by Jay Mason
“Both, please,” said Alex sitting down at the table.
“That’s a good girl,” said Mrs Gibson. “Everything’s going to be just fine.”
But by the time Rusty appeared, smelling of cologne and with his hair as immaculate as if he had been at the salon, Mrs Gibson was obviously tiring. “If one of you two could tidy up,” she said. “I think I need a little lie down.”
“No worries, Mum,” said Rusty. “We’ll see to it.”
“Don’t let Alex do anything now. She’s the guest.”
“I don’t mind,” said Alex. “I feel like I’ve caused you so much trouble.”
“Not at all,” said Mrs Gibson. “It was lovely to meet you. Rusty and Cat have talked about you so much. But if you’ll excuse me, these days I find the littlest things tiring.”
When Mrs Gibson had left the room, Alex said, “I’ll help. It’ll be quicker.” Cat beamed.
****
Alex gave Rusty a lift to college. As soon as he closed the car door he gave a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” he said. “My car needs work. I was dreading catching the bus in — or worse yet, walking.”
“String wore out again,” said Alex with a quick smile.
“Don’t think string is going to hack it this time. I’m going to have to look for a second job.”
“You have a job? I thought I knew everything about you and yet I keep discovering more.”
“I lost the scholarship, remember?”
Alex’s face reddened. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. At least …”
“I have a nice family? Yeah, Cat’s okay and Mum does her best, but Dad’s still AWOL.”
“Do you think he’s dead?”
“He’d have come back if he could,” said Rusty.
“Maybe he’s being held prisoner somewhere?”
“In Straker’s cellar? No one keeps a prisoner that long.”
“Unless they need them for something. Do you know what he was working on?”
Rusty shrugged. “He was — is — a physicist, specialising in acoustics. I can’t see Straker kidnapping him to keep his music system up to date.” He paused. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing?”
Alex flicked a glance towards him and then turned her attention back to the road. “What do you mean?”
“You’re trying to divert me from talking about your parents.”
“What is there to say? Your mum spoke to my dad this morning, so at least he’s still alive.”
Rusty hesitated.
“Yeah, I know,” said Alex. “We don’t know about my mum.”
“I’ll shut up now,” said Rusty.
Alex pulled into the college parking lot. “I’m really grateful, you know. For last night.”
Rusty grinned at her. “Can I quote you on that?”
Alex punched him on the shoulder.
They got out and walked towards the college in companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Only a few students passed them, clutching folders tightly to their chests and frowning.
“Newbies,” said Rusty.
“It does seem quiet,” said Alex.
“You know how it is once term starts,” said Rusty. “Everyone starts bunking off after attending a few classes.” He held open the entrance door for Alex. The moment she stepped though she heard Savannah’s voice: “Bitch.”
“There’s a blast from the past,” said Rusty following her in.
“Doesn’t sound like she’s changed much,” said Alex.
Rusty turned his head in the direction of her voice. “I’d say she was louder.”
“And angrier,” said Alex, as a stream of obscenities filled the air. “I wouldn’t have thought that went with her image.”
“No,” said Rusty. “Sniping is more her style.”
Alex thought of the girl who had turned on her in the restroom. “Maybe we should take a look?”
“Since when did you care what she got up to?”
“It’d be reassuring to know she wasn’t possessed again.”
“You think that’s even possible?”
The air split with a high-pitched scream.
“That sounded like a war-cry,” said Alex.
“Cheerleaders,” said Rusty dismissively.
From down the corridor came the sound of shouting and more screaming.
“This way,” said Rusty. “They’ll be in the dance studio.” He ran off. Alex followed.
By the time Alex got to the studio, Rusty had disappeared into a seething crowd of cheerleaders. She pushed her way through. She caught a glimpse of a girl lying prone on the floor. Above her stood Rusty, his arms around the waist of another figure he was trying to pull back. Alex caught the impression of a scantily clad form, all sharp nails and flying hair.
“Bitch. Bitch. I’m going to kill you,” screamed Savannah. The girl on the floor curled into a foetal position and sobbed.
Alex walked straight up to Rusty and slapped Savannah as hard as she could. The shock made the girl gasp and she went momentarily limp in Rusty’s arms. He took full advantage of this and hustled through the others, who backed away before crowding back over the crying girl.
Even when they were outside the studio he didn’t let go of Savannah.
“Good idea,” said Alex, stepping back. “Keep her pointy-side out.”
“What the hell is the matter with you?” said Rusty as he struggled with the squirming girl.
“That bitch was going to drop me when I was at the top of the pyramid,” panted Savannah. “She wants me out of the team. She wants to be on top.” She twisted round in Rusty’s arms and clawed at his face. Rusty let her go, his hand flying to his cheek. “What the … Savannah? That stings!”
“Don’t you lie to me. You and Joelle were in on this together. After all, you two have already killed one cheerleader.” She stormed off.
“Possession?” asked Rusty, examining his hand for blood.
“Nah,” said Alex. “Cheerleader. We should get you to the nurse. That might get infected.”
Rusty gingerly touched his face again. “Yeah, I can believe that. She always was a venomous snake.”
Alex shrugged. “Probably just overly wound up about some competition they’re entering. You know how competitive that lot get.”
“Yeah,” said Rusty. “I guess.”
After classes Rusty opted to stay on at the library, refusing a lift back. “I’ve got a ton of references I need to check. Old stuff. Pre-internet. It’s the end of the media course.”
“I can wait,” offered Alex.
“You should get home,” said Rusty. “Your parents will be wanting to see you.”
Alex gave a lopsided grin. “Really, I can wait.”
Rusty put his hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be fine. And if it isn’t, you know where we live.”
****
She drove home as slowly as she could without holding up the traffic. Swinging into the drive she saw her parents’ car. There was fresh mud on the tyres, so either they’d been to work and back — or, as a nasty little voice whispered in her head, — one of them had been out burying the body.
Alex opened the front door cautiously. Her father was sitting on the stairs, a piece of paper in his hand. He looked up. It seemed to take him a moment to recognise her.
“She’s gone,” he said. “Your mother’s gone.”
3. How Far From The Tree Does The Apple Fall?
“What do you mean gone?” said Alex, struggling to keep her voice level. Her father held out the paper to her. It read:
Lewis –
It’s too much. I need space. I’ll be in touch when I’ve got my head together.
Irene
“She doesn’t even mention me,” said Alex quietly.
“You’re an adult, sweetheart. You’re not her responsibility anymore.”
“I thought I was supposed to be mentally deficient,” said Alex.
Lewis sighed. “There’s no rule of guardianship or whatever the America
n equivalent is, over you. You can get in your car and simply drive off, if that’s what you want.”
“Is that what you want?”
Lewis got to his feet. “What do you think, Alex. I’ve just lost my wife and you’re asking if I want to lose my daughter too?” He took three quick paces towards her, so she had to look up to see his face. His eyes blazed. “Everything I’ve done, I’ve done for this family. For both of you. You are my life. You and your mother.”
A ripple of fear passed through Alex. She didn’t remember her father ever being so angry with her. It had been a shock when she had seen him with a gun in his hands, commanding a military group. This it seemed was yet another side to the laid-back, archetypical ‘uncool’ dad she thought she’d had.
“I didn’t know,” she said softly. The words came out with difficulty. Her throat was dry.
The anger in Lewis’ face faded slightly. He took her by the arm and led her to the stairs so they could sit together. “I know you think your mother is the way she is because of you.”
“She didn’t want to be a mother, did she?”
“No,” said Lewis, “she didn’t. But when you were born she fell in love with you the first moment she held you in her arms. We both did.”
“But then why ….”
“She’s frightened Alex. She’s frightened for herself and she’s frightened for you.”
“Of what?”
Lewis wiped a hand over his forehead. “I promised her I’d never tell you.”
“She isn’t here,” said Alex. “It’s not as if this will be the first secret we’ll be keeping from her.”
“Low blow, Alex,” said her father. “Your poking around didn’t leave me much option.”
“But you and mum work at the same place. You must know …”
“We work in different areas on different projects,” said Lewis.
“Fine, for whatever reason you’ve kept mum in the dark about what you do.”
“I had to. I signed a security agreement with the Centre. It’s normal practice in my line of work.”
“Which is?” said Alex.
“You know enough,” said Lewis.
Alex heard the implacable tone in his voice. “Okay, if not that, tell me why Mum is frightened. What’s the big secret there?”
“Do you remember your maternal grandmother?”
“No,” said Alex. “I don’t recall us having much to do with either grandparents. We lived so far away. We were on the South coast and they were in Yorkshire and Lothian?”
“Yes, when you were little. We moved back to Scotland, but only after my parents died,” said Lewis. “They saw you at a couple of Christmases. We sent them photos. They sent you presents. But they were older than Irene’s parents. I was a late life surprise.”
“Aren’t we getting away from the point?” said Alex.
“My parents were perfectly normal,” said Lewis. “Older than Irene’s, but uncomplicated people.”
“And Mum’s weren’t?”
“Her father killed himself when she was sixteen. She came in to find him hanging from the hall bannister.” Lewis looked reflective. “She grew up in a big house, your mother. Huge, high hall. Plenty of space for a body to hang.” He took a breath. “Your mother’s family were wealthy.”
Alex had stopped listening after hearing of her grandfather’s suicide. “Poor mum,” she said. “That must have been awful for her.”
Lewis gave a very slight shrug. “Yes, of course it was, but not unexpected. Both her uncles had killed themselves and from what we can make out, her grandfather won a gallantry medal in the war for deliberately getting himself blown up.”
The hall whirled around Alex. She felt her father’s firm hands on her shoulders.
“Hold it together, Alex. You wanted to know.”
“My grandmother?”
“She’s in one of the best institutes in the UK,” said Lewis.
“Are you telling me madness runs in my mother’s family?” said Alex.
“Down both sides,” said Lewis.
“Is mum mad?”
“No,” said Lewis. “Or she wasn’t classed as such. She was terrified she would go mad. When we started dating she told me the whole story, so I’d know what I was letting myself in for. And also that we could never have children.”
“But?” said Alex.
“An accident. But a happy one,” said Lewis.
“So when I started talking about people you couldn’t see …”
“It brought the whole sorry mess back up,” said Lewis. “Straker wasn’t only seeing you, he was seeing your mother. She saw a number of psychiatrists when you were growing up. They helped her keep the fears at bay, but they were always there. Her whole life was filled with fear for her and for you. She fought it every day. Her career suffered. Her health suffered. But she clung in there. She was determined to be here for you, but as you got older, Alex, you grew away from her. The fear she was holding on to stood as a huge barrier between you and her and because she never explained, you thought she didn’t care.”
“You should have told me!”
“But it was all getting better. You were fine and Irene was responding to Straker’s therapy too. Everything was finally coming together.”
“You trust Straker that much?” said Alex.
“I trust him to keep to his agreement. He does that. He’s known for being scrupulous when it comes to contracts.”
Alex’s eyes opened wide. “You don’t like him,” she said.
“No,” said Lewis. “I don’t. But schizophrenia has a strong genetic link and Straker’s work with genetics and mental health issues is the most advanced in the world.”
“So that thing in the fields … that project … you were doing all that because you bargained for Straker to help mum and me?”
“If I’m honest, Alex, that was a big part of it. But here, I’m also getting to work at the leading edge of my field and that’s hugely tempting for any scientist.”
“What do we do now? About mum?”
“You go to bed and I phone Straker.” He put up his hand as Alex tried to object. “The local police wouldn’t do anything for twenty-four hours unless I said she was a risk to herself and your mother would not thank me for that. Straker can start looking now.”
“He’ll do that for you? Why?”
Lewis hesitated. Finally he said, “He has a vested interest in our family. Now go to bed, Alex. There’s nothing else you can do.”
****
The next morning Alex woke up to bright sunshine streaming through her window. She’d slept deeply and for once and woke up completely as soon as she opened her eyes. For a moment she lay there, enjoying the feeling of relaxation that was flowing through her. Then she remembered yesterday. A feeling of dread descended like a series of weights across her limbs. With an effort she got out of bed.
When she came into the kitchen she found the milk and cereal standing out on the table. Lewis had left a short note at her normal place.
Still looking. Go to school. Will phone if any news.
Love, Dad.
Alex texted Rusty. Want a lift?
He replied. No thanks. Staying home today. Mum a bit tired. Needs help. Let me know about any schoolwork?
Sure, texted Alex, feeling guilty.
Alex arrived to find the school campus in chaos. More campus police than she had ever seen in one place were running from their station in the grounds towards the main entrance. Some students were running after them. Alex caught the arm of a guy she knew vaguely from maths, “What’s happening?” she asked.
He gave her a big grin. “Girl fight. They’re saying the cheerleaders have gone mental. Ripping each other’s clothes.” He pulled his arm away. “Gotta go.”
A girl behind Alex said loudly, “Men are so disgusting.”
“Sleazy,” said Alex turning round. The girl wore a lemon sweater with a high collar poking up from beneath and sensible brown trousers.
“I’ll say,” said the girl. “I hear there’s some guy in there even taking bets on who’ll be the last girl standing.”
“Gosh,” said Alex. “Do you know what started it?”
The girl shrugged. “No idea. But you can bet those rent-a-cop guys won’t be in no hurry to break it up. I heard one of them say it was better than pay-for-view.”
“But people could get hurt,” said Alex.
“That’s what generally happens in fights,” said the girl. “I’m going home to work. I doubt anyone will be going to classes. It’s almost as bad as when we had those film people here.”
“Hey, that’s not …” began Alex, but the girl had already walked away.
The stream of people pouring through the doors had thinned enough that Alex reckoned she could probably slip through. She eased her way into the hall. Sure enough one guy stood off to the side handing out scrawled chits on torn-up bits of yellow paper and taking money. A huge cheer came from the direction of the dance studio. It wasn’t a cheerleader kind of cheer, but a male roar. A spotty guy ran into the hall and yelled, “Ten twelve a.m. — first top off.” The crowd around the amateur bookie groaned and started laying new bets.
Alex pushed her way through to the entrance to the dance studio. “Savannah,” she called. “Savannah.” Alex tried to see into the hall. Students, male and female, jostled her from both sides. A campus cop pushed her roughly out of his view. Alex stumbled and nearly fell, but she caught a glimpse of the girls fighting. A cry of approval went up as one cheerleaders’ tiny skirt was ripped away.
“Isn’t anyone going to stop this?” yelled Alex. Her voice broke loudly over the end of the cry. A missile hit her square on the cheek. It fell to the floor in front of her, shattered. A compact mirror. Alex’s cheek stung. She had no idea who had thrown the compact or if she had been the intended target, but she recognised an out-of-control mob. She retreated to the nearest female restroom, intending to inspect the damage to her face. But when she got there, she found that someone had covered up all the mirrors.
****
Back home, she found the house empty. The first aid kit still sat on the side where she had used it on Lewis. Alex washed her face and decided to use one of the adhesive stitches. The gash cut two centimetres across her cheek and she feared a scar. However, she now had newly acquired first aid skills from patching up her dad. But she quickly discovered that applying stitches to yourself while looking in a mirror is not easy. After two botched attempts, she texted Rusty.
