The Snow Killer by Melissa Holden Page A

Danny looked down at the table, and stared for a moment at the shot glasses in front of him. After a brief silence, he handed Diane one of the tequila shots and simply said: "Cheers?" 
    "OK kid, cheers". They clinked glasses and swallowed the amber liquid. The burn - that's what did it for him, not the taste, but the feeling of fire running down his throat. The fire calmed him when it should have enticed him. But Danny had always been made aggressive by much simpler things than alcohol.  Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. 
    Diane pointed at the window to the left of her, "Hey, look: it's snowing". 

Da. Dum. Da. Dum. Da. Dum.  She sounded young; as if it was her first snow. Her face glowed in the dark pub. Danny saw (for the first time in the moments they had known each other) what kind of woman she really was: not a stubborn, angry old woman, but a scared girl in need of a friend.  Why else do you ask a stranger to go to the pub, if not to avoid going home?  Da. Dum. Da. Dum. Da. Dum.  
    "I need to go," Danny watched Diane's face darken as he spoke. Feeling guilty, he said, "You know, just because of the snow. I'll walk you back if you like?" Da. Dum. Da. Dum. Da. Dum.  
    She shot him a weak smile, finished her drink and stood up. "It's alright kid, I'm getting a cab." She smile again, and grabbed Danny's hand. Diane pulled a pen from her pocket and scrawled her phone number into the palm of his hand. "Give me a call sometime. Everyone needs a bit of company, and I get the feeling you need it more than most". And with that, she walked out.  Pump. Pump. Pump.  Danny was left sat at the table feeling frustrated.  Pump. Pump. Pump.   She doesn't know anything about me. Rush. Rush. Rush.  He took a mouthful from his drink.  Da. Dum. Da. Dum. Da. Dum.   I should have walked her home. Cabs aren't  that  safe.  Danny took a swig of his drink and rushed out to follow her, to find she was already gone. He swore under his breath at the snowflakes that landed on his iced skin, and pulled his hood up over his short dirt-blonde hair. Rush. Rush. Rush. It’s only snow. It’s not the same snow. Every snowflake is different. They aren’t the same ones. Danny searched for a lighter in his jacket, before remembering he’d given in to Diane. Rush. Rush. Rush. But they could be. They could have seen it all. They know it was my fault. He turned the corner, bumping into a man in a leather jacket.
    “Sorry, you alright, mate?” The man had a strange look on his face. He knows. Pump. Pump. Pump. They know I killed Emily and Mum. They were there. Rush. Pump. It was the snows fault. I couldn’t stop the car. Rush. Pump. Rush. Pump. I shouldn’t have been driving. Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. Rush. I couldn’t drive, Mum knew that.
    “You need to practice, Danny, otherwise you’ll never pass, and then I’ll have to keep driving you everywhere.”
    “Emily will pass before you do.”
    “You should have learned when you were seventeen like all the other kids.”
    “No, Mum, don’t let me drive.” Danny stopped abruptly and slammed his back against the outer-wall of the block of flats on Spring Lane. “You shouldn’t have let me drive.”
    Danny began to sob, but stopped when he heard a voice.
    “Oh my god, Jen, there’s some beggar crying. Yeah. It’s a guy. I know right. I feel so bad for him, like, ‘cause it’s snowing and everything. I better go, Joe’s picking me up. Piss off, he’s my brother!” Danny moved to see where the estranged voice was coming from, and realized it was the girl from the pub on the phone. He watched as she put her phone away and moved towards a lamppost. As she leaned against it, she pulled her thin jacket around her, and looked around. They were at the edge of a council estate, in the middle of the night, and it was snowing. Hardly a safe place to wait – doesn’t she know anything about Stranger Danger? Pump. Pump. Pump. The girl