Perfectly Reflected (24 page)

“So, what’s your point?”

“Let’s think about that for a moment, shall we?” she continued in the same patronising tone. “Who else has something that allows you to talk to dead people? That could be tested by scientists?” She paused and took off her sunglasses. “Definitive proof of life after death? It’s dynamite, and Rob knows it.”

I felt my mouth drop open in horror: she was right. If Rob told the papers then the world of the Dirges would be turned upside down. People would pay small fortunes to gawp at them, and the scientists would have a field day. The amulet would become so important, so valuable, that my chances of ever getting to use it to speak to Callum would be effectively zero. And as soon as the Dirges started draining the memories of the people who had taken it off, killing them in order to escape, all hell would break loose. It would be impossible to ever get the amulet back, and Callum would still be comprehensively lost to me.

“I have to stop him,” I muttered, getting to my feet. “He has to be made to understand.”

“Oh, it’s far too late for that. That’s the delicious irony of you chasing me all this way on the non-stop train. That’s why we made sure you followed me, to get you well out of the way. He’s on his way to the publicist right now.” She laughed again. “You’ve
already missed him. By the time you get into London the amulet will be
way
out of your reach!”

“You’re joking; you must be.” I could feel the tears starting to come again and fought them back, but what she said rang true. I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for Rob’s trick.

“No, sweetie. Time to say bye-bye, I think. Such a shame that Callum will always be just too far away for you to be able to reach him. I’m sure the publicist will have a field day with his chiselled good looks too. He’ll become quite the ghostly pin-up.”

It was such a hideous prospect, and so inevitable too. “Catherine, help me. Please. You can’t want to see that happen to them all. They were your friends, your family. Just tell me where Rob’s going and I can stop him.”

“What makes you think I know where he’s going?”

“If you’ve been so clever making plans with Rob to trick me, you must know.”

She shrugged and looked away, and I knew that she knew she had made a tactical error. I pressed on. “Come on, he was bound to be bragging about how clever he was to have worked it all out. I’m surprised that you didn’t want to benefit more from that. Why are you running away now?” She put her glasses back on as I spoke, hiding her face, and turned to look out of the window. It all suddenly became clear to me.

“Did you do a deal with him?” I asked incredulously. Catherine continued to ignore me. “You did, didn’t you? What is it, you get a cut of the cash in exchange for leaving you out of the story? Ongoing anonymity for the only undead person on the planet? Frankly I’m amazed that you care.”

“Well, that shows just how stupid you are then,” she spat
back, unable to maintain her silence. “I’m not doing this for free, and anyway, I’m not the only ‘undead person’, as you put it.”

“What do you mean?” Catherine suddenly looked shifty. “Come on,” I pressed. “Who are you talking about? Is it Veronica? Is she still here too?”

Catherine turned as far as possible towards the window but stayed silent. I realised that, for the first time, I had the upper hand. I decided to go for it. “So under the circumstances you’ll want me to stay quiet too, I presume?”

I paused for a second, enjoying her discomfort. Catherine shifted even further in her seat, trying to turn her back to me. “OK, this is the deal. I won’t tell either, but only if you tell me where Rob is going.”

She turned and shot me a look of pure venom. “You’ll never get there now anyway, so actually it doesn’t matter. He had an appointment this morning, with the guy who does the publicity for all the celebrities – Steve Scales. Or with his people, anyway. He was childishly excited about it.”

“You mean the one who deals with the reality TV contestants?”

“Yeah, him. He’ll get Rob some good coverage.” Infuriatingly she was right; the guy was good at his job.

“Do you know where his office is?”

“If you think I’m going to tell you anything else then you are very much mistaken. I’ve already told you more than you deserve. Now, go away. I don’t want to have anything else to do with you ever again.”

“Suits me, and if I find that you have been messing about in my life again, there’ll be trouble.”

“Oh, I’m so scared,” she bit back sarcastically as I turned to
leave. I ignored her and started to walk down the carriage to find the guard. I heard her voice call after me. “I look forward to reading all about you both in the papers. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving couple.”

I slammed the carriage door behind me as I left.

Station

My mind was racing as I walked down the train looking for the guard. I had to get there before Rob talked to the publicity people about the amulet. If someone else got to see the Dirges it was all over, I would never get the amulet back. It would be too valuable, too exciting for them to give up. But the other, bigger, problem was the danger. If he made a good connection with them, Rob could end up summoning the wrong ones when he started showing the amulet off. That had the potential to be suicidal. I shuddered at the memory of watching Grace being attacked by Catherine and I couldn’t wish that fate on anyone. But to be able to stop Rob I first had to find out where he was and get there as fast as possible. I pulled the huge phone out of my pocket and started trying to work out how I was going to persuade him. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t take the slightest bit of notice about what I was saying, but he had to be warned of the danger; I had to try. I unlocked the keypad and groaned out loud: the only number in there was Josh’s. I had no idea what Rob’s was. I was just going to have to chase after him.

I finally found the guard sitting in his little cubicle in the middle of the train. I took off my glasses and tried to look as miserable as possible, letting myself well up again. I knocked gingerly on the window.

He slid the door open. “Yes?” he asked in a bored voice.

“I’m really sorry,” I said in a voice suddenly more full of tears than I had intended. “I think I’ve got on the wrong train. I need to be in London.” I offered him my ticket. He looked faintly horrified at being confronted by a potentially hysterical teenager. “All right, love, calm down. I’m sure we can work it out. Now…” He pursed his lips and picked up a well-thumbed thick directory off a shelf. “Let’s check your connections.”

He quickly worked out that my best option was to continue to Reading and then get the non-stop express directly into Paddington. From there I could get the Tube wherever I wanted. He sold me an extension to my ticket and closed his door again with a distinct air of relief.

The next thing was how to find out where to go. There was no browser facility on my mobile, so I couldn’t do it that way, and waiting to get to an Internet café in London was just going to slow me down. I needed someone to help me. Luckily I had one number memorised.

“Grace, hi, sorry, look I need a favour, really quickly.”

“Alex, calm down. What’s the matter? Are you OK?”

“Not really. Catherine tricked me. She didn’t destroy the amulet but she doesn’t have it any more, either.”

“What! Where is it then? What’s she done with it?”

“I haven’t got time to explain, I’m sorry. I’m on a train, and I need an address in London. Can you look it up for me?”

“Of course, hang on a sec while I log on.” There was a pause and I could hear her long fingernails tapping on the keyboard. “Right,” she said finally. “Google is ready and waiting. What do you need to know?”

“The office of that publicity guy, Steve Scales; the one who does all the reality TV people.”

“Really? OK, if you say so.”

“I need the address, and the quickest way to get there from Paddington.”

“Paddington,” she said evenly. “You know, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but there’s just no time. Now, have you got it?”

“Hang on…” Grace was muttering away to herself and tapping on the keyboard as we finally pulled into Reading station. I hurried off the train to check which platform I needed for the express. Further along I could see Catherine stepping casually down to the platform, her almost empty suitcase in her hand. I took a wide route so that I didn’t have to go too close to her, grateful that I was never going to have to speak to her again.

I ran up the stairs and looked at all the departure boards. My train would be arriving in just a few minutes, so I didn’t have time to lose. I hurried down on to the right platform and positioned myself where the front of the train was going to stop. Across the tracks I could see Catherine on the westbound platform, studiously ignoring me.

Grace was still muttering to herself on the other end of the phone. “They don’t want you to find them easily, you know. Won’t the phone number be enough?”

“No, Rob is taking the amulet there to show them what it does. I
have
to stop him.”

“What! Rob? How on earth did he get involved in all this?” Grace’s voice shot up about three octaves. “The little—”

“Grace!” I interrupted her. “Please, calm down. Just find me the address.”

“OK, OK. I’m just going to try somewhere else on the
site.” At that point there was a deafening announcement about the imminent arrival of my train. “I’m not going to ask about that either,” she said in a resigned voice. “Not yet anyway. Don’t you think that’s good of me?”

“You are, as usual, the most loyal and best friend a girl could have, and I do appreciate it.”

“Alex!” The voice calling from across the tracks surprised me. I looked over to the other platform. Catherine was waving at me. “I forgot to ask,” she shouted. “That memory, the one Olivia stole – did you find anything out from that?”

“Are you trying to be funny?” I shouted back. “Olivia has nearly been broken by your warped mind.”

“Really? The thing is, it seems I wrote it all down, just in case.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I wrote
everything
down. I know exactly how to rescue my dear brother and his friends, but you will never find out!”

“What?” I shouted. “What do you mean?” The last words were drowned out by the express thundering into the station, and Catherine disappeared behind the blur of metal and windows. As soon as the train screeched to a halt I wrenched open the nearest door and ran across the carriage to peer at the opposite platform. It was impossible to see, so I dragged down the really stiff window and stuck out my head, scanning the platform. Catherine was nonchalantly walking up the platform away from me. I wasn’t going to be able to run up the train to get closer to her, there were too many people getting on. “Catherine!” I bellowed at the top of my voice, causing every other person on the platform to turn and stare. “If you know that you have to tell me! Don’t be so cruel!”

She stopped and turned, and the smug smile was back on her face. Slowly she waved. “Goodbye, Alex.”

“Wha—” My shout was cut off by an ear-splitting horn, blaring right behind me. I pulled my head back inside the window a fraction of a second before the West Country train thundered in beside me. Shaken, I lost sight of Catherine as it rumbled to a halt between us. I jumped back from the door to see if I could run down the carriage and catch up with her, but I was suddenly conscious of everything outside slowly starting to move. As the train picked up speed I slumped back against the wall, beaten. Whatever it was she was taunting me with, I wasn’t going to find out any more now.

“Damn it!” I muttered to myself, and was then conscious of a distant voice calling.

“Alex? Are you there? What on earth is going on?”

I looked around wildly, hoping for a fraction of a second that somehow Callum was back, then realised that I was still clutching my phone. I lifted it to my ear. “Sorry, Grace, that was Catherine, but she’s gone now.”

The anxiety was evident in her voice. “Alex Walker, this isn’t funny any more. You have to tell me what’s going on.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, really I am. I will tell you just as soon as I get back, I promise.”

“Are you safe? You’re not doing anything dangerous, are you?”

“I’m fine, honestly. I just need to get to that address before Rob does.”

“Wait a sec. I stopped searching while all the noise was going on. Now … got it! I don’t suppose you have a pen?” she asked in her best withering tone.

“Umm, no, you’re right. Nothing useful like that at all.”

“I’ll text it all to you, OK? To this new number?”

“Brilliant, yes, to this number. My old phone is completely dead. Thanks a million, Grace. I’ll call you later and give you all the details, I promise.”

“You’d better. In the meantime just keep safe, all right?”

“Yeah, I’ll try. Thanks again. Bye.” I snapped off the phone and within minutes there was the beep of an incoming text. I took a quick look. She had given me the full address and the nearest Tube station. One problem solved, then, but a much bigger one looming.

I couldn’t stay still enough to sit in a seat crammed in next to someone else, so I stood by the doors and watched the London skyline approaching from the unfamiliar angle. I wondered where Rob was, how far he had got on his journey to the publicist. I felt quite sick at the thought that at that precise moment he might be handing over my precious amulet to some stranger, someone who would only use it to make money. I couldn’t believe that someone I knew, and had once trusted, could be so mercenary. I still had no idea about how I was going to persuade him to hand it back, I just hoped that something good would come to me.

I didn’t dare let myself think about the other things that Catherine had said. One problem at a time, that was all I could deal with. I would get the amulet back and then worry about her and her strange comments.

Surprisingly quickly the train was pulling into Paddington station, and I was on the platform looking wildly around for the entrance to the Tube. There were huge numbers of people milling aimlessly about and I had to resist the urge to knock them out of the way as I tried to run to the escalators. It was equally busy
down in the ticket hall, with hordes of tourists consulting maps and peering at the self-service machines.

I rummaged around in my bag and pulled out my Travelcard, scanning around for directions to the right line. I needed the Bakerloo line to take me down to Piccadilly Circus. I finally spotted the sign over the heads in the crowd, and darted towards the escalators. Luckily everyone else was in a hurry too so I was able to run down to the platform.

It was warm down in the Underground, and stuffy, and it was a relief when the train finally thundered towards us, pushing a welcome blast of air up the tunnel towards the platform. The carriage was packed, but I was too nervous to sit anyway, so I hung on to one of the poles near the door, checking out how many stops I had to wait. Five stops before the one I wanted. Five interminable waits while the people shuffled off the train and another crowd forced their way on. I hung on tight to my pole, not wanting to get pushed back down away from the door. The last stop at Oxford Circus seemed to take for ever, as all the people getting on were carrying huge carrier bags full of shopping.

I checked my watch for the hundredth time, wishing I knew what time Rob’s appointment was. I clenched my hands and realised that they were damp with sweat. I wiped them down my trousers again, taking a couple of deep breaths. Finally the train set off and I positioned myself next to the door so I could get off as quickly as possible. As we sped into Piccadilly Circus station I could see that the platform was packed with people. The door seemed to take an age to open but finally I was free, dashing up the platform towards the exit. I ran as fast as I could, dodging around people dragging wheelie suitcases and shopping, apologising over my shoulder when I knocked into others. The tunnels to the exit
were like a maze, but finally I was running up the last escalator and through the ticket barrier.

I ran up the stairs of the nearest street exit without thinking, blinking as I emerged into the bright sunlight, then stopped abruptly as I realised that I didn’t know where I was going. Looking around I could see the huge advertising boards of Piccadilly Circus, flashing their messages, the statue of Eros, surrounded by people taking photos, and as I turned further, I saw that there were six different roads I could choose. I had no idea which was the one I wanted.

I was about to run back down into the station where I was sure that there would be a map when I caught a glimpse of someone coming up out of another exit. There was something familiar about his arrogant swagger that made me take a second look and hesitate, mid-turn. The sunlight had caught the bright shock of his blond hair – Rob. I couldn’t believe my luck; I was in time, he hadn’t handed the amulet over. All I had to do was follow him and stop him.

But he was on the far side of the junction; I had about three roads to cross to get to him before he disappeared again into London’s crowds. I hesitated for a brief second. The quickest way was probably to go back into the Underground and out of the exit he had just used. But that meant that I would lose sight of him, and I really didn’t want to do that. I scanned the various queues of traffic and decided to run for it. Dodging between taxis and white vans, I ran across the bottom of Regent Street, then straight across the next little road, putting out my hand to stop an oncoming car. The driver hooted crossly at me as he screeched to a halt, but luckily there was so much noise going on that the sound didn’t cause Rob to turn. He was striding purposefully up a wide road,
and I glanced at the building on the corner to see which street it was: Shaftesbury Avenue. That was where I was supposed to be heading; he was definitely still on his way to the agency.