Raven's Gate

himself at Kelvin, hurling him into one of the shelves. Kelvin recovered quickly. He was bigger and stronger than Matt. He coiled forward, then lashed out with a fist, catching Matt on the side of the head. Matt fell back, dazed.
    “What’s the matter with you, Matt?” Kelvin snarled. “What’s your problem?”
    “
You
are! You didn’t have to do that! You must be out of your mind!” Matt’s head was spinning. He didn’t know what to say.
    “I was only thinking of you, mate.” Kelvin jabbed at him with his finger. “I only did it for you.”
    The security guard groaned. Matt forced himself to look down. The man was still alive. But he was lying in a pool of blood that seemed to be spreading with every second.
    “Let’s go!” Kelvin hissed.
    “No. We can’t leave him.”
    “What?”
    “Where’s your mobile? We have to call for help.”
    “To hell with that!” Kelvin ran his tongue over his lips. “You stay if you want to. I’m out of here.”
    “You can’t!”
    “Watch me!”
    And then he was gone, disappearing back up the corridor. Matt ignored him. The security guard groaned a second time and tried to say something. Feeling sick, Matt crouched down beside him and placed a hand on his arm. “Don’t move,” he said. “I’m going to get help.”
    But help had already arrived. Matt heard the sirens seconds before the screech of tyres announced that the police had arrived. They must have begun their journey to the warehouse the moment Kelvin forced open the door. Leaving the guard, Matt stood up and walked out into the open. A whole section of the wall suddenly slid aside. Matt could see all the way down the warehouse and out into the darkness, which was flashing black blue black blue. There were three cars parked across the entrance. A set of headlamps came on and a dazzling beam of light shot through the darkness and hammered into his eyes. At the same time, half a dozen figures, no more than silhouettes, moved towards him. He could see that they were all dressed in protective clothing. Some of them were carrying guns.
    They had already caught Kelvin. He was being led, squealing and crying, by two armoured men a great deal bigger than him. Then he saw Matt. At once he turned and pointed.
    “It wasn’t me!” he whined in a high-pitched voice. “It was him! He made me come! And he killed the guard!”
    “Don’t move!” somebody shouted, as two more men came running towards Matt.
    Matt stood where he was. Slowly, he raised his arms. The palms of his hands were caught in the light from the cars and now he saw that they were glistening red, covered in blood.
    “He did it! He did it! He did it!” Kelvin screamed.
    The two police officers reached Matt and fell on him. His hands were twisted behind his back and cuffed. He heard the click of the metal and knew there was nothing he could do. Then he was jerked off his feet and dragged, silent and unresisting, out into the night.

BROKEN GLASS
    They took Matt to a building that wasn’t a prison and wasn’t a hospital but was something in between. The car drove into a rectangular, tarmac-covered area with high walls all around. As they drew to a halt, a steel door slid across, blocking the way out. The door closed with a loud, electric buzz. Matt heard the locks engage. They seemed to echo inside his head. He wondered if he would ever see the world on the other side of the door again.
    “Out!” The voice didn’t seem to belong to anyone. It told him what to do and he obeyed. It was drizzling and for a few moments he felt the cold water against his face and was almost grateful for it. He wanted to wash. He could still feel the blood on his hands, behind his back. It had dried and gone sticky.
    They passed through a set of double doors into a corridor with harsh lighting, tiles, the smell of urine and disinfectant. People in uniforms passed him by. Two policemen, then a nurse. Matt was still handcuffed. He had seen people being arrested on television but he had never realized what it really felt like, to have his freedom taken away like this. He could feel his arms, pinned behind his back. He was utterly defenceless.
    The two policemen stopped in front of a desk, where a third man in a blue jersey made some entries in a book. He asked a few questions but Matt didn’t understand what he was saying. He could see the man’s mouth moving. He heard the words. But they seemed far away and made no sense.
    Then he was on the move again,