It was just as dark inside the room as out, and they both felt along the wall until Allie’s fingers found the cool plastic switch at last and flipped on the lights.
The room was small and stuffy with a ceiling that slanted steeply. A double bed took up most of the space, topped with two flat pillows and a clean but faded blue bedspread. A small window on one wall was hidden behind dark curtains. Through a narrow door Allie could see a minuscule bathroom.
It seemed unnaturally quiet.
‘I wonder what he meant,’ Allie said to break the silence. ‘That he owed Raj his life.’
‘I don’t know.’ Careful not to bump his head on the low ceiling, Carter went to the window and moved the curtain far enough to look out. ‘Raj was in the military for a while.’
Allie hadn’t known that.
The blanket of silence came down again.
Now that they were here and safe, weariness hit her like a fist. Carter still stood by the window. She wondered what he was looking at. Or if he just didn’t know what to do. The bed was the only piece of furniture in the room aside from a small, battered bedside table with a lamp.
After a brief hesitation, she sat down on the edge of the mattress. It was one of those hard mattresses that seemed to be carved out of solid wood.
‘That must be it,’ she said, running her hand tiredly across her face.
In the light, she noticed something on her wrist, and she turned her hand over to see it better.
It looked almost like a bracelet, but she wasn’t wearing jewellery.
A sudden image of Lucinda grabbing her wrist flashed in her mind.
The bracelet was her grandmother’s blood.
Stifling a sob, Allie rubbed hard at the rust-coloured stain.
‘What is it?’
When she didn’t reply, Carter crossed to her side in three long steps. He took her hand to look at her wrist. She didn’t fight him.
‘It’s …’ But she couldn’t bring herself to say what it was. That would make it all real. Besides, he must know anyway. She swallowed hard. ‘I need to clean up.’
To her relief, he didn’t try to make her feel better.
‘In here.’ He reached into the bathroom to turn on the light then moved back to the window, giving her space.
Like everything else here, the bathroom was antiquated but clean. Allie turned on the tap. As she waited for the water to warm up, she stared at herself in the old mirror. She was shiny from sweat and her skin looked greeny-yellow in the fluorescent light.
Tears ran down her cheek and she stared at them curiously. She hadn’t realised she was crying.
The water was warm now. Grabbing a cracked bar of soap, she rubbed it against her wrist. The water ran pink at first. Then rusty red. Then clear.
She scrubbed her hands and arms until they burned. Then she splashed water on her face and neck.
By the time she finished, she actually felt better. Her eyes were red but she wasn’t crying any more. She took a deep breath and walked back into the bedroom.
Carter was by the window again. His eyes searched her face.
‘I’m OK,’ she lied.
‘I know you are,’ he said.
He walked towards her, and she stiffened. If he hugged her she’d start crying again and then she might never stop.
Instead he went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Relieved, Allie sank down on the bed. She could hear water running behind the door. She wanted Carter close but she was glad there was some space between them right now. She needed a second to think.
It struck her that he might feel the same way.
She was so tired. The adrenaline that kept her going all night – maybe all week – had abandoned her. She went to pull her feet up on to the bed but then cast a guilty glance at the clean coverlet.
Carefully she unzipped her muddy boots and slipped them off, leaving them on the floor. If they were attacked she might have to run away in her socks but … so be it. She wasn’t smudging Sharif’s neat bedspread.
Pulling her feet up on to the bed she leaned back against the flat pillow.
Lying down felt good. Even the hard-as-a-rock mattress felt good.
The overhead light was brutal but she was too exhausted to care.
I’ll close my eyes … Just for a second.
‘Allie …’
Someone was calling but Allie didn’t know who. It was too dark to see.
‘Hello?’ she called back. No one replied.
She looked down – she was barefoot but for some reason she couldn’t feel the grass against the soles of her feet.
When she looked up again, she was back in Hampstead Heath, at the top of Parliament Hill. The lights of the city twinkled below her.
‘Oh no …’ she whispered.
Lucinda lay gracefully at the crest of the hill. Nathaniel knelt beside her. Neither of them moved or spoke. They were like statues.
Slowly, Allie approached them. Her heart pounded. It was hard to breathe. Somewhere up here was the man who grabbed her. Somewhere Gabe waited.
So many enemies in one place. What was she doing here?
But she had to see Lucinda again. To tell her goodbye. To tell her she was sorry.
Night School: Resistance (Night School 4)
C.J. Daugherty's books
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