Prologue
Rain slammed into his face. Driven by the near gale-force wind that blew in from Scandinavia. He stared out into the darkness. The North Sea below was whipped by the fierce wind, and whitecaps filled his field of view as waves crashed against the base of the cliffs. His fingers gripped the cold metal rail that he sat upon. His t-shirt and jeans were stuck to his skin, his tears washed away by the rain that soaked his face.
It was early winter, yet, he no longer felt the cold, as he stared straight ahead. Slowly, he lowered his gaze and focused on the cliff-edge, less than six feet away. He felt no fear, for the first time in nearly a year he felt sure of himself, he was ready.
He pulled himself slowly to his feet, he looked out to sea, he took a small step forward, towards the edge of the cliff. One more step, then another, a gust of wind rocked him back on his heels. He gathered himself again and he took another step forward, the wind seemed to intensify, and he felt as if something was pressed onto his chest. He couldn’t move.
He glanced down, nothing, he looked up again and tried to take another step, but the wind blew harder and the pressure on his chest increased. He raised his head to the dark clouds.
“Susan!”
He screamed into the wind, which, seemed to increase, he was rocked back onto his heels. Once more he tried to move but his feet seemed to be stuck to the grass, the wind was now constant, he lifted his arms to the sky.
“Susan!”
A massive gust of wind rocked him back, he stumbled and sat back down onto the rail, where he slumped, his head in his hands. Almost immediately the gale that had blown him back seemed to fade.
He had no idea how long he’d been sat there when he heard a noise behind him, he turned to see a police officer, about ten yards from him. She fought to keep her hat on her head as she moved slowly towards him. He looked behind her, he could see two patrol cars and an ambulance, parked on the road about a hundred yards away.
She slowly approached him, her fluorescent jacket glistened as rainwater fell from it, she yelled out to him.
“Are you alright sir?”
He stared back at her, she tried again.
“Sir! Is everything alright?”
His eyes fell to the ground. His body began to shake as he broke down.
‘No, everything is not alright Officer.’
