‘I need your help.’ Amber blurted, sagging onto the kitchen chair. Jo-Jo stared at her like she was mad; watching the way Amber rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Her eyes darted to the bruises on her forearm, they looked deep and recent. She’d heard the same stories as everyone else about Amber’s mother. She glanced at her mobile.
‘I have to go, she’s awake you know, Nevaeh.’ She looked at Amber then, biting her lip. ‘And I’d prefer it if you weren’t there.’
Amber looked at her like she had two heads.
‘No she isn’t – believe me – I would know.’
All of Jo-Jo’s anger bubbled out. Who the hell did she think she was? She shoved the text image at her and Amber flinched like she was about to be hit. Jo-Jo shook her phone again.
‘Really? Then how did she do this?’
Amber stared at it blankly.
‘It’s from Nevaeh’s phone, it’s our secret message.’ Amber continued to stare at her, replacing confusion with pity. The look made Jo-Jo seethe.
‘For crying out loud Amber – it’s our way of telling each other that we’re okay – Okay?’ Amber burst into tears.
‘You don’t understand, if you don’t help me, she won’t be fine, she’ll live, but she won’t be the Nevaeh you know. Not if Anna gets her way.’
Jo-Jo felt the blood drain from her face, she could tell Amber was serious, and her mind raced.
Her Goth make-up couldn’t hide the way her voice trembled over the name of Anna. Who was this girl? Is she from the school? Part of her didn’t want to know.
‘Jo-Jo, did you hear me?’ Amber touched her hand that clasped the mobile. Jo-Jo shrunk away from her as if she had been stung.
She leaned forward whispering through gritted teeth. It was Jo-Jo’s turn to lean back. ‘Jo-Jo, I’m not lying. You know me or know about me. Do I look like one of those dramatic queenies that blow everything up?’ Jo-Jo stared at her blankly.
‘I don’t make shit like this up!’ Amber added, almost shouting now.
Jo-Jo looked down at her mobile before holding her hand up to Amber.
‘Do you know the number for the hospital?’
When she put the phone down, every imaginable emotion rushed through her – nothing had changed. Nevaeh was exactly the same; no-one could help her except herself. She blinked looking at the smiley again and felt tears forming. If this was a joke, it was one of the cruellest jokes ever played. Amber paced back and forth, her eyes flicked between Jo-Jo and the kitchen window, everything made her edgy.
‘Amber sit down and tell me what’s going on. If something is going to happen to Nevaeh, I want to know everything.’
Amber took a long sip of the cola that was put in front of her. She knew she was playing a dangerous game, but she had to do it. She’d already decided to edit parts, if she told Jo-Jo everything, she wouldn’t believe her.
It was still dangerous, not just for Jo-Jo but for everyone. She owed her for what she had done. All of this was her fault. Anna was right about that and she rubbed her temple angrily. Jo-Jo was Nevaeh’s insurance and as enemies, the only one she could rely on.
24
Faces of the moon
Urrgh - that was really hard, Hawk. I feel tired, if a dead person can feel tired. But I think I did it, I could see Jo-Jo and even imagine our secret text working. I was so excited when it popped through to her. If I can do that – why can’t I touch the ground? If you can hear me, angels, let me die, please. I want to stay and feel the grass, here in Heaven.
Hawk, I can feel someone coming – it might be her, I hope it’s her.
Hawk joins the others his body stretching with his totem, Mahpee. For the last week, he has been patrolling and trancing to protect Nevaeh. Wherever she was, she wasn’t safe until she woke up. He twisted before pumping his exaggerated wings, gathering speed. The night wind was on their side as he led the formation across the night sky. To others, below, the night flyers resembled a large dark cloud drifting across the face of the moon. It was a risk they had to take, fear had risen. News of more trancers disappearing began sweeping through the different groups. Forbidden from patrolling alone, their assignment was to look for and identify Anna’s recruits. He beat his wings, circling wider and wider to glide. To him, this was second nature, and he couldn’t remember the time in his life when he wasn’t joined. Being without his totem was like being without air.
His wings rippled against the invisible airwaves that lifted him up. These were friendly, they didn’t sting like the blue energy waves had when they flew through them earlier. Recently they almost lost one of their more experienced flyers. Raven was the first to be tangled in the energy as they neared Harp’s land, and it almost paralysed him. It took every bit of effort to pull him back before he lost consciousness.
Penetration was impossible. Hawk flicked his head from side to side reading the airwaves again while wondering how many more of his totem brothers and sisters would be taken. Nevaeh seemed to be the key to this entire war, and he wished he knew more. The other child that Quinqui spoke of still unsettled him. Everything affected him lately, even his adopted group.
Andrea made it seem so easy when she suggested that they give her up to save the whole, and after their last argument, he felt more uncertain of her than before.
Nevaeh was in more danger from his kind than from Anna. Although no-one had actually said anything, he knew that most of them would agree with Andrea. She was well thought of and although young had been totem leader for a long time. The wind fractured for only a moment, but the scent that drifted up to him was unmistakeable and he led the formation further towards the ground. Within minutes, his golden eyes picked up movement, and he swooped down. The figure half turned revealing the focus of its attention – a small and frightened totem, an Eco child, and judging by the white marking, this one was alone for initiation. The Eco group were the only totems that passed their powers through their children, and initiates had to survive a week alone.
Its attacker scuttled towards the bushes, and they sensed the ground patrol while driving the thing deeper into the woods. The child pulled up its knees, rocking until the earth beneath moved. She was calling for help and he hovered protectively as a group of Ecos stepped from Gaia herself. They looked up only briefly before cupping the child into their arms and disappearing beneath the earth. Going near an initiate was strictly forbidden and only when the child was safe, did the ground patrol move quickly. Within minutes they had bagged the attacker, tying it to the back of a totem horse before speeding to the cabin. Hawk swung round with the rest of the group cawing in elation, pleased with the night’s victory. Until now, he had been alone, preferring the freedom to work without question, his only law being the natural law of Gaia, cause and effect, until now.
Outside the cabin, he watched his totem dissolve into the early morning mist before thinking of Nevaeh. He rubbed his eyes and knew that sleep would be difficult until he had seen Anna’s offspring. He was certain he had glimpsed hands and hair. Whatever this was, it wasn’t a natural totem, it was forced. He considered it good fortune that they had finally caught one, and taking a deep breath, braced himself for the questioning that would come.
Tiredness hit him like a force when he arrived home, and by the looks of the others lying everywhere, he wasn’t the only one. Andrea half smiled from the couch holding her thumb up. She had experienced her first ground patrol with Pippa’s group and seemed happy as she closed her eyes.