The Darkest Lies: A gripping psychological thriller with a shocking twist

by Barbara Copperthwaite

  ‘Of course! Like, when was the last time your mum called mine to check you were staying?’ Chloe’s voice was confident, strident. She always seemed so sure of herself.

  ‘Not in ages and ages. At least a year,’ Beth conceded.

  ‘And the last time my mum called yours to check?’

  ‘Umm, dunno.’

  ‘Ages! Exactly! So if I tell Mum I’m staying here, and you tell your parents you’re staying with me…’

  ‘We’ll be free to stay out all night and no one will know.’ Beth shivered, but not with fear. With excitement.

  But a thought occurred to her. ‘What about our clothes? And Mum won’t let me out of the house with make-up on.’

  ‘Got it totally covered. We can get changed in the cricket pavilion. Mum’s got a copy of the key from doing the refreshments every summer. Then we can be out all night, and get changed again before we go home. Oh, and no dumping me to spend time with James bloody Harvey, if he’s there.’

  ‘I wouldn’t!’

  ‘Oh, come off it. I know how much you love him. Don’t know what you see in him, myself. He gives me the creeps. It’s like he’s hiding something.’

  ‘You and your overactive imagination,’ Beth teased.

  ‘This is so cool. I can’t believe you managed to score free tickets to this!’

  Beth warmed at the praise. All the teenagers at school were talking about the rave; the older ones looking forward to it, the younger ones wishing they could go. It was all the cooler because no adults knew, and everyone with an invite through Snapchat was sworn to secrecy. Beth and Chloe would be the only ones there in their year – they were the envy of all their friends.

  So the plan was set. The girls moved on to hair and make-up, without a second thought for the deception they were weaving.

  The next morning, Beth asked her mum if she could stay with her BFF that night.

  Sixty-Nine

  ‘Ursula, I’m sorry, I know you told me to stay away,’ I gabbled, the second the Clarkes’ front door opened. It rapidly started to close again.

  ‘I know!’ I shouted.

  The crack widened. Ursula stood in her immaculate cream hallway, her perfectly made-up face looking tired and drawn beneath the foundation. Her hand seemed to fall in slow motion, the door opening wide. We stood looking at each other for ten long seconds. I didn’t know what to do; she stood as though inviting me in, but wasn’t saying anything.

  Finally, I walked in. Murmured, ‘Thanks.’

  As I entered the hallway, Chloe walked down the stairs. She rubbed her face with her hands, shoulders hunched. I knew instinctively she had heard what I’d said.

  When we were all in the living room, I sat down on the red sofa, which stood out like a bloodstain against the cream surroundings. I tried to smile, tried to radiate calm into the tension of the room. Ursula and her daughter stood looking at me as if I had a loaded weapon trained on them.

  ‘I’ve pieced it together,’ I said. ‘You were with Beth when she was attacked.’

  There was a low moan of despair, whether from Chloe or her mum I couldn’t tell.

  ‘You don’t need to be afraid of anyone – but please, you have to go to the police.’

  ‘No, no, no!’ The same moan. Chloe. She shook her body from side to side.

  ‘No. No!’ Her voice louder now, a scream of terror. Fists flying. She hit herself, beating at her body.

  Her mum rushed forward, making frantic soothing noises. Trying to wrap her arms around her daughter and stop her from hurting herself. She fell back, knocked away. Wisps of burgundy hair floated to the ground, torn from your best friend’s scalp. Ursula flung herself forward again, wrapping her in a bear hug that pinned her arms against her sides.

  ‘What did he do to you?’ I whispered, horrified. ‘What did James Harvey do?’

  ‘No. No. No. No,’ sobbed Chloe.

  Her mum hushed her in a lullaby voice. They rocked together.

  The front door opening made me jump, but Ursula didn’t flinch, simply carried on soothing.

  ‘Hush, my love, hush now.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Steve’s voice was sharp.

  Ursula looked at him over Chloe’s shoulder and said nothing, simply shook her head.

  I walked over to him and lowered my voice to a reassuring pitch.

  ‘I came over because I wanted to try to persuade Chloe to go to the police. I know she was there when—’

  He grabbed hold of the top of my arm and I gasped in pain. His fingers were like a vice, sinking into my flesh even through my padded jacket. He lowered his face to mine, his breath blasting my face. His chocolate-brown eyes were bloodshot, and sweat blossomed on his forehead.

  ‘What do you want? Money? I’ll give you money. If it will stop you going to the police.’

  ‘What? I… I don’t want money, Steve. I want justice for both our girls.’

  He gave a hollow laugh. The despair in it terrified me. I twisted, trying to pull free, and he seemed to come to his senses, suddenly letting me go so that I stumbled backward, towards the front door.

  Something in his eyes scared me, Beth. I fumbled for the lock and flung the door open. Ran to my car and drove away as quickly as possible, shaking like a leaf.

  Seventy

  BETH

  FRIDAY 22 JANUARY

  The full moon lit the way for them, along with the torch apps on their phones, but it was a miserable walk along the narrow lane that ran from outside the village to the marsh. It made Beth wonder if she should call an end to the plan and go home.

  Chloe seemed to sense her friend’s dissatisfaction, but instead of providing encouragement, they bickered.

  ‘So, why are you carrying your new boots instead of wearing them? I mean, we’ve left our rucksacks hidden in the cricket pavilion, and then you insist on bringing a carrier bag? And you look such a loser in those flat boots.’

  ‘Because there’s no way I could have walked all the way from the village to the marsh in those platforms!’

  Besides, Beth didn’t want to get them covered in mud and ruin them. She knew they had been expensive, that her parents would have had to struggle to scrape the money together for them, especially after paying for guitar lessons for her too. So she was walking in her flat boots, and would change when they got to the lookout tower.

  It was all right for Chloe, her parents had loads of money, thanks to her dad being a solicitor. If she ruined the high-heeled boots she was wearing, she could get more the next day. Her mum spoiled her rotten, always wanted her to look nice. Beth thought all of that, but didn’t say a word. She knew it would lead to an argument, and she couldn’t be bothered.

  ‘You’re so sensible. You’re totally like an old woman, sometimes!’ Her friend laughed at her stoic silence.

  ‘Ooh, look, a barn owl!’ said Beth, to change the subject. She pointed at the bird that swept low over the deep indigo sky. Silent as a ghost, its wings barely moved. Its flat, oval face turned towards them, then it banked, giving a flash of buff stomach. In the silvery light it looked as pale as the moon, a sliver fallen to earth and trying to find its way back. Beth turned to her friend and beamed. Chloe shook her head.

  ‘Mental,’ she muttered. ‘Anyway… So Aleksy is defo going to be there tonight?’

  ‘That’s what he said!’

  Lately, Beth felt as if she and Chloe were growing apart. Talking about boys and music and bitching about other people was all well and good, but Beth needed more. She wasn’t sure Chloe would ever feel that urge.

  As they grew closer to their destination, though, Beth’s excitement built. Especially as the occasional car went by, packed to the gunnels with people they recognised from years above them at school. When Aleksy and a bunch of his pals cycled past on BMXs, he called out a casual ‘hi’ to them, but didn’t slow down.

  ‘This is going to be so amazing,’ Chloe gushed. ‘Like, all our friends will be well jell when we tell them about tonight. So come on, how di
d you hear about this? Why all the secrecy?’

  Time to tell the truth. No harm in letting one little secret go, to her best friend.

  ‘Right, okay, you can’t repeat a word of this to anyone. On Saturday I bumped into Alison Daughtrey-Drew. Like, literally. And she dropped a bag full of Ecstasy! Well, I think they were; they looked like the photos we’ve seen in the anti-drugs lessons… They must have been, anyway, because she was really weird with me, saying she was carrying them for a friend.’

  ‘OMG, this is fucking amazing! Did you, like, blackmail her or something?’

  ‘No! God, no. But on Monday she was waiting for me when I got off the school bus and was just chatting to me – but totally with an agenda, you know? I think she was worried I’d tell someone about what I’d seen.’

  ‘Well, you’re so trustworthy, Beth. Like, you’d never tell anyone anything if someone wanted it kept a secret.’ Chloe stopped and hugged her. ‘So what happened next?’

  ‘Like I said, she seemed to be creeping around me a bit. Asking me how I was, and all that. Then she said that “as we’re friends now”, she’d like me to come to this silent rave she’s organised.’

  ‘She said “as we’re friends”?!’

  ‘Yeah. I know – mad, right? But anyway, I asked if you could come too—’

  ‘Ah, thanks BFF!’

  ‘No problem, BFF! She said we can get in free, so we’re sorted.’ Beth shrugged. ‘It’s totally to buy my silence, but I’ve no intention of telling anyone anyway – anyone but you.’

  The conversation had brought them to the grounds of the tower, which glowered over the marsh. There was barely a sign of anyone outside.

  ‘I don’t know why you had to wear your coat,’ hissed Chloe. ‘It so makes you look dead young.’

  ‘First you tell me I’m an old woman, now I look too young. Make up your mind.’

  Beth kept her voice light, even though she was a bit annoyed by her pal’s fresh nagging. Chloe shivered against the wintery wind in a thin denim jacket, her arms folded and her teeth almost chattering. She looked as if she had goosebumps on her goosebumps. Beth decided that giving up her coat wasn’t worth the risk of hypothermia. But while the coat stayed firmly in place, Beth did change into her new boots, balancing on them expertly. All those hours of practising walking up and down in her bedroom had paid off.

  ‘Seriously, do I look all right? Do I look older?’ she asked Chloe.

  She wore smoky eyeshadow, dramatic eyeliner and false lashes, which felt strange when she blinked. Her lips were a hot fuchsia. Her long, golden-blonde hair was a backcombed and hairsprayed mane.

  ‘You look, like, totally gorgeous – and you’d easy pass for eighteen,’ replied her pal. Chloe’s black-and-white stripy playsuit only just skimmed her bottom, showing off her legs in sheer tights and the long boots that she’d nicked from her mum’s wardrobe. Her heavy make-up made her virtually unrecognisable. She didn’t ask how she looked, such was her confidence.

  One more hug, and the two girls strutted into the compound, linking arms to hide their nerves.

  Despite there being cars, motorbikes and bicycles in the car park, there was no sign of anyone other than a trio huddled under a single security light by the large, single-storey rectangular building attached to the tower. Two huge men stood at the doorway, wearing big padded jackets. They dwarfed the coltish form of Alison in her skinny jeans and form-fitting North Face jacket to keep the cold and wind at bay.

  Chloe’s face fell a little when she saw how stylish but sensible the older woman looked. The teenagers pulled up short. The security light illuminating the area went off, plunging them into darkness. Beth gave a little shriek, clutching Chloe’s arm tighter.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Alison called, sounding bored. As she spoke the light flicked on again, and she seemed to be waving her hand. ‘Bloody sensor. It’s motion-activated, so I have to keep waving my hand.’

  Chloe prodded Beth with a finger in the ribs, so she stepped forward. Her heart thudded so hard against her chest she was sure people would see it. Her hands were slick with perspiration despite the freezing temperature, and she wiped them on her coat, hoping no one would notice. She did not belong in this world of raves and drugs and lying to her parents in order to stay out all night. This was wrong. She worried that Alison might change her mind and send her home – and half-hoped that she would.

  ‘Umm, hi, Alison. It’s Beth, Beth Oak. Umm, you said it would be okay for me…’

  ‘Beth! Of course! Let me take your jacket and that bag. I’ll look after them for you,’ smiled Alison, urging the girls forward. Beth thought of a predator eyeing up prey as she looked at the calculating eyes and perfect white teeth behind the blood-red lipstick.

  ‘Go on, then,’ Chloe whispered. ‘You’ll look a total pillock taking that lot in there.’

  ‘I’ll pop them in the office,’ said Alison. She grabbed them from Beth, then opened the door and pulled back a heavy black curtain. Lights strobed and flickered like will-o’-the-wisps, luring the teenagers forward.

  The sight before them was eerie. A huge crowd of people danced feverishly, their bodies a heaving, sweating mass. But there was no music. No sound but jumping feet, swishing material, the occasional whoop. One person burst suddenly into song at the top of their voice, tone-deaf and pumping their hands to a silent beat. The atmosphere was euphoric, the club lights flickering over upturned faces lit from within with the fervour of an evangelist preacher.

  ‘Here, put these on,’ said Alison, giving them a pair of wireless headphones each.

  As soon as the girls put them on, they were blasted with dance music. Grinning, they gave each other the thumbs up, then pushed a little way into the crowd and started to dance.

  It was like nothing Beth had ever experienced. Tightly packed, the crowd moved almost as one. Normally it might have made her panic a bit, as she would only have been chest-height to most people, and that could feel claustrophobic. But in her new boots, she was elevated. She felt more confident, stood taller. Beth planted her feet and started to move to the pulsing beat. After a couple of minutes, Chloe tapped her shoulder and pulled the headphones away from her ear. It was bizarre suddenly to be pitched into silence again.

  ‘Aleksy is over there. Let’s head towards him,’ she said.

  Beth nodded. Headphones back in place, they slowly wound their way closer. Bodies pushing against the girls, lads gave them hungry glances that Beth had never seen thrown her way before. Strangers’ hands curled around her waist, but she carried on moving, slipping away like an eel.

  They stopped beside Aleksy and his friends, but didn’t say anything. Instead they played it cool, dancing beside them, pretending they didn’t realise their proximity, waiting for him to make the first move. It didn’t take long for the tap on the shoulder and the friendly wave to come. Aleksy was beaming at Beth.

  Damn. It was exactly what she had feared would happen.

  Chloe shot her a look that had more stopping power than a well-aimed half-brick. She’d been banging on for weeks now about how gorgeous Aleksy was, about how he must surely fancy her because he always talked to them on the bus. Beth had had to keep quiet, knowing how much her best friend would hurt if she realised that her heart’s desire had actually asked Beth out.

  He flicked his long fringe out of his eyes, glossy dark hair reflecting the ever-changing lights. Pulling his headphones down, he never took his eyes off Beth.

  ‘Hey, you came,’ he grinned.

  ‘We sure did. Hey yourself.’ Chloe placed herself slightly in front of Beth, pushing her chest out. She met Aleksy’s eye confidently.

  His gaze slid over her and back to Beth, in her white crop top, black miniskirt and thick black tights. Her legs long and lean in her super-high boots. ‘You look great.’

  ‘Thanks, so do you,’ replied Chloe before Beth could react.

  She put a hand on his arm. He sniggered. His eyes were glassy and red, and he smelled kind of weird. So d
id all his pals. Beth twigged suddenly.

  ‘You been smoking weed?’ she blurted.

  A beatific smile spread across his face and he nodded slowly. Four or five of his pals circled the girls and laughed. For a second, Beth thought of sharks circling. Then they all slid the headphones back on and started dancing.

  * * *

  Hours passed. Beth was having a brilliant time. The music, the lights, the sweaty atmosphere, the bodies so tight against each other, pushing, surging, shoving, sticky skin against sticky skin. They only paused occasionally to sip bottled water.

  Aleksy’s arm wrapped around Beth’s shoulder and pulled at her headphones.

  ‘We’re going to get something to make things a bit more interesting. Want to join us?’

  Before Beth could answer, Aleksy took her hand in his. Gentle but insistent as they weaved through the crowd back towards the door. Chloe came with them, still determined to get her man. Aleksy didn’t look impressed. Despite the quiet, he bowed his head so that only Beth could hear his whisper.

  ‘I’m really glad you came. Maybe later we could go somewhere alone, and just chat?’

  ‘Oh, I’m not sure…’

  ‘It would only be to talk. Come on, ditch your mate. Chloe, is it?’

  Beth knew damn well he knew Chloe’s name.

  ‘We’ll see,’ she replied firmly. It was the line her mum always gave her whenever Beth asked for something and she meant no but didn’t actually want to say it.

  The little gang stopped beside Alison, she and Aleksy forming a huddle. Money and goods were exchanged almost invisibly.

  ‘Sorted.’ He smiled, grabbing Beth’s hand again. It was soft and warm, and Beth quite liked the feel of it. He was incredibly handsome. But he wasn’t James, and she was definitely in love with James. She was almost sure of it.

  ‘Do you want some, Beth?’

  The question cut through the teenager’s thoughts. She looked at Alison in amazement, who gave her a charming smile. ‘A free sample – for a friend. There’s no harm.’