Gabriella Poole - Divided Souls (Darke Academy)

‘It isn’t Ranjit,’ explained Ayeesha. ‘We all know what he’s like; skips class all the time. It’s Yusuf.’

For a moment Cassie felt like she’d fallen into a parallel world. ‘What?’

‘Yusuf Ahmed,’ said Lara patiently, as if there was another Yusuf in school. ‘He didn’t come back to the Academy last night. No sign of

him this morning. People are beginning to wonder.’

Cassie laughed. ‘You’re worried about Yusuf ? He probably fell asleep in some poor damsel’s bed, and right now he’s being thrashed by

her irate father!’

Ayeesha didn’t laugh. ‘I don’t think so. They found his wallet near the docks at Sultanahmet. His credit cards, his cash: everything gone.’

Cassie didn’t know what else to say, and Mr Haswell was getting downright impatient now. She walked back to the front of the class and

took her seat next to Isabella.

Yusuf had lost his wallet. So what? He could have dropped it. Unlikely, but even more unlikely that he’d come to grief from a mugger. He

was Few, for heaven’s sake! It would be the thief who was sorry.

So he’d lost it somewhere else. A thief had found it, emptied it, dumped it. That was the only explanation.

It’s not our concern, my dear!

She’s right, Cassie thought. It wasn’t really anything to do with her. And it was probably nothing anyway. Yusuf could take care of

himself.

Yet, she couldn’t help thinking … There’d been no sign of Ranjit for the past couple of days, and now Yusuf had disappeared too? That

was a bit of an odd coincidence. Could their absences be connected? The thought lodged in her brain like a lead weight, despite her efforts

to shake it free.

Torvald: had he maybe heard something? If she could speak to him, then perhaps she could settle the matter once and for all – especially

as she’d promised herself no more worrying about Ranjit. And she wasn’t worried, was she? She just wanted to clear things up.

After class she ran to catch up with Torvald, but Mr Haswell caught her with a query about a homework assignment. By the time Cassie

eased herself free, she’d missed Torvald by a whisker, and she had no idea what his next subject was.

Oh, forget it. What could she do anyway? And in any case, she didn’t want Torvald to tell Ranjit she was desperately looking for him, or

worried about him. There was a good chance that Ranjit was trying to make her anxious, playing some warped manipulative game. She

wouldn’t put it past him, and she certainly wouldn’t indulge him.

Quite right, my dear. Ignore him!

Gospodin Chelnikov was less inclined to indulge the mutter of gossip than Mr Haswell had been. As the students filed into the chemistry

lab, the Russian clapped his hands, his blue eyes so cold and fierce that even the Few sat down with little fuss.

‘Quiet, all of you. I know there are some rumours circulating concerning Yusuf Ahmed. It’s natural for you all to be concerned, but Sir

Alric has asked me to speak to you about this, as it is beginning to disrupt today’s classes.’

‘How do you explain—’ interrupted someone at the front.

‘He hasn’t yet been missing for twenty-four hours,’ snapped Chelnikov. ‘The school has notified the authorities that a student did not

return to the school last night. That is the only action that needs to be taken now. Yusuf has an adventurous nature, so it may well be that

his night simply caught up with him.’

A few titters ran round the classroom, and Chelnikov very nearly cracked a smile.

‘But what about his wallet, sir?’

‘Perhaps he lost it in circumstances he’s embarrassed to admit. Now, all speculation will cease, at least in my classroom. Do you

understand?’

He was right, thought Cassie as she tried to focus on her textbook. Yusuf was adventurous. Ranjit, meanwhile, she was sure now, was

simply trying to worry or hurt her. She’d given Ranjit a pretty harsh kiss-off the other night; maybe he thought that if he scared her

enough, she’d come around. That she’d magically realise she missed him, and agree to go along with his plan … Oh, who knew? Cassie

really didn’t know what to think.

Isabella, however, wasn’t so uncertain when they left the class together. ‘This is crazy,’ she said firmly. ‘Two students vanishing into thin

air? Something’s not right. The school should do something.’

‘What would they do? Look, you heard Gospodin Chelnikov. Yusuf hasn’t even been missing that long. And he’s a risky type. He’ll be

back. Ranjit too.’

‘I’m a little surprised you are so complacent,’ sniffed Isabella. ‘Especially with Ranjit one of those missing. I mean, aren’t you worried at

all? If it was me …’

Cassie sighed in exasperation. ‘Look, Ranjit isn’t even my boyfriend any more. It’s not up to me to chase him around! Of course I’m