Findlay woke and stared at the ceiling. Fin had disappeared. He hadn't been drunk for two days. It was the first time in years he had woken without a dry furry mouth and a fuzzy head.

She was gone. He struggled to remember the last time he'd seen her. Snakes Bar begging to leave before the Gallos came in. They had been back for six months. She'd only once done or said anything about them in that time.

He remembered she hadn't wanted to drive him into Snakes because of them. He had belted her and she hadn't refused since. Something must have happened. They must have threatened her. Now she'd gone into hiding but where would she go?

Findlay got out of bed and went for a shower. He shaved and dressed. What possible places could she have gone? None were feasible. She had no friends and no money.

He prepared himself a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea. He wasn't in the habit of eating breakfast but today he was starving. A thought hit him. Findlay dropped his spoon, jerked to his feet, bumped the table and rushed into Fin's room. He didn't know what he was looking for because he hadn't been in her room for years. He opened her drawers. Pants and shirts. That's all he ever saw her wear. The draw looked full so no clothes had been taken. The underwear drawer was empty. Why would a person take underwear and not clothes?

Her duchess looked bare. That didn't mean anything.

The whole house was bare of knickknacks because he had sold most of them.

Sarah's pretty things.

Findlay gasped and clutched his chest.

Sarah... gone. It was all his doing.

Fin... gone. Again, his doing.

The realisation of what he'd done hit him hard. Findlay fell to his knees and clutched his shirt as pain raked his body. It wasn't physical pain but something deeper. A dawning that moved from his chest to spread through his body until every nerve was ablaze. He struggled for air, curled on the floor and cradled his body as he rocked backwards and forwards.

Findlay Hamilton had awoken from the longest blackout of all time.

Reality was a horrifying nightmare.

Findlay has finally woken up!!

Image Copyright © Hexen - you will see more of this amazing artists work further into the story. 

Copyright © 2025 Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.