It took a great deal for Luke’s heart to make itself known in his chest. In fact, he’d spent many years wondering whether he actually had one at all. Right now, he finally understood the phrase his heart skipped a beat. Three basic pieces of information were responsible.
His mother’s name was Morgan Moreau – his father’s name wasn’t listed.
His mother had christened him Lucifer Black Moreau.
And he had a twin sister.
‘Luke, you’d better come sit back here.’
Luke tucked his Dwight file back into his jeans and made his way to Zac’s seat at the back of the carriage.
‘What?’ he said, dropping into the seat next to him.
‘We’re coming into Blacktown station,’ said Zac.
‘And?’ said Luke.
‘I don’t know,’ said Zac.
Me neither, thought Luke, but he could sense something wasn’t right. Something bad was waiting. The train crawled into Blacktown station. Eight uniformed officers stood clustered on the platform.
‘Cops,’ said Zac.
‘Transit cops, actually,’ said Luke. ‘But bad enough.’
‘What are the chances they’re not here to find us?’ said Zac.
‘Around zero to none,’ said Luke. ‘We need a plan.’
‘We’re going to wait right here,’ said Zac.
‘You need to brush up on what making a plan means,’ said Luke.
‘You’re just gonna have to trust me, Black.’
‘How about this, then,’ said Luke. ‘I’ll sit here until I think we’re gonna get busted, and then it’s every man for himself.’
‘Deal.’
Ordinarily, Luke would have taken off already, bolted through the carriages and skipped out a door at the last minute. It would mean another chase when the officers saw him run, but it was better than just sitting here, waiting to get caught. But he’d seen enough in the past few days to know that Zac wasn’t ordinary, and to be honest, he was kinda curious to see what this kid would come up with next.
The transits spread out. Four boarded the train up front and the rest at the rear. They were going to be sandwiched in by them. The minutes ticked away. The train didn’t move.
‘Find anything in your file?’ said Zac.
‘You could say that,’ said Luke.
‘Like?’
‘Like I have a twin sister.’
Zac sat bolt upright. ‘Anything else?’ he said.
Luke half smiled, bemused by Nguyen’s intensity. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Something good,’ said Zac.
‘Well, I learned that I’m not good. You probably shouldn’t play with me any more. Apparently I’m a psychopath.’ He grinned.
‘Goddess Gaia!’ said Zac, his pale face now even paler, his dark eyes huge.
‘Who?’ said Luke.
‘Never mind. They’re coming.’
Right about now, Luke really wished he had that cap. He felt completely exposed as two transit cops stomped down the stairs into their carriage. He almost closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but every muscle screamed at him to spring from the seat and run up the stairs behind him.
Any moment now, he knew he’d have to do just that. The transits passed the two men at the front of the carriage, giving them cursory glances. The short one swept his eyes over the rest of the seats, passing blankly straight over them, then turned to his mate, a huge Islander.
‘Well, they’re not down here,’ said Shorty.
‘They’re probably not even on the train, bro,’ said the Islander, walking straight past them.
Luke could have reached out and taken his radio if he’d liked. Stunned, not daring to even breathe, he listened to the two men meeting their partners at the top of the stairs and watched them step off the train.
‘What was that?’ said Luke. ‘What happened?’
‘There are still four to go,’ said Zac. He was trembling and sweat was beaded on his upper lip. ‘It’ll be harder this time. Just be quiet.’
Right then, they heard doors above them whoosh open.
‘That’s the other doors,’ whispered Luke. ‘The ones that lead to the tracks. What are they doing?’
Zac said nothing. His eyes were closed, his skin tinged faintly green.
Now, from behind him, Luke heard the connecting doors open and the boots of the other transit cops entering the carriage above.
‘Are you looking for two boys?’ he heard a girl ask.
It has to be that punk chick, he thought. She’s gonna give us away!
‘Get ready, Zac,’ he said, primed to run.
He listened to the transit cop’s answer. ‘Yes, we are. Have you seen two males, aged around fifteen?’
‘They just pushed the emergency button,’ Luke heard the girl say. ‘And they jumped down onto the tracks. They took off that way.’
What the hell?
Luke met Zac’s eyes. He looked just as surprised.
They heard the transit cops clatter out of the train, yelling into their radios.
Moments later, the train pulled away from Blacktown station. Luke let his head fall back against the seat.
What a freakin’ night.
A carnivale in Pantelimon, Bucharest, Romania
As usual whenever they went anywhere together, the boys took off as soon as they reached their destination. After paying for them all to get into the Carnivale, Hanzi and Luca began jogging towards the rodeo.
Samantha and Mirela grinned at one another; the whole Carnivale was open to them. Now, where to go first?
‘Rides,’ said Mirela.
‘Animal farm,’ said Shofranka.
‘I was thinking sideshow alley,’ said Samantha.
Shofranka and Mirela groaned.
‘You want to find Birthday Jones,’ said Shofranka.
‘Are you still hanging around with that little thief?’ said Tamas.
Samantha spun on the spot. ‘What are you still doing here?’
‘Nice,’ said Tamas, theatrically raising a fist to his chest and ripping out an imaginary knife.
Samantha blushed. ‘It’s just that you always go off with the guys to the rodeo,’ she said.
‘Yeah,’ said Mirela, smirking.
Samantha stomped on her friend’s toe.
‘Well, that was in the days when kings with guns and mutants with swords weren’t running around after you,’ said Tamas, looking down at her.
He seems to be growing about a foot a day lately, thought Samantha. And those shoulders! She blinked up at him. To her left, she noticed a group of giggling girls doing everything they could to attract his attention. She moved over a couple of steps to put herself between him and them.
‘You think we’re just gonna let you go around this place unchaperoned?’ Tamas continued.
‘Well, Luca and Hanzi seem to have done just that,’ said Mirela.
The two older boys were now lost in the crowd.
‘Yeah, well, they know I’ll look after you,’ said Tamas.
‘And exactly how would you handle a ninja with a sword?’ said Mirela.
Tamas’s dark brows drew together and he opened his mouth to retort.
‘Would you two please give it a rest?’ said Samantha. ‘Please. Look where we are. Let’s just have fun.’
‘Yeah,’ said Shofranka, her eyes serious behind her heavy spectacles.
‘I’ll be good if you will,’ said Mirela. She spat on her hand and held it up for Tamas to shake.
He looked down at her. ‘Oh, I’ll be good,’ he said. ‘But I am not going to touch your spit.’
‘Well, just for that,’ said Mirela, ‘we’re going to the rides first.’
And she took off fast, weaving in and out of the moving crowd as though they stood still. Samantha and the others hurried to keep up.
One of the best things about this carni, thought Samantha, is that they have so many rides. And one of the worst things is how old and rickety they are. She stood behind Mirela and Shofranka in the queue for the Ghost Train, acutely aware of Tamas standing right behind her, so close she could feel the heat of his body through her clothes. At least it felt that way.