Dead Flesh (28 page)

We continued to
watch as McCain leapt from Emily and stood there looking down at
her for a short time, his giant tail swishing back and forth. He
then sauntered out of camera shot, leaving Emily dead on the floor.
Isidor forwarded the video again until McCain re-entered the
bedroom. This time he was back in his human form, but someone or
something had returned to the room with him.

“What the fuck
is that?” Potter said, squinting at the screen.

“It looks like
some kinda elf with a melted face,” Isidor suggested.

“That’s a small
boy,” I gasped. “It’s a boy who’s suffered horrific burns to his
face and hands.”

“This just
keeps getting weirder and weirder,” Potter said. “I thought the
world was pretty screwed up before it got pushed – but this takes
the piss.”

We watched as
the small boy with the burns yanked the blankets from Emily’s bed.
Together, McCain and the boy laid them out on the floor. Then
between them, they rolled Emily face down onto the blankets and
covered her. They then rolled her over until she was wrapped
tightly. McCain then took one end of Emily, and the boy took the
other. They then carried her out of camera shot.

There was
nothing else recorded on the camera. Isidor switched it off and
turned to look at me, his face ashen. “What now?” he asked me.

“We go and rip
that fucking arsehole’s lungs out,” Potter cut in.

“No!” I snapped
and raised my hand. “We can’t do that. It won’t solve anything. We
need to do this by the book if we are going to get justice for
Emily and her sister Elizabeth.”

“I don’t know
if you’ve noticed,” Potter spat, “but there doesn’t seem to be too
much justice in this new world that we now find ourselves in.”

“It doesn’t
matter,” I told him. “We follow the rules and do it properly.”

“I was
wondering when Kiera’s rule book was going to come out,” Potter
sighed. “When are you going to get it, huh? These animals don’t
follow any rules – they’re nothing but dog shit.”

“Kiera’s
right,” Isidor said. “We should tread carefully – we don’t want
people to find out what we really are...”

“Says the
Terminator impersonator!” Potter growled at him. “I should’ve
guessed that you would side with Kiera. Why don’t you show some
backbone for once...”

“It has nothing
to do with what Kiera thinks or about how much backbone I have,”
Isidor said, jumping up from his seat. “In case you’ve forgotten,
my sister is trapped in that school with that animal. And if it
hadn’t have been for Kayla’s backbone, you wouldn’t even have that
tape. So back off, Potter, because you’re beginning to get on my
fucking nerves!”

“Okay, enough
already,” I said. “This constant bitching isn’t going to get us
anywhere, nor is crashing into that school and killing McCain.”

“So what do you
suggest?” Potter snapped. “We sit and wait for McCain and the
Munchkin lookalike to rip apart another young woman?”

“No,” I said
staring back at him. “We take this video to Banner and...”

“Are you for
real, sweetcheeks?” Potter barked. “You said yourself that Banner
was a waste of space. If we go marching into his station with that
video, he is going to make us feel about as welcome as a fart in an
elevator!”

“We have to
try, Potter,” I snapped. “Isidor is right. We can’t risk revealing
who and what we truly are. This place is messed up enough without
throwing Vampyrus and half-breeds into the mix. We take the camera
down to Banner and if he’s not willing to help us...”

“Then what?”
Potter asked me.

“We deal with
McCain ourselves,” I said.

Kayla

I wasn’t in
pain, but I could feel myself going taut as if I were turning
brittle somehow. My throat was burning up and my stomach was
cramping. I had the flat of one hand pressed against my chest, and
I could feel the blood pumping from the wound was already starting
to congeal. Feeling the sticky red stuff between my fingers made my
stomach ache and I wanted blood more than ever. But I felt so
heavy, like I was made of stone somehow.

“Oh my god,
what have I done?” someone said close by me. “What have I
done?”

I forced my
eyes half open, and I could just make out Sam hovering beside the
bed. “Kayla what have I done to you? You look like you’re turning
to stone,” he cried.

“My bag,” I
whispered. “Get my bag.”

“Bag?” he asked
confused. “What bag?”

“Beneath my
wardrobe,” I mumbled. “There are some glass tubes – pink stuff in
them.”

I closed my
eyes again and listened to Sam rummaging around beneath my
wardrobe. I heard my bag slide across the room and the zip open.
“There aren’t any tubes,” he panicked. “What are you talking
about?”

“There is a cut
down the side of the bag...” I wheezed. “Look in there.”

I heard the
sound of the glass tubes clinking together as he fumbled for them.
Then he was at my side again. “Open one,” I gasped, the cramps in
my stomach now agony. The sound of the cap being unscrewed beside
me was almost deafening.

“Now what?” he
gasped.

“Give some of
it to me,” I whispered.

I felt Sam’s
hand slip behind my head as he tried to raise it off the pillow,
but it seemed too heavy for him to budge. So he placed the brim of
the tube against my lips. I opened my mouth and he poured in some
of the Lot 13. It tasted bitter and sweet as it rolled over my
tongue. I swallowed, then took some more. Almost at once, the
cramps in my stomach began to ease, and I felt my whole body begin
to soften. The blood from the wound in my chest dried beneath my
fingers.

“Is it
helping?” I heard Sam ask, taking the empty tube away from my
lips.

I lifted my
free hand off the bed and it no longer felt like it were tied to a
giant weight. The knife that Sam had plunged into me was still
sticking from my chest, so wrapping my fingers around the handle I
pulled it out.

Sam made a
gasping sound. Then, before he knew what had happened, I had sprung
from my bed. Without being able to control the change within me, my
fangs were out, as were my wings and claws. I sprang through the
air towards him. With a look of horror on his face, I pushed him in
the chest, sending him smashing into the wall. Then I was on him,
one claw around his throat and the other holding the knife just an
inch from his heart.

“Don’t you ever
do that to me again!” I hissed into his terrified face.

“What are you?”
he wheezed, my claws so tight about his throat that it was
difficult for him to him breathe.

“You don’t
really want to know what I am,” I warned. “You don’t really want to
know the truth – you couldn’t handle the truth.”

“You looked
like you were turning to stone, just like that statue that chased
us,” he gasped. “What happened to you?”

“I don’t know,”
I said, feeling scared.

I loosened my
grip on him, and rubbing his throat, he said, “I was right, though,
you are different. You’re not like us.”

“Just get out,”
I barked, and turned my back on him.

“Are you a
vampire?” he whispered, just in case someone might be
listening.

“No, I’m not a
vampire,” I snapped. “Now get out.”

“What are you
then?” he asked, coming towards me.

I turned to
look at him, and flashing my fangs and letting my wings tremor, I
said, “I’m dead, that’s what I am.”

“So it was you
in the newspaper,” he gasped. “It was you on the beach that
day.”

“I wasn’t on
any beach with you,” I spat. “I don’t know what you are talking
about.”

“But that was
you in the paper, right?”

“Yes,” I told
him.

“So how? Why…?”
Sam stammered, and I could see that he couldn’t take his eyes off
me. He didn’t look scared, exactly, just curious. “How come you are
walking around with wings, fangs and stuff? The newspaper said you
were dead.”

“I don’t have
time for this,” I said. “I need to get...”

“On with your
mission,” Sam cut in.

“What are you
talking about?” I sighed. “What mission?”

“To save me and
the others who are locked up in here, that’s why you’re here, isn’t
it?” he asked, his eyes wide and full of hope.

Looking at him
with pity, I said, “Sam, I’m not here to save you or anyone else.
Despite what you believe, I’ve never seen you before. I wasn’t
there on the beach that day with you, the first time I ever spoke
to you was by the Poor Box and my parents didn’t drown.”

“So why are you
here then?” he asked me.

“To find out
who murdered Miss Clarke,” I told him. “I have friends waiting for
me on the outside. That’s why I wanted to search Miss Clarke’s
room. I was looking for that camera. I left it in the woods today
to be collected by my friends.”

“I don’t
believe you,” Sam said softly, sounding let down. “I have seen you
before. You’re like an angel who’s been sent to rescue us. You even
have wings like an angel.”

“I’ve had these
wings all my life, Sam,” I said. “Way before I was murdered and
died. It’s who I am. That’s why I used to get bullied, because I
was different from the other girls I went to school with.”

“But you were
made different for a reason, Kayla,” Sam said. “Can’t you see
that?”

“Whatever the
reason may be, Sam,” I said gently, “it isn’t to come here and
rescue you. I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” he
said, slumping down onto my bed.

“I wish I could
help, but me and my friends can’t risk bringing attention to
ourselves,” I tried to explain.

“Are your
friends like you then?”

“Yes. And
they’ll be waiting for me to contact them,” I said. “If the stuff
on that camera shows what happened to Miss Clarke, I can get out of
here.”

“Take me with
you,” Sam said, getting up from the bed and coming towards me.

“I can’t,” I
whispered. “You’re not one of us – it would be dangerous for
you.”

“Any more
dangerous than being matched with a wolf?” he said.

“I’m sorry,
Sam,” I started, checking my pockets for my iPod. I wanted to speak
with Kiera; I was desperate to find out what was on the camera so I
could get out of Ravenwood School. But as I fumbled in my pockets,
I realised that it was gone.

“What are you
looking for?” Sam asked me.

“My iPod,” I
snapped, now searching the pockets of my blazer.

“You’re not
allowed to have iPods, mobile phones, or anything like that at
Ravenwood,” Sam started to explain.

“I couldn’t
give a shit,” I said, not really listening to him now. Then,
looking at him I added, “Have you taken it?”

“Why would I
have taken it? When would I have taken it?” he asked.

“When I was on
the bed,” I said. “You could’ve taken it then.”

“Why would I
have done that?” he asked, sounding confused. “I want your help –
not to piss you off. Maybe it fell out of your pocket as we climbed
the tree?”

“Maybe…” I said
thoughtfully. “I’m going to have to go and find it. It’s the only
way I have of contacting my friends.” With my fangs, claws, and
wings disappearing, I went to the door.

“Where are you
going?” Sam asked.

“To find my
iPod, of course.”

“But you
can’t,” Sam said. “It’s almost dark out. The Greys will be up in
those search towers with the lights, they’ll see you.”

“That’s a
chance I’m gonna have to take,” I told him. “I need to find that
iPod.”

“I’ll come with
you,” he suggested, as I swung open the door to my room.

“Leaving us so
soon?” someone asked, and I looked around to find McCain standing
outside my bedroom door.

“I’m going to
the bathroom,” I lied.

“And what’s
Brooke doing in your room after dark?” McCain asked, peering over
my shoulder. “You know the school rules.”

“I wanted to
borrow a book,” Sam said.

“That’s what we
have a school library for,” McCain barked at him, his bulbous nose
glowing red. Then, sniffing, he looked at the both of us and said,
“I guess it doesn’t really matter, after all, you’ll both be
leaving here tonight.”

“Leaving?” Sam
gasped. “What, going home you mean?”

“Yes,” McCain
said, and his yellow eyes twinkled. “I haven’t been able to find a
suitable match for either of you.”

“But I thought
you said...” I started recalling the conversation I’d had with
McCain earlier that day.

“I was wrong
about that,” McCain said, yanking the bottle of nasal spray from
his pocket and ramming it up his right nostril. “My sense of smell
isn’t what it used to be. I can’t find a suitable match for you,
Hunt.”

“So we can go
right now?” Sam asked, shoving past me and into the corridor, eager
to set off - and I couldn’t blame him.

“Not right at
once,” McCain smiled, putting the nasal spray back in his pocket.
“There is some paperwork that has to be completed. But you don’t
have to worry about that. We are throwing a leaving party in the
old chapel – it’s our way of saying goodbye. I know it hasn’t
always been easy for you children, but no harm was ever meant to
you. We want you to leave Ravenwood with some fond memories and
tell your families that it wasn’t so bad here.”

I looked at
McCain, and I couldn’t believe that he was just going to let us
walk away from Ravenwood. He stared down at me and smiled.

“So if you
would like to make your way to the chapel with the others, I’ll
finish the paperwork,” he smiled again. “I hope you enjoy the
party.”

I wanted to
tell Sam not to go. But, before I’d had a chance to say anything,
two of the Greys stepped from the shadows and ushered Sam and me
down the stairwell.