Chapter 12 Mabel #2
‘You know we’ve had some pretty close calls in the past. Which is why we all agreed not to attract that kind of attention.’
‘Agreed?’ Victor got to his feet with a snort.
‘Nobody asked me. It’s orders from above.
But they’re not the ones who have to sit around twiddling their thumbs in this shithole of a university, surrounded by a load of slack-jawed idiots.
’ He jerked his thumb contemptuously towards Paulina, who was standing between them wide-eyed.
Jack followed the gesture, surveying his companion. ‘I don’t know, mate. If they find out—’
‘They won’t,’ Victor interrupted impatiently. ‘It’s only you and me here.’
‘And me.’ Paulina smiled uncertainly. Her fingers were curled into the hem of her thick velvet jacket, her eyes on Jack’s face. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t just leave. Why she was looking at Jack as if he was the only place in the world where she belonged.
‘That’s right, sweetheart.’ Victor stroked her head.
It could have seemed affectionate, but for some reason it looked like he was petting a dog.
‘And that’s the problem.’ He took a step towards Jack, who looked up.
‘Come on. I know you want to. How long has it been since you took as much as you wanted? We’ve been leashed for far too long.
It’s against our nature. Just think about how powerful we are – what’s the use of all that power if you never get to enjoy it? ’
‘Ashton…’ Jack began hesitantly.
Victor threw back his head and groaned. ‘Ashton isn’t here.
Neither are Norah or Blake – which means there’s nobody to tell him.
’ I flinched inwardly at the sound of his name, but I still couldn’t move or string together a coherent thought from the jumble of information.
‘I’m sick of Ash acting like some fucking prince, bossing us around like his own personal court. ’
‘I mean, he sort of is, isn’t he? A prince.’
‘Well right now he isn’t here at all. So. What’s it going to be?’
Jack’s eyes darted between the mute, almost absent-seeming Paulina and his friend. He ran his hand several times through his cropped hair, as if trying to organise the thoughts underneath his skull.
Victor took a step back, raising his hands. ‘Or are you scared? You think maybe you’re too out of practice?’
‘I can see what you’re trying to do. I’m a psychology student, remember?’ Jack rolled his eyes, but even so, he sat up a little straighter.
Victor had noticed it too: he was smirking triumphantly. ‘So, is it working?’
‘Unfortunately, yes.’ Jack sighed deeply, stubbing out his cigarette on the stone edge, where he simply left it. ‘Fine. Paulina, my love – come here.’ He drew her closer by the wrists, pulling her in between his legs.
Immediately she clasped his hips, beaming at him. ‘Hi.’
Jack smiled, but even at this distance I could see the watchful look in his eyes. He brushed the hair back from her forehead, then cupped her face in both hands, looking steadily into her eyes. ‘You like me, don’t you?’
She nodded hastily, a little too eagerly. ‘Of course.’
‘Then just think about how much, okay?’ He leant in until the tip of his nose grazed hers. ‘Will you do that for me?’
‘Of course,’ she breathed, closing her eyes.
I tensed, ready to come out of the shadows if he grabbed hold of her. But he didn’t. At least, not really. He merely circled his thumbs gently over her cheeks before lowering his hands – to her throat.
And there they stood, motionless, both with eyes closed.
After a few seconds Paulina’s body appeared to soften.
She shifted closer to Jack, wrapped both arms around his hips and sighed gently.
He smiled without opening his eyes. Victor was slowly stepping back, arms folded, a broad grin on his face that felt more menacing to me than anything else about the situation.
I didn’t understand what was happening, and I wasn’t sure if I should do something – and if so, what.
Jack’s hands were still resting on her throat, but there was nothing rough about the way he was touching her, and meanwhile Paulina kept clutching ever more determinedly at his hips.
It didn’t look like he was hurting her. Far from it.
In the flat light of the lamp, I could see her face growing more peaceful and relaxed with every passing second.
She sighed again, longer this time, deeper.
Jack blinked and rested his forehead against hers.
‘God,’ he murmured, languidly, almost dazedly, and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
‘I’d forgotten how good that feels.’ His voice seemed to vibrate with satisfaction, a pulse that spread into his body.
Although the colour had risen to his face, he seemed to be quivering.
I felt sick, my fingers boring into the stone in front of me.
‘Do it now,’ Victor ordered softly.
Jack hesitated a final time, then once again he took Paulina’s face in his hands. He rested the tip of his nose against hers, then put his mouth very close to her ear.
My hands were clenching so hard that I tore a nail. A keen stab of pain ran up my finger, but I barely noticed it. My body was on high alert, my heart thumping rapidly. Every fibre of me was ready to step in the moment something happened.
But … nothing did. I could see his lips move, but I couldn’t hear what he said.
Paulina leant quietly against his chest until he pulled away.
Again he pressed a kiss to her cheek and pushed her back.
‘Will you do that for me?’ he asked mildly.
She nodded, much more weakly now, but didn’t move.
Jack raised his eyebrows and shooed her with his hands. ‘All right then, go.’
Paulina wavered briefly, then nodded again and turned around. Her body stumbled over the first few steps, but then she pulled herself up and walked slowly away. Out of the courtyard, towards the main college gates.
Jack watched her go, brow furrowed. ‘Do you think it worked?’
‘Guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning.’ Victor grinned and clapped him on the shoulder, but instantly jerked back. ‘Holy shit.’ He flapped his hand, laughing, as if he’d burnt himself. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here, make sure we go somewhere people can see us. Just to be on the safe side.’
I waited until the two of them were out of sight before following in the direction Paulina had gone.
Part of me wanted to shadow Victor and Jack, try to hear more, but I sensed Paulina was more important.
Whatever had passed between her and Jack, it seemed like she was under some sort of …
influence. I couldn’t let her be alone in that state.
Every step I took without finding her made me more nervous.
It wasn’t until I walked through a covered passageway and emerged not far from one of the bridges that I spotted a figure some distance ahead of me, standing by the balustrade.
The blonde hair fluttering in the wind was unmistakeably Paulina’s.
I breathed a sigh of relief and set off in her direction, until suddenly I went rigid.
She wasn’t standing by the balustrade – she was standing on it. For a moment, the sight of it crossed wires with a memory: that night on the bridge, weeks ago, when Victor got up onto the balustrade and said, People like us don’t have bad luck.
Even at the time, it had struck me he was right. People like him brought bad luck instead. The sight of Paulina now felt like confirmation.
My heart was beating in my throat as I moved warily towards her.
Gravel crunched under my shoes, but Paulina didn’t turn around.
Her eyes were fixed on the water flowing some yards below us: black, flecked with silver light reflected from the stars and the lampposts dotted few and far between along the riverside.
By the time she noticed me, I was barely three steps distant.
Her eyes were narrow, somehow vacant, as if she was looking straight through me.
‘Hey,’ I said cautiously, holding up my hands.
Trying to stay calm, although what I really wanted to do was lunge and grab her.
‘You’re Paulina, right? I’m Mabel.’ Putting my hand on the balustrade, I took a step towards her, but she flinched.
Instantly, I froze, forcing a smile to my lips.
‘Paulina, maybe you could come down here, eh?’
She stared at me blankly. Her fingers had curled again around the hem of her jacket, but I saw now they had a bluish sheen. Like her face. I didn’t have to touch her to know how profoundly cold she was.
‘I can’t.’ She looked down. ‘I have to.’
‘You don’t have to. Listen to me. Whatever they did or said, we’ll figure it out. You’re not alone, okay? I’ll help you.’
Her eyes sank again to the jet-black face of the Cam. The more she stared, the more its darkness carved itself into her face. ‘I’m so tired.’
I’d never felt so overwhelmed in all my life.
Countless options raced through my head, but all of them felt like mistakes.
I wanted to reason with her, to call the police, to dart forward and try to drag her back.
I wanted to do something, but I didn’t know what.
Not what was wrong with her, not what Jack had said, not how to stop her from jumping.
I just knew I had to try. Because I absolutely could not let this happen.
The bridge wasn’t all that high and the Cam wasn’t all that deep, but it was late November, it was the middle of the night, and Paulina was obviously in bad shape.
I took another step towards her, arm outstretched. ‘Give me your hand, okay?’
She shuffled away from me, her shoes grinding on the balustrade, her body swaying. Her eyes wouldn’t quite meet mine, glassy and empty. ‘I have to go.’
Before I could so much as think a single word, it happened. Paulina was still looking in my direction when she took a step forward.