‘I don’t know. We all assumed that it was something between your mum and Flora. Our parents were pretty strict and your grandmother never saw eye to eye with your mother, but I don’t know why Dad would think she might want to hurt either of you.’
‘Did Grandma ever mention me to you?’ I ask.
Uncle Sewell picks up a knife and a clove of garlic. ‘I’m sorry, Mariel. I suppose trying to forget you was her way of coping with losing you.’ He peels the garlic and carefully slices it. ‘We’re all glad you’re both back now though.’
‘We’ll be flying home in a few days’ time,’ I say.
‘Yes, but we can stay in contact now. And Australia’s not so far away. We’ll come and visit you. Aren’t you pleased to have your family back again?’
‘I’m still getting used to it to be honest,’ I reply.
He picks up an onion. ‘I thought we’d all join you in a meatless meal tonight with a vegetable risotto. The girls will complain, of course, but they can’t always have it all their own way, can they?’
With his back turned I extract the book from the bookshelf and sit down with it. Uncle Sewell puts the radio on. It’s a classical music station. I consider taking the diary to Elspeth’s room but decide there is more danger she will walk in on me. Here, at least, if I hear the front door there is time to hide it. I slip it inside a magazine from the coffee table.
I turn to the first page. The handwriting that fills the pages is a hurriedly written scrawl.
I don’t know why I am writing this. I don’t know exactly what it is. Is it a diary? Not quite. A diary would contain an account of my daily activities and this will not. Is it a confession? No. A confession requires an audience and I can never show this to anyone. And besides, what would I be confessing to? The things I have seen, the killings I have executed, the murders I have witnessed? No, that is not why I am writing. If anything, I am seeking to understand the curse itself from which I suffer, not the actions it causes. A medical journal, perhaps then, documenting this terrible condition that infects my blood.
‘Hello Mariel.’ Aunt Dee interrupts my reading. She goes into the kitchen and kisses Uncle Sewell on the cheek. I quickly close the journal and slip it under the sofa seat-cushion.
‘How’s it going?’ asks Uncle Sewell.
‘You were right, I’m a tortured author. We should alert Amnesty International,’ she says. ‘Smells good in here.’
She joins me on the sofa. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asks.
‘I don’t know,’ I answer honestly.
‘Well, you should be grateful your mother kept you away from your grandmother,’ she says gently. ‘I wish I had been.’
‘Why? What was wrong with her?’
‘I don’t know if it has a medical name.’ She laughs. ‘Acute misanthropy?’
‘What does that mean?’
‘A misanthropist is someone who hates people. Flora hated everyone, except her precious grandchildren, of course.’ Hearing the front door, Aunt Dee says quickly, ‘You can’t say a bad word about her in front of them. They’ll bite your head off.’
Mum enters with Elspeth. They exchange a glance and Elspeth walks over and addresses me in a clear, loud voice.
‘Mariel, I owe you an apology. I haven’t been as friendly as I could have been. There is no excuse for my behaviour but there are reasons for it. When we first met, I was upset about Grandma dying. Then I became worried because I’m the youngest of my cousins and I often feel left out and I thought that with another older cousin I’d feel even more left out. So I’m very sorry I haven’t been nice to you. Can you forgive me?’
She flings herself on the sofa and throws her arms around me.
‘Mariel, what do you say?’ I could kill Mum for saying this and for talking to Elspeth in the first place.
‘That’s OK, Elspeth, I forgive you.’ It chokes me to say it but what choice do I have? I’ve been manipulated by an eight-year-old. Elspeth squeezes me so hard it hurts.
Chapter 12
A Rooftop Encounter
More snow falls in the afternoon so everyone stays in the living room, preventing me from retrieving the diary from its new hiding place. That evening when we sit down to dinner Elspeth grumbles about the lack of meat but Lily says nothing. The risotto is nice though and I am grateful to Uncle Sewell for making it. At the end of the meal I take the dishes into the kitchen to load them into the dishwasher. Elspeth helps me, but once we are out of earshot she whispers, ‘Did you like my speech, half-cousin?’
‘It was very convincing,’ I reply.
She laughs and goes back to the table.
For the rest of the evening, Aunt Dee dominates the conversation. She appears to have an opinion on everything and she, Mum and Uncle Sewell argue about politics and other boring stuff. I am itching to rescue the diary from the sofa but I can’t risk it until I am sure no one is looking. I decide the safest thing to do is to wait until they have all gone to bed.
One of Aunt Dee’s many opinions is that children should be allowed to choose their own bedtime so I am the first to use the bathroom and go to bed.
‘Touch any of my stuff and you’re dead,’ threatens Elspeth before adding loudly, ‘Sleep well, Mariel. See you in the morning.’
I close the door and wait until everyone has gone to bed. Mum doesn’t come to say goodnight. I have never felt so distant from her. Since we landed in England it feels like she and I have been living two different stories. The adults chat casually amongst themselves, while their children whisper at me. I have spent all my life dreaming of what it would be like to have a large family, but now I have one I feel more alone than I have ever felt.
Elspeth’s dolls stare down at me. Some wear bonnets, others too much make-up. Many of them have patchy skin, worn away by time. They all look deeply sinister and I can see no reason to collect them other than to freak people out.
I hear a rustling from the door and notice that a piece of paper has been slipped under it. I pick it up and read it.
If you want to know what is wrong with us, wait for three taps on the window, then leave quietly through the window and go to where Elspeth tried to take you today. I will explain everything.
Lily
PS Do not leave your room or open your curtains before then.
I read the note twice. What is wrong with us, it says. Not what is wrong with Elspeth. What is wrong with us. I think about the words in the diary. This terrible condition that infects my blood. The house is quiet. It is the perfect moment to go and get the diary but Lily’s note said not to leave my room and I so desperately want to know the truth.
Elspeth’s dolls are creeping me out. I think that if I slept every night in this room I would be as disturbed as she is. I need something to distract me from them so I get up to look for a book to read. I check the drawers and find one full of silver jewellery, just like at Grandma’s house and in Amelia’s room. One of the bits looks familiar. It’s a silver crucifix. I reach into my bag and pull out the identical one I found on the hill. What does it mean, I wonder?
The three taps on the window are quiet but they still make me jump. I draw the curtains and look out but all I see is my own reflection. I turn off the light. No one’s there. I push open the window and feel the cold. The external lighting gives the university campus an eerie yellow glow. I put on my coat, climb up on to the window ledge and jump out.
The moon is big and low in the sky. The snow crunches beneath my feet as I walk to the fire escape that leads to the roof. I swing under the chain and go up.
The steps have iced over so I have to grip the cold railing. On each floor a door with a glass panel reveals a long deserted corridor behind it. I can hear music playing and students talking.
At the top of the building is a flat roof with a waist-high wall around the edge from which I can see how close the university is to Chilton. In the other direction I can make out the thin outline of Percy’s Ruin at the top of the hill. There is no fire o
n top tonight.
‘Lily?’ I whisper in case she’s hiding in the shadows.
There is no reply. I turn around, thinking she must be behind me.
It is not immediately obvious what I am looking at but it isn’t Lily’s silhouette. Its edges are jagged and it is too large. It turns slightly and I see a head with a long dog-like nose. It opens its mouth and I catch sight of glistening white teeth. The creature steps down from the wall and moves towards me. It walks on all fours. Its body is covered in hair. It looks up and light spills on to its face. Its mouth curls at the corners. I recognise that smile and even though the whites of its eyes are bright red, I recognise those brown eyes and that twitching nose. In spite of his current form I am in no doubt as to who it is.
‘Oberon,’ I gasp.
I wonder if it could be some silly joke, but this is not a fancy-dress costume. His face is still recognisable but his chin is extended and his nose is now black. Patchy hair has sprung up around his face and below his wolfish ears. A fat pink tongue licks the outside of his teeth. ‘Hi, cuz,’ he growls.
He steps forward.
I step back.
‘You scared?’
‘No,’ I lie.
‘Surprised then?’
I gather myself. ‘Not really. From your table manners I knew you were an animal. I just figured it was a pig rather than a . . .’ I still can’t bring myself to say it.
‘A wolf.’ He finishes my sentence triumphantly.
‘What do you want with me?’
‘Want?’ he says, with a low breathy laugh. ‘I want to chew on your weak vegetarian heart and wash it down with your watery human blood. But that would be messy and we’re in a public place so I’ll have to settle for breaking your neck and making it look like you fell to your death. You were smart not to go up Percy’s Ruin but now you’re here and there’s nowhere to run.’
He backs me into a corner. ‘Why would you want to kill me?’
‘Oh, come on, it will be a painless way to die. Much better than being torn apart, don’t you think?’
He pushes his face up close to mine and, with all my strength, I punch him on the side of his nose. He growls and swipes my hand. It takes a moment for the pain to register but I look down and see he has drawn blood.
‘You ready to die now?’
‘She’s my prey.’
Oberon swings his head round to see who has spoken but I have already identified it as Elspeth’s whisper. She steps on to the roof and I see that she too has undergone a transformation. Her facial features have been stretched into a new shape. Her body is covered in hair. She too is a wolf.
She says, ‘You had your chance at the tower. A pathetic, cowardly attempt to kill the half-cousin. Not even at night, not even in our true form. Lazy wolf.’
Oberon growls. ‘She’s not yours.’
‘My note brought her up here so she’s mine.’
‘I’m pack leader. You should obey me.’
‘When the moon is full and our victims bleed, then we’ll decide who will lead.’
Oberon lurches forward, his jaws snapping and a low growl sounding from the back of his throat. Elspeth dodges his attack but he comes at her again, jumping up and landing heavily, narrowly missing her. Oberon is larger and stronger but there is something deadly about Elspeth’s fluid movements and, while she is moving out of his way, she reaches out a claw and scratches his large belly.
‘Mariel, come this way,’ a girl’s voice whispers to me from the stairs.
I move towards it though I cannot see who it is. Oberon and Elspeth are too preoccupied to notice.
‘You should accept me as pack leader now Ma’wolf is gone,’ says Oberon.
‘Ma’wolf would never have wanted you to be our leader, you clumsy oaf,’ hisses Elspeth.
‘Kills are all that matters and I have more than any of you.’
‘Killing cows then falling asleep in the barn. Hardly the act of a leader. Greedy fat wolf.’ Elspeth spits out the words.
The two fight again and this time Oberon manages to pin Elspeth down for a couple of seconds before she wriggles free.
I climb over the wall to the top of the stairs.
‘Follow me down.’ It’s Lily’s voice.
I head down as fast as I can but Oberon and Elspeth have noticed. They land on the stairs above me. In my hurry I lose my footing on the icy steps and fall awkwardly. My spine screams out in pain but I have no time to listen to it. I run, fall, stumble and slide down. They are close. I can barely think for fear.
I reach the bottom but in front of me is another wolfish face. It is Lily. The hair that covers her body is jet black. She grabs me and throws me on to her back, bringing me face to face with Oberon and Elspeth, who are standing in the stairwell snarling.
‘You will not harm her tonight,’ says Lily.
Elspeth and Oberon growl, but they say nothing.
‘Hold tight.’ Lily turns and runs.
Holding on is tricky because, although she is clearly strong enough to carry me, she is smaller than me and my feet drag on the icy ground as she runs. When we reach the flat, I climb off and look at her. She has no fringe to hide behind in this form. She looks away and says, ‘Give me a minute to change before you follow me in.’ She says it casually, like she’s changing her dress, rather than transforming from a wolf into a human. ‘Don’t worry, they wouldn’t risk making trouble this close to the flat.’ She climbs through the window, moving easily and naturally on all fours.
Standing outside on my own I feel a tide of emotions wash over me. I can’t take it all in. It doesn’t make sense.
‘You can come in now,’ says Lily.
Inside the room, she keeps the lights off but I can see that she is back to her human self with her black hair covering half her face. She has put on a dressing gown.
‘We don’t have long,’ she says, drawing the curtains.
‘Will she come back?’
‘Soon but not straight away. They’re both so worked up they won’t be able to sleep until they’ve killed.’
‘Killed what?’
‘Probably a forest creature, a rabbit or a vole. That’s what we normally do. That’s what Ma’wolf taught us to do.’
‘Ma’wolf?’
‘Grandma was pack leader. She taught us that pets and farm animals attract too much attention. Forest creatures go unnoticed.’
‘What about Farmer Dooley’s cow?’ I say.
Lily nods. ‘That was stupid of Oberon.’
‘And the Alsatian that Kitson treated?’
‘Freddie’s fault. He said it was self-defence but he should have known better.’
‘And are you all . . .’ I pause. It feels ridiculous to say the words out loud but what else can I say? ‘Are you all werewolves?’
Lily nods. ‘You’re bleeding,’ she says, noticing my hand.
I had forgotten about the cut. ‘A scratch,’ I say. ‘Isn’t that how you become a werewolf?’
‘Please don’t use that word. We are wolves. And no, it doesn’t work like that. Here, wrap this around it.’
She passes me a piece of cloth from a drawer and I bind my wound.
‘How does it happen then?’
‘It’s called the Lycan gene. It’s passed down through families.’
‘But I’m family.’
‘You’re different. You don’t have it.’
‘What about our parents?’
‘No. None of them.’
‘And they don’t know?’
‘Ma’wolf was always careful to keep it a secret.’
‘They must suspect something?’
She looks at me wearily. ‘Did you before you saw it with your own eyes?’
‘No, well, I mean, I thought about the idea but . . . no. I still don’t understand. It’s not even a full moon tonight.’
‘The moon has power over us but it only needs to be night for us to change.’
‘So why do you change?’
‘Once the wolf is inside, you can’t ignore the voice. It has needs.’
‘What do they want with me?’
Lily sighs. ‘When Ma’wolf died, we were left without a pack leader.’
‘Oberon said he was leader.’
‘He said that because he’s got the most kills, but it isn’t as simple as that. There are other factors.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like the quality of the kill. The larger, stronger the animal, the higher the value.’
‘And the highest is human?’ I say.
‘The highest is a member of your own family,’ she replies. ‘Which makes you an easy target. You have the same grandparents as us but you are not one of us.’
I think about what Mum said about her reasons for leaving. Grandad must have known about Grandma. He wanted to save me. That must have been why he sent us away.
‘So they’ll keep trying to kill me?’
‘If you stay indoors, you’ll be safe. None of them will risk being found out, despite what my sister says. In a few days you’ll be gone and you’ll be safe.’
‘And no one knows about this?’
‘No. It’s been kept secret for generations. You can’t tell anyone. If you did, you wouldn’t just have Elspeth to fear. If I thought you were going to let the secret out, I would kill you myself.’ Lily pushes back her hair and meets my gaze with both eyes. Even though she is human now and the whites of her eyes are no longer red, I can see the wolf in her. ‘Keeping it secret is the only thing that allows us to live normal lives by day.’
Outside, in the distance, one of them howls.
‘She’s made her kill,’ says Lily. ‘You have to go to bed now before she returns.’
‘Why aren’t you like them?’
‘I am.’
‘But you saved me.’
‘Don’t make me regret it.’
Chapter 13
Young Love and Old Friends
I lie wide awake for the rest of the night, watching the door, listening out for Elspeth’s return and trying to understand everything that has happened. My cousins are werewolves. My grandma was the pack leader, deceiving her own children and teaching her grandchildren how to hunt and kill. What kind of woman would do that? Grandmas are supposed to be kind. They are supposed to like knitting and cups of tea. They aren’t supposed to turn their grandchildren into vicious killing animals.
The Considine Curse Page 7
