The Mortal Knife

by D. J. McCune

  ‘We could pretend she’s going to come to this school. Say that she’s overseas. There’s a girl in my form class who just left to go and live in Australia. So we download an application form, fill it in and pretend she’s legit. Then we pretend she isn’t coming for a few weeks. We can just keep dragging it out.’

  ‘But sooner or later the Beast will want to meet her.’

  Dan grinned. ‘Yeah, but by then he’ll have gone off Melissa. It’s basic psychology. He’ll spend weeks comparing Melissa to the new girl and decide Wonderfish is a better catch. So Melissa will never look like a good catch again.’

  Adam frowned and thought about it. Could Dan be right? Could a Wonderfish really distract Bulber from Melissa? It would certainly take the pressure off a bit if he didn’t have to concentrate on impressing Melissa and not getting killed by the Beast. ‘I suppose it might work.’

  ‘Of course it’ll work,’ Spike said airily. ‘Since when do my plans not work?’

  Archie was squinting critically at his drawing. ‘You know you’re right. She needs a bit of adjustment. I’ll work on some drawings this evening.’

  Dan grinned. ‘Operation Wonderfish is go!’

  Adam rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help smiling. After all, they had fooled the Bulb. Fooling Michael Bulber too was just keeping things in the family. ‘OK. Let’s do it.’

  ‘So when are you going to see the fish again?’ Archie was still sketching out the Wonderfish, frowning with concentration.

  ‘At lunchtime,’ Adam said, trying hard to sound nonchalant. ‘I was talking to her this morning in registration.’

  Dan frowned. ‘You don’t make it easy to keep you alive, do you? I mean until the Wonderfish is perfected Melissa is still tempting prey – which makes you prey too.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be safe enough,’ Adam said. ‘She wants me to meet her in the art room. You know, to help her with her coursework.’

  Archie snorted. ‘She does know you can barely draw a stick man, doesn’t she?’

  ‘I’m not going to be doing any drawing.’ Adam cleared his throat and tried not to preen. ‘Actually she wants to draw me.’

  Spike sniggered. ‘You’re not my idea of a muse.’

  Dan’s eyes were like saucers. ‘When you say she’s going to draw you … it’s not that sort of drawing, is it?’ He looked around nervously checking for eavesdroppers. ‘You know. The nudie stuff. Life drawing.’ He nodded knowingly at Adam.

  ‘No!’ Adam paused. ‘I mean, they don’t do that in school … do they?’

  Archie looked up from his sketchpad. ‘Dunno. I’ve got Donnelly and he’s not into that stuff at all, but Melissa’s got that hippy teacher. The new one with all the tattoos. Bet she’s into all sorts!’

  Dan choked on an almond and scrabbled through his pocket for his inhaler. Adam could have done with a quick puff himself. He stood up as the bell for the end of break rang. ‘Yeah, well, at least if the art teacher is there I won’t need to worry about the Beast. And hopefully you’ll have the Wonderfish ready for tomorrow.’

  Spike raised an eyebrow. ‘I never knew having a girlfriend was such a team effort.’

  Adam had the grace to blush.

  When lunchtime came, Adam sloped towards the art corridor with deep trepidation. It was a part of the school he rarely visited; he’d dropped art as soon as he possibly could. It wasn’t that he didn’t like art; he just wasn’t any good at it. He often envied Archie’s ability to draw anything, even if he did sometimes use it for dubious purposes.

  Melissa appeared a few minutes later, looking flustered and lugging an armful of heavy, hardback books. ‘Sorry. I had to go to the library first. I needed research books.’ She pressed the door handle with her elbow and gestured to Adam. ‘Come on in.’

  Adam hesitated, feeling like he was entering the lion’s den. There were a few people there already, working away with headphones in their ears. Thankfully all of them had their clothes on too. The art room always smelled the same – that weird mixture of damp clay and paint.

  Melissa scurried over to the far side of the room and dropped the books on the table with a crash. ‘They were killing my arms.’ She rubbed the insides of her elbows and pulled a stool out from under the bench. ‘Sit here, will you? I want to get the light from the windows.’

  Belatedly Adam realised he could have offered to carry the books in. He’d missed a chance to shine! He perched on the edge of the stool, feeling apprehensive but trying to look cool. ‘It’s a nice room.’

  Melissa smiled at him. ‘I’m not going to bite you.’

  Clearly he wasn’t being as cool as he’d hoped. Adam cleared his throat. ‘So … what is it you’re doing?’

  Melissa was flicking through one of the heavy books. The pages were a riot of colour. ‘We have to pick some artists and create a piece based on their styles. I haven’t decided on the style yet but the theme is the same whoever I use.’

  ‘Oh right. What do you mean the theme?’

  Melissa looked up at him and then quickly looked away. She seemed to be studying the book. ‘What the piece is about. What it has to express. So mine is on … passion.’

  Adam stared at her for a second, then dropped his eyes to the floor, feeling his cheeks flame. Bloody hell! Dan was right! What the hell did they get up to up here? For a fleeting moment he found himself longing for the ether-scented air of the biology lab. ‘Oh, right.’

  Now Melissa seemed embarrassed. ‘Look, it’s a big topic. I’m just at the figuring stuff out stage. So today is just prep, if that’s OK?’ At Adam’s nod she looked relieved. ‘Great. I’m just going to take some photos to start.’

  Adam froze. With Spike scouring the internet for the unknown bomber now was not a good time for Adam to start posing for the camera. He tried to make his question sound casual. ‘What do you need photos for?’

  Melissa looked amused. ‘Well, you can’t be here all the time, can you? I need to be able to work when you’re in your other classes. Unless you’re going to come and be a full-time model.’

  ‘No, yeah, that makes sense. You don’t put the photos up anywhere though, do you?’

  Melissa gave him an odd look. ‘Well, just on the display board here when I show the finished piece. But it’s mostly going to be shots of individual body parts. No one will even know it’s you.’

  ‘That’s great,’ Adam said. At least his grinning mug wasn’t going to end up plastered all over the internet. But his relief was short-lived. Body parts? Which parts exactly was she going to be taking photos of?

  Melissa had disappeared into the store briefly, returning carrying a heavy camera. She came towards him, turning the lense. ‘OK. So I want to get some photos of your eyes first.’

  That was probably OK. He stared straight ahead as she stepped right up until only the camera was between them. The air was full of the smell of her perfume – slightly sweet and fruity. He could feel the warmth from her body close to his.

  ‘Try not to move,’ she said softly. The shutter closed and opened, closed and opened. ‘You have really nice eyes.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Adam said. His eyeballs were burning from holding them open but he didn’t care. He could have stayed there all day.

  Melissa stepped back. ‘OK, so now I want to get your lips. In the photos.’ She smiled, half embarrassed.

  ‘OK,’ Adam murmured. It was weird knowing that her whole focus was on his mouth. He was usually focusing on hers.

  It felt like they were there for a long time but it was only a few minutes later that Melissa finally put the camera down. ‘Body parts’ had thankfully turned out to mean his face and jaw and hands rather than anything Adam normally kept undercover. And even though she put the camera down Melissa stayed very close and for once Adam could read what she wanted him to do and he wanted it too. So, he kissed her.

  She didn’t have any lip gloss on today and somehow that was even nicer because she tasted like her. And kissing her properly was different f
rom the other kisses – the short kisses in the alleyway and in front of Michael Bulber. This kiss went on and on and it was like kissing her with his whole body because this time he was able to put his arms round her and pull her in against him. And, like the time she had touched his hand in biology, he got that feeling like an electric current was running through his whole body, a tingling that ran from the back of his neck down to the base of his spine and made him want to kiss her more and more and more.

  He’d worried all this time that he wouldn’t know what to do and that was so stupid because of course he knew what to do. He could have stayed there forever because it was so easy and so brilliant kissing her, like the sun was shining through his whole body and lighting him up and lighting her up too.

  When the bell went they ignored it, just as they ignored the bustle of other people clearing up around them. Unfortunately they couldn’t ignore the arrival of Ms Havens, the art teacher. She was hard to ignore – she had bright red hair and lots of tattoos down her arms. ‘Break it up, you two,’ she said, not unkindly. In fact, she was smirking a little.

  Melissa grinned. ‘Sorry miss.’

  She didn’t look sorry at all. She looked happy and her happiness made the warm feeling in Adam soar, like it might burst out and shower the room with little golden lights. As they walked to the door, Melissa slipped her hand into his and whispered, ‘Don’t worry, she doesn’t mind. She’s really nice.’

  ‘Yeah, she seems to be!’ He tried to imagine kissing her in front of the Buzzard, their tiny but terrifying biology teacher. She would probably flay them alive and pin them onto one of her specimen boards.

  ‘So I’ll see you later,’ Melissa said. She gave him one last kiss on the lips.

  ‘Yeah,’ Adam said, beaming. He could feel it in his cheeks. ‘See you later.’

  It wasn’t the most inspiring thing he’d ever said. But the great thing was, Melissa didn’t seem to mind.

  Chapter 10

  The next couple of weeks were some of the happiest that Adam had ever had and that was mostly because of Melissa. He’d always liked school and seeing his mates – but seeing her too was the best bit of every day. He still couldn’t believe she’d given him another chance after their disastrous after-school dates – but for now she didn’t seem to mind just seeing him at lunchtimes, usually in the art room to avoid Michael Bulber.

  Operation Wonderfish had fallen at the first hurdle – namely that it required the Beast to use his school email. Still dazzled by their success with The Bulb, Adam and his friends had been confident that the son would follow in his father’s idiotic footsteps. Unfortunately the Beast never seemed to log in at all.

  Spike wasn’t used to his plans failing and was taking it personally. ‘He has to use his email. That’s how the sixth formers get all their homework from teachers.’

  Dan was shelling monkey nuts and making a mess all over their table in the library. ‘Yeah, but he’s the Beast. He doesn’t do homework. He just terrorises other people and takes theirs.’

  A gloomy silence had followed this pronouncement. It was true. That was the difference between The Bulb and his son. The Bulb might be a disgraced wrestler but now that he was a teacher he wasn’t actually allowed to maim students, no matter how much he wanted to. The Beast on the other hand lived by a different set of laws and was smart enough to fly below the radar most of the time.

  Spike was in vile form about the whole thing. He hadn’t mentioned any more about the photo of the bomber either. Apparently his survivalist contact had gone even deeper underground, paranoid that he was being watched. Spike hadn’t been able to get his hands on the facial recognition software he needed, putting his plans on hold.

  So for now things were going Adam’s way. He didn’t mind hanging out in the art room – it was warmer than being outside and Ms Havens was pretty cool. He could chat to Melissa while she worked on her piece and then they left some time for kissing. He was feeling pretty expert these days.

  All in all, things should have been perfect. There was only one blot on the horizon. Lots of people were dying.

  It started gradually – an extra sudden death one day, a couple of extra the next. Adam, like all Lumen, felt his death sense flare every time a person died – but he was well practised at tuning it out. When he was in school and away from the Mortson house and Keystones it was easy to ignore. He should have noticed sooner but he was enjoying his ‘normal’ life too much.

  The third week back at school things changed again. Exams were getting closer and Adam had to stay late on Monday for chemistry revision. Arriving home, he bumped into a flustered-looking Nathanial coming out of the back door, still smoothing down his camel-hair coat. He gave Adam a brief nod and smile and disappeared into the Hinterland.

  In the kitchen Adam found his mother and Auntie Jo standing together looking worried. To his alarm Auntie Jo wasn’t even waiting by the toaster – which meant that she must have actually been talking with Elise. Something was wrong. ‘What’s up?’

  The two women exchanged glances. ‘Nothing probably,’ Auntie Jo muttered. ‘It’s just been a busy day. Busier than usual.’

  Elise pursed her lips. ‘Much busier than usual.’ She paced around the kitchen holding an unlit cigarette. The nervous pock-pock of her heels on the stone floor beat a tattoo in Adam’s brain. ‘Last week was busy too but today … ’ She stopped and frowned.

  Adam shrugged. ‘Well, maybe it was a bad day on the roads. There was lots of snow in Scotland. Was it mostly car accidents?’

  Auntie Jo shook her head. ‘They were all individual jobs. Silly things.’

  ‘A fall down stairs, six chokings, three house fires, a scarf in machinery, two falls from scaffolding, three falls from bicycles. Plus the usual car accidents and unexpected heart problems.’ Elise had been counting on her hands but quickly ran out of fingers.

  Adam frowned. That was a lot of sudden deaths for one day. ‘Where were they?’

  ‘All over the place. A few in London. One of them was just down the road from here. The man got a bit of a shock seeing Nathanial in the Hinterland – he knew his face. Not that he can tell anyone now I suppose,’ Auntie Jo mused.

  Adam felt a pang of guilt. With so many deaths he should have felt something, especially when one of them had been close by. Thinking about it, he hadn’t been having his premonitions either – and when he had felt the occasional twinge it had been easy to block. His happiness in school was insulating him from the Luman world, at least in the daytime. It was getting too easy to ignore his doom sense and death sense, especially when it was so risky intervening.

  ‘It’s probably just a blip,’ Auntie Jo said. ‘And once Aron comes of age Nathanial will have more help. Someone to help share the load.’

  The problem with individual deaths was that only Lumen who had come of age could attend them alone. Luc and Aron could only assist at the minute, not work solo. A thought struck Adam. ‘Will the Marking be able to go ahead? If there are lots of deaths?’

  ‘The Fates have granted their permission. They will concentrate deaths in other parts of the globe,’ Elise said. ‘I imagine the new Atropos was most reluctant to put down the Mortal Knife.’ Her expression could have curdled milk.

  Luc came into the kitchen. ‘What are we having for dinner? I’m starving.’

  ‘Roast beef. It’s in the oven,’ Elise said distractedly. ‘But we cannot eat until your father returns.’

  As if on cue the back door opened and Nathanial came inside. He looked exhausted. ‘Another job done. It was a sad one – young chap, an addict. Had an overdose. Could happen any day of the week.’ He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

  ‘Yes, but it didn’t happen any day. It happened today, along with all the others,’ Auntie Jo muttered.

  Chloe came into the kitchen looking pained. ‘My stomach is really sore. My death sense is going mad today. What’s going on?’

  Elise smoothed her daughter’s hair back off her fac
e. ‘Try to ignore it, darling. It’s just a busy day.’

  Chloe scowled. ‘It’s not fair. Why do we even have to get a death sense if we’re not allowed to do anything with it? If I can’t be a Luman I’d be better off not having one. Mine’s really strong too.’

  It was true. Chloe had always felt deaths especially keenly. Adam had never really thought about how annoying it must be. After all, if you couldn’t actually guide souls it was just pointless – and in Chloe’s case painful. Adam had another twinge of guilt that he was escaping the worst of it.

  Luc smirked. ‘It’s so you’ll know when your husband is going on a job. That way you can put his dinner in the oven to keep it warm.’ He sniggered at Chloe’s glare.

  Aron came in the back door in running shorts, soaked with sweat after his daily gym session. He looked surprised to see them all in the kitchen. ‘What’s going on? Are we having dinner early?’ He sniffed appreciatively. Aron loved his food.

  Elise frowned and glanced at Nathanial. ‘Perhaps we should, oui?’

  ‘Yes, I think that would be a great idea –’ Nathanial began, then stopped.

  There was a collective groan. Here, surrounded by Mortson Keystones even Adam couldn’t escape the sensation as his death sense flared. Nathanial closed his eyes and massaged his temples. He winced. ‘It seems someone fell on a garden cane and managed to impale themselves.’

  ‘A garden cane?’ Luc said. His eyebrows were arched until they seemed to be suspended in space. ‘Seriously? How unlucky is that?’

  ‘How unlucky indeed,’ Nathanial murmured. His face was grey and strained. ‘Elise, I think you should eat without me. I’ll get something when I come back.’

  ‘Do you want me to go with you Father?’ Aron plucked at his sweaty clothes. ‘I can run up and get changed.’

  Nathanial shook his head. ‘Don’t worry Aron. I’d have to go along anyway. No point both of us missing dinner.’ He gave his eldest son a weary smile. ‘Come Saturday you’ll be able to work alone. Enjoy your last few days of freedom.’ He gave Elise a peck on the cheek and disappeared back into the garden.