As they ran, she kept an eye on her charges.
Charlotte wasn’t slim – her chubby cheeks made her look even younger than she was – but she handled the pace well. She had a smooth, natural gait as if, like Allie, she was born to run.
It was Alec who got winded easily. He was gasping for air within minutes.
‘Try to breathe from your diaphragm,’ Allie advised him, running alongside him.
‘What does that even mean?’ he groused.
‘It means,’ she said, ‘breathe deep. Use your entire lungs. They have a lot of space. Unless you have asthma. Do you have asthma?’
‘I don’t have asthma.’ He wouldn’t meet her gaze. He seemed embarrassed. Actually, everything seemed to embarrass him. He was hopelessly awkward.
Allie forced herself to be patient. She tried to think about how she ran.
‘Get a rhythm going. Breathe in and then out, every second step. So in, left foot right foot. Then out, left foot right foot.’ She ran alongside him, watching him critically as he tried the method with obvious reluctance.
Even though her own running was going well, Charlotte joined in, breathing rhythmically as Allie had demonstrated. Keeping an eye on Alec.
Allie was starting to like her.
‘Does it help?’ she asked.
The boy shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe.’
But he looked better. Some of the purple tinge seemed to be fading from his skin.
‘Good.’ Allie pretended he’d thanked her. It made it easier not to hit him. ‘Now work on your foot placement. It’s not thump, thump. It’s heel toe, heel toe.’
‘Jesus,’ he muttered.
Allie, who had now used up all her patience, moved until she was running alongside Charlotte.
‘How are you doing, Charlotte?’
‘Everyone calls me Charlie,’ the girl said, apologetically. ‘Only my mum calls me Charlotte.’
Allie, who had said virtually the same thing a million times in her life, smiled.
‘Charlie it is.’
The cool glow of the moon disappeared the second they entered the woods. It was much darker here. The only sound was the thudding of their footsteps, and the harsh burn of Alec’s still imperfect breathing.
Allie ran a little ahead looking out for any sign of danger. They were running much slower than her usual pace and she longed to move faster. But she didn’t want Alec to collapse or Charlie to break an ankle. Because of all that, it took them a good fifteen minutes to reach the chapel wall.
They were well behind schedule now, but Allie tried to keep her tone positive.
‘This is our zone,’ she announced quietly.
The junior students exchanged puzzled looks.
‘Uh… What happens now?’ Alec asked.
‘We move quietly through the zone, looking for anything out of the ordinary.’
‘Like what?’
‘Murder and carnage, Alec. Use your imagination.’
‘God,’ he muttered. ‘Attitude.’
I will never be a teacher, Allie promised herself.
When they reached the chapel gate it was closed and secure, but she decided they should search it anyway. Just in case.
The latch opened with a metallic jangle, and the gate creaked open.
Inside, the churchyard was still. It no longer smelled of fresh cut grass. Allie didn’t let herself look at Lucinda’s grave.
With cool discipline, she scanned the yard for anything amiss, but all was in place.
With the other two right behind her she headed up the path to the front door of the church, and tried the handle. It turned with effort.
Inside, the darkness was complete. There was no electricity out here – no light switch to flip.
Allie pulled a torch from her pocket.
‘Oh my God. You had a torch all this time?’ Alec’s voice was too loud.
Allie motioned urgently for him to shut up.
Stepping into the chapel, Allie squinted into the glow of the flashlight. She could see the wall paintings – the dragon, the Tree of Life. The pews lined up in neat rows, waiting for the next service.
The next death.
A faint scent of lilies hung in the air. Reminding her of the hundreds of flowers that had filled this room not long ago.
Still. It was empty now.
‘All clear. Let’s go.’ She switched off the light.
They all heard the faint scuttling sound at the same moment.
A chill ran down Allie’s back. She’d seen nothing in there.
She heard Charlie gasp.
Hurriedly switching the torch back on, Allie swung the light at the back of the room. The church was completely empty.
The sound came again. It sounded like hands beating the walls, very softly. Or like nails against stone.
It didn’t sound… human.
Suddenly something shot out of the darkness directly at Allie’s light. She jumped, dropping the light.
Charlotte stifled a scream. Alec grabbed her, pulling her out of the way.
The thing fluttered past Allie’s face, brushing her hair with its webbed wing.
Her heart hammered in her chest – for a split second she couldn’t catch her breath.
Seeing that the other two were terrified, she forced herself to breathe.