All That She Can See(55)

‘What’s going on?’ Chase rubbed her back.

Cherry waved him away, swallowed hard, coughed, gagged again, anything to avoid having to answer but her head snapped up when she felt the sun on her shoulders.

‘Where did he go?’ The Meddlum had disappeared, leaving only thin grey wisps rising into the air. Its owner had vanished too.

‘As soon as you… y’know…’ Chase mimicked her gagging, ‘he turned and ran in the other —’

‘Miss Redgrave. Mr Masters. I’ve been looking for you.’

Cherry and Chase both whipped around to see a familiar and yet unfriendly face.

‘Happy,’ Chase said.

Her expression, as usual, did not change. She wore the same shade of yellow as she had worn before but this time she was wearing a suit. Her briefcase dangled by her side.

‘Correct. You made a decision, Miss Redgrave. Did you not?’

‘Well, I…’ Cherry said.

‘You meddled again, did you not?’

‘No, she —’ Chase said.

‘We have evidence. And you knew you were strictly forbidden to meddle if you weren’t in the Guild’s employ.’

‘It’s not —’

‘— what it looks like? No, I’m sure it’s not but even so, looks like we’ll have to be taking you in.’

Cherry hadn’t noticed the van parked on the side of the road behind Happy. Three men in blue suits were climbing out of the double doors at its rear, unfolding a wheelchair. The image of the van rattled in Cherry’s mind and she shrank into Chase’s side.

‘This isn’t right. Get behind me, Cherry,’ Chase, yet again, put his arm in front of her and pushed her behind him. ‘She’s not going with you.’

‘No, I know she isn’t…’ Happy said. She lowered the briefcase to the ground, clicked open its clasps and the foam on the inside glowed against her pale skin. Happy fiddled for a moment behind the lid. She stood and tapped the air bubbles out of the syringe she held in her hand, poised and ready. ‘… but you are, Mr Masters.’ Happy’s hand darted out towards Chase’s neck before he’d even uttered a word in protest. All that escaped his lips was a guttural groan as he slumped forwards into the wheelchair the men in blue had strategically placed. Chase’s body fell the wrong way, his stomach on the seat, his head hooked over the back and his knees digging into the foot rests.

‘STOP! PLEASE STOP!’ Cherry cried. ‘What are you doing to him?! It’s me you want! Let him GO!’ She stepped forwards to help him but Happy held out the syringe in her direction and she halted.

‘A little bit of Compliance makes someone do whatever you say but a concentrated dose means you can do whatever you want with them. I wouldn’t step any closer if I were you. Unless you’d like to join him?’ Cherry hesitated and then moved towards Chase. Happy stepped to the side, blocking her path. ‘Oh, I see,’ Happy said, her face unmoving. ‘The Hermit has found love? Interesting. Still, I don’t think where he’s going is quite the place for you. I would be careful though, Cherry.’ Happy lifted the collar on Chase’s jacket and wiped off a little of the sauce left over from the cherry pie. She sucked her finger. ‘A little Honesty goes a long way so let me be quite frank. You’re one step away from the back of that van.’ Happy clicked her fingers and the men in blue started to pull Chase away. His arms hit the wheels and his feet dragged across the cobbles. One of his shoes caught and slipped off as they bundled him through the double doors but none of the men stopped to pick it up.

‘No!’ Cherry started forward, without thinking, and before she knew it Happy had inserted the very tip of the needle into her arm. She injected a tiny amount of what was left in the syringe and said, ‘Stay where you are please, Cherry.’

Cherry couldn’t move. Her mind wanted her to move but her body wouldn’t… comply.

‘Just be grateful there wasn’t enough left to…’ Happy gestured towards the van.

‘Happy…’ Cherry wheezed.

Happy turned slowly and clasped her hands in front of her. ‘Yes, Miss Redgrave?’

‘I hope the woman you are underneath everything the Guild has done to you is no different to who you are now.’

‘How sweet. And why is that?’

‘Because, now, you’ve taken the one person I’ve truly felt like I’ve belonged with since my father died. Now you’ve taken Chase from me, this is personal.’ Cherry’s body may have betrayed her but her voice held firm and steady. ‘So I hope you’ve always been a monster. Because that way, when I take you down, I won’t feel too guilty about it. And I will come for Chase, you can count on that.’

Happy looked at Cherry blankly before climbing into the van and driving away. But to where? Cherry didn’t even know where to begin. She knew the likelihood of the Guild being someplace conspicuous or marked on a map somewhere was non-existent. Eventually Cherry’s body became her own again and she walked over to where Chase’s shoe lay on the cobbles and picked it up. She thought of him, how little time they’d had together, and the big gaping hole he’d left. She cursed whoever was listening for making her part of this torturously twisted fairy tale.

Cherry needed help. Before she’d learned of the Guild, Cherry had only known two people who were like her. One of them was Chase and the other was the man she had recognised in the smoke: Peter. She was sure it had been him. He was a man now and not the child she’d known him as, but it was undeniably his face she’d seen. She’d seen that hateful seed on their final day together at school and ever since it had been growing into a giant ball of living fire. Poor Peter, Cherry thought. Had Peter come to find her? Had he come to help? Had he been to the Guild? Is that where he’d been taken all those years ago? Cherry had to know because if he did know where the Guild was, he could help her get Chase back.