“He doesn’t like me.” Justin fidgeted.
“You saved my life, he’ll love you.”
“Maybe.” Justin’s eyes were tight with anxiety.
“We’ve got a spare room down the hall. Dad will read you the riot act, but he’ll let you stay. If you’re helping me with the ghosts he won’t have a choice.”
Justin relaxed. “Alright. Let’s go and call Pete.”
“There’s something we need to do first.”
“What?”
I kissed him.
Early morning mist clung to the grass verge and the sky remained grey with lingering dawn. I was the only one waiting at the bus stop; it was too soon even for the commuters to gather.
There was no sound, but instinctively I looked along the road. Pete was coming to meet me, just as he’d promised. I checked on Justin. He was standing a little way away, too far for Pete to identify him, but close enough to weigh in if the dead found us. As he caught sight of Pete, Justin’s fists closed, but he made no further move. He was still looking out for me. I was safe. So instead of seeking ghosts, I was able to watch Pete approach.
He moved with a heavy tread. In the old days he’d walked as if there was a hip-hop tune bouncing around in his head, all energy and jigging rhythm. Now his music had been silenced. I wondered when that had happened, if it was only since he learned of his role in Justin’s death, or if it had been long quieted. I hadn’t been paying attention.
Pete’s head was bowed, but a jerk of his shoulders told me he’d seen me. He shifted his bag higher and his step stuttered in hesitation, then he kept walking.
He didn’t raise his head until he drew level with me. Then he dropped his bag at his feet and looked up. He wore a 5 o’clock shadow that said he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days and his face was drawn and tired. His eyes were red, the skin around them grey from lack of sleep. Even the black stubble on his head had grown out enough to begin to curl once more. The bristles looked soft enough to touch. I tucked my fingers inside my coat.
“Hey, Pete.”
“Taylor.” He swallowed and kicked a stone that lay on the path. It skittered into the bus stop with a bang.
“Are you alright?” My eyes skimmed his face, seeking an answer.
“I-I’m not sure.” Pete licked his lips. “What happened to James and the others, do you know?”
“I know.” I looked up as the sound of an engine warned us the bus was on its way. “Let’s talk on the bus.”
He nodded and avoided my gaze until the behemoth pulled into the stop.
Once on I led him upstairs, giving Justin a chance to get on the bottom deck. I climbed the spiral steps, wobbling awkwardly as the bus moved off, then sat on the back seat, offering Pete plenty of room. He collapsed by the window, putting his bag between us.
“So what happened?” he said, finally.
I took a deep breath. “On my tenth birthday,” I began, “I started to see ghosts.”
“Oh, for the love of…” Pete leaned back. “I thought you were going to be honest.”
“Just hear me out.” I rubbed my hair out of my face. “This is what you always wanted to know, why I started acting strange. It’s my family curse. I see dead people.”
“Like the film?” Pete sneered.
“If you like. If a murder victim touches me they leave a Mark on my skin.”
Pete regarded me carefully. “That glove you wear?”
I waved my unmarked hand. “I don’t want to accidentally transfer the Mark to the wrong person.”
“The wrong person being?”
“An innocent. Someone who didn’t commit murder.”
“And once the ghost touches you?” His voice trembled between mockery and curiosity.
I inhaled again. “I have to track down their murderer and pass the Mark on to them. Then the Darkness comes to take them away.”
Pete’s fingers tightened on his bag until the skin over his knuckles almost cracked. “Something took James, I saw it.”
“It’s why I joined the V club. I had to find out who killed Justin and send them into the Darkness.”
“Are you telling me
Justin
is a ghost?”
I nodded. “He was in school that day the police came in. He put a Mark on my hand before I realised he was dead.”
Pete swallowed. “You’re telling me Justin knows who killed him.”
“He knows about you, yes.”
Pete’s lips whitened and he shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”
I glanced out the window. “Justin’s dead, you believe that, don’t you?”
“Of course.” Pete exhaled shakily.
“Alright then, wait here.” I rose from my seat and, as the bus jerked and shook, I headed towards the stairs. Justin stood at the bottom, like a guard, with one hand on the rail.
“Pete doesn’t believe me.” I caught the rail myself as the bus rounded a corner. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but–”
“You want me to go and see him.”
I nodded.
“I’m not ready for that.” Justin swayed in place and I watched the emotions war across his face. “Fine,” he snapped. He edged past me and took the stairs two at a time. I followed more slowly.
When I reached the top I saw Pete lurch to his feet. Justin now stood in the middle of the aisle, holding the chairs on either side of him.
Pete panted frantically, almost choking on his own breath. “You’re dead. I saw you–”
“You helped them kill me, you dick.” Justin’s tone was low and dangerous.
“God.” Pete’s knees hit the chair and he sank down. “How is this possible?”
“It’s a lot to go into.” I slipped under Justin’s arm and placed my hand on his chest, holding him back. “For now, just accept that Justin’s come back a ghost.” I kept my eyes on Pete. His mouth was trembling as if he was going to cry. My own lungs tightened. “Is there anything you want to say to him?”
“God, yes.” Pete raised his head. “I’m
so
sorry. I didn’t know. I mean I knew something was way off, but I wasn’t sure, and it was V, man, you just do what you do. You
know
.”
Justin grunted.
“If I could take it back, I would. I’d do anything. When you fell – shit.” Pete was trembling all over now. “I threw up, I’ve never been more scared. And James said this was the thing that would keep us all tied to V. We were lifers. No leaving the club. Ever.” He rubbed a quivering hand over the bristles on his head. “And after that I really wanted to leave.” He glanced at me. “When James disappeared into that darkness, the first thought I had was,
I can get out now
. Isn’t that terrible?”
I had to leave Justin, but my fingers were reluctant, I trailed my hand along his arm as I went. Then I sat down next to Pete. “James is gone. I’m going to get this whole thing stopped so it can’t happen to anyone else.”
Pete shook his head. “You can’t stop it, Tay, there’re members everywhere. The head told us there’s an old member in the police…”
“I know.” I touched his hand and he flinched away. “If necessary I’ll go to the papers.”
Pete swallowed and rubbed his stubbled head.
“You don’t believe I can fix this, that’s fine, I don’t need you to. But you do believe me about the ghosts?”
“Yes,” Pete whispered.
“Alright.” I looked at Justin. “The dead are why I behaved so strangely. And I couldn’t hang out all those times because I really was doing family stuff with Mum, curse stuff.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Pete’s eyes skidded over my face. “Don’t answer that, I understand. I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“You had to see Justin with your own eyes.”
The ghost in question was still in the middle of the aisle, but he had turned his back on us and was now guarding the stairs. My shoulders felt lighter than I could remember. I had been carrying the weight of enforced attention for so many years; the relief of letting someone else share the burden literally made me sit up straighter. I felt as though I was breathing for the first time.
I turned back to Pete. “I’m going to tell Hannah.” I fiddled with my blazer. “She has to forgive me.”
“If Justin speaks to her, she will.” Pete stared at him once more. “She loves you, she’ll come round.”
“What about you?” I swallowed nervously. “Will you come round?”
The bus drew to a stop and Pete looked up as Justin stood to attention. “You know what I’ve done. You don’t want to be friends with me anymore.”
I grabbed for his hand and this time he let me hold it. His skin was drier than it used to be and his nails were cracked. I squeezed his knuckles under mine. “I’m your friend, Pete. I always was. Now you know about me we can both start over.”
His hand twitched. “Tell me what happened to them – to James, Tamsin and Harley.”
“They went to be judged.” I decided to stay quiet about Anubis, I thought that might be one truth too far. “They won’t be coming back.”
“I should have been taken too, shouldn’t I?” Pete’s eyes burned into mine. “That Mark, you were meant to put it on me.”
Justin spoke, his voice seemingly floating from his turned back. “She kept the Mark herself and the Darkness took her, like it did the others. She almost got trapped inside. For you.”
Pete whitened further. “You did that for me?”
I said nothing.
“Why?”
“I told you, you’re my oldest friend.” I struggled to keep my voice steady. “Please say we’re OK.”
Pete forced a smile as the bus pulled into the school stop. “I’ll never be able to repay you.”
“That’s alright,” I grinned. “I take lunch money.”
With an explosive laugh, Pete shoved me and I lurched to my feet. Together we followed Justin into the street. The school loomed in front of us, a promise of a difficult day ahead.
Justin caught my hands and pulled me close. “I’m going to patrol; it’ll be better than just hanging in one place.”
My heart rose as his head dropped and his lips hovered over mine. Pete cleared his throat and turned away. The faintest hint of breath touched my mouth and I opened my eyes in surprise as Justin kissed me. I pressed my lips against his and inhaled him in; the intensity of his scent, the suggestion of moisture on his skin, traces of life. My lungs tightened and my heart raced. I clenched my fingers in his blazer until I felt my knees begin to quake, then I pulled away with a tremulous sigh.
Justin stroked my cheek with his fingertips. “I’ll be here at lunchtime if you want to see me.”
I smiled. “I want to see you.”
“Alright then.” He stepped backward. I’d better get on with it.” He glanced at the school gate, as if he wished he was going in with me and I released his hand. He grinned and his hair flopped into his face. “Have a nice day.” He jerked his head. “Get going.”
“I’ll miss you.” I swung my backpack and headed for the entrance. “See you later.”
Pete jogged until his stride matched mine. “So… you and Justin…”
“Yes.” The smile crept back onto my cooling lips.
“He’s dead.” Pete shuddered.
“Yes.” I raised my eyebrows.
“OK then.” Pete stuck his arm through mine and I froze momentarily. Then I carried on walking as if nothing had happened, terrified of breaking this fragile new thing between us.
“This is going to take a bit of getting used to,” he said and I nodded, looking for the first time in years at the flowers in the beds, the noticeboard by the main office and the mural on the outside of the sixth form centre.
Then I really did freeze. Hannah was walking from the direction of the library.
“What has she done to her hair?” My horror was focused so strongly on the travesty that I barely saw the two girls walking arm in arm with her.
Pete hissed through his teeth. “It doesn’t suit her.”
I blinked, blindsided, as the three came closer, all with matching alice-bands and brown shoulder-length bobs. Hannah’s hair was still a mass of frizz, but she had tried to tame it with some product or other and it hung, lifelessly, along her face.
She was leaning into the girl on the left, giggling at something she said. Then she saw Pete with his arm in mine. Her feet tangled in one another and she would have tripped if she hadn’t been held up by her new friends.
“We need to talk,” I called.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
Her new friends raised their heads and the trio started to march around us.
“Please, Han.” I injected a note of pleading in my voice. Her chin jutted, she was hardening her heart against me.
“Just for a minute.” Pete weighed in on my side and I suppressed a surprised gasp. “Hear her out and if you still aren’t interested, I won’t let her bother you again.”
I bit my tongue. If Hannah didn’t cave for Pete, then she wasn’t going to.
“Come on, Hannah, we were going to the music room, remember.” Her new friends tugged on her arm, but to my delight she pulled free.
“I’ll meet you there.” She waved them off. “I have a thing to do here. It won’t take long.”
I didn’t take my eyes from her face, as the muttered complaints of her new friends grew more distant.
“I… like your hair,” I started.
Her hand rose, as if to touch the alice-band, then stopped and dropped to her side. “What do you want?”
“I haven’t been fair to you.” I tried to move closer, but Hannah stepped back, out of my orbit, and I stopped. “I know I cancel arrangements at the last minute and blow you off with no explanation. I’ve been a lousy friend. But, things are going to change and I want to tell you what’s been going on with me.”
Hannah glared at Pete. “You were the one who told me not to bother with her any more and now look at you. Were you just trying to get me out of the way?”
Pete shook his head with a snort. “She’s going to tell you what she told me, Han. It’ll be hard to believe, but you should listen.” He released my arm and backed off. “I’ll save you a table in the common room.”
I edged nearer to Hannah. “Can we sit? There’s a bench.” I gestured to the side and she nodded.