Teena: A House of Ill Repute Read Online Free Page A

would!'
     
    'This whole thing is starting to get on my nerves now,' I said. We were sitting in the lounge and nearly two hours had passed since our belated breakfast - two hours during which we had discussed and debated the various events over and over, all of us promoting various theories and possibilities, but none of us coming even vaguely close to suggesting what our next course of action ought to be, nor even if there was a next course of action that would have any value in it.
    For my own part, I was simply convinced the next course of action lay not in our own time, but back in the past, and that meanwhile I was merely going through the motions until I was whisked back again to continue whatever it was I had initially been taken back to do. Whether or not I once again might have an ally in Andy/Indira, of course I had no idea, any more than I could guess when my next time trip might happen.
    It was a disconcerting feeling and one I have never quite managed to come to terms with, even now all these years later and after so many trips back to so many differing times and situations. It was also complicated by another feeling of unease caused by my new distrust of myself, for I was growing more and more convinced there was something within my psyche that was at least as bad as whatever it was that drove Hacklebury, though I fervently hoped it was not in the same league of depravity as whatever it was motivating Megan Crowthorne.
    'It's just not fair,' I muttered, knowing I sounded about nine or ten years old as I said it. 'I didn't ask for any of this stuff and now I feel as if I'm no longer in control of my own life.'
    'Join the club,' Anne-Marie smiled across at me. 'None of us are ever in control of our own lives.'
    I didn't find her attempt at jocularity very funny and I pouted back defiantly. 'This is hardly the same,' I retorted pointedly. 'And it's getting worse. It was bad enough going back there and waking up as Angelina, but now these sort of flashback things on top of it all... it's too much, honestly it is!'
    Andy, who was sitting in the armchair next to mine, reached across and gently stroked my forearm. 'Teenie, there's not much we can do about it,' he said soothingly. 'But maybe, if we can get to the bottom of what actually happened to Hacklebury and Mad Meg, maybe then it'll all stop.'
    'Maybe it will,' I agreed, sighing, not sounding at all convinced. 'But just how do we go about finding out? Everything we've tried has either ended up at a dead end, or else given us bits and pieces that don't fit together. The only place we're likely to get any answers is back there, and I'm not sure I like the idea of going back there again. It was bad enough before, but now I know Megan is actually capable of murder. What about if she does catch up with Angelina? She may keep her alive for a while to torment her, but she can't risk keeping her around for too long. Even she'll realise that. If Hacklebury finds out she's been lying to him, there'll be one hell of a row. No, if Megan catches her, Angelina won't last long and what if I happen to be her when the time comes?'
    'I don't think Mad Meg will be able to kill you,' Anne-Marie reasoned, 'not even if she does kill Angelina while you're in her body. If that does happen, then I reckon you'll just come straight back here and that'll be an end to it.'
    'Oh, you reckon , do you?' I asked sarcastically. 'But can you guarantee it, eh?' I stared straight at her and Anne-Marie for once looked nonplussed. 'No,' I continued quietly, 'you can't guarantee anything any more than I can, and it won't be you that's at risk, either, will it?'
    'No, it won't,' she agreed, shaking her head, 'and I wish there was something I could say or do that might help, but there isn't, not unless I get whisked back with you eventually.'
    'And maybe turn up as a Hacklebury?' I suggested.
    Anne-Marie smiled. 'Well, that would solve all the problems, wouldn't it?' she said. 'If I turned up as dear old