by S. C. Ransom
“Yes, look, he’s over there.” In the far corner of the bar was a more secluded area. Josh was sitting there alone, finishing the last of his pint. “Let’s go and see what’s up.”
As we weaved our way through the bar towards him I could see him looking at his watch and then around towards the Ladies; on the table there was another glass, which was half full. “Oops,” I said smiling as we reached him. “Are we interrupting? You did say to come over.”
“It’s all been really weird, actually. You might as well sit down; I think she’s gone anyway.”
“Cliona? Without saying goodbye?”
Josh took a deep breath and tried to take another swig of his drink before he remembered it was empty. He put the glass carefully down on the table and looked at me. “Yeah, well, here’s the thing. It wasn’t Cliona. Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck rise. “What do you mean? What’s it got to do with me?”
“You tell me. She said it was a joke that you would get. Did you set me up with one of your mates for a laugh?”
“What! Of course not! I’d never do that, not even to you. Who was it, if it wasn’t Cliona?”
“I’ve no idea, but she was a real oddball. Probably too oddball to be one of your friends, actually. You know, it was flattering to start with. She’s absolutely gorgeous and she’d gone to a lot of trouble to set this all up, but after a while it got a bit too creepy. I mean, even a gorgeous stalker is still a stalker, right?”
I tried again, forcing myself to stay calm. “So come on, description? What does she look like?”
“Mid-height, long, dark-blonde hair, stunning green eyes. Actually I’ve never seen eyes like it. She must have had some weird contacts in. Fit as well.”
I could feel the blood draining out of my face. “Where is she now? When did she leave?”
“About five minutes ago – just after you came in, now I think about it – she went off to the loo. Either there’s a very long queue or she saw you and legged it.”
I had been looking around the bar as he spoke, but there was no sign of anyone matching his description. “You two wait here for a second. I’m just going to check the loos.” I stood up a bit too quickly and my chair clattered noisily to the floor, making me flinch and momentarily silencing our part of the bar. I picked it up and hurried to the Ladies. What would I say if it was Catherine? What on earth was all this about?
As I got to the door to the toilets a large gaggle of girls burst through it, laughing. Catherine wasn’t with them. I took a deep breath and walked in, my heart fluttering. The room was deserted. I checked each cubicle, but no one was hiding. Almost disappointed, I headed back to the corridor to return to the bar and felt an unexpected breeze. Down at the end of the passage the fire exit was open. I silently crept up to it and cautiously put my head round the door to look outside, but it was very dark in the alleyway. I stepped through to get a better look but there was no sign of anyone. If it had been her she had disappeared into the night. Sighing gently I turned around to make my way back to the others. The sudden voice cut through the darkness like a knife.
“So,” she sneered, “this is your life, is it? Quite pathetic really.”
I spun round. Catherine was emerging from the shadows with a smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. She was even more stunning in the flesh than she had been in the mirror, with her long blonde hair lying in thick folds on her shoulders and her hands resting on her tiny hips. But what was even more stunning was that she was actually there, as alive as it was possible to be. I felt my mouth drop in wonder before the anger kicked in. I couldn’t decide what to tackle first – the fact that she was a resurrected Dirge or the fact that she was clearly determined to make my life hell. My excitement quickly gave way to fury when I remembered that her most recent act of spite was toying with my unsuspecting brother.
“What do you think you’ve been playing at?” I demanded, squaring up to her.
Her green eyes were flashing in anger as she folded her arms and regarded me with contempt. “As I said, pathetic. Utterly pathetic.”
“Look, whatever I’ve done to upset you, don’t you go dragging my brother into it, or any more of my friends.”
Her lip curled. “Those friends are almost even more pathetic than you. Poor Geeky Graham! Do you think he had a nice drive to the convention the other night? And did Abbi have an enjoyable conversation with Miss Harvey?”
“What is your problem? What have any of these people done to you?”
“Nothing.” She shrugged. “I’m just doing it to get back at you.” She looked me up and down. “It seems to be working.”
My fingers were clenched into tight fists but I forced them to relax. “Really? If you think that, then you haven’t seen me really angry.” I smiled as genuine a smile as I could manage.
“Excellent. I was hoping that was the case, because once your friend Grace finds out about all the breathless little love notes that you’re about to start sending the lovely Jack, well, then there should be some real fireworks.”
I was momentarily speechless with anger, so she took the opportunity to carry on. “And on the subject of Jack, what were you thinking? He’s the hottest boy in the year, and you let your best friend have him? I’ve decided that, once I’ve finished with the adorable Josh, I’ll have a little crack at him.” She gestured towards herself. “Am I irresistible or what?”
“Do you seriously think that either of them will fall for your shallow charms?”
“Shallow is what they like, sweetie, don’t you know?”
I shut my eyes for a second to try and calm down. “Look, Catherine, the police know that it was you who stole all my money. I won’t tell them where to find you if you leave my friends alone.”
“That would be such a generous offer if you actually knew where to find me, but you don’t, so I don’t care.”
“Why? Why do you hate me so? You wanted to escape being a Dirge, and now you’re here. I made that happen, so why are you doing all this?”
Catherine continued to look at me as if I were something nasty she had trodden in, but I tried again. “Please, Catherine, tell me! What happened when you took my mind? Did you get all your own memories back too? Do you know who you and Callum are?”
“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you,” she sneered. “Do you know who you and Callum are?” She mimicked my voice.
“What do you mean? I don’t understand.”
She took a couple of steps towards me, her lips drawing back in a snarl. “Really? Well, perhaps you should! It’s been fascinating, this whole regeneration business. The things I’ve learned! And all your memories for me to consider too; pity they’re such rubbish. I’m so very glad I didn’t get your personality too. I don’t think I could bear to be that … perky.” She spat out the final word with considerable venom.
“Well, that’s hardly my fault. It was you who stole my memories, so it’s your tough luck if you don’t like them.”
“Really? It’s time to make you suffer, you unbearable little troublemaker!”
Her cool, casual façade suddenly crumbled and I realised too late that I wasn’t safe, that she was utterly, utterly mad. She was standing directly in front of me, fists clenched and naked hatred on her face. I started weighing up my options: fight or run? Or scream for help? I could hear the occasional blast of noise from the pub as people went to and from the toilets, but no one had come to see why the fire door was standing ajar. I swallowed hard, trying to control my breathing. She looked pretty fit, so I wasn’t convinced that I would win a fight. In desperation I shouted for the only person she might be wary of. “Callum! Quickly – I need help!” I stared at her defiantly as I could manage. “It’ll only take him a few minutes to get here.”
She suddenly stepped back, the mask of hatred gone. “I won’t need that long. This makes it much more fun; I’m going to tell you something, something that concerns your boyfrien
d.” Catherine suddenly looked maliciously happy. “I might even hang around to watch his lovely little world fall apart.”
I was torn. I wanted to get away, to protect myself, but I was also curious. What was she talking about? And what had it got to do with Callum? I knew he would be racing towards us, even though it was getting late and difficult for him to leave St Paul’s. But it seemed that Catherine wasn’t going to wait until he arrived. “Which secret to tell you? That’s the question,” she said, as if to herself. “How it is that Dirges can escape, or why I hate you so very, very much?” She pursed her lips while she deliberated. “No, you deserve to know your little part in all this.”
The smile remained on her face, and for the first time a small yellow light flicked on above her head. “It’s all down to you, all of this is your fault,” she started, thrusting a pointed finger at me. “You were the one—” Then she abruptly stopped. The yellow light flicked out again at the same instant. “The one who…” she began again, but less certainly. Her beautifully manicured fingers pressed hard on her forehead for a moment, then her hands dropped to her sides. There was a moment of silence as she looked at the floor. The face that finally lifted to look at me was filled with pure loathing.
“How dare you do that to me? How dare you!” she hissed. “One day you’ll come begging to me, begging for knowledge, and I’ll remember this. If you think I’ve been bad so far, just you wait. You have no idea how appalling your life is about to become. And if you shop me to the police, if you tell them one word, I’ll tell them that you were in on it all.” She paused briefly, looking me up and down. “You are going to wish you were dead!” She turned and was gone, leaving me standing alone in the alley.
“What?” I called after her. “What have I done? I don’t understand …” I felt the darkness suddenly envelop me. This was very, very bad, whatever it was about. I felt completely alone, staring down the alley towards the corner where she had disappeared.
As I finally turned to go there was a quick tingle in my wrist, and Callum’s voice was urgent in my head.
“What is it? What’s wrong? And what was Olivia doing here?”
“Olivia? I didn’t know she was around. She wasn’t with me. I’ve been having a little chat with Catherine.”
“Are you OK? She didn’t try to hurt you, did she?”
“No, not physically. She was going to tell me why she hated me – and, boy, does she hate me – when she suddenly stopped. She seemed to be delighted to be giving me some sort of bad news; she even had a yellow aura for a moment, but then she went a bit strange.”
“By strange, do you mean that she went a bit blank, perhaps?” His voice was controlled, but I could feel the anger.
“Yes,” I said hesitantly. “As if she had suddenly forgotten what she was about to say…” Finally I put it all together.
“Exactly,” Callum agreed grimly. “As if she had forgotten. I bet Olivia sneaked up and took her memory away, whatever it was.”
“Oh, no!”
“And Catherine thinks that we did it; that we put her up to it!”
“No wonder she was livid! This is exactly what I didn’t want to happen!”
“Look, it’s late. I can’t be here for much longer. Stay with your friends and I’ll go and talk to Olivia, see if she got any clues from the memory about what’s going on. I’ll come and find you tomorrow, as soon as I can.”
“OK, that’s fine, but don’t be too hard on her, will you? I guess she was trying to save me from whatever Catherine planned to do to me. She won’t have meant any harm to us.”
“No, I know.” His voice sounded strained, exhausted. “I have to go. I’m sorry, but I really can’t stay. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“I love you. Be careful.”
He sighed, exasperated. “It’s not me who needs to be careful, it’s you. I love you too. See you in the morning.” There was a brief waft across my face and I knew he had gone.
“Sorry I was so long,” I announced as I sat back down on my chair in the noisy bar. “I had to wait to check she wasn’t in one of the cubicles. There was no sign of her, although the back door was open to the alley, so she may well have legged it.” Josh and Grace looked equally puzzled.
“It was her, wasn’t it? The same woman who’s been pretending to be you,” asked Grace. I nodded unhappily.
“What!” exploded Josh. “I’ve been sitting talking to the woman who stole all your money? You’re joking!”
“So what did she want, Josh? What have you been chatting about all evening?” I was grateful to Grace for getting to the point and asking the question I most wanted answered. I felt too stunned to speak.
My brother ran his hands thorough his bushy hair and frowned. “She didn’t seem to want anything very much. Clearly the whole conversation was a bit difficult to start with as she had got me here under false pretences. When I asked her why she pretended to be Cliona, she said it was for a joke and that you would understand. She said that the two of you had been to primary school together. I have to say that after a while it began to sound plausible. She knew all about you. Everything. And lots about me too. And then she asked loads of questions.” He shook his head, muttering to himself. “I can’t believe that I got taken in by her.”
“This is really important – did you tell her anything? Was there anything significant?”
Josh shifted a little in his seat. “Hey, calm down, I can’t think of anything that would have counted as significant. Most of it was mundane, everyday type of stuff. That’s what made it so odd. I mean, who wants to know about how often we get the coach to school or where we walk the neighbour’s dog or who puts out the recycling? It’s just not interesting. I mean, most of it was almost like she was checking what she already knew, y’know?” He paused to fiddle with his glass. “She did drop in a question about your boyfriend though. I told her you didn’t have one, which seemed to make her smile. Is there something I should know?”
Grace and I exchanged quick glances. “No, nothing relevant,” I said quickly.
He hadn’t missed the look. “Not sure I believe that, but I guess you’ll only tell me what you want to anyway.”
“It’s all a bit complicated, that’s all.”
“So who is this girl?” he asked. “What’s her problem?”
I put my head in my hands as I tried to come up with the best answer. There was no easy way out of it; I didn’t want to lie but I couldn’t explain. “I honestly don’t know. Somehow I’ve really, really annoyed her, and she’s making it her mission to make my life as miserable as possible. She’s the person who has been causing all the trouble, hacking into my e-mail, upsetting my friends and stealing all my money. I’m pretty sure it’s about to get worse. She told me just now that she’s about to start sending Jack love notes from me.” I looked unhappily at Grace. “I think she might be completely unhinged…”
The two of them looked at me, open-mouthed. Grace was the first to recover. “We should get the police. I mean, she’s a criminal; we should get her arrested.”
“I know. I just don’t have any idea about who she is and where to find her, so what can I tell the police?”
“It’s really weird,” said Grace, absently eyeing the glass on the table. “Did she give you any other personal info in the e-mails, Josh? Anything that would help to find her?”
“No, nothing. All I have is an e-mail address.”
“Well, she’s gone for today; perhaps that will be it. Maybe she’s had her fun,” I suggested, desperate to get away somewhere where I could sit and think about what Catherine had said. “Come on, it’s getting late. We aren’t going to learn anything else here. Josh, do you want a lift home? That’s OK, isn’t it, Grace?”
“Yes, of course.” She seemed distracted, but stood up and followed us out on to the street. It wasn’t until we were halfway over the bridge towards where we had left the car that she suddenly stopped dead.
“What’s the matter?” I asked quickly,
paranoid that Catherine was somehow up to her tricks again.
“The glass!” exclaimed Grace, turning back towards the pub. “The glass will have her fingerprints on it!”
I sighed inwardly. How was I going to get out of that one? The last thing I wanted was to spend another three hours in the police station getting questioned; I would never be able to keep my story straight and as soon as they realised I knew her there was going to be all sorts of trouble. “Excellent idea! Let’s go back and get it.” I tried to put as much enthusiasm in my voice as possible, while hoping that the staff had actually done some table clearing. We raced back towards the pub, Josh running on ahead. By the time Grace and I got there he was having a heated conversation with the barman. I peered over at the table where we had been sitting and was hugely relieved to see that it had been wiped clean.
“It looks like we’re too late,” I said in what I hoped was a disappointed voice, just as Josh joined us.
“He’s a miserable git. He wouldn’t even let me look through the empties. I’m sure I could have recognised it.”
“Josh, be sensible. It’s a half-empty glass in a bar – there will be hundreds of them. I’m afraid we’ve missed our chance.”
“I’m really sorry, Alex, I should have thought of it sooner,” said Grace, looking contrite. “I knew there was something that was bugging me, it just didn’t come to me quickly enough. We could have solved the whole thing.”
“Really, both of you, thanks, but it was a long shot anyway. Let’s get home.”
“Look! There’s a tray of empties on the counter down there,” exclaimed Josh. “The barman didn’t see those! Just give me a sec.” He quickly worked his way through the crowds of people to the far end of the bar and started peering at the large tray of glasses. While we waited, Grace carried on apologising for being too slow and I tried to keep calm, hoping that Josh wasn’t going to suddenly appear with a lipstick-stained glass. Suddenly I felt a hand on the small of my back. Glancing over my shoulder I saw Rob, and stepped sideways in shock at how close he was.