Heartache High by Jon Jacks Read Free Book Online

over,
Iain! It’s over between us!’
    ‘Over? But
I–’
    ‘But you won’t
get your jealousy treated! That shows you don’t really love
me!’
    ‘Huh, how can I
get what I’m suffering from treated?’
    ‘There’s a woman
I read about, a woman in Soho; a woman called Lamia!’
     
     
    *
     
     
    Lamia?
    Where did I get that name from?
    I mean, is it really a name?
    Perhaps I really
did read about it, in a magazine or somewhere.
    Yeah, yeah; come
to think of it, I think I can remember reading something about some
woman in Soho who promised to…
    Promised to
what?
    I can’t
remember.
    Perhaps I didn’t
read it anywhere after all.
    Wow, now I’m
trying to put some sort of interpretation to something as trivial
as a name that crops up in my dreams?
    How real was that dream though?
    I could have been there.
    I was there.
     
     
    *
     
     
    ‘I really really
don’t think these are dreams anymore. I think that, somehow,
they’re a contact with the real world.’
    As I say this to
Jassy and Dave, they glance at each other sceptically.
    ‘Think about
what you’re saying here Steph,’ Dave says. ‘Even if it were
possible to form some sort of contact with the world we’ve left
behind, how could it possibly be through any of us here at
Heartache High? We’re here , not there .’
    ‘In my defence,
I’d like to point out that when I’d first asked you both for your
advice, I’d said I know this isn’t going to seem to make much
sense, but…’
    ‘Sure, sure you
did Steph,’ Jassy says sympathetically. ‘But Dave’s right – how
could you make contact like that when you’re here?’
     ‘ Yeah, I know; it was just that when this name Lamia came up
I–’
    ‘Lamia? That does seem to ring a bell.’
    ‘Yeah, such an
unusual name,’ Dave agrees. ‘Yet there’s something right at the
back of my mind trying to scream at me that it means
something.’
    ‘You’ve both
heard of it? I thought so too.’
    Dave
shrugs.
    ‘Could be it’s
just a brand name; you know, not quite so famous we can figure out
what it is, but something we’ve heard of so it sticks in the back
of mind until someone mentions it. Tyres, maybe? Lamia lingerie,
anybody?’
    Jassy gives him
a playful shove to pay him back for his cheek.
    ‘I think I might
have heard of it simply because it’s a Greek legend–’
    ‘Just how many
legends did the Greeks have, eh?’ Dave sighs. ‘They seem to have a
legend for anything. Is there one about someone who gets fed up
hearing about legends?’
    ‘Nope, but
there’s plenty about idiot men mistakenly putting their faith in
their own powers of thought!’ Jassy retorts with a giggle. ‘Lamia,
as I was saying, was renowned for devouring children. So I don’t
think – I hope – it’s not the one Steph’s talking about. Curiously
though, her children, the lamiae, were succubae, the female
equivalent of the incubi I mentioned earlier whe–’
    ‘Yes, thank you
very much the History Channel – ouch.’
    Jassy gives Dave
another playful punch, but harder this time.
    ‘The thing is,’
I persist, ‘this Lamia supposedly lives in Soho. And when I heard
that, I suddenly remembered making a trip to Soho for some
important reason – but I can’t remember what that reason was, or
much of what I did there.’
    ‘Doesn’t really
mean anything,’ Dave insists. ‘When we end up here at Heartache
High, there are all sorts of things about our past lives we file
somewhere in the back of our minds, like they’re no longer
important to us. As far as any student here is concerned, the only
important thing in their past lives was the loved one they still
lust after. Despite every possibly reason not to being thrown at
them.’
    ‘If there were
some contact with the world we’ve left behind,’ Jassy says
brightly, ‘that would be amazing Steph – but I really can’t
see that it’s possible.’
    ‘The longer
you’ve been at Heartache High,’ Dave adds sadly, ‘the more you
realise