by C. L. Taylor
ME
Why?
ZEDGREEN
You’ll understand when we meet.
ME
Understand what?
He didn’t reply.
In fact, he ignored every single message I sent him afterwards.
At dinner, I told Mum and Tony that I was going to Lucy’s to work on an English project. Tony raised an eyebrow – I never go to anyone’s house – but he didn’t say a word. Mum, on the other hand, couldn’t hide her delight.
‘Who’s Lucy? Is she a new friend? You haven’t mentioned her before. Would you like to invite her here? She could come to dinner. What’s your favourite food? I’ll make it if you like.’
She was so embarrassingly OTT I wanted to slide off my chair, slither across the kitchen floor and out the back door. Hooray, my hermit daughter has a friend. Let’s roll out the banners and pump up the balloons!
I’m not a total idiot. I didn’t go out in the dark to meet a stranger without telling anyone. I sent messages to three of my online friends – Chapman who lives in London, Isla who lives in Scotland, and Sadie who lives in Birmingham – telling them what had happened and including a photo of Mason’s note. Chapman replied straight away. He’s nineteen, a tester for a computer games company and he doesn’t go anywhere without at least four different gadgets.
You’re an idiot, he typed back. It’s probably some kind of paedo trap. Give me a sec and I’ll see what I can find out about ZedGreen.
A couple of minutes later he sent me another message.
Can’t find anything on ZedGreen but I still think you shouldn’t go.
He only chilled out when I said I’d give him the password to my ‘Track My Phone?’ app so he could track me on GPS. I’ll change the password when I get back home, not that I’m bothered that Chapman will know where I live. I’ve known him for over a year now and he’s never once said anything remotely sleazy or inappropriate. In fact, a couple of months ago he confided in me that he thinks he’s asexual.
Isla and Sadie didn’t reply to my message. Isla’s a student nurse and works long hours. Sadie’s doing her GCSEs like me but she goes to kickboxing classes several times a week and can’t chat online until quite late at night.
Now, I tap my pocket to check I’ve still got my phone then rub my hands up and down my arms. I should have worn a coat, it’s bloody freezing. All around me the trees are swaying in the wind, their shadows reaching across the grass like long, bony fingers. I scan the park, looking for signs of movement but, other than leaves tossing and turning as they’re blown down the path, I’m all alone.
The sound of twigs snapping makes me turn my head sharply. There’s someone about a hundred metres to my left, stepping out from behind a tree. They’re dressed all in black, the face shrouded by shadows. Even from this distance I can tell from his height, broad shoulders and the determined way he stalks towards me that it’s a man.
I skirt round the tree, my heart thumping in the base of my throat. ZedGreen’s huge. What the hell was I thinking? I need to get out of here. Having ‘Track My Phone’ won’t be much help if my phone’s knocked out of my hand as he bundles me into a white van.
OK, on a count of three I’m going to make a run for it.
One.
Two.
I freeze as leaves directly behind the tree crackle and snap. He’s running! I take a step to my left, primed to sprint, but, as I do, something hard smacks against my lower back. A strangled scream catches in my throat and I spin round, my hands raised in self-defence.
‘Bess! Bess come here!’ A male voice booms through the darkness as a large, brown dog leaps up at me, almost pinning me to the tree with the weight of his front paws. ‘Bess, what are you – Jesus!’
The man stops short, eight or nine metres away from me, and presses a gloved hand to his heart. ‘Jesus! Sorry, love. I didn’t see you there. You nearly gave me a heart attack.’
I don’t say anything. I’m too freaked out to speak.
‘Bess!’ the man shouts as she jumps up and presses her paws against my stomach, her tail wagging frantically. ‘Leave her alone. Come here!’
The dog starts off through the leaves and the man ambles slowly towards the park gates. I slump against the tree as I watch him go. This was a really, really stupid idea. Zed hasn’t even shown up.
I glance at my phone: 7.17 p.m. This couldn’t be down to Lacey, could it? It’s just the sort of stunt she’d pull to try to wind me up. No. I dismiss the thought as soon as it crosses my mind. I’m being paranoid. Even if she knows where Mason is she wouldn’t set up a web page hoping I’d get in touch. She’s too thick for one thing.
I shove my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, pull my hoody up over my head, shove my hands into my pockets and hurry through the park, kicking at piles of raked-up leaves as I head for the gates. ZedGreen’s probably having a right old laugh at me. Not only did I send him a photo, I actually went to the park to meet the invisible man.
As I reach the end of the path, I turn round, just to check that I’m not being followed, but the dog walker and his mutt are long gone. There’s no one else here. It’s just me and the empty kids play park. Mum used to take me and Mason there after she collected us from primary school. My brother loved the climbing frame, right until he fell off it and broke his arm. I was more of a fan of –
One of the swings is moving back and forth on its own. The chains creak as it arches forwards and back, forwards and back. It’s swinging vigorously, as though someone just jumped off. I take off, speeding towards the gate. Someone was sitting on the swings. If they watched me talk to the dog walker they also know I’m alone now.
I speed past the play park, and up the tree-lined path. A cold gust of wind showers me with leaves and takes my breath away as my boots thump on the tarmac. I’m too far away from the houses for anyone to be able to see me. I need to get out of the gate and onto Redcatch Road where there are cars, houses, people. As I round the corner, I sneak a look back at the play park, half expecting to see a figure on the swing, staring at me through the darkness but the swing is still. Whoever was sitting on it is still in the park. I can’t see them but I feel them watching me.
My lungs burn and my thighs ache as I run up the small stretch of path to the gate. A car’s headlights flash through the bushes as it speeds along the road. I’m nearly there. Nearly at the gate. Just four or five more steps and I’ll be out onto the road –
‘Aaargh!’
One second I’m standing by the gate. The next I’m being dragged backwards by my hood. I twist and squirm, trying to get free, my right hand clenched into a fist. I’m just about to strike out at my attacker when a soft voice says, ‘Hello LoneVoice, I’m Zed.’
Chapter Seven
‘You’re Zed Green?’
I stared down in surprise at the small, skinny girl standing beside me with her hands raised as though in surrender. She’s got short hair, clipped close around the ears and a vivid blue or green streak in her fringe (it’s hard to tell in this light). Her eyes are rimmed with black kohl and there is a hoop in her left nostril.
‘Yeah.’ She drops her hands and crosses her arms over her chest. ‘Although that’s not my real name, obviously.’
I take a step backwards. Just because she’s female, and roughly the same age as me, doesn’t mean she’s not dangerous.
‘Were you on the swing?’
She frowns. ‘What swing?’
‘The one over there. It was moving all by itself.’
‘Jesus.’ She clutches my arm. ‘You don’t think the park’s haunted, do you?’
She looks so scared that I immediately doubt myself. Did I actually see the swing moving or was it my overactive imagination going into overdrive?
‘Oh my God!’ Zed pushes me away and bursts out laughing. ‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist. Of course it was me on the swing.’
OK …
This is all one big wind-up. I don’t have time for this sort o
f crap.
‘Hey, LV, wait!’ She tries to grab me by the elbow as I walk towards the gate but I shrug her off.
‘Wait!’ she calls, as I weave my way through the gate and step onto the road. ‘I’m sorry. I was just dicking about. Please. I can help you.’
I turn back. ‘I waited for you for fifteen minutes and you were watching me the whole time.’
‘I needed to be sure you were who you said you were. I couldn’t see your face in the darkness and when you and that bloke started chatting I thought it was a trap.’
I raise an arm to shield my eyes as a car speeds by, its headlights set to full beam. ‘What kind of trap?’
Zed shrugs. ‘I thought you were both from the RRA. They’ve been taking down my blog posts. That’s why I needed to meet you in person. I can’t share what I know on the Internet, the Government doesn’t want anyone to see it.’
Ah. She’s a conspiracy theorist. The Internet is full of them. She probably thinks the moon landing was faked too. Or that the US Government staged 9/11 so they could attack al-Qaeda.
‘You don’t believe me, do you?’ Zed says. ‘I’m not surprised. I wouldn’t have believed it myself six months ago.’ She glances round as another car speeds down the road then grabs my wrist as it suddenly slows. ‘It’s not safe to talk here. Come with me.’
She walks back through the gate into the park without looking back to check if I’m following. Do I go with her? She’s got a strange sense of humour and she’s definitely a bit unhinged but she seems to know something about the RRA and I need to find out what it is. I take off after her, jogging to catch up. By the time I reach her, she’s sitting in the shelter by the large field local schools use as a football pitch. She unzips her jacket, reaches into a pocket and pulls out her phone.
‘Look at this,’ she says.
A video appears on the screen. It’s a guy about our age standing on a skateboard, at the top of a ramp. He is dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt, a beanie, jeans and trainers. As the camera zooms in on him he flashes the horns symbol with the fingers of his right hand and sticks out his tongue then he pounds the ground with one trainer and he’s off! The skateboard zooms down the ramp across a patch of tarmac and up another ramp. As it reaches the top, he stamps on the back of the skateboard and it flips into the air. For a second he’s separated from it but then he lands firmly, with both feet and zooms back down the ramp.
‘Yeah!’ yells a voice that sounds a lot like Zed’s and then a female hand makes the horns in front of the camera. Clamped between the thumb and fingers is a fat spliff.
‘That’s for me, yeah?’ Skateboard guy approaches the camera, grinning and whips it out of her fingers. He tokes on the joint and blows a stream of smoke up at the sky.
‘How good was I?’ he says as he looks into the camera.
‘Really good,’ Zed says. ‘Really bloody good.’
Skateboard boy leans in towards the camera. His face gets blurrier and blurrier the closer he gets and then the clip stops.
‘That’s when he kissed me,’ Zed says now. Her voice has changed. She sounds softer, more pained.
I don’t get it. What’s that video got to do with the RRA and the Government trying to take down her blog posts. He’s obviously her boyfriend but so what?
‘Come with me.’ She tucks her phone back into her pocket and stands up. ‘I’ve got something else to show you.’
I follow her through the dark park, towards the car park at the far end. The gate is locked so we have to climb over it.
‘Where are we going?’ I ask for the third time since we set off.
‘This is my car.’ Zed taps the bonnet of a red Mini Metro. ‘Passed my test last month. It’s ancient but it runs.’
If she can drive she’s older than me then, by at least a year.
‘Nice,’ I say, then jolt with surprise as I notice the shadowy figure sitting in the passenger seat. Zed sees me jump and rounds the car.
‘Charlie.’ She taps the passenger side window. ‘Come and say hello to my new friend.’
The door opens and I take a step back. I’ve got no idea who’s inside or whether or not I can trust Zed.
Two shiny black shoes appear beneath the open car door as Charlie swings his legs out. He slowly stands up, shuts the door and turns to face Zed. I can tell it’s the same guy I saw in the video, even in the half light, but they couldn’t look more different. He’s wearing neat, beige chinos – the sort Tony wears at the weekend – and a navy V-neck jumper over a white shirt. His hair is closely cropped, short but not Marines short. But it’s not his appearance that makes me shiver. It’s the strange, vacant look in his eyes as his gaze switches from Zed to me.
‘Hello.’ The edges of his lips curl up into a smile. It happens so slowly it’s like watching a robot attempt a grin. As he steps towards me, his right hand extended, I back away.
‘It’s OK,’ Zed says. ‘He’s not going to hurt you. Just shake his hand.’
I stiffly raise my right hand and lock palms with Charlie. He squeezes my hand and pumps my arms up and down once, twice, three times.
‘Did you go to the RRA?’ I ask him when he finally lets go of my hand.
He nods. ‘I did some stupid things and made some stupid decisions. Being at Norton House taught me how foolish I was. I have learnt how to be a better person and how to contribute to society.’
‘Right, I see.’
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Evie’s is a friend of mine.’
‘Charlie,’ Zed hisses, ‘I told you not to call me that in public. You’re supposed to call me Zed.’
‘But that’s not your real name. Your real name is Evie Elizabeth Bar–’
‘Charlie, get back in the car!’ Zed yanks on his arm and gently shoves him in the direction of the red Mini. When he reaches the passenger door he touches the handle then looks back.
‘Apologies,’ he says, his cold, vacant eyes meeting mine. ‘I didn’t catch your name.’
‘Robin,’ I say. ‘Robin Redbreast.’
I wait for him to laugh or tell me to sod off. Instead he nods, as though Robin Redbreast is a perfectly normal name, and gets into the car.
‘Well?’ Zed says as the passenger door clicks shut. ‘Do you get it? Do you understand why we had to meet? Why you needed to meet Charlie for yourself?’
I glance back at the car. Charlie is watching us from the passenger seat, still smiling in that strange fixed way. I can’t believe he’s the guy from the skatepark. They look alike but it’s as though they’re two completely different people.
‘What’s wrong with him?’ I ask. ‘Is he on drugs?’
Zed laughs dryly. ‘If only. I could stop him from taking them and he’d go back to being the old Charlie again.’
‘So why’s he like this? What happened to him?’
‘They “treated” him.’ She fixes her bright, blue eyes on me. ‘That’s what did this to him. They turned him into this … this …’ She shakes her head. ‘I don’t know what he is. He looks like Charlie, he feels like him and smells like him but his personality’s gone. The Charlie who went to the RRA was a rebel. He was outspoken. He was lively. He kicked back at authority. He –’
‘He sounds a lot like my brother.’
She raises her eyebrows and sighs. ‘That’s what I was worried about. But he won’t be your brother when he gets out. You won’t recognize him. Charlie used to smoke weed, a lot of weed. That’s why he was excluded from three schools. He was caught toking in the school grounds. Now if I ask him if he fancies a smoke he gives me a lecture about the psychotropic effects of marijuana and reels off statistics about heavy users being more prone to schizophrenia, yada yada yada.’
I shrug. ‘Well, that is true.’
‘But it’s not the point. The point is there’s no way Charlie would have given me a lecture like that before he went in. And he definitely wouldn’t have announced that he wants to train to become an accountant. Or agree with his dad that
the police should have greater stop and search rights, or suggest that internet usage should be monitored nationwide and —’
‘You think he’s been brainwashed,’ I say, glancing back at the car. ‘Don’t you?’ Charlie is still watching us intently. He’s starting to seriously freak me out.
‘Yeah.’ Zed runs her hands through her hair and stares up at the sky. She inhales sharply through her nose and blinks rapidly but there’s no stopping the tears that well in her eyes. ‘Sorry, sorry.’ She swipes at them with her coat sleeve. ‘I can’t believe I’m crying in front of a complete stranger but you’re the first person I’ve really talked to about this and it’s … it’s just so hard. I’m in love with him. Or at least, I was. I keep waiting to see a glimpse of the old Charlie, for whatever’s happened to him to wear off, but it hasn’t happened. It’s been three months since he left the RRA and …’ Fresh tears replace the ones she wiped. This time she doesn’t try to hide them.
‘Hasn’t anyone else noticed?’ I say. ‘His friends or his parents? If Mason came back like Charlie, Mum would be onto the police straight away.’
‘Would she?’ She laughs dryly. ‘Andy and Julie love the new Charlie. His mum’s always going on about how polite and helpful he is now and how delighted she is that she’s got her little boy back. And Andy can’t stop telling people how well Charlie is doing at school.’
‘But he’s so weird. Sorry.’ I pull a face. ‘I know he’s your boyfriend but he’s … creepy. How can they not see that?’
Zed rubs the back of her neck. ‘I think they see what they want to see – their son doing what he’s told for a change. He doesn’t answer them back; he doesn’t stay out late. He’s perfect, as far as they’re concerned. His dad keeps going on about how proud he is that Charlie’s got his priorities straight at last and how relieved he is that he’s decided on a career instead of claiming he’s going to sign on as soon as he leaves school.’
I groan loudly. Make This Country Great. Contribute to Society. A Safe Land for Hardworking People. All buzzwords of the new Government. I hate that our parents voted them in. It’s our future they’ve screwed up and we don’t even get a say in it.