Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The heavy oak door creaks open. I don’t even bother to open my eyes. The sunlight is on my face, and it feels nice. I usually try to avoid the sun because of my colouring. I get pink, especially across my cheekbones, with freckles appearing on my nose, and with too much sun, I get sore skin.
It doesn’t seem important anymore.
The clunk of boots comes closer. Then I hear the worst voice imaginable. I don’t know whether to be angry or jubilant that he’s still alive. I knew deep down the guy was like a human cockroach who’d survive anything, including the apocalypse where everybody else died. This proves the theory.
Anton Bloody Hill. He stands there, hands on his hips, and stares at me as if I’m a goldfish in a goldfish bowl, then he chuckles, and a big grin graces his face.
“Look at this,” he says. “Got what you deserved then, didn’t you?”
Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off.
I keep my mouth closed. I haven’t spoken since Damien grabbed me by the wrist and off the street. I will not break my silence now. Anton Hill is messing with my thinking time, even if a teeny-tiny part of me is glad he’s alive.
He grabs a chair from the beautiful, ornate table and drags it across the room. It scrapes against the floor. I wince, worried that it’ll damage something. The seat creaks as he sits, and then he leans forward, his hands dangling between his legs.
He watches me. I sit up and watch him right back.
He looks good for a dead man.
He’s dressed nicely and is clean. He’s wearing a different outfit than he was for the news this morning.
“You’re not going to talk? You’re not going to confess? The guys out there believe you’ve got magic, that you found some charms, and that’s why they came to our town. The reason they’ve killed everybody is that you found something that you shouldn’t have.”
He leans back in the chair, and his heel hits his knee as he manspreads. “Did your nan find something at the library? Is that it? She found something she shouldn’t have, and you stole and used it. They say that you know Gary Chappell. You’re in contact with him, and he’s been selling these spells.”
Look at that. I don’t have to speak. He’s doing all the work for me.
“What I want to know is where this fellow is. We want to know if he’s a witch.
Or if he’s human and just your artefact dealer.
I know you’ve seen me on the news and what I said about this guy being a hero, but he’s no hero.
You need to admit what you’ve done, and you need to sort this shit out. You’ve done enough damage.”
I yawn and rub my eyes.
“Chloe is still alive.”
When he mentions Chloe, my heart beats with joy—and then fear for her safety. I swallow, and again I don’t speak.
“Yeah, your little friend, the little blondie. She’s alive, but she won’t be for long.
I’ve been told that they’re going to pull her teeth out one by one.
Every time you don’t answer a question. Every time you don’t help, they’re going to pull her teeth out.
And when they run out of teeth, they’ll start on her nails. ”
I didn’t think Anton Hill could get any lower in my estimation, and he goes there. I can’t believe he’s threatening her. I was all prepared for them to torture me. I had everything planned to give them information about the non-existent Gary, and now Anton is talking about hurting my friend.
We’re not close, Chloe and me, but she’s always been kind. She’s the reason I was on the friend chat group. Chloe used to lecture everyone about bullying and say that leaving a person out of social things isn’t kind.
“Chloe’s got great teeth. Are you going to allow her to suffer for you? Give them what they want, Kricket. Give them what they want. Because otherwise, you’ll be better off dead.”
I press my lips together.
He’s quiet; he waits and watches me, and I ignore him as best I can.
And then he smiles. “You don’t care about anyone apart from yourself, do you?
Are you hungry? I could get you some food.
I bet you’re starving for a nice burger and some fries.
Please tell me what you want and we’ll get you some food.
All you need to do in return is tell us about the charms. If you give me that information, it’ll save you a lot of grief. ”
I turn away.
I expect him to get angry. I expect him to bite, bang on the cube, and lose his temper, but he huffs.
Then softly, he says, “I can get you out of here. I can get us both out of here, but you must do what I say. Let me help you, Kricket. Just give me something; trust me, I’m the only help you’ve got. ”
I ignore him and continue looking at a painting of a guy riding a weird-looking horse.
The chair scrapes back, and Anton Hill’s boots stomp away. The door to the cube clicks open. I gasp and turn my head. Fear flutters in my belly. What’s he going to do? Come in here and beat me?
But Anton Hill doesn’t come inside. Instead, he walks away, leaving the door wide-open and shuffling the heel of his foot against the circle’s lines, snuffing the magic out. “Get out and send in the big boys, would you?” he says almost inaudibly.
With the circle down, my somewhat dreaded magic floods back into me, and I stare in shock at the open door and the scuffed floor. The main oak door closes softly behind him.
Do I trust him? No.
Should I trust him? No.
But I do trust that he cares about himself more than anyone. He cares about his neck rather than anyone else. That’s why he was doing the news reports. That’s why he came in here in the first place. So if he’s willing to try to help me so that I in turn will help him, that makes sense.
Do I trust him? Nope. But I haven’t got a choice. I can stay here, get tortured, or watch them torture Chloe. Or, for Chloe’s sake, I can get my arse out of this cube. Out of this room, out of this building, through the ward, and get some help.
If they’ll believe me when I get there, that’s another thing, but at least I can try. I’ve got to have hope, and Anton Hill has given it to me.
Which is a surprise.
It’s going to be a nightmare, getting out of the building, and if I get outside, it’s miles of emptiness.
There are no buildings to hide behind, and the ward is miles away.
From what I can remember, there are still trees at the top of town.
The spell didn’t eat them, so I have some cover if I run that way.
Unfortunately, I need to create something new and keep my magical signature low so that if I’m super careful, no one, not Damien Hass or his Dragon’s Eye, will notice.
I need a charm. The materials I had on me were removed when the guards patted me down; they’d been unable to find any of my hidden charms.
In case I’m being watched, rather than going blank, I keep my eyes open and a contemplating, confused look on my face.
I request help and get a ping off a little piece of metal.
A broken piece of pen someone discarded under the massive table sings a small, reserved tune that will work wonderfully.
I gently feed it magic, a nip of power, nothing like I’d usually do, just enough to create a basic Don’t See Me Now spell.
Getting out of here will be like the game red light, green light, where you must run like crazy and then stop and freeze. You’re out of the game if you move when the person counting looks at you. Move and then freeze when needed.
If this is another trap, I can presume I'm being watched.
Stepping over the circle, I make a show of heading to the desk in the corner and have a dig about.
As luck would have it, there are some spells in a drawer.
They're the typical crappy council ones.
I cup my hand as if I take a couple, and when I walk around the table, frowning at my trainer, I drop to tie my lace, grab the pen charm and head to the big oak doors.
I open the door just a crack and peek through. The corridor is quiet. I listen. Nothing. I refine and enhance the ear charm in my pocket to pick up the barest footsteps and the slightest inhale of a breath.
Listening again, I know I’m alone now. I creep out.
Perhaps I should have left it at least ten minutes after Anton left the room so not to implicate him, but I don’t know if he’ll change his mind. I’m not going to mess about.
I run down the stairs and into the lobby, and again, it’s all quiet. Too quiet. But I don’t think about it too much. I’ve only seen the eight guards and take this as an opportunity. I need to feel fortunate that I’ve avoided them. Perhaps they’ve all gone to eat?
The main door clicks open, and I creep onto what was once the street. It’s now just dirt. Everywhere is just soil. I see the trees in the distance. They must be a mile or so ahead. I look around. I listen, and again, no one is about, so I run.
I keep running, keep listening, keep moving.
I stop when I get into the trees. I lean against a trunk, my chest burning, and feel a little dizzy. I need some water. I need some food. I hadn’t eaten since early this morning, and that sandwich was the first food I’d eaten in days.
The Claw Brotherhood diet is one star. I do not recommend.
There’s a noise, shouting, and my heart sinks. I’ve been made already. I look back at the lonely building, the ward, and the trees. They’ll expect me to go for the ward. What happens if I give it a few hours? Use the Don’t See Me Now charm. Stay up in the tree.
Okay, let’s get up this tree then. Shit.
I haven’t climbed a tree since I was ten, and even then, I wasn’t very good at it.
My coordination’s not the best. There’s a lower branch, and I pull myself up, kicking my legs until I get a purchase, and then I’m up, I’m up, I’m up.
I only go about eight feet in the air, and that’s seven feet too much.
I hate heights, and I’m unwilling to test any of the higher branches.
I don’t want to get into the same situation as the jungle gym incident.
It’s one of my first memories. I was around five, got stuck on some equipment, and couldn’t get off it.
I remember being stuck, my hands digging into the coarse rope of a suspended net, too frightened to go forward, too scared to go back. My dad had to climb up and rescue me.
The tree is solid, and the trunk forms a V in the centre where the two main branches meet. I move up a little more and cautiously slide my leg over so I’m straddling the thicker of the two and hugging the other.
The Don’t See Me Now spell activates, and I disappear.