She didn’t realise she’d fallen asleep. Just, one minute she was awake and Sylvain was sketching the forest on to the map and talking about footpaths and the next minute she was sitting in the dining room, and Gabe was staring at her through the window.
The room was completely empty aside from her, Sylvain and Carter. Turning to Carter, Allie grabbed his arm, pointing at Gabe.
‘There! He’s right there!’
But he couldn’t see him, and he shook his head, a worried look on his face. ‘What are you talking about, Allie? There’s no one there.’
When she looked back to the window, Gabe wasn’t there any more. Instead, he was inside the dining room.
Walking towards them.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she spun to face Sylvain, her nails digging into his arm. ‘Can’t you see Gabe? He’s right there.’
‘Of course I can see him, Allie,’ Sylvain said calmly. ‘He’s standing right next to you.’
She didn’t know if her own scream woke her or Sylvain, who held her by the shoulders, shaking her. ‘Wake up, Allie.’
‘Sylvain?’ Her eyes scanned the room wildly. ‘Where am …?’ Then she remembered and her speeding heart slowed. ‘I fell asleep.’
The overhead light was off, although the desk lamp still cast a soft circle of light. At some point he’d put the papers away and covered her with a blanket.
‘You were talking in your sleep.’ Sleep and worry thickened his accent. ‘Were you dreaming about Gabe?’
At the mention of his name, she shuddered. ‘He was in my dream. Nobody could see him except you and me. He was going to kill us.’
Propped up on his elbow beside her, Sylvain smoothed her hair out of her face. ‘It was just a bad dream. You’re safe.’ His fingers were soft against her skin as her heavy eyelids fluttered shut.
This is wrong.
She sat up. ‘I have to go back to my room.’
He hadn’t tried to talk her out of it. Instead, he’d walked with her down a staircase, through empty narrow corridors she’d never seen before and up another servants’ staircase to the girls’ dorm. Their bare feet padded conspiratorially on the cold wood floors. She was terrified of being caught but he’d seemed undaunted. ‘Nobody ever goes this way except students sneaking into each other’s rooms,’ he’d said. And she wondered how many girls’ rooms he’d visited.
Just outside the door to the girls’ dormitory wing, they’d stopped, and she’d looked up at him. He leaned in close – she could feel his breath warm on her cheek.
‘You’re certain you want to do this?’ he’d whispered, his eyes serious.
Not trusting her voice, she nodded.
‘OK then. Until tonight.’
At eleven-thirty the alarm woke Allie from confused dreams. She was instantly alert; her heart thudding in her ears.
It’s time.
Moving efficiently, she pulled on the warm clothes she’d set out earlier, wrapping a dark scarf around her neck and buttoning up a navy blue pea coat.
The hallway was silent and dark when she opened her bedroom door at ten minutes to midnight. She crept silently down the hallway towards the same narrow staircase she’d used the night of the fire.
Her hand was on the doorknob when a sound behind her made her freeze.
‘Allie?’ Jules clicked on a flashlight, momentarily blinding her. ‘What are you doing?’
Allie scrambled for an excuse; an explanation. A lie. But her mind was blank.
Where on earth could she legitimately be going at this hour, with one hand on the stairwell door?
‘Jules, please don’t tell anyone,’ she said. ‘But I have to go.’
The prefect’s eyes narrowed. ‘Allie, you must be joking. You know The Rules. You can’t leave the dorm after eleven without special permission. Where are you going?’
‘I have to meet someone.’ Even as she said the words Allie knew how bad that sounded and she hastened to add, ‘It’s not what you think; it’s very important.’
Jules took a step towards her and Allie marvelled that her perfect white-blonde bob was smooth as silk, even at this hour.
‘Is it Carter?’ she whispered. ‘Are you going to meet him?’
Allie shook her head, mutely.
A suspicious frown lined Jules’ forehead. ‘Then who is it?’
‘Sylvain,’ Allie whispered. As soon as she said his name, colour flooded her cheeks for some reason, as if she were on her way to an illicit assignation.
Puzzled, Jules lowered the torch a little. ‘I don’t understand. Why are you sneaking out to see Sylvain?’ Her eyes widened. ‘Are you two …?’
‘No!’ Thinking about last night, Allie could hear the panic in her own retort. ‘No, he’s just … helping me with something. Jules, listen, I know you’ll need to report this and that’s fine but please don’t do it until morning. I’ll take my punishment then. I promise you we’re not doing anything wrong or totally weird. He’s just helping me.’ She searched Jules’ eyes for understanding. ‘Please, Jules.’
With a click, Jules turned off the torch. ‘I hope this is worth it, Allie. I won’t say anything until morning. But that’s all I can do. And, later, I’d really like one of you to tell me what the hell is going on.’
Allie took a deep relieved breath. ‘Thank you, Jules. I owe you.’