Текст книги "The Weight of Souls"

Автор книги: Bryony Pearce

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

20
HOW BAD COULD IT BE?

“Don't speak to me,” I snapped, glaring at the piece of paper in my hand. I'd copied the postcode from memory, and had got it wrong.

“Bad day at school, dear?”

“Seriously, Hargreaves, if you don't shut up...” I turned my glare up and down the street. It was a quiet residential road with a large modern church right in the middle.

“What, you'll kill me?” Still, he took a step to one side.

“I don't have to let you stay in my house.” I shoved him so hard he staggered. “And I'm more than happy to transfer the Mark to Tamsin bloody Harper.”

I swung back round, clutching the paper to my heaving chest. I wished I really did have the guts to Mark Tamsin; that would teach her.

After a couple of bitchy remarks she'd pretty much left Hannah alone for the rest of the day, turning all her vitriol on me. I hadn't realised how much Hannah's quiet presence gave me the strength to put up with her. Now I was on my own and my ears still burned.

Hannah would forgive me in a few days, she had to. Until then... I growled under my breath... until my friend came back, I'd focus on getting rid of Justin Hargreaves. Which meant Marking his killer so he could move on.

And that meant finding the V Club.

“Fine.” I exhaled noisily. “I'm lost. Where am I supposed to meet them?”

“Seriously – here?”

Justin shrugged. “See, you weren't lost. Where did you think you were heading?”

“Not a church hall.”

He steered me forward by my elbow. “We're a youth group.”

As we walked I peered around me, challenging the eyes of passing tourists and checking every group for outliers.

Justin shook my arm. “You aren’t going to get a second to stand for you if you keep shoving the weird down everyone’s throats.”

“I have to check for ghosts,” I hissed angrily.

“I’ll do it for you.”

I hesitated in my scan. “Really?” I whispered.

“Sure. I had a feeling about the old guy. I’d probably be able to ID any others, right?”

“I-I guess.”

“Do you trust me to do this for you?”

Did I? Justin had never liked me. He didn’t believe he was murdered and he didn’t particularly want to move on. This ghost had no incentive to help me find his killer. His only real motivation was that I’d threatened to Mark his girlfriend.

I swallowed. When I came to think about it, if the Darkness came for me, it probably wouldn’t bother Justin at all.

So if he saw another ghost, would he tell me?

I thought about how he’d fought the old guy to stop him from Marking me.

“Well?”

Reluctantly I made the decision. “Alright, but be alert and let me know if you see one of the dead. This kind of place attracts them.”

His grin widened. “You trust me.”

“Just look for the ghosts,” I hissed and strode up the steps into the church, eyes straight ahead for the first time in five years.

It was a Catholic church, I knew that much. It was called Saint Benedict’s and the sign on the door said the Priest was Father Harding and the Deacon, Don Lomas. I paused to savour the sound of those titles: Father, Deacon.

I looked up. It was a modern building, but even from the outside I could see that the windows were stained glass.

The door was ajar. I pushed it all the way open and stepped inside.

There was a bowl of water by the door and a notice-board that was full of newsletters, notes about the parish and information about charities. A letter from the Bishop was the centrepiece. A group of children were being confirmed in two weeks time and the choir practised on Tuesdays. Mrs Christophers was winner of the one hundred club this month.

To my left a wooden bookcase contained hymnbooks. I imagined a line of people trailing past, each taking a book before going through the glass doors in front of them. I blinked and looked away. I was spending too much time taking in sights that I normally skipped over in my search for the dead.

There was another door, a wooden door, to my right. I assumed I would have to go that way, but first… I wanted to see.

I moved towards the glass doors. The early evening sun was catching the windows just right and rainbows painted the pale wooden pews and spilled on the floor like oil on water.

A statue of the Virgin Mary opened her hands to me above a vase of lilies. My shoulders started to loosen and I allowed my eyes to skim lazily towards the altar. It was covered with a gold edged cloth that would have been white, but the light made it so many colours I couldn’t even tell what picture the window was supposed to be casting. I let my gaze follow the fractured image to the crucified man hanging above the altar.

Like the mummy in the museum this was one of the dead that couldn’t bother me. He should have been in agony, I’d heard crucifixion was a horrible death, but whoever had carved the image had given him a loving smile. My hand was suddenly hot inside the glove and I rubbed it on my trousers.

For the first time I wondered what would happen to Justin when he passed over.

“What’re youdoing here?” The drawl could only belong to one person. My eye twitched and I turned. All thoughts of kindness fled.

But I needed someone to second me. “I’m here for the V club, Tamsin. Pete’s proposing me. He didn’t tell you?”

“Harley said he was proposing someone.” She snorted. “What a waste of my time. I had to come all the way over town to get here and now I’ll just have to turn around and head home again.” She tapped her nails thoughtfully on the glass. They made a snick-snick sound, like claws. “Maybe we’ll go out for a Chinky or something, when you’ve been sent on your way.” She tossed her blonde waves. “Oh sorry, was that offensive?” she sneered. “What was Pete thinking?”

The dry scent of lilies tickled the back of my throat as I inhaled. “He has his reasons.” I forced my fists to remain open. “I know a little bit about your club. I’d like to have the chance to be in it. Tell you what, if you second me you can set my initiation dare, that's a thing, right?”

Tamsin hesitated and her eyes filled with calculation. “James sets the initiation dares.”

What had Justin seen in this girl? I glanced to the entrance where I knew he lingered. Instead of watching for ghosts, Justin’s eyes were trained on Tamsin’s red cross-over top.

My heart thudded and I resisted rolling my eyes. The dead would easily get past him and I’d have an early trip into the Darkness because his girlfriend was wearing a tight shirt.

I pasted a smile on my face and forced down the instinct to guard the entrance myself. “So what do you think, Tamsin? If you second me I’ll do whatever dare you set.”

“No double dares at an initiation.” She dragged her nails along the door handle, apparently relishing the feel of her manicure on metal.

“Pete told me.”

“He told you all the rules?”

“Just what I needed to know for tonight.” I didn’t tell her that Justin had filled me in on the rest. And he was right, it was a creepy and dangerous club they had going here.

Her smile was predatory now. “He told you what happens when you don’t complete your dare?”

I nodded, nonchalant. “Social death.”

She licked her lips. “People have hurt themselves, changed schools. Derek was the last.”

I blinked. Justin hadn’t mentioned that Derek had been in the club.

A frown creased my forehead. “I thought Derek was mates with you lot.”

She shrugged. “Rules are rules.”

I caught sight of Justin. At Tamsin’s tectonic shrug his eyes had glazed over. I shook my head. “To be honest, I’m not sure how failure would change things for me.” I grimaced. “I’m already at the bottom of the social scale.”

Outside the church a dog yipped, but Tamsin never took her eyes off me. They were pale blue and slightly slanted. I’d never noticed the slant before. She reached up with her claws but stopped before she touched my skin.

“Oh, you have no idea. Right now, you’re pond scum. We don’t like you. Sure, we’re mean. But we haven’t been trying. You can’t even imagine how much worse things could get for you.”

She was wearing Poison. The perfume filled my lungs and my stomach gave a flip like it wanted to hurl my dinner. I made myself ignore the desire to see her covered in half-digested hamburger.

“Sounds like you’d enjoy that,” I murmured.

She tilted her head and regarded me balefully. “Maybe I will second you. It’ll be a lot of fun when you fail and I’ve been saving an excellent dare for a special occasion.”

I had what I wanted. But the skin on my neck prickled. She turned to go through the open door.

“By the way,” I said through clenched teeth. “I heard they found Justin. I’m sorry.”

She stopped with her back to me. Her bare legs trembled slightly; then she carried on walking as if I’d said nothing at all. As she disappeared through the other wooden door Justin met my eyes sheepishly. I gave him a single glower, but had to remain silent; it was time to go in.

The room was pretty basic. A couple of religious paintings decorated the walls. I didn’t know what they showed exactly. One was an angel, I knew that much; he held a spear through some sort of writhing monster. Another was a saint-like figure, haloed and dressed in white, floating up to heaven on a cloud.

James was busy tacking a photo-shopped poster over the image. It showed an image of Icarus flying too close to the sun and underneath it read:

The V Club

Qui Audet Vincit

I was frowning at the poster when James turned around. “What’s the problem, Oh?” His muscles bulged under his shirt; I’d heard he’d been drinking protein shakes to bulk up. Most of the girls thought he was hot, but to me he looked deformed, like someone had stuck a film star’s head onto a wrestler’s body. He pushed his sleeves up to his elbows and I finally got to see his full tattoo: “Veritas”.

I fought a lip curl. “I just don’t get the connection between Icarus and the club.”

James laughed. “Icarus took a risk and dared to fly. We’re all winners here, risk-takers.” He pumped his fist and I jumped as all the other kids in the room made a matching gesture.

I tore my eyes from the poster, wondering if James even remembered what happened to Icarus at the end of the story.

“We’re all here?” James cast his green-eyed gaze around the circle of plastic chairs. For the first time I noticed Pete leaning against the back wall. He was the only one who wasn’t lowering his hand from the winner’s salute.

I nodded towards him. He didn’t nod back.

James walked towards me. I hadn’t actually realised how strong he was until he grabbed my arm. I wanted to turn to Justin, but James was dragging me towards an empty chair in the middle of the circle. “Sit here.”

I sat and tried to ignore the sensation of all those eyes on me, but the pressure of the hostile gazes made my skin itch. The light from the single hatched window fell on my face and I shifted. As I moved a hand squeezed my shoulder. I jerked and looked up. It was Justin. I exhaled.

James sniggered. “Everything alright, Oh? You seem jumpy.”

“A fly in my hair.” I wriggled to get more comfortable. “Now what?”

There were two chairs still empty; one next to Tamsin, the other next to Harley. Harley lounged back with eyes half-closed; he wasn’t expecting anything of interest to happen. His curls lay flat against his head, and his arms were folded. He made no move at all when Pete dropped into the chair next to him and sat with his fists in his lap.

James took the seat next to Tamsin and her hand immediately crept onto his thigh, her nails tickling his leg in a very familiar gesture. Next to me Justin stiffened. They’d found his body only a short while ago. She hadn’t grieved for long.

“Pete, you’re proposing Taylor for membership of the V club.”

Pete nodded tightly and the light caught his shaved head. I tried to catch his eye, but he didn’t look at me.

“Anyone second the motion?” James stretched lazily and threw one hand behind Tamsin’s chair. She said nothing.

Around me cloth rustled as the others prepared to get up and leave. It was over. I’d never find Justin’s killer.

Then Tamsin stood up. Her fingers trailed up James’ torso, lifting his shirt slightly as she rose. Then she posed; one hand on her jutting hip, the other on James’ shoulder.

“I’ll second.” She pouted as an incredulous chorus shattered the quiet. “But Jamie, will you let me set the dare? Just for tonight.”

The others fell quiet. They’d seen through her, just as I had. This was nothing more than a way to torment me more. She was convinced I’d fail her dare. Their appreciation bit the air.

James frowned. “You know the rules.”

Tamsin walked her fingers up his neck. “I’ve got a really good one and don’t I have a few points saved up?”

James hung his head, thinking. Then finally he nodded. “Majority decides – if the club agrees, we’ll suspend the rule for tonight.” He looked around the group. Most nodded quickly, their faces feral with anticipation. Only Pete shook his head. I closed my gloved fist over the Mark on my palm.

21
THE STUPIDEST THING I’D EVER DONE

I stood with my toes just over the yellow line and allowed another train to speed by without me. The passengers stared at me with sullen incomprehension: why wouldn’t I want to cram myself into the carriage with them?

Sweat was pouring off me and I did a little jog on the spot. Crowded as the station was, I wasn’t even looking for ghosts. I was about to do the stupidest thing I’d ever done. Ever.

I hunched my shoulders and glanced along the platform. A little way down, so it didn’t look like we were together, James, Harley, Tamsin and Pete were standing in a group. Harley had his video phone out but he’d just turned it off, again. They were getting impatient.

How long did I have before they decided I’d failed the dare?

“I don’t think you should do this.” Justin hopped up and down behind me.

I ignored him. A bunch of late night commuters sprinted down the steps, glanced at me standing so close to the edge of the tunnel, then barrelled past, slowing only when they saw the display. Three minutes till the next Northern line train. They had time.

Of course, sometimes the displays were wrong.

I looked down at the yellow line again. It stood out, seemingly the only real colour in the filthy tunnel. There were posters on the walls opposite, flanking the station sign: large curved boards advertising Jack Daniels whiskey and “five star hotels at three star prices” in Sharm el-Sheik.

The picture on the Jack Daniels board was black and white anyway. The pyramids on the holiday board must have been bright once. Now the colours were muted and smeared with soot. My eye followed the curve of the tunnel down to the track. Black metal shone in oily lines. My feet trembled.

I leaned so that I could see a little way into the tunnel. It was a black hole, shuddering with the sound of distant trains, the stonework so stained I could barely see the pattern of interlocking bricks. A flash of movement beneath a rail drew my eyes to a small group of mice. There were probably rats in there as well.

In order to come down here I’d travelled on what Tamsin was quick to remind me was the longest escalator on the underground system. I’d felt sick and dizzy all the way, clutching the black rubber hand rail as the moving stair took me down and further down into the earth. I felt as though I’d been swallowed.

Crisp packets moved on the tracks, whipped up inside a sudden cyclone. The mice scurried away and another train appeared in front of me. I rocked back on my heels and Justin steadied me as doors opened a few steps down from where I stood.

A flood of people emerged, jostling, ignoring one another. The commuters who had run past me leaped on. The doors slammed with a high-pitched beep and the train heaved off again.

This time the display said three and a half minutes. I only had to stay in the tunnel for twenty seconds. I’d have three minutes to get there and back before the next train. If I was going, I had to go now.

I rocked forward and Harley raised his phone, but my feet wouldn’t move.

“You’re doing it, aren’t you?” Justin hopped again. “I wish you wouldn’t.”

“I have to,” I hissed.

“If you’re going, you have to go now.”

“I can’t move.” I glanced at Tamsin. She was openly laughing at me. “I can’t let them see me like this.” Tears came into my eyes. “I can’t fail in front of them.”

Justin swore viciously then exhaled. “I’m only doing this because… well, you’ll thank me later.”

Then he shoved me off the platform.

I shrieked as I stumbled forward and my feet met air. Then the back of my head smacked into the rim, my feet thudded on the ground and my shocked ankles collapsed. I shunted forward onto my hands and knees and gasped as my hands closed on the metal tracks.

Above me I heard panicked cries and a woman’s scream.

“Quick, take my hand.”

I looked up. A man leaned over the edge of the platform and his tie fluttered in the breeze that told me a train was moving somewhere. The whites of his eyes showed as he jerked his arm. “Reach for me.”

Justin landed next to me. “You’re here now. Do this fast.”

Tears wet my cheeks as I staggered to my feet. I looked into the tunnel. It was black as the Darkness. The Darkness could be just a few steps away waiting for meto come to It. My pulse raced until it felt like my chest was about to burst open. The only chance I had to save myself was to go into the dark. So I groaned and ran into the tunnel.

Ten steps in, that was the challenge. As I ran Justin ran with me, counting. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Stop, Taylor.”

I screeched to a halt, heart pounding. Pitch black surrounded me like oil in a barrel. I couldn’t breath, I could only whimper in bursts of terror that brought in no air, only soot, and filled my lungs, coating them with darkness, until there was only the dark outside and pitch inside and I couldn’t see a thing.

“Taylor.” Justin was shaking me. “Twenty seconds, that’s all, come on, count with me.”

“I-I…” I stuttered. I couldn’t think, I certainly couldn’t count.

“One, two, three, four. It’s going to be alright. Seven, eight, nine, ten. Halfway there. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen. We’re getting you out of here in a few seconds. Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Go, Taylor, GO.” He spun me and shoved me towards the end of the tunnel. I stumbled a few steps and my feet caught on something. I fell and smacked my head on a rail.

My ears rang as I touched the huge egg-shaped lump growing above my eye. My legs were moving though, as if I was still running. They knew what I should be doing.

“Get up!” Justin pulled at my elbow and I let him help me to my feet. Then a whoosh of air yanked my hair into a stream behind me. A McDonalds wrapper tangled on my ankles on its way into the tunnel and I tried to spin.

Suddenly the rush of air reversed. The train was on its way into the station.

Dimly, I heard more screaming. It wasn’t coming from me. My mouth was open, but no sound emerged. The sounds were from above; from the platform.

“Go. You can make it.” I couldn’t see Justin, or the panic in his face, but I could hear it in his voice. I broke into a run.

When I scrambled out of the tunnel entrance the man who had offered me his arm was still there, shouting and cursing at me. I reached for him, but he was too far away.

Behind me the pressure of the oncoming train struck my back, as if it was pushing the air ahead of it, compressing it into a smaller space. “Oh God.”

The words barely formed on my lips and Justin was there. Like a rugby player he slammed into my thighs and hurled me upwards. My gloved hand closed around the stranger’s wrist and he hauled me up, tearing my shirt, hurting my shoulder, but pulling me out of the way of the train. My feet cleared the platform edge just as the engine screeched into the station.

I rolled and the man and I pitched into a clutch of white-faced commuters.

“What the hell were you doing?”

“Stupid cow.”

“Jesus, are you alright?”

Their voices faded to nothing as the train doors hissed open and I spun back to face the tunnel.

Where was Justin?

An arm grabbed mine. “Move it.” I blinked. It was Pete, shoving me through the cluster of angry watchers. “Security will be on their way. Head for the way out.”

“Hey! I don’t think you should be going anywhere.” It was the man who had saved my life. He closed his fingers around my wrist, just above my filthy, soot-stained glove.

“Get off her.” James slammed his fist into the guy’s forearm to break his hold. Then Tamsin and Pete gripped both of my elbows and hustled me along the platform.

“I… I…” I wanted to say thanks. I wanted to find Justin. I’d never seen one of the dead hit by a train. Could you get moredead?

“I can’t believe you did that.” Tamsin was wheezing with laughter. “You should see your face. You should have seen all those people. That might be the best video yet. You reckon, Harls?”

Harley nodded. My feet barely touched the floor as they bundled me past the glowing Way Out sign and up the first staircase.

“Here, take my cap.” Pete jammed a baseball cap over my hair. “The transport police will be looking for you.”

“It’ll take more than a cap.” Tamsin was already removing her jacket. “Put this on. Quick.”

Moving on autopilot I shoved my arms into the body-warm sleeves looking around frantically. Where was Justin?

“Where’s your Oyster card? We can’t stop at the gates.” Tamsin shook my arm. “Get with the programme, Oh. Do you want to spend the night locked up?”

I shook my arm free of her grip and pulled my card from my jeans. I showed it to her wordlessly.

“Come on then.”

We were facing the giant escalator. Tamsin pushed me onto the stair ahead of her and the others crowded on. “Run, Oh.” Tamsin gave me another shove and I forced myself to speed upwards, trying not to trip as my eyes blurred the lines on the stairs and turned the escalator into an illusory slope.

There was an angry shout behind us and I paused long enough to turn around. A guard stood at the bottom of the escalator, walkie-talkie in hand.

“We’re not going to make it,” Tamsin gasped.

“Harley, Pete – diversion,” James snapped.

Pete and Harley shouldered past, sprinted to the top of the moving stair and vanished.

I grimaced and held onto my side as a stitch drove a spike through my kidneys.

Above me Pete began to shout.

“They’ll close the station any minute,” Tamsin called.

My legs felt like jelly and I was shaking all over, exhaustion, adrenaline… rage. I forced one last effort from my body and hurtled up the final steps. I staggered off the escalator like a drunk and doubled over.

“Only one more.” Tamsin patted the middle of my back then gave me another push. “Not so long this time.”

“I know,” I gasped and stood up. James and Tamsin hemmed me on each side and forced me to move faster. We ran up the last escalator and emerged into daylight. Only one gate was open and guards were checking cards and faces.

“You’ll be fine,” Tamsin whispered. “We’ve got out of stations before.”

I nodded, too shattered to disbelieve her, and got into the queue.

Just as I was about to place my Oyster card on the gate, shouting broke out. I turned along with everyone else. Pete and Harley were having a fist fight. My mouth fell open. I’d never in my life seen Pete hit anyone.

They rolled to the floor, howling and yelling at one another and all but one of the staff ran through the gates to separate them. The single guard remaining wasn’t too interested in peering beneath my cap, especially as they were looking for a bare headed girl in filthy clothes. I ducked into the fresh air, where I inhaled as if I’d never breathed before.

Tamsin and James flanked me once more. “There’s a Pizza Express down the road. You can clean up and we’ll wait there for the boys.” Tamsin fingered her jacket with distaste. “You’d better keep this till you get home. Dry clean it before you give it back.”

I wrapped my arms around myself with a sigh. Now I was in the open air I could smell the Poisonseeping from the designer threads. My stomach lurched, but she was right. I had to stay covered up for the journey home. I glanced down. My jeans were blackened and torn at the knee; who knew what my shirt looked like.

While Tamsin and James slid into their chairs I sidled past the tables and ran down the steps into the toilet. I cleaned my clothes up as best I could with paper towels and water, then pulled off the cap and stared into the mirror.

My right cheekbone was scraped and bleeding and I had a lump on my forehead that was already bluish purple and surrounded by angry red swelling. I touched it gingerly and winced. My left hand was also scraped and I ran it under the tap as I pulled the filthy glove from my right. I couldn’t go home without it. I hesitated for a moment then put it back on. I held a wet towel against the lump on my forehead and tried to run my fingers through my hair. They came up against another bump on the back of my head and a snarl of knots so tight there was no moving it.

I rammed the cap back on. I’d deal with it later.

Then I stood and just looked at myself. I barely recognised the girl in the mirror. That was it then, I was in the V club. I was… popular. But I felt as if maybe I’d been hit by that train after all.

When I got back to the table, Pete and Harley were already sitting down. Harley actually had a bruise forming on his cheek and Pete had a cut lip. I winced; they hadn’t held back on each other.

There was a spare chair between the two of them.

“So you’re in. How does it feel?” Tamsin leaned against James and stroked the inside of his forearm. “I’ll be honest, sweetie, I didn’t think you’d do it.”

“I didn’t think I’d do it either.” My legs gave out and I dropped next to Pete.

James regarded Tamsin from under lowered brows. “Not sure the others are going to like this, babe. The V club isn’t for the likes of her.” He brushed his tattoo as if to remove dust from the ink and glanced at me. “No offence.”

I shrugged. He didn’t have to like me, just let me ask for a truth. “So can I set a challenge now?”

Tamsin laughed and leaned back. “You are funny. Your initiation got you in the club. You don’t get to be a challenger until you’ve been selected by the wheel and completed another dare.”

“What?” I pressed my throbbing palm between my thighs and my head reeled. “How long will thattake?”

“That desperate to get me back, huh?” Tamsin sneered. “The next meeting is in three days. I suppose there’s a chance the wheel will land on your name. James is the challenger though, so you don’t wantit to land on you.” A flicker of remembered terror blurred her blue eyes. “Trust me.”