The Weight of Souls (24 page)

“Yeah, yeah, that’s how it works.” James waved airily.

“No, I get to set my challenge straight after. No waiting a week. I get to set a truth or dare right after I do this thing.”

James sucked air in through his teeth. “Haven’t we bent enough rules for you?”

I shrugged. “The moderators said the challenge was impossible, didn’t they? So either you agree to bend that rule for me, or I don’t have to do the dare and you lose your chance to set a challenge.”

I heard Tamsin’s inhalation from where I stood. Pete shook his head and stepped backwards, leaving me to my insanity. Only Justin rolled to his feet.

“Do
not
do this, Tay.” His earnest face was centimetres from mine. “There has to be another way, I just haven’t thought of it yet. Maybe I can haunt James until he cracks, or hang around these guys until someone talks about what happened.” He looked hopeful, but I shook my head slightly and showed him my hand.

“It could take forever,” I murmured into my gloved palm.

“What was that, Oh?” James jerked forward, but I stepped back.

“Just wondering what your decision was.”
If
you succeed, you can set your own right after.”

 

26

 

MY LAST THOUGHT

 

I nursed a coffee in the kitchen and tried not to check the time every two minutes. Every bulb was blazing, even the ones under the cupboards, yet it still felt as if the shadows were closing in. Although it was a sunny day there was a quality to the light that suggested approaching night. The air was oppressive and I felt anxious and on edge, as if I was in the eye of a storm and it was about to break.

Justin watched me with solemn eyes. Finally he spoke. “I'm coming with you.”

I tightened my hands around my mug. “I know how hard that will be for you.”

I knew I should tell him to stay behind, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I didn't want to do the dare alone. And if something went wrong I wanted someone with me. Someone I liked.

I caught my breath. I... liked Justin. I explored the sensation as if I was probing a broken tooth with my tongue.

Sure, he was good-looking, but he'd always been attractive; his attitude had made me immune. Somehow this last fortnight he'd become a friend and that had exposed my heart. I glanced at him then quickly away, afraid that he'd somehow be able to spot the change in me.

He knew about my curse and more than that, he was helping to keep the ghosts away. With Justin I felt safe and perhaps understood for the first time since my mum had died. With deepening depression I found myself wishing that there was a way that he could remain by my side, but when I found his killer he'd move on and leave me alone once more.

I thought of my mum’s promise to me with a snigger. Was this the “love” that I was supposedly guaranteed? An unrequited crush on a dead teenager.

Hysterical laughter bubbled in my chest. At least if I was going to die tonight, I'd have had this feeling. Tainted with darkness as it was, it was better than the nothing that had filled me until now.

I swallowed it back. “I'd better find Dad and say goodbye.”

Justin's fingers edged across the table until they touched my wrist. “Hey.” He smiled gently as I looked up. “We're going to be alright.”

 

We met the others at the bus stop so we could go together to the site of Justin's death. Before we left I had pulled the glove over my hand with shaking fingers. I'd never seen a Mark so black and I was pretty certain the Darkness was coming for me, maybe even tonight. If I could just stay ahead of it for a few more hours I’d know who Justin’s killer was and could pass the Mark on.

I wasn’t even entertaining the thought that my plan wouldn’t work.

I glanced along the back seat of the bus and my eyes skidded past Tamsin, Harley, Pete, and James: the group that had escorted Justin. One of them had to know what really happened that night.

Justin was sitting on an empty seat in front. He glanced back every so often, with an expression that said he was checking on me. And each time he turned his head I sensed the effort it took him not to look at Tamsin and James.

Biting my lip I looked out the window. Another ten minutes and we’d be getting off the bus. Apparently our stop was only a short walk from the building site. I fidgeted in my seat. I wasn’t comfortable putting my toes on the bus floor. The shadows beneath the seat were definitely darker than they should be and they sucked at my heels when I put them down.

 

We stood outside the chippy on the high street. It was that odd witching hour in the suburbs of London between the shops closing down for the day and the bars opening up for the evening. A few doors remained open, a vendor selling sari silk, a Costcutter, a newsagent. These hopeful businesses spilled electric light and noise onto the pavement, but the street was fairly quiet and most shops were dead.

A man walked towards us with two huge dogs on leads. All three of them wore studded collars and I couldn’t take my eyes off the hounds. They weren’t friendly. As they drew level with us one of them sniffed towards the chip shop while the other drooled and looked at me with eyes so black they reminded me of the void imprinted on my hand. Inadvertently I took a step backwards and the dog growled.

Its owner glared at me as if I’d deliberately antagonised his animals and a flash of anger warmed me. Where did he get off?

I was sick of feeling hunted and being scared. I was going to climb that scaffolding and then the idiots with me would have to tell me what really happened to Justin. Then I could get rid of the Mark and… and Justin would be gone.

I was trying to keep my glances at Justin to a minimum. He stood next to Pete and watched me with wary brown eyes, so different from those of my one-time friend. Justin was the only one of us wearing a uniform, the others had insisted on hoodies and jeans for this trip, and he looked a little lost. His skin was still pale, his face pinched and nervous. Of course, when he was last here, he’d died. I should be checking on him, not the other way around. I gave him an encouraging smile.

“What’re you gurning at?” Tamsin peered around James, seeing nothing but the Costcutter on the other side of the road.

I spread my gloved hand. “Nothing. Just thinking about stuff.”

“Freak.”

We stood a hundred metres down from the building site and I wondered if they’d stopped here last time too. Pete’s hands were wrapped around the portion of chips he’d just bought. Grease and vinegar dripped from the paper onto the gum-stained pavement. Tamsin curled her lip and my own stomach rolled at the smell.

James nodded at the security insignia that hung on the link fence that surrounded the building site. “We need another diversion. You ready?”

Pete nodded and tilted his head. “I’ll need Tamsin this time.”

 

Arm-in-arm the couple walked down the street towards the building site. Suddenly the girl pulled away. “You can’t talk to me like that!”

“I was only kidding.” The boy thought he could talk his way out of whatever he’d said.

“What about the other day? What about the party? I’ve had enough.”

“Where did that come from?” It was the boy’s turn to pull back.

“You’re a total waster. It’s over.”

“What?” He was shouting now. “You can’t just dump me!”

“Get over yourself, I just did. Anyway, why would you care, you want someone with some ‘junk in their trunk’, right?”

“I was
joking
!” The girl was stalking away now, leaving the boy outside the building site. His eyes glittered above his dark jumper as he thumped the chain link fence. “Dammit.”

“Hey.” The guard’s voice reached us. “What’re you doing?”

“Didn’t you see? She just dumped me.” The boy rubbed his bald head. “I can’t believe it.” He looked at his right hand as if he’d forgotten he was clutching a bag of chips. “I don’t feel like these any more. You want them?”

The guard glanced left and right, then shrugged. “Go on then.”

The boy leaned on the fence. “Did you see her? She was fit. Out of my league really…”

 

“Come on.” James pulled on my sleeve. “We’ve got a minute or two. Let’s get round the back.”

Tamsin rejoined us and fluffed up her hair. “Did you see Pete try and make me eat those greasy carbs?”

“It worked.” James put his arm around her shoulder and led us down a side road to the rear of the site. “Pull up your hoods, girls. There’s CCTV everywhere.” Harley was already donning his and now James too covered his hair and pulled the cowl low over his eyes. Instantly he seemed even more menacing.

I shivered and tweaked my own hood over my eyes, narrowing the world to a tunnel.

The fence was at least six foot, but there was no barbed wire or anything. I was about to set my hands and feet on it when Harley grabbed my shoulder. I turned, mouth opening, and saw a couple hurrying past us with their heads down.

“Boo,” he shouted and they crossed quickly to the other side of the road.

Tamsin smacked him as he snickered. “Way to call attention to us.”

Harley just grinned and James gestured towards the fence.

Justin gave my fingers a quick squeeze, then phased through the chain link right beneath the “No Access” sign. I shivered as I watched him go. It was so easy to forget what he was.

Suddenly he reappeared. “Start climbing here, there’s some stuff piled up on the other side. You can jump down.”

I nodded and moved to the spot he indicated. Then I took one last look around. It was almost dark and the streetlights cast orange circles onto the grey pavement.

We were overlooked only by the rears of buildings. Bulging rubbish bags sat outside one scratched door; probably the back of a bar. A rustling sound made me jump and my eyes jerked back to the bins. A sudden glittering made me inhale as a fox raised its muzzle from the rubbish. It regarded us coldly then gave a short yip and disappeared down the street, slipping from light pool to light pool, then melting into an abandoned lot.

I licked dry lips and turned back to the fence.

Time to climb.

 

We were all inside.

Tamsin had made a bit of a production about it, but even she had managed to scale the fence. And I judged by Justin’s disgusted expression that she would have been fine even without the help James had given her.

I looked away from her drama. I had to focus.

The scaffolding rose into the sky in front of me, like the skeleton of a decomposed building. Long metal bones, held together with bolts like sinews, were boarded with wood that looked black in the dim light.

I stepped forward and a light blazed white. It picked me out like a prisoner and threw my shadow against the fence.

I yipped as loudly as the fox and took a jump back.

“Freeze.” Harley gripped my arm. “It’s movement sensitive.”

After a moment the light went out. There was no sign of the security guard; Pete must still have him talking.

“Now what?” I shook my arm free.

Harley shook his head. “There’s no way you’ll be able to do this, China. Time to leave.”

Justin nodded agreement, but I ignored him and bit my lip. “Where’s the light? Can we cover it with something?”

James draped his arm over Tamsin and pointed. The spotlight was fixed to a pole at the edge of the scaffold. “Cover it with what?”

“My hoodie. I could try and throw it over.”

“Throw it?” Tamsin sneered and her nails peeped out from the sleeves of her sweatshirt as she stretched. “Who do you think you are?”

“I can’t think of anything else, can you?” I looked meaningfully at Justin and pulled my jumper off. It tugged at my hair which fell back against my shoulders in a heavy curtain as I whipped it in front of me.

I made a show of judging the direction and distance to the light; then I threw. It shouldn’t have made it, but Justin snagged the sleeve and ran. For the others it must have looked as though it had been caught by the wind. Finally Justin tossed the shirt over the spotlight. It caught by the hood.

“Wow.” James stared at me, his lips pursed in surprise.

“Awright, China.” Harley punched the air.

Under her own hood Tamsin’s perfect eyebrows were raised. “Lucky,” she muttered.

“Yeah.” I checked on Justin, but he wasn’t looking at me. Instead his eyes were trained on the far side of the site. At first I thought the guard was coming; then I saw the old woman. She was wearing a hospital gown and leaning on a crutch. No way had she just climbed the fence.

Justin whipped round to face me as the old lady started to limp forward. He could either help me climb the scaffold or keep the other ghost from giving me a Mark.

“Oh no,” I whispered. “Not now.”

“‘Not now’ what?” Tamsin leaned forward, her face feral in the dim light.

“Just a headache coming on.”

“I don’t want to hear excuses.” James slicked a stray hair beneath his hood with the palm of one hand. “Are you doing this, Oh? I’m expecting great things.”

I wrapped my arms around my chest. The ghost was still coming. Justin looked from me to the scaffold to the old lady, his eyes darting from one to the other. Finally I pointed at the ghost. Like a beacon my white glove shone with the message:
Just keep her away from me.
 

Miserably, Justin moved towards the spectre while I strode towards the scaffolding. Immediately the floodlight came on, but it was shining through my black top and the light was muted.

At the bottom of the structure I looked up. Justin had said it didn’t look that bad from the bottom; that it was much higher looking down from the top. From where I stood, it seemed to tower above me so how high would it seem when I got up there?

I shivered and closed my bare hand around the first pole.