Dead Flesh

“What should we do?”

“Get back to school,” I said. “We’ve been away long enough. Someone might realise that we’re missing.”

“Don’t you think we should go and tell the police?”

“Police!” I gasped. “Have you lost your mind?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking confused. “We’ve just found a dead body, Kayla.”

“We can’t go to the police. If we get the police involved they could cause all sorts of problems,” I warned.

“For who?”

“For us. Who else do you think? If we go to the police they’ll want statements and God knows what else!”

“So?”

“So that will lead them back to Ravenwood and McCain and he’ll know that we’ve been over the wall!” I explained.

“We can’t just leave that body in there,” he said, hooking his thumb in the direction of the bushes. “It wouldn’t be right.”

“He’s dead — in case you hadn’t noticed!” I yelled. “It’s got nothing to do with us. Don’t get involved, Sam. Please, for both our sakes.”

Sam looked at me, and he seemed almost disappointed, as if he had expected more from me somehow.

“If you don’t want to get involved, go back to Ravenwood,” Sam said. “If this gets back to McCain, then I’ll say that I came out here on my own. I won’t mention you.”

I stood and watched Sam start to walk away.

I couldn’t let him go on his own.

Birds sprung out of the trees above me, their wings sounding like shotgun fire as they beat together in the stillness of the wood. How did I get myself into this? I wondered. I just wanted to leave the camera for Isidor and get back to the school. With Sam heading away from me, I took the camera from my pocket and hid it beneath a pile of dead leaves by the entrance to the camp. Then, seizing the opportunity while I was alone, I quickly sent the following message:

Kiera, camera hidden on south side of school near to stream and huge pile of bushes. If Isidor can’t track my scent then he should be able to smell the dead body! Will have to explain later. Got to go! Kayla xx

Happy that I’d hidden the camera, I headed after Sam, hoping that I could change his mind about going to the police. I hadn’t taken more than a few steps, when I heard a rustling noise come from the bushes behind me. I spun round to see the faceless figure crawling out of the bushes.

I jumped in fear at the sight of him. He now had one eye, and it was fixed on me. It was blue and cold, and bore right into my skull. His second eye wasn’t quite formed yet, just a wet socket and it oozed pussy tears onto his cheek.

“Sam!” I shrieked. “Wait up! I’m coming with you.” Then turning, I ran as hard and as fast as I could through the woods. I didn’t dare look back, not even once. Sam turned around at the sound of my voice, and seeing the figure coming after us, he started to run. Branches and brambles tore at our faces and clothes as we darted blindly away. We flew over fallen logs, crawled under broken branches, and splashed through the stream. Then, Sam fell flat on his face. I glanced back over my shoulder and he looked as if he had been shot in the back. He lay face down amongst the pine needles and leaves, his nose buried in the dirt.

“Sam!” I called breathlessly. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t move. I looked quickly around to see if the faceless figure was close. I scanned the surrounding area but couldn’t see or hear anyone. I gingerly made my way over to Sam and knelt down.

“Sam, wake up!” I pleaded, shaking him.

Nothing.

I rolled him over and he flopped lifelessly onto his back. His eyes were closed and I could see that he had a large gash across his forehead. I shook him again.

“Sam! Please wake up!” I begged.

Then, without warning his eyes opened. He looked up at me and began to scream. I snapped my head around and glanced over my shoulder. Standing about two feet away was the faceless man. He stood there silently — not moving. The wet eye socket winked at me and my stomach lurched as if I were going to be sick. I looked back at Sam and dragged him to his feet. I threw his arm around my shoulder and screamed at him.

“Run! Run!”

I dragged Sam back to the tree by the school wall. He dropped to the ground and let out a mindless groan. I bent down and shook his shoulders with all the strength I had left in me. His eyes rolled in their sockets and I slapped his face.

“Sam! Wake up!”

He groaned at me again. I looked back over my shoulder and caught a glimpse of the faceless man approaching the tree line.

Snaking my arm through Sam’s, I dragged him back onto his feet.

“Get up!” I ordered at the top of my voice. Once he was standing, I gripped hold of his face and he blearily looked at me.

“Do you want to fucking die?” I screamed at him.

Looking back again, the figure was now striding towards us. I shoved Sam towards the wall and he began to moan at me.

“Please, Sam!” I begged him. “I can’t do this on my own!”

Sam started to sway slightly then straighten. He looked at me and I could see his pupils begin to sharpen and focus. I turned him to face the fast approaching figure and roared into his ear, “If you don’t get your freaking arse over that wall in the next two seconds, we are gonna die! Now move it!”

At last, realising his impending fate, Sam turned to face the wall and began to scramble up it. I followed close behind. If I’d been on my own like I’d planned, I would have just flown over the wall and been well away from that freak. But I couldn’t do that now — I couldn’t risk anyone in this world that had been pushed, finding out I was a half-breed. We hoisted ourselves up onto the branch and shimmied across it. Sam reached the other side of the wall first and without any hesitation, he threw himself from the branch and to safety. I got myself into position to jump, but the urge to look back one last time was too strong to resist. I glanced over my shoulder to see the faceless figure looking up at me, his one good eye staring into mine.

Then, he whispered something from a gash in his cheek. His voice was faint, but I heard what he said.

“Where’s Alice?”

“Who’s Alice?” I whispered back.

“Sister,” he said.

Then, he started to change. It was like his skin was turning grey. Cracks began to appear on his face and hands as he slowly turned to stone. Within seconds he stood motionless, like a statue that had been standing beneath the giant tree for hundreds of years.

Swinging myself from the branch, I landed with a thump in the grounds of Ravenwood.

Back in my room, I placed a wet towel across the cut on Sam’s forehead as he lay on my bed.

“I thought that man was dead!” Sam whispered, still not really believing what he’d just seen.

“So did I,” I whispered back, dabbing gently at the cut on his brow.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, as if I had all the answers.

“I don’t know,” I replied, wiping away his blood. My throat began to turn dry, and my stomach knotted. I glanced over at my bag tucked beneath my wardrobe and pictured the bottles of Lot 13 hidden within it.

“I think you know more than you are letting on,” Sam said, taking my hand from his brow and holding it in