Excerpt from ‘Vanquished,’ a short story from the collection titled, ‘Scorpio Moons’ by Helen Noble.

“I sit up, blinking in the darkness, to watch the crack in the bedroom doorway slowly widening. I freeze. I know exactly what is about to happen, but I just cannot do anything to stop it. Silhouetted in the moonlight, framed by the doorway, he is menacing. He crosses the room towards me in slow motion yet, paradoxically, he seems to cover the distance in the fraction of a second. The barrel of his gun is in my face. I close my eyes. I jerk violently at the impact of the shot and wake up shaking, in a cold sweat.”

Katarina spoke perfect English with a Slavic accent. To the listener, her almost emotionless delivery made it sound
as if she was reading aloud a scene from a play.

“So the medication isn’t helping? Have you thought any more about the counselling option? Perhaps you now feel able to give it another chance? Perhaps I could refer you to a different therapist? You have been through a traumatic experience.”

The young doctor was at a loss for what else to suggest to the striking Russian woman on this third visit to his clinic, complaining of insomnia. “In cases such as yours, where you are still experiencing symptoms a few months after such a shocking event, it can help to talk about the actual incident with someone qualified to deal with these issues,” he explained, looking straight into the steely, blue eyes of the enigmatic beauty; so slight in stature and lithe in body, yet ice cold to the core and stalwart in her manner.

“But this has not actually happened. This is a dream. It is my husband who was shot,” she coolly responded.

“Nightmares are often a symptom of post-traumatic stress and depression. You have suffered a shock and a loss. Perhaps it might be worth talking to someone about everything?” he implored her.

“The only thing I have lost is my faith in men,” the Russian replied tartly.

Katarina was not really one for talking. She had attended one session with a therapist who was, in her opinion, far too interested in her past experiences than her present problems. She was an action-orientated individual. On discovering that her husband of just one year was involved in an international smuggling ring, comprising of Class ‘A’ drugs and illegal arms, she had informed the UK police. Whilst they were wasting time doubting the efficacy of her
story, he had been taken out in a violent confrontation but the evidence had been snatched away from under the noses of the authorities by a rival gang from the criminal underworld.

The police were left with nothing but his bullet-ridden body and a host of unanswered questions. For the previous 18 months, she had been dragged along like a piece of debris caught up in the tornado of her husband’s criminal world. Whilst acknowledging that her suspicions had been aroused on a couple of occasions, Katarina had wanted to believe that the generous and passionate man she had met through the agency funded their lavish lifestyle throughlegitimate business interests, as he had claimed. As the dream had started to fade, the stark realities of the criminal activities under- pinning their existence became all too apparent.
After an extensive search of his covert computer files, she had challenged her husband and it was at that moment she learned how little her happiness actually meant to him; she was just another pawn in his twisted games of power and greed. It was with a broken nose and a badly bruised cheekbone that she had sat in the waiting room of the local police station, refusing to move until they had arrested her husband.
Suspecting she was the victim of a domestic abuser who had, until now, remained beneath their radar, the police consigned her vital information to the pile of ‘vengeful accusations, most likely to vaporise within 48 hours.’
Whilst she remained steadfast, refusing to speak with the family liaison officer and rejecting offers of safe house accommodation, the emergency call came through, requiring all available officers to attend an incident located on a deserted building site on the edge of the city. Shots had been fired and a number of casualties had been counted. So far, there was one reported death. Katarina knew it was him. She had directed the police to this very location yet they had chosen to disregard her valuable information. Realising their mistake, they were reluctant to let her go, but had no reason to hold her against her will. She had been offered an alternative identity and some funding towards a move across the country.

However Katarina knew that she could trust no one else with her life. She would make her own arrangements; and she knew exactly what she had to do to take back control over her own life.
(c) Helen Noble 2014

Scorpio Moons is scheduled for publication on 29th August and currently available for pre-order

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