Circle of Arms (The Shades of Northwood 2)

by Wendy Maddocks

  “Hi, Freddie. Is your mom there?”

  “Are you a stranger? Does Mom know you?”

  “Well, I might be strange but you both know who I am. Can you guess from my voice?”

  “Aunt Katie!” he yelled after a thoughtful moment. It was so loud that she had to hold the phone away from her ear while he yelled out for his mother Marcie to come to the phone. And then he proceeded to babble away about his day and his latest football match. He had scored two goals and was very pleased with himself. “Oh, I can hear they stairs being all creaky squeaky. She won’t be minute.”

  The phone sounded like it was swinging on its’ cord, then Marcie picked up.

  “Katie?”

  “The very one.”

  “Freddie been giving you earache?”

  “Trust me. I’ve listened to worse.”

  “How’re things?”

  “Could be worse.” It could be better too. Katie didn’t say that, though. “Thought I’d call, try to arrange a day out before I forget again.”

  “Choose a day. I haven’t exactly got a full diary.” Marcie let a smile creep into her voice. It instantly made her sound so much younger. Maybe having a child just added a few years.

  “Well, I have athletics trials on Saturday but I could be around yours by…” Katie hastily checked her calendar for a finish time then added in time for a change and shower “…about two – two thirty latest.” They spent another ten minutes chatting and making plans then Katie made her excuses and hung up. She could shower before bed even though she felt grubby and disgusting. What she really needed was to get out of these clothes and into her scruffiest old PJs. Pyjamas, slippers and burgers and hot chocolate in front of the most mind-numbing film she could find.

  Once changed and with her hair scraped back into a greasy mess in and elastic band, Katie hopped down the stairs feeling mostly human again. There was still the nagging feeling that things would go tits up again at a moments notice but she couldn’t live her life according to fear and possibility. That was insanity. No, the next few hours, days if her luck held, were going to be normal and safe. Safe was the most important part.

  “Cooked yet?” Katie ducked low and peeked under the grill at her burgers. They were browning up nicely.

  “Still a way to go.” Leo got a carton of juice and two glasses out of the cupboard, set them on a tray and pushed them across the table to Katie. He was treating her very carefully. Looking at her with an eye that didn’t quite trust that she wasn’t going to suddenly turn and throw herself out of the window. “Go sort these out in there, find a DVD or something.”

  As if she was going to complain at being told to do nothing. Leo could be sensitive at times – but she knew better than to expect it again before Christmas. Obviously, something had rung true and he didn’t want to put any more demands on her. Or he just wanted to show off his cooking prowess. Over the next five minutes, he went to and from the kitchen with cutlery, condiments. Anyone would think he was preparing a fine dining dish. Katie decided she could get used to this being waited on lark as he set down her tray before her. Sitting up was far too complex and tiring so she ended up half-horizontal on the sofa with the remote for the portable Adam had found in one hand.

  “You okay?” Leo asked all of a sudden.

  “Psycho on the telly, a full belly and my jimjams on. This is living.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Sadly, yes, she did. “For tonight, at least, I’m just Katie – student. Not Katie – saviour.”

  “Fair dos. Just long as you’re not, you know…”

  She waited for him to finish the sentence but he didn’t. A cushion carefully aimed at his head seemed to wake Leo out of his trance. It looked like he had straight forgotten he was speaking. Full stomach syndrome. “Long as I’m not..?”

  “Dead.”

  It was sad in such a flat, monotonous way that it was almost just a word. But it wouldn’t have taken so long to get out if it had been easy to say. The shutters were firmly down on his face which meant he was keeping something close to his chest.

  “Katie, I’m not screwing around.” Leo put his tray on the floor and faced her, a serious expression on his face. “We’ve lost Dina.” Katie opened her mouth to correct him but Leo shushed her with a flap of his hand. “Jaye’s MIA. And if you were gone too… I already don’t know who I can trust.”

  “You can trust me. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I wonder how many people have said that?” It was a good thing to wonder, if a little morbid. “I been researching that badge today. Library lady nearly threw me out for not using academy approved sites.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “You’re welcome.” He reached into his bag and dropped the silver pointed badge over the back of the settee. Katie fumbled the catch but eventually grabbed for it. As soon as she touched it, she regretted it. It felt… evil. Dark and angry and hateful. The man who once wore it may be dead but the power he left behind crawled all over the silver star.

  I’m gonna make you scream, little girl.

  Katie yelped and flung the badge across the room. Blood. She remembered blood.

  Leo began to walk over to retrieve it but then hearing her convulsive sobs that were more like failed attempts not to cry, he turned back and sat beside the young girl. He didn’t try to comfort her or give her the sweet nothings you were meant to tell a crying woman. “It came from the late 1800s. The little insignia is from somewhere around Texas. Couldn’t get the search down to a town or village. There was old blood on it.”

  “Mine and Jack’s,” she recalled. The man had whipped them both and naturally some had splashed on the badge. Without the scars Jack was forced to keep, Katie had let herself forget he had drawn blood from her too.

  “More than that. It was from the 19th century. Before you ever ran across him.”

  “From the first time he killed Jack.”

  “Could be.” He didn’t sound convinced. It was likely Jack’s blood was somewhere in the mix but… “I’m not sure but if I believe what you told me about Sheriff man, and I do, then he’s been killing a long time. There might be traces here of everyone he ever hurt.”

  “You think there was more than us.”

  “Maybe dozens. Maybe just one or two.”

  “How did you work that out?”

  “There were layers underneath – spots, really. He’d tried to scratch most of it away but there were flakes stuck in the grooves.”

  “I can’t believe it stayed on there for a century and half. I guess it doesn’t decay the same way as it would if it was a mortal badge.”

  “If this guy spent a lot of time in some other… dimension, there wouldn’t be any wear and tear. Nothing to wear it away.” He wasn’t putting a lot of faith in this Shade world theory. Whether it was possible or not, whether he believed it or not, a world where people could come back after death and continue living as though nothing had happened was beyond the reaches of his reality. It defied logic.

  “I wish there was something we could do for them.” Katie let herself dwell on that thought for a moment, then turned back to the film. There was nothing better than a decent horror movie on a dark cold night. A boyfriend to snuggle with when the scary parts came would have made the night perfect but Katie was happy to settle for uneventful. The Shining was up next, the announcer had said. That was the last thing she remembered until the door slammed shut with an icy blast of night, and Lainy and Adam dropped onto the opposite chair in an uncomfortable looking pile of tired arms and legs. “Hey,” she yawned towards them and tried to figure out a way to sit up without having to move out of her warm, sleepy bubble. “Chairs are meant for one. Lainy, come over here.”

  “We’re fine.”

  “I’m not. I could use a hug.”

  Lainy couldn’t ignore that request. Katie was a child and anything she could do to give her comfort and security, she would. If she was used to cuddles because they made her fee
l safe and wanted… Besides, Lainy needed the closeness just as much. She tucked her under one arm, idly trailing fingers through Katie’s messy hair. “Did we wake you up?”

  “Yes. But I wouldn’t sleep tonight if you hadn’t.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Was it horrible? The hospital, I mean.”

  “It was hard. Harder than you’d think. Ad told you about Dina?” She waited for the teenagers to nod. “They were doing final tests before they… before they did anything. It’s hospital policy. So, they found brain activity. Not much, but it’s enough to give us hope.”

  “That’s a good thing, right?”

  Lainy didn’t look like she thought it was a good thing. “Hoping… that’s the worst part. I’d forgotten how horrible it is to tell a father their daughter is still fighting, watch them expect everything to be alright, and then nothing happens.”

  “Will she be okay?” That was Leo, showing his last bit of concern for some-one who wasn’t himself.

  “I honestly don’t know. Sometimes people flicker into life first like their body is just getting rid of its’ last bit of energy.”

  Energy. That word set far off alarm bells tinkling inside Katie but there was nothing more she could do. She had brought her spirit back into the world and let it float back to its’ rightful place. She made a mental note to stop by the medical centre after classes tomorrow but she didn’t think there was anything left she could help with.

  “She’ll be okay.”

  “Anyone heard from Jaye?” Lainy nodded at Leo to throw a blanket over Adam, who had fallen asleep in his chair and was quietly snoring. The guy looked absolutely shattered. Lainy didn’t look much better. Neither of the pair had slept much over the last day or two – first worrying about Dina who had taken her life in her hands, and then about Jaye who was still missing. As far as she knew.

  Katie thought about what she knew. If she told Lainy what she knew about Jaye and her current other-wordly status then maybe she could help. “I don’t know where she is.” It was the truth too. Katie really didn’t know where Jaye was at that moment, body or soul. She could still be in the End Place, nursing a shadow She thought was Dina. Or She could be hunting her down already. You have darkness in you now. Yeah, she would know if the barrier between that world and this had been breached. How that knowledge would come was another question.

  “House seems empty without her. Quieter too.”

  “She did kind of liven everything up. Where do you think she is?”

  “Not a clue. I think losing her best friend just rocked her to the bone and she just needed space and time. If only we could tell her she’s getting better. I know she’d come back.”

  “Not that simple,” Leo butted in again. “You can’t think that being finally dead or alive will make it all okay. You can’t say ‘oh, Dina’s gonna be alright’ and Jaye’s gonna come home and be just like before.”

  “No-one’s expecting that.” Katie swung her legs off the seat and wrapped her arms tightly over her stomach. A chill had just rippled through her. “I just want my friends back.” It had been difficult to make friends until now. The kids in her old city were concerned with make-up and smoking in the toilets and getting out of daily detentions. None of that stuff had ever seemed important. Sure, they were pretty much teenage rites of passage and she had been through the girly phase – it had lasted precisely seven weeks when she was 14 – but none of the kids she had grown up with had shared her view that hard work was important. And now, she lived in a house full of others who worked hard and were teaching her to relax.

  “You know what?” piped up Lainy. “You look done in. You need to go to bed Katie.”

  “I’m awake.” It had been a long day, longer than anyone realised. First there had been a long day at the academy, then a trip to the hospital, an adventure to the End Place, then back to the club, and then home. She did feel kind of zombified. But it wasn’t just the physical exhaustion that was making her feel that way. It was knowing that at least two of her friends were in trouble and knowing she was powerless to help them now. It was this cold sensation deep inside that her body was healing itself; still recovering from its short-term lack of life. It was having to trust forces outside herself to fix whatever was wrong with the world.

  Chapter thirteen

  Levenson Academy for Sports and Action was mostly quiet when Katie left. She had only ducked into the changing rooms to put her street clothes on when the final bell went but it seemed as though most of the student body had better places to be that afternoon. She didn’t want to be left in the silence today. It made her feel all alone. Anyone could be lurking around this building. Her footsteps echoed up and down the corridors and she had to keep checking behind her to make sure her steps were the only ones there. There were a handful of teachers in the building and the few students who had stayed behind to study in peace but even knowing help was just a shriek away did little to calm the fear that someone might jump her from one of these corners. She hurried her pace a little but the end of the corridor seemed no closer. In fact, it seemed further away with every step. The vision from yesterday, the colours and sounds, the life, even in these cold, breeze block walls was faint but still there. She had been too tired to realise it hadn’t completely disappeared the previous night.

  She took a minute to stand and breathe. Working herself up over nothing was helping nobody. It definitely was not helping Dina, which was the goal here. Dr de Rossa and Mr Bayliss were probably thanking God Dina was the right side of the life/death divide, and hailing her as a medical miracle. That was okay. This could be a miracle. Taking credit for giving a dying girl her soul back sounded – well, kind of heroic if she was honest – but it would be cheap. What if Dina had already woken up and… urgh, she didn’t want to think of the ands. There were too many of them and most of them were bad. Mostly, they all boiled down to the same thing.

  What if something went wrong?

  She had to trust the Shades when they had told her everything would begin to put itself right. Had to.

  There were things to look forward to; a day out with Freddie and Marcie, athletics team trials, finally getting to grips with her course texts. Most people would dread that part but, at the moment, coursework represented normality. Given that study way the main thing she had come to Northwood, neglecting her education even to save people was a risk she didn’t want to take. Skipping school work meant her grades would slip, her scholarship would be threatened then cancelled – no way could her parents afford to keep her here, so off back home she would go. That suddenly filled her with an arctic terror. She might die early here but at least she would (might) come back: back home, she would die and be dead dead. No coming back from that. Such a comforting thought.

  The footsteps became squeaks when Katie had the bright idea of swapping her shoes for the trainers she had just taken off. Still noisy but at least she would hear anyone behind her. You can match a footstep in shoes or boots but you can’t match a good old squeak. She looked down and saw spots of blood on the dirty white toes. As she walked, the spots of dry blood spread and liquefied. Fresh red liquid covered her trainers and it began to creep in through the top of her trainers and the air holes by her toes. It was beginning to soak through her socks and her feet were squelching through blood. The desire to sit on the stairs and strip them straight back off was dampened only by the certainty that something awful would happen if she stopped for even another second. She had left a trail of bloody footprints behind her and Katie was watching them pool and wondering who would clear them up when it happened.

  Something huge and black slammed into her.

  It came with almost enough force to knock Katie off balance. As it was, the sudden blast winded her and she had time for one coherent but non-sensical thought.

  There should be pain.

  Katie awoke with a jolt sitting in front of her laptop, staring at a barely started essay on the benefits of stage drama over screen. Awoke was
the wrong word for it. More like she shook herself out of a haunting daydream. It was fading from her memory already.

  Her first evening at Shimma began in a couple of hours. Gym clothes weren’t really appropriate for work – not entirely professional – but there wasn’t really much in her wardrobe that qualified. Shimma had told her the job would entail a bit of everything and a powersuit probably wasn’t suitable club wear. A plain t-shirt, jeans and flat boots seemed okay. She put her trusty baseball jacket over the top and headed downstairs. There was time to shovel down a quick sandwich and a bag of crisps before it was time to go.

  “You’ve got a long day today.”

  “Home by midnight. I had a nap just. The pay cheque’ll be worth it.” Katie opened the fridge and looked for some cold meats to make a sandwich. Somebody really needed to go to the shops. “I’m starved. Want anything while I’m making?” she called to Lainy.

  “Erm… no, I’ll have some crisps. Spoil dinner otherwise.”

  “Anything nice?”

  “Ah. Pot Noodle. One of the five main food groups.”

  Lovely.

  “I wanted to-“ they said together. “You first.”

  Katie busied herself spreading and slicing, taking more care over this sandwich than she ever had before. Thinking of just the right words to say was hard. The silence went on a little bit too long. Lainy took it as a cue to speak. “Just be careful tonight. Shimma looks after his staff pretty well but, sweetie, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look after yourself.”