Hollow Pike (33 page)

Lis studied the remote and found the stop button for the video recorder. She pointed the remote at the machine and pressed the button. A red LED went out immediately. Job done. The cameras still
showed
her
what was going on around the school, but now none of it was being committed to tape. Lis let out the longest breath of her life.

Taking her phone from her pocket, she expertly tapped in a text to Kitty:
Cameras off. Go go go!!!
. A couple of seconds later, Lis saw Kitty look at her phone, say a few words to Dee and
prowl out of range of
CAM
6. In another few moments, her shadowy form crept onto
CAM
5, which filmed the entire length of the G corridor. This was
risky because Ms Dandehunt’s office was only two doors down from G2. Lis watched the slender figure edging down the corridor, unable to look away. This was must-see TV. She swallowed, her
throat and tongue dry as a desert.

Wait. Something moved in the final row of cameras. Just for a split second, a dark shape had moved across
CAM
9, drawing Lis’s attention. She left her perch on the
desk to get a closer look.
CAM
9 showed the atrium outside the humanities rooms in the T Block. There shouldn’t be anyone in there, so who could it be? They’d
already seen the cleaners go home ages ago.

There it was again. Underneath the camera, a figure shifted in the darkness. The image was so poor it was as if a spectre moved through the hallway, but there was no mistaking it.
There was
someone else in the school.

Lis instinctively reached for her phone as the shape moved out of range of
CAM
9. She cursed under her breath. Where would it go next? Should she call Kitty? Call off the
search? She slapped the side of her head, trying to knock some logic into her brain. T Block – where did that lead? Middle corridor, staffroom, G corridor. Scanning the cameras, Lis located
the staffroom on
CAM
7. Sure enough, the mysterious figure emerged in the darkest corner of the screen. Squinting at the image, Lis could now see that the stranger was
caped, with a hood over their head. This was not good.

Suddenly she realised that
CAM
7 was right next to
CAM
6. Delilah! Her friend was peeking out from the lockers, obviously waiting for Kitty
– who, Lis could see from another camera, had now reached the entrance to the head’s office. Dee’s back was to the staffroom, and she clearly had no idea that someone was coming
up behind her.

Lis watched in horror as the shadow glided towards her, a tiger stalking its prey. ‘Delilah!’ Lis bellowed, her shrill voice shattering the silence. Too late. As her scream echoed
through the school, the hooded predator clamped a hand over Delilah’s petite face, sealing her in a tight hold. In a single, fluid movement, the attacker swept her friend out of sight.

She had to help Delilah. Sprinting to the office door, Lis failed to see what was happening on
CAM
11: another figure was walking along the bottom corridor right towards
the CCTV office.

‘Lis?’

She screamed, dropping her phone and watching it bounce under the desk. Danny Marriott stood in the doorway, blocking her path.

‘Danny? What are you doing here?’ She had to get to Dee, but this didn’t make sense. He’d appeared out of the shadows, like something in a horror film.

‘I was just about to ask you the same thing! Why are you in school so late?’

She started to blurt out their cover story, ‘Delilah thinks her house keys are in lost property. Actually, never mind that . . . Why are
you
still here?’

He seemed to stiffen, backing away from her. Shadows occluded his handsome features. ‘I asked you first.’

‘Danny, I haven’t got time for games, just tell me why you’re here. Delilah’s in trouble! And what are you holding behind your back?’

‘Nothing!’ he said far too quickly, stepping further backwards.

Little alarms started ringing in her head, but she advanced on him anyway. He was by the door and she needed to get out of here and help Delilah. ‘Seriously. What’s in your
hands?’

‘Lis . . .’ he started, but before he could finish, she pounced. She darted towards him and he instinctively raised his hands in a move to put whatever he was holding out of her
reach. Lis had played netball enough times to counter his defence and with a single swipe she knocked the object clear out of his grasp.

A notebook fell to the floor: hardback, decorated with little apricot-coloured flowers and tied with a yellow ribbon. Lis recognised it at once: Laura’s diary.

Lis’s brain went into overdrive. They’d assumed Ms Dandehunt was the killer because she’d had the diary and hadn’t given it to the police. If it contained clues to
Laura’s murderer then obviously the killer wouldn’t want the police to get hold of it. But now Danny had the book. Danny or Dandehunt? Dandehunt or Danny?
The killer has the
book.

‘Lis . . . It’s not what you think,’ Danny said.

‘What do I think?’ she demanded, her heart pounding against her ribs.

Danny opened his arms and took a step towards her. She reflexively ducked back out of reach. ‘Oh, God, I know it looks bad,’ Danny muttered.

‘Why do you have that diary?’ Lis asked, trying to keep panic out of her voice. She’d been so blind . . . Laura had told her she and Danny were involved, but Lis had ignored
it, willing to believe anything Danny told her. Had he killed Laura himself, or had it been his masked accomplice who’d now grabbed Delilah?

‘I . . . I found it,’ Danny stammered.

‘Yeah, right!’ The fight or flight impulse kicked in and flight won hands down – not least because, right now, Delilah needed her. Lis threw herself past Danny towards the open
door, but he caught her in a second. Double her weight, Danny pinned her against the door frame, grinding her spine against the wood. She cried out in pain.

‘Wait!’ he urged. ‘Lis, I need to explain!’

‘Get off me!’ Lis screamed, but he retained his hold on her. Desperate now, she delivered a hard kick to his shin. He howled and let go of her instantly. Lis took off up the
stairs.

Even with a sore leg, she knew a rugby player wasn’t going to be stopped that easily and she could hear him right behind her, limping as fast as she ran. She bounded up the first flight of
stairs and was then faced with the choice of main exit, boys’ toilets or the stairs up to G2. Danny would just as easily catch her on the drive as the stairs, she realised. Her only option
was strength in numbers. She headed for the Spanish class in G2.

She made it halfway across the entrance hall before he caught up with her. He reached out, seizing a handful of her blazer. Lis shrieked and wriggled out of the jacket, letting him pull it clean
off her body. Slowed, but still burning adrenalin, she ran on to the longer flight of stairs.

‘Lis! Stop!’ Danny called, throwing the blazer to the floor. He sprinted forwards, grabbing at her legs from a lower step. ‘Will you give me a chance?’

She raced on up the stairs, focused on reaching the top. Danny’s footsteps were close though, and getting closer every second.

‘Goddammit Lis, you are bloody hard work!’ Danny cursed and reached for her again.

This time Lis felt his hand close around her ankle. Instinctively, she kicked backwards and Danny lost his grip. She heard a messy scrabbling sound behind her and looked to see Danny fall
backwards down the stairs. He hit the floor with a dull thud. The force of it twisted his head around at a painful angle and his startled eyes closed. He lay there, limp and still like a rag doll.
From his nose or mouth, Lis couldn’t tell which, crimson blood spilled over his chin.

Lis stared at him, unable to breathe. This was the part where she knew she had to run. He was bound to get up and come after her. Murderers always do in films. Yet she found herself unable to
move. It was as if the struggle had drained her whole body. She watched, waiting for any slight movement from the foot of the stairs.

‘What the bloody hell is going on here?’ an authoritative voice boomed from the very top of the staircase.

Lis turned to see Mr Gray jogging down towards her.

‘Lis?’ he said with concern. ‘Lis? What happened?’

He put his arm around her and slowly she felt her brain defrosting: she was safe, it was fine, she wasn’t alone. Lis fell into his arms like a marionette with its strings cut.

‘Mr Gray, Danny’s the killer!’ Lis sobbed. ‘He killed Laura. He was after me. And Delilah – someone’s got Delilah!’ The words tumbled over
themselves.

‘What?’ Mr Gray pulled back. ‘Are you kidding?’

‘No! It’s all true!’

He looked into her eyes, searching for truth, and then glanced down at Danny. ‘Jesus, Lis! Is he OK?’

Mr Gray pushed her behind him and headed down the stairs to his unconscious pupil.

‘Stop,’ Lis begged. ‘He’s dangerous!’

‘Just wait there!’ Gray commanded. Her teacher cautiously leaned over Danny. Lis could see the blood, but was he breathing? Had she killed her boyfriend?

‘He’s alive,’ Mr Gray announced. Danny stirred and the teacher recoiled in shock.

Lis wasn’t going to wait for round two. She raced down the stairs, slowing only to step carefully around Danny’s body.

‘Where are you going?’ Mr Gray asked.

Lis continued to run across the entrance hall back towards the main office. ‘To call the police!’ she shouted back to him. ‘Then this whole thing will be over. We’ve got
proof now.’

She trotted down the last few steps and into the office, now more familiar with her surroundings. Hauling a phone across the first desk she came to, she lifted the receiver and began to dial
nine, nine, nine. She’d never done this before; she hoped it would be pretty self-explanatory. This was it. After this phone call it was out of her hands forever. She could find her friends,
make sure Dee was OK and live happily ever after.

A warm hand pulled the phone out of her grip and calmly placed it back in its cradle. She turned and found her face inches from Mr Gray’s.

‘I was just calling the police!’ she exclaimed, utterly confused.

‘Oh, Lis,’ Mr Gray said in a new, patronising tone. ‘You can’t call the police.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because Danny didn’t kill Laura.’

And then he took a step back and swung his fist at her face so fast she didn’t even have time to blink. The fist made contact and, after a split second of the most crushing pain
she’d ever felt, Lis stopped being aware of anything at all.

Witches

This dream topped them all. This time, Lis had broken into school after hours, watched a hooded figure kidnap her mate, and then essentially kicked her boyfriend down the
stairs! What could it all mean?

No, wait . . .

Her eyes fluttered open to see long, white rectangles moving past her face. Where was she? Searing pain emanated from her nose and she tasted coppery blood in her mouth.

Oh, God, it wasn’t a dream. Danny . . . Mr Gray . . . It had all happened. It was
still happening
.

Lis realised her legs were in the air. The oblongs she’d observed were strip lights. She was being dragged. Snapping into action, she wriggled like an eel, letting out a pitiful cry for
help.

‘Lis, hush,’ said Mr Gray, who was doing the dragging. He pinned her feet together to stop her from kicking out. ‘We’re almost there now. Don’t make a
fuss.’

Using her arms, she tried in vain to claw her way in the opposite direction, digging her nails into the tiled floor, but she couldn’t get a grip. Gray had the drop on her and all the
momentum.

‘Lis, will you calm down? You’ll only hurt yourself!’

She swore, and again tried to kick herself free from his hold. She felt herself starting to cry with fear and frustration.

‘Please don’t cry. Men are physically incapable of dealing with crying girls. It’s a fact of life.’

Lis swore again, more loudly. Why was he being so weirdly pleasant? Why not just finish the job?

Suddenly, the texture against the small of her back changed as a mighty pull from Gray dragged her through a doorway and onto carpet. The niceties ceased as he grabbed a handful of her hair and
yanked her onto her feet.

They were in G2 and it was full of people. Lis’s head spun wildly from the horizontal to vertical shift and the overpowering peppery smell that filled the room. She took a second to
adjust.

Her gaze first fell on Kitty and Delilah who were both taped to chairs in the centre of the classroom. All the other chairs and tables had been stacked neatly around the perimeter of the room.
Lis gasped: relief at seeing her friends alive, mixed with an equal measure of terror. Kitty and Dee had been crudely bound with brown packing tape, their arms, legs and mouths restrained. It was
something you’d expect to see in a terrorist’s home movie, not in real life.

Lis twisted round in Mr Gray’s hold, searching for Jack. He wasn’t there. But several other people were. She immediately recognised Jennifer Rigg, Laura’s mum, standing
elegantly in the corner, immaculate as she had been in her own home. Sitting next to her and holding a pile of ancient-looking books was little old Daphne from the library.

This was too weird. Why weren’t they helping her? Why were they just sitting there?

‘Help me!’ Lis yelled, staggering as Gray pushed her towards a chair. ‘Please!’

At least Mrs Rigg had the good grace to look away. Daphne seemed to find her plea funny.

‘Welcome to Spanish for Adults,’ Mr Gray sneered. He shoved her down into a chair and Jennifer Rigg strutted to his side, carrying the tape. Within seconds Lis’s hands were
secured behind her back.

‘Leave her mouth,’ Gray instructed. ‘Now, let’s talk.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Lis begged. ‘Please, just let us go. We haven’t done anything wrong!’

Gray looked at her, genuine sympathy in his eyes. ‘You know what, Lis?’ he breathed, leaning in so close he was almost nuzzling her neck. ‘I’m gutted it’s you, I
mean it. I prayed and prayed for it to be someone else, but it’s not, is it? It’s you.’