she just needed to get home and sleep. At the same time, a hint of nausea had returned to her belly, filling her with the feeling that something still wasn't quite right in there.

  “Can you tell Lucy that I had to go?” she asked, turning to one of the other women. “Just tell her I wasn't feeling well and I had to get the last bus.”

  Getting to her feet, Jennifer grabbed her bag and began to inch her way through the crowd, trying to get bumped as little as possible. She glanced toward the bar, hoping to avoid Lucy so that she wouldn't end up getting dragged back to the booth, and then she threaded her way through the sea of drunk bodies, making for the exit. The crowd was so loud, she could barely even hear her own thoughts, but after a couple of minutes she reached the door, only to feel a sudden pressing sensation in her bladder. Realizing that she needed to go to the toilet yet again, she made her way to the bathroom and, after checking one more time that Lucy was nowhere to be seen, she pushed the door open and headed inside.

  Stopping suddenly, she saw to her horror that Lucy was in the bathroom with a guy, kissing him drunkenly while fumbling with her right hand stuffed down the front of his trousers.

  “Sorry,” Jennifer mumbled, immediately turning and heading back out. She stopped for a moment and took a deep breath, shocked by what she'd seen, but with a sigh of relief she quickly realized that Lucy had been far too busy to notice. Hearing more drunken shouts nearby, she figured she could find somewhere else to use the toilet so she headed out of the pub, emerging in the beer garden and taking a deep breath of cool night air.

  Suddenly a scream filled the air, blood-curdling and intense. Jennifer look around, and a moment later she saw a girl shoving a guy away. When the guy grabbed her arm, the girl screamed again and kicked him in the crotch, unleashing a torrent of drunken abuse before turning and tottering away on bright-red high-heels.

  Making her way past a few smokers who had gathered nearby, Jennifer reached the pavement and be
gan the short walk to the bus stop. She felt bad for leaving so suddenly, but she figured it wasn't really her fault that Lucy had gone off with some guy for a quickie in the bathroom, so they were probably more or less even. As she reached the bus stop, however, she sighed when she saw that the automated screen was showing cancellations and lengthy delays. Glancing over her shoulder toward the pub, she briefly considered going back and seeing how the others were getting home, before deciding that the best option would just be to walk to the tube station half a mile away.

  The city streets were still busy and loud as she made her way to the station. She spotted a couple of large rats scurrying along the gutter, heading for an overturned bin that had been tossed across the road. An alarm was ringing out from a darkened video rental store, but no-one seemed to be in any hurry to check it out. After a few minutes she began to feel a faint, nauseating twist in her belly, but she kept walking until finally she reached another bus stop and took a moment to rest, leaning against the side of the shelter. The pain wasn't getting worse, but rather it seemed constant and nagging, as if something was slowly churning in her guts. Deep breaths seemed to help a little, even though the pain seemed ever-present now.

  “You alright, love?” a gravelly male voice asked.

  Startled, she turned to see a figure sitting on the ground nearby, mostly in the shadows. She realized immediately that it must be a homeless man, so she simply smiled and then turned to continue on her way. The pain was still in her belly, but she figured she'd be okay to walk.

  “Hey!”

  Glancing back, she saw to her horror that the homeless man was on his feet now and had started limping after her. Turning, she quickened her pace, but a moment later she realized she could hear someone shuffling up behind her. Finally, a gloved hand grabbed her arm.

  “What?” she asked, pulling away as she turned to find that he'd caught up. “I don't have anything to give you!”