The Catch

by T.M. Logan

There was something hidden in the dark shadows behind his eyes. Something off. Something very, very wrong indeed.

I cleared my throat, hearing myself say the words. ‘My permission for what?’ ‘I’d love to ask Abbie to marry me.’

‘How do you mean, Abs?’ I said quietly. ‘What are you saying?’ ‘The wedding date isn’t next year,’ Abbie said, swallowing hard. ‘It’s next month.’

Don’t use Ryan to get rid of George. Use George to get rid of Ryan.

Is that you, Ryan? Is that what you do? Are you there to give comfort to the dying? Or to pick up prostitutes on the street? Which one is the real you?

Got you. This time, I’ve got you.

Joshua Luke Collier 12th July 1999 – 4th September 2002 Beloved son of Claire and Ed, cherished baby brother of Abbie Sleep, beautiful boy I laid a hand on the marble, the stone cold and hard beneath my fingers. ‘Happy birthday, son.’

Alone far in the wilds and mountains I hunt, Wandering amazed at my own lightness and glee, In the late afternoon choosing a safe spot to pass the night, Kindling a fire and falling asleep on the gather’d leaves.

‘Everyone has their breaking point, Mrs Collier. Most of us won’t even know where ours falls until we’ve already crossed it.’

It wasn’t in his nature. That was it. Wasn’t. Past tense.

A man who had played her like a maestro. A man followed at every turn by disappearance and death: his mother and father, his sister. His great aunt. His foster mother. His first wife.

Her dad had figured Ryan out. Her dad— ‘What’s that you’re reading?’ Ryan asked.

He knew its secrets. And the Dark Peak knew his.

‘OK,’ he called finally, to her retreating back. ‘I won’t follow you. But just so you know, you’re going the wrong way.’

‘No one actually knows anyone, do they? Not really. They think they know, or they know what the other person’s willing to show them, but they don’t truly know them. It’s impossible. The only person you can truly know is yourself.’

Life is a city of crooked streets, death the marketplace where all men meet.

I will always be yours, and you will always be mine.