Voices in Stone - Emily Diamand Page 0,14

this weird sighing breath. “I heard there’d been an incident and I thought…” A smile broke through the mad look on her face, and tears filled her eyes. “Thank you, Gray!”

Before I knew it, she was hugging me; she even kissed me on the cheek! I managed to push her off, but then I stumbled backwards into Dad.

“Cally,” he said from behind me.

That’s all it was, but you should’ve seen Cally. She stared at him, then looked away, then looked back. Bright red spots flashed in her cheeks, and her eyes went bigger than ever.

“Gil,” she whispered.

I got out from between them as quickly as I could. It was like nothing else was happening around them, like I wasn’t even there.

Mum was watching them too, and frowning a bit.

“They had a big fight over what happened,” I explained to her.

Mum nodded. “And now they’re making up.”

She sounded… sad, you know? I looked at her, trying to work out what she was thinking.

“Do you want to get back with Dad?” I asked, very quietly.

Mum startled, then laughed.

“No, love, I really don’t!”

“You’ve got Brian though, haven’t you?” I said, to make her feel better. He’s Mum’s boyfriend; they’ve been going out for years.

“Yeah,” said Mum.

“You’ve got me too.”

Then she properly smiled at me, and gave me a hug. I hugged her back, and I didn’t even care that everyone could see. It was the kind of day no one would make fun of you for something like that.

A minute later, I heard kids cheering.

“What’s happening?” said Mum.

“We’re all going home early!” someone said.

Mr Watkins was in such a panic he’d said that anyone whose parents had turned up could leave.

It wasn’t even lunchtime yet!

The cheering and general happiness even broke Cally and Dad out of their little world. They were hand in hand, smiling like idiots.

“I’d better go and find Isis,” Cally said to Dad.

“Can I come over later?” he asked. His eyes were glued to her.

“I’ll have Isis…”

Then Dad did look my way. “Why don’t you come, Gray? You haven’t seen Isis for ages – you could play computer games or whatever, like you did in the holidays.”

“Gil!” snapped Mum. “He needs to go home and rest, not help you with your romancing!”

“Oh yeah, of course,” said Dad, seeming totally unbothered by Mum now. “What about another time, Gray, when you’re over this?”

“I know Isis would love to see you,” said Cally. She looked at Mum. “They really did become great friends over the summer, before…” she trailed off.

I thought Mum would go off like a firework, but she only stayed silent for a minute, then said, “Well, it would be good for Gray to see Gil, and I don’t want to stop him seeing his friends.” Which was the opposite of everything she’d been saying up to then.

Mum pulled me towards her. “Not until he’s better though.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Dad, and they were all smiling, like they’d solved everything.

I wanted to say something, but how could I explain? The thought of spending time with Isis…

You must have been happy. It can’t have been easy being kept apart from your friend, after what happened to you both in the summer. A terrifying experience, so nearly losing her.

You know about that?

The ghosts in the sky, which your father still believes were UFOs. Philip Syndal’s plans for the Devourer to consume Isis, and how you tried to save her. Everyone thinking she was dead, even you. I know all of it, apart from how she was able to survive.

But no one knows all that except me and Isis! How did you find out? Who told you?

You did, Gray. In your own words. I even have a recording.

But…

No more questions. You were telling me about meeting Isis again, after all you’d been through.

All we’d been through…

A monster had been inside her. I don’t mean when people talk about a bad person and say ‘monster’. It was a real monster. Crawling up her, wrapping around her like a snake. A mountain of darkness which poured out of her mouth, squirming and wriggling.

I wanted to be normal with her, honestly, but…

Every time I saw Isis I was watching her eyes, waiting for them to blank out the way they had that night. She’d told everyone at school she hadn’t really died, but I knew she was lying. Cally had been screaming, and the paramedics had shaken their heads.

Then she’d come back to life, somehow. Down in the mortuary, where they keep the dead bodies.

And