Fracture

She appeared as calm and unruffled as Zelazny had looked panicked. But Allie knew her well enough by now to know it was an act. She could see her tension in the way she held her hands, in the high set of her shoulder and the tiny lines around her eyes.

‘There is nothing more we can do right now,’ she was saying as Allie walked in. ‘We must wait for them all to go before we know how many we have left.’

The teachers grumbled, clearly not satisfied.

‘It’s not just students leaving,’ one of the science instructors said. ‘Sarah Jones is gone.’

Someone gasped and a whisper swept the room. Allie had to think for a moment before realising they must be talking about the biology teacher. Rachel had mentioned her before.

‘Are you certain?’ Isabelle’s face betrayed no emotion.

‘Her room was cleared out when I stopped in on my way here.’ The woman looked shaken. ‘We were friends. I didn’t know she was one of Nathaniel’s supporters.’

Isabelle didn’t pause to comfort her. ‘Does anyone know of other teachers who are missing?’

‘I haven’t seen Darren Campbell,’ a voice called from the back, and the crowd murmured restively.

‘What about Ken Brade?’ a maths teacher asked.

But someone quickly said, ‘I saw him out front helping August Zelazny.’

A sigh swept the group like a breeze as the teacher’s loyalty was confirmed.

‘I need specifics,’ Isabelle said. ‘Will two of you volunteer to verify all the teachers who are missing?’

Allie waited as the volunteers were chosen and Isabelle stepped down from her platform. The headmistress was instantly swamped in a sea of anxious instructors but she moved through them with steady determination.

‘I don’t know,’ she kept saying. ‘We’ll discuss this at the seven o’clock meeting. I’ll have all the facts then.’

As she emerged from the crowd her steely gaze met Allie’s. Her eyebrows winged up, and she motioned her closer. ‘With me.’

As they moved out into the hallway, Isabelle took her arm, pulling her swiftly through the crowds. Two of Raj’s guards materialised as if she’d conjured them, flanking them protectively.

‘Did Jules get away?’ Allie asked urgently. ‘Did Katie?’

Isabelle turned to face her. ‘I need you go to the agreed place until this is over,’ she said. ‘I can’t protect you right now. There’s too much happening at once.’

‘I can’t just hide while this is happening.’ Even as she said the words, Allie realised how much like Zoe she sounded. ‘I have to help.’

‘You cannot help. No one can help us now.’ Just for a moment Isabelle’s guard slipped and Allie saw anguish in her eyes. Her voice sharpened. ‘Just go back to the agreed place. Raj has guards all around it. I need you there. If you see the others on the way send them back, too but do not go looking for them. Not anyone.’

Allie opened her mouth to protest, but Isabelle grabbed her arm. The strength of her grip caught Allie off guard; Isabelle’s nails dug in like blades.

‘Allie, listen to me. Do you think for one moment all those drivers,’ she spat the word out, ‘are who they say they are? They have all the right paperwork but… look at them. Those are highly trained security personnel. Those are Nathaniel’s guards and they are all over my school.’ For a brief angry second, she shook Allie so hard her body quivered. ‘I need you all in a safe place. Now. Any of you could be taken and I wouldn’t know until it was too late. I cannot protect any of you right now. The plan is off until this is over. Go now.’

Her ferocity had the intended effect. As soon as she was released, Allie ran. But it wasn’t herself she was thinking about and, despite Isabelle’s words, it wasn’t the cellar she headed for. Instead, she vaulted the stairs two at a time, one word ringing in her panicked mind like an alarm bell.

Rachel.

THIRTY-TWO

I left her completely alone. If anything happens to her…

As she hurtled up to the top floor, Allie’s breath came in short gasps. At first she thought it was from the exertion of moving so fast but then, to her horror, her vision began to darken. Her throat had narrowed until she felt as if she were choking.

No please. Not now.

She fought to stave off the panic attack – breathing in through her nose and letting the air whoosh out through her mouth as she’d learned to do. Even as the walls closed in on her, she forced herself to keep moving.

I will not give in to this, she thought. I will get to Rachel and then I will have a nice, quiet nervous breakdown in the cellar with my closest friends.

At the thought she tried to laugh but it came out as a sob. Still the action served to loosen the constriction on her lungs and she took a welcome gulp of air as she crested the top of the stairs to find… nothing.

The long, narrow corridor lined with plain white doors was empty. The crowds from earlier had dissipated. There were no crying girls, no angry men in terrifying uniforms. There was nobody at all.

‘Rachel?’ In the emptiness the word echoed back at her mockingly.

She looked around in bewilderment. All the doors were closed. Would she have to go through each one?

‘Rachel?’ She tried again louder.

Halfway down the hallway, one white door swung opened with a quiet click.

A rush of relief made Allie dizzy. It was her own bedroom door.

Of course! Rachel must have gone in there to hide with Emma.

She hurtled down the hallway to the open door.

‘Rach!’ she called as she skidded through the doorway. ‘I was freaking —’

But it wasn’t Rachel waiting for her. It was Emma. And she was covered in blood.

Whirling, her heart hammering inside her chest, Allie searched the room for an attacker but, other than the blood-covered girl, it was empty.

She crouched down in front of her, resting her hands gently on shoulders as delicate as a bird’s wings, and looked for wounds. The girl appeared to be frozen with fear.

‘Emma!’ She turned the girl round and back again but could find no cuts. ‘Who hurt you?’

‘A man came.’ Emma’s big, frightened eyes stared up at her. ‘He was looking for you.’

Allie swallowed hard. ‘What did he say?’ Her voice sounded as if it came from far away. ‘Emma, where did the blood come from?’

Tears streaming down her face, the girl held up a folded piece of plain white paper, stained with bloody fingerprints.

‘He said to give this to you.’ As Allie took the page from her hands gingerly, a tear rolled down Emma’s cheek, tracing a path in the gore.

With her heart pounding out no recognisable rhythm and her head beginning to swim, Allie knew she couldn’t stop to read the note. Clutching it in her hand she turned back to Emma.

‘Can you run?’

The girl nodded.

Standing, Allie grabbed her hand – it felt so small and fragile.

‘As fast as you can, Emma.’ She was surprised by the steadiness of her voice.

They ran down the hall to where a door hid the old servants’ staircase. As the door swung open revealing the winding stone staircase, Emma recoiled.

‘It’s dark.’

But Allie wasn’t about to stop now. ‘Don’t be afraid of the dark, Emma. Be afraid of that man.’