The Alpha Flame: Discovery

I eased the TR6 down a side street, the headlights sweeping over a figure shifting in the shadows. A movement to my left. A woman, young, her face pale beneath the heavy makeup, stepped forward as I slowed at the junction. She leaned down to my passenger window, so close I could see the faint smudge of lipstick at the corner of her mouth.

A loud knock on the glass made me jump.

“You looking for something, love?” she asked, her voice soft but direct. Her lips were parted just slightly, her breath misting against the cold window.

My stomach tightened.

I wasn’t looking for anything. Not really. But I didn’t drive away either.

She was close now, close enough that I could see the dark liner smudged beneath her eyes, the glint of something unreadable in her gaze. Not quite curiosity. Not quite suspicion. Just a quiet knowing.

“Maggie… wait.”

She turned as I crouched down. My stomach dropped.

It was a sweatshirt. Pink. Faded. Cartoon print on the front, cracked with age and wear. Garfield, grinning.

I reached out slowly, fingertips brushing the fabric. The left sleeve was soaked, stiff with something dark.

Blood.

“Maggie…” My voice broke. “It’s hers. She used to wear this all the time. She was wearing it the last time I saw her.”

Maggie dropped to her knees beside me, torch trembling in her grip. “Bloody hell. You’re right.”

For a second neither of us moved. The building suddenly felt tighter, like it was watching us.

She turned in the water, soaked to the waist, flinging droplets everywhere.

“Maggie! Come on!” she shouted, laughing. “You’ve got to feel this!”

I didn’t hesitate.

I peeled off my hoody and shorts, left them in a heap on the rocks, and sprinted after her, my bikini clinging tight to my skin in the salty breeze. The sand stung slightly as I ran, then came the cold slap of the sea, wrapping around my legs and dragging a breathless laugh out of me.

Beth was already dancing through the waves like a lunatic.

We collided mid-splash, both of us soaked, screaming and laughing like we were eight years old again, like we’d somehow got all those childhood summers back in one moment. The sea was freezing, but we didn’t care.