* * *
Back at Hartswell Hall, in a small underground room beneath the Clock Tower, a door opened and Theo stepped over the threshold, cautiously looking around him. Fortunately for him, he hadn’t been missed.
25. Granddad
At 6.30am, I opened the church door and once again ran down the hill towards my house. I’d spent a cold, difficult night in the church, trying to sleep on one of the pews. It had been a futile exercise. The heating was switched off over night and I was freezing.
On the few occasions I managed to drop off, my fevered imagination created such horrors, I woke within minutes, heart beating rapidly and bathed in a cold sweat. In one nightmare, a blue crystal hovered before me, but when I reached out to touch it my hand turned black, and stumbling backwards I felt a black beast sink its teeth into my shoulder. When I turned round, I was faced with three luminous beings firing bolts of lightning from their fingers, each one searing and burning my skin.
In another, I saw Theo ahead of me in a dark passageway and ran to keep up with him, but always he was one step ahead and I just couldn’t reach him. I called his name again and again, and when finally he turned round, his face looked different. Blood-red eyes shone through the darkness and when he smiled at me, he revealed huge white vampire teeth stained with blood. At one point when I woke, I could swear I heard screaming and crying somewhere outside, but as I strained to hear more, all was quiet and still, and I decided it was yet another nightmare. Eventually, not wanting to risk sleep any more, I sat in the cold until I saw the first rays of dawn break in the sky.
Arriving back at home, I let myself in through the front door and attempted to climb the stairs and creep into bed. But my mother surprised me by coming through the lounge doorway fully dressed.
“Oh, there you are. Where d’you think you’ve been all night?” her voice had an edge to it I didn’t like.
“It’s not how it seems, mum, I wasn’t with Theo.”
My reply seemed to surprise her. It was obviously not what she’d expected to hear.
“Well, if you weren’t with Theo, where were you? This had better be good. I’ve been sitting up worrying half the night. Every time I phoned you I got voicemail.”
I thought quickly, I had to find some excuse that sounded plausible. Secret passageways, blue crystals and eternal youth would not go down well.
“For a start, I’ve lost my phone,” I said, “I can’t find it anywhere. That’s why you couldn’t reach me. I was in the church.” I decided honesty was the best policy, well up to a point.
“The church? What were you doing there?” This was a curved ball and took her by surprise.
“I, er, went to pray,” I said, failing to convince even myself.
“To pray? You're not even religious. Since when did you go to the church to pray on a Friday night? Please credit me with a little more intelligence and at least come up with a more plausible excuse.”
This was not going well. I tried one more time.
“I’ve been studying George Herbert’s religious poetry for English, and I decided I wanted to look in the church. While I was there, I decided to say a prayer for Granddad, then when I came to go out, the door was locked and I was stuck overnight. I couldn’t call because I didn't have my phone. Believe me, it’s not an experience I want to repeat. It was freezing and I didn’t sleep. I only got out when someone unlocked the door.” It was as close to the truth as I dared tell, just a couple of small white lies in there.
My mother looked at me as if I’d totally lost my marbles.
“I guess you’d better go to bed for a while. Just as well it’s Saturday.”
I climbed the stairs to the landing, then called softly back, “How’s Granddad?”
My mum looked up worried. “He’s okay, but he’s not getting any better. I may ring for the doctor this afternoon. We need to keep an eye on him.”
“He won’t like that,” I commented. “Once I’ve had a sleep, I’ll sit with him.”
“Thanks, Emily, he’ll like that.”
I went into my bedroom and crawled into bed fully clothed. Worn out by the events of the last two nights, I fell immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep and didn’t wake until two in the afternoon. I showered and pulled on fresh clothes, then went downstairs. My mother was sitting in the breakfast room, drinking tea.
“Would you like a cup? There’s tea in the pot,” she said.
I poured myself a cup and proceeded to make myself cheese on toast.
“You had a good sleep,” she commented, coming into the kitchen. “Do you feel a bit better now? I can’t believe you spent the night in the church.”
“Neither can I,” I said, and that was most definitely the truth. “How’s Granddad?”
“Still not good, I’m wondering whether to call for the doctor. Have you seen him?”
I shook my head. “I’ll pop in when I’ve eaten.”
As soon as I saw Granddad, I knew something was wrong. The room felt hot and airless, and the curtains were partially drawn, keeping out the daylight. Granddad lay back on the pillows, his eyes closed, face pale and his lips a blue colour. He seemed to be having difficulty breathing.
“Granddad?” I called, trying to rouse him. “Granddad, can you hear me?
His eyes flickered open, trying to focus on me.
“Emily?” he said faintly.
“Don’t try to speak,” I instructed him. “I’ll get mum. You don’t look well.”
His eyes flickered shut again and his breath sounded ragged and shallow. I ran to the top of the stairs and called down to my mother.
“Mum, mum, I think you’d better call an ambulance. Granddad really isn’t well. I don't know if he’s had a heart attack.”
My mother appeared downstairs carrying the portable phone.
“Let me see,” she said and ran up the stairs into Granddad’s room. She took one look at him and said, “Right, I’m dialling 999. Hang on in there, Dad, we need to get help.”
Ten minutes later, the paramedics arrived and my Granddad was on oxygen. It seemed to revive him a little and he gave me a weak smile. They placed him on a wheelchair, wrapped him in blankets and carried him carefully downstairs.
“Can I come with you?” I asked, as they wheeled him into the back of the ambulance.
“Yes, that’s fine,” answered the young male paramedic who was tending him. “He may have had a mild heart attack, we need to get him to hospital as soon as possible.”
“I’ll drive behind in the car,” said my mother, her face white and drained.
In no time we were at the hospital and Granddad was placed in an Assessment Bay. A young male doctor came to see him immediately.
“We need to get him up to the Assessment Ward straight away and ensure he’s stabilised.” Seeing our distraught expressions, he added kindly, “ Please don’t worry, he’s in the best possible hands. Wait in the Relatives’ Room and we’ll let you know as soon as you can see him.”
My mother and I waited, barely speaking, for what seemed an age.
“He can’t die,” I said tearfully, “he’s the only Granddad I’ve got.”
Eventually, a dark-skinned nurse in a starched white uniform, with a jolly Caribbean accent informed us that we could see Granddad.
“We don't think he’s had a heart attack,” she informed us. “It’s more likely he has bronchitis and needs antibiotics. We’ve booked a chest x-ray and will know more then.”
Granddad sat up in bed with a clear oxygen mask around his face, attached by a tube to a large oxygen canister. He looked much better than I was expecting and even managed to smile.
I put my arms round Granddad and gave him a big hug.
“Gramps, you had us worried,” I said. “I thought you were at death’s door.”
“Glad to see you’re looking better, Dad,” said my mum. “Sorry to get the ambulance, but I didn’t have any choice.”
“I know,” he said through th
e mask, “don’t worry, I’ll be back at home in no time.”
He wasn’t though. While the x-ray showed no evidence of a heart attack, it did reveal that he had emphysema of the lungs, which was not good news. We were told it was too risky for him to go home while he had a chest infection and that he needed to stay on oxygen until he’d stabilised. There was no cure for emphysema, it was a chronic lung condition probably brought about by many years smoking Woodbine cigarettes when he was younger, and in latter years a pipe. We sat with Granddad until early evening when it was obvious he needed to sleep. The sister suggested we go home.
“I’ll call you if anything changes,” she told us, “but the best thing you can do is get some rest and come back in the morning. I’ll take care of him, don’t worry.”
My mother drove home slowly, both of us shell-shocked. Granddad was the lynchpin that held us together. We simply couldn’t comprehend a world without him. At home, we drank sweet tea to give us energy, but neither of us had much appetite. My mother sat in the lounge watching Saturday night trivia shows on television, but taking nothing in. I went upstairs and lay on my bed, feeling empty and strange. I thought about the last few days and all that had happened. It seemed dreamlike and remote, as if it had happened to someone else, and I could hardly focus on any of the detail. The reality was Granddad lying gravely ill in hospital, suffering from a condition that would never get better and which would eventually kill him.
If only there was a magic potion, I thought, that would heal his lungs and make him better. Then I remembered the kitten. Violet’s kitten that I’d seen run over and killed in that terrible accident, then miraculously brought back to life with no apparent injuries or after-effects. And what about the old people at the Blue Moon Ball? Those gnarled old fossils who’d been restored to youth. Would it be possible? I hardly dared hope… I knew the de Lucis family had the power to heal and restore. All I had to do was ask Theo. They had the blue crystal. If it could keep them young for centuries and bring a kitten back to life, then it could surely heal Granddad’s lungs.
I went downstairs to find the portable phone and took it back up to my bedroom. With trembling hands I dialled Theo’s number. As I waited for him to pick up, one hand went subconsciously to the crystal hanging round my neck and squeezed it tightly.
Then Theo was speaking on the phone. “Emily, are you alright? What’s happening? Are you in danger?”
“No, no,” I’m fine,” I said, unsure what to say next. Then suddenly my words came out so fast they were falling over one another. “It’s not me, it’s Granddad. He’s in hospital. It’s serious. We thought he’d had a heart attack, but it’s bronchitis. They’ve done a chest x-ray and discovered emphysema. Theo, he could die.”
“Emily, I’m so sorry,” he said gently. “It must have been an awful shock for you and your mother. Do you want me to come over?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” How could I ask him? I had to. He was the only person who could help me. “Theo, I need your help.”
“Yes, anything, just say.”
“Anything?”
“Anything within reason, Emily.” I think he was beginning to see where this was going.
“Can you make him better, Theo? Like the kitten and those old people at the Blue Moon Ball? Can you use the blue crystal?”
There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Then he said, “It’s not quite as simple as that, Emily. We can't make an old person young and well again. It’s not possible.”
“But you brought the kitten back to life.”
“That was different,” said Theo. “The kitten had a faint pulse when we picked him up. He was badly injured but his life force was strong. We were able to heal him. Your Granddad no longer has that life force. We can’t make him young or healthy again.”
“But you made all those old people at the Blue Moon Ball young again?” I persisted.
Theo sighed. “Emily, they were young when they first used the crystal. That’s the way it works. It restores you to the age you were when you first used it. The only reason they were ageing is that it was time for them to renew their energy. At your Granddad’s age, he’d never survive the crystal’s power. He’s not strong enough. And even if he did, would he want to stay at that age forever? For all kinds of reasons, it’s not possible.”
“So you won’t do it?” I asked.
“Not won’t, Emily, can’t.”
“You mean we’re not rich enough,” I said coldly. “I remember what you told me. ‘Eternal youth doesn’t come cheap.’ What you really mean is my Granddad isn’t wealthy enough.”
“No,” protested Theo, “it’s got nothing to do with money. I would do anything for you, Emily, anything within my power. Surely you know that?”
“I thought I could count on you, Theo.”
“You can, Emily, just not for this. I’m sorry.”
“So am I, Theo. Well, at least I know where your loyalties lie. And they’re not with me.”
“Emily, it’s not like that,” he started to say, but I interrupted him.
“I’d like to say it’s been nice knowing you, Theo, but I can’t. Goodbye.”
Tears choked my voice and I hung up, throwing the phone onto the bed. My hands went to the silver chain hanging round my neck and, pulling it sharply, I attempted to hurl it across the room. But it wouldn’t break no matter how hard I pulled, and when I tried to find the fastener, it wasn’t there. It was just one continuous chain. And now I had a sore neck where it had cut into me.
I lay on the bed and sobbed. Only a few weeks ago I had a normal life, with good friends and everything ahead of me. Now, my life was in danger from all kinds of enemies, supernatural and otherwise, I’d met a boy who wasn’t human, I had to decide whether I wanted eternal youth or not, and if I did I might die in the process. On top of that, my Granddad was ill in hospital, I’d alienated myself from my friends and I’d just split up from my boyfriend. Could things really get any worse?
Hearing me sobbing, my mother quietly opened the door and came in to sit by me. She gently stroked my hair, like she did when I was little. I put my arms out and pulled her close to me.
“Oh mum,” I sobbed, “why is life so difficult? Why can’t it all stay simple and easy?”
“Because life isn’t simple and easy,” she said, holding me tight. “You’re growing up and finding out how painful it can be. When you’re a child, you’re sheltered from all this, but I can’t protect you forever.”
I buried my head into her shoulder and said through my tears, “I’ve just split up with Theo.”
“Oh, Emily, I’m sorry. He seemed so nice. Do you want to talk about it?”
Where would I start? That my beautiful ex-boyfriend was actually thousands of years old, that he bathed in the light of a powerful blue crystal to stay young forever, that he’d placed me in mortal danger and even as I spoke strange creatures could be outside our house planning my demise. How could I tell my mum any of that? It was ridiculous beyond belief and so I just said ‘no’ and cried some more.
“You’re worried about Granddad, as well, aren’t you?” asked my mum, gently.
How could I say that I’d split up with Theo because he wouldn’t use his super powers to save Granddad? It was all too complicated.
“Is Granddad going to die?” I asked my mum tearfully.
“He’s very poorly,” said my mum, “and he’s not going to get better, you have to understand that. Until we talk to the consultant I don’t know what the prognosis is. It’s going to be tough, Emily, but we have to be strong. For his sake.”
And that only made me cry all the harder. Because I had a solution within my grasp and I couldn’t use it.
The next morning, we went back to the hospital. Granddad was sitting up in bed and had eaten breakfast. He’d had a good night and was on antibiotics. He still had on the oxygen mask, but seemed much brighter.
“Hi Granddad,” I said, kissing his forehead. “You ga
ve us all a scare last night.”
“I told you, Emily,” he said with a smile, “I’m made of strong stuff. Tough as old boots me. I’ll go on forever.”
But it was obvious his breathing was unnaturally shallow and fast, and when we saw the consultant, he spelled it out for us. The prognosis wasn’t good. My Granddad couldn’t go on for much longer. In the consultant’s words, he could go out like a light bulb at any time. There would come a point when his lungs wouldn’t take in enough oxygen and he would quickly lose consciousness. At that point, there wasn’t much anybody could do.
“But some light bulbs go on for years,” I pointed out hopefully.
“Not this one, I’m afraid,” he said, which was when I knew it wouldn’t be long.
I left my mum sitting with Granddad and on the pretext of finding a drinks machine, went for a walk in the hospital grounds. They weren’t particularly pretty, just a few sparse areas of grass and some planted beds here and there, in between the car parks, with the odd tree dotted around. But at least I could get some fresh air and try to come to terms with the car crash my life had become.
I found a seat overlooking a small courtyard and sat contemplating the world. I hated Theo with a vengeance and was glad I’d lost my cell phone. At least he couldn’t contact me and I couldn’t see if he was trying to. Why wouldn’t he help? He knew how much this meant to me. He had the means. He had the power. He just didn’t have the inclination. He wanted me but he didn’t want my Granddad. Well, I was clear about one thing. I didn’t want him. Or his strange world. Or eternal youth. I just wanted plain, simple normality back in my life. And what was that story about The Lunari? Surely by now they would have found my phone, discovered the evidence against me and closed in for the kill. That is, if Theo could be believed. I seriously doubted there was any truth to his stories. He was probably the ultimate fantasist and I’d been the gullible fool that just happened to come along. Proof of that was the fact I was still alive. I hadn’t seen a single Lunari, Reptilia or any other creature he’d said was stalking me.
I’d had enough of fantasy. Stark, cold reality was staring me in the face in the form of my Granddad’s illness, and that was all I was capable of focusing on. I went back in and sat with Granddad for a while and I couldn’t help it, I had to ask.
“Gramps, if a magical power existed to make you well, but you had to stay this age for ever, would you use it?”
“Where did that come from?” he asked. “Have you been watching too many science fiction films?”
“No,” I laughed, “I just wondered, that’s all.”
He thought for a moment before speaking. “Emily, I’ve had a good life and a long life, and as much as I don’t want to leave you and your mum, I don’t want to go on forever. Can you imagine being stuck in this old body for eternity? Why would I want that? It would be purgatory. There’s a natural order, a time for birth and a time for death. When my time comes, I will accept it with grace. You know why? Because I’m going to see your grandma again. I want you to remember that. Will you do that?”
I stared at him with tears running down my cheeks.
“I’ll try, Gramps, but you always said ‘when you’re dead, you’re dead’. I thought you didn’t believe in an after-life.”
“Truth is, Emily, I don’t know. I only know I’m coming to the end of my allotted time, and I feel very strongly your Grandma calling for me. That’s all I can tell you.” He smiled at me. “I’m not frightened. This is how things are meant to be. The natural order. I want you to look after your mum for me, make sure she’s all right. And Emily?”
“Yes, Granddad.”
“I like Theo. You go together well.”
“Oh Gramps,” I sobbed, my voice choking, my cheeks wet with tears. “Don’t go, please don’t go. Don’t leave me.”
Later that evening, my Granddad died. The infection had taken too strong a hold and he couldn’t fight it. He went out like a light. No struggle, no breathlessness, no pain. One minute he was talking to us, for a second he seemed to have difficulty catching his breath and then he slumped forward unconscious. They tried long and hard to resuscitate him but to no avail. He’d gone.
The next few days were spent sorting out details. I had no idea there were so many things to do when someone died. We had to get the death certificate from the registry office, tell friends and relatives, notify banks and building societies, talk to the tax office, appoint a solicitor and, of course, arrange a funeral. Theo called the house a couple of times and spoke to my mum, but I refused to talk to him. He knew now that my Granddad had died and I hoped he was feeling guilty. I still felt he should have interceded.
On the day of the funeral, a cold wind blew and small white clouds scuttled across the sky. The sun shone, but the easterly wind was strong and my lasting impression, once we’d endured the church service, was of a cold, bright graveyard and a small crowd of people standing round the grave side, holding their coats around them, looking pinched and frozen.
I watched the pallbearers carry Granddad’s coffin out of the church, the wind tugging at their black suits. A large hole had already been dug in the ground and I watched as the coffin was lowered slowly down. I’d thought the words ‘ashes to ashes’ and ‘dust to dust’ were only used in films, but the Father James spoke them, picking up some earth and letting it fall through his fingers onto the coffin.
I threw a red rose in after it.
There weren’t many mourners, just my mum and me, a few relatives that I didn’t see very often, some neighbours and others from the village that Granddad had known. It was a small, low-key affair, which is just what he would have wanted. A big, grand affair would have been wrong. My Granddad had been a quiet, private person, with a small circle of friends, and I was glad his funeral reflected that. We’d played jazz music in the church, Stranger on the Shore by Acker Bilk, and I could still hear the beautiful, lilting melody in my head. The cold weather and dazzling sun suited my mood perfectly, a biting reminder of the harshness of reality. This was what happened. You were born, you aged and you died. It was the natural order and there was no other way. I’d been a fool to think otherwise and let my head be turned, albeit momentarily, by fantasist nonsense.
After I’d thrown my rose onto the coffin and the vicar had finished his words, I looked over to the far side of the churchyard, where the pathway led to Hartswell Hall, remembering my flight of the other night. How ridiculous it all seemed now. How juvenile and meaningless. I felt I’d aged a million years in the last few days. I’d looked through the doorway of death and seen the truth for myself. And the truth was not a blue crystal, eternal youth or a long lost love, it was an open grave in a cold, windswept graveyard, where decaying flowers marked the passing of others who had gone before.
My eyes scanned the trees and the pathway beneath, the wind teasing the branches pale green with new growth, and then I saw him. I saw Theo standing on the newly cleared pathway, watching me closely. For a second our eyes met and such a yearning passed through my body, I felt as if I’d been riven apart. I hadn’t thought the pain could get any worse, but I was wrong. It hit me afresh. As I looked at his beautiful face, with his clear blue eyes and translucent skin, utter desolation and emptiness struck me with the force of cold concrete. If I’d experienced love just a few days earlier, now I felt jagged, twisted agony tearing me apart.
I turned away, unable to look at him any longer, and slowly walked back down the ancient church pathway to the Lych Gate, tears in my eyes and the words of John Donne forming in my mind:
“He ruin’d mee, and I am re-begot of absence, darkness, death; things
which are not.”
Never had I felt more alone or unhappy.
26. Reconciliation
The next day I decided I might as well go to college as stay at home. It all seemed pretty meaningless, but I needed to see my friends. I’d hardly been out since my Granddad died, there’d been so much to do and I hadn’t felt
up to it. I’d sat in my room night after night, crying and listening to Lenka singing ‘Like a Song’, until I had no more tears left. Granddad was gone and I couldn’t bring him back. Theo had broken my heart and filled my head with mumbo jumbo. What I really needed was to see Tash and Seth, to laugh and joke with them, talk about last night’s TV programmes, compare assignments, hang out in the café and do all the stuff we always used to do.
I took my new Hollister sweatshirt, skinny jeans and wedge boots out of the wardrobe, feeling strangely comforted by the routine and safety they represented.
I didn’t want to make adult decisions, I just wanted to focus on the trivial side of life: what outfit to wear, which eye-shadow to choose, latest music, designer labels, fad diets, college gossip, all the commonplace strands that held my life together. Once I was back at college, others could take responsibility. All I had to do was attend lectures, go to tutorials, write essays and catch the bus every day, things I felt capable of achieving.
Suddenly, I was back in my comfort zone and it felt all the more secure for having stepped out of it for a while. This was where I belonged and the big wide world could go take a hike.
I sat at my dressing table and decided for once I’d follow a beauty routine. Using my mum’s Forever Youthful cleanser and toner, I cleansed and toned, then liberally applied her Forever Youthful Day-Glow Moisturiser.
For a moment, I looked into the mirror, staring at my sad expression and thinking about all that had happened. I’d seen enough of the ageing process to last a lifetime. My eyes had been opened to the inevitability of ageing and death and I knew that I had to enjoy youth while it was still mine. My clear, smooth skin would be gone all too soon, as life and experience left their indelible mark and the passing years took their toll. I wondered how long it would be before tiny wrinkles started to criss-cross around my eyes and lines began to etch themselves into my face.
Unless ….
I hardly dared let the thought form in my mind. There was an alternative if I chose to believe Theo.
I thought about his flawless skin, translucent glow, mesmerising eyes and effortless beauty, then smiled ruefully. Whether I believed him or not, it was all academic. The opportunity had gone. As had my future with Theo. What faced me now was a long, slow decline into old age. Alone. Whoever else I met could never match up to Theo and would always be a poor imitation of love. I’d encountered perfection and lost it. There would be no one else.
I forced myself to concentrate on the here and now. What Theo had offered was an illusion, not based on reality. Had he really found a means of cheating death? And was my life really in such terrible danger? Now I saw it in the cold light of day, I realised how ridiculous it all was and berated myself for believing him.
I picked up my new Hollister top, wondering if life would ever get back to what it had been. I might not look old, but I felt it. Naivety and innocence were things of the past and I realised there was no way back to the world I’d once known. I’d walked through the doorway of awareness and it had slammed shut behind me.
Like it or not, I was in unchartered territory, and I had to face it on my own.
As I pulled on my top, I noticed the blue velvet cloak I’d borrowed from Hartswell Hall, lying folded at the bottom of my wardrobe. I’d pushed it to the back, trying to hide all proof of its existence, but now my eyes were drawn to it and I pulled it out, letting my fingers run across its smooth velvety surface. As I did, I felt a hard object concealed within its folds. Intrigued, I shook out the cloak and realised something was in one of the deep pockets. Putting my hand inside, my fingers closed around a hard, oblong shape. I pulled it out. It was my cell phone. I gasped. I’d been so sure I’d dropped it at Hartswell Hall on the night of the Blue Moon Ball, its presence in my hand was something of a shock.
“So The Lunari didn’t have it,” I found myself saying. “That's why they haven’t come looking for me. They didn't know I was there.”
As soon as I uttered the words, I realised I’d crossed another line. I’d just acknowledged that the reason I was safe was not that they didn’t exist, but rather that they didn’t know about me.
As I looked at the cloak, a flicker of doubt went through my mind.
Could Theo have been telling the truth? I’d certainly witnessed a very strange phenomenon that night when dozens of very old people had apparently been rejuvenated. But were they even the same people who came back out of the room? I’d assumed they were the same because they were wearing similar clothes. But what if the old people had gone out by one door and a different set of young people had come in via another? I knew there was another entrance at the bottom of the Clock Tower. Joseph had said the wood was too warped for it to open, but he’d said he was going to replace it. If he had, it would be easy for people to get in and out of the upper Clock Tower room without having to go through the house. But why pull off such an elaborate hoax? And for whose benefit? Then I thought about Theo and his family. They’d been looking old and tired, yet when they came out of the Clock Tower room they were radiant and youthful.
I realised I was going round in circles. Just as I had formulated a rational explanation, doubt crept in again. And what about the kitten?
“Ah, but was it the same kitten?” my rational self demanded. “They could have easily bought another one.”
My head was starting to spin, so I bundled the blue cloak back into my wardrobe and concentrated on getting ready for college. I placed the phone in my backpack, not yet ready to look at the pictures I’d taken at the Blue Moon Ball.
At the bus stop, I met up with Tash and Seth.
“Sorry to hear about your Granddad,” said Tash.
“Yeah, sorry, must have been a shock,” said Seth.
I smiled at them. “Thanks guys, it’s good to know I have you.”
Seth put his arm round my shoulders and hung over me, his long black fringe flopping forward. “You always have us Emily, we’re like a bad rash that won’t go away.”
“Nice analogy, Seth,” said Tash, poking him in the back.
I laughed. It was good to be back with my friends.
“How’s lover boy?” asked Seth as we got on the school bus.
“He’s not lover boy any more,” I answered. “I’m not seeing Theo. It’s finished.”
“You’re kidding,” exclaimed Tash, sliding into the seat next to me. “What happened? I thought you were love’s young dream.”
“That’s just the problem, Tash, the dream was turning into a nightmare. It was all getting out of hand.”
“Tell me!” she commanded, turning to face me.
“Let’s just say, I think Theo may be a bit of a fantasist,” I said, trying to choose my words carefully. Some of the things that had happened seemed so incredible, I didn’t think I could even begin to speak of them without sounding like a gullible fool.
“This is getting interesting,” said Seth from the seat behind, waiting for more.
“Believe me, it’s more than interesting, Seth,” I said. “Some of it’s completely unbelievable, and I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. Theo told me my life was in danger and he was so convincing I believed him.”
“Your life was in danger?” echoed Tash. “You know I always had a funny feeling about them, especially after that incident with the wall.”
I thought about the phone in my pocket. Perhaps now was the time to look at the photos I’d taken. I took my cell phone out of my pocket and clicked on the camera icon. I could see there were around a dozen pictures taken on the night of the Blue Moon Ball.
“What have you got there?” asked Tash.
“Some photos I took at the hall. They had a private function, the Blue Moon Ball. Theo said I wasn’t invited. So I crept in and took some pictures of it.”
“Sounds glamorous,” said Tash. “How come you weren’t invited?”
“It was some kind of secret society, all very hush hush.”
“S
ecret society? Why didn’t you tell us?” asked Tash, looking enthralled. “We’d have come with you.”
“Well, it was a sort of last minute decision. Sorry, guys. I needed to do it on my own.”
“Let’s see the photos,” said Seth, hanging over the back of our seat.
I clicked on the images, nervous to see what they’d reveal.
“These were the pictures I took when I first arrived,” I explained. “I was hiding behind the curtains.”
“What’s this?” said Tash, laughing. “An old folks’ reunion?”
“Exactly, they’re all ancient,” said Seth. “What was it? A Saga knees-up?”
“Just keep looking,” I advised. “See here, they’re queuing to get out of the ballroom, and here, you can see them putting on these strange blue cloaks with this weird symbol on the back. They were chanting as well.”
“Getting slightly weird,” commented Seth.
“Yes, well it gets a whole lot weirder in a minute,” I warned him. “I put on one of the blue cloaks and followed them to see where they were going.”
Seth and Tash both looked at me incredulously, unsure whether I was winding them up or not.
“OMG, that was brave. What did you see?” asked Tash.
“They went to the top of the house, into the old servants’ quarters, and then up into the Clock Tower, where this strange blue light was shining out. I hid in one of the old servants’ rooms and took photos as they came back out again.”
The next few shots weren’t brilliant, as they’d all been taken through a small gap in the door. The first showed a glamorous woman walking towards me, laughing, arm in arm with a handsome man. Despite the photo’s poor composition, they looked fabulous, sparkling with excitement and energy.
“Isn’t that Chevron d’Ego, the game show hostess?” asked Tash.
“Yes,” I answered, “that’s her. Just made a TV come-back, looking fabulous and young, as if she’s defied old age….”
“And, OMG, she’s with Christian Hart, the Hollywood heart-throb,” shrieked Tash. “Hang on, I thought the party was full of old people. Where have they gone?”
“They haven’t gone anywhere,” I said enigmatically. “Keep looking at the pictures. See who else you recognise.”
They looked at the second photo.
“This is Sugar, the famous singer,” said Tash. “She looks amazing, you’d never know she was in her late sixties.”
The third showed a close-up of a woman’s face. She was young and stunningly beautiful.
“Coola boola!” said Seth. “She is fit.”
“Hang on,” said Tash, “she’s that actress from the 1960s. Rachael Ravel. My mum was watching a film she starred in the other day. She’s got to be in her seventies now. It can’t be her.”
I showed them the next photo.
“Half-man-amazing!” exclaimed Seth. “That looks like Sergio Brioche, the footballer. Just signed for Barcelona for £95 million. What’s he doing there?”
“What was this, some kind of celebrity lookalike party?” asked Tash. “And what’s happened to all the old folk?”
“These are the old folk,” I informed her. “What I showed you first were the ‘before’ shots, when they were old. And these are the ‘after’ shots, when they became young again.”
I could see from my friends’ faces that they weren’t keeping up with me.
“Sorry, you’ve lost me,” said Tash. “You’re saying these shots were all taken on the same evening and are the same people? I don’t understand.”
“You mean they went through some kind of rejuvenation process,” said Seth. “Sounds spooky.”
“It’s more than spooky, Seth,” I told him. “This is like a horror film. Even your theory about vampires was easier to get your head around than this.”
I had their full and undivided attention.
“Hit us with it,” said Seth.
“Look again at this photo of the old folk,” I said, showing them the first photo I’d taken. “See this woman in the stunning green ballgown….”
They both looked closely.
“Now, look at this photo taken around fifteen minutes later. See anything similar?”
“It’s the same dress,” said Tash in a whisper.
“Exactly!” I said. “I believe the old folk and the beautiful people are one and the same. They started the evening old and they ended it young and beautiful.”
Tash looked at me as if I’d lost leave of my senses.
“Impossible,” she said.
Seth whistled through his teeth. “Weirdo, schmeirdo. I knew it,” he said, “I knew there was something going on.” He balled his fist in a victory gesture. “Yes! Seth’s sixth sense strikes again. Try saying that quickly!”
“Seth, this is no joking matter,” I said sharply. “I don’t know what’s going on at Hartswell Hall. Theo’s told me this story and I don't know whether to believe him.”
“What’s he told you?” asked Tash.
“This may take a while,” I warned them.
“That’s okay,” said Seth, “we’ve at least another twenty minutes before the bus gets to college.”
And so I told them all about the party, about seeing the dying guest who arrived too late, about escaping through the woods and spending the night in the church…
I told them about meeting Theo in the church the following evening and going down into the vault, and how he’d explained about the blue crystal, kept securely in the Clock Tower, with its amazing youth bestowing properties, and the Blue Moon Ball, attended by the rich and famous who’d paid a fortune for eternal youth, but were sworn to secrecy on pain of death. I told them about Viyesha’s life in Egypt three thousand years ago and how she’d discovered the crystal’s power, how Theo believed we’d been together many years ago, about The Lunari, Aquila and Pantera, and the other so-called dark forces… how my life was in danger and how he’d given me a blue crystal pendant to wear for protection. I told them about Violet’s kitten and its miraculous recovery, how I’d asked Theo to help my Granddad and how he had refused.
When I’d finished there was silence. My friends looked at me incredulously.
Then Seth grinned widely and said, “Cool bananas! An ancient blue crystal with the power of giving eternal youth… guarded by shape-shifters and a secret society… with a soupçon of celebrities thrown in … This is great! And to think I thought it was vampires. How wrong can you get? This is a million times better.”
“Or a million times worse, depending on your perspective,” I pointed out. “If it’s true, it’s not looking good for me.”
“Talk about The Beautiful and Damned,” said Tash.
“Very good,” said Seth, “F. Scott Fitzgerald. An apt analogy, Tash. Although personally I think it’s more like Faustus, you know, selling your soul to the devil. That’s on the A-level English Lit syllabus for next year, by the way, I’ve just been reading about it. Christopher Marlowe.”
“Forget Faustus and Scott Fitzgerald,” I said. “What about me? I appear to have a choice of becoming Beautiful and Damned or finished off by dark forces. Neither option is great. And that’s supposing the crystal doesn’t finish me off first.”
“That’s if you believe what Theo has told you,” said Tash. “The only bit that stacks up for me is rich and famous people paying a fortune to try and stay young. There’s nothing new in that. The rest sounds like something out of a fairy story.”
“I agree,” said Seth. “Some of these looks-obsessed celebs wouldn’t give a toss about selling their soul for smooth skin, firm buttocks and a flat stomach. They’d buy into anything to keep their careers going, the adulation flowing and the cash rolling in. Maybe it was all just an elaborate illusion to relieve rich punters of their money.”
“Exactly,” said Tash. “The guests’ transformation could have been done with masks and prosthetics, or simply different people. There are plenty of celebrity lookalikes around. That woul
d be easy enough to do. Perhaps the ones you saw going up the tower weren’t the ones who came down.”
“A scam to draw rich people in…” I said. “The ultimate con trick. Could be, I suppose. But what about the guest who aged and died? I saw him decay in front of my eyes? That was like something out of a horror movie. If it was a scam, why let that happen? That would only alienate potential new clients. And where were these rich potential punters? I only saw old people. And then there’s the estate agent. She aged and died prematurely, just like the guest at the party. I’m sure she was somehow drawn into this. And you didn’t see the de Lucis family when they came down the spiral staircase. They looked amazing. More beautiful, more vibrant, more radiant than I’ve ever seen them.”
I paused and looked at my friends.
“Believe me, guys, I’ve been through every scenario, ranging from illusion through to Theo being some kind of fantasist control freak and the more chilling alternative that it’s true.”
They stared at me, not knowing what to say.
I sighed unhappily. “Other people just have to deal with a break up. I have to deal with eternal youth, a secret society, rejuvenated celebrities and enemies all around. I don’t know what to believe. I haven’t seen any sign of The Lunari or Dark Forces, so maybe it is all fantasy. Perhaps it will all go away now Theo and I have split up.”
Seth looked doubtful. “If there’s any truth in this, do you think the family will let you walk away, knowing what you do?”
“Thanks, Seth, that’s really put my mind at rest,” I said.
“Can we see your necklace?” asked Tash.
“That’s another strange thing,” I said, showing them the pale blue crystal. “I tried to take it off the other day and the clasp has vanished. It’s a continuous chain that I can’t undo.”
“It’s beautiful,” said Tash, attempting to hold the crystal. As her fingers touched it, she leapt backwards. “Ow, it’s burnt me.”
“Don’t put it near me,” said Seth, retreating to the back of his seat.
Tash rubbed her fingers, looking worried. “D’you think the family will be happy that Seth and I know what’s going on?” she asked.
“Don’t tell me you really believe it, Tash?” I said. “If it’s true, then I’ve just placed your lives at risk too!”
“Chillax, Emily,” said Seth. “How could they know? You’ve told us at the back of a noisy bus. Nobody can hear us. The point is what are we going to do now?”
“We?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” said Seth. “If it’s your problem, it’s our problem. We can’t have our best friend taken out by some secret society or supernatural force.”
“And I can’t bear the thought of you becoming unbelievably beautiful for eternity,” said Tash, making us all laugh.
“So, it’s one for all and all for one!” said Seth, dramatically, raising his fist, “Brotherzone!”
“Except for one thing, Seth,” added Tash, drily. “We’re not the three Musketeers. And for God’s sake stop reading the urban dictionary. It’s driving me loopy. ”