Darkness Falls (5 page)

Her stomach rumbled. April had deliberately skipped breakfast that morning to avoid her mother, not that she had expected her to be up so early. She would be lying in bed until noon, an empty wine glass standing by the bed, smeared with
lipstick. She didn’t know why Silvia was lying to her – or, what was that phrase? ‘Being economical with the truth’ – but she knew that she didn’t want to get into a screaming match before her first day back at school. So April had gone straight downstairs and out the front door, not looking back. As she passed the church and walked down the hill, April noticed a car parked in the road and her heart sank. Standing there, leaning against the door, was Detective Inspector Ian Reece.

Oh no, what does he want now?

DI Reece was nice enough for a policeman, but the last thing she wanted on her first morning back at school was to be asked a load of difficult questions.

‘Hello, April, I believe congratulations are in order,’ he said as she approached.

‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘Doesn’t feel as though there’s much worth celebrating today.’

‘No. Can’t be much fun going back to school on your birthday.’

She shrugged.

‘It’s not going to be much fun going back full stop.’

Reece smiled sympathetically.

‘You think everyone’s going to be looking at you?’

‘Think it? I know it. It’s not every day the school has a pupil savaged by a fellow student. They’ll be gathering around wanting to see the scar.’

Reece snorted.

‘Well, I won’t keep you long. Just wanted to give you an update on the case.’

‘Which case? Mine or my dad’s?’

He pulled a face.

‘Nothing on your dad’s murder at the moment.’

Meaning: the trail is as cold as a polar bear’s bum
, thought April.

‘It’s regarding Marcus Brent. It doesn’t look like he’s left the country after all,’ said Reece. ‘We’ve been through all the passport records and checked hours of CCTV footage at airports and ferry terminals.’

‘So you’re saying he’s still nearby?’ said April, thinking of the laughter in the cemetery and the figure outside her window last night. ‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’

‘I think it’s best you have all the information, April. You’re safer that way.’

‘Well I don’t feel very safe,’ said April, winding her satchel strap around her fingers. ‘I’ve been seeing things.’

‘Things? What sort of things?’

April shrugged. What could she say, really? Vampires, murderers, maniacs?

‘I don’t know, just things,’ she sighed. ‘I thought I saw someone in the square last night. I mean, it might have been someone out for a walk or something, but …’

DI Reece nodded.

‘Listen, that’s understandable after what you’ve been through, but honestly, there’s no need to worry. We’re watching the house and there’s no way Marcus is going to come back.’

‘Don’t be so sure, Inspector Reece,’ said April. ‘I looked into his eyes. He was insane. I really don’t think a police car parked outside my house would be much of a deterrent. Anyway, it’s not just Marcus I’m worried about. There’s been a lot of weird things happening in Highgate since I got here.’

‘You said it.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ April frowned. ‘That this is my fault?’

‘Not at all, April, don’t be so jumpy. I’m just agreeing with you. There have been some strange goings on and you’re right to be worried – no one knows that better than you. But you simply need to be careful. Don’t wander off on your own, tell people where you’re going, come straight home after school. All the usual stuff: look both ways before you cross the road.’

‘Now you’re starting to sound like my mum.’

‘I hope not,’ he smiled, then gestured towards the car. ‘Do you want a lift?’

‘No, I don’t think turning up in a police car is a good idea this morning. Thank you. Besides, I’m not in any hurry. All
that stuff people tell you about your school days being the happiest of your life? I hope they’re lying.’

She left DI Reece and walked on down the hill, feeling the butterflies in her stomach as she got closer to Ravenwood. It was a different kind of apprehension to last term’s, when all April had to worry about was being the new girl and fitting in with the brain-boxes and rich kids pulling up in their posh cars. She almost laughed. It was hard to remember a time when she had such ordinary problems: what to wear, who to speak to, would there be any cute boys there? Now she had real problems, problems which could end up with someone dead – and not just Gabriel.

April slowed as she saw the school gates. Who deliberately walks into a building they know is full of mythical killers? No one sane. But April had to. DI Reece might not have any leads, but she did. Her father had been investigating the school before he was killed. Either he had got too close to whoever was behind Ravenwood, or he had been murdered by a vampire. Either way, April knew the truth about his death was wrapped up in whatever was going on at Ravenwood. And it wasn’t just for her dad; she had to find the Vampire Regent, the vamp king-pin behind the Ravenwood plot, because the blood-sucking Regent had turned Gabriel into a vampire all those years ago. Legend had it that if Gabriel killed the vampire who made him, he would return to being human. And they could finally, properly, be together. Of course, it was only a legend. Pulling her satchel higher up on her shoulder, she walked up the steps and into Ravenwood. Right now, legends were all she had.

‘April, could I have a word?’

April groaned inwardly. She had been the first out of her seat at the end of her philosophy lesson, hoping to make it to the door without having to speak to Mr Sheldon.

‘Don’t worry, it’s not a lecture,’ said the teacher, beckoning to her. ‘I just wanted to have a quiet chat when everyone’s gone.’

She watched as he ushered the rest of the students out of the room and closed the door.

‘So how are you feeling?’ he asked, gesturing that she should sit. ‘First day back, it must be a little strange.’

April knew what he was getting at. Mr Sheldon wasn’t just April’s philosophy teacher, he was Ravenwood’s headmaster. And no headmaster wanted his school to attract the sort of headlines April made.
Highgate schoolgirl attacked in cemetery. Maniac tries to eat student
. The press had lapped it up of course, especially with her dad’s death. They had camped outside the house, desperate to make some connection between the two attacks. Had Marcus killed her father too? Had they been victims of the same serial killer? And then there was the juicy addition of it all happening in Nicholas Osbourne’s grounds, one of the most prominent and controversial businessmen in the country.

‘I’m okay,’ said April, ‘I’m feeling much better, anyway.’

‘That’s good. Your wounds all healed and so forth?’

He looked at her with those strangely piercing eyes which had earned him the nickname ‘Hawk’.

‘Yes, well, I still have pain in my arm,’ she said, ‘and I have to go for physio for my neck, but …’

‘Good, splendid. I want you to know everyone here feels terrible that you were attacked by Marcus Brent, even if it wasn’t on school property. He was a Ravenwood student after all, and we feel a certain responsibility.’ He paused to cough.

‘And I feel some responsibility personally. You will remember I was there when the boy attacked you in the lavatories …?’

How could April forget? Hawk had walked in just as April had been cornered by Marcus. If he hadn’t …

‘I disciplined the boy of course, but I can’t help feeling that I should have taken greater steps to ensure your safety.’

Just then a light went on above April’s head: Mr Sheldon was worried she might sue the school – or even worse, him personally – for negligence. He had clearly known Marcus was unhinged and a lawyer could have argued that the school should have protected her. She almost laughed out loud. Here
she was, planning to expose Ravenwood as a nest of vampires, and all the headmaster was worried about was a lawsuit.

‘Well, I hope we both understand each other?’ said Mr Sheldon.

Oh yes, I understand you perfectly
, thought April.

‘You do know that my door is always open, don’t you, April?’

April nodded, although she was thinking: Th
ere’s no way I’m going into your lair
. She had no idea if Mr Sheldon was a vampire, but these days she found herself assuming the worst. In actual fact, April had spent most of the lesson looking at her fellow students, wondering which of them were Suckers and which of them were being recruited. Gabriel had told her to look out for sleek hair and flawless skin, but that covered almost everyone at Ravenwood. And you could hardly go around staking people because they’d had a shower that morning.

She looked up at Mr Sheldon’s white hair. It would certainly make sense for the man in charge of a school recruiting vampires to be a vampire. But she and Caro had thought that about Nicholas Osbourne and they had been wrong. And anyway, would a high-ranking vampire really be worried about bad PR?

‘We’re always here, whatever you need,’ said Mr Sheldon.

Yeah, right
, thought April.
As long as what I need serves the vampire cause
.

‘Of course,’ said April, gathering up her bag and heading for the door. ‘And thank you.’

‘Cheeky buggers,’ said Caro as they sat at their usual table in the refectory at break. ‘I can’t believe they were trying to manipulate a poor injured teenager into dropping a civil suit against the school. It’s immoral!’

‘I think manipulation is what they do here,’ said April, lowering her voice. ‘And assuming we’re right about Ravenwood being full of Suckers, immoral is sort of the point, isn’t it?’

‘
Assuming
we’re right?’ hissed Caro, ‘A bloody great vampire tried to rip your arm off and beat you to death with it! Isn’t that proof enough?’

April had to smile. Caro was the odd one out at Ravenwood, a rare individual at a school where you were either a straight-A geek or a super-rich Barbie doll. Caro was clever, but she dyed her hair, painted her nails and wore too much eye make-up.

‘Sorry,’ said April, ‘I’m just a bit out of it. I’ve got so much on my mind: my father, Gabriel and this whole Fury thing, the school … I don’t know which way’s up any more.’

Caro’s expression softened and she touched April’s hand.

‘I’m sorry. I know it’s hard. You’ve just got to focus on one thing at a time.’

April sighed.

‘Okay, so which “thing” do we start with?’

‘I think we use the opportunity we have: everyone will want to talk to you about your ordeal; I think it’s a perfect opportunity to get in with the Faces.’

The Faces were the super-groomed, over-styled girls who ruled Ravenwood with their icy stares and withering put-downs. Davina Osbourne was their leader and April was pretty sure they were at the centre of Ravenwood’s vampire recruitment, thus April needed to get their confidence if she was ever going to find out what was going on.

‘So what do you think I should do? Show them my scars and hope they look hungry?’

Caro laughed. ‘No, but they’re going to want to be best mates with you now you’re a school celebrity, so I say make the most of it. And I’ve got a plan to help you get in with Davina.’

‘What plan?’ said April suspiciously.

Caro tapped the side of her nose. ‘Ask me no questions … Anyway, speak of the devil,’ she said, nodding towards a girl approaching them. She was beautiful with high cheekbones and long glossy blonde hair complemented by a purple Chanel shift dress and patent pumps way higher than the school dress code allowed. Davina Osbourne, Queen of the Ravenwood Faces – and more than likely, head of the vampire nest.

‘Darling, how are you?’ said Davina, dipping in to air-kiss April. ‘I’ve been sick with worry.’

‘I’m okay,’ said April. She knew everyone in the refectory was watching them and could feel her cheeks flush. Davina stepped back and gazed sincerely into April’s eyes.

‘Are you sure you’re fit enough to come back so soon? I mean, given what Marcus Brent did to you. Personally, I’d have taken the whole term off.’

‘Thanks, but I’m fine. I’ve been out of hospital for a week now and there’s no reason to stay off school. Anyway, it’s not much fun staying at home with my mum.’

‘God, I know what you mean. I’d rather jump off a bridge than be cooped up with my family. Christmas was bad enough.’

Davina looked at April again, her hand over her mouth.

‘I’ve put my foot in it again, haven’t I? It can’t have been very festive for you this year, can it?’

‘Funnily enough, it wasn’t too bad.’

In fact, April had found Christmas easier to cope with than she had expected. The hospital had let her go home for the night and for once her mother and grandfather had put some effort in, decorating the house with a tree and presents. It looked like a picture-perfect Hollywood set of a family Christmas. April had made it as far as the Christmas meal – called in from a caterers, naturally. Silvia was never the most domestic of women – before she finally broke down and cried. The sight of the turkey had set her off: it had always been her dad’s job to carve.