Perfectly Reflected

by S. C. Ransom

  “I … I’m going to have to go. It’s getting late and I can’t stay here. I’ve got to get back to St Paul’s.”

  “You won’t mention this to anyone, will you?” I asked urgently. “I mean, I’m sure Callum was going to tell you at some point, but he doesn’t want everyone knowing just yet. He thinks it might be dangerous.”

  “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe.” Her voice seemed suddenly strained. “I’m sorry, it’s time. I’ve got to go.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I called as the tingle abruptly left my arm. I sat back, blinking into the dark garden. “Crap!” I couldn’t help exclaiming. How was I going to tell Callum what I had done? There was a brief rustling noise as I spoke, and my eyes locked with a small pair of dark, beady eyes that had emerged from behind the blackcurrants. The hedgehog blinked once, then returned to snuffling about in the dead leaves.

  I thought long and hard about trying to avoid telling Callum, but in the end I knew I had to confess. There was no way that I was going to be able to keep something like that from him. I was right too. He had spotted my guilty face immediately. I had called for him in the school field at lunchtime, as I didn’t want him to be in the dark for too long. He was going to have to keep an eye on Olivia and make sure she really understood that she couldn’t tell anyone.

  It had been quite hard to get away from my friends; the common room was constantly full. We were in the last few days of term, so very little actual work was being done. There were also end-of-year activities for most of the clubs, some of which required us to be there as supervisors. Grace and Eloïse had been made prefects, so they were in charge of the library, while Abbi and Alia were busy bossing about the junior art club. I had had a very quick lunch with Mia, who was keen to find out if there was any truth in the rumour that Ashley and Rob had split up over the weekend because of me.

  “Honestly,” I repeated for about the tenth time, “I know nothing about it, and I care even less. I really don’t want to go out with Rob!”

  “Well, he tells it differently,” replied Mia, biting reflectively into her cheese baguette. Great chunks of tomato slid out of the other end and landed in her lap. “Damn!” she muttered under her breath, picking up the bits and putting them on her plate. She finally looked up from wiping the mayonnaise off her jeans. “He says you two have kissed and made up – he talks about the kissing part quite a lot – and that it’s all back on.”

  “Well, he’s a complete lunatic, and you can tell him I said so. I can’t stand the guy!” I couldn’t work out why Rob kept going on about it. I had made myself perfectly clear at the party.

  “Ashley’s taken it really badly. I’m not sure she’ll be in for the rest of the term.”

  “That’s a bit of an overreaction; she was only going out with him for about a fortnight.”

  Mia’s voice dropped and she leaned in towards me. “Actually, I agree with you, but she won’t hear differently. She’s determined to be miserable.”

  “Not my problem,” I shrugged as I finished my rather dull salad. “Listen, would you mind covering for me at choir practice? I have to go and call the bank.”

  “Rather you than me – it sounds like a nightmare. See you at break.” Mia gave me a quick smile then started trying to rebuild her sandwich.

  “Thanks, I’ll catch you in the common room later.”

  The fields were hot and dusty after a long term of frenetic activity. Great patches of bare earth showed through the grass and in several places the white lines of the running track had been painted directly on to the mud. It was too hot for most of the girls to be outside unless they were sunbathing, so my favourite spot under the big horse-chestnut tree was deserted. When I called Callum he arrived very quickly, and my guilty conscience made me immediately worried that something had already gone wrong.

  “Everything OK?” I asked as innocently as I could, trying to gauge from his reflection in the tiny mirror what he knew.

  “I think so,” he replied with a frown. “But there’s something weird about Olivia this morning.”

  “How so? What’s she been doing?”

  “Well, nothing I can put my finger on, to be honest. She’s just acting a bit strangely.” He looked down for a moment, shaking his head. “It’s almost as if, well, something was really worrying her but she was frightened to say. I wish she would let me help; I hate to see her like this.”

  He looked up and immediately saw the look on my face. “You know what this is all about, don’t you?”

  “I do,” I confessed, grimacing. “I’m sorry, I had no idea she would be quite so transparent.”

  “What? What have the two of you done?”

  “It was a mistake, honestly. I was sat in the garden last night and I felt a tingle in my arm so I thought you were there and I mentioned something about Catherine…” Finally I had to stop to take another breath. “It didn’t take Olivia long to put two and two together,” I added apologetically.

  He sighed. “Damn it! How am I going to keep her quiet? This puts you in even more danger; what if Lucas finds out?” His expression was exasperated, but at least he didn’t look furious.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said as soothingly as I could. “I’m in no more danger now than I was before we started worrying about Catherine and her antics. This is staying firmly on my wrist.” I nodded towards the amulet, which was glinting in the dappled sunlight, the rich colours flashing as I moved. I couldn’t think of any situation that would compel me to take it off.

  “I told Matthew, like we agreed,” Callum said after a pause. “We were able to go somewhere on our own and I told him everything.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He thought that it would be better to keep quiet about it for now. It’ll be the safest thing to do. But he did make an interesting suggestion,” Callum said reflectively. “I’m fairly sure that you aren’t going to like it though.” As I watched he started stroking his chin, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

  “Well, you’d better tell me then. It’s the only way to find out!”

  Callum drew himself up, suddenly serious. “OK, but hear me out before you throw a fit, right?”

  “OK, OK, just tell me!”

  “Catherine managed to get over there with you by stealing your memories. She left you for dead and she nearly killed Grace as well. Since she’s been there, she’s done nothing but make your life a misery and she shows no sign of stopping.”

  “Yes, I know all that. So what?”

  “To get me over to you, we need a mind we can wipe clean, but we don’t want to hurt anyone, obviously. But what if there was someone who hadn’t been so scrupulous herself, who kind of deserved it…”

  “You mean, Catherine? Kill Catherine and use her – my – memories to bring you back here?”

  Callum nodded. “That’s what Matthew suggested. Two birds, one stone.”

  It was horrific, but the more I thought about it, it did have an appealing symmetry. She tried to kill me to get my memories, so Callum could kill her to get those memories back. An eye for an eye…

  A sharp breeze suddenly swept across the sports field, whisking the dust into mini tornadoes as I watched. I shivered, realising that I had, if only for a second, contemplated murdering someone.

  I clenched my fists tight. I was appalled with myself for even thinking about it. “We can’t do that, Callum. We just can’t. It would make us as bad as her.” He had been watching me closely, and as I spoke I saw him exhale.

  “I know. And I’m glad you feel the same way.” He gave me one of his rueful smiles. “Tempting though, isn’t it?”

  “Hugely.” I smiled back, nodding. “But definitely not the right choice for us.”

  “That wasn’t Matthew’s only idea. He didn’t think either of us would go for that, but he did have another thought.”

  “OK, I’m listening, as long as this one isn’t immoral.”

  “Don’t worry.” He was smiling again. “This one could stop
Catherine pretty effectively. I quite like it.”

  I nestled back against him, straining to feel the tiny resistance against my shoulders. “Go on.”

  “Catherine is human again, has all your memories, and she’s using them to make trouble, but – and this is the interesting bit – she doesn’t have an amulet. I could stalk her and start picking off those memories as she thinks of them, then she’s sunk! She won’t be able to make any more plans. What do you think?”

  He was grinning at me, eyebrows raised. I took a deep breath. “Callum, that will only wind her up even faster. Can you imagine just how mad she’s going to get if she realises what’s going on? We would only make things worse.” In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I was against the idea. Callum could take the memories only as they actually crossed her mind, so it could take weeks or months, and she was bound to notice the gaps. Actively provoking someone that angry and vicious would be madness.

  I could see the truth of what I was saying sinking into him. “No, you’re right. Bad plan, especially as I can’t actually see the memories when I gather like that. It’s an all-or-nothing choice with Catherine. No half measures.”

  I reached for where his hand was. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to dismiss all your good ideas, especially when it’s so hard. I just can’t bring myself to behave like her. I hope you understand.”

  “Of course I understand, and I didn’t really expect you to go for either idea. I thought it was worth mentioning anyway. Am I forgiven?” His feather-light touch was soft on my hair.

  “Always. All the ideas are worth discussing, even the terrible ones. If she’s so miserable that having all my happy memories doesn’t even cheer her up, she’s a lost cause. Let’s hope she gets bored and finds someone else to persecute.”

  “Very true.” He paused for a moment to stroke my arm just above the heavy silver band. The touch made me sigh. “Gone off me, have you?” he asked in a lighter tone, stroking further up my arm and brushing his lips against my temple.

  “Not at all. We just don’t seem to have had much time for this sort of thing over the last few days. Far too much drama…”

  “And there was me thinking that you just didn’t care any more.”

  “Ha! As if. I just wish we were somewhere a bit more private, or even better, at the top of the dome. There are too many prying eyes around here.” I was aware of a group of junior schoolgirls heading my way, so I couldn’t even try to kiss him back.

  “I’m sure I can arrange another bout of maintenance at the dome soon. When did you say term finishes?”

  “End of this week. How do you do that anyway – make them shut the dome?”

  He nuzzled deeper into my neck. “Trade secret. Couldn’t possibly tell you.” His voice was muffled.

  “Well, it’s very impressive, however you manage it. I can’t wait!”

  “It’s one of my many talents,” he said drily, raising his head to look at me. I could see my desire mirrored there.

  “Very many,” I murmured, sitting up a bit straighter as the younger girls arrived in the shade. “Hang on a sec.” I put on my best sixth-form voice and waved my phone mouthpiece at them. “Hey, private conversation going on here. Find your own tree.” They quickly turned and headed off, and I could see them muttering and glancing back in my direction.

  “Now, that’s what I call impressive! Such command.”

  “It’s not so hard when they’re only nine,” I confessed. “I can’t see that working on any of my year.”

  “I’m sure that you would find some way of getting what you wanted,” he said, smiling at me lazily. “You usually seem to manage.”

  I glanced at my watch. “Damn. One thing I can’t change is the timetable – I’ve got to go back inside. Will you be able to come to the house after school?”

  “Sure. Do you want me to bring Olivia?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m not going to be able to walk the dog as Grace and I are going to the cinema later. You’ve not managed to put me off seeing films completely just yet.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll take her somewhere quiet and I can make sure she knows how important it is to keep her news to herself. What are you going to see?”

  I smiled. “We thought that new one about the hairdresser.”

  Callum’s face was a picture. “Really? It’s terrible, you know. That actor spends the entire time taking his shirt off.”

  “We know,” I smirked.

  He laughed. “You have appalling taste!” Before I could agree he was gone.

  I was really looking forward to my night out with Grace. Over the last few weeks we had both become absorbed in our boyfriends, and had spent rather less time together than usual. Things were going so well between her and Jack that they were planning a trip together during the holidays. She gave me some of the details when she came round to pick me up.

  “We’re going to drive down to the Gower a couple of weeks after the end of term,” she told me when we were in the privacy of my bedroom. She was lounging on the futon chair, her long legs practically touching the door. I stepped over her to get my shoes out of the wardrobe. Thankfully she was too preoccupied to worry about what I was wearing.

  “Mmm, lovely. Have you been there before?”

  “The Gower? No, all I know about it is what you’ve told me and the videos from those geography lessons. It’s at the bottom of Wales, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, with one of the largest beaches in Europe. Where are you staying?”

  “Jack’s godfather has a caravan down there at one of the big campsites by the beach. The picture looks lovely.” Her aura danced and glowed a vibrant gold.

  “Are you talking about the beach or the caravan?” I murmured under my breath, smiling. She obviously heard me as one of my soft toys thudded against my shoulder.

  “Behave! Jack’s godfather will be there too, you know, or Mum would have refused to let me go. It will be so romantic to go walking on the beach. I’m really looking forward to it.” She sat back, eyes focused on the distance. I closed the wardrobe door and waited. It took a couple of seconds but she finally looked at me, and then did a double take. “I’m not going out with you wearing that! Not even to the cinema. Get changed immediately.”

  “I thought you’d never notice,” I laughed, taking off the pink hoodie. “You were away with the fairies!”

  “I can’t help it,” she said in a dreamy voice, the yellow light dancing just above her hair. “Jack is so – well, Jack. I can’t believe my luck.” She paused for a moment and the light suddenly flicked out. “You are OK about all of this, aren’t you? I mean, you’ve been friends for Jack far longer than I have.”

  “Of course I am,” I reassured her, “because that’s exactly what he is to me – a friend. Really, gorgeous as he is, I’ve known him for so long I sort of think him as another brother. I could never go out with him.”

  “Are you sure? Because he is, as you say, quite gorgeous.”

  “No really, he’s absolutely not for me, and he’d tell you the same thing. We’ve seen each other on camping trips, and we’re both a lot less gorgeous there, that’s for sure. Anyway, you certainly seem to be happy, Grace. Not like Ashley – did you hear the latest?”

  “I heard that they’d split up, but no big surprise there. Is there something more exciting?” She sat up straight and started considering me again.

  “Apparently Rob’s been saying…” It got a bit muffled then as Grace started pulling off the T-shirt I was wearing too.

  “Have I taught you nothing about clothes?” I heard her mutter as she dived into my wardrobe.

  “… that he’s going out with me instead!”

  Grace stopped in her tracks. “No! Not after all that garbage a few weeks ago, surely?”

  “That’s what Mia says, and she should know.”

  Grace abandoned trying to find anything exotic and uncreased in my wardrobe and handed me a non-contentious top. “Well, what are you
going to do about it?”

  “I put Mia straight, and hopefully she’ll tell Ashley. He’s been so cruel to her.”

  “You’re going to have to talk to him.”

  “I know. I’m just not looking forward to it.”

  “Tell you what, how about we go to the pub after the film?” Grace had a scheming look in her eye. “I think a bunch of them are due to be there tonight, and if Rob’s with them you can tell him how it is in front of all his mates.”

  “Hmm, I’m not supposed to go to the pub tonight, I promised Josh. He’s got a date with an old friend of ours and thinks his baby sister will cramp his style.”

  “Oh well, it’ll wait then. Come on, you look a bit better now. If we don’t get a shift on we’ll be late and I don’t want to miss the opening scene – you know, you’ve seen the trailers. It’s when he gets his shirt ripped off him for the first time, remember?”

  Callum was right; the film was terrible, but it was so bad it was funny, and Grace and I roared with laughter at all the wrong places. We were still laughing about it as we made our way out and I checked my mobile. There was a text from Josh: Interesting development. Come to pub after cinema if you can.

  “Do you mind a quick detour to the pub after all?” I asked Grace.

  “Course not. Perhaps we’ll see Rob and you can tell him what you think!”

  As we arrived at the pub we could see Rob and some of the others sitting near the open terrace windows. Next to him was Ashley.

  “Oh no, I’m not going anywhere near them,” I hissed at Grace, pulling her arm to stop her marching across the room. “If they’ve made up again and Ashley sees me here there’ll be all sorts of trouble. I could do without another slap.”

  “It would put a stop to it for good if they can both see that you mean what you say.”

  “I know, but I really don’t want to ruin our night out by getting involved in a slanging match. Because that’s what’ll happen, you know it will.”

  Grace pursed her lips as she thought about it. “Fair enough, but you do have to do something about Rob Underwood. And soon.” She looked around the bar. “Where’s Josh got to, then? Are you sure he’s in here?”