'OK. Have you finished your homework?'
'Not yet. I'm nearly done. I won't be long.'
'Don't work too late, honey.'
'I won't.'
I heard the door slide gently closed.
'Alex?'
'I'm here.'
'Where are you? Everyone says you're dead.'
'I know. It's hard to explain. I need you to trust me. My dad's waiting down in the park at the end of your road. I need you to explain what happened at school to him.'
'Why can't you tell him?'
'I don't have much time. He's trying to help me. Can you do it?'
'You made me promise.'
'I know, but he needs your help so he can help me. I don't have much time,' I repeated.
'I'm not allowed out this late.'
'I don't know how long he can stay.'
'OK, OK. I'll try. Tell him to wait.'
'Kayleigh?'
'Yes?'
'I know it's been hard. You did the right thing not telling anyone. I have to go.'
'Alex, where are you?'
'I have to go. Bye.'
I took my hand from the glass. I felt like a complete bastard for deceiving her, but she was the only one who knew what had really happened and she had resisted all attempts to get her to tell the real story. Neither the school nor the police had been able to make her break her promise. She and Alex had been buddies since primary school and the bonds were far stronger than mere authority.
I walked back across to the park and sat on the bench, allowing my voice to fall back to how it sounded naturally, then letting my glamour fall away completely, becoming Niall Petersen, Alex's dad. Having not worn that shape for months it felt strange. Blackbird was right, using glamour did become a habit.
I let the concealment around me fade and waited for Kayleigh, watching cars drive by and occasional pedestrians pass. I was beginning to think she had either been caught by her parents or chickened out, when I saw her small figure cross the road.
She hurried across the park, wrapping her cardigan tight around her.
'Mr Petersen?'
'It's me. Is that you, Kayleigh?'
She hurried across to where the bench seat was, but then stopped short.
'I'm supposed to tell the police if I see you,' she told me.
'You must do what you think best, Kayleigh.'
'Are you really a terrorist?'
'Me? No, of course not. Whatever made you think that?'
'They said you got involved with some bad people last year. They said you might be being forced to co- operate with them. They wanted to know if I saw you, so they could help you.'
'Do I look like I need help?'
'You went missing, after the memorial service. Is Alex alive?' The change in subject was abrupt.
'Yes. I think she is.'
'She… she spoke to me. A moment ago in my bedroom. She was in my mirror.'
'That wasn't her, Kayleigh. That was me.'
'You? But…'
'I know. It's difficult to explain and I can't tell you too much without dragging you into it. You know how serious this all is, don't you? If you tell them, they may want to know what else you know. They will want to know why you didn't tell them before. You're a bright girl, Kayleigh. I've always thought that. You work it out.'
I waited in the dark, deliberately staying seated so that I didn't spook her. I could see the tension in the set of her shoulders, the way she kept wrapping her cardigan around her more tightly. She wanted badly to run for home, but she stayed.
She looked back to the house and then at me.
'You're the same as her, aren't you? That's why they're looking for you.'
'Actually, she's like me, but yes.'
'That's how you… got into my mirror. That's how you made it sound like her. You tricked me.'
'I did deceive you, but only so we could speak alone. You wouldn't have come out here just for me.'
'I gotta go.' She turned away towards the Close.
'It went badly wrong that day, didn't it?'
She stopped.
'But you knew about Alex before then, before the accident.'
'I can't talk about that. She made me swear.'
'I'm her father, Kayleigh. And what I said to you about her not being dead was true. She is in trouble. She needs my help. And I need yours.'
She spurred herself back into motion, crossing the road and vanishing between the hedges and the row of cars parked at the pavement.
The urge to chase her and try to pull her back was strong, but that would only make her run and clam up even more. Instead I tried to look as calm and patient as possible. I stayed on the seat, doing my best to look as if I would still be there in the morning when she went to school. I couldn't see whether she was watching me, so I concentrated on waiting. If she had gone inside, I had lost her, at least for now. If not…
It was a full five minutes before she reappeared. She crossed the road again, walked across the grass and plonked herself down beside me, folding her arms.
'It's colder here.'
'Would you like my coat? It'll keep your shoulders warm.'
'No. I'll be OK.'
I waited for her to speak, but she didn't. If it was a contest, I broke first. 'Are you going to tell me what happened?'
'I promised I wouldn't tell.'
'Kayleigh, it's dangerous to know any more. If you let something slip they will assume you know much more than you do. They may think you're involved.'
'I am involved. I was there!'
'I need to know what happened so I can help her.'
'I thought she was dead. We had a service at school. You were there. Everyone was.'
I sighed. 'I didn't know she was still alive then. I only found out later, by accident. Even I'm not supposed to know. I swear that's the truth.'
'How do you know she's alive?'
I debated how much to say. I didn't like telling Kayleigh any more than I had to, but she had already proved that she could keep a secret. If I wanted her to trust me then I had to trust her.
'I need you to swear the same to me as you did to Alex. You tell no one about this conversation, OK?'
'Who will I tell? My best friend is, like, dead.'
'I need your promise, Kayleigh. This is serious.'
'OK, I promise. Hope to die.'
'Is that what you promised her?'
'Mostly. Sort of.'
I put my hands in my lap. It was cold here, but I wanted to keep people away.
'When I spoke to you through your mirror, a little while ago, that was how I found Alex. I could hear her, but I didn't know where she was. I think she was taken, somewhere safe but away, because of the accident. That's
