Ravensborough (21 page)

‘No, because I like them,’ I said, trying to explain to her how I felt. ‘They’re good people, just like you and Ben. They can’t help being a Pagan any more than you can help being a Rationalist. And it was all working out fine until – well – until things got a bit more complicated.’

‘They got
more
complicated? Is that even possible?!’

I told her about the dark elf mark on the inside of Gethan’s arm, the explanation that he had given. Once I started talking, everything spilled out of me in a torrent. I told her everything, about the locket, my attraction to Gethan, even my dislike for Liv. I told her about Sam’s ultimatum, and my fear that there was something out there that was planning to hurt me.

‘This is a lot to take in,’ she said looking at me. She looked a bit shocked. ‘You’ve been living quite the double life.’

‘I know, I would have told you but I was afraid...’

‘I know. You were afraid that I’d freak out, tell everyone and that you would ruin our friendship.’

‘You’re not freaking out though,’ I said in surprise.

‘No, I’m not am I? Sam is,’ she said drily.

‘He’s trying to protect me,’ I explained. ‘He thinks that I could be in real danger and he wants to keep me safe.’

‘I’m worried about you too, but at least I’m not threatening you,’ Mei pointed out.

‘You don’t think he’s just worried about my safety?’ I asked.

‘I think his feelings are genuine enough, but I don’t think that justifies it, no. Nobody should put up with that kind of controlling behaviour from their boyfriend. And the funny thing is, I never thought that you would be one of the ones who would put up with it. I guess I thought you were stronger than that.’

There were few things that Mei could have said that could have hurt me more. I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. And I knew that she hadn’t said it just to upset me. She genuinely thought that. Which, oddly enough, made it hurt all the more. I stood up and walked towards the window. The bird was still there. Behind it there looked to be hundreds of them stretched across the breadth of the sports fields. What was even stranger was that they were silent, not making a single sound. It was eerie.

‘He’s just trying to protect me,’ I said again. There must have been an edge to my voice because she changed the subject, and spoke in a softer voice.

‘What are you going to do?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know, Mei. I just don’t know.’

Later on, when Sam I returned home, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Mei had said. Sam was worried about me, but did that justify him telling me what to do?

I rang Aradia and apologised for cancelling our meet up. I explained what was going on, feeling a little bit embarrassed explaining how Sam refused to meet up with her again, especially considering how welcoming both her and Lavendell had been towards him the day before.

‘It’s ok’, Aradia said quietly. ‘I’m used to it. At least you haven’t turned against me.’

If only she knew. I hadn’t told her about Sam’s ultimatum, and I wasn’t planning on it.

Sam and I spent the rest of the evening going through the last minute details for the party the following night. We made up lists of everyone who I had invited, and I had to admit that, if most of the people I’d invited actually came, it wouldn’t be a bad party after all. I wished that I could invite Aradia and Gethan, but it just wouldn’t work.

We went to the grocery store and picked up some drinks and food for the party. I was actually having a good time. I put Mei’s warnings about his controlling behaviour to the back of my mind, as I tried to relax and enjoy the time that we had before Sam flew back to Ireland. Sam was being his usual charming self, and it was easy to remember why I’d fallen in love with him in the first place. I knew that he had my best interests at heart. No matter what Mei thought.

When we got back to the house there was yet more party planning. Sam and I sat in the living room with my laptop, scrolling through all the songs in my collection. We decided on a mix of different song styles. My taste in music was quite alternative and so was Sam’s. We decided that we should play the music that I liked to listen to, but also some mainstream songs in case my guest’s musical tastes were a little tamer. My guard was completely down when all of a sudden Sam reached across and picked up my locket from where it had worked free of my top.

‘That’s unusual’, he said eyeing it closely. ‘Where did you get it?’

I froze for a second. After the conversation that Sam and I had had the night before, I was reluctant to tell him that I was wearing a Pagan locket. I still didn’t know how I was going to handle the situation. I decided on the easiest explanation, which was also the closest to the truth.

‘Rupert’s brother gave it to me.’

‘Isn’t that kind of a strange gift? Why would he get you a present?’

‘I think it was to welcome me to the family,’ I lied lightly. I changed the subject. ‘Have you and Ben decided what you’re going to play tomorrow night?’

I listened to his answer, partially zoning out. Talk of the locket had reminded me of the unknown danger that I was apparently in, and Aradia telling me that I managed to push back against Gethan. I had no idea what that meant. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I remembered the last time I’d spoken to him, how angry his eyes had been and the tangible hurt in his voice. Eventually, unable to stand it anymore, I excused myself and ran upstairs, telling Sam that I needed to go to the bathroom.

I reached my bedroom and pulled my phone out of my pocket. I hesitated. He had been so angry at me the other day. Would he even answer if I rang? Well, there was only one way to find out.

I scrolled down through my contact list until I found his number. Again I hesitated, and then finally I got up the courage to press the call button. My heart was racing, and the phone seemed to take an eternity to make the connection. After the seventh ring I was about to hang up when I heard his voice coming warily down the phone.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, Gethan? It’s me Scarlett.’ I injected as much friendliness as I could into my tone, but I ended up just sounding false.

‘I know. Your number came up on my caller ID.’ He didn’t seem angry, but his voice was flat and emotionless. I sighed. I guessed that this was going to be as uphill as I’d imagined it would be.

‘I was wondering if we could talk,’ I said.

‘Talk about what?’ he asked gruffly.

I pressed on. ‘About what happened by the lake.’

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, do you?’

‘Why not?’

He groaned. ‘Scarlett, you know why. You have a boyfriend. What happened at the lake was a mistake, it’s obvious. I mean, you ran to your boyfriend as soon as he called. So what’s the use in us talking things over? We both know the situation and I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly want to have it spelt out for me again. To be honest, I think it’s better if we don’t talk or see each other again.’

‘That’s ridiculous!’ I said angrily. ‘And a bit over-dramatic, don’t you think? ‘I mean, I didn’t do it all by myself. One, you kissed me, remember? And you knew that I had a boyfriend – I didn’t spring that on you. And secondly, Aradia told me that I was able to actually use the locket myself and that means that I can actually use magic. I think that’s an important fact that you left out, don’t you think?

He was silent, so I guessed he saw the logic in what I was saying.

‘So, even if you don’t want to talk about us kissing, even if you don’t want to allude to that
at all
, I still need to talk to you. If I could work out how to use the locket, I would be safer than I am now.’ I pressed home my advantage. ‘Come on, even if you’re annoyed with me, we were friends before, right? So surely you want to help me learn how to protect myself.’

He sighed. ‘I’m still your friend, Scarlett.’

‘If that’s true then you won’t want me to get hurt. We need to talk.’

‘Ok,’ he agreed. ‘So what do you want to know?’

‘Not now!’ I said hurriedly. ‘Sam is downstairs, and he’s going to come and look for me if I’m gone too long. I haven’t told him about the box, and I really don’t want to.’

‘Why haven’t you told him?’

‘It’s complicated. But basically he thinks that it is dangerous for me to hang around with Pagans, and is wary of anything to do with Paganism. If he thinks that I’m getting more involved with it, he could worry unnecessarily and that would cause me a lot of hassle I don’t need. He might even tell my Mum that I’m hanging around with Pagans behind her back, which would not go down well.’

‘Scarlett, I’m sure he wouldn’t tell her.’

‘He would,’ I insisted. ‘If he thought it was for my own safety, he definitely would. He’s already said that he wants me to go back to Ireland where I’d be safer, and that if I won’t, he’ll tell my mother so she can keep an eye on me.’

‘He’d really do that? Isn’t that a bit... controlling?’ asked Gethan.

That was scarily close to what Mei had said.

‘He’s only doing it because he wants to keep me safe,’ I said a little defensively. ‘But that’s not the point, I need your help. I need to meet up with you to talk this out.’

‘Scarlett...it’s not a good idea...’

‘Gethan, please. We used to be friends, and I need your help.’

He sighed heavily. ‘Like I said, I’m still your friend. Right, when can you get away?’

‘I’ll probably have to wait until everyone is asleep, so the early hours of the morning would be best.’

‘Is two am too early for you?’

‘No, that’s fine. Will we meet in town?’

‘No, the checkpoint will be up and they won’t let you out. I’ll come to you.’

‘But you’re a Pagan! They won’t let you past the checkpoint.’

‘There are other ways of getting inside the Rationalist areas without going through the checkpoints.’

‘But how? I don’t want you to get in trouble.’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he interrupted me. ‘I can get in. Do you know the park at the edge of Chesterfield? I’ll meet you by the west gate.’

‘Yeah, I know it. I’ll see you then.’

I hung up the phone. He obviously wasn’t thrilled to be seeing me this evening, but at least he’d agreed.

I went into the guest bedroom that was Sam’s for the duration of his stay. He was looking through some vintage records that he’d picked up in a small shop on the way back from Aradia’s house.

‘I can’t believe it’s Thursday already,’ he said when I walked in. The days have gone by so fast.’

‘Yeah, they have.’ I sat down on the bed beside him. ‘What time is your flight back on Saturday?’

‘Four in the afternoon. So I have to be in Northport for two at the latest.’

‘You'd better get to bed early on Friday night then, with all that travelling the next day.’

He stood up and put his arms around me. ‘What? And miss part of your birthday party? I don’t think so.’ He smiled and leaned in to kiss me.

I kissed him back, but it just felt wrong. I pulled away. ‘I think I hear Rupert coming’, I lied quickly. ‘I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.’ I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and practically ran out the door.

I went to my bedroom and threw myself on the bed. I didn’t know what I was doing, or how I’d gotten myself into this big mess. Not only was I caught between two groups of friends who were sworn enemies, though that was complicated enough. I was also having to lying to my mother and my prospective stepfather, and that was getting difficult. It was hard for me to remember the knot of lies I was telling everyone.

If that wasn’t enough, I was stuck between two guys who I really liked. Sam was a lot of fun. He always knew how to make me laugh, and was the life and soul of every party, being around him was never boring. And although he could sometimes be a little overbearing, it was only because he cared about people.

Gethan, on the other hand, couldn’t be more different from Sam. Where Sam was upbeat and light, Gethan’s could be much darker. Although my mother wasn’t overly fond of Sam, and would probably be glad to to see us split up, I couldn’t imagine that she’d ok with me going out with a Pagan. Especially with one that was considered so powerful in the dark arts that he was on the fringes of Pagan society. Was it because of the fact that he was a bit of an outcast that he had a darker take on life, a more melancholy streak? Where Sam was light and fun, Gethan was dark and brooding. And though I liked Sam a lot, did I like him enough? While he was fun to be about, there was something visceral about my pull towards Gethan. He intrigued me in a way that I’d never experienced with anyone else. But what did that mean? And what should I do?

And, considering all the effort that Sam had made to come over and surprise me for my birthday, was I possibly the most ungrateful girlfriend in the world?

I struggled to pass the time until it was time to leave the house. Although I was really tired, I couldn’t risk trying to get some sleep in case I didn’t wake up in time. Instead, I opened a book that Aradia had lent me. But, although it was by one of my favourite authors, my mind was preoccupied and I just couldn’t concentrate. Finally giving up, I took down the silver box. I moved my fingers across the engraving on the surface. I looked closer and saw that engraving was of a raven. Was that significant? Probably not. I was reading way too much into everything now. I looked at my watch. It was half past one. Time to go.

Rupert’s house had an alarm, so I punched in the code to disable it. As the beeps of the keypad rang out loud in the quiet hallway, I fervently hoped that the sound wouldn’t wake anyone. I was in luck. My phone vibrated in my pocket and made me jump. I checked the screen. It was a message from Gethan saying he was on his way.

I walked briskly toward the park. The roads were damp and empty, and the air was still. The streetlights gave made a slight buzzing noise as I walked along the road. It was cold, and I stuffed my hands in my pockets and tried to think of warm things, like the Mediterranean sun, hot chocolate and Gethan. I shook my head as if to dispel that last idea.

Just as I reached the park gates I remembered that I had forgotten to reset the alarm after I left the house. I’d heard somewhere that most burglaries happened between two and six in the morning. It made me feel uneasy, but it was too late to go back.