Dark Heart Surrender

by Lee Monroe

  ‘Jane.’ Luca’s arms were around me before I could go on, and he pulled me close. ‘You know, I would never do anything to hurt you, not deliberately. You’re the most important thing in the world to me.’

  I looked down silently. They were words I longed to hear and I wanted to wallow in them, but I had to tell Luca about my meeting with Ulfred. Somehow I had to tell him everything, he had to know.

  ‘So.’ I took a deep breath. ‘I thought about the Water Path, and then I thought of Dalya, wishing I could see her again … And the next thing I was at the Water Path, with Dalya walking towards me.’ I smiled. ‘So grown up all of a sudden.’

  I looked up at Luca, who smiled fondly. I knew he missed his little sister and it was painful to hear about her second hand. I took hold of his hand.

  ‘I told her I was worried about you and she knew instantly that she must get Ulfred. That he would know what to do. So he came, and we talked about Ade and Polly and what they’re like, and he said that their behaviour sounded like the Vulpecula. He didn’t even seem surprised.’

  Luca bit his lip, still holding my hand. I could see thoughts turning over in his head. ‘What else did he say?’ he said eventually.

  I shut my eyes, really not wanting to tell him, but knowing I had to.

  ‘He says that you should go home,’ I said quietly. ‘Get away from Mortal Earth. It must be you they want – and they can’t cross through into Nissilum. Not any more.’

  Luca paled. ‘Go home,’ he murmured. ‘For how long?’

  ‘For good,’ I said swallowing.

  ‘I can’t do that,’ he said firmly. ‘There is no way I would leave you.’

  ‘I don’t want you to go. It’s like the worst thing I could possibly imagine. But if you stay here you’ll always be in danger. They’ll always be lurking, getting back at your family through you.’

  ‘Is there no other way?’ Luca stared helplessly at me. ‘No other solution?’

  I looked away from him. It was so tempting to tell him that if he set fire to Ade and Polly, burning their souls in their bodies, then they would finally go away. But I had to keep quiet about that. Apart from anything else, Luca could soon be on a real murder charge. Adding arson wouldn’t help matters. It wasn’t a viable solution.

  ‘Jane, is there another way?’ he persisted.

  I finally turned back to him, tears burning my eyes. ‘No,’ I said blankly. ‘There is no other way.’

  Ade had bathed and was sitting talking to Dot at the kitchen table. I stifled the urge to order him to get away from her. Luca and I had just agreed, after I’d dropped my bombshell, that we needed to act as though nothing was wrong. We couldn’t let Ade know what we knew. I did a cursory sweep of his cuts, which were healing already, and the giant bruise over his left eye. Had he really got into a fight? Or had he roughed himself up to make it look as though he had? I wasn’t going to ask.

  ‘Hey,’ he said croakily. ‘We wondering where you’d got to. He half smiled, half winced at the two of us. Luca put his arm around me confidently.

  ‘Ashley got home OK,’ I said, and it took everything I had not to say it with a sarcastic note. ‘She’ll have a bit of a hangover this morning, but she’ll be OK.’

  ‘Good. I’m glad.’ He made a show of valiantly sitting up straighter. ‘I didn’t behave very well, did I? I should have insisted on taking her home myself.’

  Luca and I said nothing. The obvious answer to that hung in the air like a lead balloon.

  ‘Oh, girls don’t like to be viewed in an undignified manner,’ said my mother chirpily. She bent to inspect Ade’s wounds. ‘You’re looking better already, young man. Next time, try not to rise to the bait.’ Straightening up, she gave him one of her lecturing looks, before turning back to me. ‘You took a long walk, darling. Bobby’s as happy as a sandboy, dead to the world in his basket.’

  ‘I needed some time with him,’ I said, opening the fridge and taking out a pint of milk. I poured some into a glass and replaced the carton in the fridge. ‘It felt good to be out in the fresh air.’

  ‘I think Luca thought you were going to dump him …’ she said, faux-seriously, ‘but it looks like the two of you have sorted things out.’ She smiled at us.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Ade was watching us. Probably gutted that we hadn’t split up and that whatever nasty plan he and Polly had set into motion wasn’t working.

  ‘Luca told you how we all got a bit carried away,’ he said lightly. ‘Lost track of time, isn’t that right, Luca?’

  Luca nodded, shrugging in as laddish a way as he was capable of. ‘Yeah. It was fun. But I should have called.’ He looked at me, as if to say, ‘Sorry about that’. I shrugged back.

  ‘He’s home now.’ I put my arm round his waist. ‘That’s all that matters.’ I took a breath. ‘So you got into some kind of fight?’

  ‘I did.’ He nodded wearily. ‘Stupid. Just some kids out for trouble.’ He hesitated. ‘One minute I was walking out of the club with Polly and Luca, the next thing, they’d skedaddled.’ He raised an eyebrow at Luca. ‘Thanks for that.’

  I could practically hear Luca’s teeth grinding.

  ‘Yeah, sorry, mate.’ Luca said. ‘But you seem fine now.’

  Mum was bustling around the kitchen. ‘I don’t want to seem rude, Adrian,’ she told him. ‘But I’m about to start on Sunday lunch. I need you all out of my kitchen.’

  Any minute now she was going to invite him to stay for the meal. I had to do something.

  ‘I’m sure my dad can give you a lift home,’ I told Ade lightly, ‘and be back in time for lunch.’

  ‘Of course. Yeah. I’ll get off then.’ He got to his feet.

  ‘Don’t you want to stay for lunch?’ Mum asked turning with a half-scraped potato in her hand. ‘You’re very welcome.’

  ‘Stay!’ pleaded Dot. ‘Don’t leave me alone with the lovebirds.’

  I swiped at her. ‘Hey!’

  ‘I’ll come another time.’ Ade patted her head. ‘I promise.’

  Please don’t, I thought, exchanging a relieved look with Luca.

  ‘Come again then,’ Mum said brightly. ‘It’s so nice that Jane and Luca are making friends. And bring your sister with you.’

  ‘I will.’ Ade cast a satisfied look at me, then put his coat on excruciatingly slowly.

  ‘I’ll see you out,’ I said, wanting to look as normal as possible. ‘Dad!’ I yelled. ‘Ade needs a lift home.’

  My father appeared in the doorway. ‘So soon?’ He looked around at us all, before picking his car keys up from the kitchen counter.

  I followed Ade and my father out to the yard, tugging on Ade’s jacket as Dad got into the front seat of the truck.

  ‘I’m sorry things got a bit … weird last night,’ I said softly, putting all my acting skills to the test. ‘I wish I could have stayed.’

  Ade looked surprised. ‘I thought you hated me,’ he said. ‘I’m such a terrible boyfriend, after all.’ He raised an eyebrow.

  ‘Yes, well.’ I bit my lip, aiming for sexy. ‘You know what they say …’

  ‘What do they say?’ Ade’s intense blue eyes narrowed and, for a moment, I forgot I was acting. He seemed to pull me to him, just with a look.

  I flared my nostrils subtly and the thudding in my chest nearly drowned out what I said next.

  ‘There’s a thin line, isn’t there?’ I looked straight into his eyes. ‘Between love and hate.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  She sat up in bed, blinking in the bright lights. A man was sitting by her bed; a remote control device of some sort was sticking out of his belt. As she stared at him, a burst of static came out of it. The man clicked a button of some kind and smiled attentively at her.

  ‘How are you feeling?’ he said.

  ‘Uh.’ She swallowed, her throat as dry as the Sahara desert. Turning to her side she saw a jug of clear liquid.

  ‘Water?’ the man asked. He leaned forward and took hold of
the jug, upended the empty glass next to it and poured her some water. ‘Here.’ He held it out to her and she took it, drinking greedily.

  She sank back against the pillows, feeling her body hydrate slowly. The light seemed more bearable now.

  ‘Where am I?’ she asked after a minute or so. ‘What is this place?’

  ‘You’re in hospital,’ he said gently. ‘Do you remember why you’re here?’

  She shook her head, anxious, knowing that something awful had happened.

  The man took a deep breath, running his fingers through his short blond hair. Though she was confused, she could see he was good-looking. He looked a little like somebody she knew – Jason, her ex-boyfriend.

  ‘Jason,’ she said suddenly.

  ‘Jason?’ He cocked his head. ‘Who’s Jason?’

  ‘My boyfriend,’ she murmured. ‘A long time ago.’

  The young man stared at her for a second, weighing up whether this sudden development was relevant. Then, clearly deciding it wasn’t, he cleared his throat.

  ‘Do you know your name?’ he asked, leaning forward.

  She thought for a few seconds, on the brink of saying no, but then it came to her.

  ‘Olivia?’ She answered him with a question. She couldn’t be sure.

  ‘Olivia.’ He nodded, taking a notebook out of the top pocket of his jacket. ‘That’s good.’ He scribbled the name ‘Olivia’ down in the notebook, then looked back up. ‘What about your surname?’

  She stared at him, frustrated. ‘My mum – she calls me Livvy,’ she said.

  The man’s pen hovered over the notebook; he didn’t write that down. Instead he stared at her. ‘Who is your mum? Do you remember her name – where she lives?’

  She shut her eyes, shaking her head. ‘She’s dead.’

  ‘What?’ The man dropped his notebook. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I think she’s dead, I don’t know.’ She wanted to help the man, she wanted to give him something.

  ‘Is there anything you remember?’ he began again. ‘We found you in a cave. Someone had tried to bury you alive.’

  A flash of something. Faces, laughing at her. A boy, grabbing hold of her arms …

  ‘Olivia …’ The detective said her name and it sounded strange – as though Olivia was the girl she had been a long time ago. He leaned further forward. ‘Is there something, anything, you can tell me?’

  ‘They’re still out there,’ she told him clearly, with certainty. ‘The people who did that to me – they’re near here. They live here.’

  The detective looked at her for a long minute and then he unclipped his remote control device and held it in his hands.

  ‘I need to speak to my superiors,’ he told her, getting to his feet. ‘I won’t be long.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  ‘Well done.’ Mum smiled at Luca and took away his cleaned plate. Luca was obviously getting used to the food here on Mortal Earth and it pleased her no end. She looked down at my plate. I’d hardly touched my breakfast. Sighing melodramatically, she moved to the sink and turned on the radio.

  Dot was sitting next to Luca, leafing through an old family album. Luca leaned over it, a smile spreading across his face. He looked up at me and then over at my mother. ‘Is that you, Mrs Jonas?’ He pointed at an early photo. Mum peered at it.

  ‘Oh God, yes … I wasn’t much older than Jane in that photo.’ She smiled absently. ‘My mother took it …’

  ‘You look just like her.’ He studied both our faces. ‘Or she looks just like you.’

  Mum laughed. ‘Don’t – Jane looks horrified!’

  ‘Let me see.’ I took the album off Dot. ‘I guess so …’ I looked up at Mum. ‘You look so young, Mum.’

  ‘Those were the days,’ she said wistfully. She looked at all three of us seated around the table. ‘You children should savour this time in your life. Before you know it you’ll be over the hill and clearing your kids’ breakfast plates away.’ She stared pointedly at Dot, who was picking at a plate of egg and bacon.

  My dad wandered in and washed his hands, then leaned in to the radio, turning up the volume to listen to the news.

  ‘Police are still interviewing the girl found trapped in an underground cave five miles west of the town of Bale,’ said the newsreader. ‘In a statement issued this morning they say that suspicious motives are suspected, but that at present the girl, known only as Olivia, is suffering from shock and amnesia. We will bring you more news on that story as we receive it.’

  I looked sharply at Luca as my dad turned away from the radio, shaking his head.

  ‘They found a girl in an underground cave?’ Dot said, looking horrified.

  ‘Upstairs, young lady, time to get ready for school,’ said Mum firmly, looking in a disapproving way at my father. As soon as Dot had left the room she frowned at him. ‘She’ll be having nightmares for weeks.’

  ‘That’s awful,’ I breathed. ‘Who would do that?’

  ‘There are some bad people out there,’ said Luca flatly. Getting up, he filled himself a glass of water from the tap. As he drank I noticed his hands trembling slightly.

  ‘They didn’t say exactly where it was they found her,’ I said after a pause. ‘I wonder if it’s around here?’

  Dad shook his head. ‘No police up here lately … We’d know if she’d been found somewhere near. Besides, there are no underground caves in the mountains. It has to be flat land.’

  Suddenly the image of the necklace flashed into my head.

  ‘Like the army place …’ I said slowly. I hardly dared look at Luca.

  ‘Could be.’ Dad sat to put on his boots. ‘I’ll ask around in town.’ He glanced up at Luca. ‘Want a lift in to Pete’s place?’

  ‘Great. Thanks.’ Luca looked as though the last thing he wanted to do was go to work, but he attempted a smile. ‘I’ve got some paperwork to see to at the yard.’

  ‘I’m not going in to college today,’ I said quickly. ‘I’ll come down to Pete’s with you. Give you a hand.’

  Mum raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re not going in?’

  ‘I only have one class,’ I told her, then adjusted my expression to something a little tremulous and uncertain. ‘And I feel kind of freaked out about that girl – Olivia. It could have been anybody.’

  Mum rubbed my shoulder. ‘I know. Her poor parents.’

  ‘They haven’t come forward, it seems,’ said Dad. ‘No one reported her missing.’

  ‘Well, maybe she’s not from around here,’ I said. ‘They’ll hear it on the national news.’

  ‘Terrible.’ Mum sighed. ‘Well, maybe it is a good idea you don’t go in.’

  I nodded. I wouldn’t have gone in anyway. I wasn’t sure I could face Polly after Saturday night. Her loaned dress was still crumpled up in a heap on my bedroom floor, but she could wait to get it back. Today I wanted to be alone with Luca.

  ‘Are you sure you shouldn’t have gone in?’ Luca said, hanging up his coat. He picked up a handful of letters that had mounted up over the past few days. ‘It’s not much fun around here.’

  I shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to be apart from you.’ I felt myself blushing. ‘I mean, not today, not after that girl Olivia being found …’

  ‘I know.’ Luca sighed and dropped the mail on the large table. ‘It bothers me too.’

  I looked over at him. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ I said carefully.

  Luca locked eyes with me. ‘It does seem like another coincidence that probably isn’t a coincidence.’ He breathed out slowly, then went back over to his coat and rifled around in the pockets.

  Luca came forward and dropped the crumpled little plastic bag on the table next to the mail.

  ‘Do you think we should go to the police?’ I asked, avoiding his eye. ‘It might be Olivia’s. It might jog her memory, or something?’

  ‘It might.’ Luca stared at it, his forehead creased as he thought. ‘But there’s something I need to do first.’

 
‘The army training ground.’ I sighed. ‘I thought about that too. I’ll come with you.’

  ‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t want you there. I want you to be safe.’

  ‘Nothing’s going to happen. It’s the middle of the day,’ I said softly. ‘And I don’t think you should go alone.’

  ‘OK.’ He sighed, then looked at me, a half-smile there. ‘I must admit, that place – well, it scares me too. It’s so full of … of darkness. Like an evil enclave of some kind. The kind of place where dangerous forces gather.’

  ‘We’ll be back before dark, easily,’ I said, ‘if we go now.’

  ‘I’ll take Pete’s van.’ Luca picked up the letters and stuffed them into the pocket of his coat, which he put on. ‘Right then,’ he said, sounding sturdier than I knew he was feeling. ‘Let’s go.’

  A line of crows greeted us as we pulled through the gate into the training ground. I shuddered in my seat. Looking sideways at Luca, I saw a faint tic of tension in his cheek.

  We parked outside one of the huts and got out of the truck reluctantly.

  ‘Which one have you been working in?’ I asked.

  ‘This one.’ Luca pointed at the piles of rubble outside the hut. ‘An endless task, it seemed. Like a bottomless pit of rotting wood and rusty old metal.’

  ‘You found the necklace in there? We should go and see if we can see anything else.’

  Thankfully the ground inside the hut was mostly cleared. Luca had been back after Pete’s accident and done some work. I knelt down and felt hard wood, creaking slightly, probably rotting too. Luca walked around, stamping on it with his boots. Nothing sounded out of the ordinary. Not until he got to one of the curved corners and his foot went straight through an ancient floorboard.

  ‘Luca!’ I went quickly to him. ‘Is your foot all right?’

  ‘My foot’s fine,’ he said, bending and wrenching up the broken board. It came up easily, as did the one next to it. Luca glanced up at me. ‘Well, this looks like it’s been moved before. And carefully put back in place,’ he said quietly.