‘They’ve cursed something,’ she said. ‘Take off all your jewellery.’
I fumbled with my guitar-string bracelet from Nick. My fingers trembled as I tried to open the clasp.
‘Quickly!’ she said. She sounded so frightened, it made me panic.
‘I’m going to be OK, right?’ I was hoping she knew a way round it, like a loophole or something.
‘We need to find the object now,’ she said, ‘to get the curse removed.’
‘But only the person who performed the curse can lift it, isn’t that true?’
Lauren didn’t answer. My mind was racing with questions. Were we going to figure it out in time? Would we be able to reason with the person who was trying to kill me?
‘How much time do I have left?’ I asked.
‘I’m not sure, but you haven’t reached the worst part yet,’ she said. I handed her the bracelet. She clutched it and closed her eyes. ‘No, that’s not it,’ she said. ‘Give me your bag.’
I handed it to her and she emptied its entire contents out on to the table. My wallet and make-up and phone and iPod were all scattered everywhere. She picked them up one by one – first my pocket mirror. ‘No,’ she said, and dropped it to the floor. Then my keys. ‘No.’ She did the same with the rest of my stuff as I took off every piece of jewellery I was wearing.
‘No… no… no… no.’
I handed her the bundle of bracelets and rings.
‘No… no… no… no,’ she said, as they each fell with a clink on the floor. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing else?’
‘I don’t think so.’ I started to cough, covered my mouth with my hand and felt a stab of fear as I took it away. I’d coughed up blood.
‘Jacki, think! We don’t have much time. We need to find the object!’
‘But only the person who performed the curse can break it!’ I said. ‘Is that true?’
She didn’t answer.
‘Is that true, Lauren?’
Why was I even asking? I knew very well that it was. I was going to die.
‘We need to find it
She was trying to ease the pain – that was nice of her – but whether I died slowly or in agony didn’t really make much of a difference. I was still going to die.
‘Listen to me,’ she said, grabbing my shoulders. ‘Are you wearing any more jewellery? You must be.’
That’s when I felt it in my pocket, against my hip. My hand was shaking so much, but I managed to grab hold of Kayla’s star-shaped necklace and pull it out.
‘Yes, yes, that’s it!’
She snatched it from me. She was going to destroy it. This was going to ease the pain, but I was so scared. There was so much I had left to do. I couldn’t die without seeing Nick – or Dillon – again. I couldn’t die without apologizing to Colin. And I still had to see my little brother or sister. I had to solve this case and make a record and go to New York and do all the things I still wanted to do.
Lauren knelt down and started to mumble something in a different language. It sounded a bit like Irish. I wondered what she was doing.
I touched her shoulder, but she pushed me away. She continued to mumble, swaying back and forth in a trance-like state. I tried to figure out what was going on. And then it hit me. I couldn’t believe it. I was so relieved and yet so furious at the same time. She started to talk more loudly, her words booming through the dressing room.
I was so angry. I wanted to hurt her like she’d hurt me. But I didn’t dare touch her, at least not until she’d finished. She was shouting now, but I doubted anybody else could hear her. The music from outside was drowning her out.
After a few minutes she stopped swaying and sat perfectly still. I could smell burning. She opened her hands. The outline of a star had been scalded into each palm.
‘Only the person who performed the curse can break it,’ I said. ‘Only -’
‘Not always,’ said Lauren, her voice trembling.
‘I’m not stupid!’ I said. ‘It was you!’
She stood up. I was so mad that I pushed her against the wall.
‘You almost killed me!’ I yelled. ‘I could have died! You knew what
‘I didn’t want you to know it was me. I’m sorry, Jacki, I’m so, so sorry.’
I should have suspected her sooner – I was aware of her supernatural ability.
‘You killed Kayla…’ I said. ‘How did you do it? Did you curse her?’
‘No,’ said Lauren. ‘No, I swear I didn’t hurt Kayla. I don’t know what happened to her. Somebody paid me to do this, to get rid of you. They didn’t want you interfering.’
I grabbed the collar of her dress and pushed her further up the wall.
‘Who?’
‘I can’t tell you.’
‘Give me a name.’
‘You know I can’t. You know -’
‘- that if you reveal the details of the curse you’ll incur
‘Jacki, please.’
‘Give me some information,’ I said, ‘or I swear to god I’ll -’
‘It’s a couple,’ she said. ‘Or at least they were a couple, I’m not sure if they still are. They were both at the party. They approached me last week, paid me to do this.’ She started to sob. I could smell burning and realized it was coming from her hands. The star-shaped scars were opening up.
‘Keep going!’ I shouted. ‘What else do you know?’
‘I owe them one. They gave me money when I needed it, years ago, and now they’re guilting me into helping them. If somebody with paranormal powers gets involved with Kayla’s case, they ask me to deal with it. When that psychic came forward last year and offered to help they made me get rid of him. Not that he knew anything anyway. They told me you were young and it shouldn’t take much to get rid of you. I psychically attacked that other guy too, just sent him some negative vibes, and he was gone in less than three days. When I heard you were only sixteen, I thought you’d be gone within a few days too, that it would all be fine. I never expected you to last this long. When I saw you the other day I was going to lift the curse there and then. I told them it had gone too far, that it was too dangerous. When I heard you’d gone home, I was so relieved. I thought it was over. I never meant to kill you – you have to believe me. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.’
‘Tell me who they are.’
‘Please, Jacki,’ she said, showing me her hands. ‘Please don’t make me tell you.’
She started to cry. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t cause her that much pain, even though she’d almost killed me. I loosened my grip.
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’
‘Don’t thank me. You’re only getting away with this because I don’t have the guts to hurt you.’
‘I’m sorry, Jacki, I’m so, so sorry.’
‘I don’t want your apology,’ I said as I stormed out and slammed the door behind me.
Chapter 22
A couple. It must have been Amy and Andrew – unless there was something I had missed. Perhaps everyone had been right to be angry at them for Kayla’s disappearance.
I stood outside Rage, considering my next move. Temple Bar was packed with people out for the night. There were lots of students celebrating the last days of term. Girls in high heels tottered around, unsteady on the cobblestones, and groups of guys strutted past, shouting and joking. I decided to ring Ellie. I figured she was the
