by Jon Robinson
‘There must be an easier way in,’ Elsa said, stepping in after her.
‘Yeah, straight past her security. Why do you think she has this set up? She’s a crazy old recluse …’
The scent of mud and damp dew filled the air. Elsa sniffed as she followed Pyra deeper into the maze.
‘First dead end,’ Pyra said. ‘Come on, let’s go back.’ Tendrils of fog crawled between them like fingers.
‘Can’t see us getting any closer to that stupid house,’ Elsa grumbled, squinting at the silhouetted mansion.
They walked down another couple of passages and came to another dead end.
‘All right, I’m sick of this crap already,’ Pyra said, and knelt down. ‘Climb on.’
Elsa sat on Pyra’s shoulders as Pyra carefully got to her feet. ‘Can you see where we need to be?’
Elsa squinted through the fog. ‘Um, I think so.’ She peered forward, cupping her eyes. ‘We need to be in the next row … I think it’ll lead straight to the house!’
Pyra crouched down and Elsa hopped on to the grass. ‘Trouble is, we’ve got to go all the way back over there.’
‘You sure?’
‘Um. Well, I don’t know, but –’ Elsa stopped and looked down at the bottom of the hedge. There was a patch of leaves missing.
‘Maybe I could crawl under,’ she offered, and immediately regretted opening her big mouth.
‘Good thinking,’ Pyra agreed, shoving her towards it. ‘If you get freaked out, just come straight back to me, OK? I’ll put my hand up.’
‘Mm-hm,’ Elsa said, already racking her brains for an excuse to get back to her as soon as possible.
She reluctantly crawled under the hedge and wriggled through the gap in the branches.
‘Over here!’ Pyra called from over the hedge, waving her hand.
Elsa nodded, scrambled to her feet and ran as quickly as possible through the fog and darkness. Her heart felt as though it was rattling inside her chest.
She turned left, then right, then ran on. Dead end. She ran back, then right again. But that seemed to be leading her further away.
‘Hey!’ Elsa shouted, looking for Pyra’s hand. ‘I can’t see you!’
Her breath returned when she saw a pale hand, waving to her above the hedge. Shaken, Elsa turned and tripped. The ibis fell from her hand and was lost among the undergrowth.
‘I’ve dropped the ibis!’ she yelled. ‘I can’t see it! I’ve lost it!’
‘Just stay put,’ came Pyra’s faint answer. ‘Don’t panic.’
Without the ibis, Elsa was vulnerable to whatever lurked in the maze. Before she could reason with herself, she ran and soon she became completely lost in Antonia Black’s garden labyrinth.
‘Elsa!’ Pyra yelled. ‘What’s going on? What are you doing?’
Elsa ran left and right, flailing and stumbling. Panic was setting in; she felt it rising in her chest. Her breath quickened until it was hoarse and shallow.
‘Pyra!’ Elsa called out, but her voice had no strength. ‘Pyra, where are you?’
She turned the next corner and became aware of something moving ahead of her. What is that?
‘Pyra … there’s … there’s something here …’
She backed away, bumping against the hedge. The shape came at her through the fog. It was low, prowling, and only when it opened its jaws did Elsa realize what it was.
The dog leapt at her, easily knocking her on to her back. Then a second dog appeared, grabbing her skinny wrist in its jaws. Elsa wriggled, trying to free herself from the grasp of the creature. Then a third beast, larger than the rest, pounced at her and lowered its glistening white teeth to her throat.
‘Stop!’ said a female voice. The dogs paused obediently.
A woman moved towards the dogs. She was short, barely taller than Elsa, and was wearing a silk dressing-gown and an enormous fur coat.
‘A child!’ she exclaimed. ‘A child, out here all alone, in my beautiful maze.’
Elsa, still struggling with her breath, could not speak.
‘My name is Antonia Black,’ the woman said. ‘You and I obviously need to talk.’
27
When Jes and Alyn eventually found the Guild’s headquarters it was just after six in the morning. Although still dark, traffic was slowly beginning to pour along the road.
Alyn kept looking at her to check that she was really there and not some phantom conjured by his desperate imagination.
She smiled. ‘Why do you keep looking at me like that?’
‘No reason. No reason at all.’
Alyn peered up warily at the grimy-looking block of flats.
Jes tapped in a code on the wall by the main entrance. There was a buzz and the gate was unlocked.
The pair went inside and up the lift. When it arrived at the top floor, they stepped out. Alyn looked around, astonished at the expansive palatial interior.
‘Back already, Jes,’ said Luthan, who emerged behind them. ‘I hope you weren’t followed.’
Jes smiled, a little embarrassed. ‘This is Alyn. He’s one of us.’
‘Ah.’ Luthan walked over and extended his hand. ‘Alyn. Yes. I’ve heard lots about you. My name is Luthan.’
Alyn glared at him. ‘I know who you are.’ And I know what you are.
Luthan smiled. ‘My reputation precedes me.’
‘Where are the others?’ Alyn said. ‘Harlan and Elsa and …’
‘Me?’ Julian appeared, looking Alyn up and down. ‘You’ll be pleased to know I’m still here. The others are busy searching for the Pledge keys.’
‘Pledge keys?’ Alyn looked puzzled.
‘It’s a way of shutting down the prison,’ Jes explained. ‘Each of the Pledge has one. We think that together they trigger some kind of remote device …’
‘That destroys the prison,’ Julian clarified. ‘It’s the only way to end the project. Yes, very dramatic, I know.’ He folded his arms. ‘But there’s a bit of a hitch – we haven’t got any of them yet. For all we know, they don’t even exist …’
‘I know they exist. Because I have one,’ Alyn said, and felt in his pocket for Felix’s key. He felt a sharp stab of panic as his fingers found nothing but the soft lining of his coat.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s not there … I must’ve dropped it in the warehouse. I’ll have to go back and find it before Emmanuel does …’
Jes grabbed his arm. ‘Not now,’ she said. ‘Stay here, rest. You look exhausted. You’ll be no good to anyone.’
‘Was it you who brought down that chandelier in the opera house, Alyn?’ Luthan asked, stepping towards him.
Alyn’s lack of response was as good an answer as any.
Julian rolled his eyes. ‘Hate to be the sceptical one here, but I find that a little hard to believe. I mean, this Ability thing is about giving chance a gentle nudge. Making a chandelier fall from a ceiling is more like shoving chance off a cliff. Right, Luthan?’
‘We don’t know the limits of the Ability,’ Luthan answered. He put his hand on Alyn’s shoulder. ‘Alyn, we’re going to need you here, with us. But Jes is right. You need to rest. We still need Stephen’s key. As soon as you’ve rested, the four of us can go after him.’
So you can try to exchange us, Alyn thought. He watched Luthan suspiciously.
‘Please, Alyn,’ Luthan insisted. ‘Let’s do it. Together.’
Alyn eventually nodded. ‘Stephen it is. As long as you’re with us, Luthan.’
Luthan smiled. ‘Gladly.’ He patted Alyn’s arm. ‘I’ll see that a room is made up for you at once.’
28
Claude Rayner opened the door to Susannah’s office. He was a tall, broad man with short grey hair and a penetrating stare that always seemed to be searching for the worst in someone.
Susannah was sitting behind her desk with several reels of film and a cutting knife, splicing in the subliminal messages that unconsciously harnessed the children’s Ability.
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�I’d prefer it if you knocked,’ she said, nicking herself with the knife. A trickle of blood appeared on her finger.
Rayner studied her and walked over to the reels of film. ‘These are going down to the projector room,’ he said.
‘Not yet,’ Susannah answered. ‘I’m not finished with them.’
Rayner nodded.
‘Is there a reason you’re here?’
Rayner snatched the nearest reel of film. He picked it up and held it towards the light.
‘Claude,’ she said, ‘what are you doing? Give me that –’
She tried to grab the reel from his hands, but Rayner moved it away.
‘This picture,’ he said, ‘it shows Nover behind bars. What are you trying to do? Use their power to get him arrested?’
Susannah got up and pulled him to the side. ‘Look,’ she whispered, ‘Stephen has lost his mind. He wants to wipe out a third of the population. He’s a lunatic!’
Rayner nodded. ‘But a very wealthy lunatic. I can’t let you mess this up.’
Susannah backed away. ‘He’s been paying you to check up on me, hasn’t he?’
‘I’m in the best place I’ve ever been in my life,’ said Rayner. ‘I’ve got everything I ever wanted. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘That’s what I thought too,’ Susannah said. ‘But you’re wrong. Trust me, if you carry on, you’ll want to get out, but they won’t let you. I swear it. You think just the kids are prisoners, but they aren’t – we all are.’
She glanced at the open door and pushed past Rayner, but he grasped her by the arm.
‘Claude, let me go,’ she protested, trying to wriggle free, and noticed a pyramid-shaped paperweight on her desk.
‘Do what Nover wants,’ Rayner growled. ‘Or I’ll do it. After all, how hard can it be to stick a few frames in a piece of film … ?’
Before he could say another word, Susannah grabbed the paperweight from her desk and slammed it into the side of his head.
Rayner staggered and fell against the wall. She turned, snatched the reels from the table, unravelled them, then launched them outside the window into the snow. She cast a final look at the unconscious guard, snatched her coat and ran out of the room.
Susannah bolted from the prison, pulling her coat tight round her. Her boots sank slowly into the sludge, squelching as she strode across the mounds of mushy snow.
Free from the spell of the place, it was starting to dawn on her what she had done: brainwashing, psychologically tormenting the children, forcing them to harm each other as punishment, conditioning them through pain into a web of lies that they had little choice other than to believe.
She had to get away before Rayner regained consciousness. There was a road, two miles from here. Once she was there she could flag down a vehicle and get a ride into the nearest town. But then what? The Pledge would come looking for her. She would have to flee the country.
As Susannah entered a clearing, she noticed a figure a short way up ahead. He wore a long overcoat and his eyes seemed almost black against the endless snow.
‘You must be the teacher,’ the man remarked, watching her.
‘Who are you?’
‘My name’s Emmanuel,’ he answered. ‘I was an acquaintance of Felix’s.’
‘I don’t have time to talk,’ Susannah said, still making her way towards him. She looked over her shoulder. Far behind, in the trees, were the sounds of Rayner’s voice and his ibis firing aimlessly into the snow.
‘You won’t make it out before he catches you,’ Emmanuel said.
Susannah pushed on through the snow. She looked back at her trail of footprints. They would lead Rayner directly to her.
‘Do something for me,’ Emmanuel said. ‘And I will help you.’
‘Do what for you?’
Emmanuel removed an envelope from his pocket. ‘Subliminal images. I want them inserted into the film.’
Panting, Susannah stopped. ‘Who are you?’ she said. An ibis fired again behind her. She flinched and glanced over her shoulder. She could just see Rayner’s shadow moving through the trees. Susannah turned back to Emmanuel.
‘If you listen to me, you won’t ever have to worry about Stephen.’ He watched her carefully, not blinking once.
‘How do I know I can trust you?’
‘Because I want him gone as much as you do. And if you do as I say,’ Emmanuel said, proffering the envelope to her, ‘the contents of this envelope will ensure it. Do we have a deal?’
Susannah looked up, just as a breathless Rayner emerged from the trees.
‘I’ve told you, you’re not going to mess this up,’ the guard snarled, marching towards her, propelled by fury.
‘Deal,’ Susannah answered just as Rayner pointed the ibis at her.
Emmanuel turned to face Rayner and closed his eyes. Rayner squeezed the trigger, but the weapon refused to fire.
‘She’s under my protection now,’ Emmanuel said, walking towards him. ‘You can leave.’
It was the first time Rayner even acknowledged Emmanuel’s presence. He threw down the useless ibis and marched towards them.
Emmanuel waved his hand and Rayner lost his balance on a patch of ice. He tried to steady himself but his legs shot out from underneath him and he landed on his back.
‘You’re one of them,’ Rayner growled, raising himself up on a planted hand.
Before he could say another word, Emmanuel knelt behind him and wrapped his arms round Rayner’s neck. There was a loud crack that echoed in Susannah’s ears for what seemed like an eternity.
Emmanuel stood and handed her the envelope, which Susannah reluctantly took. She opened the envelope and flicked through the images.
‘You want to cause a series of blackouts in the city. This will lead to chaos.’ She looked up at him. ‘But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Are you … are you going to seize power?’
Emmanuel shook his head. ‘No. I’m going to redistribute it. The prisoners must see these throughout the day and night. Set them in shifts, half the inmates at a time. Start at once.’ He stepped menacingly towards her. ‘Do not let me down.’
‘Wait!’ Susannah called, as Emmanuel walked away.
Soon he had disappeared completely. She looked at the envelope in her hand and then back in the direction of the prison.
29
Elsa was sat on a chair in the hall of Antonia’s mansion. Antonia, flanked by her three ferocious-looking dogs, watched her intently. Elsa’s eyes flickered around the room, gazing at the array of porcelain and marble statues and busts. A grandfather clock, probably centuries old, stood opposite, as though guarding her. Through the enormous curved windows, the fog had lifted and snow was falling again.
‘So,’ Antonia said. ‘Tell me what you were doing on my estate.’
‘I got lost,’ Elsa said.
‘You got lost. Hmm.’ Antonia vacantly stroked the ears of one of the dogs. Its long pink tongue was dangling out of its open mouth. A web of drool sparkled on its teeth.
‘Yup. Can I go now please?’ Elsa went to stand but was pinned to the spot by the threat of the nearest dog, which began growling at her.
‘What’s your name, girl?’
‘It’s – it’s Lydia.’
Antonia’s eyes narrowed. ‘I don’t believe you. My dogs don’t believe you. They can smell a liar. They –’ she paused, watching as the dog moved stealthily towards a petrified Elsa – ‘they enjoy the taste of a liar.’
‘Elsa!’ she squealed. ‘That’s my name.’
‘A pretty name. Why are you here?’
Elsa was unable to take her eyes from the dog as it continued towards her. It snarled, baring a mouthful of teeth.
‘I’ve – I’ve come to find your Pledge key,’ she spluttered.
‘My key!’ Antonia said, pondering. ‘How do you know about the key?’
‘We know everything!’ Elsa exclaimed. ‘We know all about you – all about the Pledge! We know what you’ve been doing …’
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Antonia tried her best to smile, but it was buried under years of plastic surgery.
‘You’ve come all this way, all the way from the prison. What a brave little thing you are!’ She threw her head back, laughing. Her neat black bob stayed perfectly still – Elsa wondered if it was even hair at all. From where she was sitting it looked more like a helmet.
When Antonia eventually stopped laughing, she turned to Elsa again. ‘You must think it’s wonderful, living a life of privilege. Let me tell you something. It’s so frightfully boring! Sometimes I just sleep and I wake, not knowing whether it’s night or morning, not knowing what day, what week it is. Worst of all is the feeling –’ she paused – ‘or the lack of it. I don’t feel anything any more. Not joy, not sorrow.’ She sighed.
Elsa placed her arms on the chair. She looked over at the glass doors to the garden. If she could get to the doors before the dogs, she might be able to escape.
‘So, can I go now?’ Elsa asked.
‘Go? Go where, little girl?’
‘Well, I can’t stay here forever …’ As she said this, Elsa seemed to shrink into her chair.
Antonia laughed again. ‘Oh, you silly little thing. No, I’m afraid I can’t let you leave. You need to go back, to the prison.’
‘I’m never going back!’ Elsa protested.
She sprang out of the chair and ran towards the doors. She had barely made it halfway across the room before one of the dogs tore towards her, trapping her against the wall.
‘G-good boy,’ Elsa stammered, not taking her eyes off the dog.
‘Bring her to me,’ Antonia said.
Just as the dog was about to pounce at Elsa, there was a whomp and the animal fell to the floor. Pyra pointed Elsa’s ibis at the second charging dog and fired again, then at the third.
‘My little angels!’ Antonia cried, racing towards her pets. ‘What have you done to them?’
‘They’re asleep,’ Pyra said, pointing the ibis at Antonia.
Antonia let out a vicious scream and charged towards her. But Pyra easily caught her, clutching the dressing-gown round her neck.
