The Mute and the Liar (66 page)

I
may
be
flying,
but
Ryo
is
my
constant,
my
earth.
His
dark
eyes
greet
me
as
I
open
mine.
I
must
be
in
space.
That’s
the
only
word
that
can
describe
it.
I’m
flying
in
this
vacuum
suffocation
and
pressurised
heat,
and
the
people
around
me
melt
away
into
stars
and
cannon
and
crackle
around
the
black
drapery
of
the
night
sky,
leaving
sequined
tails
behind
them.
They
keep
soaring
until
they
run
out
of
energy,
out
of
glitter,
and
settle
into
silver
studs
piercing the
blackness.

And
Ryo’s
eyes
are
black,
dilated
moons,
and
they’re
all
I
can
see,
all
I
want
to
see.

“W
oah! Steady there. Are you
all
right?
”
“
Is
she okay?
”

“
She’s
fine!
Don’t
touch
her.
I’ve
got
her.
Alicia,
just
stay
here
for
a
moment
okay?
I’m
going
to
get
Sasha;
he’ll
know
what
to
do.
You
just
stay
here. You’ll be fine.
”

I need
to
get
away from
here.

I
move
away,
stumbling
through
the
crowds
arms
outstretched
to
push past
people.
I
walk
and
walk,
getting
further
and
further
away.
That's
when I
hear
a
familiar
voice
and
stop
to
listen.

“
Where
the
Hell
is
he?
Tell
me
where
Jayce
is!
”
Jayce.

“
I already told you
I
don't know! He's just gone.
”
Now
I
remember.

“
What
do
you
mean,
he’s
just
gone?
He
can’t
have
just
dragged
us
to
this
stupid
party just
to
leave!
”

That’s
who
I
was
looking
for.

“
Jeez,
there’s
no
point
freaking
out.
He’ll
be
back
soon.
You
know
he
does
this
all the
time.
”

I
need
to
find
him.

“
Yeah,
and
I
don’t
understand
why
he
has
to
do
this
right
now!
Right
at
the
worst
time
possible!
When
we
are
miles
away
from
home,
we
don’t
know
anyone here, and we can’t
just
bloody
well leave
without
him!
”

Wait.

“
Alicia!
Alicia!
Where did she go?
”

Think
about
what
you’re
doing,
Alicia.

“
But
you
know
him,
Kaylie.
Just
give
him
time.
That’s
the
thing
with
Jayce;
he
always
comes
back.
”

You’re
not
supposed
to
go
looking
for
the
criminal.

“
Jesus!
Watch
where
you’re
going!
You
just
stepped
on
my foot!
”

That just doesn’t
happen.

“
Alicia!
We
were
worried about
you.
”

Maybe
there’s
something
wrong
with
you.

“
Well,
I
for
one
was
not
worried
about
her.
Actually,
I
was
hoping
she’d
gone
and
drowned
in
her
own
sick
somewhere.
Jesus,
you
stink
of
alcohol.
Stay
away
from me.
Alcohol
breath is
contagious.
”

People
tend
to
run
away
from
their
captors,
Alicia.

“
She doesn’t
look
so
good
to
me. Maybe we should take
her
outside.
”

Why
aren't
you
trying
to
run
away?
Why
are
you
trying
to
find
Jayce?

“
Erm,
Tyra?
Are
you
forgetting
we
have
better
things
to
be
thinking
about? Like,
oh
I
don’t
know,
where
Jayce
is
?
”

You’ve
got
that
Stockholm
Syndrome
thing, or
whatever
it’s
called.

“
He’ll come
back
for
goodness’
sake!
”

You’re
mistaking
the
fact
that
he
hasn’t
killed
you
yet for
kindness.

“
He’s
already been gone
four
hours!
”

He
never
cared about
you.

“
What
are
you sniggering at
over
there?
”

And
you
didn’t
care
about
him
either.

“
God
I
hate
her.
Just
laughing
to
herself,
pretending
she
can’t
talk,
acting
like she’s
the
dog’s
bollocks.
She
makes
me
sick.
”

He
just
made
you
think
you
do.
He's
just
got
inside
your
head.

“
Go
on.
Say
something.
Go
on;
speak.
I
know
you
can.
We
all
know
you
can;
we just
play along with
your
stupid game
because we
feel sorry for
you.
”

Come on, Alicia. It's time to run away now and forget
about him.

“
That’s
why
Jayce
is
obsessed
with
you.
He’s
always
been
the
type
to
stroke
the
stray
s
on
the
street.
And
you’re
the
filthiest bitch
I’ve
seen
by
far.
”

I.

“
If
you
act
like
a
dog,
you’re
just
going
to
get
treated
like
one.
So
speak.

Speak,
dog!
Speak!
”

AM.

“
S
peak
or
I'll
cut
your
tongue
out!
”

FREE.

“
Let
her
go.
”

*****

It’s
Jayce. Without
even
thinking,
I
feel my
mouth
curve
into
a
smile.

I
felt
awful
earlier.
It
felt
like
everything
was
spinning
and
all
the
blood
was
rushing
to
my
head
at
once.
I
guess
it’s
just
the
alcohol,
but
now
I
have
seen
Jayce,
the
world
seems
to
be
falling
back
into
place.
There
is
no
more
spinning, no
more
heaviness
in
my
mind.

Powerfully
and
purposefully,
he
marches
right
up
to
Kaylie,
raises
his
arm
in
one
fluid
moment
and
strikes
her
across
the
cheek.
The
sharp,
cymbal
sound
slices
right
through
the
music.
The
movement
naturally
forced
her
head
to
the
side
but
instead
of
straightening
up,
she
keeps
it
there,
looking
down at the ground
and refusing
to meet his eyes.