“Are you okay?” I asked Potter as he flicked his cigarette ash into the fire.
“I’m sick and tired of all this hanging around,” he said. “We should be doing something.”
“Like what?” I asked him, kneeling by his chair and stroking his forearm.
“I dunno,” he sighed. “But anything has got to be better than sitting around here waiting for something to happen. You know me, Kiera, I’m not happy just sitting around, I need to be in the thick of it.”
“As soon as we see what’s on that camera, we’ll be in a better place to...” I started.
“And what if there isn’t anything on that camera?” he asked, looking at me. “We know that arsehole McCain killed that woman, so why are we just sitting here?”
“Things are different now,” I said. “We’re not part of this world; we can’t just go storming about the place like we did before. We’ve got to take a back seat and wait. We can’t afford to bring attention to ourselves.”
“So why were we brought back then?” he asked me.
“I don’t know that,” I told him. “But McCain, Elizabeth, and her missing sister have something to do with the reason why we were.”
“What makes you so sure?” Potter asked, sitting forward in his seat.
“Because I’m being punished,” I told him.
“By who?”
“The Elders,” I said as I looked into the fire. “They told me that I would be cursed. Something tells me that this whole thing – the world being pushed – is like a big puzzle that needs putting back together again. Once we have all the pieces we’ll understand why we were brought back.”
“And you think that McCain, the Clarke twins, and whatever is on that camera are all pieces of this puzzle that the Elders have created for us?” he asked me.
“We’re pieces of that puzzle too,” I whispered. “We fit in somewhere.”
Before Potter had a chance to say anything else, Isidor came down the stairs and stepped into the living room. He wore his long, black coat with jeans and boots. His collar was turned up, his eyes were hidden by a pair of sunglasses, and in his hand he held his crossbow.
“Jesus, Isidor, you scared the shit out of me,” Potter sniped. “For a moment, I thought you were the Terminator!”
“Very funny,” Isidor said. “How do I look, Kiera?”
“Erm, like the Terminator,” I smiled at him. “What are you dressed like that for?”
“I’m on standby to go and get that camera as soon as we get the message from Kayla,” he said. “I want to look inconspicuous, but if I do get spotted, then no one will recognise me again.”
“I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” Potter groaned. Then, looking at me, he barked, “I thought you said we had to take a back seat, not draw attention to ourselves! So you don’t think the locals are going to notice one of the Men In Black strutting his stuff through town?”
I looked at Isidor and I did feel for him. It seemed that he always tried to do the right thing, but somehow got it wrong. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I said to him, “Perhaps you should lose the shades.”
“Do you think so?” he said, taking them off and putting them in his pocket. “I just thought...”
“Well, do us all a big favour and don’t think,” Potter cut in. “Because when you start thinking, we tend to end up in the shit.”
“Okay, keep your wings on,” Isidor said.
“And if you make one more jibe about me being an angel, I’m gonna start swinging,” Potter snapped.
“Okay, let’s not get into a fight about it,” I said, standing up getting ready to jump between them. “Isidor, you were right about not wanting to be noticed, but just keep your crossbow tucked away and you’ll look fine.”
“I know where I’d like to stick that fucking crossbow,” Potter muttered, glaring at Isidor.
Ignoring his remark, I looked at Isidor and said, “As soon as we hear from Kayla, get going and collect the camera. The sooner we see what’s on it, the sooner we can get Kayla out of the school and solve this case.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Kayla
The body was lying on its side with one of its arms bent beneath it. The other was splayed out to one side and the hand that dangled from the end of it was fingerless. The body was dressed in a long, brown coat and faded blue jeans. On its feet were dirty, brown boots. Although I couldn’t see its face, I could tell by the shape and size of the body that it was a young male. His face was covered by a large-brimmed hat, which looked as if it had been made out of stiff, black leather.
“Do you think he’s dead?” Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the body in the middle of the camp.
Although I knew that he was, as I couldn’t hear a heartbeat, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Dunno.”
“I’ve got to know,” Sam said. “He might still be alive.” And he inched towards the figure on his hands and knees.
“No…wait!” I said, but Sam had picked up a stick and was prodding the figure’s leg with it.
“Hey, are you alive?” Sam said, and then leaning forward, he pushed up the brim of the hat to reveal its face. “What the hell…?” Sam gasped, sounding as if he had just been kicked in the stomach.
I moved forward an inch and then recoiled. The face had no eyes, not even sockets for them to fit into. He had no nose, mouth, or ears. It was blank like a canvas made of skin which had darkened and looked bruised.
“Let’s go!” I yelled, already turning and heading back through the bushes. The face reminded me of the featureless statue I’d seen in the forbidden wing at the manor.
“I think you’re right,” Sam groaned, coming after me.
Nettles and thorns scratched at our faces and snagged our school uniforms as we fought our way out of the bushes. Desperate to be away from the body and the bush, Sam raced forward, shoulder-barging me out of the way. I pushed back, and both of us collided, falling in a heap outside the entrance to the camp. We lay on our backs, arms flapping as we fought to untangle ourselves from each other. Once separated, we stood panting and sucking in air.
“Kayla, there’s a dead man in my camp!” Sam gasped.
“You’re not kidding,” I wheezed, catching my breath.
“Do you think he’s been murdered?” Sam asked me.
“How should I know? And I don’t think we should hang around long enough to find out!” I told him.
“Did you see his face and hand?” Sam asked.
“What face? He didn’t have one, did he?”
We stood in the woods, which seemed to be darkening by the minute, and looked at each other, both of us waiting for the other to say something. Sam spoke first.
“What should we do?”
“Get back to school,” I said. “We’ve been away long enough. Someone might realise that we’re missing.”
“Don’t you think we should go and tell the police?”
“Police!” I gasped. “Have you lost your mind?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, looking confused. “We’ve just found a dead body, Kayla.”
“We can’t go to the police. If we get the police involved they could cause all sorts of problems,” I warned.
“For who?”
“For us. Who else do you think? If we go to the police they’ll want statements and God knows what else!”
“So?”
“So that will lead them back to Ravenwood and McCain and he’ll know that we’ve been over the wall!” I explained.
“We can’t just leave that body in there,” he said, hooking his thumb in the direction of the bushes. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“He’s dead – in case you hadn’t noticed!” I yelled. “It’s got nothing to do with us. Don’t get involved, Sam. Please, for both our sakes.”
Sam looked at me, and he seemed almost disappointed, as if he had expected more from me somehow.
“If you don’t want to get involved, go back to Ravenwood,” Sam said. “If this gets back to McCain, then I’ll say that I came out here on my own. I won’t mention you.”
I stood and watched Sam start to walk away.
I couldn’t let him go on his own.
Birds sprung out of the trees above me, their wings sounding like shotgun fire as they beat together in the stillness of the wood. How did I get myself into this? I wondered. I just wanted to leave the camera for Isidor and get back to the school. With Sam heading away from me, I took the camera from my pocket and hid it beneath a pile of dead leaves by the entrance to the camp. Then, seizing the opportunity while I was alone, I quickly sent the following message:
Kiera, camera hidden on south side of school near to stream and huge pile of bushes. If Isidor can’t track my scent then he should be able to smell the dead body! Will have to explain later. Got to go! Kayla xx
Happy that I’d hidden the camera, I headed after Sam, hoping that I could change his mind about going to the police. I hadn’t taken more than a few steps, when I heard a rustling noise come from the bushes behind me. I spun round to see the faceless figure crawling out of the bushes.
I jumped in fear at the sight of him. He now had one eye, and it was fixed on me. It was blue and cold, and bore right into my skull. His second eye wasn’t quite formed yet, just a wet socket and it oozed pussy tears onto his cheek.
“Sam!” I shrieked. “Wait up! I’m coming with you.” Then turning, I ran as hard and as fast as I could through the woods. I didn’t dare look back, not even once. Sam turned around at the sound of my voice, and seeing the figure coming after us, he started to run. Branches and brambles tore at our faces and clothes as we darted blindly away. We flew over fallen logs, crawled under broken branches, and splashed through the stream. Then, Sam fell flat on his face. I glanced back over my shoulder and he looked as if he had been shot in the back. He lay face down amongst the pine needles and leaves, his nose buried in the dirt.