The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas EPUB & PDF – eBook Details
- Author: Claire Douglas
- Language: English
- Formats: PDF / EPUB
- Status: Available For Free Download
- Series: None
- Price: Free
- File Size: 1 MB
The Accident
November 1998
They were singing. They were drunk. They were happy. That was what
Olivia recalled most, afterwards. How happy her friends had been.
Sally was in the front. She always was. She said the back seat made her
nauseous. And, as Olivia’s best friend, it was the natural place for her to be.
Sally was chattering away about Mal, a boy she fancied who’d finally asked
her out, not that this surprised Olivia. Men always gravitated towards Sally,
with her huge dark eyes and bubbly nature – including Olivia’s own
boyfriend, Wesley. It was still a bone of contention between them, a subject
that was now off-limits to preserve their friendship.
Sally’s voice was high, excitable and a little slurred as she recalled the
moment Mal had bought her a Diamond White. Olivia was finding it hard to
hear her over the radio and the rain that was getting louder and heavier by the
minute.
Tamzin and Katie were in the back, mascara smudged below their eyes,
their glittery crop tops poking through their not-warm-enough coats, smelling
of booze and perfume. Their arms were wrapped around each other’s necks,
acting as though they were still at Ritzy’s as they crooned along to ‘Two
Become One’ by the Spice Girls.
Olivia’s heart sank. They’d promised they wouldn’t drink too much
tonight. It had been Tamzin who’d goaded the others. Olivia had noticed her
at the bar ordering double shots and flicking her long, peroxide-blonde hair
over her slim shoulders, obviously hoping one of her many admirers would
pay. And they usually did. Hers was a different type of beauty from Sally’s:
brasher and more in your face with her colourful Wonderbras and skirts that
barely covered her arse.
It hadn’t been raining as Olivia had headed out to pick up her friends
earlier that evening. And it had only started to drizzle as they left the
nightclub ten minutes ago. But now the downpour was so heavy that Olivia
was finding it increasingly difficult to see the road ahead. Rain gathered in
rivulets either side of her windscreen nearly obscuring her vision, despite her
wipers being on max. The road stretched out in front of them, dark and allencompassing as though they were travelling through space. Even on main
beam it wasn’t enough to cut through the mist that was beginning to hover
above the ground like dry ice.
As it was Olivia’s turn to drive she’d only sipped one glass of wine all
evening. But now she felt it burn the back of her throat, hot and acidic, as her
little Peugeot 205 was buffeted by the strong winds. She wasn’t a nervous
driver usually but she’d only passed her test a few months ago. And tonight
felt different. She hated this road at the best of times. The Devil’s Corridor
cut straight through the forest, and the tall beech and fir trees that reared up
on either side made the road feel oppressive. Further on were the famous
standing stones, and then their little town wrapped around it, a tourist trap full
of mystical shops and tearooms.
The drumming of the rain drowned the music, splashing onto the tarmac
like darts shot from the sky. Olivia clutched the steering wheel tightly,
knuckles white. The rain was now so loud that the others stopped singing
abruptly and Sally dialled up the radio.
‘Turn it down,’ snapped Olivia, and Sally did as she asked without
complaint. It was too dark to see her expression, but Olivia knew she’d
offended her friend. She experienced a twinge of regret: she hated upsetting
Sally.
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