All The Lonely People - David Owen Page 0,67

the restaurant. They stepped away to let her inside, and she passed, of course, without seeing them. The woman already inside the restaurant squealed and sprang to her feet, and they met between the tables, pulling each other into a kiss.

‘Nobody will ever be that happy to see me,’ said Safa, watching them dreamily as they broke apart, hands still clasped together between them.

I would, thought Kat. I am.

The first young woman gathered up her things and shouted a goodbye to whoever was in the kitchen. They linked arms and left the restaurant, heading away between the shops. Safa moved to follow, but Kat turned in the opposite direction.

‘You don’t even want to try,’ said Kat. ‘What if these things will happen for us if we just wait?’

Safa took her shoulders and turned her to face an empty shop window, where only a hint of their reflections looked back. ‘Some people hurt because of the things that happened to them,’ said Safa. ‘I hurt because of the things that didn’t.’

Kat reached across and squeezed her hand. Live for long enough without hope and you’ll believe that nothing can ever change for you. Maybe then you make it true.

Looking at the people scattered around the high street, it seemed impossible to pick any one she would want to become. It would be pot luck, best guess, hoping whoever she chose had their shit together as much as it looked.

She just had to hope it would never come to that.

‘Let’s go out tonight, scope out the local talent for you,’ said Safa.

‘I don’t think I should . . .’

‘Please, look,’ said Safa, an edge to her voice now. ‘I know you think stopping this attack will help you stay. If I can’t convince you it’s not worth it then I promise I’ll stop bugging you. Just please don’t leave me alone tonight.’

The façade had slipped again, and this time Kat was sure she glimpsed what was underneath. Doubt. Fear. Everything Safa had so ruthlessly hidden until now.

‘All right,’ said Kat. ‘Let’s paint the town invisible.’

One way or another, it would be the last time.

The picture on Selena’s phone didn’t make any sense. It showed bottles of ketchup and random sauces broken and spilled across a kitchen floor, colours running together into a soupy mess.

‘What are we looking at?’ asked Robbie.

Selena checked the screen before turning it back to them. ‘You can’t see it?’

‘It just looks like your shopping bag broke.’

‘There’s a message written in it,’ she said, pointing to the middle of the photograph. ‘Like he used his fingers.’

Wesley squinted at the screen, like the words might make themselves known if he just concentrated, but he could see nothing there.

‘It says GOING NOW. LOOK FOR JOSEPH.’ She stared at the image. ‘I’ve never shown anybody else before. You’re not messing with me?’

They all shook their heads. If there was a message there, it was invisible to them.

‘Call me old-fashioned, but couldn’t he have used a pen and paper?’ asked Jae.

‘I think he tried. There were pens knocked off the side too.’ Selena pointed to the corner of the photo, where biros and highlighters swam in the spilled condiments. ‘It must have happened while I was home. I didn’t hear anything, but when I saw it I realised he had been there. It felt like he’d been with me.’

That was how she was able to see the message. It should have been invisible to her too, scrawled on another plane of existence, but Aaron had gone inside her to make sure it couldn’t be missed. He had given her the power to see it. That’s why she had gone looking for him at home, just like Lukundo had.

‘Look for Joseph,’ repeated Aoife. ‘You think he wanted you to look after his little brother?’

Wesley straightened up so sharply that he banged his knee against the table. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t spotted it before now. Maybe the powers of the fade had hidden the truth from him. Lukundo and Selena had been drawn to Aaron’s house because being inhabited made them need to be close to him. Just like that boy who had been searching for Kat. That meant that, even after he had disappeared, Aaron was still at the house. In one form or another.

‘Thank you for meeting us,’ he said, standing abruptly. The others confusedly followed.

‘One last thing,’ said Selena, as her bodyguard began to make his way back over. ‘Can you tell me what really happened to him?’

There was no way