The Mortal Knife (20 page)

But now everything had changed. After dinner he made his excuses and fled upstairs, not wanting to spend an evening hanging out with Auntie Jo in the den. He didn't know what to say to her. He didn't even know who she
was
any more, when he looked at the photograph of who she'd once been.

Chloe was right – Auntie Jo was drinking too much.
Way
too much. Before, her hip flask had just seemed like a quirk; something as much a part of her as kaftans and toast. But recently she was drinking more than ever before – and that was only what he was seeing in the evenings. She could be drinking all day long when he was at school. So why was no one doing anything? Why did they think that was just how she was? She hadn't always been like that.

The mystery man was gnawing away at Adam. There was something so familiar about him. He pored over the photo, hoping inspiration would strike. Whoever he was, Auntie Jo had loved him – and whatever he had done, he was still a Luman. It seemed wrong that no one could talk about him or honour him. In his room Adam booted up his laptop and studied the memorial site, reading Auntie Jo's words:
We do not forget  …  we are not ashamed  …  our Light is your Light.
He clicked the comment button and watched his anonymous reply appear on the screen:
Our Light is his Light.

Normally school was his refuge when things got crazy. But as Adam walked up the long school driveway on Tuesday morning he felt queasy. He was dreading seeing Spike. When he had a plan his friend was like a dog with a bone. There was no stopping him. It had been stupid deleting the picture; he realised that now. The photo didn't mean anything to Spike. He didn't know it was Adam's family. It had probably just picked up a hint of Adam's jawline in Nathanial or even Auntie Jo. Besides, it was still out there on the web. There was no way for Adam to delete it. All he could hope was that a billion other pictures would keep the programme busy.

He calmed down a bit in registration when he saw Melissa. She smiled and gave him a little wave across the desk. He grinned back at her. He wasn't up to playing it cool, the way Luc did. All that ‘treat them mean' stuff seemed crazy. Maybe it worked on some girls – but Melissa was cool. If you ‘treated her mean' she'd probably tell you where to stick it. He really wanted to get some more time to just hang out this week. He knew she was busy getting ready for the art show but every time he kissed her the world came back into alignment.

As it turned out, he was disappointed. Melissa and Archie were both tied up in the art room all through lunch – and for once even Archie was working. Adam made his way to the library to meet Spike and Dan. Spike greeted him like nothing was wrong but Adam's stomach was still rolling. This time it wasn't nerves – it was his death sense flaring. It flared again, after lunch and again on the bus home and again as he walked through the gate at home. As he reached the back door Aron was coming out. His face was tense. He jerked his head in greeting and stepped forward, disappearing into the Hinterland.

There was no need to ask. Adam could feel it in his gut. As the week passed a few more souls died every day. It wasn't an avalanche yet but it was growing all the time. By Thursday night Aron and Nathanial were alternating call-outs and Elise was tight-lipped with fury as she put their plates in the oven.

Morta's reprieve was over – and there was nothing Adam could do.

The day of the art show had finally arrived, providing Adam with a welcome distraction from the miseries of the Luman world and the frequent flares of his death sense. There was a definite buzz of excitement around the school, mainly because the local TV cameras were coming in. The visiting artist had turned out to be the eccentric Luna Kazuna, who had found fame running round London daubing black paint over road signs. She said it was to force visitors to stop and see the city in a different way. After painting over a stop sign caused a five-car pile-up she was forced to point her paintbrush in another direction and had ultimately ended up running her own gallery.

Archie was usually good at pretending not to care about stuff but even he had spent every lunchtime that week perfecting a piece for the display. He was coy about what he'd done but his friends knew it was called ‘Perfect Love'. If it was typical of Archie it was probably going to top shelf rather than romantic.

Melissa was wired with excitement. Adam was pleased for her – but he was also a bit nervous. What had been supposed to be a school art show was in danger of becoming a media circus. He still hadn't seen Melissa's painting. What if it ended up splashed all over the television? Having survived her own scandal, there was a real chance Elise would fall down dead if her youngest son appeared on the evening news in a painting called ‘Passion'. All he could do was keep his fingers crossed that Melissa's picture wouldn't end up on TV – not that he could ever admit this in a million years.

By the end of breaktime it seemed like most of the school was loitering out the front of the main building, waiting for their celebrity guest to arrive. The plan was that Luna Kazuna would do the judging first. The chosen pieces would be taken to one side and would then be unveiled for the whole school to see. The artists would get a small prize – and of course, they might also get their work into Luna Kazuna's gallery.

‘She's here,' Dan hissed, shifting from foot to foot. A long, black car was sweeping up the gravel driveway into the school. A murmur of excitement rose from the mob. Adam and his friends had stayed up on the steps where they could see the whole thing. Melissa and Archie were in the hall waiting to meet the artist before the judging began. One of the local TV crews was already in position at the bottom of the steps (Adam was careful to keep a pillar between him and the cameraman) and another news van was chasing the black car up the drive. There were whoops and catcalls as the convoy reached the main building.

The Bulb was waiting, looking delighted at all the attention. He smoothed his bald pate and turned on a truly terrifying smile. Even the cameraman took an involuntary step back. The driver of the car stepped out first. He looked like a chauffeur from a film, only he had no hat and every visible scrap of skin was tattooed. He opened the rear door and a cloud of cigarette smoke billowed out, choking the people waiting at the bottom of the steps, The Bulb included. One pale, bare leg appeared from the fog, clad in an impossibly high black platform shoe. This was followed by another pale leg; and finally, as the driver offered his hand, the rest of Luna Kazuna followed – to stunned silence.

Dan was one of the first to find his voice, or at least part of it. ‘She hasn't got any clothes on,' he squeaked. ‘She forgot her clothes!'

Adam could understand why he had said that. Luna Kazuna was agonisingly thin. Just how thin was painfully obvious because her clothing mostly seemed to be made of net and every single rib was on display and ready to be counted. Her hair was black and hung to her navel on one side while the other half of her head was shaved and oiled until it was shiny. She was wearing the biggest sunglasses Adam had ever seen and her lips were slathered with black lipstick. She had at least put on some kind of stretchy black bandage across the bits she couldn't show on TV, but there wasn't much left to the imagination. Even Spike was gawking.

The Bulb made a heroic attempt to recover and scuttled forward, fawning for the cameras. ‘My dear Ms Kazuna, such an honour to have you here today!'

‘Call me Luna,' their visitor barked, in a voice that managed to be squeaky and steely at the same time. She took a last drag on her cigarette and flung it down on the gravel. Her tattooed minion stepped forward and ground it out with a size-fourteen shoe, glaring around, daring anyone to object. She held out her hand for The Bulb and with awkward chivalry he raised it to his lips. It looked like he was kissing a pale, dead fish. A titter of nervous laughter rippled through the crowd.

‘Hello Luna,' Ms Havens said, restoring some kind of sanity to proceedings. ‘Lovely to see you again. Thanks for coming along today.' The two women exchanged air kisses.

‘She
knows
Luna Kazuna?' Dan whispered.

‘They went to art college together. Something like that.' Adam
thought
that was what Melissa had told him. Ms Havens looked a bit out there by teacher standards – but beside Luna Kazuna she looked like the girl next door.

The local evening news reporter had been burbling his introduction into the camera and now he was determined to get an interview with the star of the show. He barged forward and bared his polished teeth in an equally polished smile, thrusting his microphone in Luna Kazuna's face. ‘What are you here for today, Luna?'

‘Call me Ms Kazuna,' the artist snapped. Her minion stepped forward, growling, looking ready to dismember the reporter, but Luna Kazuna patted his arm and he subsided like a well-trained dog. ‘I am here for the art of course.'

The reporter was still keeping a wary eye on the chauffeur-slash-pet-werewolf. ‘Lovely. And what are you hoping to see inside?'

‘A lot of darkness. Teenagers are full of darkness. Beautiful darkness in every brush stroke. I remember it well. It excites me.'

‘What is she
on
?' Dan muttered.

‘Dunno.' Adam had a sinking feeling that Melissa was going to be disappointed with their visitor. He knew artists were supposed to be eccentric but Luna Kazuna was way beyond that and riding the train to crazy town.

The reporter was making one last desperate attempt to get some kind of sensible quote on camera. ‘Some people have said that you're nothing more than a talentless, one-woman publicity machine. What's your response to that?'

Luna Kazuna stared at him, inscrutable behind her huge sunglasses. If she was angry she didn't betray herself with as much as a flicker of movement. ‘My response is this.' Slowly her tongue slid out between her black lips and she blew an enormous raspberry.

There was a long silence before people started sniggering. It spread like wildfire through the crowd until everyone was laughing, teachers and pupils alike. A few people whooped and cheered. Adam grinned. Luna Kazuna might be as mad as a box of frogs but at least she was entertaining. The reporter was glaring all round him but the visitor herself never displayed a hint of emotion. Instead, she turned and swept up the stairs into the main building, followed by a grinning Ms Havens. The Bulb scurried behind, bowing, scraping and bellowing, ‘Bell's gone! Get to class!'

There was a dull hour in geography before the message came through that pupils should gather in the assembly hall. A giddy horde swirled through the corridors, still laughing at the raspberry-blowing. Adam was filled with a mixture of excitement and nerves. Part of him really wanted Melissa to do well – it would be brilliant for her if she did – but what if this meant his face would be plastered all over the internet for Spike's software to find?

They squeezed into the assembly hall. Adam's year group were the youngest there so they were able to stand at the front and watch Luna Kazuna in action. She had slapped a nicotine patch on each arm and was pacing up and down the stage like a caged animal, wobbling occasionally on her platform shoes.

Ms Havens came in with the art students. Melissa was chatting to Archie and he laughed at something she said. Adam felt a quick and unexpected pang of jealousy. It was crazy but sometimes he still wondered what Melissa saw in him. She was so nice and so gorgeous and she seemed to like being around him. It had only been a month since they had started ‘dating', but all their ‘dates' were in school and he wasn't sure how much longer he could get away with doing that. Sooner or later she would want to meet up in the evenings; and even if he wasn't grounded forever he still wouldn't be able to act like a normal boyfriend. She was never going to be able to come round to his house or meet his family or just hang out in his room. What sort of future did they really have?

He tried to push those thoughts away as Archie and Melissa came over and focused on giving her the biggest grin he could. ‘How did it go?'

‘It was brilliant!' Melissa's eyes were shining. ‘She's amazing.'

‘Pretty cool,' Archie agreed.

Adam stared at them and he could see he wasn't the only one. ‘Really?'

Dan wasn't as restrained. ‘How was it brilliant? She's mental! The only brilliant bit was when she did this.' He stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry.

Archie recoiled and wiped his face, swearing at Dan, but Melissa rolled her eyes. ‘You didn't fall for all that, did you? All the “Woooo, I'm so crazy!” stuff?'

Spike raised an eyebrow. ‘It didn't seem like an act. It was pretty convincing.'

Melissa grinned. ‘She's actually really normal and nice. The Luna Kazuna thing is just her persona. She was telling us about it earlier. How she used to be a really good painter but nobody really noticed. So, she started doing crazy stuff to get attention and then people followed her online and started buying all her stuff. And then suddenly – wham! Everything took off. Now she has her own gallery and she can show whatever art she wants.' She lowered her voice but Adam could hear the excitement. ‘Ms Havens thinks she's picked a few of the sixth formers for her new show. Can you believe it? Imagine getting your work in a gallery while you're still at school! And she said that once we're sixteen we can apply to go and do an internship in the gallery over the summer. I have to wait till next year but I'm totally going to do it!'

‘That's brilliant,' Adam said – and he meant it. He loved it that Melissa had a dream and she was going for it, without being afraid. How amazing would it be to be able to just concentrate on doing the thing you loved the best? What must it be like being able to give all your energy and attention to one thing? Sometimes it felt like he spent all his time trying to juggle life and death, when all he wanted to think about was going to school, growing up, having a girlfriend, being a doctor. Having a normal life.

Where was all this negativity coming from? He tried to feel happy as The Bulb climbed back onto the stage. Behind him there were a dozen works of art on easels, hidden beneath large covers. The Bulb didn't have to say a thing; he just gave the hall one of his killer glares and a petrified silence rippled through the pupils from the front towards the back. After the usual faff with the microphone he managed to announce the names of the winners: three sixth formers who would each have three pieces of work displayed in Luna Kazuna's gallery. There were excited screams from the back and polite applause from everyone else. The winners walked up onto the stage, where they received a limp handshake and a smoky air kiss from the great woman.

At this point Ms Havens stepped forward. ‘It's a huge achievement to get your work displayed in a gallery and congratulations to those chosen. However, I want to give a special mention to three other outstanding pieces of work; one by a fifth year, the other two by fourth years. I'm delighted to say these will also be displayed in Luna's gallery. The pieces are “Death and the Maiden” by Katie Kurtz; “Perfect Love” by Archie Maguire; and last but not least, “Passion” by Melissa Morgan.'

There were more screams of delight. Archie looked stunned, then grinned broadly as he went up on stage. Melissa was frozen to the spot, her hands clasped over her mouth until Adam gently touched her shoulder. She snapped out of it and ran up onto the stage beaming, joining the other two, who were already waiting by their easels. Luna Kazuna was talking to the second TV reporter as the cameraman videoed each piece in turn. His camera didn't linger on Archie's piece, although he did go back himself for a long, smirking look – confirming Adam's suspicion that it wasn't really fit for family viewing.

‘It's your big moment,' Dan whispered. ‘Hope she kept your clothes on!'

It was all happening so fast and it finally dawned on Adam that ‘Passion' was about to be unveiled. He barely had time to gulp before The Bulb pulled away the sheet and revealed  … 

‘What the hell is that?' Spike was squinting up at it.

Dan was bending his head so far sideways that his ear was touching his shoulder. ‘I think I can see a hand if I look at it this way.'

Adam stared at the picture, bemused. He could hear fragments of Luna Kazuna's comments as she pointed at it for the camera. ‘Passion  …  clear for all to see  …  Picasso-esque with a twist of Dali  …  A mature style  …  Full of darkness – but light too – and yet beautiful darkness. I love it!'

Adam wasn't sure how to feel about the painting itself. At first glance it just looked like lots of swirls of paint with the odd body part sneaking into the frame. Still, as he stared at it a bit longer he could see that in a strange way the whole thing seemed to come together. It was trying to give a message and he wasn't quite sure what that was, but there was something happy and confident about it. When he looked at Melissa shaking hands with Luna Kazuna he could see that same happiness and confidence glowing out of her. The painting said something about who she was and what was important to her – and he was in it.

‘I like it,' Dan said suddenly. ‘It's cool. Although let's face it, you're never going to be famous like that Mona Lisa woman. No one's going to walk up to you in the street and say, “Hey, you're the guy from the painting!” are they?'