by Gemma Malley
‘What’s up? Lost Raffy?’ It was Linus, emerging from his sleeping bag.
‘He … he was asleep. But now …’ Evie said worriedly. ‘I’m sure he’s here somewhere.’ An image filled her head, an image of Raffy waking in the night, coming to find her, seeing her with Lucas … But she pushed it away. No. No …
Linus looked at Lucas, whose face was more serious than Evie had ever seen it. ‘We can’t find him,’ he said.
Linus’s face fell, went a grey colour. ‘The Informers got in here and took him? No, it’s impossible. No one can get in here. Not unless you know how. Not unless …’ He ran to wake up Benjamin. ‘Benjamin, did anyone follow you? Did you check? Double-check?’
Benjamin woke with a start, then slowly stood up. ‘No one followed me,’ he said, quickly. ‘So what’s going on?’
‘Raffy’s gone,’ Linus said grimly. ‘They must have got in. But how? And how did they take Raffy without waking Evie? It doesn’t make any sense.’
‘I was not followed,’ Benjamin said categorically. ‘I know I wasn’t. Could they have found us some other way?’
Linus was pacing up and down, his arms wrapped around his chest. ‘No. I mean yes, obviously, because they did, but no, it’s impossible. And to get in, to take Raffy without us hearing anything …’
‘Either way, we have to find him,’ Lucas said. ‘I’ll find him. I’ll go out, they can’t have got far.’
‘You’re not going anywhere,’ Linus said, his eyes narrowing.
‘Yes I am,’ Lucas replied, his blue eyes full of determination. ‘We can’t wait for you to work out a plan. Raffy’s in danger and I’m going after him. I’m going to find my brother.’
‘No, Lucas,’ Evie said anxiously. ‘They might be waiting.’ It wasn’t the Informers. That wasn’t why Raffy had disappeared. She knew it, knew it in her stomach. He had known something. Somehow he had found out. But she couldn’t say anything, because she knew no one would blame her; she knew they would blame only Lucas.
Lucas walked over to her, reached out to touch her then seemed to change his mind. ‘If the Informers took Raffy, they would have taken us all,’ he said, his voice slightly strangled. ‘It’s not them. I’ll be fine.’
And when she looked into his eyes she knew why he was going, knew that he didn’t believe that Raffy had been taken either. He knew, just as she did, that they were responsible for his disappearance, not the Informers, that he had run away of his own accord. And she knew that he would never live with himself if they didn’t bring him back safely. Neither of them would.
‘We’ll all go,’ she said, her voice husky with emotion. ‘We’ll spread out and search. He might have left because we – we argued last night. We’ll be able to find him if we all go …’ She looked at Linus and Benjamin imploringly but was met by stony faces.
‘Why would he have gone?’ Linus asked. ‘The Informers are hunting for him; he knows that by leaving this cave he’s vulnerable, that they’ll find him. So why would he do that? Why would he leave?’
Evie stared at him defiantly. She would carry her guilt, carry her anguish, but she wouldn’t let Lucas be judged, wouldn’t allow him to be blamed. ‘You know he didn’t want to be here,’ she said. ‘He wanted to go back to the Settlement.’
‘There is no Settlement,’ Benjamin said, walking towards her. ‘Not any more. And he would not leave without you. Evie, is there something you’re not telling us?’
Evie looked over at Lucas, who shook his head. ‘There’s nothing else,’ he said, firmly. ‘Raffy was there when you went back to sleep, wasn’t he, Evie?’
Evie nodded; she was hot now with everyone’s eyes on her.
‘So let me go and find him. Before the Informers do. Before they …’
‘Kill him?’ Linus said quietly. ‘They won’t do that, Lucas. If they do find him, they won’t harm him. They need him. If they find him, they’ll take him to the City.’
‘So then I’ll hunt for him here. And if I don’t find him, we’ll go to the City,’ Lucas said, running towards the exit.
‘First we’ll hunt for him here,’ Evie corrected him, running to join him. And then she heard more running and it was Linus and Benjamin behind her.
‘We look for ten minutes. No more,’ Linus said gruffly. ‘Although you know even that is pointless. If the Informers have got him, he’s far away; if he left of his own accord, he’s had several hours on us.’
‘So why are we searching?’ Benjamin asked as they climbed out of the cave.
‘Because otherwise Lucas and Evie stew in angry guilt and be no use to anyone,’ Linus shrugged.
Evie shot him a look, then stopped. ‘What’s that?’ she asked. It was a loud, thudding sound, coming from outside the cave, stopping Lucas in his tracks. It was causing a wind, too, a wind so strong that Lucas was having to hold the side of the walls to remain upright.
‘It’s a helicopter,’ Linus shouted, rushing towards Lucas.
‘A what?’
‘A flying machine,’ Benjamin said, reaching out to take her hand. ‘Evie, come back. Come back with me.’
Evie saw Lucas and Linus shouting, struggling to be heard above the sound of the helicopter, and then, finally, they were running back to where she and Benjamin were, Lucas’s face white with anger, Linus looking more fearful than she’d ever seen him.
‘Back,’ he shouted. ‘Back inside. Quickly.’
They all scrambled back inside, and Linus looked around at each of them, his eyes frantic. ‘They’ve found us,’ he said to no one and everyone, rubbing his head as though it might produce the answer somehow. ‘I don’t know how but they’ve found us.’
‘Linus,’ Benjamin said, then. ‘They know where we are, but not how to get in. You taught me about caves, about the structure of the more complex ones. It would take anyone hours to figure out how to get in here. Days, maybe. So can I suggest that we all calm down? That we take a moment and work out what we’re going to do?’
Linus nodded vaguely, ran towards his computers. ‘I have to delete files,’ he said. ‘I have to protect my work.’
‘Protect your work?’ Lucas stared at him in disbelief. ‘What about protecting Raffy?’
‘It’s too late for that now,’ Linus said, not looking up. ‘They have Raffy. You know that, I know that. Otherwise they wouldn’t be outside this cave. They must have spotted him outside, or picked him up and figured out where he came from. I cannot let them get hold of this information, and we know that they’re not going to hurt Raffy until he’s done what they want him to do. So let me do this and then we’ll go and get him. Okay?’
Lucas didn’t say anything; Evie reached out her hand but he didn’t take it.
‘Can I help?’ Benjamin asked, crouching down beside Linus.
‘You know how to erase a hard drive?’ Linus asked.
Benjamin shrugged. ‘I can give it a go,’ he said, pulling up a chair and getting to work.
‘Lucas, pack up some essentials, just in case,’ Linus grunted.
Lucas looked at him mutinously, then went to find some bags; Evie followed him. And then she changed her mind and walked back towards the bed she’d shared with Raffy. Her bag was there; Raffy’s was not. If he had been captured by the Informers it was because she had sent him to them.
She put her hand into her bag, brought something out, put it in her pocket and padded back to the kitchen where Lucas was methodically packing up food and water.
‘Hi,’ he said, not looking her in the eye. Then he stood up, reached out to hold her shoulders. ‘You know that this isn’t your fault, don’t you?’ he said. ‘It’s mine. I shouldn’t have come – I should have let Linus go alone. But what happened, I won’t tell a soul. Not ever. Raffy needs you. I realise that now – he needs you and I promised to protect him, and if that means …’ He choked, cleared his throat. ‘You can be happy,’ he said. ‘The two of you. Be happy. When he comes back. Because we are going to get him back. We are going to find him. We are
—’
‘Of course we are,’ Evie nodded, and she found that she was crying, and she tried to brush them away but it was no use. And all she could feel was the watch in her pocket, the watch that she’d worked so hard to get back, the watch that had meant so much to her, meant so little to Raffy. She wrapped her hand around it, took it out, pressed it into Lucas’s hands. He looked down at it, surprise on his face, then confusion.
‘But it’s Raffy’s,’ he said.
Evie shook her head. ‘No,’ she gulped. ‘No, he didn’t want it. It’s yours, Lucas. You have to take it. You have to have it.’
And she didn’t know if Lucas understood, if he understood at all, but he took it, and he didn’t put it on, and for that Evie was grateful, even though she wasn’t sure why.
Then Lucas picked up the bag and they all grouped around Linus, who was sitting at his computer typing furiously.
‘Come on,’ Lucas urged him. ‘We need to go.’
‘I don’t know,’ Linus said, frowning. ‘That helicopter’s still outside. If they’ve got Raffy, why aren’t they using it to take him to the City?’
‘Because they don’t have him,’ Evie said, her eyes shining with hope. ‘Because they’re still looking. Maybe he started to leave then heard it. Maybe he’s in the cave somewhere. We have to go and find him.’
Benjamin shook his head. ‘In here we’re safe,’ he said. ‘We have to stick together.’
‘And do what? Wait?’ Lucas asked impatiently. ‘If Evie’s right, we can’t leave him out there, not with the Informers searching for him.’
‘Yeah, they’re not actually searching for me,’ a voice said suddenly.
Everyone turned to see Raffy walking towards them, a sheepish look on his face.
‘Raffy!’ Evie exclaimed and rushed towards him. ‘Raffy, where have you been? We were so worried.’
But Raffy just looked at her strangely. And that’s when Evie saw that he wasn’t alone, as out from the shadows stepped a man. A man she’d never seen before. A man she knew immediately was one of them.
‘You,’ Benjamin said breathlessly. ‘You …’ He jumped up, lunged forward, but Linus reached out, grabbed him in time, held him back. Evie could see that Benjamin was shaking, that his face had turned a grey colour.
‘Me, indeed,’ the man said with a smile. ‘Hello, Devil. It’s been a long time but I knew I’d catch up with you eventually.’
His smile broadened as he turned to Evie. ‘Thomas Benning. Nice to meet you. And you …’ He turned to Linus, who looked at him curiously, his blue eyes creasing as he peered closer at the man’s face, then gasped and shook his head. Benning. He remembered the name now, shaking his head in disbelief.
Thomas laughed. ‘It’s good to see you again, too, Linus. Time to fulfil your contract, wouldn’t you say?’
43
‘You know this man?’ Evie turned to Linus then Benjamin, who said nothing, their faces contorted with disbelief, with fear. Evie had never seen either man look scared before and it brought her out in goosebumps. She swung back to stare at Thomas, and found herself looking at a slim-built man with short, silver hair and a nondescript face. Not someone she’d even be able to pick out in a crowd. Was he really one of the Informers? How could anyone be that evil? She remembered being told in the City that all people were evil, that with their amygdalas in place, all humans were capable of all manner of terrible things, that evil was there all the time waiting to flourish, waiting for the right opportunity. And she had never truly believed it, had never believed that a baby was born with evil thoughts, that a good person could turn bad at just the flick of a switch. But now, looking at Thomas, she realised that while not all humans were capable of genuine evil, some were. And he was one of them. And from the look in his eyes, he didn’t even care.
Then Benjamin spoke, his voice trembling. ‘You’re still here,’ he breathed.
‘Oh yes,’ Thomas smiled. ‘I’m still here.’
‘How do you know this man?’ Linus asked, his voice so strangled it was barely recognisable.
Benjamin’s eyes narrowed. ‘He is an evil man, and one whom I had the misfortune to cross paths with.’
‘Cross paths?’ Thomas laughed. ‘How would I ever have crossed paths with you? You were chosen because I believed you would be useful. You were the result of a research exercise, that’s all. And you proved yourself to be useless.’
Linus shot him a look. ‘When did you know him?’ he asked. ‘When?’
‘Before the Horrors. The beginning of them,’ Benjamin said, his eyes not leaving Thomas. ‘He started them. That’s what he wanted me to do. To lead people into war.’
‘Started them?’ Thomas sneered. ‘I did more than that. I created them. Orchestrated them, directed every move.’
‘You can’t orchestrate a global war,’ Linus said, angrily.
‘Maybe not,’ Thomas smiled, thinly. ‘But then again, maybe you can. What matters is what people think is happening, remember. Not what’s really happening. Perception is everything. You taught me that.’
Linus stared at him, his face creased into a frown.
‘So why didn’t you do something about it?’ Evie rounded on Benjamin suddenly. ‘If you knew what he was doing, why didn’t you stop him?’
Benjamin took a deep breath. ‘It’s a question I ask myself every day, but I still don’t have an answer. The only one I have is that I was scared. Of what he could do. He could change the facts, he could make things that had happened disappear. And he had friends everywhere, even in the police. I wasn’t strong enough. I …’ He exhaled. ‘I had my own problems. My own issues to resolve.’
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ Thomas shrugged. ‘Another is that you went to prison because you were a violent thug.’
Benjamin moved towards Thomas, stopping when he was just an inch away. ‘I was in prison because I turned myself in to escape from you,’ he said, his voice low. ‘Because you made me realise that if there were going to be sides, I didn’t want to be on yours. Because I wanted to pay for what I’d done. Because I wanted to start again.’
Thomas pulled a face. ‘Whatever gets you through the day, Devil,’ he winked.
‘Benjamin,’ he said. ‘My name is Benjamin.’
He immediately stepped back; Lucas grabbed Thomas by the scruff of his neck.
‘Hand my brother over,’ he said, his tone dark and menacing. ‘Let Raffy go or you’ll regret it.’
‘Will I? I doubt it,’ Thomas sneered, then he shrugged. ‘You can have your brother,’ he said, casting his eyes in Raffy’s direction, ‘but only because he’s served his purpose. Raffy and I had an understanding, didn’t we, Raffy?’ He turned back to Lucas. ‘He’s actually been tremendously helpful.’
Everyone turned to look at Raffy, who stared back defiantly.
‘Raffy?’ Evie asked. ‘Raffy, what’s he talking about?’
Thomas smiled. ‘He’s been helping me out a bit. Haven’t you, Raffy? Helping me track down my old friends. And now, here we are. Frankly, I have no need for him any more. You’re welcome to him, Lucas. If he wants you. Of course I very much doubt that he does, but that’s none of my business.’
Evie looked over at Raffy, her heart beating loudly, her head throbbing as what Thomas had just said sank in. ‘You brought him here? You told him where we were?’ she asked, barely trusting herself to speak.
Raffy looked at her thunderously. ‘What was I supposed to do? He told me Lucas was coming. He told me he was going to take you away from me.’
‘No,’ Evie gasped. ‘No, you’re lying. You can’t have done that, Raffy. Tell me you didn’t. Tell me!’
She looked beseechingly at Raffy, but he just shook his head, his eyes dark and angry. ‘I thought I could trust you, Evie. I kept telling myself I was imagining it, that I had to believe you when you said you loved me. But you don’t. You love him. I saw you with my own eyes, Evie. I saw you. You betrayed me. Just like Thomas said you would.’
&
nbsp; His hands were in fists, his eyes full of pain, and for a moment Evie could see the fearful boy she used to see in the playground, the boy who intrigued her, who stared at her like he could see her thoughts, like he knew who she really was. But that Raffy would never have done this; would never have brought this odious man anywhere near her. She’d done that to Raffy. She’d changed him into what he was now.
‘You saw?’ she asked, her voice so quiet she hardly heard it herself.
Raffy nodded, then moved towards her. ‘It’s okay,’ he said then. ‘It’s not your fault. It’s Lucas’s fault.’ He took her hand, stroked it with his thumbs, squeezed it. ‘Come with me. We’re free to go, Evie. You can come with me and we’ll go away, anywhere we want to.’ His voice was husky, low, his eyes looking right into hers as though there was no one else in the room. ‘Thomas – the Informers – they don’t want me, Evie. They never wanted me. Or you. Thomas just wanted to find Linus. And now he has. So we can go. Come with me. Come with me now.’
Evie looked at him carefully, and as she looked at him, she realised what he was saying, what he’d planned with Thomas, what he thought might happen. ‘Where to, Raffy?’ she asked, her voice catching slightly. ‘Back to the City? Back to the Settlement that he’s destroyed? Just where do you propose that we go, exactly?’
‘I don’t care,’ Raffy said, his expression intensifying. ‘I don’t care.’
‘No,’ Evie said, shaking her head slowly in disbelief. ‘You don’t. I can see that now. But the thing is, Raffy, I do care. I care that you brought this man here. That you sold out Lucas, Linus, Benjamin, people who were protecting you, people who had put themselves in danger to keep you safe.’
‘No,’ Raffy said, his hands squeezing hers tighter. ‘Don’t say that, Evie. Thomas told me about the watch, Evie. He knew all about it, how you got it back from the baker. And I didn’t believe him. I told him he was wrong. But he wasn’t. He wanted to help me. Help us.’
