Dead Flesh

hadn’t been happy about her going in there in the first place. As soon as I knew what was on the camera, she was coming out.

From what little Kayla had managed to relay to us, the school sounded weird, to say the least. What were these “Greys” that Kayla had mentioned? Were they the wolves, waiting to be matched, or something more sinister? But what could be more sinister than that? And why did they hide their faces? But it was McCain; the more I heard about the guy, the more I sensed that Kayla and the other kids at the school were in danger. Why terrorise the kids with cattle prods, or sizzle-sticks, as Kayla had called them? That was no way of keeping control. It was cruel and barbaric.

As I paced through the kitchen and the living room, Potter sat quietly in a chair by the fire and smoked. Once he had finished one, he threw the end into the fire and lit another. He had told me once that the craving for nicotine masked his cravings for blood. I could understand that in some small way, as my own cravings for the red stuff where always there. Taking blood from Potter helped but I knew that wasn’t the answer. Even if I resorted to drinking Lot 13, there was only so much of that left at the manor, and it would soon run out as Isidor and Kayla were drinking it every day. I’d rather them have it than me. I didn’t want them resorting to drinking blood — not ever.

“Are you okay?” I asked Potter as he flicked his cigarette ash into the fire.

“I’m sick and tired of all this hanging around,” he said. “We should be doing something.”

“Like what?” I asked him, kneeling by his chair and stroking his forearm.

“I dunno,” he sighed. “But anything has got to be better than sitting around here waiting for something to happen. You know me, Kiera, I’m not happy just sitting around, I need to be in the thick of it.”

“As soon as we see what’s on that camera, we’ll be in a better place to…” I started.

“And what if there isn’t anything on that camera?” he asked, looking at me. “We know that arsehole McCain killed that woman, so why are we just sitting here?”

“Things are different now,” I said. “We’re not part of this world; we can’t just go storming about the place like we did before. We’ve got to take a back seat and wait. We can’t afford to bring attention to ourselves.”

“So why were we brought back then?” he asked me.

“I don’t know that,” I told him. “But McCain, Elizabeth, and her missing sister have something to do with the reason why we were.”

“What makes you so sure?” Potter asked, sitting forward in his seat.

“Because I’m being punished,” I told him.

“By who?”

“The Elders,” I said as I looked into the fire. “They told me that I would be cursed. Something tells me that this whole thing — the world being pushed — is like a big puzzle that needs putting back together again. Once we have all the pieces we’ll understand why we were brought back.”

“And you think that McCain, the Clarke twins, and whatever is on that camera are all pieces of this puzzle that the Elders have created for us?” he asked me.

“We’re pieces of that puzzle too,” I whispered. “We fit in somewhere.”

Before Potter had a chance to say anything else, Isidor came down the stairs and stepped into the living room. He wore his long, black coat with jeans and boots. His collar was turned up, his eyes were hidden by a pair of sunglasses, and in his hand he held his crossbow.

“Jesus, Isidor, you scared the shit out of me,” Potter sniped. “For a moment, I thought you were the Terminator!”

“Very funny,” Isidor said. “How do I look, Kiera?”

“Erm, like the Terminator,” I smiled at him. “What are you dressed like that for?”

“I’m on standby to go and get that camera as soon as we get the message from Kayla,” he said. “I want to look inconspicuous, but if I do get spotted, then no one will recognise me again.”

“I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” Potter groaned. Then, looking at me, he barked, “I thought you said we had to take a back seat, not draw attention to ourselves! So you don’t think the locals are going to notice one of the Men In Black strutting his stuff through town?”

I looked at Isidor and I did feel for him. It seemed that he always tried to do the right thing, but somehow got it wrong. Not wanting to hurt his feelings, I said to him, “Perhaps you should lose the shades.”

“Do you think so?” he said, taking them off and putting them in his pocket. “I just thought…”

“Well, do us all a big favour and don’t think,” Potter cut in. “Because when you start thinking, we tend to end up in the shit.”

“Okay, keep your wings on,” Isidor said.

“And if you make one more jibe about me being an angel, I’m gonna start swinging,” Potter snapped.

“Okay, let’s not get into a fight about it,” I said, standing up getting ready to jump between them. “Isidor, you were right about not wanting to be noticed, but just keep your crossbow tucked away and you’ll look fine.”

“I know where I’d like to stick that fucking crossbow,” Potter muttered, glaring at Isidor.

Ignoring his remark, I looked at Isidor and said, “As soon as we hear from Kayla, get going and collect the camera. The sooner we see what’s on it, the sooner we can get Kayla out of the school and solve this case.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Kayla

The body was lying on its side with one of its arms bent beneath it. The other was splayed out to one side and the hand that dangled from the end of it was fingerless. The body was dressed in a long, brown coat and faded blue jeans. On its feet were dirty, brown boots. Although I couldn’t see its face, I could tell by the shape and size of the body that it was a young male. His face was covered by a large-brimmed hat, which looked as if it had been made out of stiff, black leather.

“Do you think he’s dead?” Sam asked, not taking his eyes off the body in the middle of the camp.

Although I knew that he was, as I couldn’t hear a heartbeat, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Dunno.”

“I’ve got to know,” Sam said. “He might still be alive.” And he inched towards the figure on his hands and knees.

“No…wait!” I said, but Sam had picked up a stick and was prodding the figure’s leg with it.

“Hey, are you alive?” Sam said, and then leaning forward, he pushed up the brim of the hat to reveal its face. “What the hell…?” Sam gasped, sounding as if he had just been kicked in the stomach.

I moved forward an inch and then recoiled. The face had no eyes, not even sockets for them to fit into. He had no nose, mouth, or ears. It was blank like a canvas made of skin which had darkened and looked bruised.

“Let’s go!” I yelled, already turning and heading back through the bushes. The face reminded me of the featureless statue I’d seen in the forbidden wing at the manor.

“I think you’re right,” Sam groaned, coming after me.

Nettles and thorns scratched at our faces and snagged our school uniforms as we fought our way out of the bushes. Desperate to be away from the body and the bush, Sam raced forward, shoulder-barging me out of the way. I pushed back, and both of us collided, falling in a heap outside the entrance to the camp. We lay on our backs, arms flapping as we fought to untangle ourselves from each other. Once separated, we stood panting and sucking in air.

“Kayla, there’s a dead man in my camp!” Sam gasped.

“You’re not kidding,” I wheezed, catching my breath.

“Do you think he’s been murdered?” Sam asked me.

“How should I know? And I don’t think we should hang around long enough to find out!” I told him.

“Did you see his face and hand?” Sam asked.

“What face? He didn’t have one, did he?”

We stood in the woods, which seemed to be darkening by the minute, and looked at each other, both of us waiting for the other to say something. Sam spoke first.