The Hostage Read online

  ‘Get set . . . Go!’ Mr Fox pressed his stopwatch.

  Dylan took a small step forwards. Then another. I watched her intently, clapping steadily. And then she stopped. I stopped my clapping too, waiting for her to move again. But instead, Dylan tore off her blindfold.

  ‘This is sooo stupid,’ she said, her face almost as red as her hair. ‘A big waste of time.’ She pointed at me. ‘And she’s totally lame at clapping.’

  She stomped down the stairs and across the hall, flinging the blindfold behind her as she left the room.

  There was a stunned silence. I glanced round at Mr Fox. He looked deeply troubled. ‘That wasn’t your fault, Ketty,’ he said.

  I opened my mouth to say thanks . . . I know, but Nico got there first.

  ‘Of course it wasn’t Ketty’s fault,’ he snapped. ‘Though Dylan was right about it being a waste of time.’

  I shot him a sharp look.

  Mr Fox shook his head. ‘What Geri is making you do – these missions – is so wrong. No wonder Dylan’s upset.’

  Nico shrugged. ‘Dylan’s just being a prat,’ he said.

  Mr Fox picked up the blindfold from the floor and held it out to me.

  ‘Your turn, Ketty, I’ll find Dylan later when she’s had a chance to calm down.’

  The blindfold fitted snugly. Nico had been right, you couldn’t even see a glimmer of light behind it. Mr Fox’s hands on my shoulders guided me up the stairs to the stage. He spun me round. Now I had no idea where either the edge of the stage or the chairs were. I swallowed, not liking how disoriented I suddenly felt.

  Mr Fox’s footsteps tapped away. Who was going to be clapping me through the chairs? Nico, I guessed. He was the only one who hadn’t guided anyone yet.

  The clapping started. Yes, it was Nico. I was sure of it. Ed’s clapping had been softer . . . more hesitant. I stepped forwards, sure I was heading to the left of the nearest chair. Immediately the clapping sped up. My breathing quickened. I wanted to get this right . . . to do it well . . . for Nico’s sake, as well as mine. I turned, too hard apparently because, as I shuffled forwards again, the clapping didn’t slow.

  Crap. I stopped for a second trying to get my bearings, then set off again, worried the others would think I was doing a Dylan.

  The clapping was still fast. Completely disoriented and cursing myself for being so stupid I turned sharp right. At last the clapping slowed. As it did, I smelled heavy, sweet perfume. Behind the blindfold, which just seconds before had been a blanket of black, lights dazzled in my eyes.

  Rain. Stone. Leaves and ivy. Rain on my face. I’m hiding like before. Watching . . . The man with Lex examines the small silver device Lex has just given him. He looks up. My heart skips a beat. It’s Foster. Lex’s boss. His grey eyes are angry. Lex speaks. Softly – I can’t hear him. I shiver. Rain on my face. Rain on ivy. Slippery. Stone. Foster’s voice is a menacing rumble, I can’t catch all the words. ‘Rufus Stone . . .’ he says, then, ‘Killing the girl . . . only option.’ He turns and I see right into his furious eyes. ‘And now I’m going to have to kill you, Lex.’

  ‘Ketty?’

  ‘Ketty?’

  I came to, disoriented. Kill? Kill Lex? My blindfold was ripped off my face. Mr Fox, Nico and Ed were standing in front of me, their faces full of concern.

  I blinked, my heart racing. Foster had been talking about killing someone . . . some girl . . . and now he was going to kill Lex . . .

  Kill my brother. Which meant what? That Lex was the hacker and Foster had found out? Or that Foster was the hacker after all, but that Lex was somehow involved? And who was Rufus Stone? My head spun. Whatever was going on, I had to get hold of Lex and warn him about Foster’s threat. Now.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ I stammered. ‘I just got a bit claustrophobic inside the blindfold.’

  Without waiting for any of them to respond, I raced out of the assembly hall. I ran as fast as I could until I was outside by the oak tree in the Top Field.

  My whole body trembled as I dialled Lex’s mobile number. No reply. Again. And he hadn’t responded to my earlier text, either.

  I took a deep breath and left a message.

  ‘Lex, you have to leave your job. I’ll explain why when I see you, but it’s Damian Foster. Your boss. He’s dangerous. I . . .’ I hesitated. There was no way I could explain it properly over the phone. ‘Just call me back.’

  I hung up. Maybe I could reach him at work. I dialled a directory to get Fostergames’s number. Once through, I asked to speak to Lex Wilshere. But the receptionist said he was off sick today.

  I gulped. If Lex was ill, then he should be at home. He should certainly be able to answer his phone.

  I shoved my mobile in my pocket. Lex had texted me his new address a few weeks ago. A flat in Kilburn. There was only one option. I had to bunk off school and go there now. If Lex was there, I could explain everything to him in person. If he wasn’t, I could break in and try and work out where he was.

  I had no idea how involved with Foster Lex already was – or what exactly Lex had done. But I was certain he was soon going to be in terrible danger. For all I knew, what I’d just seen in my vision might be only hours away from happening.

  I turned back towards the school building. It was hidden from me by a line of trees. As I reached the trees, a twig cracked on the ground behind me. I spun round. The wind roared in my ears, tearing through the leaves beside me. Everything was moving. Happening so fast. So suddenly.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw it. A huge branch ripped off a tree. All wood and leaves. Hurtling through the air towards me.

  I opened my mouth to scream. But no sound came out. The branch was getting closer. About to strike me. Dimly, through the leaves, I could see a figure in the distance running towards me. His yell echoed in the air.

  There was no time to think. I raised my arms and waited for the blow.

  4: The break-in

  Nothing happened. Silence. I realised my eyes were squeezed tight shut, and opened them cautiously.

  The figure running towards me was coming so fast he was almost a blur. It was Nico, his eyes wide and terrified. I looked down. The branch that had been hurtling towards me was on the ground, just centimetres in front of me.

  ‘Ketty, Ketty, are you all right?’ Nico leaped over the branch in front of me and pulled me into a fierce hug.

  ‘I’m fine,’ I said, feeling bewildered. ‘What happened? Where did that branch come from?’

  Nico released me. I looked round. The wind, which had seemed to roar before, was quite still now. I stared down at the branch again.

  ‘It was half-hanging off one of the trees. It just came away.’ Nico sounded ashamed.

  I frowned as realisation dawned.

  ‘You did that?’ I backed away from him. ‘With telekinesis? Why?’

  ‘I didn’t mean to.’ Nico’s face was all screwed up, his eyes dark and unhappy. ‘I just saw you talking on the phone out here and . . . well, you’ve been weird with me since we went to Fostergames and . . .’

  ‘. . . you teleported a branch at me?’ I stared at him in disbelief. ‘You were trying to hit me?’

  ‘Of course not,’ Nico insisted. ‘It was an accident. I felt all . . . confused and angry and I saw the branch half torn off the tree and next thing I knew it was in the air . . . It was a total mistake and I stopped it straight away.’ He reached out his hand and cupped my cheek. ‘You know I’ve always had a problem controlling my telekinesis around you. I thought I’d got that under control but . . .’ He paused, stroking my cheek with his fingers.

  I closed my eyes. Nothing in my life had ever felt like his hand on my face did right now. It wasn’t just that my stomach was doing cartwheels and my breathing was uneven – it went to my heart, to the most fragile part of me.

  I opened my eyes.

  Nico smiled at me. ‘I’m really, really sorry,’ he said.

  ‘It’s okay,’ I said, my voice all hoarse. ‘I’m fine.’


  Nico smiled again. There was a tiny spot to the left of his chin. A blemish on his smooth skin. Somehow it made him even more gorgeous.

  You’ve got it bad, Ketty, said a little voice in my head.

  ‘So who were you talking to on the phone?’

  I could hear the angry undertone in Nico’s voice. I stared at him.

  ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Nico said crossly. ‘It’s bad enough us not being able to tell people we’re going out together because of stupid Ed without . . .’

  ‘I was leaving a message for my brother, Lex. That’s all.’ My eyes filled with tears. I stared at the nearest tree. Its bark was rough and gnarled. Suddenly I felt about a hundred years old.

  ‘I didn’t tell the whole truth about that vision, yesterday,’ I blurted out, unable to hold back the truth any longer. ‘And . . . and I had another one just now in that stupid training session with Mr F— with your stepdad.

  ‘Okay.’ Nico frowned. ‘What did you see?’

  I took a deep breath and told him everything, including the full contents of both visions.

  ‘So who’s the girl Foster talks about killing in that second vision?’ Nico’s eyes grew wide. ‘Ketty, suppose that’s you?’

  I shook my head. ‘How can it be me? I’ve never even met Foster. He doesn’t know I exist.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’ Nico said.

  ‘I’m going to Lex’s flat to see if I can find any clues as to where he is,’ I said. ‘Will you cover for me?’

  ‘No, babe.’

  I stared at him. Was he saying he wouldn’t help me?

  ‘Again with the look . . .’ Nico grinned. ‘I won’t cover for you because I won’t be here. I’m coming with you to your brother’s place.’

  I didn’t argue. To be honest, I was relieved. I didn’t have a key, and if Lex wasn’t home I’d need Nico’s telekinesis to help me get inside.

  We went back into school, where the teachers were taking the day’s register. We answered to our names, then asked Curtis and Tom to cover for us while we skipped school for the rest of the day. They agreed, after teasing Nico a bit about us going off together. I wasn’t convinced we’d get away with bunking off all day, but there wasn’t time to worry about it. Finding and warning Lex was all that mattered. We changed, quickly, out of our uniforms and snuck out through the side gate.

  An hour later we were standing outside a house in Kilburn. It was divided into two flats. I rang the ground-floor flat bell.

  No one answered. I peered through the living room window. Empty.

  ‘Not exactly designer, is it?’ Nico made a face.

  It was true. The whole house was run-down, with weeds up the path and peeling paint on the walls.

  ‘He’s only just got a job,’ I said, feeling defensive.

  ‘Any idea if he hides a spare key outside?’ Nico asked.

  I shook my head. ‘I think we’ll have to break a window,’ I said uncertainly.

  Nico raised an eyebrow. ‘Please,’ he said. He focused on the window beside the front door. ‘Watch this.’

  I stared at the window. For a few seconds nothing happened then, slowly, the lock on the other side of the sash window twisted round. Nico’s face was screwed up with concentration.

  ‘Wow,’ I breathed, transfixed. It was funny. My own visions were starting to feel natural, but it was still weird seeing Nico in action. ‘That’s spooky.’

  The top of the lock twisted right off and dropped to the living room carpet beneath. Nico breathed a sigh of satisfaction. ‘Not as spooky as your bloody predictions,’ he said.

  I glanced up and down the road. An old woman halfway down the street was the only person in sight.

  ‘Come on.’

  We stood side by side in front of the window and pushed the sash up. With a creak and a groan it rose. I looked round again. The old woman had turned a corner. No one was watching us.

  I scrambled over the windowsill and onto the carpeted floor. The room smelled slightly musty and the furniture looked a little shabby, but it was obviously all clean – even homely, with some candles in saucers ready to light on the large wooden mantelpiece.

  The huge TV that sat in the corner was, on the other hand, really state-of-the-art. Nico glanced at it admiringly as he dropped to the floor beside me.

  ‘What do we do now?’ he said.

  ‘Have a look round,’ I whispered, ‘see if there’s any clue to where Lex might have gone. Look for anything about Foster or that other man he mentioned in my vision – Rufus Stone.’

  We crept out of the living room. A threadbare carpet ran along a narrow corridor. Two doors on the right led to a small bedroom and bathroom. Both empty. There was a kitchen at the end of the corridor. The surfaces were fairly clear – just a few plates and bowls piled in the sink. I picked up a bowl containing the remnants of some coloured cereal and sniffed. The milk at the bottom of the bowl smelled fine. Which meant Lex couldn’t have been gone more than a day or so, didn’t it?

  ‘You take the bedroom,’ I said to Nico. I went back to the living room. There was an old cardboard box on the floor containing some magazines and clothes. I rummaged through it, wondering what the hell I thought I was going to find.

  Nothing.

  A couple of minutes later, I gave up and wandered into Lex’s bedroom again.

  Nico was sitting on the bed, a pile of papers in his lap.

  ‘Anything there?’ I asked.

  ‘Nothing, babe.’ He made a face.

  I sat down beside him and took some of the papers. Most of them were clearly irrelevant – till receipts for food and beer, some old newspapers, a scrunched up bus ticket . . . Then I picked up the blank pad of notepaper beside Lex’s bed. I frowned. The top sheet of paper carried indentations. I held it up to the light. It definitely spelled something.

  I grabbed my bag and took out a pencil.

  Nico glanced over. ‘What are you doing?’

  I stared at him, excitedly. ‘There’s something written on here,’ I said. ‘I reckon Lex wrote something down on the sheet of paper on top of this one, then tore it off, but his writing’s left markings on this piece underneath.’

  Nico peered more closely. ‘Yeah, you’re right, but how are we going to work out what it says?’

  ‘Look.’ I held the newspaper flat and gently shaded my pencil across the indentations.

  I read the words that appeared.

  ‘Rufus Stone, Tuesday, 5 p.m.’

  Rufus Stone . . . that was the name Foster had mentioned in my vision, earlier. My head spun. Tuesday was today – and 5 p.m. just a few hours from now.

  ‘Whoa.’ Nico sounded impressed, but my heart was sinking. I still didn’t have enough information. Simply knowing that Lex was going to meet Stone today didn’t help me find him. How was I supposed to know where they were meeting?

  ‘So who’s this Rufus Stone?’ Nico peered at the note.

  ‘Foster knows him,’ I said, trying to put together all the pieces. I looked up. ‘Maybe he works for Foster.’

  ‘You mean like a middleman? A go-between? A way for Foster to keep his distance from Lex?’

  ‘Maybe.’ I checked the time. Almost eleven-thirty. ‘Whatever’s going on, we need to find out who and where Rufus Stone is, fast. He and Lex are meeting in less than five hours.’

  ‘But how—’

  A thump from the other room cut across Nico’s words. It was the sound of someone lurching in over the windowsill and landing heavily. A low groan followed.

  Nico’s eyes widened in horror.

  I grabbed his arm, my heart pounding. ‘Hide!’ I whispered.

  We ducked down behind the bed as the sound of footsteps stomped down the corridor towards us.

  5: Rufus Stone

  We crouched lower behind the bed.

  ‘Maybe it’s Lex?’ I whispered, hoping for some miracle.

  ‘Then why didn’t he let himself in the front door?’ Nico whispered back.

  Oh crap,
oh crap, oh . . .

  ‘Ketty? Nico?’ A familiar voice spoke, shakily, from the door.

  ‘Ed?’

  I peered over the side of the bed. Ed was standing by the bedroom door, rubbing his hand across his forehead. He was in his usual non-uniform outfit of polo shirt and chinos. His hair stood up in sandy tufts. As he saw me, the anxious expression on his face transformed into a smile.

  ‘Hey, Ketty.’

  ‘Ed?’ Nico stood up. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Er . . . I followed you from school. I had a couple of free periods, so—’

  My mouth fell open. ‘What?’

  Ed shuffled from side to side. ‘You had a vision back in that training session with Mr Fox. I could tell and . . . I was worried about you . . . and—’

  ‘This is typical, Ed,’ Nico interrupted. ‘You’re always turning up wherever Ketty is, sticking your nose in. When are you going to get it through your thick head that you’re not going out with her any more?’ Nico clenched his fists.

  Ed blushed. ‘I know I’m not,’ he stammered.

  I put my hand on Nico’s arm. ‘Ed’s just trying to help,’ I said. ‘Aren’t you, Ed?’

  ‘Of course,’ Ed insisted. ‘I’ll help you any way that I can. I mean it. Any way . . .’

  I stared at him. Was Ed talking about mind-reading? I knew how much he hated using his Medusa abilities. ‘You’re really prepared to—’

  ‘Yes.’ For a split second, Ed almost caught my eye. Then he looked away.

  I could feel my face reddening. All sorts of emotions flooded through me. It was Nico I liked – it had always been Nico, right from my first day at school when I saw him laughing across our form room – but there was something about Ed that I’d never felt with anyone ever. Except Lex, of course. Some way Ed understood me . . . was there for me, without asking for anything in return.

  ‘Thank you.’ I held out the notepaper with the indented words I’d shaded over. ‘We have to find Lex. I think he’s going to meet this guy, Rufus Stone, this afternoon. But we don’t know who Stone is or how to find him.’

  ‘Ed isn’t going to know some random bloke,’ Nico muttered. His face was sullen.