Glimmer of Hope: A gripping psychological thriller novella with a nail-biting ending Read online

  The feeling of being sure of Sordida’s exact location gave Alecia a few butterflies in her stomach, the kind of nervousness that came from not knowing what to expect. It was progress that had taken just a couple of hours. It was quite strange how this club has no website or advertisement. What are they hiding?

  Alecia kept a screenshot of the map including a record of the forum chat to save on her laptop to scrutinise further later this evening. Everything seemed to be coming together nicely in a short space of time. A discussion with forum posts about the club, the industrial estate location established; she was even contemplating with the idea of booking a taxi and heading straight there for a look this evening. Would they even let her in?

  Although Alecia could drive, affording a car was another life luxury she had to do without while relying on taxi’s and public transport because it was cheaper. Going back out might mean dressing back up in something quite revealing, but as an escort just starting out, she had a few outfits that would be sure to show off her best assets. Not one client had seen her real dark blonde hair due to the vast amount of red and brunette wigs she had collected for herself. She wasn’t in the escorting game half-hearted. Alecia knew that this was one of the worst-paid acting jobs imaginable. Still, it was entertaining her, and the primary purpose was to better her lifestyle. An accountancy role might appeal more to her to fall back on in her fifties should she ever be able to cope with conforming to social norms. She was at a place in her life where it felt all doors of opportunity were closed and life was passing her by. Surviving day by day, week by week, the months soon flew by. Months of uncertainties and struggles.

  Alecia curiously checked the forums one more time before planning to head to bed for the evening. There was one message waiting for her. She was excited, nervous and hopeful of the reply. In that short space of time waiting for the pages to open, about fifty different what-ifs came to mind. Would it be an absolute denial of all knowledge of Sordida, she wondered, would he too have many questions, would he even believe her?

  To her surprise, the message she received back from one of the forum guys was just one line and it contained nothing more than a mobile phone number with a date and time. That’s tomorrow at 1 p.m., he wanted her to call around lunchtime tomorrow?

  Alecia couldn’t wait that long, so she picked up her mobile phone and dialled in the number. There were two rings as she took a deep breath to compose herself and switch into character.

  ‘This call cannot be completed right now as dialled. Please try again later.’

  No sooner had she ended the call from the automated response, her mobile phone rang back with caller displaying showing he was calling her back. She jumped up off the sofa with the phone to her ear, quite nervous – she answered.

  ‘Hello.’ Alecia greeted the caller. ‘Thanks for calling me straight back. I don’t know your name, or who you are, but I appreciate it. I’m trying to find out about…’

  ‘You do not need that information.’ A middle-aged male voice replied, cutting her off mid-sentence. ‘Call me back tomorrow at the time I gave. No sooner, nor later than that. I can only speak tomorrow. I can’t talk about it right now. Speak soon.’

  The caller hung up immediately leaving Alecia baffled. She sat back down on the sofa with her laptop convinced that this was confirmation he must know of Sordida. Why else would he act that secretive? Otherwise, he could have just replied with complete denial of knowing anything about the place. She was desperate to call Jake, to make him aware of her knowledge that she is confident of Sordida’s location, she believed she found it, but it was not good escorting practice to call any clients unannounced. The discretion in this industry was of utmost importance, without trust, there would never be repeat work, without work, there would be no extra income – it was a vicious circle of deceit. They could even have wives. She didn’t want to upset her clients. Once the money was in her hands, she had to very quickly learn to stop thinking about the guilt. What if someone cheated on her that way?

  In a moment of mind diversion to stop herself from calling Jake, using her laptop, she browsed back to the forum topic where she had seen the original replies between the two members. It was no longer available to read. Alecia was stunned, why would you do that, she thought, removing all trace or knowledge, why now?

  Nothing was making much sense, although she hoped that the call she had to make lunchtime tomorrow would make it all the more clearer. She knew she was onto something. In her mind, she had already begun pre-planning a whole conversation. She needed to remember how Jake had described his experience to her and then twist the scenario to suit her line of work. Her only hope now of getting anywhere close to more information about the club was to state that she was taken there as an escort to watch a hunt. To have witnessed a wealthy couple seek and find a poor willing male to sleep with while watching behind two-way glass mirrors as he was unaware. Cementing the idea in her head that she was there that night of Jake’s performance, Alecia convinced herself she could come across undoubted. All she had to be was believable.

  Alecia closed the laptop to head to her bed for a good night’s sleep because of an early start working at the supermarket store in the morning for a few hours. Tomorrow can’t come quick enough, she thought, game on!

  Just as she moved from the sofa to the single bed which was pushed far up against a wall in the bedsit, her mobile phone started ringing only this time the screen displayed caller unknown.

  ‘Hello, who is this?’ Alecia asked. ‘I don’t recognise your number?’

  ‘It’s me, Jake.’ He responded. ‘Something has been playing on my mind all day. I really need to see you again. I need to talk to you some more about Sordida. Can I book you in for another session this coming Friday afternoon at three?’

  Alecia paused for a second. She knew she had to hold back, but struggled.

  ‘Jake – I think I know where Sordida is. It’s about thirty miles east of Westmouth.’ Alecia replied. ‘I know where the industrial estate is too, it’s behind there. I had to do a bit of digging around on the internet tonight.’

  ‘Don’t go. I beg you.’ Jake shouted down the phone to interrupt her. ‘I fucking well mean it, Alecia. I told you in strict confidence because I needed to tell you about that shit. I haven’t told you the half of it, everything is complicated and I told you that already. You need to stay away from that lot, they’re nothing but trouble.’

  ‘No worries don’t fret about it. I don’t want you having a panic attack on me.’ Alecia responded to calm him back down. ‘I’ll see you on Friday. You know the drill already - cash only. I’ll book you in my diary now.’

  ‘Do you have any red or black leather thigh-high boots?’ Jake asked, now calmer. ‘The seductive psychiatrist look, is that good with you?’

  ‘I’ll see what I can find. It shouldn’t be a problem.’ Alecia replied. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’

  Alecia then ended the call, her eyelids were heavy and she needed to sleep.

  Sordida and all it could offer flooded her thoughts.

  5

  Alecia stared impatiently at her mobile phone on and off all morning. Making that important phone call at 1 p.m. was the only thing she could think about. The need to find out more about Sordida had distracted her from her day job, all her colleagues could tell she wasn’t in the right frame of mind. She blamed her lack of enthusiasm today on not feeling well. She had been fixated on the time for almost fifteen minutes in the build-up. The last few minutes felt like time had slowed down. Her mind was in overdrive.

  Having finished an excruciating shift at the supermarket stacking one bakery shelf after another all morning, she was unsure if she could look at a loaf of bread again. This mundane lifestyle needed to come to an end.

  The thought of making that phone call today to discuss what should be the existence of Sordida and her possible way in, kept her mind diverted from the tedious duty of replacing near out of date items in a shopping aisle for fresh ones. It was playing on her mind. She was obsessed with needing change. Life was getting Alecia down.

  Standing outside on this Thursday afternoon with the autumn breeze blowing her hair as the sun was barely visible from the cloudy skies, she leant back on the wall from behind her place of work to contemplate making the call. With the time on her mobile now at 1 p.m. precisely, Alecia dialled the number, then held the phone to her ear as it rang. Her nerves almost got the better of her, but this mysterious man could be the answer to her prayers. She had to take a risk.

  ‘Hello.’ Alecia hesitated as he answered after a few rings. ‘It’s me from last night. I wanted to talk to you about Sordida. You asked me to call today. Do you remember?’

  Alecia walked away from the supermarket to make the call more private between them both. A group of people were in earshot, pushing a few shopping trollies that clanged together as they walked them to their cars. The noise was irritating her; it was a jingle-jangle of metal against a rough pavement right up there with scraping nails down a chalkboard for sounds that make you wince.

  ‘Why did you choose to message me, Alecia?’ The voice replied. ‘If you know the highlights of our hunt evenings then you know how we keep our Sordida affairs strictly confidential. You should know we don’t do business like this?’

  Alecia stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart rate sped up to the point where she could feel her heart pounding in her chest like a small drum. How did he know her name?

  ‘How did you find out my name?’ Alecia asked politely. ‘I never gave you my name, just my completely separate forum username. I don’t even know your own name?’

  ‘Thank you for bringing that thread on the forums to my attention.’ He replied in his deep husky voice. ‘I have now removed all trace of it. Sor
dida has a strict code of discretion and trust. It wasn’t meant to be that obvious. What did you want from us?’

  Alecia didn’t give an immediate response. Instead, she looked up at the sky to provide herself with a few seconds of thinking time, every second now was vital. This conversation was her only chance of a way into Sordida’s network. Adaptable communication was another one of her best skills, so now was no better time than to kick them into action. Fucking hell, she thought, what the fuck do I say now?

  ‘I was curious to see if there was any mention of it online because I’ve not been there in a while and I’d like to return soon.’ Alecia replied. ‘I’m single again, so I was checking if it was still open for business because I could use the extra money now. Also, I really could do with knowing how you found out my name?’

  ‘It was easy.’ He replied. ‘I searched for your mobile number online after you called me. This led me to your escort page with your picture, number and name all over it. Since you’re questioning me about it, I can assume that Alecia is your real name?’

  Shit! Alecia thought, one tiny fucking mistake.

  ‘It is.’ She replied, ‘I guess since we are straight with each other. What is your name?’

  ‘You can call me, Mr X. I like to be known more secretively due to my business ventures. We can talk more in person if you wish?’ He replied. ‘It’s easier to discuss Sordida face to face because you never know who might be listening down these phones. Modern technology is not to be trusted. I hope you don’t mind?’

  ‘When and where. Name a time and a place.’ Alecia replied. ‘I’ll be there. I don’t mind at all. I’m completely discreet.’

  ‘I’ll meet you tonight at about eight-ish.’ Mr X replied. ‘Head out to Hadleigh House Hotel on the road to Winston. It’s about five to six miles out of Westmouth city centre, can you be there at that time?’

  ‘I’ll be there, I swear it.’ Alecia responded, smiling with glee. ‘Shall I meet you outside the entrance?’

  ‘No, I’ll text you a room number after our call.’ He replied. ‘If you don’t turn up, I’ll take it that you aren’t interested in any proposal to potentially work with Sordida. I don’t like timewasters.’

  ‘I’m completely interested in working with Sordida.’ Alecia reassured him. ‘I am sure I can keep your clientele entertained.’

  ‘I’ll look forward to meeting you later this evening.’ He replied. ‘We can talk about the terms and conditions then.’

  Mr X had ended the conversation.

  Alecia was almost at the bus stop to endure a journey home crammed on a bus with a considerable amount of old people at this hour of the day. All the pensioners in the locality made full use of their free old age pensioner bus passes to get out during the daytimes. She often thought of mid-day buses to the supermarket as cattle trucks for the elderly.

  The bus arrived on time, which was a rare occurrence. Usually, Alecia would be standing around a good few minutes late thinking the only excuse the driver could have was an accident at the very least. Alecia stepped on the bus, paid the driver before proceeding to walk to the back while looking around to see all the rows of grey hair looking at her as she made her way to a seat. Sitting down comfortably, Alecia grinned to herself. She was pleased with such progress in a short space of time, yet inwardly annoyed at the expense that will be incurred later getting a taxi to Hadleigh House Hotel.

  An expense that has to pay off. This is her one and only chance to make an impression.

  6

  The vibrating function of Alecia’s mobile phone quickly awoke her from the daydream of one day owning her own home after leaving the small bedsit. The reality of the on-going bus journey home was ten minutes of hell. The only appreciative part of the trip was that no one had sat next to her. After work, she liked to unwind in her own company and wonder off into thoughts of living a different lifestyle.

  Alecia took her phone from her pocket, glanced at the screen to read a text from Mr X that was showing just the number 232. That must be the room number, she thought, finally. It was progress at long last.

  She was to meet him at room two-three-two at 8 p.m. this evening and put the phone back in her pocket. She took a sigh as she wondered what the next step was to guarantee entry into Sordida’s exclusive club. Alecia wasn’t even sure what she could talk about, if she had to concoct more lies, then her only worry was stating something that would never have happened which could blow her cover. She told him she was meant to have been there before, yet she hadn’t described a single room. Jake holds more information that she could use and there was still plenty of unanswered questions. One of her concerns now was why did he want to meet her so soon? Could he be trusted?

  If she wanted to make extra money as an escort, Alecia understood that at times it would have to involve taking risks. With a newfound hunger to find some wealthy clients, she had no intention of backing out this evening.

  Having made it home after a fifteen-minute bus journey followed by a five-minute walk, Alecia opened the door to her bedsit. She could smell a musty, damp smell caused by her wet towel hanging to dry over the bathroom door. The room desperately needed vacuuming as she could still see food crumbs piling up in corners by the sofa and bedside cabinet. A small collection of empty Diet Coke cans littered the table.

  Alecia returned to the couch, ready to open her laptop. With just a few hours spare before having to get prepared for the hotel meet this evening; she wanted to check online if any potential escorting work had reached her inbox. The internet connection was still going strong and logging in only took a matter of seconds. There were a few messages from random guys asking about rates, dates and an interesting one from a gentleman who said he was seventy years old looking for a naked cleaner! Surely a joke, she wondered, would he even know how to use the internet?

  Alecia quickly responded to them all in a matter of minutes. However, nothing was guaranteeing any prompt work for later this afternoon. Even as an escort, she felt disheartened by the lack of response. She wasn’t ugly, very business-minded with the ability to act different characteristics as and when required. Alecia, in her mind, felt she was a goldmine waiting to be discovered by a wealthy businessman who would need her for regular periods. Overnight stays, travelling abroad, and to be his high-end escort for important trips. With not even a sniff of work this afternoon, Alecia reverted to a more minimalist plan B to make use of the wasted time and walked to the bathroom.

  Having spent a few minutes brushing her long brunette wig before applying a choice of foundation and lipstick on her face, Alecia returned to the sofa once again. Her nerves were playing games within her stomach as she felt a heavy sinking feeling. It had been a few days since she was on display with her webcam, but she wanted to get used to being seen and performing actions for men on the internet. She had considered getting herself a private premium rate number so men would pay a few pounds per minute to call her. After some research, she realised the set-up costs were too expensive for her. She had even considered saving for this service until the extortionate electric bill landed on her doorstep. Alecia needed a break.

  Alecia placed the wig upon her head, took a deep breath before loading up the adult webcam website she joined recently. It wasn’t an easy way to earn money with her inbuilt laptop webcam, and she felt it was a more aggressive tactic of displaying and teasing to lure horny men into buying credits that they can offer her. It was a win-win situation for the adult site because not only did they profit from the credit sales, they additionally took a commission back from each cam performer. All the men who stored credits in their online accounts were free to give them away to who-ever they wished, but for the performer, it came at the cost of doing what the men wanted. Some performers were filthier than others, although eventually, if you built your credits up to a reasonable limit, you could cash out and transfer the money to your bank account.