Читать книгу Hunt and Power - Stephen Hayes - Страница 10

Tension filled the two houses on Friday night after the confrontation with our mothers, where the adults seemed not to want to talk to each other, and none of us wanted to be around them long enough for them to possibly change their minds. Dad and Charlie came home as cheery as ever, as per usual on Friday afternoons, but it didn’t take long for the mood of the place to get to them too. But there was a different tension come Saturday morning. The adults seemed to have accepted the inevitable by this stage, and were becoming normal again, but the six of us were torn between excitement and extreme nerves. Whatever we said to each other, we couldn’t deny the fact that what was going to happen tonight could—at best— be a good night out. At worst, it could be fatal.

Due to this, it was impossible to relax or settle to anything during the day. James attempted to get us doing homework, but it simply didn’t work. We therefore spent the day just talking about the party, and how we would handle ourselves if anything did go wrong. We also put some time into deciding what the hell we were going to wear that night, eventually settling on the only formal attire we had. The girls were in a better position, having more things to choose from, but they would have preferred to have had the chance (and the money) to go shopping for something suitable. They did, at least, go out to the town central in the late morning to get their hair done.

Marc sent us another SMS around lunch, reminding us of the time of the party, and also reminding us that he wanted a meeting at 6 o’clock that evening. He said nothing about where to go or what was to be discussed, so I could only assume we were to use our phones to get there. All he said was not to eat beforehand, so either he was planning on feeding us or we’d get food at the party. James was rather uneasy about that idea.

“What if their plan is to poison us?” he asked.

“I might give mine to Hignat to taste test first,” said Peter grimly.

The girls returned around half past 2 with the news that Amelia had already dropped by our house to take the Light Crystal from my top drawer, as well as put the spell on the rest of the family to make sure they went to bed early that night, which they broke to us out of earshot of any of the adults. Despite this, however, our mothers had plenty to say to us when we left the house that evening. It had been James’s idea to let them see us leaving the house, so that they wouldn’t be suspicious about how we were getting past them without their knowing.

“Remember what we discussed last night,” Mum said, following us to the door.

“Eleven on the dot, alone and sober,” said Peter in a bored voice. “No need to worry, Mum; we’ll make you proud of us.”

“Not that you aren’t already,” added Jessica, earning herself a scowl from the pair of them. They obviously didn’t want to admit she was right.

“Be careful,” said Charlie. “Don’t let your guard down. We’ll be waiting up to hear how it went.”

“Righto,” said Nicole, containing her smirk with difficulty.

We finally managed to get out of the house at 5:50, fighting the urge to jump with joy. In spite of whatever danger was facing us, it was still a massive achievement for us to get out of the house this late at night, and with permission. We went around the corner into Napoleon Road, where we would be out of sight of any of our parents, and waited for 6 o’clock. We all held our phones in our hands, unsure exactly what this was going to feel like, and kept glancing down at our watches as 6 o’clock ticked nearer…

“Ten … nine … eight,” said Peter, his eye on the second hand of his watch. “Here it comes…”

“How do we know Marc’s watch isn’t on a different—” said James, but he never had a chance to get the rest of the sentence out.

Before he finished talking, I felt the ground vanish from beneath my feet. The sight and sounds of the others and our surroundings were replaced by silence and swirling colours, but it only lasted for a second. A moment later, my feet were back on the ground, but the air was very different. James, Peter, Nicole, Felicity and Jessica were around me in exactly the same positions they’d been in before, only now we were standing in the dim light of Marc’s hidden quarters in the midst of the rest of the Young Army. There was silence for a moment before everyone started talking at once.

“Easy,” said Peter in my ear. “Didn’t even hurt. Brilliant idea; much easier than persuading the parents every time.”

“Too right,” I muttered back.

Looking around (it was hard to see past everyone in the room), I could see Marc and Lucien, apparently trying to restore some order in the place by organising people into seats. Eventually, the place cleared somewhat and we were able to see the ring of seats, pretty much as they had been on Tuesday night. We sat down and waited to see what was going to happen. I looked quickly around and couldn’t see that anyone was missing, which was a good sign.

Now Marc was waving for quiet, and eventually the place fell silent, though Marc had barely opened his mouth before he was cut off.

“I have a question,” said Harry. He didn’t look worried or angry, but merely curious. “Simon and I had our phones in our hands when that happened. Well, obviously it worked, ‘cause we’re here. Would it have worked the same if we’d had them in our pockets, or in a bag of some sort?”

“Pockets, yes,” said Amelia. “Bags, I’m not so sure. Certainly the phone would come, but I’m not sure if the person would come with it.”

“That sucks,” said Jane. “I normally have my phone in my handbag.”

Quite a few of the girls began to voice their disapproval as well, but Amelia waved them off, frowning.

“We can’t be too flexible with the enchantment,” she said. “If it transfers the bag, and anyone holding the bag, then it could transfer other things as well, including people we don’t want to attend. It’s just a small sacrifice we’ll have to make.”

She stared around, waiting to see if anyone else would argue with her, but no one did. I could understand exactly where she was coming from; it had occurred to me, in the second before we were transferred, that we might leave some of our clothes behind if they weren’t directly touching our skin. Thankfully we didn’t, but then I’d also been worried that if we hadn’t been standing on something so solid as the footpath (like if I’d been sitting on my bed, maybe the bed would come with me just like my clothes), other things might have come along with us. The enchantment was clearly as balanced as we could make it without posing any security threats.

“Does that mean,” said Sebastian, sounding as though he wanted to make sure all angles were covered, “that if someone grabbed our arm just as we get transferred, they would come with us?”

“Exactly,” said Amelia. “That’s what I’m trying to prevent.”

“Well that’s something,” he said, looking around at the rest of the girls in the group with a gloating expression on his face. I noticed several of the girls, including Natalie, perk up at once at this. Marc must have noticed too, because he quickly drew everyone’s attention back to himself.

“Right, well I’m sure you’ve all had a chance to think about what’s going to happen tonight,” he said, looking around seriously at the group.

“Yeah, but most of us are hoping you can tell us more definitely what’s going to happen,” said Sebastian, fixing Marc with a pointed stare.

“What exactly is it you want to know?” asked Stella, and several people, including Sebastian, jumped; most had been expecting Marc to fire something back. “If you’re worried about how my family’s going to behave, then my guess is as good as anyone’s.”

“Well what do you know is going to happen?” asked Craig. “Like where do we go after this?”

“And how come we weren’t allowed to have dinner before coming?” added Sophie.

“Well,” said Marc before Stella could respond. He suddenly picked up a bag which had been lying—unnoticed—at his feet the whole time. “The reason we had to meet before going is because they have security preventing unauthorised access. It’s not so much a guest list they go by, but more validation. Anyone with these gets in.”

He took an item from the bag, then passed the bag to Amelia. She took one and passed it on. I couldn’t see exactly what the things were, and even when the bag came around to me and I picked one out, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I held in my hand a small, metallic cube, small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, with nothing on it but a small magnetic strip, which I assumed was meant for some sort of scanning.

“It’s an enchanted place, where we’re going,” said Stella. “The same enchantments that protect my family’s headquarters protect this place. The entrance is in Hamster’s Stretch Reserve, but the actual party room is underground. You’ll need these to get in.”

“And what’s the order of events once we get in there?” asked Nicole nervously.

“I’m not sure there’s much of an order at all, really,” said Stella, shrugging. “I mean, I know there’s dinner, that’s first, but after that it just becomes like any other party. There’s a bar and a dance floor, so it’s clearly supposed to be a fun evening.”

“So they’re enticing us to relax,” suggested Lisa.

“Pretty much,” said Stella. “And I suppose you can, a bit, but not enough to let your guard down. There are still a lot of untrustworthy people in there.”

My stomach had lurched with dread at the confirmation that there really was going to be dancing. I could now see Lena trying to catch my eye, and I stared so hard at Stella that my eyes were on the point of watering. That didn’t work any better though, because she caught my eye too and blushed. At that point, I was forced to stare at Marc instead. Blimey—there were simply too many women going on …

“How do we know they won’t try to poison us at dinner?” suggested Peter. “They wouldn’t need magic to do that.”

Several people gasped and turned wildly to Stella, who actually sniggered. “Can’t see them pulling that off,” she said. “Actually, they probably haven’t even thought of it. It’s all serve for yourself, so they can’t possibly get you without getting everyone else as well.”

“How do we know they wouldn’t be prepared to sacrifice all the people in there to take the Seventh Sorcerer out of the equation?” asked Lucien.

Stella blanched. “I can’t say that’s not something they’d think of doing, but I don’t think they’d throw caution to the wind like that. They know that even that way, there’s only a remote chance that Marc will actually eat something. Particularly if people are dropping dead around him. I don’t think they would try doing that tonight.”

“What if the effects aren’t instantaneous?” asked Sebastian.

Stella shook her head. “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t trust them,” she said. “I don’t think anyone will make you, but I don’t think there’s anything to fear from the food. If they’ve got plans, they’ll no doubt set them into motion a little later on, when people are having fun.”

Most people didn’t like the sound of that. I didn’t find Stella’s words very encouraging either; she didn’t sound entirely sure of herself. I had the impression that Peter may have hit the mark with something here, and if he hadn’t, then Lucien and/or Sebastian probably had. But I also thought that Stella knew how her family thought, and I had to agree that after everything they’d done, poisoning was a bit tame by their standards. But that didn’t necessarily mean that they wouldn’t stoop a bit, since they couldn’t use magic. I decided that I would wait until I got to the place before making any more tough decisions. This was going to be a long night …

Stella didn’t stay much longer, claiming she would be missed and had to get to the party. The rest of us hung around in the Hidden Quarters for some time, just discussing the possibilities for that evening. I had to admit to myself it was one of the weirdest situations I could remember being in—surrounded by people who were looking forward to a good party while also wondering if they’d make it home in one piece that night for reasons other than alcohol.

I only had to glance around the room to deduce that most people had come prepared to treat this like any other party, at least before a hint of trouble. I couldn’t see one person who hadn’t dressed up for the occasion, just like they would with any other party. Most of the guys looked much the same as Peter, James and I, although Sebastian had died his hair a ridiculous colour green for the occasion—I could only assume this was meant to advertise his availability. Unsurprisingly, the girls had gone all out for the night. Nicole, Jessica and Felicity’s efforts to have their hair done could almost be considered tame compared to what some of the year-nines had done. Katie, in particular, was looking absolutely stunning. Lucky boy, Harry, to have a chance to dance with that.

At about twenty to 8, Marc waved for quiet again, and beckoned us to follow him. We ascended the stairs and came out in front of Marc’s house on his still very-dull lawn. He and Lucien led the procession through the quiet streets of Chopville under the setting sun, across the bridge and into the stretch. I looked around as we entered, but couldn’t see any signs of life anywhere, not even over by the river where we would often jump from the bridges. Marc and Lucien weren’t phased by the lack of people, though; apparently Stella had given them directions as to exactly where to go.

We turned off the path after them and moved deep into the trees. I wondered for a moment if we were heading for the hole I had seen Rob and Bob digging here a few weeks ago; after all, the party was underground. But it seemed I was wrong because we didn’t go in that direction, but off in the general direction of the school, although I knew we couldn’t actually get to the school from in here—there was a street lined with houses between here and there. I had never been this far in this direction through the trees before, and the compressed darkness made me very nervous. Surely this would be an ideal time for anyone to attack …

Suddenly, a line of people came into view. None of us could see in the dim light what they were lining up along, but Marc and Lucien joined the back of the line, so the rest of us took it that this must be where we would get in. The queue moved fairly quickly compared to what I had expected, and when we got close to the front, I saw that a door had been propped up against a thick tree trunk. Suddenly it all made sense. I’d seen Stella create doors like that on camp, and she had told us that we were going to an enchanted place.

Standing in front of the door was a security guard about the size of the average semi-trailer. He was taking the cubed objects from people and scanning them before allowing them to enter behind him. One person, however, apparently did not have validation, for whatever reason, and the guard discarded him by seizing him one-handed around the waste and tossing him lazily over his shoulder. The young man flew through the air, his yells echoing in the night, before landing painfully in bushes some way away. I shuddered; these things Stella had given us better work.

Lucien was the first of us to reach the front. He had his validator scanned and was let through with no trouble at all. When Marc attempted to follow, the guard paused, staring at him with a look of recognition on his face, and I wondered whether the Hammersons had asked him to hurt Marc if he turned up. But a moment later, he was accepted and followed his brother through the door and out of sight. The rest of the Young Army got through without much trouble. Well, the guard showed the same signs of recognition when he saw Amelia, but he didn’t reject her.

I got in with no trouble at all and followed Peter through the door. I had the distinct impression that the stairs down which I was walking were already underground, perhaps nowhere near the stretch. Stella had the previous week created doors that transported us around Rock Haulter, and I suspected that the same brand of magic had been used here. The stairs circled downwards for quite a while in almost complete darkness until, finally, we reached the bottom, where a long hallway stretched ahead of us, no end visible.

“Not much of a party so far,” Peter muttered from in front of me.

We continued along the hallway in silence for some time. It was full of people, including plenty of Hammerhearts, so none of us wanted to draw attention to ourselves. Eventually, however, sounds began to reach our ears; sounds of talk, laughter and an unmistakable party atmosphere. The source was revealed as we rounded a corner and walked through a door, where it was all laid out in front of us.

The place was massive, and already full of people. I would never have guessed it was a Hammerson event, given that I couldn’t see a single person wearing the uniform Lucien had shown us two weeks earlier. In fact, many had gone to greater trouble than we had to dress up for the event. I couldn’t see anyone I recognised, apart from those in the Young Army, all of whom were gathering to one side, not wanting to be conspicuous. They were doing a very bad job of it.

I could see the features Stella had described—a long bar stretched along the far right wall, and several queues were spaced along it, for people getting food and drinks. The middle of the room, stretching across to the far left wall, was an eating area packed with tables, each for six or so. The dreaded dance floor was surely the wide open area on the opposite side of the room. There was no music playing as yet, but I was sure there would be later; I could see large speakers in every corner of the room.

“Don’t stand around like that,” Lucien hissed, hurrying across to us and looking panicky. “People will notice if you’re not fitting in. Spread out a bit.”

“Let’s go sit down,” I suggested, and we picked a table reasonably close to the bar to observe the Hammerhearts picking their dinners. Peter joined me at my table, followed by James and Erica. With two seats left, I looked wildly around, hoping that Lena or Natalie wouldn’t sit down; I didn’t feel ready for either of them just yet. Unfortunately, however, Nicole, Felicity, Jessica and Lisa had dragged Marc and Daniel to their table, their intentions very clear. Natalie was quick enough to pick up on the hint, but so was Tommy, and he jumped on our table before Lena could get near enough.

Not wanting to look at either of them, or James and Erica, who were holding hands, I stared at the bar, wondering if I was going to see Hignat or Wilwog in their finest; or perhaps one of the Hammersons themselves. Tommy was doing the same, perhaps looking for the young girl who had shot him before the camp. Nobody was at all hesitant about taking ample amounts of food, and many were returning for second helpings. I was still unwilling to follow suit, but I could see plenty of the Young Army, including Marc and Lucien, loading their plates with delectable-looking dishes. Finally my growling stomach overpowered my brain, and Peter and I hurried over to grab some food.

It was a torturous meal. Peter and I spent much of it looking over people’s heads for any potential threats, and always looking over at Marc to check that he was okay. I couldn’t see Stella anywhere but I wasn’t bothered by that—she could take care of herself. Natalie was trying very hard to make conversation with me, and had I been less preoccupied with our surroundings, I may have given in to her. She was certainly doing her utmost to make me look at her, and whenever I did spare her a glance, I found it difficult to look away; she was looking as good as I had ever seen her, even better than she had in her bikini all those times we had been swimming together—and that was saying something.

Had I been less preoccupied, I may have also noticed that the longer this pattern continued, the more my chances with Natalie were slipping away. Tommy was paying her the attention she was seeking from me, and although she returned it sparingly at first, eventually she began talking to him more than to me. Their conversation was quite intimate too, considering they were talking quietly about James and Erica, who were behaving in a most discomforting fashion indeed. Apparently, Tommy wanted Natalie to associate him with intimacy, at least sub-consciously. Was that a legitimate way of getting in a girl’s head?

By the end of dinner, I was very grumpy and considering just getting out of there and getting an early night, but when I suggested it quietly to Peter, he shook his head.

“They might be still up at home, and if you turn up without us, they’ll probably … well, you know.”

He was probably right, but I didn’t like it one bit. I thought of just slipping off anyway and not going home, but Peter seemed to be reading my mind and kicked me under the table to make me stay still. Feeling grumpy, I thought about what I would have to go through if I stayed here; what was more important here? Giving Natalie the attention I wanted to give her, and she wanted from me, or making sure I was ready if anything dodgy happened? Surely the latter, though I was beginning to realise that it was now or never with Natalie. But unfortunately, it was too late; attempts to follow her conversation were useless now. She was far more interested in Tommy …

I noticed at this point that Natalie had not left her seat at all—the only one on our table who hadn’t. I knew it was because she had used Tommy to get things from the bar for her, knowing it would get him out of the way for a few minutes at a time, and Tommy had been happy to oblige. It may have been just to keep her happy (to suck up to her, in other words), but there might have been another motive as well. None of us were supposed to be drinking alcohol, and so far as I could tell, the other people on our table weren’t, but Natalie? She was getting more and more flushed and giggly as the night progressed, and always in response to whatever Tommy was saying to her. It might be nothing … or maybe there was a little more flavour in her drink than anyone but Tommy knew. I was tempted to pick it up and pour it into his lap, but social awareness made me hold back, knowing that I didn’t actually know for sure. Later, I would wish I had just gone ahead and done it, and damn the consequences.

At about half past nine, the place went quiet. It took me a moment to see why, but eventually Peter nudged me and pointed in the general direction of the dance floor. There, Arnold Hammerson had risen to his feet and called the crowd to order. I only noticed then that he was standing in front of a table for four, at which Tankom, Stella and Cornish were sitting. The speeches followed, from Hammerson, Tankom and obviously Stella. They were rather polite, although I could tell that half the stuff Hammerson said was more automatic than anything; his eyes showed cold hatred of the girl in front of him, and I was sure he would have preferred not to be doing this. Tankom’s speech was short, but she looked more sincere than Hammerson had.

The party really began in earnest after that. The lights dimmed a bit and the music began. A bunch of rowdy blokes congregated up at the bar, ordering liberal amounts of alcohol. People were gathering on the dance floor and having a grand old time. I looked around at the tables occupied by the Young Army and saw that Katie and Sophie were already dragging the twins up to the dance floor; Nicole had successfully latched on to Marc and they were also heading up there. Amelia was watching the latter couple rather sadly.

James offered his hand to Erica, and both of them disappeared. Tommy did the same for Natalie, and after some hesitation, she obliged. She took one last look at me before turning and heading off. Tommy also looked back at me while Natalie’s back was turned, raising his hand as though in apology. The look didn’t stretch to his eyes though. I could see the glint of triumph there; he had no intention of letting go of Natalie from here on. My stomach fell; I’d blown it for sure now. Stupid me, thinking that her wanting me would be enough. Stupid me, thinking that Tommy was no longer a threat.

Peter and I went up to the bar, where we ordered a drink each, and then sat side by side, sipping our drinks and watching the party happening around us. David and Craig had apparently persuaded Felicity and Jessica to dance with them, while I could also make out Darcy and Jane in a far corner. Sebastian had latched on to Lena but I could see that she wasn’t happy about it; her eyes were darting all over the place, looking anywhere but at his face. I felt a little better that at least Peter was prepared to sit by me while all this was happening, but a few minutes later, that plan change when we were joined by a very flirtatious Kylie.

“Hi,” she said, making eyes at Peter.

“Hi,” we replied, me putting my hand over my mouth so as not to laugh.

“Wanna dance?” she asked, addressing Peter. Clearly Kylie had no issue getting straight to the point.

“I thought the idea was to wait ‘til the guy asks,” said Peter, but he looked amused as he took her hand. I bit back another laugh; Peter was rather short and skinny, and Kylie wasn’t a lot bigger, but she was dragging him away so forcefully that he lost his balance a few times, and she practically lifted him up to get him back on his feet. I wondered vaguely if James had seen that.

I stood up, clutching my drink. I was going to have to make something of this party or I’d be on the point of a breakdown by the time I got home. Trying not to look at Tommy and Natalie, who looked like they were having the time of their lives, I walked along the bar, skirting around several people who I wanted nothing to do with. Then I spotted Daniel, who was heading off the dance floor toward the bar. I hadn’t seen who he’d been dancing with, but I hardly cared. He was alone now, and he could help me with my problems in ways none of the others could.

“Hey man,” I said, nudging him as we reached the bar at the same time.

“Hey,” he said, looking around at me. “Pretty good party after all. Enjoying it?”

“I suppose,” I said, unsure whether he was referring to having fun or the fact that nothing had gone wrong yet.

Whether it was because of his magical psychic abilities or simply because he was tuned in, he seemed to notice my unease, and said, “You okay?”

“I need a bit of help,” I said. “I wouldn’t normally ask you to do predictions and stuff, but I don’t think there’s anything real dangerous about this.”

I paused, feeling distinctly awkward asking this sort of advice from Daniel. Though I was sure he’d be able to give it to me, I’d never asked for his predictions on anything other than the project we were working on together in Media. Daniel didn’t seem fazed, though. He took a glass of coke from across the bar then sat back and sipped it for a moment.

Finally he said, “I probably can’t give you the details you're after. The future’s never concrete, so I can’t give you enough information beyond any difficult decisions … and it seems like you’ve got a few of those over your head at the moment, right?”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered darkly.

“Yeah,” he said. He seemed to be deciding exactly what he should tell me, though I wished he would just tell me whatever he knew. But suddenly, seeing the look of concentration on his face made me realise: if he was using his psychic powers here, he was practically doing magic.

“Don’t,” I said hurriedly, grabbing his arm. “You can’t do magic in here—”

“Relax,” he said, shaking me off. “I’d be dead by now if mine counted.”

I felt distinctly uneasy now, but Daniel’s next words jolted me back to the issue at hand. “You know that old saying, that it never does good to cry over spilt milk? My advice to you would be to move on from the opportunities you’ve missed, because chances are they’ll come back around later. Don’t brood on them, ‘cause it’ll only cause you to miss more.”

“Ah,” I said, my mind ticking over. I thought I knew where he was coming from: Just because I’d missed out on Natalie, that didn’t mean I couldn’t still have some fun. “Cheers.”

“Nothing of it,” he said, waving his hand.

After that, we sat in silence, sipping our drinks. I had just finished mine when I saw Kylie and Peter dancing nearby on the dance floor, Kylie squeezing Peter like an octopus, Peter skipping around in a desperate attempt to both keep his balance and keep step with her. I had to bite back another laugh; really, Peter just seemed so unmanly sometimes, no matter how hard he tried.

This made me remember where I’d seen Daniel coming from. and I asked, “So who were you dancing with before?”

“Oh, Lisa,” he said, glancing sideways at me, then sweeping the floor with his gaze, perhaps looking for her again.

“Yeah? She any good?”

“At dancing? I suppose,” he said. “I don’t know; I was more worried about how badly I was doing to care what she was like.”

I sniggered, then when Daniel looked at me, said, “Sorry. It’s just hard to imagine Lisa like that … I’ve always been used to her going on about schoolwork.”

“Well … yeah, she’s a bit like that,” he conceded. “I’ve seen her more social before though, like last week, and our families have known each other since I came here. They live over our back fence.”

“Do they?” I asked, my mind calculating. Lisa had been hinting for some time that she fancied the boy over her back fence, and we had deduced from a comment she had made that he looked like Marc. Now I realised that the boy was probably Daniel, though she had always made us think that she only knew him by sight. So what was this about their families knowing each other?

We had to end the discussion before I could ask, because Lisa turned up beside us, followed by Amelia. They both looked refreshed, and I assumed they must have just come from the lady’s room. A few minutes later, Lisa and Daniel were back on the dance floor, though I saw Lisa throw a curious look at Natalie and Tommy as she passed them. That left me alone with Amelia.

“You okay?” I asked her, noticing that she was watching Marc, who was now dancing with Stella, of all people.

“Yeah, fine,” she said in a convincingly off-handed manner. “It’s not turned out too bad so far.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” I said, but I found it difficult to drag my mind back to the Hammersons after what Daniel had said to me. Deciding it was easiest not to at this point, and thinking that this conversation was a mirror of my conversation with Daniel a minute ago, I said, “Enjoying it at all?”

She jumped, as though suddenly realising I was onto her. “I … I suppose so,” she said. “I’m too tense to relax too much, really.”

“Join the club,” I muttered, grinning in spite of myself. I knew that she was covering her displeasure over not having danced with Marc, and she was doing a pretty shoddy job of it. Apparently she had decided on the spot that her best bet was to make me think about other things to distract me, but I wasn’t about to take the bait.

I was nevertheless caught off-guard when she said, “What about you, though? You’ve been up here the whole time.”

“Yeah,” I said shiftily, staring intently at my empty glass. “I—I just needed a word with Daniel.”

“Well there you are, then,” she said, looking triumphant.

“Right,” I said, putting my glass down on the bar and facing her. “I’m not sure I’m staying here much longer anyway, but I’m still going to enjoy it.” Then, struck by a sudden idea, I offered her my hand and said, “You wanna?”

Amelia looked completely taken aback, but after a moment’s hesitation, she grinned and took my hand. It was a strange moment; I hadn’t imagined dancing with someone I had no particular attraction to, but all the same, it was rather enjoyable, and although I avoided looking into Amelia’s eyes, I could tell she felt much the same. We were both staring over each other’s heads and I caught several people’s eyes, including the twins, James and Peter, the latter giving me a roguish grin as he attempted to keep pace with Kylie.

My eyes also met Stella’s, and I could tell that she was attempting to communicate with me without either Marc or Amelia noticing. I had no idea why until a few minutes later when they had moved to within a few feet of us; Stella was going to try to get them dancing together. I looked wildly around for Nicole, but couldn’t see her. While I had nothing against Amelia, I found it gut-wrenching to think I could assist her against my own sister, especially after Nicole had tried to get me and Natalie together that week.

The situation was out of my hands. As the other pair moved right up beside me and Amelia, the music changed to a much slower song. As the couples around us pulled each other closer, Stella shocked the lot of us by saying, “I think it’s time to switch.” She let go of Marc and threw her arms around me instead. I heard her whisper something to me that I didn’t quite catch; my attention was still on Marc and Amelia, both of whom had stopped in the middle of the floor, still shocked by what had just happened.

I only needed to watch for a few seconds before they seemed to come to their senses and take hold of each other. I looked back at Stella, whose bright blue eyes were twinkling with what looked like pride at what she’d just done. Despite the horror rising inside me, I couldn’t blame her. Amelia was her friend, perhaps one of her very few true friends, and seeing how much friends meant to her, she had just shown loyalty that couldn’t be faulted.

“Having fun?” I asked her.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, a smile spreading slowly across her face. I’d never seen her smile like that before; it multiplied her attractiveness, and suddenly I was glad that I was the one dancing with her. “It’s been great, and all ‘cause of you guys coming.”

“You don’t think they’ll do anything now, do you?” I asked her, not wishing to dampen the mood but finding myself unable to say anything else to her.

The smile slipped off her face, and I wished I hadn’t spoken. “I don’t think so. They haven’t done anything so far, but I’m going to go find them in a bit just to see what they’re up to.”

“Right,” I said, now wanting to get things back on more pleasant ground. “Well it’s your party, so don’t be too bothered by them. Just enjoy yourself.”

I squeezed her waist gently, making her giggle, and then we danced in silence for a few more minutes. While I knew she was staring at my face, I didn’t want to look at hers in case she noticed my discomfort and took offense to it. Dancing with her was rather awkward, though, given that she was several inches taller than me; it meant that I couldn’t look over her head as I had with Amelia, and looking down at her breasts was an even worse option. All I could do was close my eyes altogether, and try not to enjoy this experience too much. Whatever Daniel had told me, whatever was going on with Natalie, I just couldn’t let my traitorous mind get too attached to Stella. The dream from Wednesday morning came back to me too, and the memory of Stella’s beauty then and how similar it was to her beauty now made me feel squeamish. But I kept a firm hold of her waist, resisting every urge to feel any other part of her body, even while she was pressing herself so close to me.

I was relieved when, after a couple more songs, we agreed to stop dancing for a while. Stella disappeared into the crowd, probably looking for her family, while I looked around me. I couldn’t see too many free people, so, not wanting to look like a loner on the dance floor, I went back to the bar where I’d been with Daniel earlier. Lucien was sitting not far from that spot, so once I’d got myself another drink, I went to sit with him.

“Hi,” I said, pulling up a stool and sitting down. “What’s up? Not getting involved?”

Lucien looked around at me, looking slightly bemused. “Nah,” he said. “Maybe I should, I don’t know. I promised my better half I wouldn’t dance with anyone else here, and she was too scared to come herself, so I’m mostly just keeping an eye on things.”

“Marc’s doing okay,” I said, looking for him and Amelia; they were still dancing.

“Yeah, well he’s been surrounded by people all night, very hard for them to get to him, but all the same,” he said, frowning. Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood, he said, “But it looks like he’s picked up a pretty good scalp there.”

It was my turn to frown. I looked around for Nicole, but once again I couldn’t see her. The room had cleared out somewhat by now, though it was only half past 11. Apart from Marc and Amelia, who were at that point talking to Stella out on the dance floor, many of the Young Army had disappeared. I could still see Serena and Liam dancing, and Felicity had paired up with David. Lena and Sebastian were both alone and a good distance from anyone else; he was watching her, and she seemed to be looking around for someone—hopefully not me, for a change.

Peter and Kylie were also visible, though they were no longer on the dance floor. It looked as though Kylie was attempting to drag Peter to the door out of the place, but Peter was resisting. I saw Kylie spin him around, press her face against his and smooch him, at the same time sticking a hand between his legs and squeezing. Shuddering, I saw that Peter’s powers of resistance had apparently been beaten. Looking away, I saw an equally sickening sight; Natalie was puking into a rubbish bin way across the room, while Tommy held her long hair out of harm’s way. Yep, she had definitely been drinking alcohol, and it had probably been Tommy’s doing. If only she had aimed her spew at him instead …

I considered going over there and taking her away from him, but how could I justify it? Natalie seemed happy enough to be with him, and he and I would probably get into a fight if I got in the way now. Memories of what had happened in the box came back—memories of the throbbing pain I had experienced under Tommy’s many, many fists. I didn’t want to fight him, but I decided to keep an eye on those two just in case he had planned to take advantage of her in this state.

“Have you seen anyone behaving oddly?” I asked, turning back to Lucien.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything dangerous, but I did see Hignat and Wilwog earlier—the juniors, of course.”

“Oh,” I said, my stomach falling. “What were they doing?”

“Nothing,” he said. “That’s the thing; they were just lurking over in that corner with their drinks, not saying anything to anyone. They aren’t drinking alcohol either, which makes me wonder … maybe their fathers just told them no, or maybe it’s more serious.”

“You reckon they were watching us?” I asked.

“I’m not sure,” he said, looking nervous. “They’ve gone now, so maybe—I’m not sure. I know they’re not watching Marc, because he’s still out there.”

We were interrupted at this point by a small man who I didn’t recognise. Ignoring me, he addressed Lucien. “3M78, Tankom wants a word before you leave tonight. She says you can find her now or later, as long as it’s tonight. She won’t take no for an answer.”

“Oh,” said Lucien, his face falling. “Did she say what it was about?”

“Not a word,” said the man indifferently. “Oh,” his eyes fell on me at last, “is this your brother?”

“No,” said Lucien casually, for even I could see the man’s mind ticking over. “This is John, he’s a friend of ours.”

“Ah, okay,” he said. “Well, don’t say I didn’t tell you, 3M78.”

And he left. Lucien stood up, looking worried. “I’d better see what this is about. I’ll see you later, John.”

I watched him nervously as he left, wondering what Tankom could want with him. Perhaps to question him about the rest of us? I looked around the room, but couldn’t see too many people worth talking too. Lena was sitting alone further up the bar; she was watching me, and I could tell she wanted to talk to me, probably to ask me to dance. After seeing Tommy and Natalie together, perhaps I should dance with Lena, although it would be even more awkward with her than it had been with Stella (she was around the same height, perhaps even a little taller, and probably two or three cup sizes larger too). This thought made me remember Natalie, though, and I looked wildly around to see where she and Tommy were, but to my dismay, I couldn’t see them anywhere.

I got up, leaving my half-drunk glass on the bar, intending to go and look for them (being a good friend to Natalie was more important now than selfishly allowing myself a moment with Lena), but before I had taken more than a few steps, someone tapped me on the shoulder and I looked around. It was Stella.

“Hi,” I said, almost excitedly. “Did you find any—Stella, what’s wrong?”

She was much paler than she had been only ten minutes earlier. Her eyes were brighter, and she looked terrified.

“John,” she said in a low whisper, “this is an order. You have to get out of here, now.”