Burn Bright (13 page)

Retra didn't wait for Suki on the Vank platform, but went looking for Charlonge straightaway. She found the Vank supervisor up in the gallery listening to the organ and staring down at the crowd in the cruciform. Charlonge was dressed in her resting lingerie, a pearly satin shift with bunches of black ribbon around the hem and neckline. With one arm she hugged a small parchment book to her chest while she held a small set of binoculars.

The book took Retra by surprise. In Grave the Council kept books locked in the library. Her mother went to the library once a week to read but the wardens had prohibited her from doing that when they put them on probation.

‘Why did you lie to me?' Retra asked.

Charlonge started from her seat but, when she realised who had spoken, she fell back as if tired. ‘You should be resting, baby bat.'

‘I saw my brother, Joel, tonight. They call him Clash and he runs with Dark Eve.'

‘Hush!' whispered Charlonge. She hastened to the end of the gallery and put the binoculars away into a small hutch, next to several other sets. Then she closed the narrow door and checked carefully to make sure the shadows were empty before she spoke. ‘Do you realise what will happen if they hear this … did y-you speak to him?'

Retra nodded slowly, absorbing the girl's nervous, almost excited, expression. ‘Joel said I should stay here. That you would watch out for me. Yet you told me you didn't know him.'

Charlonge took Retra's arm and pulled her closer. ‘Dark Eve is an enemy of Ixion. She breaks the rules.'

Retra pulled away in rejection of Charlonge's words. ‘Rules? Ixion is supposed to be free of rules, yet it seems as strict as Grave in its own way and more … more dangerous.'

Charlonge stared at her for a long moment. Retra saw something change in her eyes, as if a layer peeled away, letting her see further in. ‘You are learning quickly, baby bat,' the older girl said. ‘But then Joel's sister would.'

Retra quivered. It was not what she'd wanted to hear. She'd wanted comfort – Charlonge to tell her that she had misread the way things seemed.

A sob caught in her throat, a croaking sound like an old person gasping for breath. It took a moment before she could speak. ‘Joel said that I should stay away from him. Why has he joined the League? If they find him what will happen to him?'

‘He will be withdrawn.' Charlonge's lips quivered.

The chill fist of fear that held Retra's heart captive squeezed tighter. ‘Tell me how you know my brother?'

Charlonge pressed her eyes with her fingers and sighed. ‘We arrived on the same night – though from different places – and went through the Register together. Then we came to Vank for our first rest cycle. It stayed like that for a time: together at the clubs and the parties. I loved it here. But he was always restless and he didn't like the Ripers looking over his shoulder. He said they reminded him of Grave and his father, and that the Youth Circle was a waste of time. Then he met Eve – Dark Eve. She filled his mind with ideas.' Charlonge's face became angry. ‘She took him … from me.'

Retra bit her lip. Did Charlonge's stomach ache
when she saw Joel in the way hers did when she saw Markes? ‘Now he's helping Ruzalia?'

Charlonge nodded and her flush of anger drained into a look of fear. Her eyes flicked constantly to the balcony door. ‘I was happy here. It was fun. Everything the pamphlets said, everything we whispered about in Lidol Push. But Joel worried about where the over-agers went. He became obsessed with it. He followed the older ones around. It became creepy –'

‘My brother is not creepy,' interrupted Retra hotly.

‘Others thought so … They didn't understand his obsession with finding out what happened when you were withdrawn. Eve encouraged him. I found them … together one night. We had a fight. He didn't come to Vank again. I don't know where he rests now.'

Unreasonably, Retra felt guilty that Joel had let Charlonge down. But Charlonge had not believed in him. Retra had always believed in Joel, and he in her. ‘I want to see him again. Talk to him. Maybe I can convince him to stop.'

Charlonge's expression changed again. Hope lit her face. ‘You could do that?'

‘Perhaps,' said Retra. ‘But I need to talk to him, alone.'

Charlonge thought for a few moments before replying. ‘Then search for him again. But in the meantime you must act like everyone else. There is a likeness between you that's unmistakable; your brown
hair and eyes, and the way your expressions are always so serious. After the incident with Brand, the Ripers will be watching you. If they realise that you're his sister they'll use you to capture him.'

‘Modai already watches me.'

‘Modai?' Charlonge was startled. ‘Why do you say that?'

‘I don't know. From the start, at the Register, they sensed I was here for different reasons. They tried to trick me into telling them. I'm not sure if my badge is right. They called it a faux –'

‘A faux badge!' Charlonge grabbed Retra's hand and turned her wrist. The mark was beginning to glow. She stared and bit her lip. Her look scared Retra.

‘What do you see?'

‘I should have noticed before, when your friends brought you here. The badge is only temporary. According to Ixion law it can be revoked at any time on the word of the Guardians. You must be very careful, Retra.'

‘Or?'

Charlonge dropped her hand and moved towards the gallery door. ‘Or you'll be withdrawn early.' She opened the door and glided out as one practised in the art of vanishing. ‘Now go and rest before you burn out.'

Retra found the
petite nuit
rooms running off one end of the gallery. Suki was already lying in one wearing a black satin shift. Rollo was on the next bed in red silky boxers. Both had their eyes open but unfocused, telling Retra that they were deep in
petite nuit
.

She found an empty bed on the other side of the room, kicked off her shoes and slipped under the covers, not bothering to change.

Her drowse was uneasy, filled with whispers and unwanted touches, and arguments with Joel. Demons appeared then vanished to the beat of Markes's music. She searched for Markes in the dark but could only find Cal. The white-haired girl kept talking to her but Retra couldn't understand the language she spoke. Then Ripers' faces crowded in close and she came out of
petite nuit
with a start. Blinking, she looked around.

Suki was sitting cross-legged on her bed with Rollo. They were playing a finger game, trying to grab each other's first. Suki was winning easily.

Rollo noticed Retra and poked Suki. ‘She's back with us.'

Suki bounced up off her bed. ‘We've been waiting for you. We're starving. Let's get changed.'

Retra stretched and quickly got to her feet. Now she was refreshed, a strong sense of unease had beset her. ‘I'm going to bathe.'

‘Rollo said we should go to Blissed to eat.'

‘Where's that?'

‘Outside Bella Death,' said Rollo. ‘They've got wicked sausages.'

‘Wait for us while we get dressed.'

Rollo clutched his stomach. ‘Wait for you? I'm surely gonna starve to death.'

Suki led the way to the
neglegere
, and talked to Retra through the screen as Retra bathed. The girl's idle words trickled over her like the water, soothing and cleansing.

When she emerged, wrapped in a towel, the room was filled with other heavy-eyed girls, peering in their lockers and chattering.

‘Hey! You're the Seal who saved Krista-belle,' said one of them loudly. She was pulling on a mesh top that barely covered the tips of her breasts.

‘Her name is Retra,' said Suki. ‘She's going to start her own gang. You wanna join?'

Retra stared at Suki in shock.

‘Whatcha gonna call it?' asked another girl with violent pink streaks through her short black hair.

‘Naif's Chosen,' said Suki promptly.

Retra wanted to wrap her hand across her friend's mouth to make her stop, but Suki was fired with mischief.

‘The Chosen will do what the Youth Circle is
supposed
to do. Only better. They'll make the Ripers listen.'

‘Sounds boring,' said pink streaks. ‘I like the League. They're way cool. Clash's gorgeous.'

‘This will be more than that. Retra knows how to handle herself,' said Suki.

‘We'll think about it,' said the mesh-top girl.

When they'd left, Retra rounded on Suki. ‘Why did you do that?'

Suki shrugged. ‘Like Krista-belle said, you're famous. In my village if luck comes your way you grab it. One time, my friend, Rani, was attacked by a bear up on the pass. It would've killed her but it slipped on the rocks and fell into a crevice. She waited for it to starve to death then she crawled down and skinned it. She came back to village with the skin on her back. Everyone thought she'd killed the bear, and she was given a place on the town senate for bravery. Her family got extra firewood and beef-chew every winter.'

Before Retra could offer comment, Suki pulled open a drawer in her locker. ‘You ever worn makeup?'

Retra shook her head, caught out by the quick change of topic.

‘I've been watching the others. Reckon I know what to do. Come over here.'

Retra sighed and submitted. In truth, the process of having her eyes and lips painted distracted her from worrying over Joel, or thinking of Markes, or Lenoir. She could still feel the Riper's touch, and the memory of his hungry look caused little twists of nervousness in her stomach.

When she and Suki were ready, they found Rollo.

‘Hurry and get your tonics. Got mine already.' He held out his hand. A blue bead rolled around in it.

‘No. They make me see strange things,' said Retra.

‘Like what?'

‘Demons,' she whispered.

‘Demons! Don't be
fou
!' said Suki.

When she saw Retra's confusion, she explained. ‘Mad, I mean, crazy like the Bonies who live halfway between our village and the men below. You know why they're called the Bonies? We used to bury our dead halfway down until we found them digging up the graves. They ground up their bones because they thought it would make them stronger. They thought they'd be able to come and take our village from us then. They are
fou
– mad from living in a place where the oxygen is too thin for them.' But then she added with a touch of grimness, ‘Just to put an end to it, we burn our bodies.'

‘Nice,' said Rollo.

‘No,' said Retra stubbornly. ‘I don't want any.'

‘Suit yourself.' Suki headed into the confessional, leaving Rollo and Retra standing together alone.

Retra felt the curious glances from those on their way out to the clubs.

‘You really are famous,' said Rollo. ‘Everyone is looking at you.'

Retra sighed. ‘Suki told some girls that I am starting my own gang. They must have told other people.'

‘What?' Rollo burst out laughing. ‘You?'

Retra frowned at him and changed the subject. ‘Are you still going to tell the Youth Circle about the Riper you saw in Grave?'

He shook his head. ‘I don't think they can be trusted. Kero thinks they spy for the Ripers. Maybe I should tell Dark Eve instead.'

‘That could be dangerous.'

‘This place is dangerous.'

The girls that Suki had talked to in the dressing room sauntered past them, giggling and whispering.

‘Not everyone thinks so,' she said, suddenly longing to be carefree like them.

Rollo watched them as well, licking his lips in mock desire. ‘I think I'm hanging with the wrong crowd. Owwww!'

Suki was back and had him by the ear, pinching it hard. ‘Stop pruving, you dirty flesher.'

‘Oww … wassat mean?' asked Rollo, struggling to get his ear back.

‘Pruving,' she repeated. ‘Staring at girls.'

Retra hid a smile at Rollo's shocked expression.

‘And fleshers are males without mates,' Suki added.

‘But that's what I came here for,' said Rollo, rubbing his ear. ‘To look at girls.'

‘Not while you're in our company,' said Suki. ‘It's rude.' She turned to Retra, her eyes already shiny from whatever substance she'd swallowed in the confessional. At least she was speaking at normal speed. ‘I just heard something's happened to Markes. He was taken from one of the clubs by Ripers.'

Retra grasped her hand. ‘Which club?'

‘Ravens, they reckon.'

The memory of the demon images flared in Retra's memory. ‘We should find out if he's all right.'

‘Why bother?' asked Suki with a shrug.

‘Markes helped me on the barge when Ruzalia nearly took me.'

Suki's jaw dropped. ‘Ruzalia the pirate? You never told me that.' She put her hands to her hips and humphed. ‘Well, that's typical. But I'm not going to Ravens again. Not after what happened out the back there.'

‘Will you wait for me on the platform then?'

Suki looked at Rollo and cast her eyes upward. ‘I suppose so.'

Retra smiled at her. ‘Don't you mean, “I guess so”?'