their feet.
“Shadow!” Sarah threw herself beside the cat, horrified. She put a hand on Shadow’s soft, furry back … she was still breathing. She seemed fine. She was just asleep.
“See? It’s nothing bad. Something I picked up in Japan. I can send people – well, any living creature – to sleep, a deep sleep. They don’t wake up until I say. That’s all, no damage done.”
“Wake her up now !” Sarah was shaking. If Harry had hurt Shadow … She felt her hands warming up, the blackwater starting to flow …
Harry leaned down and touched Shadow between her ears, gently. The cat opened her eyes and got up slowly, drunkenly, looking at Sarah as if to ask what just happened to me? Sarah scooped her up and hid her face in the cat’s soft fur, breathing her in with relief.
“Come with me.” Harry strode out of the living room, into the kitchen, and down the spiral staircase that led to the basement. The door was locked. He took a little key from his pocket, and unlocked it.
Sarah was speechless.
“Where did you find that key?”
“A tool of the trade. Everybody should have one.” He smiled.
“You’re basically a burglar,” she said dryly.
His smile widened into a mischievous grin. “If it’s needed.”
The basement was in semi-darkness. It was chilly, and a musty smell saturated the air. Harry switched the lamps on, their warm golden light cutting the shadows and pervading the room. Sarah walked over to switch on the electric heaters, and she was enveloped by a cloud of sudden heat. With the light, and the heat, and the golden glow reflected on the wall, Sarah had the overwhelming feeling that her parents were there …
She turned towards James’s desk, and had to blink, once, twice.
Dad?
But it wasn’t him. It was just Harry. She felt breathless. That breathlessness, that sense of not being able to inhale, of being about to suffocate, was happening more and more.
“Come and look.” The computer screen came to life. Harry took out a memory stick from his pocket.“This is what I was looking for last night.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see … There. This is what your mum and dad had been facing in the last few months.”
A series of pictures flashed on the screen. People. Normal people. Men, women, young and old. Snapped in the car, hanging up the washing, in the supermarket, at a restaurant.
“I don’t understand. These are just … people. It was demons that killed my mum and dad. We hunt demons, not people!”
“Look closer.” Harry clicked on the photo of a blond woman, snapped as she was calling a taxi. She was turning away, so her profile was barely visible. He zoomed in, and again, and again, until the screen was filled with the detail of her neck. There was a tiny black mark just behind her ear. Harry zoomed in once more.
“See that?”
Sarah squinted a little. “It looks like a tattoo. Like a … a circle. A ring.”
“Exactly. That ring is the symbol of the Valaya. They’re people, yes, but they’re worse than the demons we hunt.”
Sarah felt her knees give way. She sat down beside Harry.
“These are the people who …”
“Killed your parents. And many others. Yes.”
“Va … Valaya?”
“Yes.”
Sarah shook her head. “Why should I believe you? I don’t even know you. Why should I listen to you?”
“Sarah, you don’t have a choice.”
“Oh yes I do!” she shouted. “I could throw you out. Move in with my aunt and uncle, forget about all this …”
“That is not possible.”
“I don’t trust you. I want you out of here now!”
“Sarah, be quiet.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do! You come here with a bunch of stories that make no sense—”
“Sarah.”
“Pack your bags now!”
Before she knew it, Harry had clasped a hand over her mouth, and was holding her tight. She couldn’t move or speak; she could hardly breathe.
How could she have been so stupid , she asked herself for the second time that day. She closed
“Shadow!” Sarah threw herself beside the cat, horrified. She put a hand on Shadow’s soft, furry back … she was still breathing. She seemed fine. She was just asleep.
“See? It’s nothing bad. Something I picked up in Japan. I can send people – well, any living creature – to sleep, a deep sleep. They don’t wake up until I say. That’s all, no damage done.”
“Wake her up now !” Sarah was shaking. If Harry had hurt Shadow … She felt her hands warming up, the blackwater starting to flow …
Harry leaned down and touched Shadow between her ears, gently. The cat opened her eyes and got up slowly, drunkenly, looking at Sarah as if to ask what just happened to me? Sarah scooped her up and hid her face in the cat’s soft fur, breathing her in with relief.
“Come with me.” Harry strode out of the living room, into the kitchen, and down the spiral staircase that led to the basement. The door was locked. He took a little key from his pocket, and unlocked it.
Sarah was speechless.
“Where did you find that key?”
“A tool of the trade. Everybody should have one.” He smiled.
“You’re basically a burglar,” she said dryly.
His smile widened into a mischievous grin. “If it’s needed.”
The basement was in semi-darkness. It was chilly, and a musty smell saturated the air. Harry switched the lamps on, their warm golden light cutting the shadows and pervading the room. Sarah walked over to switch on the electric heaters, and she was enveloped by a cloud of sudden heat. With the light, and the heat, and the golden glow reflected on the wall, Sarah had the overwhelming feeling that her parents were there …
She turned towards James’s desk, and had to blink, once, twice.
Dad?
But it wasn’t him. It was just Harry. She felt breathless. That breathlessness, that sense of not being able to inhale, of being about to suffocate, was happening more and more.
“Come and look.” The computer screen came to life. Harry took out a memory stick from his pocket.“This is what I was looking for last night.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see … There. This is what your mum and dad had been facing in the last few months.”
A series of pictures flashed on the screen. People. Normal people. Men, women, young and old. Snapped in the car, hanging up the washing, in the supermarket, at a restaurant.
“I don’t understand. These are just … people. It was demons that killed my mum and dad. We hunt demons, not people!”
“Look closer.” Harry clicked on the photo of a blond woman, snapped as she was calling a taxi. She was turning away, so her profile was barely visible. He zoomed in, and again, and again, until the screen was filled with the detail of her neck. There was a tiny black mark just behind her ear. Harry zoomed in once more.
“See that?”
Sarah squinted a little. “It looks like a tattoo. Like a … a circle. A ring.”
“Exactly. That ring is the symbol of the Valaya. They’re people, yes, but they’re worse than the demons we hunt.”
Sarah felt her knees give way. She sat down beside Harry.
“These are the people who …”
“Killed your parents. And many others. Yes.”
“Va … Valaya?”
“Yes.”
Sarah shook her head. “Why should I believe you? I don’t even know you. Why should I listen to you?”
“Sarah, you don’t have a choice.”
“Oh yes I do!” she shouted. “I could throw you out. Move in with my aunt and uncle, forget about all this …”
“That is not possible.”
“I don’t trust you. I want you out of here now!”
“Sarah, be quiet.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do! You come here with a bunch of stories that make no sense—”
“Sarah.”
“Pack your bags now!”
Before she knew it, Harry had clasped a hand over her mouth, and was holding her tight. She couldn’t move or speak; she could hardly breathe.
How could she have been so stupid , she asked herself for the second time that day. She closed
Similar Books
