by D. J. McCune
Archie looked sceptical. ‘I don’t see how that’s going to help. I mean it could be anyone.’
Spike looked smug. ‘Yeah but you don’t have the contacts I have.’ He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. ‘There’s this guy I know from a hacking forum. He used to work for the CIA but they kicked him out for something. Anyway, he’s one of those survivalist types, really paranoid – but he nicked a lot of their software when he was going. He reckons he has something that can analyse facial profiles and run a web search for matching photos. Everyone has a photo on the web somewhere. You just have to be patient. So if we’re lucky it might throw something up. We might just track down our ninja.’
‘A ninja’s hardly going to have a photo album online, is he?’ Adam was trying to sound dismissive but his voice was coming out all wrong.
Spike shrugged. ‘Even ninjas make mistakes.’
Adam stood up. He could feel his heart beating at the back of his throat. ‘Why are you making such a big thing about this?’
Spike scowled. ‘What’s your problem?’
Adam’s mouth was moving and he knew it was out of control but somehow he couldn’t make it stop. ‘You! You’re the problem! Snooping around on your computer all the time! Haven’t you anything better to do? Why don’t you give it a rest? Play football! Get a hobby or a girlfriend or something, like normal people do, instead of poking through other people’s lives!’
Colour flared in Spike’s cheeks but his face stayed deadly calm. ‘Oh right. So you’ve got a girlfriend now and we’re all supposed to be like you. It was me “poking about” on the computer that got rid of all the videos of you throwing up on her. She wouldn’t be seeing you again if the whole school was still laughing at her and the sick on her shoes.’
Archie was colouring in something in his sketchbook. His face was hidden but he was moving his pencil just a little bit too hard. ‘Yeah, and she’s not your girlfriend, is she? She just wants to hang out at lunchtime. You’ll probably do something stupid today anyway.’
‘Or maybe the Beast will get hold of you,’ Dan added helpfully. At least he didn’t seem to be taking the ‘get a girlfriend’ comment as personally as the other two. ‘Anyway, what’s wrong with knowing who the guy in the picture is? Maybe he’s a ninja and he’s OK – but maybe he’s just normal and he’s dead. He might have loads of people looking for him. His mum and all.’
Adam’s mouth moved soundlessly. He had totally overreacted and now he couldn’t see any way back from it. ‘Yeah, well … Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.’
‘Right, unless it helps you, is that what you mean?’ Spike was sneering but he was angry beneath the sneer. ‘I can hack away if it helps you get a girlfriend and be Mr Normal.’
There was nothing Adam could say. Somehow he had managed to offend all his friends in one go. He knew he should probably apologise but the words just wouldn’t come out. ‘Whatever,’ he muttered and grabbed his schoolbag just as the bell rang. He headed for the door with a sinking heart.
He basically couldn’t have done anything more to encourage Spike if he’d tried.
***
The next two periods passed in a misery of anxiety. Adam tried and failed to concentrate on the history of the Weimar Republic but all he could think about was how the hell he was going to explain it if his identity was revealed. He chewed on the end of his pen, wondering if Spike was exaggerating. Could there really be such a thing as facial recognition software? And how many photos would Adam have on the internet? He hadn’t done anything noteworthy enough to end up on the school website and the Mortsons had a strict ban on social media. It was possible that there wasn’t a single photo of him on the internet – unless of course his friends had uploaded his photo to their pages. There was no way of asking at the minute without being even more suspicious so he would have to leave it and hope Spike was blagging it.
The one bittersweet side effect of Adam’s terror was that he didn’t have time to worry about meeting Melissa. The minutes seemed to drag by – but suddenly it was lunchtime. It was only as Adam made his way towards the canteen that he realised they hadn’t actually arranged a meeting point. He stood in the foyer outside, shovelling his sandwich in and shifting from foot to foot. He wished he’d thought to bring some mints but at least his sandwich was ham, not tuna.
Someone tapped his left shoulder, sending a bolt of agony down his bruised arm. He turned and saw Melissa. It was hard not to just stare and stare. How did she always look so nice? She was just wearing the same uniform everyone else was but there was a kind of glow about her. He studied her face. She was wearing make-up but only a little bit. Her eyes weren’t quite as disturbingly laser-like without the black stuff round them. Today he could look into them without feeling as if she knew all his secrets.
She was smiling. ‘You all right?’
Adam shrugged. ‘Yeah. I didn’t know where to meet you but I thought you’d come here.’
She nodded and pulled a slightly squashed roll out of her blazer pocket. ‘Yeah, it seemed the right place to find you.’
They looked at each other for a long, awkward moment. With a start Adam realised that she was waiting for him to do something. But what? Kiss her? Produce a bunch of flowers? Sweep her off her feet and carry her off into some overly colourful sunset? After a moment of terrible mental blankness his brain revved up a notch and managed to produce one semi-coherent sentence. ‘You want to go a walk?’
‘OK.’ She seemed relieved that he’d finally said something. ‘I can eat while we’re walking.’
It got easier once they left the stifling, crowded foyer and headed out into the fresh air. It was a cold, clear day, with a hint of warmth from the lunchtime sun. Spring was coming. Adam could feel it. It lifted his spirits; made him feel more optimistic.
‘So what did you do over the holidays?’ Melissa was walking beside Adam, close enough that her arm brushed against his as they walked.
‘Not much,’ Adam said truthfully. ‘I couldn’t go out so I mostly just sat in my room.’ That much was true. Nobody had really wanted to hang out with him at home, as if his disgrace might prove infectious. Of course if anyone found out the true extent of what he’d done it might well contaminate the whole family.
Melissa whistled between her teeth. ‘So you were grounded the whole holiday?’ At Adam’s nod she grinned. ‘You must have done something really bad. What was it?’
Adam snorted and managed to turn it into a cough. He tried to imagine her face if he told her the truth. I illegally guided a soul into the afterlife while alone and underage. And of course the rest – the bit not even his family knew. And I didn’t give the soul any directions for the Unknown Roads because I was angry that he tried to kill loads of people – people I saved, also illegally. How would she react? He sighed. ‘It wasn’t really anything bad. My family are pretty strict.’
She gave him a sympathetic look. ‘Yeah, my mum used to be pretty strict too but she’s getting better. I think she’s starting to get the message that I’m not five any more!’
Adam hesitated for a moment before asking, ‘How is your mum?’
Melissa tensed. It was very slight but Adam felt the faint movement as her body stiffened and cursed himself for being so clumsy. ‘She’s OK,’ Melissa said. ‘She’s waiting for an appointment. She promised she would go to the hospital and get the tests they wanted to do.’ She smiled but there was something questioning in her eyes. ‘Just like you said she should.’
Adam shrugged and tried to look casual. ‘Well it’s always a good idea to get checked out if you don’t feel well.’ There was no way he was admitting the disturbing premonitions he’d had before the half-term holiday – Melissa sitting by a hospital bed, holding the wasted hand of a woman who looked just like her. He tried to make a joke of it all. ‘See, this is why I want to be a doctor. So I can boss people about and tell them to go to the hospital!’
Melissa smiled cautiously. ‘I guess.’
She hesitated. ‘You know this sounds really weird but I was starting to think you were psychic or something.’
‘Yeah,’ Adam said. He grinned at her shocked face. ‘It does sound really weird.’
She punched his arm and grinned – but then she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and left it there as they walked. Adam could feel her fingers burning through his blazer. He suddenly felt ten feet tall.
‘Your friends looked really freaked out when I came to the library,’ Melissa said.
Adam shrugged. ‘They don’t talk to girls much. Well, girls don’t talk to them.’
Melissa raised an eyebrow. ‘And you do?’
‘Only my sister and my aunt,’ Adam said without thinking. He stopped, horrified at his own honesty, but Melissa was smiling at him. He felt bold enough to say, ‘I was glad you came to see me. I thought that … maybe you were annoyed at me. You know, after registration.’
Melissa’s smile faded. ‘No, nothing like that. I just can’t be bothered with all the stupid pointing and whispering and gossiping. It was bad enough before the holidays. You know with Cryptique and the … video.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Adam said, dying inside at the memory. He hesitated. ‘You were really nice about that.’
‘I like you,’ Melissa said simply. She paused. ‘I just don’t like everyone talking about me. It was like when my dad left and everyone was sort of looking at me, like they were sorry for me and asking me how I was. I hated it. And here … everyone is always watching what you’re doing and I just don’t want it all to be this big deal. I just want things to be normal. But I do like you.’
She was looking at Adam and he looked back, feeling like his chest had gone empty and fluttery inside. ‘I like you too,’ he said. His voice sounded croaky. What was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to kiss her now? Why wasn’t he Luc?! Luc would know what to do. Luc always knew what to do when it came to girls!
Just as he might have plucked up the courage to act, the silence was broken by squeals and shouts up ahead. A gang of first years charged out from behind a hedge, chasing a football. Adam gave them a murderous glare but they ran on blissfully unaware. Melissa rolled her eyes at them and smiled but the moment had passed. She did slip her hand into Adam’s. He could definitely live with that for now.
They chatted about everything and nothing as they walked around. Adam relaxed and began to enjoy himself. He had forgotten how easy she was to talk to. Why had he been so nervous about hanging out with her? Admittedly their first few dates hadn’t exactly gone smoothly – but she didn’t seem to hold any of it against him. He liked watching her when she talked about her favourite things, like her artwork. Her eyes got very bright and she moved her hand a lot – the one that wasn’t holding his.
The warning bell rang and reluctantly they walked back towards the main building. Adam looked at the daffodils pushing up in the flower beds lining the main walkway and briefly considered picking one for her – until the tiny voice of reason at the back of his head rewarded him with an image of Melissa hitting him with it and running off laughing.
Of course every ointment had its fly. They were at the bottom of the steps just about to go back into the main building, when a group of figures came round the corner and stopped dead at the sight of them. It was none other than Michael Bulber and friends.
It was the first time Adam had seen the Beast since their unfortunate run-in on Valentine’s night. Was he imagining things or was there still a faint hint of bruising round the Beast’s eyes, courtesy of Ripper, the bouncer at Cryptique?
The Beast jerked his head at Melissa. ‘All right, Melissa?’ He turned his attention to Adam, sounding almost polite. ‘All right, nobhead?’
Adam glared at the Beast and his tittering gang of minions. He still couldn’t believe the lengths the older boy had gone to, just to try to ruin his chances with Melissa. He wasn’t really sure how you answered a greeting like ‘All right, nobhead,’ so he decided to say nothing.
Melissa wasn’t as restrained. ‘What do you want?’
Michael Bulber widened his eyes and hammed up an expression of the utmost innocence. ‘Me? Just going inside, aren’t I, like a good little boy. It’s a free country. But since you’re asking, I wouldn’t mind taking you for a nice walk sometime. I wouldn’t waste my time talking about bunnies and flowers though. Or even throwing up on you.’ He did something disgusting with his tongue and his mates fell about laughing. Adam felt a brief and passionate longing to tear his throat out.
Melissa snorted. ‘Yeah. Like that’s going to happen.’
The Beast grinned. ‘At least I’d know what I was doing with you, unlike him.’
Adam scowled, smarting inside. The truth hurt … He cleared his throat. ‘Just leave it, will you?’
‘Oooooh, just leave it, will you!’ The Beast put on his most simpering voice. ‘Please, don’t hurt me!’ His mates were still laughing but as he looked at Adam the air between them seemed to snap taut. ‘Maybe we should have another little chat in an alleyway sometime.’
Adam took a step towards him, anger making him reckless. ‘That didn’t end so well for you last time round,’ he said, so softly that only Bulber could hear.
The Beast flinched and his expression became even uglier. It wasn’t clear what might have happened next – if a voice hadn’t boomed from the top of the steps. ‘Ah, Michael, there you are! I’ve been looking for you.’ The Bulb was standing beaming down at his son. ‘Just need to have a quick word.’ He turned his attentions to the others, seemingly unaware of the tension in the air. ‘The rest of you, get to class!’
Melissa grinned at the Beast. ‘Yeah, we’d better go. Wouldn’t want to be late.’ She turned to Adam and without warning stretched up and kissed him on the lips. ‘See you later, Adam.’ She sashayed up past The Bulb and disappeared inside.
Adam stared stupidly after her, feeling his lips tingle. His heart was swelling up, threatening to explode out of his chest cavity and cover everyone in range with warm goo. When he looked at the Beast he had the satisfaction of seeing his nemesis glaring at him. He grinned and gave him a little wave. ‘See you Michael.’
The Beast’s eyes burning into his back only lightened his step as he went.
Chapter 8
Adam’s last two classes passed by in a mixture of happy daydreams about Melissa and gloomy scenarios involving extreme violence from the Beast. The thing was, it was all very well winding him up in school – but the last time Adam had been cornered by Michael Bulber he would have been dead if he hadn’t escaped into the Hinterland. Even in Cryptique it had only been Luc’s presence that had saved him from a beating and forced Bulber to fall back on more subtle malice.
He couldn’t risk breaking any more Luman laws. Normal people weren’t allowed to know about the existence of the Hinterland, end of. Adam’s disappearance from the physical world had freaked the Beast out and saved Adam from a hiding – but if he pulled a stunt like that again and the Concilium found out they would kill him anyway. His good feelings deflated a little. It seemed like everyone wanted to kill him these days.
He frowned, thinking about his mates. He’d been out of order and grovelling was the only way forward. The thought of it was painful but better that than being Norman no-mates. He would swallow his pride tomorrow.
By the time he got home from school he was starving. Maybe it was being loved up, he mused as he headed towards the house, enduring his usual affectionate mauling from the dogs. All that anxiety over dating and snogging must burn extra calories or something. He couldn’t help grinning when he remembered how Melissa had kissed him, so casually, in front of everyone. Like, oh, I’m just going to kiss Adam now. I could do this every day. Maybe she would. He hoped so…
He was just scrabbling through the fridge when Chloe hurtled into the kitchen. ‘We thought you were never going to get home! Come on!’
Adam blinked, startled at her sudden arrival. Two days in a row he had arrived home, only to
be pounced upon. It was unsettling.
‘Come on where?’
‘Into the parlour. Everyone’s waiting for you!’
‘Waiting for me? What have I done?’ Adam muttered. ‘I need to get something to eat.’
Chloe hissed in frustration. ‘There’s food in the parlour. Come on, they wouldn’t tell us until you got home!’
Adam stared at her baffled. ‘Wouldn’t tell who what?’
But Chloe was already disappearing back into the hall, yelling, ‘Come on!’
Adam sighed. Maybe with a bit of luck they would tell him he’d been accidentally swapped at birth and he was going back to his real family now.
***
Adam walked into the parlour and stopped, discomfited to find six pairs of eyes boring into him. The parlour was a long, pleasant room with a dark mahogany table at one end. It was usually only used for parties – like when the Concilium had visited a few weeks earlier. The few chairs in the room had been pulled to one side and his family were sitting staring expectantly at him. There were two bottles of champagne in ice buckets on the table, as well as platters of sandwiches and a cake. It was the last thing Adam had expected to see.
He cleared his throat. ‘What’s the occasion?’
Nathanial was standing in front of the others, beaming at his youngest son. ‘Sit down Adam. I wanted to wait until you got home so we could all be together.’
‘Okaaaaaay,’ Adam said, sidling towards the last remaining chair. It didn’t seem like he was in more trouble. He’d half wondered if his role in cheating Morta of souls had been discovered – but he doubted they would have made a celebratory cake. Unless of course it was the last meal of the condemned prisoner …
Nathanial cleared his throat. ‘Well, it’s been an unusual twenty-four hours. Yesterday was a very special day, although you might not believe it. Very few humans will ever see what we saw in the Realm of the Fates.’
