Hunted (9 page)

At the end of the session we had to go over the correct positions for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Nico, of course, wanted to do this with Ketty, but Alex made him work with Ed. I don’t think either of them liked that much.

Ketty and I just got on with it. Harry kept slipping into my mind, distracting me. If I was honest, I wanted to find the Medusa code not just so that I could keep it away from Milton and McKenna, but so that I had a reason to contact him again. I didn’t really understand why.

Back in the States – and at Fox Academy – I’d met lots of boys and most of them acted way more interested in me than Harry had.

‘Dylan
?’ Ketty’s voice brought me back to the present. She was lying on the ground, looking up at me, an irritated expression on her face. ‘I just said your name
three
times which, if I wasn’t breathing, wouldn’t actually be possible.’

I bent over her again, trying to remember the mouth-to-mouth procedure Alex had just taught us. Pinch the nose, tilt the chin back to make sure the airway is clear, then make a seal with your lips over the person’s mouth.

I made a half-hearted attempt to get into the right position for breathing life into Ketty’s lungs. As I sat back again, trying to remember how long we were supposed to count before giving the next breath, Alex came over.

‘How’re you getting on, ladies?’ she asked.

‘Great,’ Ketty said sarcastically. ‘Though I hope I’m never in this position in real life. Helping other people isn’t exactly Dylan’s strong point.’

‘Oh, bite me,’ I said.

After lunch we discussed the mission to retrieve the knife Ketty was convinced Roger Henson had used in the care-home killing. Eventually, Geri was satisfied we all understood our respective roles, which left the four of us with just under an hour to continue looking for the code.

We found nothing. As we set off for Roger Henson’s house, I was beginning to wonder if Harry had got it all wrong.

Maybe I didn’t have the code after all.

The others laughed and chatted with Jez and Alex as we drove. Like always, I sat with Ed between the front and back seats, Nico and Ketty behind us.

As I twisted my mom’s wedding ring round on my finger, my thoughts kept turning to Harry. It was weird, but the more I tried to put him out of my head, the more he seemed to force his way back in.

We reached Henson’s home in plenty of time, but waited until it was nearly midnight and all the lights were off before making our move. At first I’d been tired. I hadn’t got much sleep last night, but as we pulled on our latex gloves to ensure we left no fingerprints, the adrenaline took over. Now I was eager to get going, though Jez and Alex, as usual, were still chatting away. You could hear their anxiety – and that they were covering it up with jokes and encouraging pep talks.

‘Don’t forget to switch off your phones . . .’ Jez said.

‘. . . And never take unnecessary risks,’ Ed and Ketty chorused.

The others seemed to enjoy this banter. Personally, it made me want to puke.

At last we left the car. Henson’s house was semidetached and made of brick – it looked like a million other UK houses. We kept to the shadows as we approached the side door, the tension rising.

A dog barked in the distance. All the earlier frivolity had totally dropped away now. I glanced at Ed. He was chewing on his lip. His anxiety set off my own nerves. I took a deep breath.

At least we’d broken into places so often we didn’t need to speak. Nico looked over at Ketty, his raised eyebrows signalling that he wanted to know if the coast was going to be clear for the next few minutes. She nodded, not – to my eyes – entirely confidently, then Nico lifted his arm. He held his hand out towards the lock on the door and twisted his wrist.

The lock clicked open at once.

A bead of sweat trickled down my neck. I engaged my force field. We weren’t sure if there was an alarm in the home so, as usual, I crept in first. Was there any kind of movement monitor in here? I looked around for the familiar red dot, usually positioned in the corner of the room. Nothing.

I took a quick look round. The inside of the house was as ordinary as the outside. A load of stripped pine furniture with plain grey curtains at the windows.

Ed was already inside my head, waiting for my signal. I could feel him lying low in my mind, trying not to distract me. I never liked it when he was there – it was hard to trust that he wouldn’t sneak a peek at the rest of my thoughts and feelings.

I was working hard to keep my mind off Harry, but it was difficult – trying not to be aware of something kind of means it’s already in your head.

There’s no alarm
, I thought-spoke.

Good.

I could feel Ed vanish from my mind. A second later they were all through the door. I followed Nico up the stairs. Ketty crept along beside me, her whole body tensed. I knew she was trying to stay focused on the near future, to sense any danger we might be about to run into, and that she was worried she might miss something.

I kept my force field fully primed in case of attack.

We were used to climbing stairs without making a sound. As we reached the dark landing, I turned to Ketty. So did Nico. There were three doors and it was down to Ketty to show us which one contained the box with the knife. She hesitated, then pointed to the door on the left.

Ed appeared in my head again.

You ready, Dylan?

Sure. I just hope Ketty’s got all this right.

She’s as certain as she can be. She just had another vision of Henson asleep in the same room as the box.

Awesome.
I knew Ed would pick up on the sarcasm in my thought-speech, but I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, my life was in Ketty’s hands right now.

And that wasn’t a very comfortable feeling.

She’s doing her best
, Ed protested.

Get lost.

Ed broke the connection. The house was silent as I tiptoed to the bedroom door. Nico used his telekinesis to open it. Holding my breath, I peered inside. There was enough light from the outside of the house for me to make out Roger Henson asleep in the bed. His mouth moved as he snored softly. The duvet that covered him rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Beyond the bed stood a wardrobe and – just below the window – a chest of drawers. My eyes darted round the room again. Where was the explosives box?

I lit on an open metal container, standing on the floor a couple of metres away from the bed. From where I was standing I couldn’t see inside.

Is he there, Dylan?
Ed thought-spoke.
Is the box there?

Yes. He’s in bed like Ketty said.
I stared at the metal box beside the bed.
And I think the explosives box is right here, too. Can’t Nico just teleport the whole thing outside?

No, it’s wired up, remember? It’ll blow as soon as anyone tries to move it. You have to untie the knife without disturbing anything else . . . It’s easy to spot . . . six inches long with a serrated blade.

I took a step closer to the box. It was made of steel, glinting in the dim light that crept in under the curtains. Now I was nearer I could see a row of knives laid out just inside. A mass of wires lay in a jumble around each blade. My heart thudded. The box was going to blow as soon as I touched any of the knives. There was no way it wouldn’t.

I took another step towards the box. Then another.

My legs shook as the full impact of my situation hammered home. What if Henson woke up before I reached the box? What if he had a gun? And if I did get to the knife we needed, would I really be able to handle the blast? A tiny splinter would be enough to blind me if my force field wasn’t totally in place.

You can do it, Dylan
, Ed murmured inside my head.

Go away.

I took the final step to the box. I bent down. There was the knife with the serrated edge, right in the centre. Wires were bunched around it. I reached out my hand, checking my force field was fully engaged.

My phone beeped. A text.

I froze, the force field draining away from me with the shock. I must have forgotten to turn my cell phone off.

I spun round. Henson was moving . . . waking . . . ‘Who’s there?’

Ed was inside my head screaming at me.
Run, Dylan, run!

I stood, rooted to the spot, unable to move. Nico appeared at the doorway. I could feel him tugging at me, panicking, trying to teleport me towards him.

I glanced over at Henson. He’d seen me and I hadn’t even touched the knife. He reached for a switch beside the bed. The box. He was going to blow up the box before I got the knife.

I darted forward, forgetting everything except that I
had
to reach the weapon we’d come here for. I thrust my hand inside the box. Reached for the long, serrated knife.

Force field
, Ed yelled inside my mind.
Protect your—

As the explosion erupted in front of me, Harry’s face flashed into my head.

Then darkness.

10: Mistake

I was lying on something hard. My right side ached. Male voices were yelling in the distance. I opened my eyes. I could see carpet and the bottom of a door just a metre away.

Someone shook my shoulder. ‘Dylan!’ It was Ketty.

‘
What
?’ I forced my eyes open, completely disoriented.

Ketty’s face, unnaturally pale, loomed over mine.

‘Dylan? Are you okay?’

In a rush I remembered being in Henson’s bedroom and the metal box exploding.

‘What happened?’ I said. ‘Where am I?’

‘Nico teleported you downstairs after the explosion. You’re in the hall of Henson’s house. He and Ed are holding off Henson while I get you to the car. Can you walk?’

I struggled onto my elbows, identifying the distant yells – Nico and a man whose voice I didn’t recognise. That must be Roger Henson.

‘I should go and help,’ I said.

‘No,’ Ketty insisted. ‘Nico and Ed can manage.’

‘Have you
seen
that, or are you just guessing?’ I gasped.

‘Nico can handle it,’ Ketty said stubbornly.

I sat up, rubbing my head.

A loud crash came from the landing upstairs.

‘Come here!’ Henson was yelling.

I suddenly remembered why I’d been trying to reach inside the box.

‘Did Nico get the knife?’ I asked.

‘
You
got it,’ Ketty said. ‘It was in your hand when Nico teleported you out of the room. Ed’s got it now.’ She shook my shoulder again. ‘We have to get out of here.’

I nodded, rolling up onto my knees. I winced. ‘My side hurts.’

‘That’s where you landed. The force of the explosion threw you onto the floor. Why didn’t you keep your force field around you?’

I tried to think back. ‘It
was
around me until my phone beeped. I guess I was just refocusing on it when the explosion happened, so it only partly protected me.’

Ketty bent down beside me. She pressed her fingers gently across my scalp. ‘Is your head sore?’

‘No.’

‘Good. It didn’t look like you hit your head. I think you just fainted.’ She stood up, pulling me to my feet. ‘Come on.’

As I steadied myself, Ketty’s eyes glazed over for a second. Then she focused on me again.

‘Ed says Nico is barricading Henson in his room. We should make a run for it. The boys’ll be right behind us.’

More loud thuds from upstairs.

I tested my legs. I was fine. Just bruised along my side. My head was clearing, too.

‘How come Henson wasn’t knocked out by the blast?’ I said. ‘He was inside the room as well.’

‘He must have ducked behind the bed,’ Ketty explained, taking my arm. ‘The rest of us were outside on the landing.’

I took a few careful steps. As we reached the front door, there was another thud from Henson’s bedroom. We both turned towards the sound. Nico and Ed appeared with their backs towards us at the top of the stairs.

Nico had both arms stretched in front of him, as if he were trying to push something away.

Beside him stood Ed, the huge, serrated-edged knife I’d seen in the weapons box in his hand.

‘Run!’ Ketty cried.

I opened the front door and hurtled outside. Ketty raced ahead of me, glancing over her shoulder to make sure I was okay. I stumbled on the wet grass. She stopped.

‘Go,’ I said. ‘I’m fine.’

We raced onto the road and along, to where our car was parked. I could just make out the back of Jez and Alex’s heads in the front seats. As they saw us, the car revved up, reversing onto the road. Behind, in the distance, a door slammed. I looked round. Nico and Ed were pelting out of the house, just fifty metres or so behind.

The car stopped. Ketty flung herself at the back door. She opened it and I hurled myself in. I crawled across the seat, making room for her. As Ketty followed me inside, the car door shut and the locks clicked down.

Before I knew what was happening, the car was screeching off at top speed. I stared out the back window, where Nico and Ed were in plain sight, running flat out towards us.

‘What are you doing?’ I yelled. ‘What about the others?’

Beside me Ketty gasped.