Hidden Among Us by Katy Moran Read Free Book Online Page A

stone circle though, kind of like
absorbing
it.
    Weird.
    The door swung open, slow on its hinges.
    Miriam’s panic was infectious, because I got a jolt of pure fear then, hoping it wouldn’t be Miles, all drunk and scary.
    It was Connie, standing there in her pyjamas.
Of course,
I told myself.
Don’t be stupid
.
    Even I could see she didn’t look great. Her face was sickly pale except for two bright red patches on her cheeks. When she gazed around the sitting room her eyes were weird and unfocused, with dark purple shadows underneath.
    “Mum? I want Mum. And Lissy. Why hasn’t Lissy come to see me? I heard her come in.” Connie’s voice sounded scratchy, like her throat was really sore.
    “I think they just went out to – get something.” I’m a crap liar. “Do you want a drink of water or anything?”
    “Juice.” Connie stared at me. “Apple juice, please. My head really hurts. Where’s Lissy?”
    I wasn’t about to tell Connie that her sister was lost. I went into the kitchen looking for the fridge and as I turned around I heard this huge thud. I spun around and Connie was slumped on the floor, right in the doorway.
    Oh, no.
    What was I supposed to do? What if she was
dead
?
    Don’t be daft. One step at a time
.
    I put the apple juice down on the table. Shut the fridge. Walked over and knelt down beside her. Her chest was moving. So she was alive. Of course. I put a hand on her forehead and it was burning hot. Oh, no.
    “Connie?” I tried to sound calm.
    She let out this little whimper. “I don’t feel very well. I want my mum.” She started crying but without making a sound, tears trailing down her face.
    “OK, don’t worry. Your mam’s going to be back any second, all right? Can you get up?”
    She just lay there, shaking her head and crying. “My legs hurt.”
    So I picked her up. She was heavier than I expected but she kind of clung to me like a monkey. I edged up the stairs, terrified I was going to drop her over the banisters or something. I didn’t even know which was her room and had to do this kind of shuffling dance along the corridor till at last I found it, just off Dad and Miriam’s room. She got heavier every second. I let her roll out of my arms into the middle of a big double bed and covered her up with the duvet, heart pounding. Outside, rain hammered the window.
    “I want Mummy,” Connie whispered, tears still rolling down her face. “I don’t feel very well. Don’t go away, Joe.”
    She really trusted me to help her, like I was the adult.
    “It’s OK, I’ll stay,” I said. “She’ll be here in a minute.”
    I didn’t have a clue what to do next.

11
Lissy
    I ran, and as I left the trees behind I could still feel the chill of the boy’s touch on the palm of my hand. I smashed through that long wet grass, gasping, half sobbing, terrified, heart burning a hole through my chest. What was that sound, that yearning dark howl throbbing up through the ground beneath my feet? Closer, it was coming closer.
    I remembered: realizing. Frost-pinched fingers, horses and hounds gathering outside the Whitaker Arms after Christmas; the Boxing Day hunt—
    Dogs. No,
hounds
.
    Hounds, chasing me across a field in the dark, thirsting for blood: there was hunger in their song. I ran as fast and mindless as a beast, full of white-hot fear. At last I reached the hedge, panting, still sobbing, lungs on fire in my chest. This time, I slipped down the bank and up to my ankles in freezing cold water. Why was it so cold here?
    As soon as I hit the water, the terrible song of the hounds disappeared, as if someone had just switched them off. Gasping, I hauled myself out, gripping stringy wet plants that slid between my fingers. All I could hear now was the distant hum of a car on the road, and Mum.
    And was that laughter?
Faint but unmistakable laughter
.
    She was standing in the middle of the lane; when she saw me she started running.
    “Lissy, Lissy!” Mum’s voice was ragged with panic.