‘Did you hear he kissed Maggie at her party the other night?’ said Sophie.
‘God, that girl thinks she’s it,’ said Hannah.
I knew Maggie, but not very well. She was pretty, but unbearably loud.
‘I heard they’re going out now,’ said Ross, grabbing Hannah’s daisy chain and wearing it on his head like a crown.
I frowned. I didn’t think Maggie was the kind of girl he’d go for, but he was single and perfectly entitled to kiss anybody he wanted to.
‘I heard he called it off,’ said Sophie.
‘Really?’ said Hannah, snatching the daisy chain back. ‘Who cares?’
‘So, what classes are you taking this term?’ I asked Sophie, eager to change the subject. Her dad is head of the extramural programme at a university, and Sophie has been sitting in on night classes since she was four.
‘Astronomy, divination and criminal psychology,’ she said.
‘Sophie,’ said Ross, ‘you do know that one of these days your brain is going to get so big that it will actually explode?’
‘Yes, because that’s clearly how knowledge works,’ said Hannah.
‘Don’t worry, Han,’ said Ross. ‘Absolutely no danger of explosion with you.’
Hannah gave him the finger. I laughed. It was good to be back.
‘We’re studying psychopaths at the minute,’ said Sophie. ‘Learning their traits and stuff.’
‘Cool,’ I said. ‘What are they?’
‘They show very little or no remorse, they have a fluctuating self-image, they often engage in self-mutilation, they experience fear of abandonment… that sort of thing.’
‘Sounds fascinating,’ I said. ‘Dark, but fascinating.’
‘Oh, and they have such confidence in their work, and such belief that they can’t do anything wrong, that it sometimes makes them reckless. It’s, like, their downfall.’
‘Are those night classes not just like school though?’ said Ross. ‘Except you don’t actually have to be there?’
‘Not really,’ said Sophie. ‘I love them. People just learning for the sake of it, with no end goal but to gain knowledge… it’s beautiful.’
‘No, that’s beautiful,’ said Ross, staring at a group of girls in sundresses strolling past.
‘We learned about tarot cards in divination last week,’ said Sophie. ‘That was just as interesting. I know you don’t believe in that sort of stuff, Jacki, but -’
Sophie was preparing herself for a rant, which I probably would have launched into a year ago.
‘I dunno,’ I said. ‘Maybe I do.’
‘You’ve certainly changed your tune,’ said Ross.
I shrugged. I couldn’t really tell them that the reason I’d become open to the idea of the paranormal was because it was literally part of my life now.
‘Well, as they say, the purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one!’ said Sophie with a smile.
I missed hanging out like this. It was amazing how easy it was to slot back in, like I’d never left.
‘Jacki,’ said Ross suddenly. ‘What’s up with your arm?’
‘What do you mean?’ I said. I looked down and saw a huge scratch, running right round in a circle from one side of my elbow to the other. It looked new, like I’d cut it on something. I took off my sunglasses and inspected it more closely. I couldn’t think when it had happened – I didn’t remember seeing it earlier.
‘Whoa, that looks nasty!’ said Hannah. It really did. It definitely looked like the kind of injury you would feel happening. But then I suddenly thought of last summer, when I’d woken up one morning with my body covered in bruises. Ger had told me that it was nothing to be frightened of, that it was simply another way that Beth was communicating with me – giving me a sign. This cut was equally inexplicable. I thought maybe this was a sign from Kayla. I wasn’t sure what she meant by it though.
‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ I said, trying to brush it off before too many other questions were asked. ‘Just a scratch – it happened a few days ago.’ I ran my finger along the broken skin.
‘It looks painful,’ said Sophie, sounding concerned.
‘Yeah, is it sore?’ asked Hannah.
‘Not really,’ I said. ‘It’s OK.’
‘Jeez,’ said Ross. ‘Maybe you would survive a zombie apocalypse after all.’
Chapter 10
My plans for tonight couldn’t have been more different from the relaxed sunny evening I’d spent with the others. I was due to meet up with the last two people to see Kayla alive – Amy Whelan and Andrew Hogan. We were going to walk the route they’d taken to and from the shop on the night of the party, and so possibly retrace Kayla’s last moments. Even though the thought of wandering around late at night with two potential suspects made me incredibly uneasy, I wanted to walk the route after dark in order to get a feel for what happened on the night of the party. Sergeant Lawlor had set up the meeting, so he knew where I was going to be, but I had to make sure Gran didn’t find out.
I stood at her bedroom door, waiting for the sounds of sleep. She doesn’t snore, but if you listen closely you can hear her breathing, soft and rhythmic. I moved a little closer, and sure enough there it was. I was confident that she wouldn’t hear me tiptoe away. There are a few ways to sneak out of Gran’s. Number one is down the stairs, out the back door and around the side of the house. It’s never wise to use the front door because she’s much more likely to hear that when it closes – her bedroom is at the front. And she is also one of those people who sleeps with the window open. However, you have to keep in mind that walking around the side of the house always sets off the sensor light, which has the potential to wake her. The second option is to go out of my bedroom window and step on to the flat roof of the extension. You then lean over and grab the oak tree and shimmy down it. The only problem with this is that it almost always causes the neighbour’s dog to bark. They have a Chihuahua called Charles who is scarier than any dog three times his size. There was a time when Hannah refused to come over here when he wasn’t tied up. I don’t think he’d actually ever hurt anybody, he’s just very loud. And I suppose he’s not the only problem with this option – it’s also really dangerous. I felt bad about having to sneak out of Gran’s, but it was unavoidable. Although she wasn’t strict on many things she was firmly against ‘gallivanting’ on school nights. And since she considered work experience to be in the same category as school, there was no way I could tell her I was going out.
I grabbed my bag from where I’d placed it outside my own bedroom door, and moved very quietly down the stairs. I’d decided to go out the back door. It was much less risky.
The bus was empty, apart from a couple making out down the back and a drunk guy singing up the front. I sat in the middle, watching out for my stop. The route looked different in the darkness. I noticed things that I hadn’t seen the other day. Like the neon pharmacy sign, the crowded fast-food restaurants and the derelict cinema with its boarded-up windows. I felt a bit uneasy so I listened to some Thin Lizzy on my iPod to try and distract myself. A few students got on at the next stop, talking so loudly that I could hear them over my music.
‘I can’t believe these are still out in the shops,’ said one guy, who was munching on an Easter egg.
‘That’s gross,’ said another. ‘Don’t eat all of that, Marcus. I don’t want you to be sick on my couch later.’
‘Relax!’ he said as they trampled up the stairs.
I laughed to myself; they sounded like my friends back in Avarna.
I pressed the buzzer for my stop, then took out my earphones and wound them round my iPod. I had to be fully alert. I stepped off the bus and walked quickly through the darkness.
The pizza place was small – it mainly did take-out orders – but there were a few tables. Amy was already there when I arrived. I recognized her immediately from the picture on Kayla’s invitation. Her blonde hair was longer now and naturally frizzy. She was sitting up on one of the chairs at the window. She wore a purple beret and a mint-green blazer and had a book in her hand. Her slice of ham and mushroom pizza was untouched on the paper plate.