Stolen Night (12 page)

Vicken crossed his arms over his chest. ‘So what do we do? We can’t give her the ritual.’

‘Of course not,’ I replied. ‘Think of the consequences.’ I had seen the consequences in my dream with Suleen.

‘We have to join the rest of the school. Ms Williams has called an assembly in the union,’ Rhode said.

Another death would bring the school one step closer to closing. They would surely have to if there were any more deaths. The only place we could go was Hathersage, and that would mean leaving
Lovers Bay.

We walked around to the front of the building, passing by Ms Tate’s car. A scene-of-crime officer was taking photographs of it. Security officers were already leading students towards the
union, to the assembly. Tracy and Claudia walked together at the front of a mass of students.

‘Here’s something,’ Vicken said, stopping near the car. ‘Ms Tate wasn’t killed on campus. You said –’ he looked at me – ‘that she drove back
here. She drove herself, bleeding. She got away.’

‘Or was set loose,’ Rhode replied.

‘Either way, the power of the ritual is still working. Odette can’t come on to campus. Not yet,’ Vicken said.

‘This way, please,’ a security officer said, and we walked into the union and into pure mayhem.

‘I repeat, this accident occurred off campus.
Off
campus. There is no connection between Ms Tate’s accident and the safety of your school. Now, let me
continue . . .’

There was uproar again, but Ms Williams yelled into the microphone, ‘Silence! Now, only seniors are to be allowed off-campus privileges at this time and must sign in and out. If you go off
campus, you must go in groups of at least two. Ms Tate’s accident was off campus, so it appears to be unrelated to Wickham or the other unfortunate accidents. Regardless, we must insist on a
buddy system no matter where you go. Wickham continues to be the safest environment for our students.’

The union exploded in voices and questions.

‘Why did she drive back on to campus?’ someone yelled.

‘Please, please . . . I don’t know.’ Ms Williams put up her palms and the room quietened. The canteen serving windows were closed due to the emergency meeting. Metal grates and
empty counters surrounded us. ‘Lovers Bay, Massachusetts, has never before seen this level of violence, and I am sure this will be the final incident.’

‘If it was an accident, why do we have to walk in twos?’ someone called from the crowd, and the union erupted in jeers and questions again.

‘I want some answers!’ a sophomore girl cried, and broke into tears.

‘Quiet!’ Ms Williams yelled into the microphone. Some people put their hands over their ears. ‘A buddy system is best for student safety on or off any campus, and Wickham is no
different.’

As I looked around, I finally spotted Justin. He sat with the lacrosse team across the room. ‘This school remains the safest place for all of you,’ Ms Williams exclaimed.

‘Guess not!’ someone called from the audience.

‘I understand some of you would like to go home and we cannot stop you. As we will be assuring your families, Ms Tate’s car accident
off
campus was surely that –
an
accident.
’

‘She’s lying,’ I whispered to Vicken.

‘Everyone in this room can sense that,’ Vicken replied. ‘The disbelief is actually overwhelming.’

‘What else?’ Rhode asked.

‘Well, they can tell she’s upset. Most of them are angry. They know something connects these incidents. Their trust has been broken.’

‘Wouldn’t you feel the same?’ Rhode whispered.

The assembly ended with most of the students staying in the union to talk about Ms Tate. Some people were crying, some were asking what they should do about their homework. Some wanted to know
who would teach science.

I couldn’t cry.

I didn’t want to cry. I had seen the mark of death.

I sat there waiting to feel
something
, some sorrow. But all I could muster up was anger. Anger and rage at myself. At Odette. At Rhode and the memories between us that I didn’t
understand.

‘Lenah!’

My head shot up. I looked at Rhode. ‘What?’

He motioned to Claudia and Tracy who stood above me. Clearly they had been trying to get my attention.

‘How are you?’ Claudia asked.

I shrugged. ‘All right, I suppose.’

I scooted over for them to sit down next to me, but Claudia sat next to Vicken and I wondered if she did it on purpose. I smelt something sweet from her, like vanilla. ‘You smell
nice,’ I said. ‘I know that scent.’

‘It’s Kate’s old perfume.’

I immediately focused on the Formica tabletop. ‘Oh,’ was all I could say.

‘Weren’t you sort of close to Ms Tate?’ asked Tracy. She raised an eyebrow and I realized she was talking to me.

‘Not really,’ I said, and considered last year. I wasn’t
close
with Ms Tate, though she was the first adult I had spent any time with since my parents. And that was 592
years before.

‘She’s the third person to die,’ Claudia said.

‘What? Are we keeping count?’ Tracy asked, taking a sip of soda.

‘Maybe we should,’ Claudia replied.

‘Coincidence,’ Rhode said, and stood up and walked off. Tracy followed him with her eyes all the way to the union door until he was out of sight.

‘You’re not saying much,’ Claudia said to Vicken.

‘I don’t worry about much,’ Vicken replied.

Claudia exhaled heavily. She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to see Ms Tate when they . . .’ Her voice trailed off and she shivered. ‘When they take her out of the
building.’

‘Me neither,’ I said, remembering the sight of her lifeless body and the heels of her shoes.

‘Want to go off campus with us?’ Tracy asked. She got up from the table and smoothed out the front of her blue shirt. I admired the colour against her skin.

‘Now?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, now,’ Claudia replied earnestly. ‘I want to go somewhere where there’s a lot of people. The movies or something.’

Bad idea. Dark.

‘Or maybe for a drive?’ Tracy suggested.

Claudia stood up too and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I can’t believe you’re being so calm about this,’ she said to Vicken.

Vicken stood up from the table.

‘What should I do, blondie?’ He threw his hands in the air and pretended to run around. ‘Scream?’ He dropped his hands by his side, then stuck a cigarette in his mouth.
‘Death happens to all of us. Some just get it earlier than others.’ He walked out of the union leaving the smell of his cigarette wafting behind him.

‘Lenah,’ said Justin, joining us. He immediately took my hand. I exhaled into the familiar cotton of his shirt and hugged him tightly. I lingered in his embrace for a moment,
allowing his strength to overwhelm me.

‘Want to come with us?’ Claudia asked Justin. ‘For a drive. Get off campus.’

Justin frowned. ‘I can’t. Coach wants to have a meeting with the team.’

I pulled away and he met my eyes. I could sense the question in his mind. Because Claudia and Tracy were here he couldn’t ask me what I knew he wanted to.
Was Odette behind
this?

A group of cheerleaders passed by. They held their arms linked over each other’s shoulders and held hands. One of them, in the middle, was wailing.

Claudia tugged on my shirtsleeve. ‘Let’s get out of here. I can’t handle this,’ she said.

‘Be careful,’ said Justin, and kissed me quickly.

‘I’ll be all right,’ I said. ‘I’ve got the light of day.’

I knew Rhode wouldn’t like the idea of my leaving campus after Ms Tate’s murder, but going out to a public place seemed safe. Even if we were just going for a
drive, we’d be in Claudia’s car, and I could suggest somewhere people would be if they wanted to stop.

‘I just need my wallet,’ I said, and we walked back to Seeker.

As I walked up the stairs with the girls, it occurred to me they had never been in my room before. Not even during the previous year when Tony was still alive. Tracy was directly behind me. She
stood so close I heard her breathing.

‘I’ll be right out,’ I said.

‘We can’t come inside?’ Tracy asked. ‘You’re Super-Secret Girl or something, Lenah.’

Right. Should have thought of that.

‘
Of course you can come in,’ I said.

I stood at the door unlocking it; the rosemary and lavender dangled in their usual spot.

‘Cute,’ Claudia said, and lightly grazed the flowers with her fingertips. ‘Dried flowers. I always dry out my corsages or a flower whenever I get a bouquet.’

I opened the door and the girls stepped inside. They oohed and ahhed over the longsword, my furnishings and all the space I had. It was Tracy who lifted a finger to touch the sword.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you,’ I said. ‘It’s remarkably sharp.’

‘Why do you have a sword?’ she asked.

‘Passed down through my family,’ I replied.
We really do have to get out of here
, I thought.

‘What is this?
Ita fert
. . .’

‘
Ita fert corde voluntas
. It’s Latin,’ I said. ‘It means
the heart wills it
.’

‘The heart wills it,’ echoed Tracy after a moment. ‘I like that.’

Together, we looked at the longsword I had got so used to. I supposed, standing there next to someone who had never seen it before, it was quite magnificent.

‘What’s all over your balcony?’ Claudia asked, and I turned. She had her hands pressed against the glass of the balcony door. She lifted her chin to get a better view.

And there, still stubbornly sticking to the tiles, were my vampire remains. Most had washed away in summer rainstorms, but a few glimmers shone under the midday sun.

‘Were you doing an art project?’ Claudia asked.

‘I’m not sure what they are.’ I decided that playing dumb was my best bet. ‘Let’s go, shall we?’

Before I knew it, we were on our way. I opened the window of Claudia’s BMW, feeling the late summer air whip through the back seat and toss my hair about my face.

‘Happy. Happy. Happy. Not thinking about Ms Tate. I am haaaaappy,’ Claudia said, and turned up the music. A loud explosion of guitars, pianos and multiple voices echoed near my ears.
The singer crooned about love and bubblegum. This was definitely not Mozart. Tracy, I noticed, was exceptionally quiet, looking out of the passenger window.

After a few moments Claudia said, ‘What about the mall? We can walk around or whatever.’

Yes. Smart. Bright. Loads of people
.

As silly as it may have seemed in the moment, it was good to get off campus in September, while I still could go to the mall like a normal teenager. Before Nuit Rouge began.

Claudia ripped around a corner and the engine revved as we climbed on to the highway. I had to hold on to the armrest or I would have slammed against the door of the car.

‘So,’ Claudia said, ‘tell me about Vicken.’ I gripped the armrest as hard as I could as she peeled around another corner.

‘Nice black eye,’ Tracy said sarcastically. It was the first time she had spoken the whole car ride.

‘He kept wanting to touch it,’ Claudia said, but the tone in her voice was not disgust. It was, dare I say it, excitement.

‘We’re talking about Vicken?’ I said, surprised.
Murderer. Excellent swordsman. You would have made a lovely meal for him.

‘He’s from Scotland?’ Claudia asked.

‘Girvan, in Scotland, near the coast,’ I clarified.

‘Isn’t he your first cousin or something?’

‘Right. He’s my mother’s brother’s son,’ I lied.

‘Just ask her already,’ Tracy interjected, and flipped her hair. ‘Is he seeing anyone?’

‘I . . . don’t think so,’ I said, slightly horrified at the thought of Claudia and Vicken dating. We pulled into the mall parking lot. Claudia whipped the car into an empty
spot so fast I was sure we were going to have an accident. But miraculously we didn’t smash into the wall. In fact, the girls were getting out of the car before I even exhaled.

They seemed to be speaking another language. They were talking about types of trends I clearly knew nothing about.

Cardigans. Peplums.

Platform shoes, are they in
?

What about a wooden heel?

Rhode had provided most of my clothing last year. I just wore it, accepted it. I hadn’t paid attention to fashion since the Victorian era. I was a bit more knowledgeable now, but still
kind of useless when it came to making choices.

‘Lenah!’ Claudia said, and pulled me by the arm into a store. ‘You have to try this. That colour would be gorgeous on you.’

She pointed at a mannequin in the window. On it, a tangerine blouse flowed out over a pair of blue jeans. The material was gauzy and soft; the colour brought a memory to my mind. A night in an
opera house, a glorious orange gown. As vampire queen, the easiest way to draw victims in had been to taunt them with exquisite things. When they approached to compliment me on my clothing or my
jewels – well . . .

Claudia snatched an orange blouse from the racks and thrust it at me. Soon after, laden with clothes, we each stepped into our own private dressing room. Claudia and Tracy ran through items,
stepping out and modelling their ensembles. I had never displayed myself to anyone in modern clothes. Asking for approval seemed silly but apparently this was the thing to do.

‘Lenah! I want to see that top!’ Claudia called.

Feeling foolish, I stepped out wearing the blouse and turned to show the girls.

‘Oh!’ Claudia’s jaw dropped. ‘You look amazing,’ she said. ‘You should so get that!’

‘Colour looks good on you,’ Tracy agreed.

There, in the mall, I could almost forget Odette’s note. Ms Tate’s death and Kate’s too. I could be distracted with the possibility of wearing these clothes. I even considered
going back to school and wearing them in front of Rhode.

Next, I slipped on a pink skintight dress, which was contemporary and revealing, with thin shoulder straps. I loved it. I hoped the girls did too. I wished the ladies of the nineteenth century,
with their corsets and bustles, could see me now. I stepped out and looked down the dressing-room aisle. The girls were admiring black dresses similar to the pink one I wore. Justin would like this
dress because it was tight. He would notice I was wearing a colour that wasn’t black and say
you’re beautiful
. He reminded me it was important that I was participating in this
modern world, just like Suleen had told me to.