Thyla. Part 14

'Daddy has always been a champion of the lower cla.s.ses,' Charlotte replied. 'I've always said his kindness is his biggest flaw.'

'Oi! I heard that!' said Erin, her lip curling.

'I know,' Charlotte replied primly as they walked away.

Laurel and Erin slowly raised the backs of their hands at the retreating figures of Charlotte and Inga and then folded down three fingers, leaving only the middle one standing. I giggled, despite myself. I could not remember how how I knew the gesture was dreadfully rude. But I did. And those girls deserved it. I knew the gesture was dreadfully rude. But I did. And those girls deserved it.

'Stupid cow,' Erin snarled, just as Ms Hindmarsh came out of her office.

'Laurel, Erin, I thought I told you both to stay silent out here,' she said, and I noticed a tenseness in her voice that I hadn't heard before; one that certainly had not been present the first time I'd encountered Laurel and Erin. Back then, it seemed as though their naughtiness amused her, and it was Mr Beagle doing all the grumping. Now, she seemed just as grouchy as he was.

She sighed and rubbed her temples. 'Come on, girls. We really need to get on top of this behaviour, don't we? Can I trust you two to be good out here while I have a quick chat to Tessa?'

Laurel and Erin both nodded, but I saw Erin's dimple fighting to press itself into her cheek again. I had a feeling 'good' wasn't a concept Laurel or Erin understood very well or they chose chose not to. I wished I could spend more time with them. I would, but not now. Now, I needed to see Ms Hindmarsh. I leapt from my seat and was almost in the door before Ms Hindmarsh had a chance to invite me. not to. I wished I could spend more time with them. I would, but not now. Now, I needed to see Ms Hindmarsh. I leapt from my seat and was almost in the door before Ms Hindmarsh had a chance to invite me.

'Tessa, won't you come in?' she said, too late. She followed me inside, closing the door behind her, and walked over to her desk. She sat down stiffly.

'Take a seat, please.' Ms Hindmarsh indicated to the leather chair on the other side of the desk.

I sat, taking in my surroundings. I had been in here on my first day, but I'd been so overwhelmed I don't think I really noticed anything properly.

The office was quite plain compared with the opulent furnis.h.i.+ngs of the rest of the main building.

On the walls were two oil paintings that looked quite old. One was of a grand palace that looked familiar to me, as though I might have seen a painting or a photograph of it sometime before. Beneath the painting, in curlicued gold writing, was the word 'Buckingham'.

Buckingham Palace. I did know that building. It was where the Queen of England lived. Victoria. Victoria.

The other painting showed a village street, with a church and clock tower. Beneath this painting were the words, 'Campbell Town, 1900.'

Campbell Town looks a pretty place, Connolly. Or, at least, it did one hundred years ago.

Aside from the paintings, the rest of Ms Hindmarsh's office was relatively spa.r.s.e just files and books and stationery items.

There was one other thing, though. One hint of personality.

It was a photograph on Ms Hindmarsh's desk. In it were two people. One was obviously Ms Hindmarsh, though she was much younger in the photo perhaps twenty-five or -six. She had her arm around a tall man. He was handsome and dark-haired.

Something about him reminded me curiously of Perrin. It wasn't that they shared similar features in the way that brothers or cousins might. It was more a look in the man's eyes. A look of knowing something that others would never know.

My eyes jerked away from the photograph and up to Ms Hindmarsh. She was staring at me inquisitively, eyes narrowed. I could see the veins pus.h.i.+ng against the skin of her temples, the tension in her jaw.

'What seems to be the problem, Tessa?' she asked tersely. It seemed as though she was a different person from the soft, jolly one I had met just a few days before. Even her bouncy curls had been subdued into a tight bun. Her lips were taut and she looked more gaunt and pinched. 'You seemed distressed in the hallway, which is why I felt I needed to bring you in here. To check you're okay. What's happened to upset you?'

Strangely, I found myself reluctant to confide in her. That strained voice and sober expression made me feel as though she wasn't on my side any more. I know it's queer, Connolly, and I know you asked me to trust her completely. But something in her eyes made me anxious.

'Tessa?' she said again. 'Come on. Something has clearly distressed you. I don't have much time, so I would appreciate it if you told me.'

I shook my head. 'No, Ms Hindmarsh. It's okay. I just wasn't feeling very well. I'm okay now.'

As I said it, a wave of pain pa.s.sed over my scars. It was the worst one yet, and it made me jerk forward in my seat, my hands rus.h.i.+ng involuntarily to my spine.

'You don't look okay, Tessa,' said Ms Hindmarsh, her voice now more gentle. She rose from her seat and began to move around her table towards me. Suddenly she paused, frozen on the spot. 'Is it your back?' she asked slowly, her voice barely more than a whisper. 'What's wrong with your back?' she repeated more commandingly when I didn't answer. There was a new heated fury in her eyes.

'It's nothing,' I replied. I was truly scared now.

'It doesn't look like nothing,' she said. 'Show me.'

'No, thank you,' I replied. 'Really, it's okay.'

'I said show me show me,' she snapped. She reached out towards me.

I leapt up from the chair and began to back away from her, my hands held up in front of me as though she was carrying a pistol.

'No, it's okay,' I said. 'Really. I think I'll just ...'

And that's when I felt it. Something burning in my eyes, and a tightness in my mouth a dreadful, pulsing, tightness.

My tongue, as if by some instinct, flicked towards my teeth and when it reached them, what it felt nearly made me vomit with shock and fear.

Sharp points.

Fangs.

As I looked about the room in panic I realised my eyes were keener than ever every detail of the room was more clear and defined. And I could smell every single scent of Ms Hindmarsh's office separately and acutely, from the leather of the chair to the polish on the bookshelves to Ms Hindmarsh's own sharp citrus perfume.

I looked down at my hands. My fingernails had elongated and were now dark, their ends tapered and knife-like. I remembered, abruptly, what Rhiannah had said to me, on my first day here: 'Lovely hands ... They look like they're used for great things. You can tell a lot about a person from their hands ...' 'Lovely hands ... They look like they're used for great things. You can tell a lot about a person from their hands ...'

I remembered, also, that they had done this before. That night at my window. That had been real.

I looked back up at Ms Hindmarsh, and was surprised to see that she was not displaying the same fear that I was feeling. After all, I was in front of her a monster!

But she seemed calm. She seemed knowing. She nodded slowly and all the fire in her eyes was now gone, replaced with clinical coldness.

She began walking towards me.

The phone's ringing was like a scream within my head, it was so loud and sudden and jarring.

Ms Hindmarsh stopped her slow progression and in that moment I reached out for the doork.n.o.b.

'Stop, Tessa,' Ms Hindmarsh said curtly. I turned to her and did something I never imagined I would do.

I bared my teeth. My fangs fangs. Ms Hindmarsh's eyes widened.

'Don't come near me,' I said, calmly and slowly. 'You will regret it.'

Ms Hindmarsh nodded, her eyes wide. 'Yes,' she said. 'Yes, I think I would.'

I turned the doork.n.o.b just as Ms Hindmarsh picked up the phone. As I pulled the door open, I heard her say, 'h.e.l.lo, Vinnie. I was hoping it would be you. Thank you for returning my call. Something has happened. I think we need to call him right away.'

Vinnie.

My heart thudded.

Ms Hindmarsh was talking to Vinnie about me. Vinnie knew about me.

They both did.

I slammed Ms Hindmarsh's office door and began to run.

'Tessa? You okay? What happened?' Laurel called after me.

I paused, but I didn't turn around. I couldn't let her see me like this.

'I'm okay,' I replied, my fangs feeling awkward in my mouth, making my words come out m.u.f.fled and half-formed.

'Well, okey-dokey,' she said. 'But, you know, if you ever need us ... Where are you going now?'

I didn't even have to think about it. 'I'm going with Rhiannah,' I replied. 'On the full moon walk.'

The air outside was cool and crisp, and it smelled of eucalypts and mud and fresh water and old stone and decaying flesh.

My every sense was heightened. I smelled each scent individually. I heard each lizard darting through the gra.s.s, each currawong call, each wallaby bouncing over bracken. The coolness of the air enveloped me. It reminded me of the touch of some long-forgotten companion.

I walked upright still, but my legs felt different. Tauter and stronger and yet more flexible.

I felt alive alive.

I heard their footsteps not so far away, just over the wall.

And it took me one sniff to confirm it: Rhiannah, Harriet, Sara.

They were close.

All that separated us was that high stone wall. The same high stone wall I had seen them so effortlessly overcoming in three swift, powerful leaps not so long ago.

I do not like walls. I want to jump them.

If they could do it, I could. I was every bit as powerful as they were. I could feel feel my power. my power.

Another memory danced into my mind, pulling me close.

A man, naked and crouched before me, his face in shadows. The only features visible were the ones reflecting light. The eyes of amber and teeth like polished knives. I could see the stripes along his back and forehead. I could see his legs bending backwards.

'If you do this, Tessa, you will die. You know that.'

'But I will live again.'

'It will be different. You will not be yourself.'

He turned away from me, his head falling to his hands.

I did not let his warning make me fearful.

'I am not myself now,' now,' I protested. 'If you turn me, I protested. 'If you turn me, that that is when I will be myself. I will cease to be pathetic and powerless. I will take my revenge for what they did to my mother.' is when I will be myself. I will cease to be pathetic and powerless. I will take my revenge for what they did to my mother.'

The man shook his head, looking up and away from me, towards the bush. 'I can't do this if I believe you will use the power for evil, Tessa. You know that. We talked about that.'

'They killed my mother!'

'And if I give you this power, you will be able to prevent that happening to others! That is a better gift than revenge.'

'I want to kill them. I want to kill Hopkins. I want to kill Cha.s.sebury.'

The man snorted, mocking me. 'If I do this, Cha.s.sebury will want to kill you. you. Your life will become dangerous!' Your life will become dangerous!'

I rolled my eyes. 'Isaac, my life is already dangerous. All of us are in danger, as long as Lord is around.'

'But you know I have a plan to help you all. You don't need to do this, Tessa.'

'I want want this. I want to help you.' this. I want to help you.'

'You are willing to die for this cause?'

I nodded. 'I am willing to die.'

The memory dancer twirled away, and left me alone in the grounds of Cascade Falls.

'I am willing to die,' I murmured.

Then, like a punch to the stomach, another thought: I am already dead.

That man said he needed to kill me for me to be like this. A monster.

Powerful.

Immortal.

I am those things now. I can feel it. I am one of them them.

Who was he? The man with the amber eyes? I knew his voice.