The Weight of Souls

18 I HAVE TO GET INTO THE V CLUB

“Alright, Hargreaves.” I scooped Weetabix from the bowl. Dad hadn’t gone to bed until the early hours, so I wasn’t worried about talking to Justin while I ate. “We have to work out who killed you so I can avenge your death.”

“Who says?” I opened my mouth and Justin quickly clarified. “I mean who decides I need avenging?”

I paused with the spoon halfway to my mouth. “I’ve never thought about it. It’s something that has to be done before you can move on, so maybe it’s something to do with the other side. Perhaps you can’t take that kind of baggage through.”

Justin swallowed.

“Look, something, or someone, has ruled that your death wasn’t just an accident. We might not agree, but somehow we have to think like they do. What wasn’t accidental about what happened? How could it have been prevented? Maybe that’s where we should be looking.”

“I know what you’re thinking.” Justin leaned against the work-surface and crossed his arms. “You’re thinking the person who set the dare must be to blame.”

“Aren’t you?”

“No. Like you said, I didn’t have to do it.”

“What about whoever started the V Club…”

“What about the person who came up with Truth or Dare in the first place? What about the builders who put up the scaffolding? What about the company who erected the crumbling building? Come on, Taylor.”

“Fine.” I bit my lip. “You said your foot slipped. Could it be something to do with that?”

“I don’t know.”

I chewed slowly, enjoying the feel of the sunlight on my back as it swept through the long kitchen window. After a moment, I pushed the bowl away. “If someone in the V club knows something they aren’t saying, wouldn’t they have to tell in the ‘confessional’?” I emphasised the word with my fingers.

Justin spoke slowly. “Truth or Dare.”

I nodded. “It all comes back to the game. I have to get into that club.”

Justin was awkward when he turned on me. “Taylor, I don’t think it’ll work.”

“Why not?” But I already knew the answer. It wasn’t that he didn’t think I’d be able to find the answer in his dumb club, he just didn’t believe I’d get in. “I’m not cool enough for you.” I clenched my fists.

“Basically.”

Flushing, I jumped to my feet. The Mark on my hand was black as pitch now. If I squinted it looked like a hole through my palm. “There has to be a way.”

“You need a sponsor. No offence, but I can’t think of a single club member who’d stand up for you.”

I licked my lips. “There might be one.”

Justin frowned.

“Pete’s a member… isn’t he?”

“Well, yeah, but Pete… he doesn’t like you much… you know that, right?”

My heart gave a little jump and I inhaled sharply. “Of course I know.”

If only he hadn’t tried to change things.

“Pete, I can’t come over tonight.”

“You’re always cancelling stuff on us. This is the third time this week and you didn’t make it to the cinema last weekend.”

“I know, but it’s–”

“Family stuff, yeah.”

“You can speak to Mum if you don’t believe me.”

“You never used to have all this ‘family stuff’ going on. I think you just don't want to hang out any more.”

“That's not true. If I could come over I would.” I glower at the Mark that is forcing me to cancel on my friends again. The ghost who had grabbed me had huge hands. The stain spills onto my wrist like a pointing finger.

“Whatever.”

I bite my lip and look at Mum. She makes a “hurry up” gesture. We have a long drive ahead of us and she wants to get going.

“Can’t we do something tomorrow?”

There’s a long pause. “I’m sick of waiting for you. You’ve been acting strange for ages. You never tell me what’s wrong and now you don’t even want to hang. I’ve got other friends. I don’t have to wait around to go out with you.”

“What do you mean?”

I hear the hiss of his breath. “You know what I mean.”

I inhale shakily. “You want to go out, go out?”

There’s silence on the end of the phone. Why did I say that?

“Yeah. I did. I do. So, what about it?” The phone leeches none of the hope from his voice. I picture his round, brown eyes. What do I say?

Mum’s hand falls onto my shoulder and I look up. She isn’t trying to hurry me any more; she’s heard my last question. She gives me a squeeze and I close my eyes.

I imagine what it would be like to date Pete. We’ve been friends forever, I love him, but do I fancy him? I picture kissing him and something low in my tummy gives a little flip.

Then I imagine a ghost appearing behind him, reaching round his back, grabbing my hand as I hold him close. The whole thing is bad enough now and we’re only friends. How hard will it be to cancel dates? What if I have to run away when we’re out?

Mum told Dad about the curse – could I tell Pete?

He’d laugh his head off.

“I want to Pete… but…”

He slams down the phone.

“I-I know he’s down on me. He’s our best hope though… Isn’t he?”

Justin hesitated.

“Or I could ask Tamsin.”

A snort of laughter bent Justin almost double. “Yeah. Pete’s your only chance.”

My legs were curled beneath me on the love seat in the hall and my hand was sweating over the receiver. I could have gone to my room and used my mobile, but I’d spent so many years chatting to Pete on the house phone that it just seemed wrong to use anything else to make the call.

Justin stood at my shoulder. “When did you last speak to him?”

“Just before I found you. He told me where to look.”

“I mean–”

“I know what you mean. It’s been years since we were friends. Since before my mum died.”

“He might not be up for this.”

“I know.”

Swiftly I dialled the number. My fingers moved automatically over the pad, I didn’t have to try to recall a single digit, the pattern was so familiar.

“Pete?”

“Twice in one week, I am lucky.”

“I know we haven’t been close in a while.”

“Yeah.” His voice betrayed nothing.

“Talking to you the other day I-I just realised how much I missed you.” Justin raised his eyebrows and I turned my back on him. “I know we aren’t really friends any more.”

“We aren’t friends at all.”

“Does it have to be that way?” He didn’t respond. The phone hummed and I rushed to fill the silence. “I know you’ve got other mates. I know we can’t hang out.” I swallowed. “It used to be we could talk about anything.”

“Sure.” His voice sounded rough. Was I getting somewhere? Then he carried on. “I remember that I used to talk to you and you’d tell me nothing. All that weird behaviour, you’d never tell me what was going on.”

I licked my lips and thought fast. I only had one card left to play. One thing he wanted from me. “Listen, Pete. I know you’re part of a club.”

There was a sharp intake of air and the silence on the other end of the phone grew weighty. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said finally.

“The V club. Truth or Dare.”

“Who told?” Whip fast, sharp as a blade; the words promised retribution for whoever had spoken out of turn. I shivered. I’d never heard that tone from Pete before.

“Does it matter? It sounds fun and it would give me a chance, you know, socially. I’m sick of being picked on every time I walk into the common room.”

“You can’t–”

“There’s something in it for you.”

He hesitated. “What?”

“Well, it’s called Truth or Dare. Isn’t there some stuff about me you want to know?” I swallowed a knot of nerves. Would he still care why I’d grown away from him? Why I was so different now? Maybe he didn’t want to know anymore… but his earlier words suggested that my secrecy still rankled.

He gave a laugh so cold it almost froze the phone to my ear. “I suppose you won’t just tell me now.”

“What would be in it for me?”

He lowered his tone. “You don’t want to join the V club, Taylor.”

That was probably true, but I also didn’t want to get taken by the Darkness and right now I saw only the two options. “You’re in it.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m different.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“School’s over in a year. Can’t you put up with things the way they are for that long?”

My eyes narrowed and anger made me snap. “It’s easy for you to say. How do you think Hannah feels having to run through the common room with Tamsin Harper calling her names? Don’t you think she’s got enough to deal with at home? I join your V club and I can help her as well as me.”

I imagined Pete at his end, fist tightening on the receiver, guilt darkening his face.

“You think I haven’t tried to get them to leave her alone?”

“If they aren’t dogging me any more, surely that’ll extend to her.”

He hesitated. “Maybe. But you don’t know everything about the V club. It isn’t your kind of thing.”

“What’s my kind of thing then?”

He snorted. “Not being told what to do, for starters.” I heard his exhalation. “Taylor, there are loads of rules and I don’t think you’ll be happy with them.”

“That’s my choice.”

“I don’t know who talked to you about the club and what they told you about it, but you can’t talk about the club to anyone outside of it. If you get in you won’t be able to tell Hannah. She’ll want to know why you’ve suddenly got popular.”

“I can make something up.”

“You’re good at that.”

“So?”

“I can ask for a meeting.”

“Great.”

“But it doesn’t mean you’re in. You’ll need a second to agree–”

My shoulders tensed. “He didn’t say anything about a second.”

Pete pounced. “Who didn’t?”

“No one. What else?”

“You have to complete a dare.”

“And then I’m in.”

He hesitated. “I propose, someone else seconds and sets a dare. If you manage to complete it, then you’re in. But the dares aren’t what you’re thinking.”

“Whatever it is I can do it.”

“I don’t think you–”

“You got in.”

“That was a while ago.”

“If you’re doing these dares, I can too.”

“Whatever. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll call James and we’ll set a meet for tomorrow. But if you try and fail, things at school will get even worse for you.”

I glanced at the shadow beneath the table. Was it my imagination or was it closer to my feet than it had been?

“I won’t fail.”