Page 29 of A Cornish Love Story
He turned to look at me, his eyes wide. ‘I-I don’t—’he started, but then the house spoke over him, as calm as ever.
‘Emergency procedure activated,’ it said. ‘Entering Panic Room Mode. Sterenlenn is in lockdown.’
Chapter Twelve
March 2012
‘Isaw a mermaid once, out on the rocks.’ Freddy’s voice was sombre in the gloom of the abandoned house.
‘Ourrocks?’ Kira said. ‘For serious?’
‘Yup. I was walking past one evening, and there was this weird light.’
‘Were you drunk?’ Orwell asked. ‘On your way home from the pub?’
Ethan danced his fingers down my jean-clad thigh and leaned into me. We’d been there a couple of hours, Kira had asked for ghost stories on her birthday, and I was slightly miffed that nobody was buying into the spirit of it, questioning everything like they were seasoned paranormal detectives instead of letting themselves get spooked.
‘What did you see?’ I whispered. ‘Did she sing to you?’
Freddy stuttered out a laugh. ‘Nah, no singing or anything. But the light was, like, a strange blue-green colour – not like a boat’s lamp – and there was this silhouette, someone sitting up there as the sun was fading.’
‘That sounds so scary,’ I said, and was glad when the others stayed quiet, nobody poo-pooing it. ‘It sounds like you definitely sawsomething.’
‘And what have youseen?’ Orwell turned towards us. ‘I bet Ethan doesn’t believe in ghosts and ghoulies.’
‘I do, actually,’ he said calmly. ‘I saw one, not that long ago.’
I glanced at him, glad that he was joining in, and saw that he was worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth. ‘What did you see?’ I threaded my fingers through his.
‘Was it in Cornwall?’ Kira handed the bottle of vodka to Orwell. Despite all our bluster about being reckless, we’d been sipping slowly, and I got the sense that we all wanted to stay alert, in case unexpected torch beams swung over the windows or the flash of blue lights pulsed outside.
‘It was in York,’ Ethan said. ‘We lived there for a couple of years – we move around a lot for my dad’s job.’ He swallowed. ‘I saw this hunched-over figure in an alleyway. We’d gone out for dinner and Mum and Dad had stopped to look in a shop window on the way back. Sarah was dawdling, and I was ahead.It wasn’t quite dark, but the alley was gloomy, and I got a weird vibe from this guy. He was slouching, dragging his feet, and his clothes were filthy. I noticed that he wasn’t wearing any shoes, and I thought he must be homeless. I glanced behind me to check the others were following, and when I looked back he was gone, and so was the oppressive feeling.’
‘Woah,’ Freddy murmured.
‘So he reached the end of the alley.’ Kira shrugged, but her voice was wavering.
Ethan shook his head. ‘There was no way. He wasn’t that far along it, and he couldn’t have reached the end in the time I looked away.’
‘God.’ A tingle ran up my spine. I’d been about to launch into a made-up story about the Knockers that haunted the mines along the coastline, but Ethan’s was so much better. ‘The alley would have been bad enough on its own, but then …that.’
‘Oh God, yeah,’ Kira said. ‘You don’t like being in small spaces.’
‘Who does?’ I asked.
‘That time Ferris shut you in the stationery cupboard at school.’ Orwell snorted. ‘You went nuts! He was such a shit.’
‘Why are you laughing then?’ I crossed my arms.
‘Someone shut you in a cupboard?’ Ethan’s eyes were on mine; I could see the gleam of torchlight in his pupils.
‘Just a stupid joke from our year’s stupid joker,’ I said. ‘It was before sixth form.’
‘What happened?’
I reached for some crisps, not wanting to tell him.
‘She had a panic attack,’ Kira said. ‘I was trying to get Ferris to open the cupboard – for some reason there was a key, and he’d locked the door and pocketed it.’
