The Thirteenth Read Online Free Page B

drawers and cupboards that lay under the long shelf-like desk that made up the counter, but it refused to give up the secret of the stock list.
    Why had she taken this stupid job anyway? Oh yes, because it was the only one she’d got an interview for. Not even the mighty McDonald’s had given her a call back.
    Val started to look through the books knowing that it would only be a matter of time before the woman realised that she didn’t have a clue what she was doing and walked out. Val followed the aisle to the back of the shop, where she stood looking blankly at the ‘new religion’ section.
    Snapping her out of her miserable reverie, Val heard the front door bell ring again. Great! More unhappy customers. Maybe if she stayed here forever she would never have to tell her parents about the huge tattoo on her arm or disappoint Wallace with his slowest week ever.
    “Happy Birthday, Val.” What a joke! As she stood bathing in self-pity, Val felt a burning pain in her arm, but this was not the same as the previous pains. “Hey a little variety in pain can’t hurt,” Val said, annoyed that there was more to be added to her disastrous birthday.
    When she lifted her sleeve, she saw that one of the symbols looked as if it was on fire. From her limited zodiac knowledge, she presumed that the symbol showing two fish was something to do with water. Why, she wondered, was it that just one symbol seemed to be alight?
    Her concentration was once again broken when she heard a noise that sounded like a muffled scream. Her attention was drawn behind her to what looked like a reflection in the window. She could just make out a blurred image of the woman who had come into the shop, and she was being held down by a large man.
    He heart thumping with fear, Val moved nearer to the glass to get a better idea of what was going on. As she did so, her pump caught on one of the old wooden floorboards and she tripped, forcing her to use her hand on the windowpane to stop herself from falling face first into the glass.
    As her hand touched the pane she felt a strong pulling sensation that went into her very core, and then everything went dark. When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing at the front of the shop feeling quite dizzy and looking down on a man trying to strangle her customer. She wanted to know how she had arrived here, but the gravity of the woman’s situation seemed more important. Although the woman was struggling, she was most definitely not winning the fight. Val’s instincts kicked in and she leapt onto the man’s back like a wild animal. If she had been given time to think, maybe she would have come up with something better, but it was the best she could do.
    The man stood up with Val clinging to his back, and she saw the enormity of her problem. The man was at least six and a half feet tall. At that point, he threw her off effortlessly. She felt a deep pain in her back as she collided with the water cooler, her mobile spilling out of her pocket and smashing into pieces against the wall.
    “Damn,” Val hissed, looking up to see him attacking the woman once more. This was making her really mad, though she was pleased for a second that she had left the new mobile phone her parents had bought her for her birthday safe at home, charging.
    Val stood up and went for him again. Surely two women could beat one man. As she hit the water cooler for a second time, she began to doubt that she was right. She tried to quickly suss out the situation; she couldn’t beat him and he was covering the counter so calling the police was out.
    What transpired next caught Val totally by surprise. The woman had broken free and was running towards her. As she ran past, Val felt an uncontrollable urge to stand between her and the man who was now coming after her. She darted out in front of him, and he stopped dead, then slowly bent down to look straight into her eyes. Val was almost overcome by the smell of his rancid breath.
    The woman