Shiver the Whole Night Through by Darragh McManus

blew up around me, swirling like a genie, throwing dust in my eyes. I felt it was telling me, this is the place.
    The clearing was oval shaped, covered in long grass and dirt, with trees on three sides and a wall of rock on the other. The rock face was cut sharply at both ends and stepped in shape, making the whole place resemble an ancient amphitheatre that’s been let return to nature. Like something they might visit in a TV show about the Greek islands.
    I looked around and picked a spot: there, by the far end of the ‘wall’. I skipped over and got low, making sure I couldn’t be seen by anyone approaching from outside. I killed the light and put it in my bag. I couldn’t smoke and couldn’t sleep. So I waited, and thought.
    What was I doing here? God, if only Rattigan and everyone else saw me now. They really would think I was a complete freak – and maybe they’d be right. Hiding in the dirt of Shook Woods after midnight. For what? Some magical writing I may or may not have seen on my window. Rattigan would almost take pity on me, I looked so pathetic. Yet again, I wondered if I was going crazy.
    I didn’t kill myself
. Had I really read those words? I couldn’t have – it was simply impossible. I’d been so sure, though. I’d looked and looked again, running my fingertips over the ice as it rose off the glass. I hadn’t just read Sláine’s message, I’d
felt
it. It was as real as the hand that touched it.
    At least, I think it was.
    Okay, I told myself, hang tight here for another while. If he doesn’t show by two, go home. What have you got to lose? Apart from your life if you get hypothermia, ha. I was well wrapped up, layered like an onion: thermal vest, long-sleeved tee, rubbed-cotton hoodie, parka with goose-feather lining, wool cap with ear flaps. I was toasty. Everything was set. All I had to do was wait.
    Easier said than done, though. This was
tedious
. It was also unsettling and physically uncomfortable. And I was tired. Long day, short night’s sleep before it. My eyelids rolled down heavily and I blinked myself into alertness again. I looked around for visual stimulation, anything to keep me awake.
    I looked at the moon, half-hidden from this angle. It was spectacularly beautiful. Amazing, really, how a lifeless chunk of stone, hanging up there, can become something heavenly when reflecting light from the sun. The moon didn’t create anything – it merely beamed back what hit it. But it was beautiful. A giant silver coin suspended in space and time.
    I wondered if Sláine noticed the full moon on her last night. We’d both have been looking at the same satellite: me being distracted from my wish to die, her dying whether she wanted it or not. Creepy thought.
    A raven landed across the clearing and gave me the dread eye. That didn’t help. I barked, as loudly as I dared, ‘The hell’re you looking at? Get lost.’ The bird waddled a few steps in my direction – heart rate
spiking
– then changed its mind and flew off. Heart rate slowly coming back to earth.
    But this was good, I was doing all right. Holding my nerve. Now all I had to do was stay awake for another few –
    I woke with a violent jerk – I think I yelled out. I put a hand to my mouth. Christ. Did anyone hear that? No sound, no sign of any movement. The place was as lifeless as a grave.
    And as cold. My body realised the temperature had plunged and began violently shivering. It was
freezing
now. The clearing was like a huge icebox. But how could I be this cold, with my layers and thermals and goose-feather parka  …  ?
    What time was it? Ten to two. I’d been asleep for over an hour. How could I have been so stupid? Anything could have gone on in that time. My faceless killer could have returned, seen me, cut my throat and smeared the blood all over his bare backside, and I wouldn’t have noticed. Out for the