For a while she was too busy focusing on it to be frightened. Stones skittered out from under her foot. Once or twice she stumbled, but she always caught herself before she fell.
She was nearly at the top when she heard a sound in the woods. It was faint but clear – a snapping branch, then… silence.
Allie’s mouth went dry and she peered into the darkness around her. But the night revealed nothing. She turned back to the footpath and took one step forward.
‘Hello, Allie.’
She froze. Nathaniel’s chillingly familiar voice seemed to come from her earpiece, but that wasn’t possible.
Her hands shaking, she fumbled with her torch. Suddenly her fingers were so numb everything felt like nothing at all. Finally, she managed to press the button and a bright beam sprang out. She held the torch above her head, pointing it straight ahead.
The path was empty.
Her breath came out in a choked sob.
Where is he?
Panicked, she swung in a circle, the torch beam swinging drunkenly.
Nothing.
‘I need you to walk to the top of the hill, and into the castle.’ In her ear Nathaniel’s voice was calm.
That only made Allie more frightened.
He hacked the comms system.
‘Once you’re there, I’ll tell you where to go. Do as I say and Rachel will be fine.’
He can hear everything we say.
Allie’s heart hammered against the walls of her chest so loudly it was hard to hear his voice.
‘It was naughty of you to try to subvert my demands by using these earpieces,’ Nathaniel chided her. ‘I know my letter did not strictly forbid this. Still, I’m instituting a new rule. Alert Raj that I am talking to you and Rachel dies like Jo. I hope you understand how serious I am.’
For a second Allie was immobilised by fear. He’d said she shouldn’t alert Raj – did that mean she could hear Nathaniel but Raj could not? Should she say something back? If she did, Raj would hear.
She thought longingly about running back down the hill and warning Raj. He needed to know.
But then she thought of Rachel – alone and held prisoner by that monster. She couldn’t go back. She had to try.
‘Allie, check in.’ At that moment, Raj’s steady voice came through her earpiece. He didn’t sound at all rattled. He had no idea what Nathaniel had done.
‘Allie?’ Raj called again. This time he sounded concerned – she had to reply.
‘Clear,’ she whispered, her voice tight.
There was nothing to be done. She couldn’t warn Raj without risking Rachel’s life. She had to go on, but she was so frightened her feet seemed frozen to the earth, her hands glued to her sides.
Come on, Allie, she urged herself. Rachel would do this for you.
Gritting her teeth she took one step. Then another. In that fashion she stumbled up the hill, clutching her torch in a death grip. Its beam unsteadily illuminated the emptiness ahead, making shadows of tree branches that reached out for her like long fingers.
The crest of the hill lay just ahead. Beyond it, she could make out the jagged rocks of the castle tower.
Lowering her head she walked on, her footsteps uneven but determined.
When she reached the remains of the castle’s once formidable stone wall, her heart pounded so quickly she felt dizzy.
The old wall had crumbled over time but still stood more than six feet tall in places. She picked her way through the fallen rocks to a spot where the wall was at its lowest. Here, battered stones had been piled into makeshift stairs, and she climbed to the top.
The winds had picked up and her hair blew around her face as she stood on top of the wall looking out over the old stone tower, gloomy and ruined. Tonight, with storm clouds swirling overhead, it looked every bit as haunted as its reputation held it to be.
Next to it, a scorched circle marked the spot where the students had held a bonfire in the autumn term. It felt like a hundred years ago.
She could see no sign of Nathaniel but she knew he was there, somewhere. Waiting for her.
Steeling herself, she climbed down and headed across the uneven ground.
‘I’m at the castle,’ she said into her microphone.
‘Clear,’ Raj said. ‘You have ten minutes.’
Ten minutes until he came with his guards to get her. Ten minutes to free Rachel. Ten minutes to survive.
A light mist began to fall; tiny raindrops clung to her eyelashes.
Raj’s plan required her to stand in the middle of the castle yard and call Nathaniel out. ‘Whatever you do,’ he’d said, ‘do not go into the castle tower. Understood?’
But now when she reached the centre of what had once been the castle keep, Nathaniel’s voice, so low and preternaturally calm it sent goosebumps cascading down her spine, spoke in her ear.
‘Walk into the castle tower.’
Horrified, Allie replied aloud: ‘No.’
‘Allie?’ Raj’s voice in her ear.
She bit her lip. ‘Clear,’ she said.
Clenching her hands into fists at her sides, Allie tried to stay focused. She needed to think.