by Lou Morgan
“Uh-huh…” said Izzy, nudging her.
“Shut up,” Juliet mumbled into her hair. She turned an even deeper shade of red.
Tigs looked from Izzy to Juliet, and then turned to watch Dom’s back disappear into the kitchen. “Really? Dom?”
“What?” Juliet’s voice changed at the merest hint of disapproval from Tigs. “What’s wrong with Dom?”
“Oh. Nothing. I mean, he’s not my type but if you like him…”
Izzy sighed. Typical Tigs – to take something Juliet was excited about and squash it like a bug. “Shut up, Tigs.”
The evil look Tigs shot her didn’t go unnoticed, either, but Izzy turned back towards Juliet and took the jug of punch out of her hands.
“I say go for it,” she said with a grin. “Don’t listen to her! Go enjoy your birthday or something.” Izzy gave Juliet a gentle shove towards the others. She watched Juliet flop down on to the grass beside Mia, smiling and smoothing out the skirt of her new dress.
“You know, you can be a real bitch, Tigs.”
“What? Just because I’m not sucking up to Juliet?”
“Seriously. Shut up. This whole ‘mean girl’ act gets a bit old sometimes.”
“Who says it’s an act?” Tigs shot back.
“Uh-huh. Right.”
“Why d’you care what she thinks, anyway? Look at her – she doesn’t care what we think, does she?” Tigs nodded towards Juliet, who was sitting under the tree opening a birthday card. The shadows cast by the fairy lights and the flickering candles danced across the ground behind her. For a second, they almost looked like fingers reaching out for her, stretching out across the grass and up her back, catching in her hair.
And then Izzy leaned forward to dodge the party poppers that Noah had let off over her head and the illusion was broken.
Dom stuck his head back out through the door. “D’you think it’s dark enough yet?” he asked, peering up at the evening sky. Izzy followed his gaze. From the gardens, even the lowest blocks of the Barbican loomed six storeys overhead. Directly behind them, Lauderdale Tower – where Izzy and Grey lived – looked like it was tall enough to pierce the clouds. (Although Tigs would always be quick to point out that Shakespeare Tower was, in fact, taller and therefore obviously better.) Even though it was June, and the day had been hot and sunny, there wasn’t a whole lot of evening sunlight to be found in the gardens and at ground level, dusk was gathering fast. Across the gardens, the lights on the front of the Barbican Centre itself glowed through the trees.
“Dark enough for what? You’ll have to wait ages if you want it to get properly dark. Best you’re going to get for a while is slight gloom.” Izzy realized she was talking to an empty doorway, so stepped inside to see exactly what he was up to.
“Can’t have a birthday party without a cake, can you?” Dom was rummaging around in a supermarket carrier bag. Eventually, he found what he was looking for – a packet of pink candles – and stuck them all over the top of the cake he’d unpacked.
“Pink?” Izzy flicked one of the candles with her fingernail.
“She’s a girl, isn’t she?”
“Not all girls love pink, you know.”
“Oh…”
“I’m kidding. It’s fine – she’ll love it.”
“So, Juliet does like pink?”
“You got her a birthday cake and candles, Dom. I don’t think she’s going to care what colour they are.” She watched his face light up. So maybe there was something there after all. “You should ask her out.”
“What? No. I… I couldn’t…” He was suddenly deeply interested in lighting the candles.
“Why not?”
“What if she said no?”
“Trust me, Dom.” Izzy patted him on the shoulder and held the door to the garden open for him. She could see Juliet looking around for someone and Izzy didn’t think for one second that Juliet was looking for her. “She’s not going to say no.”
As he stepped past her, carefully carrying the cake in front of him, Dom’s face glowed red in the candlelight. A chorus of voices (some less in tune than others) started to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and Juliet clamped her hands over her mouth in happy surprise.
The cake, as it turned out, was so good that even Tigs couldn’t resist it. “It’s fine,” she said as she licked chocolate icing off her fork. “I found some of Mother’s diet supplements in the cupboard. They just burn the fat off you.”
“You ever look what’s in those things?” Grey asked, leaning back on his elbows and staring up at the branches overhead.
Tigs shrugged. “Like I said before – if they weren’t safe, they wouldn’t be allowed to sell them.”
“But they’re not, are they? You can’t exactly get all this stuff in Boots, can you? You’re buying it from some dodgy place on the internet.”
“I didn’t see you complaining when I came up with the FokusPro,” Tigs sniffed back at him. “You all took it, didn’t you?”
No one answered.
“Well. Everyone except Kara,” said Mia quietly. As one, they all looked at her. “What?” Mia sounded defensive. “She said she didn’t like the idea. That it felt like cheating.”
“So she didn’t take any of them?” Noah blinked at Mia as though he couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Even Noah, their very own genius, had struggled enough with the pressure and the sheer amount of revision that he’d taken the pills. And if he’d needed them…
“I guess that explains her little outburst in the exam hall, then, doesn’t it?” said Tigs. She was still licking her fork, even though it was by this point the cleanest fork in the history of all forks. “She just couldn’t hack it.”
“And nobody’s seen her since? Don’t you think we should check up on her?” Izzy shifted uncomfortably. The grass was starting to feel damp. Clammy. The sky had darkened another shade, and now the shadows around the edges of the garden were thicker and heavier than they had been earlier.
Izzy had never really been in the gardens when they were empty – it had always been daytime, and there was always someone around. It wasn’t crowded, true, but there was still a feeling that you weren’t really alone in the middle of the Barbican. Now, however, the gardens felt deserted – even knowing that there were people on the lakeside terrace, getting drinks or having a meal. Even knowing there were faces behind so many of the windows that overlooked the gardens, passers-by on the walkways above, somehow, the place felt hostile, as though they were intruders.
Maybe it was because Izzy knew she’d felt exactly the same as Kara when Tigs handed out those packets of pills. That it felt like cheating. And she’d still taken them, anyway. Kara hadn’t. Kara had done what she thought was the right thing – what even Izzy thought was the right thing – and look where it had got her.
The others felt the change, too. She could tell. Everyone was suddenly a little less relaxed, a little less comfortable. A breeze shivered the branches above them and made the lights flicker and the jam jars rattle against each other. Juliet looked up at them nervously. “We should probably head inside. I don’t want any of the busybody neighbours complaining…”
“Wait.” Dom was standing with his back to them all, looking out into the garden.
“Dom…” Izzy started, meaning to tell him that now really wasn’t the time to ask Juliet out. But then he made a hissing sound.
He was looking at something.
“Did you see that?” he asked, not moving. Whatever it was, his eyes were fixed on it.
“See what?” Grey ducked past Izzy and stood shoulder to shoulder with Dom, peering into the shadows.
“Over there…” Dom nodded towards the bushes at the far side of the grass. They were tucked into a corner, where the side of one of the low blocks met the edge of the girls’ school that sat next to the lake. In the fading light, it was almost impossible to work out where the bushes ended and the wall began, but still Dom was staring at them.
“I think there’s
something … someone in there. Watching us.”
Chapter Four
“What did you say?” Izzy was sure she must have misheard. “Because it sounded like…”
“There’s someone in there, watching us. I’m sure.” Dom was completely focused on the bushes.
“It’s probably just a cat,” Izzy said, peering at the plants.
“In the Barbican? Not likely,” Grey snorted.
“Fine. A fox, then,” Izzy laughed.
But Dom really meant it. “I’m telling you…” he said, and he took a step forward, but Grey suddenly put out his arm and stopped him.
“No. You stay here. I’ll go – it’s probably nothing, all right?”
Instinctively, the rest of the group had drawn into a huddle. The flickering candles in the jam jars no longer looked magical. Now they looked like warning lights, like alarms. Izzy stopped right where she was, midway between Dom and the others. Grey was already strolling, as casually as he could, over the lawn towards the darkened corner.
It was unsettling, the idea that someone might be watching them. What, exactly, were they hoping to see? And why were they hiding? It was more than unsettling. It was creepy.
Grey carried on walking towards the bushes. It was already harder to pick him out against the shadows. Dom was still watching, eagle-eyed.
“What’s going on?” Juliet’s voice sounded stretched. Strained. All the joy had been sucked clean out of it.
“It’s…” Izzy turned to face the others, and froze. Behind them, lights blazed in the windows of Juliet’s home; the kitchen door stood open. And someone ran across the doorway.
“Juliet…”
“What?”
“Are your parents working tonight?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I think there’s somebody in your house.”
It had moved too fast for Izzy to make it out clearly, but it had definitely been a figure disappearing behind the doorframe.
“There’s nobody over here,” Grey called from across the lawn. He was already starting to jog back.
Noah made a stay put gesture to Juliet. “I’ll go check the house.”
“You can’t go on your own!” Juliet called after him. She was right – they’d all seen enough films to know that nothing good ever happened to anyone who went off on their own to check an empty house.
“I’ll go with him,” Izzy found herself saying, not entirely willingly. But she was sure she had seen something, whatever it was, and she couldn’t just stand there while Noah walked into the house alone. “We’ll go. Call the police, OK?”
“No.” Juliet shook her head firmly. “My parents will kill me. I’m not supposed to be having a party.”
“There’s someone in your house and you’re worried about your parents killing you?” Izzy fumbled in her pocket for her phone. As the screen lit up, she saw the depressingly familiar ‘No signal’ icon. “Oh, come on.” She glanced up at the solid concrete hulks around them, silhouetted against the slowly darkening sky and dotted with lit windows. Being in the middle of a basin made of reinforced concrete never made for great phone reception – why would it be any different now? “Someone with a signal call the police. I’m not kidding…” she added, looking at Juliet’s ashen face and hurrying after Noah towards the open door.
The white voile curtain that covered the door when it was closed, giving some privacy from the garden, fluttered around the doorway. The townhouse was bright and, at first glance, at least, welcoming. In the kitchen, the glossy red worktops reflected the spotlights set into the ceiling while beyond, the main hall was lit by a tall lamp designed to look like a light from a film set. Everything was absolutely still and silent until, just ahead of her, Noah stepped through the door and put one foot on the kitchen floor. The wood creaked loudly as he put first one foot and then another on the polished surface. She froze, holding her breath. Just listening.
Nothing.
Noah crept forward.
Izzy could feel her heart pounding against her ribs. What if there was someone here? What did they want? Or what if she was wrong, and it really all had been just a trick of the light? She glanced back to see the others, still standing together under the tree where Grey looked puzzled, almost nervous.
Something brushed against her neck…
She didn’t even realize she was screaming until Noah grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Izzy! Izzy! Get a grip!”
“I… What?” Noah hadn’t been there a second ago – he’d been on the other side of the kitchen, hadn’t he?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. There was somebody … something. Touching me.”
“You mean like this?” He reached behind her and pushed the curtain back along its rail. It had shifted in the breeze and rubbed against the side of her neck. “Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack, screaming like that. I was in the hall…”
“You were in the hall? And now you’re here?”
“I was right by the stairs and then you started freaking out. Scared the hell out of me. And them.” He nodded over her shoulder. Behind her, all the others were peering in through the door.
Grey stood a few steps further back from them, still outside and talking on his phone, shaking his head.
“No. Sorry, Officer. I think it might be a false alarm. No, no need. There’s no one here. We’re fine. Yep. Absolutely. Yep. Thanks.” He hung up and looked back at Izzy, tipping his head on one side. “So the local plods think that we’re either rich kids pranking them and wasting their time, or we just tried to murder you. Neither’s going to make them like us, is it?”
“I don’t get it.” Izzy felt woozy all of a sudden. The ground seemed to tip sideways beneath her, and she found herself leaning on the worktop. “I was there, and Noah was over there … and now you’re all … here…” She tailed off. It sounded stupid, even in her own head, but it was like she’d been watching a film that was missing a few frames and had suddenly skipped ahead. There wasn’t much of a jump, but she was certain she’d missed something.
Noah narrowed his eyes at her. “You sure you’re OK?”
“I don’t know.” Her heart was still pounding, and her head felt too heavy and too light at the same time. “Did you find anything? Is there…?”
“There’s nobody here, Iz. No one. It’s all fine.”
“But I saw…”
Noah slid up on to the worktop, his legs dangling. “I don’t think it was anything. It was just like when Dom thought he saw something outside. Probably just the stupid candles. Weird lights, you know?”
“Weird lights?” Even when she was shaken up, Izzy knew when she was being patronized.
“I could give you the science thing, but … well.” Noah shook his head theatrically and winked at her.
“Fine. Weird lights.” She ran her hands back through her hair. It felt damp, sticky between her fingers. “I think I’m going to go home. Sorry, Juliet.”
“What for?” Juliet was standing right next to Dom. Right next to him. He practically had his arm around her.
“Hope I didn’t mess up your birthday? You know, with the seeing crazy stuff and the screaming?”
“It’s been an awesome birthday. The best.” She appeared to be blushing. And she was grinning from ear to ear – so, imaginary psycho or not, she’d obviously got exactly what she wanted for her birthday.
Grey edged into the kitchen past Noah’s swinging legs. “I’ll walk you back.”
“Shut up. It’s about thirty seconds to our lobby from here.”
“Sure. Like the thirty seconds back then when you just went catatonic and started screaming.”
“Point taken.”
“Thought so. Come on.” He held the door open. “Later,” he said, to all of them and none of them in particular. There was a murmur of goodbye.
Izzy could barely speak, she felt so embarrassed. What was the matter with her? First of all she’d flipped out over seeing the shadow of a tree branch, a
nd then she’d started screaming because a curtain touched her neck. Not good. Not good at all. She wanted to blame Dom – after all, he’d started it. Hadn’t he been the one who’d seen someone hiding in the shadows? And hadn’t he set them all on edge? But she didn’t think she could. Not really. She’d felt off for a couple of weeks, now she thought about it. It was the exams, the revision, just the plain old pressure. All of it. The inside of her head still felt scratchy. Her skin felt too tight, like it had shrunk in the wash. No wonder she’d freaked out at the first sign of nothing.
Still, she thought as they reached the bottom of the steps up from the garden, it was summer now. The exams were behind them and they were totally free. Everything would settle down soon enough.
Grey unlocked the gate that closed off the bottom of the stairway and walked through it, holding it for her. She stepped through after him, and the gate closed behind them with a solid-sounding clang.
She felt better after a shower. Steam billowed out of the bathroom door as, wrapped in an enormous fluffy towel, she padded barefoot down the hallway to the kitchen. Izzy switched on the coffee machine and leaned across the kitchen counter to jab at the answerphone, its little display flashing with a bright red ‘one’. The message was from her dad, of course.
Working late, don’t wait up, don’t worry. Sure. Always the same thing. She jabbed at the machine again, erasing his voice, and crossed to the balcony door. It slid open easily and she stepped out, the rough concrete of the balcony cold under her feet. Leaning over the rail, she could see his office building from where she stood. All glass and steel, the bank’s flagship building glittered with light.
“Night, Dad.” Izzy drummed her fingers on the rail.
Inside, the coffee machine gurgled and, a little reluctantly, Izzy turned back to the kitchen – just in time to see the shadow pass the door at the end of the hall.
Suddenly, she didn’t feel so warm any more. Or as good as she had a moment before.