Darkness Watching (Darkworld #1) (27 page)

“It
is
pretty weird,” said Sarah. “You didn’t say or do anything that might have upset him?”

‘Not that I know of,” I said.

“Asshole,” said Alex, again. “He’s not worth your time.”

It was all very well for her to say that, but his abrupt personality change was more than upsetting; it was frightening. Had Berenice had something to do with it? Things had been fine until she’d spoken to me…

Sarah and Alex talked me into watching Disney films until the early hours of the morning, to cheer me up. All I could hear in the background was the pounding of loud music coming from Terrence’s room.

“He’s not happy,” Alex remarked. “I saw him arguing with a guy outside earlier. I thought they were going to get into a fight.”

“At least he’s stopped leaving crap in the kitchen,” said Sarah.

I heard something else, then—the sound of people coming into the flat. Two voices in conversation: a guy and a girl. Before my brain caught up with me, I’d shot to the door to peek out the spyhole, shame at my pathetic behaviour only catching up with me as I recognised the guy as David. I couldn’t see the girl―she was just out of view―but I felt colder than I had on that mountain. David wouldn’t―would he?

I pressed my face against the door, but, short of actually opening it, there was no way of telling what was happening. David and the girl talked in low voices, too quiet for me to catch the words. Then I heard his door close.

It felt as if a dark space was opening up inside me, a growing hollowness that took my breath away.

“What’s going on?” said Alex.

“David’s out there. With another girl.”

“
What?
”

“What a dick,” said Alex, and made to open the door.

“Wait!” I said. “Don’t! Just leave it. He clearly never liked me anyway. It doesn’t matter.”

“Oh,
Ash
, don’t be so melodramatic!”

It was five a.m. before I eventually fell into bed, not to sleep but just to recuperate a little. One minute, emotionally overwhelmed, I felt I could never get up; the next, restlessness seized me and I leapt up to pace the room. I noticed in a detached way that ice crystals were beginning to form on my palms.
Does magic react to strong emotions?
I wondered.

To test this theory, I imagined my hurt and anger to be like a fireball inside me. I tried to coax the Darkworld into responding, but the cold feeling dominated, and I ended up lowering the temperature in the room so much that icicles formed on the windowsill. Not for the first time, I wondered about the extent of my abilities. Was there a limit to what I could do?

I watched as ice crept over my hands. Admiring the way the gleaming transparency covered my hands, I imagined slamming my fists into David’s and the anonymous girl’s faces.

Better control that urge.

I knew I had no right to be angry, that I’d never had a claim to him anyway, but I just felt wrong-footed and confused by the way he’d just taken off. I wanted answers, and I resolved to confront him in the morning, whether he had another girl with him or not.

I wish I’d kept my mouth shut. The truth is, I wouldn’t have got so carried away if people hadn’t kept asking me about him.

Letting the ice on my hands melt, dripping onto the carpet, I wondered again, why couldn’t I summon fire? Fire was supposed to be the simplest kind of magic, yet I hadn’t even come close to it. If I could do so much with ice, then why was this sort of magic beyond me?

Drained, I collapsed back on my bed and actually fell asleep this time.

I dreamt I was in the library in Blackstone. Numerous labyrinthine pathways ran between rows of endless bookshelves, and, when I turned around, I found I wasn’t by the entrance, but in the middle. I could no more discern the way I’d come in than I could the way out.

But something out there seemed to call out to me. Somehow, I knew there was something waiting for me at the end of one passage, even though in appearance it was identical to all the others. I took a step forward, into the maze.

Instantly, all the candles went out, plunging the tunnel into darkness. For a second, I panicked, then I remembered I needed only to contact the Darkworld to conjure a light of my own.

Holding the light above my head like a strange, wobbling piece of torchlight, I began to walk.

After only a short time, I heard footsteps behind me. I spun round, heart in my mouth, but there was no one there.

Every few minutes or so, I heard another noise, yet every time I turned around, I saw nothing but shadows.

I felt a sense of urgency building up inside me. I needed to find what I was looking for fast, before it was too late. What
too late
meant, I didn’t know. But I had to get there soon…

Then I rounded a corner and saw it. A pedestal at the end of the path, and, on top of it, a book. I couldn’t make out any details from here, but there was no doubt in my mind that this was what I was looking for.

I walked faster. The footsteps―yes, they were definitely footsteps behind me―seemed to quicken, too, but I was too intent on my goal to pay attention. Until a pair of hands clasped around my neck.

I was choking. Cold hands squeezed my throat, cutting off my air supply. I writhed, my vision going blue around the edges, a roaring in my ears, a bleeping sound, like an alarm―

I jolted awake. For one heart-stopping second, I thought there really was a stranger’s arm wrapped around my neck, then I realised it was my own. I’d been sleeping on it, and my entire arm had gone numb.

I sat up, flexing my arm to get feeling back into it, and looked at the clock.

Shit.
I’d forgotten to reset my alarm, and now had only fifteen minutes to get to campus.

I jumped out of bed and started feverishly pulling on my clothes. One glance in the mirror to check I was decent, then I grabbed my bag and left my room―

I stopped dead. David stood outside. And he wasn’t alone.

To her credit, the girl looked ashamed. She glanced at me, biting her lip, not meeting my eyes.

It was Claudia.

stared at her. My insides felt as though they’d plunged into something ice-cold.

“Hey, Ash,” Claudia mumbled. I’d never seen her look so uncomfortable. “Um, you’ve got a lecture now, right? I’ll catch you later, okay?”

I stood, numb, and watched her leave-until I noticed David was half-out the flat door. I crossed the corridor and blocked his way.

“What?” he said.

“What do you mean,
what
? What the hell was that? What was she doing here?”

“It’s none of your business who I talk to,” he said, pushing past me and striding off across the courtyard.

“Hey!” I followed him, having to speed-walk to keep up. “Why did you take off on me yesterday?”

He turned to face me, and the hostility in his expression rooted me to the spot.

“I’d have thought that was obvious,” he said, coldly.

And he hitched his bag back onto his shoulder and walked away.

“What,” said Alex, from behind me, “the hell was that about?”

I shook my head. “I’ve no idea. I didn’t say anything. I don’t know what’s with him. First he acts like I insulted him, then he hooks up with―”

I couldn’t go on.

“He’s a Class-A asshole.” Alex gave me a hug. “Don’t let him get to you.”

“We’re going to be late,” said Sarah. “We’d better move.”

“Ignore him!” said Alex, as we walked uphill toward campus.

“I just wanted to talk to him,” I said. “Don’t I deserve to know why he was such a dick?”

“Corner him after the lecture,” said Alex. “It’s in a public place. He won’t be able to make a scene. And, if he’s a twat, I’m happy to kick him in the balls for you.”

I managed a feeble smile. “Thanks.”

I’d never concentrated less in a lecture than my life. I just couldn’t believe how quickly things had gone downhill. David had treated me like shit, but that was nothing compared to the pain of Claudia’s betrayal. True enough, I didn’t think I’d ever mentioned David around her; she couldn’t have known I’d liked him―but surely he’d seen us together, had known she was my friend. I just couldn’t understand his complete personality change. I’d thought he was
nice.

My attempt to corner him totally failed. He’d taken a seat right at the back of the lecture theatre, so I struggled to keep an eye on him and take notes at the same time, and he must have slipped out of the room early, because, when I looked for him, he simply wasn’t there.

Not that I was about to give up so easily. I knocked on his door as soon as I got back to the flat, but got no answer. Alex joined me in enthusiastically hammering away at his door.

“Stop it, Alex,” I said. “He’s going to complain that we’re harassing him. Just leave it.

I jumped as the door opened. David glared at me. “What’s your problem?”

“I’m not the one with the problem,” I said. “I think you owe me an explanation.”

“For what?”

“Don’t play dumb,” said Alex. “I don’t think sleeping with someone’s so-called friend is a nice thing to do.”

“It’s none of your business who I sleep with.”

“It’s not that,” I said. “I just want to know why you ditched me last night. I deserve to know why you were a dick.”

He hesitated, biting his lip. “Look, Ash, I don’t know how to say this, but I don’t think we should be friends any more. I don’t think you should talk to me.”

“But―why?”

“Trust me, it’s for the best. I have my friends; you have yours. That’s okay.”

“What about that other girl?” Alex cut in. Right then, I wished she wasn’t there; it made this even more difficult. “She’s Ash’s friend. Well, she
was.
”

“Look,” he began, then shook his head. “Whatever. Sorry. I’ll leave you alone now. Just don’t talk to me anymore, okay?”

And he shut the door. I heard the bolt click and knew he’d knocked it from the inside.

“What,” said Alex, “is his
problem?
”

I had only one answer―
me
. Somehow, I’d made an enemy of him. Why, I didn’t know. But if he wanted to ignore me, then I wasn’t going to act like a pathetic stalker and hang around outside his door. However much it might hurt, if he wanted me to be invisible to him, then I would be.