Scarlet stared at the wall, forehead covered in sweat and hands shaking. Then she scrambled up, shoved her computer to one side and tore off her clothes. She was almost in the shower when she realised she should reply. She dashed back into her room, sparing her tiny wardrobe a despairing glance, and grabbed her laptop.
‘OMG, that’s amazing. I have to shower, I’m, like, really gross, I’ll come down and meet you in a bit. Please don’t leave.’
She stared at the last sentence, biting her lip, then hit send and ran for the bathroom. The moment the water struck her she remembered her words to Martin about Tumblr. She might step out into the street and see the guy, the creepy one who’d stabbed…
The events of yesterday shoulder-charged the feeble barrier she’d put up and she bent double, dry heaving as the hot water washed away her tears. Where was Martin? Was he still alive?
She glanced at the necklace resting innocently atop the toilet. She had nothing to go on since Healer got killed. What she needed to do was put the necklace back on and see what they were saying, but if she heard someone say they were going to kill her, she might actually wet herself.
She was out the house fifteen minutes later, not actually believing for a second that Lara had waited for her. She could have been quicker but the idea of leaving the house without makeup was a bit like using the toilet at school, entirely possible, but never gonna happen.
She slowed as she got near the end of the street, seeing a girl staring away from her and up at the sky. She was wearing this black coat, tight at the waist, like, the coolest thing ever, and one of those little knitted hat things she wished she could pull off, but blatantly couldn’t.
‘Uh, Lara?’
She turned around and smiled, and Scarlet knew that even if she hadn’t been wearing the badge that said ‘I read, get over it’, and hadn’t had a faded My Chemical Romance T-shirt on, she’d have still been in love. It was the sort of smile they used to sell stuff, only lovely stuff, like unicorns and chocolate.
‘Scarlet, right?’
‘Uh, well, um, my name’s really, well, um. Yeah.’
She stuck out a hand, wondering whether her lameness could get any worse, but Lara took it and shook it and was still smiling, and she guessed that it probably could. Lara sounded sort of posh, a bit like Scarlet’s poems voice. She took a deep breath. She could do this, just slowly and with plenty of thinking time.
‘So, how do you know about me?’
Lara shifted so all her weight was over her right hip and furrowed her brows. ‘So weird, right, my computer wiped my Tumblr account, completely blanked it. So I’m screaming at it, and wondering whether I can sue Samsung and Tumblr, when a new account pops up, with three posts already on it.’
Scarlet nodded knowingly. Seeker had mentioned something about her having a clever computer, but she thought maybe there was someone out there clever with computers. But who was it and why did they want to help her?
‘What were the posts?’
‘Right, so, the first was a picture of you, which was, like, great, with a link to your facebook. The next was a poem retelling the story of Jesus’s birth, which was really cool.’ She stopped, breathless, and Scarlet realised she’d found someone who could talk faster than her. ‘The other one was a story, about my grandad. I have no idea how anyone knew about him, but there you go.’
‘So how do you know about the Undying?’
Lara tilted her head to one side, flashing that bewitching grin at her again. Bewitching. Heh, that was cool.
‘Well, the story about grandad led me to the attic, and a book in the attic, and that told me all about the Undying, so I just messaged you with that and I figured if you didn’t know about it, you’d just think I was a freak and ignore me, and if you did, then it was all good.’
‘There’s no way I was ever going to ignore you.’
She said it before she thought and turned bright red, but Lara laughed and in her mind, the sun came out and little pixies started to dance and sing. She blinked, realised Lara was staring at her, and grinned sheepishly.
‘So, you wanna come to mine?’
Lara nodded, and they walked down the road, side by side. Scarlet had to work hard to not to keep looking at her, but her toes were all scrunched up in her boots and she couldn’t decide whether or not to put her hands in her pockets, which seemed suddenly very important.
They got into her room without mum noticing and once she’d got over the fact she had a beautiful girl in her room who actually seemed to like her, she asked to see the book. As it emerged from Lara’s bag, she gasped, and reached for it.
Lara raised her eyebrows and Scarlet rushed to explain. ‘It’s one of the pictures on my Tumblr. There were three things…’
She told her about the posts, then about everything that had happened the day before. By the time she was finished they were both sitting on the bed, the book between them, and Lara’s face was pale.
‘They were actually dead?’
Scarlet nodded, thinking again about Martin. She stood. ‘Look, I get it if you don’t want to come along, but I need to try and find Martin.’
Lara shook her head. ‘I do want to come, I mean, if you want me to?’
Scarlet grinned, reddening again and pathetically grateful for her foundation, and nodded. ‘Yeah, I’d really like it, if you want to?’
‘I do.’
There was a moment of silence, when Scarlet thought she could feel her heart beating and her eyes focused on the spot where Lara’s shoulder emerged from the top of her jumper and it was the most perfect thing she’d ever seen. Then they both laughed, too loud, and Scarlet ran for the bathroom.
She could do this, she could be cool and calm and collected and not make a complete tit of herself. OK, maybe not cool, but everything else she could manage.
They slipped from the house and headed through the estate. Lara gave her a look.
‘It’s pretty grotty around here, huh?’
‘Where do you live?’
‘I’m in Harrow, up on the hill.’
‘Nice?’
‘Yeah. You know, trees and cute little shops, and there’s this most amazing bookshop where they have sofas and a coffee machine and they actually want you to stay there and read.’
Scarlet sighed. Then a thought struck her.
‘You don’t own a horse, do you?’
Lara laughed, looking at her. ‘We’re not that rich. Well, I don’t know, mum and dad probably could afford it, but I’ve never really wanted a horse.’
Trying to ignore the whole money thing, Scarlet shook her head in confusion. ‘Doesn’t everyone want a horse?’
Lara laughed again. ‘You’re funny.’
‘Um, not joking.’
Her new friend laughed even harder and Scarlet winced. Who didn’t want a horse? They reached Martin’s and she slipped in through the bin doors, enjoying the way Lara’s nose wrinkled as she squeezed in, trying to stop any of her clothes from touching anything.
They climbed up to the door and Scarlet knocked. A gruff voice bade them enter and Scarlet pushed it open. Martin was slumped on the sofa, top off, white bandage wrapped around his chest.
Scarlet rushed over, dropping to her knees and putting a hand gently on the bandages. ‘God, are you alright?’
Martin nodded, grunting. ‘I shall be fine. Who is this?’
She wasn’t used to him being brusque, but she hadn’t ever brought anyone here. It was, it occurred to her, probably very bad form to bring a stranger to a magician’s house. Did it count as a house when it was the rooms beneath a block of flats?
‘Um, this is Lara. She wants to help.’
‘What does she know?’
‘She got a book, from her granddad. It’s the book from the pictures.’
His eyes perked up and he sat a little straighter, addressing Lara directly for the first time. ‘Hello, Lara, please forgive my current state. I was stabbed.’
Scarlet rolled her eyes at Lara and she giggled. ‘May I see the book, please?’
Lara pulled it out and handed it over. Martin smoothed a hand gently over the leather cover, then opened it. His eyebrows shot up and he gasped. Actually gasped. He’d never gasped before. She waited as he flicked slowly through the first few pages, shifting from foot to foot.
‘Well, what is it?’
He looked at her, eyes bright. ‘This book has been lost for decades.’ He turned to Lara. ‘Who is your granddad?’
Lara shrugged. ‘Um, Granddad Thornbright, and it’s was, I never knew him.’
Another double take from Martin and Scarlet took a step back, swallowing as he sat forward, injury forgotten. ‘Edward Thornbright?’
‘Uh, yeah, I think so.’
Martin laughed, throwing his hands up. ‘So you’re his grand-daughter? Well goodness me, what are the odds?’
They were both looking at him, arms folded, waiting. Scarlet broke first. ‘Would you please just tell us what’s going on?’
He smiled broadly. ‘The last time someone tried to raise the Undying was sixty years ago. The man who stopped it died in the doing. His name was Edward Thornbright.’
Next Installment Wednesday 26th February
