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He’s trying to keep them focused on anything but us. But I’m starting to panic now. I’ve lost one Johnson, I can’t lose another. I’ll die before that happens.

‘Ape,’ I whisper.

‘Yeah?’

‘Get ready.’

The Ape straightens and stands as tall as he ever has. His long black coat adds a whole new dimension of danger and foreboding to him.

‘What about me?’ whispers GG. ‘I’m ready too, Rev.’

I glance at GG and the look on his face tells me that he means it.

‘Hey!’ I call out to Rev Two. ‘We’re the ones who are going home.’

Johnson turns to me and he can’t believe it. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I can’t let you do this, Johnson.’

‘I’m saving you, Rev.’

‘We go together or not at all,’ I tell him.

‘I’m doing this for you!’ he replies. ‘You’d never make it home otherwise.’

‘Johnson, that’s exactly where we’re going. All of us.’

GG looks at me with a deep-furrowed frown. ‘Who are you talking to?’

‘Johnson,’ I tell him, looking at him like he’s mad.

‘But, Rev. He hasn’t said anything.’

‘Thanks a million, GG,’ Johnson sighs. And it’s only then that I realise his lips haven’t moved, and suddenly everything becomes horribly clear.

‘I had to do it,’
Other-Johnson’s voice says, and now I know for sure that it’s in my head.
‘Had to make sure you’d be safe.’

I don’t understand what’s happening. It feels like I’ve just been punched by the Non-Ape.
‘But how is this even possible? You said you were leaving with Billie . . .
Johnson was with us the whole time . . .’
I say silently to him as my mind tries to catch up with what’s happening. I feel sick.
‘Wait . . . You swapped? You’re
inside my Johnson?’

‘The hotel doors were locked, the security grilles wouldn’t open in time.’

I stare at him.

‘I couldn’t not be with you, Rev.’

My heart snaps in two. It folds in on itself and keeps folding until it dies and takes me with it. Other-Johnson looks pleadingly to me, his blue eyes seemingly brighter than ever. But
they’re not his blue eyes, I tell myself, they’re Johnson’s,
my
Johnson from
my
world, and he’s stolen them.

‘I did it before I even realised what I was doing,’
he tells me, desperate that I’ll believe him.

‘Rev?’ GG has detected that something terrible is happening.

‘It’s not him,’ I say quietly.

‘It’s not Johnson?’ GG eyes widen.

Rev Two has grown tired of Other-Johnson staring at me. She might not be able to hear what we’re saying by thought alone, but she’s not stupid, she knows what Other-Johnson can
do.

‘What are you saying to her?’ she asks Other-Johnson.

‘Goodbye,’ he lies.

‘Why would you do that?’ Her voice is brittle and harsh.

The one thing boys will never understand is how girls can sense so much about each other, and we don’t even have to be mind-readers to know what we’re all thinking. We can tap into
the invisible and the unspoken as easily as opening a book. Especially when it involves the boy we love.

‘Goodbye sounds good to me. There’s only one Reva Marsalis,’ she tells him. ‘And I don’t want you thinking any different.’

Other-Johnson’s eyes find mine and his voice enters my head again.
‘But I do, Rev, I do think different.’

That’s all it takes. Rev Two turns and leaps straight for me.

‘Ape,’ I say, straightening.

‘Yeah?’

‘It’s your moment.’

I needn’t have bothered to say anything because he was already lining Rev Two up and she runs smack into his powerful swing.

‘I got this,’ he cries, as his blow sends her toppling backwards. A normal person would either be dead or unconscious, but these are not normal people, so the best we can hope is
that she is at least dazed enough to give us a fighting chance to escape.

‘Run!’ I tell GG and the Ape, and we set off across the square.

But we can’t run fast enough.

Rev Two is beside herself with rage. She is the Amazon woman I always wanted to be, or maybe it’s more the Amazonian I need to be right now. She gets up from the ground and leaps through
the air, sailing over our heads to land face to face in front of me.

‘One touch is enough.’ She opens her right hand and it changes colour as if she’s switching on some strange power. It’s become ice-blue.

‘Me first then.’ And with that I hit her as hard as I can. My punch hits her flush on the jaw and she staggers back, surprised. But, just like Non-Lucas, she cracks her neck and
shakes off the blow.

‘One out of ten for effort,’ she snarls.

She raises her hand and reaches for me when GG leaps on her arm and grabs it tightly between his arms.

‘Not on your best day!’ he yells at her.

But Rev Two is far too strong for GG. She grabs him by the hair with her left hand and yanks him off her arm, holding him a foot off the ground. Her right hand is now a throbbing sky blue and
she makes as if to touch GG, when the Ape wades in and cracks her on the back of her head with his four pointer. She drops GG, and as she turns, the four pointer is rammed straight at her
throat.

But she’s too quick and sidesteps the Ape’s lunge, bringing her knee up as his momentum pitches him forward and hitting him straight in his gut. He lets out a low groan, winded,
doubling over, and Rev Two slams down on his back with a mighty blow from her elbow. The Ape doesn’t go down, he never will, but he does trip forward, staggering, meaty hand gripped round his
four pointer for balance.

‘So wish it was the real one,’ Rev Two says in delight. ‘You unloved maggot.’

Rev Two yanks the Ape’s head back, all but snapping his neck. GG goes again for her, this time just throwing his entire body at her to knock her off balance.

‘Get off him!’

Rev Two loses her footing, and her grip on the Ape. He straightens, and for a fleeting second I can see that tears have sprung up in his eyes, not from fear, but from the pain. He whirls, angry
now, and smashes Rev Two with the four pointer.

‘Shouldn’t have done that.’

He drives her back, lost to his violent rage. He is going all out and for a moment I know we’re going to win, that he’s going to win, because that is what the Ape does. He
doesn’t know it, but he’s a born winner. Back she staggers, fending off blow after blow, but always on the retreat. She doesn’t possess Non-Lucas’s physicality, nor his
hardening skin. The blows wind her, they hurt, and even though she’s still faster and stronger than all of us put together, the Ape will not let that get in his way.

‘Go!’ he yells.

And we’re right back at the fight he had with Non-Lucas. He’s buying us time.

I look at GG and he says the words before I can even think them. ‘We’re not leaving him.’ I nod and we are about to go and help the Ape when a voice stops us.

‘I wouldn’t.’

Another-Billie is already upon us, blocking our way. ‘I’m way stronger than you.’

GG eyes her carefully, weighing her up. ‘But you’re no fighter. I mean look at your hands, soft as silk. So why don’t we just talk instead.’

Another-Billie freezes. I turn to Johnson/Other-Johnson and despite GG’s bravery I know he has done some mind thing on her, and frozen her like he froze me.

GG is full of himself though. ‘See that, Rev? See? I am a force to be reckoned with!’

I step nonchalantly past her. ‘Ape!’ I yell. ‘Let’s go.’

The Ape turns from knocking Rev Two clear over a bench. ‘It’s Dazza.’

But in turning he takes his eye off Rev Two and she rises, decides that she isn’t going to beat the Ape and instead springs over his head and lands in front of me.

Her eyes lock on to mine.

‘He’s mine. You got that? Johnson is mine.’

Her bare hand, glowing royal-blue now, is spearing for me before I can move.

‘Rev!’

Other-Johnson launches himself at Rev Two. But he isn’t in his old body and he hasn’t got the spring or the sinewy strength he usually has, which slows him down. Rev Two reacts
without thought and swipes her glowing hand at him just as he reaches her.

Her skin touches his and Other-Johnson cries out and slumps hard to the ground with a loud smack. Rev Two looks down, unable to believe what she has done.

‘Johnson?’

Johnson/Other-Johnson has turned a horrible grey, lifeless colour and for a moment she doesn’t know whether to look at her hand or him.

‘Johnson!’ she screams.

But I’m screaming as well. ‘Johnson!’

‘God that hurts . . .’
Other-Johnson’s voice enters my head. It’s weak and faint and he is already drifting away from me.
‘I told you, I had to go back
with you, just didn’t quite get there . . . I’m so sorry.’

His voice disappears from my head and I see him slump, lifeless, eyes open and staring. Not seeing, just staring . . .

‘C’mon!’ The Ape has grabbed me and drags me away.

‘We’re going!’ GG urges.

I try to fight the Ape off, kicking and writhing in his grip. ‘I’m not leaving him!’

‘Billie!’ Rev Two screams at Another-Billie. ‘Help him!’

‘Put me down, Ape! Put me down!’ I yell.

‘He’s gone,’ the Ape says.

‘No! No, he hasn’t. He hasn’t gone.’

But I know it’s true. There’s no Other-Johnson in my head any more. There’s no sense of him anywhere, not even the slightest residue.
Not both Johnsons
.

I stare at him lying on the ground, not moving, not breathing. Another-Billie is touching him, trying to revive him, but she looks at the stricken Rev Two.

‘It’s not working!’ she says, looking hopelessly at Rev Two.

Rev Two howls and I howl with her.

‘We’ve got to go.’ The Ape grips me tighter, drags me clean off my feet.

‘NO!’

‘Ape’s right,’ says GG.

I kick again, writhing and twisting as hard as I can. ‘LET ME GO!’

‘GG!’ barks the Ape, who can barely hold me, I’m fighting so hard. I look up and GG is looking totally apologetic.

‘Forgive me, Rev.’

GG’s hand bunches and flies at me and, for a boy that everyone believes is a fairy and a lightweight, he packs a mean punch. I slide out of consciousness and a small part of me welcomes
it, because I know the agony that is coming my way, and I don’t think I’m going to be strong enough to cope.

I come round in the school classroom. It smells of the same stale mustiness that it did when we were stuck in here all of two days ago. My first instinct is to get out, to head
for the town square.

The side of my mouth aches from where GG hit me and he’s immediately apologetic.

‘That was the worst thing I have ever ever done. Ever!’ he says.

I ignore him and look for the door because there’s no way I’m staying here. But the Ape is blocking the doorway.

‘Please,’ I say, finding my feet.

GG tries to calm me. ‘Rev. You can’t do anything.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to,’ I cry. ‘Maybe I don’t even want to go home. I’ll stay here because there’s nothing, nothing for me. And you know that feeling,
Ape, you do, you said you weren’t going to go home. So let’s not go home together.’

‘Can’t do that now.’

‘Why not? I’ve got nothing.’

The Ape looks like he feels sorry for me but he won’t budge. ‘You still got us.’

‘Please,’ I beg him, ‘I don’t want to be anywhere. Here or there. D’you understand that?’

The Ape thinks for a moment then responds. ‘No.’

I wail at him. ‘You have no right to keep me here.’

‘They’ll kill you, Rev,’ says GG.

‘I’m dead anyway.’ Tears are running down my cheeks now. ‘I’m nothing. There’s no reason for me to exist, don’t you get that? Surely you can see
that.’

The Ape studies me for another long moment and speaks so quietly I can barely hear him. ‘But you’re my friend.’

It takes a while to register what he has just said and the weight of the emotion behind his words is like a force of nature.

‘So there. That’s your reason. That’s why I’m going home with you,’ he says equally quietly and then bows his head.

But it’s too late for arguments because my tingling shoulders tell me that something is happening, That it’s starting and now is not the time for turning back.

I don’t have to see the white light to know it has filled the hallway outside.