Redemption

Chapter 2

Present day

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Bruce had succeeded in purchasing another large bottle of vodka from the local pub, the owner had refused at first but his previous career had meant that there was just a shred of respect left for him in the community.

He really wanted two but the pub owner had told him that this was a once off and not to ever ask again.

Bruce had polished off the entire bottle and now lay soundly on the living room floor. This was normal, once he started to sober up he crawled onto the sofa and stayed there until the alcohol left his system.

It was the early hours of the morning before he started to stir, unfortunately for him he was sober enough to know what was coming.

He was walking through a dark dimly lit street, he didn't know the area but he felt a sense of calm as his body seemed to be involuntarily moving forward.

Suddenly he stopped and crouched down behind a parked car, in front of him stood a woman with long flowing dark hair, she looked suspicious as she was scantily dressed in a short black skirt and high heels.

It was obvious that she was a prostitute, he had arrested his fair share of them and their punters but they always came back. He felt a sense of pain for them, surely no woman would do this sort of work if they didn't have any other choice.

With all his training he should have gone over to her and persuaded her to go home but his feet were glued to the pavement.

Out of nowhere he saw a black car pull up and the young girl sashayed over to the car, as she got closer to the car the headlights lit up her face. She had old tired eyes that didn't match her twenty something years, he guessed she must of had her share of hardship. Her lips were stained a bright shade of red that seemed to already be in seducing mode.

Her green eyes were masked by the heavy make up that he assumed helped get themselves into the right frame of mind and get their game on.

Bruce shifted his weight slightly as his training kicked in, he reached for his phone and felt nothing. He forgot that he pawned it for drink last week.

He was just about to step out from the car when he heard a bloodcurdling scream followed by a muffled sound. He watched in horror as the woman fell lifelessly to the ground and the car sped away leaving a deathly silence and as usual he woke up drenched with sweat and feeling even more exhausted than before he fell asleep.

He had the same dream every night, at first it was hazy but as time went on the images got clearer and clearer and he was noticing more details around him.

He had no idea what was happening to him but it all seemed to stem from that day eight months ago, maybe the blow to his head had damaged something in his brain, he wasn't sure but he had no idea how to stop the visions.

More recently he was getting the same visions throughout the day but those ones always gave him a splitting headache that now forced him to carry a bottle of paracetamol were ever he went.

He had already been to the police station and asked if there had been any murders involving a young girl being shot at close range at the roadside, but all he got was that it was probably a hallucination caused from his drinking.

The people whom he worked side by side with throughout his career now treated him as if he was the plague.

Some pretended to be sympathetic but he could hear them whisper and laugh behind his back. He could see the disappointment in their eyes and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Bruce sighed and popped a couple of painkillers in his mouth and picked up a flat can of coke to wash them down with. He glanced at the time on the clock and groaned, it was to late to go back to sleep but he really didn't want to face another day just yet.