The Thirteenth (15 page)

Val was trying to find a way to get them out of this. She talked to Sarah, trying to keep her distracted, as she pulled her along the edge of the building. “So, what do you do for a job?” she asked.

“I’m a volunteer Samaritan and a part time drugs councillor,” Sarah replied.

Val smiled, nodding as if she was interested. Suddenly she spotted the way out.

“Sarah look! There are some emergency steps on this side of the building. We need to drop about five feet onto the first one as they have moved with the explosion, but then we are home free. Coming?” Val held a beckoning hand out to Sarah.

“You’re crazy, has anyone told you that?” Sarah said as she grabbed Val’s hand and lifted herself onto the wall again.

“I tell myself that all the time. Now let’s go.” Val climbed up next to Sarah. “Let’s do it.” Their hands clasped tightly together, they jumped onto the metal staircase, landing with a thud that made the whole thing shake violently. Sarah grabbed onto Val until the stairs steadied themselves.

Looking down Val saw a redheaded woman watching them.

“Hey you! Call the police. We need help,” Val called out.

The woman looked up at Val and gave her an officer’s salute before turning to run.

“Did that woman just salute you, Val?” quizzed Sarah.

“Yes, I do believe she did.” Val hated these people. What was their problem? However, now wasn’t the time to start analysing, there were far more pressing issues at hand, like life. “Let’s go Sarah.” Val pushed Sarah towards the first set of steps. As they began to climb down Val heard the sirens closing in. At least assistance would soon be at hand. They climbed down the next two flights with speed and Val began to think that they would be off this towering inferno soon enough.

Then something changed; they were in danger; she could feel it. Val instinctively came to a halt, grabbing Sarah’s arm.

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked.

“Shh…” Val put her finger to her lips.

They stood silent and motionless. Val heard a rumbling sound, almost like a train as it draws closer. Looking through a window into the building, Val saw empty desks and upturned chairs where people had run for their lives only moments earlier. At the back of the room, a small but rapidly growing ball of flame was moving towards them at speed.

Val grabbed Sarah, pushing her onto the metal stairs, pressing her own body on top of Sarah’s as the ball of flame exploded through the closed window. The flames stroked Val’s back as the glass shattered all around her. Several thoughts were rushing through her head at that moment. One was how pleased she was that the incident with the burning car several days earlier hadn’t been a one-off and she was officially flame proof.

Once the flames had retracted, Val and Sarah stood up. Val could see that not only had their level exploded, but so had another three levels below them, taking out the lower level stairs. Thick black smoke was now bellowing out of the window. They were stuck, like Robinson Crusoe, on a building that was struggling to stand.

“We need to go into the building,” Val shouted to Sarah.

“Are you mad? It’s on fire if you hadn’t noticed, and why the hell aren’t you on fire!” Sarah screamed hysterically at Val.

“Don’t ask questions, there isn’t time. Just do as I say. I know I can keep you safe.” Val climbed through the glassless window.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. When I get home my computer is going in the bin,” Sarah chuntered to herself, shaking her head in disbelief.

They were walking into the belly of the fire. Val knew that she would be OK, but how was she going to keep Sarah safe?

“Get down low, the air is cleaner there,” she ordered, pushing Sarah down. She needed to find a way out that wouldn’t strip Sarah not only of her clothes, but her flesh as well. On the other side of the office there was an exit. Val need to see what was on the other side of the door.

“Stay here, I’ll be back in a second,” said Val.

“I wasn’t going to do anything else,” Sarah replied coughing as she lay down.

Val walked across the room oblivious to the heat coming from the walls. She placed her hand on a slightly melted handle and opened the door. In that instant, a ball of fire engulfed her entire body. Behind her, she heard Sarah’s screams of horror. After a few seconds, the power of the initial flames died down and Val was once again visible. Sarah now fell into complete silence. Val looked about her. She could see the stairs. She needed to get Sarah down there.

“Sarah I need you to move quickly, can you do that?” There was no response. Val turned, worried that Sarah had been overtaken by fumes, but she was just beyond words. “Sarah! Come to me,
now
!” Val shouted, holding out her hand to Sarah.

Although still in shock, Sarah crawled her way obediently to Val’s side. Val pulled her up.

“Are you an angel?” Sarah asked, looking into Val’s eyes.

“No, just lucky I suppose. Now let’s get out of here.” Val pulled her body around Sarah’s as much as humanly possible, shielding her through the flames. They just needed to make it down the three flights of stairs to freedom.

Sarah cried out in pain. Her arms and legs were beginning to blister with the intense heat. Val could feel her body shaking, but she had no other plan and was sure that if they hadn’t come this way they certainly would have died.

When they reached the final floor, Val heard banging from the other side of what looked like the main door. Sarah was passing out with the pain and Val was struggling to keep her upright. Then, with a final bang, the door burst open and there, just visible through the smoke, stood a fireman, fully hooded and with a large axe in hand. Val knew she had done what was needed. She laid Sarah down and held her hand. “Goodbye Sarah.” Within a second of the blue spark passing between them, the fireman found Sarah lying alone at the bottom of the stairs, babbling deliriously about how an angel had saved her.

Val felt herself slipping towards her destination with a feeling of completion. She arrived on her knees in front of her TV, with quite a large thump. Her best friend was engrossed in a glossy magazine. Delta’s reaction was slightly different from her earlier one. There was no jumping with excitement and no hugs this time, but the look of relief in her eyes said it all.

“You OK? Face looks a mess,” Delta said, trying for the casual effect, as she looked up from her magazine.

“Yes thanks, explosions, burning buildings, large women. Yup, that just about explains it.” Val put her head down on the bed for support.

“Everything OK up there, girls? I heard a bang.” called Susan.

“Yes its fine thanks, Mum,” Val answered.

Delta moved over and patted Val’s shoulder. “Any more of those strange people this time?”

“Yes, she was a bad red-head. I’m sick of this, Delta. I swear that I’m going to find out what they want, and then I’m going to deal with these people,” Val said with a very determined look on her face. Rising up and starting to pull off her clothes, Val reached into a drawer and pulled out a pair of pyjamas. She explained all the details of her expedition as she changed and Delta listened attentively to her story. When Val had finished Delta stood up.

“It’s late, I should leave. You’re being honest when you say everything’s OK?” Delta looked at Val with a schoolteacher’s expression.

“Yes. I may not have a choice in this, but don’t forget there are only eight more symbols on my arm now.” Val lifted her pyjama sleeve to show Delta. “If this keeps up, I will have none in less than two weeks,” said Val.

“That’s great news, I think. Now, put it away,” Delta replied.

They walked down the stairs in silence. Val’s parents were still in the kitchen chatting. They often stayed up until the early hours putting the world to rights.

“You leaving, Delta?” Susan called.

“Yes, Mrs Saunders. Thank you for my dinner,” Delta replied from the hall.

“You’re welcome, honey. Come over whenever you want,” Susan said.

“OK Val, I’ll come and see you in the morning. Try to get some sleep and don’t pop off if you can avoid it.” Delta turned and trotted off to her mini.

Val closed the door behind her and headed back upstairs before her mum had a chance to see the state of her cheek.

As she walked back into her room she spotted the two empty ice cream bowls on the side and smiled to herself as she thought of Delta stuffing her face with Ben & Jerry’s. She opened her wardrobe to look in the mirror at her cheek. It wasn’t as bad as it felt and a medium sized plaster would cover the worst. She closed the door and fell into bed and a deep sleep.

Val could feel her heart was beating fast as, once again, she found herself running through the forest towards her friends. She heard the familiar crackling noise that came before the ball of light, but then it stopped as suddenly as it had started, and so did everything else. A leaf that was falling in front of her seemed to be hanging in midair. Val looked up and a blackbird was suspended with both wings extended, held in the middle of a wing’s beat. So if everything had stopped, why hadn’t she? Val moved cautiously forward.

That’s when she felt it. A slow breath, as cold as ice, blew down the left side of her neck. She froze to the spot as another icy breath followed. A white cloud of frozen air slowly appeared around the edge of Val’s face. Every hair on her body stood on end.

What was this? She didn’t get time to find out. An icy hand came around her elbow and took hold of her arm. “Don’t turn around,” a deep male voice commanded, speaking directly into her ear. She shuddered as if someone had just walked over her grave.

“You can’t win, chosen one. Time and space can separate us, but I will destroy you.” The breath seemed to be getting colder with every word, if that was possible.

Val felt she had the right to respond although that was possibly not the cleverest option. “I think I can beat you fr… fr… freaks, so maybe we have a battle on our hands,” she said. Her lips were so cold that she was struggling to make the words come out.

“You insolent child,” the creature bellowed. “You are much deeper than you should be and there is no way out. I will kill them all.” The hand released her arm and time started again. Val spun on the spot. He had gone, but she was most definitely still in her dream.

She looked around for something to lean against and heard heavy breathing coming towards her. “Not more,” she muttered as a young woman dressed the same way as Val came running towards her with something in her hand. Val was intrigued until she realised that the girl wasn’t stopping. It all happened so fast that Val couldn’t do anything. The last thing she saw was the book from the shop, then the girl cannoned into her, knocking Val back into consciousness.

Val’s eyes opened to daylight streaming in from the window. She’s forgotten to close the curtains the previous night. As she got out of bed, she knew exactly what she had to do. She picked up her mobile phone and started to send text messages. She got dressed and within minutes she was ready to go. Making her way downstairs, she prepared to face the music about the state of her face but there was no one there. A note on the counter explained the silence:

Val your dad has gone to work and I have an appointment first thing. Your packed lunch is in the fridge. Love Mum.

PS. I will know if you haven’t eaten breakfast.

Val let out a laugh. Val opened the fridge grabbed her lunch and made her way to work.

As she drew nearer the shop, she saw Delta and Jason standing outside on the steps chatting.

“Morning, thanks for coming over so early.” Val patted Delta on the arm to make room for her to open the door. “Last night I think I met the thing responsible for the crazy people that are making my life so exciting.” Val looked at Jason and Delta, seeing their interested eyes gleaming back.

“What do you mean you met the thing? When I left you were going to bed. Where did you go?” asked Delta.

“He came to me in a dream. It was very similar to the others I’ve had, but I know this was real. He actually stopped time.”

“What did he look like? Did he hurt you? What did he say?” asked Jason.

“Wow, slow down cowboy, one question at a time.” Val managed a smile in Jason’s direction. “I didn’t get to see him. He grabbed me from behind, and no, he didn’t hurt me, but he was extremely cold. I don’t know if this has any significance, but he told me he was, in so many words, coming to get me.” Val’s face became sombre. “He was serious and I think he can do it, although I don’t know what has stopped him up until now. I don’t know how long we will have before he comes, so let’s get moving.”

Val stepped behind the counter, grabbed three pieces of paper and drew some squares as the others waited in silence.

“There was also a girl in my dream. She was running towards me with the book in her hand.” Val hadn’t even finished when Delta threw her hand up into the air as if in school.

“Oh, ask me, ask me. I know the answer to this one.” Delta grinned at Jason, who found himself wondering exactly what was wrong with these girls. “Was it the Zodiac book?” Delta stuck her tongue out at Jason as if he had lost the quiz.

“Yes, it was and if we have to stay here all day and all night we are going to find it. Here is a rough map of the shop for you both. Mark off any shelves you look at and work down one side and back up the other. Understood?” Val handed Delta and Jason their sheets with a pen. “OK, let’s do it.” Val came around the counter and headed off down the first aisle, starting with the first book at the top of the first shelf. Delta and Jason followed suit and headed off down their allocated aisles.

After about an hour, Delta’s head popped around Val’s aisle. “I need a chocolate fix. Am I allowed to escape for a few minutes?” she asked.

“OK, but don’t be long,” Val said severely. She had been frightened by her dream. This thing meant business and she knew the book would have the answers.

As Val started to scan yet another section of shelf, she heard the doorbell ring. Someone came into the shop and then she heard her name being called.

“Val, Jason, come here, you need to see this,” shouted Delta who had returned from her shopping trip. Val marked off on her paper showing the point she was at, and made her way quickly to the front of the shop.