‘Rupert’s brother gave it to me.’
‘Isn’t that kind of a strange gift? Why would he get you a present?’
‘I think it was to welcome me to the family,’ I lied lightly. I changed the subject. ‘Have you and Ben decided what you’re going to play tomorrow night?’
I listened to his answer, partially zoning out. Talk of the locket had reminded me of the unknown danger that I was apparently in, and Aradia telling me that I managed to push back against Gethan. I had no idea what that meant. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I remembered the last time I’d spoken to him, how angry his eyes had been and the tangible hurt in his voice. Eventually, unable to stand it anymore, I excused myself and ran upstairs, telling Sam that I needed to go to the bathroom.
I reached my bedroom and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I hesitated. He had been so angry at me the other day. Would he even answer if I rang? Well, there was only one way to find out.
I scrolled down through my contact list until I found his number. Again I hesitated, and then finally I got up the courage to press the call button. My heart was racing, and the phone seemed to take an eternity to make the connection. After the seventh ring I was about to hang up when I heard his voice coming warily down the phone.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Gethan? It’s me Scarlett.’ I injected as much friendliness as I could into my tone, but I ended up just sounding false.
‘I know. Your number came up on my caller ID.’ He didn’t seem angry, but his voice was flat and emotionless. I sighed. I guessed that this was going to be as uphill as I’d imagined it would be.
‘I was wondering if we could talk,’ I said.
‘Talk about what?’ he asked gruffly.
I pressed on. ‘About what happened by the lake.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?’
‘Why not?’
He groaned. ‘Scarlett, you know why. You have a boyfriend. What happened at the lake was a mistake, it’s obvious. I mean, you ran to your boyfriend as soon as he called. So what’s the use in us talking things over? We both know the situation and I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to have it spelt out for me again. To be honest, I think it’s better if we don’t talk or see each other again.’
‘That’s ridiculous!’ I said angrily. ‘And a bit over-dramatic, don’t you think? ‘I mean, I didn’t do it all by myself. One, you kissed me, remember? And you knew that I had a boyfriend – I didn’t spring that on you. And secondly, Aradia told me that I was able to actually use the locket myself and that means that I can actually use magic. I think that’s an important fact that you left out, don’t you think?
He was silent, so I guessed he saw the logic in what I was saying.
‘So, even if you don’t want to talk about us kissing, even if you don’t want to allude to that at all, I still need to talk to you. If I could work out how to use the locket, I would be safer than I am now.’ I pressed home my advantage. ‘Come on, even if you’re annoyed with me, we were friends before, right? So surely you want to help me learn how to protect myself.’
He sighed. ‘I’m still your friend, Scarlett.’
‘If that’s true then you won’t want me to get hurt. We need to talk.’
‘Ok,’ he agreed. ‘So what do you want to know?’
‘Not now!’ I said hurriedly. ‘Sam is downstairs, and he’s going to come and look for me if I’m gone too long. I haven’t told him about the box, and I really don’t want to.’
‘Why haven’t you told him?’
‘It’s complicated. But basically he thinks that it is dangerous for me to hang around with Pagans, and is wary of anything to do with Paganism. If he thinks that I’m getting more involved with it, he could worry unnecessarily and that would cause me a lot of hassle I don’t need. He might even tell my Mum that I’m hanging around with Pagans behind her back, which would not go down well.’
‘Scarlett, I’m sure he wouldn’t tell her.’
‘He would,’ I insisted. ‘If he thought it was for my own safety, he definitely would. He’s already said that he wants me to go back to Ireland where I’d be safer, and that if I won’t, he’ll tell my mother so she can keep an eye on me.’
‘He’d really do that? Isn’t that a bit... controlling?’ asked Gethan.
That was scarily close to what Mei had said.
‘He’s only doing it because he wants to keep me safe,’ I said a little defensively. ‘But that’s not the point, I need your help. I need to meet up with you to talk this out.’
‘Scarlett...it’s not a good idea...’
‘Gethan, please. We used to be friends, and I need your help.’
He sighed heavily. ‘Like I said, I’m still your friend. Right, when can you get away?’
‘I’ll probably have to wait until everyone is asleep, so the early hours of the morning would be best.’
‘Is two am too early for you?’
‘No, that’s fine. Will we meet in town?’
‘No, the checkpoint will be up and they won’t let you out. I’ll come to you.’
‘But you’re a Pagan! They won’t let you past the checkpoint.’
‘There are other ways of getting inside the Rationalist areas without going through the checkpoints.’
‘But how? I don’t want you to get in trouble.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ he interrupted me. ‘I can get in. Do you know the park at the edge of Chesterfield? I’ll meet you by the west gate.’
‘Yeah, I know it. I’ll see you then.’
I hung up the phone. He obviously wasn’t thrilled to be seeing me this evening, but at least he’d agreed.
I went into the guest bedroom that was Sam’s for the duration of his stay. He was looking through some vintage records that he’d picked up in a small shop on the way back from Aradia’s house.
‘I can’t believe it’s Thursday already,’ he said when I walked in. The days have gone by so fast.’
‘Yeah, they have.’ I sat down on the bed beside him. ‘What time is your flight back on Saturday?’
‘Four in the afternoon. So I have to be in Northport for two at the latest.’
‘You'd better get to bed early on Friday night then, with all that travelling the next day.’
He stood up and put his arms around me. ‘What? And miss part of your birthday party? I don’t think so.’ He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
I kissed him back, but it just felt wrong. I pulled away. ‘I think I hear Rupert coming’, I lied quickly. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.’ I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and practically ran out the door.
I went to my bedroom and threw myself on the bed. I didn’t know what I was doing, or how I’d gotten myself into this big mess. Not only was I caught between two groups of friends who were sworn enemies, though that was complicated enough. I was also having to lying to my mother and my prospective stepfather, and that was getting difficult. It was hard for me to remember the knot of lies I was telling everyone.
If that wasn’t enough, I was stuck between two guys who I really liked. Sam was a lot of fun. He always knew how to make me laugh, and was the life and soul of every party, being around him was never boring. And although he could sometimes be a little overbearing, it was only because he cared about people.
Gethan, on the other hand, couldn’t be more different from Sam. Where Sam was upbeat and light, Gethan’s could be much darker. Although my mother wasn’t overly fond of Sam, and would probably be glad to to see us split up, I couldn’t imagine that she’d ok with me going out with a Pagan. Especially with one that was considered so powerful in the dark arts that he was on the fringes of Pagan society. Was it because of the fact that he was a bit of an outcast that he had a darker take on life, a more melancholy streak? Where Sam was light and fun, Gethan was dark and brooding. And though I liked Sam a lot, did I like him enough? While he was fun to be about, there was something visceral
about my pull towards Gethan. He intrigued me in a way that I’d never experienced with anyone else. But what did that mean? And what should I do?
And, considering all the effort that Sam had made to come over and surprise me for my birthday, was I possibly the most ungrateful girlfriend in the world?
I struggled to pass the time until it was time to leave the house. Although I was really tired, I couldn’t risk trying to get some sleep in case I didn’t wake up in time. Instead, I opened a book that Aradia had lent me. But, although it was by one of my favourite authors, my mind was preoccupied and I just couldn’t concentrate. Finally giving up, I took down the silver box. I moved my fingers across the engraving on the surface. I looked closer and saw that engraving was of a raven. Was that significant? Probably not. I was reading way too much into everything now. I looked at my watch. It was half past one. Time to go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Rupert’s house had an alarm, so I punched in the code to disable it. As the beeps of the keypad rang out loud in the quiet hallway, I fervently hoped that the sound wouldn’t wake anyone. I was in luck. My phone vibrated in my pocket and made me jump. I checked the screen. It was a message from Gethan saying he was on his way.
I walked briskly toward the park. The roads were damp and empty, and the air was still. The streetlights gave made a slight buzzing noise as I walked along the road. It was cold, and I stuffed my hands in my pockets and tried to think of warm things, like the Mediterranean sun, hot chocolate and Gethan. I shook my head as if to dispel that last idea.
Just as I reached the park gates I remembered that I had forgotten to reset the alarm after I left the house. I’d heard somewhere that most burglaries happened between two and six in the morning. It made me feel uneasy, but it was too late to go back.
A dark figure was already slouching in the shadows. I felt a moment of fear. What if it wasn’t Gethan? Nobody knew where I was after all. My hand moved involuntarily to my locket. Then the shape moved, and I saw to my relief that it was him. He was looking at me with hard and guarded eyes.
‘Hi’, I said. ‘How are you?’
‘I’ve been better.’ He said, avoiding direct eye contact. He was obviously still hurt, despite the fact that he had agreed to meet me. ‘How are you?’
My mouth struggled to make the words. ‘I’ve been better too,’ I admitted.
‘What?’ he said mockingly. ‘Even though the love of your life has come visiting?’
‘That’s not fair,’ I said quietly.
He nodded, acknowledging the truth in my words. Then he jumped. ‘Do you hear that?’ he hissed.
I put my head to one side. I couldn’t make out anything at first, but then I heard it. In the distance there was the sound of a car moving slowly. It sounded like it was in our direction.
‘Quick, we’ve got to climb over the gate!’ Gethan grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the gate.
‘But it’s locked!’ I protested.
He rolled his eyes. ‘Well there would be very little point climbing over it if we could open it, would there?’
He made a cradle with his hands. I put my foot on it and let him push me upwards. I’d never been good at gym in school and the gate was at least ten foot tall. Luckily, it was heavily decorated with iron leaves and vines which I managed to use as footholds. Gethan pulled himself up after me, climbing to the top of the gate, much quicker than I was managing it. He leaned an arm down and grabbed my hand, pulling me upwards. I scrambled upwards, managing to get one leg over the top of the gate.
‘You’re going to have to jump, we don’t have much time,’ Gethan urged.
‘I can’t jump’, I whispered furiously, ‘I’ll break something!’
Gethan jumped down from the gate into the park, landing easily in a crouch. He turned around and held his arms up to me. He wanted me to jump into his arms. I supposed that would break my fall, but even so, it was a long way down to the ground below.
‘Quick’, he urged. ‘Jump!’
I didn’t know what it was that he was afraid of, but his tone said we were in serious danger. I jumped into his arms, and the impact made us both fall onto the hard ground. Gethan broke my fall to some degree, but I still felt a burning pain where my right leg had banged against the hard ground.
The car was still moving slowly, but the sound was getting louder. They had to be very close by at this stage. Gethan jumped to his feet and pulled me up. We ran behind a large hedge and hunkered down. Just seconds later a large beam of light shone through the gates illuminating the whole entranceway. My heart was hammering hard in my chest and when I looked at Gethan’s face it was drawn and serious. It seemed like an eternity, but it can only have been around half a minute before the lights dimmed and disappeared. Another couple of minutes passed before he risked talking to me.
‘Are you ok? You’re not hurt are you?’
I rubbed my leg. ‘I’m a little bit bruised, but I guess I’ll live. What was that?’
He sighed. ‘That was the army patrol. Remember, my kind aren’t welcome in Rationalist areas by night. The government patrols areas like this, to make sure that we keep out.’
‘What are they afraid of?’ I asked.
‘That we’ll graffiti some prominent politician’s house, that we’ll conjure up a cloud of demons. That we’ll steal their women...’ Gethan looked sideways at me and grinned. Then stood up, giving me a hand to get to my feet.
‘Let’s walk a little further into the park,’ said Gethan. ‘That way we won’t be caught by any passing patrol cars.’
The atmosphere in the park was totally different at night. The trees were shadow black against the star-studded night sky. The wind blowing through the trees sounded ominous, like whispered secrets. Occasionally I heard a rustle and jumped. Gethan gave a throaty chuckle. I glared at him, but my ire was wasted. It was so dark that he couldn’t see my face.
Eventually we reached the pond in the centre of the park. My ears suddenly registered the silence. It hit me that nobody knew where I was, not even Aradia. I couldn’t escape if I needed to, and I doubted that I was athletic enough to outrun Gethan. I was all alone, in the centre of an empty park with a guy who said he could use 'dark magic' and had a link with a group of violent individuals – more than that, murderers – and I only had his word that he was any different. And, while I'd previously been sceptical about the existence of magic at all, recent circumstances were conspiring to make me think otherwise.
We sat down at the edge of the pond, which was navy blue with gold flecks, reflecting the sky above. For a long time we sat together, just inches apart, staring out at the water.
Finally I found my voice. ‘What would they do if they found you here?’
‘With me being half dark-elf? They’d take me into custody. Question me a bit. If my record is clean, they’d let me out after a few hours.’
‘And is your record clean?’ I asked.
‘It’s fairly clean,’ he whispered softly.
‘Only fairly?’ I asked. Again I felt a shudder of unease.
‘They’d take me in, question me a bit to see if I have any information that they might be interested in,’ he continued, ignoring my question. ‘Then they’d let me go. Probably. It’s something I’m keen to avoid in any case.’
‘But why would Rationalists be bothered by what you do? As long as you’re not actually breaking the law or vandalising something, why would they care? I mean, it’s not like they believe in magic.’
‘Oh Scarlett,’ Gethan laughed, though he didn’t seem amused. ‘They do believe in magic.’
‘What?’ I said, confused. That couldn’t be possible. Rationalists came out on television regularly denouncing Pagan claims that such a thing as magic actually existed. Why would they come out and say that something didn’t exist when they knew for a fact that it did? It just didn’t make sense.
‘The government want to distance themselves from the superstition and the rumours. They think that the rest of
Europe look down on us for believing in the occult. But power is at the root of our problems here. You see magic is a talent. In a Pagan society, power goes to those who have the most control over their magic. You are either talented, or you’re not, it’s not something that you can buy your way into. Rationalists want to use their money to control people, and magic complicates that. If they discredit magic, then their way will always win.’
‘Speaking of magic, apparently I have some?’
‘It would appear that way, yes. There’s no other explanation for the way that you managed to push back against me.’
‘I thought that it was the locket that did the repelling, and that I was passive behind it?’
‘You’re operating through it,’ he explained. ‘I’ve come across protective charms like these before. Most Pagans wear silver and iron bracelets that hurt dark elves. But to actually push back against me and attack me? You’d have to have some sort of magical ability in order to do that.’
‘But, how is that possible? I thought that magic was inherited?’
‘It is,’ said Gethan.
‘But, that can’t be possible. I mean, I’m not from Avalonia.’
‘You don’t have to be. Avalonians aren’t the only people that can practice magic, you know. People do it in every country in the world.’
‘My parents don’t practice magic though.’
Gethan shrugged. ‘Maybe it skipped a generation then. I don’t know, genetics aren’t really my thing. But in the here and now, what really matters is the fact that you have magic. And someone, or something, has given you an object for a purpose, that you can use because you have powers. But why? That’s what you have to try to work out.’
‘My head hurts from trying to work it out,’ I sighed. ‘And I’m a little nervous everyone’s casual assumption that something awful is going to happen.’
Gethan grinned. ‘On the bright side, you’d be in a worse position if you were in the same position without the charm. You should count yourself lucky.’
Ravensborough Page 17