City of the Falling Sky (7 page)

“
Seckry, man, it’s not cool
to laugh about it. Have you really never heard of the Rabbit
Man?”

Seckry shook his head.

“
Well, he’s not a man in a
giant bunny suit if that’s what you’re thinking. He’s the most
feared man in all of Skyfall. He’s a killer. A
murderer.”

“
Oh,” Seckry said, taken
aback.

“
It’s been all over the news
for the past three years. The mysterious Rabbit Man kills again.
He’s murdered sixteen people.”

“
But why do they call him
the Rabbit Man?”

“
They’ve got footage of him
on security cameras and he’s been sighted a few times. He’s got
some kind of strange marking, like a tattoo on his forehead that’s
in the shape of a rabbit.”

“
A tattoo on his
forehead?”

“
Don’t ask me,” Tenk said,
shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe it’s some kind of secret cult
marking or something. Who knows? All we know is that he’s out there
and he’s never been caught.”

“
I guess Primmy just thought
it was out of order, Snibble saying he was going to set him on
Conker.”

“
Totally out of order. You
don’t joke about the Rabbit Man. It’s just not something you
do.”

“
Why do you think he murders
people?” Seckry said curiously.

“
Nobody knows. That’s the
big question. His victims have been both male and female. From as
young as twenty five to eighty five, from all four partitions.
There are no links. No correlations. Just the most random, most
brutal of murders. That’s the scariest thing. Who knows when or
where he’s gonna strike next? It could be anyone.”

As they were leaving, the chewing gum girl
from the art lesson earlier called Seckry to one side.

Tenk gave Seckry a surprised wink and said,
“Gotta rush off, man, I’ll meet you at the station.”

Seckry gulped. What did she want to say to
him? And what was her name? Tania, if he remembered rightly.

“
Hey, new boy,” she said
slowly. “Was good seeing someone brave enough to stand up to
Snibble earlier. Most people just take his fippin
nonsense.”

“
Yeah, um . . . I don’t
usually act like that,” Seckry replied. His words felt like they
were falling out of his mouth uncontrollably. He couldn’t believe
how fast his heart was beating, he had never had a girl compliment
him before, especially not on his bravery.

“
What’s your name?” she
asked, still chewing that gum. Seckry wondered if it was the same
piece that she’d been chewing this morning. He could smell the
artificial sweetness of it, mixing with her warm breath.

“
It’s Seckry.”

“
Cool. My name’s Natania.
You up to much tonight?”

Seckry was about to tell her it was his
birthday and his mum would most probably have something planned,
but he stopped himself just in time.

“
Umm . . . not much. Just
watching some TV or something, I imagine.”

She looked him up and down, smiling.

“
Wicked. Well, do you fancy
meeting up? We could meet on Ferry Road about seven and I’ll take
you somewhere nice.”

Seckry felt like he was going to swallow his
own tongue. “That’d be . . . uh . . . good,” he said croakily.

Natania smiled and walked away, saying
nothing more.

Seckry rode the monorail home in a daze, his
insides doing back flips as he flittered between fear and
excitement. Amidst Tenk’s congratulations, he wondered how his mum
would react when he told her he was actually going on a date. He
was dreading the embarrassment.

All the boys in his school back in Marne had
been seeing girls for years, it shouldn’t have been a big deal, but
for some reason, he was terrified.

When he pushed open the door to the flat, the
lights were off and the curtains had been drawn. For a brief moment
he wondered if his mum and sister had had enough of the city and
packed up and left. Then the familiar scent of burning candles hit
him and his mum stepped out of the kitchen with his cake, singing
happy birthday. She was followed by Leena who was miming along and
looking slightly uncomfortable.

Seckry felt sick. This morning he couldn’t
wait to have a slice of cake, but his stomach had been churning so
much on the way back that it was the last thing he wanted to see
now.

“
How was your day, birthday
boy?” his mum asked, after Seckry had blown out the candles. She
placed the cake on the living area table and began cutting it into
huge chunks.

“
It was . . . interesting,”
Seckry said.

He explained about the white chips and his
mum and Leena both lifted their sleeves to reveal that they, too,
had been given one each at work.

“
Can you believe they’re
made by that Endrin company?” Leena said. “I feel sick wearing
something that’s been made by them. They ruined our lives for the
sake of greed. I bet they’re raking in the money from extracting
the energy underneath Marne.”

“
Well, they haven’t started
extracting yet, my love,” Coralle said. “It’s going to take them a
year to set it up.”

“
Well . . . that’s beside
the point,” said Leena.

“
Anyway, let’s talk about
what we’re doing tonight,” Coralle said merrily.

Before his mum could say any more, Seckry
decided it was just best to come out with it straight away.

“
I’ve . . . kind of got a .
. . date tonight.”

Seckry squeezed his face up into a cringe and
closed one eye as he watched his mum’s expression transform into
one of pure pride and glee. She put both her hands on her heart and
took a deep breath. It looked as though she was about to cry.

“
My son,” she said softly,
and nothing else.

“
So where are you going?”
Leena asked, her down to earth tone making Seckry feel a little
more relaxed.

“
She wants me to meet her on
Ferry Road and she’s gonna take me somewhere. That’s all I
know.”

“
Ooo!” his mum cried. “You
might be going to one of those posh restaurants over in Falberry
Quarter. Now you know you have to eat with your fork in your left
hand and your knife in your right hand when you’re in a restaurant,
don’t you? I should have trained both of you properly when you were
little.”

“
I get a feeling we’re not
going to a restaurant,” Seckry said.

“
Yeah they don’t go to
restaurants, mum,” said Leena. “It’ll probably be a coffee shop.
Have some evening lattes. Maybe a hot chocolate.”

“
Oh it’s
so
romantic,” his mum squealed, delighted again. “And on your birthday
as well. I was gonna get some party games going for the three of us
but that will just have to wait. Now, I’m gonna cut you both a
slice of cake, you can take a piece for her.”

“
Mum, are you serious?”
Leena exclaimed. “
Do not
take her a piece of cake,
Seckry.”

“
Why not?” their mum said
defensively. “I’m sure the girl would love a slice.”

Leena shook her head.

“
Right. I’m gonna give you
some solid advice,” she stated, slapping her hand on the table.
“Besides from not bringing cake to a date, there are a few things
you should know about the way a girl should be treated.”

Their mum rolled her eyes but Leena didn’t
notice.

“
Firstly, don’t be overly
forward. That’ll just put her off straight away. Secondly, do not
tell her she looks good, smells good, tastes good, or any of that
other cheesy crap. We know you don’t mean it.”

Seckry raised an eyebrow.

“
And thirdly, do not pour
her a drink, pull out her chair, or open a door for her. If you do
that, it’s over. You may as well have ‘male chauvinist’ inked
across your face.”

“
Oh, don’t be silly, Leena,”
said their mum. “Your dad always used to open doors for me. I felt
special. Looked after.”

“
Well times have changed,
mum. That was a long time ago.”

“
Not
that
long ago,
thank you very much!” said Coralle.

Seckry’s palms had been sweating like mad
before he even left the flat and tiny glowflies were now landing on
his damp skin as he headed for the monorail station. The warm air
was making him dizzy. His mouth was dry too and he kept swallowing
which seemed to make it even worse.

It was definitely warmer in the summer here
than in Marne. At least in Marne you could sometimes feel the cool
breeze which came across the fields from the Phary Ocean in the
west. Here in the city you were surrounded by hot metal and
fizzing, fluorescent light. Seckry could see the heat distorting
the road ahead.

He was wearing a blue shirt; the only smart
shirt he really had. He felt uncomfortable in it and it was too
big, but his mum had assured him he had to make an effort to look
good. Seckry wasn’t sure that Natania was the kind of girl to be
dressed up smart, but his mum probably wouldn’t have let him out of
the door wearing anything else.

Ferry Road was not far from Estergate. Seckry
had spotted it from the view of the monorail the day before. When
he departed the carriage, he took a few turnings and stopped to
take a deep breath as he saw the street sign that he was looking
for.

And there she was, leaning against a
telephone exchange box wearing a yellow hoodie.

He knew he shouldn’t have dressed up.

He swallowed for the last time and walked
towards her. His footsteps caught her attention.

“
Hey, big boy,” she said
lazily. She was chewing more gum again, bright blue this
time.

“
Hey,” Seckry said, his
voice cracking from the dryness of his throat.

She eyed him up and down and chuckled to
herself.

Seckry looked away in embarrassment.

Natania began walking.

“
So where are we going?”
Seckry asked boldly, following her and trying to mask his shaky
voice. Natania said nothing.

As they headed down a near side street,
Seckry realised that they were down an alley at the rear of some
restaurants. He found himself stepping over sludge on the ground,
rotting mixtures of wet and dried out food waste, wriggling with
cockroaches and maggots. What kind of place was this for a date? It
looked like a dead end.

And then he spotted something: a cloud of
unnatural looking, bright green smoke, hovering sluggishly in the
unmoving air of the alley.

“
Here he is,” Natania said,
and it took Seckry a moment to realise she wasn’t talking to him.
Someone else was here.

A pair of eyes flashed open within the
smoke.

“
You better give me twenty
notes worth,” Natania said forcefully.

Then someone stepped forward.

It was Snibble Knotting.

Seckry looked at Natania for an explanation,
but she had no interest in him now, she was staring intently at
Snibble, her eyes wide.

“
I’m not waiting until
you’ve finished with him before I get my crazydust. You better hand
it over now, I’m gagging. I’ve brought you the kid.”

“
Calm down, impatient cow.”
Snibble lifted a small cellophane bag full of glowing green stuff
from his pocket and threw it to her.

Seckry’s body felt like lead. He had been
tricked. Snibble had used her as bait to get him alone at night,
out of sight of any teachers or anyone. When they had been talking
in the canteen, they must have been plotting it. How could he have
been so stupid?

But he didn’t have time to let the
disappointment sink in. He had to get out of here before it was too
late. He turned to run but Snibble’s hand gripped him firmly and
held him, squirming to get away.

To make it worse, two large figures stepped
out of the shadows and blocked him in. They looked a few years
older than Seckry, and seemed to be identical twins. Seckry was
trapped.

“
You ain’t going anywhere,
newbie,” Snibble asserted.

Seckry stopped moving. He would have to wait
until Snibble had let go before he could make another escape.

Snibble pulled Seckry’s face close to his
own. Seckry could feel the boy’s warm, stinking breath wafting into
his nostrils. It was the strangest smell he had ever come across.
It was like rancid vegetables mixed with detergent. Snibble’s eyes
were bloodshot and his pupils were dilated.

“
So you think you can cheek
me in school, do you? Think you can get me hyped up and kicked out,
eh? Well it ain’t gonna happen, I’m telling you now.”

Snibble head butted Seckry and barred his
teeth like a rabid dog, then he kicked him with a furious force in
the shin, and Seckry crumpled in agony. It felt like the bone had
split in half.

“
Try running now, eh?”
Snibble shouted.

The searing pain made Seckry’s mind pulse in
and out of consciousness. He’d never be able to get away.

To make sure Seckry was going to stay put,
Snibble stamped on both of his hands. Then he started coughing,
retching up phlegm and green mucus.

Seckry’s eyes were filled with water from the
pain, but he could just about see Snibble lean over and dribble the
foul stuff onto him. The wetness of it began to seep through to his
chest immediately.

Then Snibble pulled something out of his
pocket and bent down but Seckry’s eyes were too unfocused to see
what it was until it was right up close to his face. A lighter.