‘What do you want, Layla?’ asked April. ‘If this is about Milo …’
‘It’s not about Milo,’ said Layla. She had expected anger, but Layla just sounded miserable. Close to tears in fact. ‘It’s
about me. It’s
me
they’re after.’
‘After you? Who’s after you?’
‘
They
are. You know who I mean. They think I—’
There came a sharp rapping on the door.
‘Who’s in there? Open this door at once!’ They both recognised Miss Holden’s voice.
‘Please, I haven’t got much time,’ said Layla, jumping forward and clutching April’s hand. ‘They can’t see me talking to you. You’ve got to help me, April, please. You don’t know what they’re capable of.’
‘Who? How do you think I can help?’
‘Don’t play the innocent!’ she snapped, tightening her grip on April’s hand, ‘You
know
, I’ve seen it in your face. They’ll tear me apart, like those foxes in the woods.’
‘Foxes? What foxes?’
‘You know. You of all people must know!’
There was another rap on the door.
‘Open this door right now!’
Layla clutched at April’s arm, making her wince. Her eyes were wild, she looked terrified.
‘Layla, listen to me …’ said April.
‘No, you listen,’ said Layla, pulling her forward and whispering urgently in her ear. Then, just as suddenly, she turned away and unlocked the door.
‘Sorry Miss Holden, we were just having a little chat,’ she said as the teacher burst in. ‘You know, about losing people and stuff.’
Miss Holden looked suspiciously from one girl to the other.
‘Is this true, April? Are you okay?’
‘Yes, yes,’ said April, flustered. ‘We were just talking, like Layla says.’
The teacher looked at them, a sceptical expression on her face.
‘All right, get moving. The bell’s gone.’
April was glad to get away, thinking about what Layla had whispered in her ear.
‘They’re going to kill me.’
‘But I don’t want a party.’
‘Of course you do, darling. Everyone wants a party. It’s what civilised women live for.’
Silvia was sliding dresses down her wardrobe rail, the wooden hangers clacking against each other. ‘Not this, no …’ she muttered to herself. ‘Too sheer … too formal … too frou-frou …’
After their fight the night before April had assumed her mother would ground her for a month, but at the mention of a party at Davina’s, she had immediately forgotten all about it.
God, she’s so shallow
, April thought.
All she wants for me is rich friends
. Friends like Layla, presumably. April thought back over their strange encounter in the locked classroom and remembered Layla’s terrified face. She had never been very fond of the girl, but she’d seen how scared she was. Of what, though? Had someone threatened her? It couldn’t have been the Faces – Layla was one of the top dogs in that particular pack. And who else could frighten someone like Layla? The vampires? But if she was friends with all the Suckers, why would they want to hurt her?
‘Can’t I just wear something of my own?’ asked April, sitting on the edge of her mother’s bed. ‘I’m not going to a masked ball. Anyway, all your dresses make me look fat.’
Silvia looked at her sharply.
‘You do not
look
fat, April, because you
aren’t
fat. We just have to choose something flattering, that’s all. If we’d had a bit of notice …’
‘Well I can’t help it if I get a bloody party foisted on me,’ she said sulkily.
Silvia turned and held a bottle-green dress up against herself. ‘It is not a “bloody party”, my sweet, it is a golden opportunity for you to show people how lovely you are. And you will look fabulous in this. Put it on.’
‘Mum …’
‘Put it on.’
Sighing, April pulled it on. It was a soft jersey wrap dress. Not too formal, very flattering.
‘See?’ said Silvia, standing behind April as she looked in the full-length mirror. ‘You look beautiful.’
It was almost true. There was no doubt the dress was a perfect match for her figure, but April wasn’t about to admit that. She wished Gabriel was here to see her looking so nice, but then immediately remembered how they were supposed to be acting like strangers. She had no idea if he’d even be at the party and if he was, would he even look at her?
‘So why don’t you tell me what the real problem is?’ said Silvia softly. ‘You’ve been in a terrible mood for days.’
How about ‘my vampire boyfriend is pretending to hate me’ and ‘my mother’s keeping secrets from me’?
she thought, but decided not to say it out loud. She had no desire for a replay of last night’s fireworks.
‘I just hate everyone looking at me,’ said April. ‘They do it anyway, because of Dad and the Marcus thing, but throwing this party isn’t for me, it’s an excuse for them. And I don’t … I really don’t want to go back to that house, Mum. I was almost killed there, remember?’ She shivered. ‘It’s horrible to even think about it.’
‘I know, darling, but you know what they say about falling off a horse: you’ve just got to get back on.’
‘It’s not the same as riding a horse, Mother.’
‘I know, but the Osbournes were very good to you and it never does any harm to be polite. I think they feel a bit responsible for what happened.’
Yeah, and you don’t want Davina’s mum to stop inviting you round for cocktails
, thought April, but she held her tongue. After all, April really didn’t have much choice. First, Caro
was right, they needed to get in with the Faces, make them believe they were potential recruits; it was their only chance of getting information about the Vampire Regent. And second, if she was going to save Gabriel, she had to find that book. Admittedly, the Osbournes’ library was a long shot, but it was the only lead they had at the moment.
‘Be back by midnight, it’s a school night, remember?’
April sighed. She knew her mum was being nice, but she was still disturbed about the conversation she’d overheard the night before. There was something her mother wasn’t telling her.
‘So what did you do today?’ April asked.
Silvia hesitated, then stood up, putting dresses back on their hangers.
‘Oh, not much. Just went to that lovely little deli in Hampstead, the one that does those little olives? Then I had coffee with Barbara, you know, Davina’s mum? No gossip though.’
April went cold. She distinctly remembered Davina saying her mother was out of town. Why would Silvia lie? The sad truth was April was never that sure about her mother. She should have been her rock, the one person she could rely on, but Silvia had always been flaky and evasive. She didn’t even know where her mother had been when her father was killed. She had some story about being on her way back from Grandpa Thomas’s house, but something about it didn’t ring true.
‘Mum, can I ask you something?’
‘What?’
‘Why were you at Grandpa’s the day Dad was killed?’
Silvia met her gaze.
‘I had to speak to him about something. Family business.’
‘But what family business?’
‘Something about Grandpa’s will.’
‘Why? What’s wrong with Grandpa? Is he ill?’
‘No darling, he’s strong as a horse. But – and I know this is hard to face, especially right now – he’s not going to live for ever and we need to plan for the future.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Well, the timing was pretty bad, to say the least, wasn’t it? I was worried you’d react like this, assume that Grandpa was going to die. It’s not what you needed to hear.’
The doorbell rang.
‘In fact, that will be him now.’
‘Gramps is here?’
‘We’ve a few things to sort out, legal stuff about your dad,’ Silvia called over her shoulder as she ran down the stairs to open the door. ‘But I think he mainly wants to see the birthday girl.’
April followed her down and laughed as Grandpa Thomas swept in, his wild white hair sticking out of a big fur hat. ‘Princess!’ he boomed, catching April in his arms. ‘Give your old granddad a hug. It’s so cold outside.’
‘Careful, Dad,’ said Silvia, ‘she’s only just out of hospital, remember?’
‘I’m sorry, Princess,’ said Thomas, letting her go. ‘I just wanted to hug my beautiful girl. But your mother’s right, shouldn’t you be sitting down?’
‘I’m not an invalid, Gramps.’
‘You got a hug for me too?’ It was only then that April realised there was someone else, standing behind her granddad.
‘Uncle Luke!’ she said, pleased. April didn’t know her mother’s brother very well, but there was something reassuring and solid about him.
‘Here, we got you a little something,’ he said, handing April a small box wrapped in gold paper. ‘Don’t worry, your mother told us what to buy,’ he added in a whisper.
April tore it open and found a beautiful pair of toffee-coloured cashmere mittens inside. They were perfect: they even matched her new bag. She glanced at her mother – sometimes she did get things right.
‘Oh they’re lovely,’ she said, hugging the men. ‘Thank you.’
They hung up their coats and moved into the living room.
‘So are you in London permanently now?’ April asked Luke.
‘He has some swish flat in Chelsea when he could be staying with me,’ said Thomas. ‘Helping out his old dad.’
‘You don’t need anyone to look after you,’ said Luke. ‘You’ll outlast us all.’
April wasn’t sure that was true. Despite her mother’s re-assurances, her grandfather looked older, more frail than he had last time she saw him. He’d always had a face like wrinkled leather, but he seemed paler now, less solid.
‘Well, you look all grown up, Princess,’ said Thomas. ‘My little girl has flowered into a beautiful woman.’
‘Gramps …’
‘April’s having a birthday party at her friend Davina’s.’
Thomas frowned. ‘You’re going back there?’ He glanced at Silvia, his concern obvious.
‘It’s okay Gramps, really. I can’t keep hiding from things. I’m not exactly jumping for joy going to that house, but you can’t blame bricks and mortar for the way some loony behaves. I just want to get it over with and move on.’
‘But it’s not safe in this neighbourhood. That’s why I’ve come to see you. Someone needs to watch over you both.’
‘I don’t need looking after,’ said Silvia.
‘Yes you do, everyone does. Someone is out there, and who knows what they’re planning?’
‘They never caught this Marcus guy, did they?’ asked Luke.
‘No,’ said Silvia, glaring at her brother. ‘But there’s no need to worry April about that. The police are outside.’
‘One car? Pah! How will that stop a killer?’ said Thomas.
‘Yeah, thanks, you’ve really made me feel safer,’ said April.
‘Come on, let’s get you to this party before they scare us both to death,’ said Silvia, grabbing their coats and steering April towards the front door.
‘You watch out for those boys,’ shouted Thomas after them. ‘You never know what they’re up to.’
Yes, Gramps
, thought April sadly.
You’re absolutely right
.
April didn’t want to go in. She hadn’t been sulking when she had said she didn’t want a party – she was genuinely afraid
of going back to the Osbournes’ mansion. All those nights lying in the hospital, she would close her eyes and see freeze-frame moments of that horrible Winter Ball, like a series of overexposed photographs she couldn’t erase. The tears in her mother’s eyes as they toasted April’s dad, Gabriel standing across the dance floor looking amazing, the heat of Ben’s desk lamp as her face was pushed towards it. And then the terror of running through the cemetery, her blood dripping onto the snow, the chilling feeling of being hunted, cowering behind a headstone trying not to breathe, believing that she would never see her family or friends again. And then that wonderful, terrible final image of Gabriel smiling down at her, his lips descending, their amazing kiss as the snowflakes drifted down.
April shut her eyes and took a deep breath.
‘April?’ asked her mother. ‘Are you okay?’ She was grateful that Silvia was dropping her off in the car. The nights were short and dark and the Osbournes’ drive was long and creepy; she wouldn’t have wanted to walk along it alone.
‘Yes, it’s just … there are so many bad memories here. I was almost killed here. It’s great that my friends want to help me get over it. But I still … I’m afraid to go back in there.’
Silvia reached over and squeezed her hand. ‘It’s only natural you’re feeling apprehensive, darling, but honestly, I think you’re going to have a great time. If you’re not, or if you feel sick or ill or anything else, just give me a call and I’ll be straight over, okay?’
‘Thanks, Mum. You can be human sometimes after all.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment,’ said Silvia with a wry smile, opening the door. ‘You have a fabulous time. And no kissing!’