Rain In My Heart

by Kara Karnatzki

  Oh, god. It was so hard to know. My gut told me Byron was okay, but as Gemma had pointed out countless times, my gut wasn't always that reliable. I’d once thought Marshall was the ultimate boyfriend and look what happened there? And now I'd convinced myself Leon was 'The One', but the more I learned about his track record...I just didn't know anymore. One thing I did know was thatas soon as the others were told about the stuff on Byron’s phone, there'd be drama.

  I decided that the fair thing to do would be to warn Byron first, to talk to him privately. Right on cue, he emerged through the dark. A nervous quiver shot down my leg.

  'Hi,' I said.

  'Hi.'

  'You okay?'

  'I'm brilliant.'

  'Remember Truth or Dare?' I said. 'Now, it's my turn to ask aquestion. And it’s an important one. Answer honestly. What are you up to?'

  He stared at me.

  'I mean, do you make a habit of following people, taking photos?'

  'Photos?'

  'Gemma knows,' I said, my heart racing. ‘And in a moment, she's going to tell everyone. And when she does - '

  Before I could say anymore, we were interrupted by a loud bang. It sounded like a car crash. It was loud enough that everyone jumped to attention. Byron and I abandoned our conversation and gathered with the others at the back window.

  ‘Can anyone see anything? Is it a rescue team?' I said, my hopes rising.

  'Let’s open this,’said Leon.

  He yanked the window and forced the glass upwards. A blast of cold air hit our faces. The strength of the wind forced us back.

  ‘Close it!’Gemma begged, cowering against the gale.

  ‘No, wait!’shouted Leon. ‘Listen. There issomething -’

  We heard a sound like cracking, snapping branches, but it wasn’t clear through the din of the storm.

  ‘It’s only the trees,’said Greg.‘We’d know if it was a rescue team. They’d have sirens and stuff. And search lights -’

  ‘Not if they’ve crashed,’argued Leon.

  Greg shrugged.

  ‘Let's be honest, how's a rescue team going to get up here?’he said. ‘I don’t see a boat. I don’t hear a helicopter. There’s no bridge and no road, remember?’

  Leon thought for a moment.

  ‘There are playing fields behind the ridge. They're probablywaterlogged, but they’re on higher ground. Maybe a rescue team managed to cut across them? Maybe they went off-road?’

  ‘If you honestly think there’s anyone out there,’said Greg, ‘by all means, give them a shout, but I really don’t think -’

  Typical Greg, always a glass half-empty guy. Not that it put us off. We started shouting in unison.

  ‘Hello!’we cried.‘We’re in here!’

  No reply.

  ‘Anyone out there?’

  Nothing.

  ‘Keep shouting,’I insisted. ‘There mustbe someone out there! They might be stuck! They might need help!’

  ‘My god!’said Greg. ‘You’re so desperate you’re starting to imagine things. And even if there is someone, what are wegoing to do anyway? We can’t get to them. We can’t help. We can’t even look after ourselves, let alone help other people.’

  I disagreed. I thought we were doing a good job - a near-drowning incident and a close call with electricity, but other than that…

  ‘Why do you have to be so grumpyall the time?’I snapped, surprised by my temper. ‘We’re doing our best! Can’t you see? We’re trying!’

  I stood up at the window again. I could feel my arms and legs trembling, shaking from frustration.

  ‘Hello?’I called again. ‘Anybody out there? Shout if you can hear us!’

  Then a horrible thought occurred to me.

  ‘What if -’I said, turning to face everyone. ‘What if it’s Miss Nevis? What if she’s been trying to get back to the school to help us?’

  ‘Or maybe it’s zombies?’said Curtis. ‘Or killer trees? Or flesh-eating bog rats?’

  Leon closed the window.

  ‘Either way,’he said, eyeballing the pair of us,‘Greg’s right. We can’t do anything. We’re surrounded by water. And that wind is crazy. No one’s coming. If we’re going to get out of here, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.’

  ‘Finally,’Gemma barked. ‘You’re seeing sense. I mean, how long are we supposed to wait for ournon-existent rescue team? Until the roof blows off? Until we’re dead of starvation? Or until one of us turns psycho and kills all the others?’

  As she said this she glared at Byron.

  ‘But we can’t just wade into the water,’ said Leon. ‘Look what happened when we did that! We need to find another way. You know, it would be a whole lot easier if we could get into main school building -’

  'Why did the caretaker have to lock the link corridordoor?’ moaned Curtis. ‘It’s not like this crappy school needs high security. Who’d bother breaking in here?’

  ‘Can’t you try forcing it again?’said Gemma. ‘Using your thick head.’

  ‘There’s no way,' said Leon. 'That door weighs a ton. If you're up for it though, there’s another idea I've been thinking about. You know there's a bank of dry land -’

  Byron coughed, started fiddling with his glasses.

  ‘The ridge,’said Gemma enthusiastically. ‘Where the fourth years hang out?’

  ‘Exactly. In terms of distance, it’s not that far from the back window, a few metres maybe. The problem is the drop in between. We have to get over the drop, otherwise we’ll be plunging head first into the floodwater - and it’s a long way down.’

  ‘So, what are you suggesting?’said Greg. ‘Tight ropes?’

  ‘Kind of.’

  ‘I’m joking.’

  ‘I’m not. I reckon we could make a rope. There's plenty of scrap fabric around. If we can collect it together, then I'll show you how to twist and plait it to make it secure. It’s an old SAS technique my brother taught me. He's great at thatsort of thing. Once we've got enough, then we can lash it to the other side and use it like a zip wire.’

  'And how are we going to do that?’Greg scoffed.

  ‘If we tie a chair to one end and lob it, hopefully it’ll get caught between the trees, which will act like an anchor.’

  ‘You ker-razy!’beamed Curtis. ‘But I likey!’

  I shook my head.

  ‘It sounds dangerous.'

  As much as I fancied Leon, I didn’t want to go along with thisplan, the way I had with the car. I didn’t want to end up in the water again. Maybe I'm a bit naïve, but I’m not an idiot.

  ‘How is a homemade rope going to carry all our weight?' I asked. 'What if it breaks?’

  ‘We’ve only got to get across a few meters,' said Leon. 'My brother said he’s seen it done loads of times. Have faith, Kate.’

  If I had to listen to one more comment about Leon's 'wonderful' brother, I thought I'd scream. The sight of Leon's bruised rib floated in my head. Who was he tying to deceive? Us? Or himself?

  ‘I’m in,’said Gemma. ‘I think it’s a plan. Let’s just hurry, shall we?’

  'Then I guess that means I'm in, too,' muttered Greg.

  ‘And me,’said Curtis. ‘Hell, I’ve always wanted to bungee!’

  Then they looked in my direction.

  ‘No,’I said. 'Not this time.'

  I wanted to say yes. I wanted Leon and I to be our team. I wanted him to think I was brave and bold and daring, but I couldn’t take a risk like this.

  ‘Come on, Kate, we need you,’he insisted. ‘If we go, we go together. There’s no way we’re leaving anyone behind.’

  ‘It's too scary,' I said. 'I don’t see why we can’t just – ’

  ‘Forgodsake, Kate!’yelled Gemma. ‘Why do you always have to be so sensible about everything? Grow a backbone, why don’t you? You’re such a child! You know, I can't stand you sometimes!'

  It was vicious of her, not to mention humiliating. What kind of best friend wasshe? After I'd defended her, looked after her, kept h
er horrible little secret about Molly...suddenly, she looked ugly to me, like a gargoyle. A selfish, bitter gargoyle. I desperately wanted to argue back, tell her what I thought, but my voice went shaky. The words wouldn’t come.

  Then Byron, Byron stepped in, squared up to her.

  ‘KATE CAN MAKE HER OWN DECISIONS,’he shouted.

  They all turned to him, shocked that he’d dared to defend me, to speak so boldly.

  ‘If she doesn’t want to take part in your ridiculous plan, she doesn’t have to.’

  ‘Who asked you?’said Curtis.

  ‘No one, as usual, but the law says I don’t need permission to express an opinion, which is that I think you’re behaving like a pack of wolves, bullying Kate into something she’s not comfortable with -’

  ‘No one’s bullying anyone,’said Leon, outraged.‘How dare you! At least we’ve got a plan. At least we’re trying to help the situation. What have youdone?’

  ‘Your plan is stupid,’he said. ‘It won’t work. And it will almost certainly get someone killed. You might as well throw us all under a bus. But...it’s up to you.’

  And with that thought, he left us to it.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  I had to find him. I realised it would annoy Gemma and the others, who were all outraged that he’d shouted them down, but frankly, I didn't care. In that moment, I wanted to be in Byron's company more than theirs. He'd stuck up for me. When they were all getting on my case, he'd given me support. And, weirdo or not, he seemed to know more about floods than anyone else. He was right when hewarned us not to wade to Curtis’s car. He was right about the risk of electric shocks (okay, so he left it a little let to raise that issue). He was right about the water flow getting worse. So, I could only assume he was right about Leon's crazy zip wire plan.

  I scanned the room, but the darkness was cloying. There were plenty of places to hide, in corners, behind easels. Wherever Byron was, it was obvious he didn’t want to be found. I could hear Gemma and Curtis in the background, bitching:

  'He’s such a lurker! The lurker in the shadows! We don’t see him, but he sees us. He sees everything. Woooooo!’

  'Don't even joke,’said Gemma. ‘You’ve got to check outwhat I found on his phone. It’s properly creepy. Come and look.’

  She summonsed everyone over to Miss Nevis's desk, picked up Byron's phone and started going through it. I listened to the chorus of outrage, but I made a point of staying back, keeping out of it.

  Half an hour passed and Byron didn't reappear–which was probably just as well, because everyone was furious. They started gathering scrap fabric for Leon's 'rope', while ranting about what they’d do to Byron when they got hold of him. I stood in the shadows, feeling like an outcast. I couldn’t stop shivering - from the cold and from the stress. Eventually Leon came by with a box of hessian off-cuts. When he noticed how cold I was, he took off his hoodie and covered my shoulders. A few hours ago, this would have had me spinning with delight. Now I just felt numb. Where was normality? Where was truth? My stomach knotted. My eyes filled with tears. There was so much in my head it was hard to think straight.

  ‘Hey,’he said, picking up on my tension. 'Hey, don't cry.'

  He pulled my head towards his chest. His t-shirt smelt of soap powder. His body was warm. It was such a relief to have a hug. He began stroking my forehead with his thumb.

  'Don’t be frightened,' he whispered. ‘We won’t let that weirdo get to us. By the way, I wasn’t trying to pick on you before. You know that, don’t you? I wasn’t bullying you. I mean, you didn’t think I was bullying you, did you? Despite what lurk-boy Byronsaid -’

  ‘No, I– ’

  ‘Good. You know, Kate, at least we’ll never forget this. We’ll chat about it for years, even when we’re old. Who knows? Maybe one day - you and me - we’ll be sitting in our living room, on our rocking chairs, telling the story to our grand kids -’

  ‘Grand kids?’

  His hand slipped to my cheek, to the soft skin beside my ear. At first I wanted to freak, then the enormity of what he was saying sank in. After months of daydreaming, flirting, blushing and hoping, Leon Prentice was finally in my sights. He was talking about us growing old, together forever. I pressed my head to his heart, felt myself yield. In the middle of all this mess, the boy I’d fancied for ages was practically handing himself to me. It felt like an echo, a throwback from a world without Byron and flooded art rooms and missing sisters. A world that I knew. Whatever stresses we had coming our way, whatever game Byron was playing, at least I still had my chance with Leon.

  ‘Yeah, grand kids,’he said.‘What do you reckon?’

  ‘But...we’re not even…you know….’

  ‘But we could though, couldn’t we? Like, once we’re out of here, we could go on a date or something? We could go see a film? Or get something to eat? Or better, I’ll think of something really special. Listen, Kate, I know it sounds corny, but it's like, I don't know, being in here, it's brought us together. Like it's meant to be.'

  I smiled. In fact, I beamed.

  ‘So?’he said. ‘Are you up for that? Do you want to go out, just you and me? I’ve been meaning to ask you for ages -’

  I looked up. The rain had finally softened and the moon was shining in.

  ‘Yes,’I said.

  I wanted to believe it. Even if it was just a fantasy in my head, I wanted to believe that Leon would love me and I would love him and we'd be happy together forever. I wanted it. I needed it. I listened to his heartbeat, felt his hand on my face. And that’s how we stayed, watching the clouds rush and the moon fight to be seen. I felt better, much better, peaceful almost.

  Then Byron came back. And all hell broke loose.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  He staggered through the door. The way he was hobbling, he could barely stand. And he was ghostly pale, white as a sheet. Then I noticed the blood.

  ‘Your leg,’I said, open-mouthed. ‘You’re bleeding!’

  His trouser leg had torn. There was a gash in his knee as wide as his kneecap. I was pretty certain I could see bone. Everyone turned to him. Gemma gasped, covered her mouth with her hand.

  ‘A wound to be proud of,’said Byron, trying to smile. ‘Bit more than a paper cut, anyhow.’

  As he said this, he clutched the front of his shirt and collapsed. I rushed over. Leon came close behind me, followed by the others.

  ‘What's he done?’said Greg.

  ‘His clothes are wet. He must have been in the floodwater.’

  ‘Believe me,’said Gemma. ‘I bet we don’t want to knowwhere he’s been!’

  She glared at me, looked for my agreement, but it wasn’t a time for accusation and anger. Instead, I concentrated on rolling Byron into the recovery position. I tried to manoeuvre his arms, but he was still holding onto his shirt, then I realised it wasn't his shirt he was holding, but a piece of string with a key attached to it.

  Leon helped me position his legs. The wound in his knee was wide and deep. I winced, swallowed my revulsion.

  'I bet this is just another part of his game plan,’Gemma hissed, hovering over us.‘Don't buy it -’

  Leon hesitated. I could tell hewas caught, unsure whether to continue the first-aid crusade or pay attention to Gemma’s accusations.

  ‘Can you hear me?’ I said, shaking Byron’s shoulders. ‘Can you sit up?’

  Byron started to stir.

  ‘What happened? Where have you been?’

  Byron murmured, reached for his key again.

  ‘Nowhere,’ he croaked.

  ‘Liar,’said Gemma.

  ‘In the stairwell. I’ve been in the stairwell.’

  ‘Bollocks. What happened to your leg then? Are you trying to tell us you cut it on the stairs?’

  I intervened.

  ‘We need to get some kind of bandage on thatwound,’I said. ‘Otherwise it won’t stop bleeding. And bleeding like that -’

  I stopped myself from saying it, but the word was fatal. It was
hard to know how much blood he’d already lost, but by the pallor of his skin, I guessed it was a lot. Despite my concern, Gemma jumped up.

  ‘I can’t take this,’she said. ‘We need to go. Let’s just go -’

  ‘We can’t,’I argued. ‘How can we? Byron can hardly walk!’

  ‘Oh, no. He can stay. We’re not taking him with us.’

  I gasped, shocked by her lack of compassion.

  ‘What’s wrong with you?’

  ‘You knowwhat’s wrong! Why are you trying to protect him? You know what he’s done. Whether he’s hurt or not, we can’t trust him. Frankly, I don’t want to spend a second longer in his company. You know what I reckon? I reckon he cut himself deliberately, in orderto get some sympathy. I’m not buying it.’

  ‘Calm down, Gem,’said Leon. ‘Kate’s right. We need to give him some first-aid, at least.’

  ‘Well, I’m with Gemma,’said Greg.‘I think we should get out now, while we can, and if that low-life can’t manage it, he can stay where he is. Someone can rescue him later.’

  Byron groaned.

  ‘Something down there,’he muttered, eyelids flickering.

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I said there’s something down there,’he repeated, a little louder.

  ‘Where?’

  ‘In the stairwell. In the water. It grabbed my leg and cut me.’

  Curtis stiffened.

  ‘Like what?’he said.

  ‘Something in the flood.’

  ‘What kind of a something? Are we talking about a monster-type something or a vampire-type something? Or just a something?’

  ‘I didn’t say monster,’Byron whispered. ‘Or vampire.’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘I don’t know, okay. I didn't see. I wasin the stairwell, in the dark - because I figured I’d upset all you and I didn’t want to get in your way - then it got me.’

  The candlelight flickered across his face, made him look ghoulish.