0.4

‘If you’ve got a plan, I’m all ears,’ I said.

‘I distract them, you save Annette,’ she said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world she was laying out. ‘Just like in one of your comic books.’

‘You read comic books?’

‘No, but when we’re out of this I’ll let you show me a couple of comic books to convince me they’re worth my time. Deal?’

‘Deal.’

‘Now stay here. I’ll get them looking the other way.’

‘I should be doing that part of the plan.’

She shook her head.

‘Annette knows and trusts you.’ She smiled wickedly. ‘She has a lower opinion of me.’

‘Sounds like there’s some history between you.’

‘There’s always history. You know that. Now let’s do this.’

‘You take care of yourself,’ I said, but it didn’t seem like enough, and then I was leaning forwards, taking her face in my hands, and kissing her on the lips.

She kissed back and then it was over and we were both standing there, wondering what had just happened.

‘A kiss for luck?’ she said.

‘We’ll call it that for now,’ I said. ‘Now go. Distract. We’ve got a friend to rescue.’

33

Lilly clung to the shadows and made her way quickly up the side of the yard, past a row of dilapidated barns, while I just stood there waiting for a chance to get to Annette. I could still feel the ghost impression of Lilly’s lips upon mine.

The Naylor family procession had paused next to the closest silo and old man Naylor was standing in front of the structure. He extended his arms before him and a whole load of those weird filaments tore loose from his hands and adhered to the front of the silo. Suddenly, the surface of the structure started to glow, then peel back, creating an opening, then a door.

Hell of a way to make an entrance, I thought, and then the new door swished aside.

The alphabet of hooks and eyes that we saw on Kate O’Donnell’s computer was floating in the air inside the silo, as if the symbols were being projected on to the air itself. They twisted and curled and looked sort of brownish to my eyes. But, even as I said the word ‘brownish’ to myself, I realised that was about a million miles away from describing the actual colour.

I watched in fascination as the characters of that alphabet changed and mutated before my eyes. I was wondering how it was possible that there could be a language written across the air, and I felt myself taking a step forwards, towards the silo, without meaning to, as if my body had suddenly broken free of my mind’s control.

I felt my foot rising up to take another step. I couldn’t stop it.

And I couldn’t take my eyes off the symbols in the silo.

My foot took another step.

I knew that I would be in the sightline of the Naylor family any second, but my body still wasn’t listening. I felt my foot readying itself for another step.

No. No. No, I tried to tell my foot.

The foot started moving again.

‘HEY!’ I heard Lilly’s voice and it snapped me out of it. I managed to drag my eyes away from the silo and my foot back from its forwards course.

I saw the Naylors turn to find the source of the interruption and there she was, Lilly, standing about fifty metres away in the middle of the yard, hands on her hips. I actually smiled when I saw her, she looked so composed and… well, heroic, I guess.

I saw the Naylor clan react to her arrival with surprise and old man Naylor even stepped away from the silo towards her. His… filaments retracted so fast that their movement was a blur.

Annette just stood there, looking dazed and lost.

‘HEY!’ Lilly shouted again. ‘Any of you weirdos know where a nought-point-four can get a bed for the night?’

The Naylors looked at her and seemed to confer, although I’m not convinced any of them actually spoke. Then old man Naylor nodded his head at Lilly.

I sucked in a deep breath and readied myself.

The Naylors started towards her but she stood her ground. I felt proud and sick and scared. The Naylors kept moving forwards, and for a horrible couple of seconds I thought the old man was going to stay behind to guard Annette, but then he followed the rest of his clan, and together they moved in on Lilly.

They were thirty metres away.

Then they were twenty-five.

Then twenty.

It was show time.

I broke from the shadows, hunched down, and hurried over to Annette Birnie. She was staring into the silo, her eyes filled with the uncanny alphabet within, and I had to physically touch her, on the shoulder, to get her to notice me.

‘Annette,’ I said calmly. ‘It’s me. Kyle. I’m here to help you. To get you away from here.’

She looked at me blankly. For a moment I thought she didn’t even recognise me. Then her eyes seemed to show a sudden awareness and her brow furrowed with confusion.

‘Kyle?’ she asked, almost robotically. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘We have to get out of here,’ I said. ‘There’s no time to explain. But there are more of us. There’s me and Lilly and Mrs O’Donnell and Mr Peterson. We know what’s happened. We want to help you.’

‘Help me?’ Annette’s gaze met mine and I saw that there were tears in her eyes. ‘No. There’s no help. There is only… in there.’ She pointed at the silo.

‘I really don’t think you want to go in there, Annette,’ I said.

I sneaked a quick look over to where the Naylors had almost reached Lilly.

‘You want me?’ I heard her yell. ‘Then you’re going to have to catch me!’

She turned and ran away from them, deeper into the darkness of the farm.

Time was running out.

‘Please,’ I said. ‘Come with me.’

Annette shook her head. Her eyes were wide and all pupils. She looked helpless and defeated.

‘In there I can become one of them,’ she said slowly, as if explaining something very simple to a rather dull child. ‘In there it all ends.’

‘You don’t want to be one of them,’ I said.

‘Yes. Yes, I do.’ Annette Birnie looked at me and I saw all the fear that was running through her head, through the dark windows of her eyes. ‘I don’t want to be alone.’

I was aware that I was using up all the time Lilly had bought me, but I really hadn’t planned for the contingency of Annette not wanting to come with us. I’d thought that she’d be looking for a way to escape, not looking forward to joining them.

Another glance told me that the Naylors weren’t going to give chase. They were standing, looking into the distance, but they weren’t following Lilly.

‘You won’t be alone,’ I said, in what I thought was a soothing voice. ‘Come on, we can help you.’

‘Help me?’ she said in a puzzled voice. ‘How do you know what I want?’

The question baffled me.

‘Look,’ I said, taking her arm and trying to drag her away from the silo. ‘Just come with me…’