Talisman of El (6 page)

‘What, it’s not as if you’re naked,’ she replied. ‘I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t passed out, in which case I’d have to give you mouth-to-mouth.’

‘It’s good I’m still breathing, then,’ Charlie said, the sarcasm in his voice not devoid of anxiety. He crouched down and sat on the cold ceramic floor.

Alex gasped. ‘It’s snowing!’ She dashed across the room and climbed onto the windowsill. ‘This is amazing. I hope it lasts long, that way we can have a snowball fight. I’d so beat you.’

Charlie glanced up at her. ‘I’m the dodge ball champion, remember. You’d be a snowman by the time I finished with you.’

Alex laughed and nudged him with her foot. ‘Arrogant much?’

Charlie held her leg and gently pulled her off the windowsill. ‘Go before someone comes in.’

She flopped down beside him. ‘I locked the door.’

Charlie regarded her in shock. ‘Oh great, so I get punched in the face and now I’m going to get detention.’ He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. ‘You know they’ll think we’re doing something.’

‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know … stuff.’

‘At least they’ll stop talking about your face.’

‘Yeah, because now they’ll be talking about me locking girls in the boys’ toilets.’

Alex laughed, and Charlie narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Who cares what they say? We’re just friends, right?’

Charlie hesitated and then said, ‘Yeah … Friends.’

After a few seconds of silence, Alex asked, ‘That means a lot to you, doesn’t it?’

Following her gaze, Charlie looked down at his necklace, his hand clasped around the rings. He hadn’t even realised he’d been holding them. ‘They’re my parents’ wedding rings.’ He slipped the chain inside his shirt. ‘It’s the only thing I have that belonged to them.’

‘It’s not the only thing. You belonged to them.’

They held each other’s gaze for a long moment, until Charlie felt a heat rising inside him and looked away, pulling on his shirt collar.

‘So, about those jewels –’ Alex began.

‘Forget it. I’m not stealing it.’

‘We’re borrowing, not stealing. Something’s obviously going on otherwise he wouldn’t need to hide them. Who knows what else he’s hiding.’ She leaned into him and whispered, ‘I know you want to.’

Her warm breath tickled his ear, and he shivered from the electric tingles that shot through his body. He sighed. ‘I’m so gonna regret this.’

Charlie knew he was making a mistake, but the moment he opened the door to the hallway cupboard, his curiosity got the better of him. Turning the light on, he knelt down and slid the secret door open.

He froze.

It was empty.

Alarm bells started ringing inside his head, and that niggling feeling he got whenever he sensed something wrong churned in his stomach. He closed the secret door and turned the light off. When he stepped out of the cupboard, his heart stopped.

The front door was wide open, Jacob standing just outside the threshold, a light dusting of snow on the shoulders of his brown trench coat and felt hat. He stared at Charlie with an unreadable expression. After what seemed a long pause, he stepped inside the house, the exposed beams of the low ceiling just inches from his head. ‘You do love that cupboard, don’t you?’ His tone was calm. ‘What’s this, the third time now? Let me guess. You lost something again.’

‘Er –’ Charlie began.

‘I should warn you,’ Jacob interjected. ‘I hate it when people lie to me.’

Just tell the truth.
‘I heard a noise.’

Jacob slammed the door shut, and Charlie jumped. ‘Try again.’ His voice was low but as cold as steel.

Charlie swallowed the lump in his throat. ‘It’s the truth.’

‘I’ve tried to be nice. I’ve given you everything you want, and this is how you repay me. Go to your room.’

Charlie didn’t move. A crippling feeling of guilt mingled with something that was almost, but not quite, fear, came over him. Jacob moved closer to him, and he stepped back.

‘I said go to your room.’

‘But I –’ Charlie started to say.

‘
But
doesn’t exist in this house. Do as I say, do I make myself clear?’

‘But I –’

Charlie felt a powerful force crash into his face, and he stumbled and fell flat on his back on the cold floor. For a moment, confusion circled his mind, and then he felt a burning sensation on the left side of his face that stung his eyes. Ashamed of his tears, he blinked rapidly to prevent them from escaping.

‘Do as I say, do I make myself clear?’ Jacob repeated.

Charlie nodded, rubbing his burning cheek. He got to his feet and scurried up to his bedroom. Sitting on his bed, his body trembling with rage, he tried to make sense of what had just happened, but he couldn’t. Nothing made sense.

He got up and started pacing between the door and the window. The only thing he was certain of at that moment was that one side of his face felt numb while the other side felt as if it was on fire.

He sat down on the bed again, the sound of his heart drumming in his ears. Feeling a bead of sweat trickle down the back of his neck, he got up, walked over to the window, and opened it, cringing as the cold air stung his face. Staring up at the grey afternoon sky, he took deep breaths as he waited for his heart to slow.

Thirty minutes later, he sneaked into Jacob’s bedroom. He didn’t turn the light on. Jacob was in the living room watching TV, and he figured it was a good time to use his get-out-ofjail-free card and make a call. He picked up the phone on the bedside table, and before he even finished dialling the number, he heard an automated female voice:
‘The phone you are using does not allow outgoing calls.’
Charlie sighed. He had discovered the truth about hell: there was no escaping once you entered.

Charlie was asleep in bed when a loud bang woke him, and he jumped up. Seeing a tall figure standing in the doorway, he shrieked, remembering the shadow on the garden shed. When the lights came on and he saw Jacob, his body tensed.

‘Get dressed and meet me downstairs,’ Jacob demanded.

Charlie said nothing. He put on a grey tracksuit and went downstairs. Jacob was in the hallway holding a black sack. He looked up at Charlie and said, ‘We’re going for a drive. Get in the car.’

The two-door, black Morris Minor drove at a steady 30 mph along a quiet road. Charlie glanced at the clock on the dashboard that flickeredwith a green hue. It was 11:30 p.m. He looked back at the windscreen but couldn’t see much through the falling snow. Jacob hadn’t spoken a word to him since they left the house. The only place he could think of where Jacob would take him was Alpha Children’s Home.

There were sixty-five miles between Brentford and Capeton, and the journey was more than an hour and a half, but, at the rate they were driving, it would probably take them three hours to get to their destination. What Charlie couldn’t understand was why Jacob chose to leave the house so late. And what about his belongings?

A low crackling noise interrupted Charlie’s thoughts, and he looked out the window. When no vehicle went by, he realised the noise was coming from inside the car. His eyes rested on Jacob, whose hands gripped the steering wheel with such force his knuckles had turned white. He twisted the leather wheel as if strangling it, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flared. Charlie looked away; he did not wish to see the look in his eyes.

Just when Charlie’s mind started to wander again, the car jolted, and he lurched forward, his body held in the grips of his seatbelt. He grabbed onto his seat, fearing they had hit something. The car started bouncing up and down, as if springs had replaced the tires. Squinting, he peered through the windshield and saw trees ahead.

They were in the woods.

Charlie’s hand went to his chain, his fist clasped around the rings as his mind conjured up the possible scenarios that could be in store for him. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was about to meet the same fate as his parents.

The car came to a stop, and the headlights faded. A second light lit up the inside of the car, and Charlie glanced at Jacob, who was holding a torch. Jacob switched the engine off and got out of the car. He walked around the front to the passenger side, opened the door, and grabbed Charlie by the arm, pulling him out of the car.

Charlie followed him as he led the way through the forest. They walked for ten minutes before Charlie, paying no attention at all, walked head on into something rock solid and flew back onto the snow-covered ground. He thought he’d walked into a tree until he looked up at the blinding torchlight. Shielding his eyes with his hands, he managed to make out a large silhouette behind the light.

‘Would you be quiet,’ Jacob hissed, and then he walked off. Charlie heaved himself off the ground, dusted the snow off his clothes, and trailed behind. They walked for another two minutes until they came to a clearing where they spotted a two-storey stone house.

‘Listen,’ Jacob whispered. ‘You and I are going inside to get a few things.’

Charlie puckered his brow. ‘Isn’t it a little late …’ His weary voice broke off. He looked at the house, then at Jacob and the black sack in his hand. He looked at the house again, then at Jacob and the sack. He looked at the house again, then –

This went on for a bit, but when he finally connected it all, he gasped. Without thinking, he blurted out, ‘You’re a thief!’

Jacob clamped a hand over his mouth. ‘Be quiet,’ he said in a low yet stern voice. Shoving Charlie, he took a few steps towards the house but stopped when he realised Charlie wasn’t following him. ‘We haven’t got all day.’

Charlie blinked, dazed. He was certain he was dreaming. ‘You can’t be serious.’

Jacob grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the house. ‘Do you see me laughing?’

‘But –’ Charlie stopped talking. He had broken the forbidden rule. When Jacob didn’t retort, he said, ‘What about the owners?’

‘No one’s inside, you daft child. I’ve been watching the place.’

So that’s where he’s been sneaking off to,
Charlie realised with shock.

‘Unless Edna’s ghost is guarding the place,’ Jacob went on, ‘I think we’re safe.’

‘Edna?’ Edna was the elderly woman Jacob had held a wake for a few weeks ago. ‘She was your friend.’

‘Now isn’t the time to be sentimental.’

‘But you’re stealing from a dead person,’ Charlie protested, dragging his weight as much as he could against the pull of his guardian. When they reached the front door, Jacob released him and crouched down. Charlie watched as he picked the lock. This man was just full of surprises. ‘This is wrong.’

Jacob stood up and grabbed him by the collar. ‘If you don’t shut up, you’ll be joining the old bag.’ Charlie’s face contorted with disgust from his reeking coffee breath.

‘I can’t do this.’ Charlie’s low voice was almost inaudible.

‘I don’t remember giving you an alternative, boy.’

He no longer had a name. It was now just ‘boy’.

Charlie stared into his guardian’s face, searching for something familiar. He didn’t find it. Jacob was more of a stranger to him now than when they had met five months ago.

Jacob started dragging him into the house, but Charlie kicked him in the shin and took off into the dark woods.

‘Get back here!’ Jacob yelled.

The snow crunched beneath Charlie’s feet as he scuttled through the woods, not knowing where he was going. Whichever way he looked, darkness was creeping up on him. He had to squint to see through the falling snow. Hearing Jacob’s voice some way behind him, he stopped and hid behind a tree.

The night was cold and misty. A gentle wind blew, making the hairs on the back of his neck prick, and he shivered. Apart from the slight crackling of twigs and the rustling of wildlife hidden in the darkness, it was quiet. Peering out from behind the tree, he saw the hazy light of the torch, which was moving away from him.

A snapping sound behind him made him jump, and he spun around. He gasped when he saw a figure moving towards him. It stopped close enough that he could see it wasn’t Jacob – for it was too thin – but not close enough to allow him to make out a face.

‘Be not afraid,’ a soft voice said.

Panic rose inside Charlie, and he turned to run, but his feet slipped from under him, and he fell onto his back. Glancing behind him, he saw that the figure had disappeared. Then he heard a noise like the flutter of wings and looked ahead, his eyes widening with fear.

The figure, wearing a long cloak, was standing a few feet away from him, a hood covering its head.

‘My name is Candra,’ the figure said.

‘How did you …? You were just ...’ Charlie staggered to his feet.

‘I do not wish to harm you, Charlie,’ Candra said.

Charlie paused.
That voice …
It sounded so familiar. He caught his breath in his throat.
It can’t be.
‘How do you know my name?’ he asked in a shaky voice.

‘I have known you your whole life. I am here to protect you. I’m aware you are unnerved right now, but try to remain calm. The last thing we need is an earthquake.’

Charlie thought back to the tremor he had felt inside the canteen on his first day of school, and his breathing accelerated. His legs trembled as he took slow steps away from the woman.

‘Listen carefully,’ Candra said. ‘The talisman you saw. You need it. You must restore it –’ She broke off, and an urgent edge crept into her voice. ‘You are not listening. Focus.’

Charlie clenched his eyes shut.
She’s not real. Wake up.
He opened his eyes, and she was still there. His heart kicked into overdrive when Candra disappeared and reappeared in front of him, leaving only inches between them. Seeing her intense green eyes, her face slashed with scars, he screamed.

No sooner had he tried to run than a violent windstorm assailed him. The snow and dead leaves on the ground rose with the wind, attacking him. He fell once, twice, three times but got back up again.

As the wind grew stronger, it picked him up and threw him backwards. He hit the ground hard.

Lying on his back, he heard faint footsteps. Soon, a blurry figure was standing over him.