Mutation (16 page)

My elbows dug into the table, hands nursing my throbbing head. I'd spent the whole day just trying to hold myself together, avoiding the stream of kids hammering me for every gory detail of the attack.

Even now, they were staring over from the other tables. I could hear them whispering, daring each other to come over and talk to me. I'd never seen so many of them reading the newspaper.

It was just like Shackleton had predicted. Even the kids who had seen it all happen seemed to be swallowing the
Herald
's version of the story. They'd all been so well trained to think the worst of us that they were more than willing to believe Peter had brought his injuries upon himself. To believe I was some doctor-attacking psychopath.

‘They saw him stand up,' said Luke, eyes down on the pile of cold chips in front of him. ‘He let go of Hanger and he stood up.'

‘Yeah, but then Pryor sent them all out,' I said. ‘Anything could have happened after that.'

The problem was, Shackleton's story kind of made sense. It was reality that was hard to swallow.

I gazed back over at the medical centre, barely seeing it. I could feel the tears coming again.

We'd left him. We'd left him behind and let Shackleton take him away.

‘We had a fight last night,' I said.

Luke looked up. ‘You and Peter?'

‘He left me a note. Wanted me to meet him out behind the school. But he didn't tell me it was him. So I went out there and …'

I hesitated. Somehow it didn't feel right to tell Luke the whole story.

‘I overreacted,' I said. ‘He blew up. And then security chased us off before we could talk about any of it. And then he came to school all angry, and –'

Luke stared across the table at me. ‘This isn't your fault, Jordan.'

‘Who tore down that curtain?' I said. ‘Who was Peter trying to protect when he –?'

‘When he smashed Hanger's face in?' said Luke. ‘Jordan, this didn't happen because you ripped a curtain. What Peter did today, that wasn't normal anger. This has been coming for a while.'

I put my head back down in my hands. ‘We need to get him out of there,' I said.

‘They'll let him out eventually,' said Luke. ‘They just need to keep him long enough to back up their story.' He glanced over at the medical centre. ‘Uh-oh.'

Officer Calvin was walking up the steps.

He didn't look happy.

Then again, Calvin pretty much never looked happy unless he was pointing a gun at someone.

For about five seconds, I wondered what he was up to. Then the medical centre doors slid open and I lost interest completely. Dad had just walked out, carrying Georgia on his back. He brushed past Calvin and continued down the stairs.

‘I'll email you,' I said, leaving Luke at the table.

I was over there almost before Dad's foot left the bottom step, doing my best to look like I hadn't just been through a trauma.

‘Jordan!' said Georgia, swinging down off Dad's back for a hug.

‘Hey, Georgia,' I said. ‘How was hospital?'

‘
Boring
,' she said heavily, rolling her eyes.

It was the best answer I could have asked for. Warmth surged back into my body – then retreated again as I saw the look on Dad's face.

‘Everything okay?' I asked.

‘Hard to say,' he muttered, starting towards home. ‘They told us she's fine. But that's about all they told us. What about you? The nurses were talking about a fight at the school. I saw one of your teachers come in with a broken nose.'

‘Guess what,' said Georgia.

‘Mr Hanger,' I said. ‘Yeah, he was – He got beat up pretty bad.'

Then, thinking it was better for him to hear it from me: ‘Did they tell you I was involved? That I was refusing to take the blood test?'

‘Yes, they did.' said Dad slowly. ‘But that's not what really happened, is it?'

My head started pounding again. ‘What?'

‘Jordan, if you didn't take the blood test, then why do you have that band-aid on your arm?'

I gaped at him, grasping for an explanation, but it was like there was a drum beating in my brain.

‘Guess what,' said Georgia again.

‘Why do you keep taking the blame for all this?' Dad pressed. ‘If you're doing this to keep someone else out of trouble …'

‘No – I'm not – I was just …' I trailed off, wishing Luke and I had spent more time getting our story worked out.

‘I don't know where the
Herald
is getting its information, but it's time someone set them straight.'

‘No – Dad, it's okay,' I said, ignoring the sudden temperature drop in my insides. ‘It doesn't bother me. I mean, as long as you and Mum know it's not true, why would I care?'

‘It bothers me,' said Dad. ‘Someone's getting away with this stuff at your expense. It isn't right.'

‘Dad, seriously, it's not a big deal.'

‘Jordan!' shouted Georgia. ‘I said,
guess what!'

‘What?' I said.

‘We're going home to Brisbane!'

Dad looked at me. ‘I assume Mum's talked to you?'

‘Yeah,' I said, grateful for the interruption. ‘Have you booked a flight yet?'

‘Hopefully,' said Dad. ‘Mum was going to sort it out this morning.'

Which means she's argued with every possible person
by now
, I thought.
And been knocked back by all of them.

We turned off at the park and headed up the street to our house.

‘What about Max?' said Georgia.

‘You can send him postcards from Brisbane,' said Dad. ‘And he can come and visit anytime he wants.'

‘What about Luke?'

‘Luke?' said Dad. ‘Jordan's friend Luke?'

‘Yeah. If we move away, then how will they get married?'

She stared at up at me, grinning wildly.

Dad raised an eyebrow. ‘We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

Our house came into view and Georgia wriggled down from my arms, running the rest of the way to the front door. By the time Dad and I caught up, the door was already open and she was pressing her hands against Mum's stomach.

‘Whoa, Mum,' she said. ‘Your baby is getting so fat!'

‘How is she?' Mum asked. ‘Anything new?'

‘Not since my email,' said Dad.

‘Hey, baby, I hope you don't get
too
fat,' said Georgia, speaking into Mum's bellybutton. ‘You might squash yourself!'

‘Seems normal to me,' said Mum. She smiled and turned back into the house.

‘Did you book the flights?' asked Dad, following.

Mum groaned. ‘I tried everything. I even tracked down Aaron Ketterley in town! Apparently, they're booked solid.'

‘For how long?'

‘I don't know. Indefinitely.' Mum dropped onto the couch. ‘Which doesn't even make sense. Think about it: who's left Phoenix since we got here?'

Dad thought. ‘There were those two security guards who left a couple of weeks ago.'

‘And?'

‘And … I don't know.'

‘We've only been here a couple of months,' I said, really not liking the direction this conversation was headed.

‘There must be something else wrong.' said Mum. ‘A technical problem they don't want to tell us about.'

‘Does the baby need a ticket?' asked Georgia.

‘No, sweetheart,' said Mum. ‘The baby gets to ride with me.'

‘And will Grandma and Grandpa come to the airport again?'

Mum pulled her in for a hug. ‘I'm not sure, Georgia. We'll see.'

‘I'm going to go and see Ketterley in the morning,' said Dad. ‘Sort this out.'

‘Dad –' I said, hating to think what might happen if they pushed this. ‘Why don't you just wait? I mean, we can stick it out here for a bit longer, can't we?'

Mum looked at me like she was seeing something for the first time. ‘Jordan …' she said slowly. ‘Do you know something we don't?'

‘No!' I said. ‘What would I –? I just think we should be careful. I mean, if they are covering something up about the flights …'

Dad put an arm around me.

‘I'll be careful,' he promised. ‘But I won't let my family be bullied.'

I put my head on his shoulder, wishing there was some way to tell him just how big these bullies were.

S
ATURDAY
, J
UNE
20
54
DAYS

This was bad.

What if Ketterley thought Dad knew too much?

What if he thought I'd told him?

No. I wouldn't. I would never put them in danger, and Shackleton knew it.

He had to.

I collapsed back against the tree, watching the people sitting in cafes all along the side of the mall, enjoying their Saturday like there was nothing wrong in the world.

Why couldn't my parents be like that?

Dad'll be fine,
I told myself.
He knows how to
handle himself.

I tried to push it aside and think about something else for a while. But every time I closed my eyes, I saw Peter screaming in pain. Or bodies bursting into nothingness. Or white-robed spectres coming to suck my brains out.

I wished Luke would hurry up and get here.

I looked over at the playground. Reeve's wife, Katie, was waiting at the bottom of the slide, hands outstretched to catch her son. We'd seen them playing there before, back when –

Back when there were three of them.

Then someone else ran out from behind the playground. It was Mike. He bolted across the grass, looking frantic, head spinning in all directions.

I pushed myself to my feet, psyching myself up for a chase.

But as soon as I started moving, Mike spotted me. He ran straight over, looking even more panicked than he had when he'd found us in the cave.

‘Peter,' Mike demanded. ‘Where is he?'

‘They took him to the medical centre,' I said.

‘Don't be stupid. Where is he?'

‘Mike, seriously, he's –' ‘He's not,' said Mike. ‘Not anymore. Someone's taken him.'

Chapter 19

S
ATURDAY
, J
UNE
20
54
DAYS

‘What?'

‘You swear it wasn't you,' said Mike, raking his hair back out of his eyes. ‘You didn't, like, break him out last night or something?'

I grabbed him with both hands. ‘What are you talking about? When did this happen?'

‘I just came from the medical centre,' he said, shaking me off. ‘We went in to see Pete yesterday after school, but they said he wasn't having visitors until this morning. So we go back, and the whole place is in freaking chaos. Pete's parents crying, nurses running in and out, the doc shouting at people to figure out where he's gone …'

I pictured Peter being taken into the medical centre, raging and screaming. Shackleton standing over him, smiling. Deciding he was too big a security risk. Phoning in the order to take away more than his legs.

‘How long ago was this?' I asked.

‘I dunno,' said Mike. ‘Fifteen, twenty minutes?'

I started running.

‘Wait,' said Mike, chasing after me, ‘they're not letting anyone in –'

He broke off, focusing on keeping up with me. I dashed along the row of cafes, the too-white walls of the medical centre already in my sights.

‘Why were you looking for me?' I asked, when it was obvious Mike wasn't going to give up and leave me alone.

‘We thought you guys –'

‘No, I mean, why do you care?'

I twisted sideways, edging between a cafe table and a couple of bikes zooming past in the opposite direction.

‘He's my – mate,' Mike puffed indignantly, still following.

‘Sure he is.'

I turned left, up the road between the mall and the medical centre. The only asphalt road in Phoenix. There was a truck parked at the end of the road. Two guys in white jumped out of the back and I almost had a heart attack.

But they were just delivery guys, bringing in supplies from ‘out of town'.

I threw a glance over my shoulder, checking that Mike hadn't caught my overreaction.

‘Look,' he said, starting to fall behind now. ‘We need him, okay?'

I shot past the truck and veered around the corner, onto the main street. I stopped for just a second, scoping out my surroundings. There were two security officers standing at the top of the steps to the medical centre, blocking the way inside.

Mike caught up, panting.

‘You know what?' he said, catching sight of the guards. ‘Bad idea.'

I ignored him, dashing up the steps two at a time. Mike didn't follow.

One of the guards held out a hand. ‘Sorry, Miss Burke. Emergency access only.'

I recognised the voice. Officer Miller, the guard from the lake.

‘It's an emergency,' I said, pushing the hand out of the way.