Gabriella Poole - Blood Ties (Darke Academy)

‘A word before you go, Mr Singh.’

Cassie turned, confused, and saw Ranjit give her a brief last glance before disappearing back into the office. What was that about?

Next time, my dear, we must try harder. This simply will not do …

CHAPTER TWELVE

‘Jake? What are you doing here?’

Cassie had been trying to turn the door handle quietly so as not to wake her roommate, when the door suddenly swung open, making

her jump. Why would Jake be leaving her and Isabella’s room so late in the evening? Then she remembered the couple’s date, and couldn’t

help allowing a little smile to cross her lips. ‘Oops. Hope I haven’t interrupted anything?’

Jake’s face was serious. ‘Uh, Cassie, can I talk to you for a sec?’

Her heart skipped a beat. He’d been avoiding her for weeks, why did he want to talk to her now? Had he found out about the feeding?

No, he wouldn’t even be speaking to her if that were the case. Did he know what had happened earlier with Katerina? She wasn’t

expecting to have to deal with that aspect of the evening’s events quite so soon …

Jake stepped outside and pulled the door shut quietly. ‘I’m glad you’re back. Isabella’s gonna need someone with her tonight.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘We just had a bit of a scare at Coney Island is all. It’s OK. She’ll be fine once she’s had a chance to rest.’

Cassie’s brow furrowed. ‘What happened?’

‘Maybe it’s nothing.’ He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then muttered, ‘I think we’re all just a little tense, maybe imagining things.’

‘What are you talking about?’

Jake forced a smile. ‘Look, just do your girl thing, look out for her, and I’ll catch up with you guys when I can tomorrow.’

‘I thought we were all going to hook up in the morning and go to Chinatown? You know, Isabella’s whole plan to hang out and do normal

things?’ She smiled, but Jake’s face was serious again.

‘Not in the morning. I have a few things I need to take care of.’ He leaned over and kissed Cassie briskly on the cheek. ‘Night.’

Cassie stared after him, bemused. This was definitely one of the strangest nights she’d ever had. She turned away and inched the door

open.

‘Cassie?’ Isabella sat up in bed.

‘Yeah, it’s me. Busted. I was trying to be quiet …’

‘It’s OK. I was awake.’

Cassie peered at her friend in the dimness as she closed the door. Isabella was hugging her knees, staring not at Cassie but at the wall.

‘Hey, what’s going on? Jake said something happened on your date.’

‘Uh …’ For once Isabella seemed to be lost for words. ‘It … ah … didn’t go quite to plan.’

Isabella was trembling, Cassie noticed. Sitting down beside her, she put an arm round her. She felt cold. A sense of dread rose in her.

‘Isabella, what happened? Did you guys have a row or—’

‘No! No, nothing like that.’ Isabella shook her head violently. ‘It went really well, to start with. We were having a great time. Then – oh, it

was horrible, Cassie. I know this is going to sound crazy …’ She trailed off, and Cassie’s eyes widened with worry at Isabella’s glum

features.

‘What is it, Isabella?’

Isabella rubbed her goose-pimpled arms. ‘It’s just … well, I think someone tried to abduct me.’

‘What? Isabella! What the hell happened?’

Isabella exhaled. ‘We were at the back of the line for the rollercoaster. There was a really long wait, and so Jake had offered to go and get

me some cotton candy while I kept our place. After a few moments, I felt a hand reach around from behind and grab me …’ She looked up

at Cassie, her voice dropping to a whisper. ‘I thought it was Jake being playful, but then they were dragging me away, and there was a hand

over my mouth. I couldn’t scream … It was only because Jake came and saw. He shouted – oh Cassie, you should have heard him! You

would have thought he had seen a ghost he looked so frightened. Then a security guard came, and whoever it was dropped me and ran

before they could catch up …’

‘Isabella, that’s awful!’

‘If Jake hadn’t seen what was happening … If he hadn’t shown up when he did, I don’t know what would have happened.’ Isabella

shivered, hugging her legs tighter.

‘You’re safe now.’ Cassie squeezed her shoulders comfortingly. She shook her head. ‘Why on earth would someone do that?’

Isabella shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Maybe they wanted my handbag? Jake said he thought he saw someone watching us when we

were riding the carousel, but I thought he was just being paranoid. But now … Oh Cassie, I don’t want to think about it any more.’