Tim O'Rourke - Dead Flesh

“I promise if any of you grass on me, I’ll rip your fucking heads off!” Pryor threatened the rest of us.

“But…” one of the Addison twins began.

“Shut the fuck up!” Pryor spat as he stepped out of line. He jabbed Addison in the face with his fist to illustrate what would happen if we so much as breathed a word. Addison placed his hand over his lip, which had already begun to swell and I could see a trickle of blood ooze through his fingers. My stomach somersaulted and I clenched my fists. Sam must have seen me do this, as he placed his hand on my arm as a warning that this was not the right time to get into a fight with Pryor.

The door to the courtyard was thrown open and McCain came striding out across it, Taser — sizzle stick — in hand. His emaciated face shone an angry crimson. I half expected it to explode right there and then on top of his neck, sparing us the beating we were all expecting. He paced furiously back and forth before us like a caged beast.

“Which one of you idiots is responsible for throwing water over Sister Margaret?” He seethed, trying to keep his obvious anger under control.

We all remained silent.

“Who was it?” his voice barely a whisper, as if his anger was fighting its way up his throat, causing him to lose his voice.

Again we remained silent.

“Answer me, goddamnit!” he screamed.

Dorsey visibly flinched beside me on hearing his screeching voice. We continued to remain silent, stupidly refusing to give up Pryor’s secret.

“Right, seeing as not one of you has the moral decency to own up, I take it then that it was a team effort?” he asked, his anger reined in momentarily, but still bubbling under the surface.

Silence.

“If that’s the way you want to play this unfortunate game, then so be it. Each and every one of you will be sent to the Rat-House.”

On hearing McCain’s threat, I immediately felt sick with fear. Not for myself, but for Dorsey.I couldn’t stand back and watch him being punished for something Pryor had done. Dorsey had put up with enough from Pryor and his friends. I could see that he was frail and at a breaking point.

So I stepped forward out of line and said, “It was me. I did it.”

McCain looked at me, “Well, well, well!” he said as if swallowing a mouthful of bile. “Hunt, come here.” He pointed to a spot on the floor within a couple of feet of him. I moved towards it.

“Do you have any idea of the consequences of your actions?” McCain roared at me, his anger now completely unleashed and uncontrollable. “Do you even care?”

I said nothing and stared at him.

“Answer me!” He screeched.

His eyes glowed yellow and spun in their sunken sockets. I knew it didn’t matter what I said — what excuses I gave — the outcome was inevitable, he was still going to send me to the Rat-House. As I stared back at him, all I could think of was what Potter might say if face to face with McCain. Then, by accident and without thinking, I said, “Let’s get this over with shall we, McCain?”

On hearing my remark, some of the other kids began to snigger and McCain’s head turned a darker shade of crimson. I was convinced I saw his head actually swell in size, and I wondered if it might just go bang! right in front of me. A deep greeny-blue vein appeared in the centre of his forehead and began to pulsate like a deformed heart.

“Goddamnyou!” he cried one last time as he gripped me by the arm and shoved me across the courtyard and back into the school. As he led me away, I turned and looked at Sam. He looked scared for me. I then caught sight of Pryor who smirked.

I mouthed the word coward at him, then looked away.

McCain dug his fingers deeply into my flesh.But instead of taking me to the Rat-House like he had threatened, McCain forced me through the winding corridors and up the stairs to my room. Pushing me against the door, he shoved me inside. He closed the door behind him, and stood looking at me.

“There is something different about you,” he whispered, taking a step closer towards me.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” I said, pulling my blazer tight about me. I wasn’t scared of him hurting me, I was scared that he might realise that I was different — different from the others at the school.

He came closer still, so he was brushing up against me. Then, leaning over me, he rested his cheek against mine. I flinched away at his touch. McCain pressed the tip of his nose into my cheek. It felt wet, like a dog’s. I thought of how he had sniffed at the bloodstains on Emily Clarke’s bedroom wall and I felt sick.

“Who are you?” he whispered in my ear, his breath hot against my cheek. “ What are you?”

“I’m Kayla Hunt,” I said. “I’m human.”

“You don’t smell like any human I’ve smelt before,” he sighed,

as if he was actually getting a thrill out of sniffing me. The urge to kick his arse was unbearable.

“I thought I was going to the Rat-House?” I asked him, as he ran his nose through my hair.

“No, no, no,” he breathed. “There is something about you.”

“What?” I asked, closing my eyes, not knowing for how much longer I could bear his touch.

“I don’t know,” he said, his voice now sounding soft — dreamlike — as if he was being intoxicated by my smell. “You have courage. You’re fearless and have an anger that I admire. I’ve never tried to match someone like you before.” McCain pulled back from me, his yellow eyes glazed-looking. He stared at me. Then, taking his nasal spray from his trouser pocket, he shoved it into each nostril and breathed deeply.

“You’ll stay where I can keep an eye on you, Kayla Hunt,” he said. “You interest me. I’m not sure, but I might have the perfect match for you.”

“And who is that?” I asked him.

McCain went to my bedroom door, opened it and looked back at me. “She’s very special. I shall be telling the Wolf Man all about you.”

Then, without another word, he slipped from my room and closed the door. With a huge sigh, I collapsed onto my bed. I needed to get that camera to Isidor and quick. Hopefully the camera held all the evidence that we would need to nail McCain and I could get out of Ravenwood before he got this special wolf to match with me.

Lying alone in my room, I knew that I wouldn’t get a better opportunity to try and sneak from the school grounds and leave the camera on the other side of the wall for Isidor to find later. The rest of the kids were in lessons along with most of the teachers. All I had to do was get across the main grassy area in front of the school, to the cover of the trees that grew against the wall circling the school grounds.

I took the camera from my bag which was hidden beneath my wardrobe and tucked it inside the pocket of my blazer. The camera was small, and the front of my blazer didn’t stick out too much. I placed my iPod in my trouser pocket, planning on taking a picture of the place where I finally hid the camera, which I could then send to Kiera to help Isidor locate it.

The corridor was quiet and empty, so closing my bedroom door behind me, I snuck from my room. I made it with no problem down the winding staircase. I listened intently for any noise that might suggest that a Grey was nearby or that I was being followed. Like I had hoped, the corridors and passageways were empty and only twice did I have to hide in the shadows of a nearby stairwell or doorway as a Grey shuffled past me. Before long, I began to feel disorientated and wished that I had Sam to show me the way. But I wouldn’t have been able to take him with me as he would’ve wondered why I was placing the camera outside of the school grounds. I couldn’t tell him about the others — just in case.