A Dark Beginning: A China Dark Novel Read Online Free Page B

for her pupils to adjust to the darkness, during which time her ears picked up a faint shuffling sound from behind her. She spun round, the alcohol in her blood threatening to destabilise her to the point of tumbling. Staggering, she recovered her balance and strained to stare dewy-eyed back the way she had come.
    At the end of the passage a bright orange rectangle of light was almost blinding, and turned the scruffy walls and gateways, bins and rubbish bags into a mere hint of dark shapes and shadows. There were no more sounds, and Poppy breathed again, her exhalation loud in the near silence. As she breathed in she could smell damp rubbish and urine.
    She muttered to herself and realised how drunk she really was as she heard her own words slurring. "Come on girl. You've had a good night, but it's time for bed now."
    She knew Mimi would be waiting hungrily by the door for her return. She had only bought her a couple of weeks ago from an old lady in the downstairs flat, a present to herself to help her get over that scumbag Robert. How dare he leave her after five years! If anyone was going to leave anyone it should have been her leaving him. The wedding ring suddenly felt tight and hot on her finger and she thought it was time to sell that particular shackle. He'd been a pretty useless husband anyway. Mother would be disappointed of course. Robert had carried with him the promise of money and social prestige. But then mother didn't have to tolerate his constant cheating, or the belittling comments made to her in front of his posh friends.
    She was angry when Robert had first told her that they were finished, but since meeting her new man she was beginning to accept that this was the best thing that could have happened to her. Her new lover may not be rich but he was so fit, and so very caring. He never slagged her off. Ok, it was true that she had to keep their relationship a secret. For now, he had said. But that was a small price to pay. And surely he wouldn't deny her a little Tweet, especially as she hadn't even mentioned his name. He'd never shown any anger towards her in the two weeks they’d been together, so she knew he'd be fine with it.
    She jumped as she heard the abrupt sound of something loud skittering across the alleyway behind her.
    "Who's there?" she shouted into the descending darkness. She was properly scared now. She wished she had chosen the long way home, around the housing estate, and not selected this shortcut just so that she could snuggle up sooner with Mimi on the sofa and tell her all about her wonderful evening.
    The all-encompassing silence was good. She could tell herself that the sound had been a toppling bottle or a cat knocking an empty tin can over. In fact, a vocal response would have been just about the worst thing that could have happened. The only sound layered over the distant traffic was her breathing. Rapid now, almost panting, as if she had just been running. For a second time her heart started to slow down along with her breathing. There was nothing there. Lots of spooky shadows, but no movement that she could detect.
    She decided that with no one about to see her embarrassment she would remove her far-too-high shoes, very sexy but almost impossible to walk in, and walk a little faster for the rest of the way. She might even jog for a bit. No harm in that. She didn't fancy going back the way she had come, despite the welcoming streetlight, which seemed rather a long way off now, apparently receding down the night lined tunnel of crouching, half-hidden boulder shapes.
    Removing her shoes, wobbling then hopping, and eventually stuffing them into her bag, she turned to face the way she was originally heading and started to walk quicker than dignity would normally allow, but not as fast as self-preservation would prefer. When she heard another sound behind her, a faint tap that was just out of sync with the slap of her own bare footfalls on the cold concrete, she started to walk even