The Survivors(105)

She suddenly looked so young, Sean realised, the clarity slicing sharp and deep.

‘For God’s sake,’ he said, because he couldn’t find the words he wanted. ‘Don’t be such a baby.’

Gabby blinked, hurt. She took another small step away from him.

‘I mean, you’re the one who asked me to bring you here,’ he said.

‘I wanted to find my sister.’

‘Bullshit. Don’t give me that.’

‘It’s true.’

‘Really? That’s not why you wanted to come here? To “do things”?’ He mimicked Gabby with such accuracy that she flinched.

‘No, I just wanted to see the caves and find my sister.’

And from the way she said it, Sean knew it was true. The humiliation of even thinking that she had wanted anything else left him breathless.

‘I need to find Olivia,’ Gabby said again. She took a ragged breath. ‘Olivia!’ Her voice wavered as she called out. She started crying now, rolling childish tears. There was no answer. ‘Olivia!’ She turned to Sean. ‘I have to go home now. Please.’

Sean stared at her, and in his mind flashed a terrible image of Olivia and Kieran emerging from one of the dark passages to see him here, alone with this crying girl. The thought was followed instantly by another realisation.

They would find out.

A cold horror washed over him. Whatever he did now, or didn’t do, they would hear about this. And Ash would too. And all of Olivia’s friends, and then everyone else. Everyone they’d gone to school with, everyone they saw around town. They’d all hear how Sean had tried it on with Olivia’s little sister and how it had all gone really badly wrong.

‘Please.’ Gabby’s face was shiny with tears.

‘Just shut up a minute. Let me think.’ But he couldn’t. He couldn’t think of any way to avoid what was coming to him. Kieran and Ash would be brutal. They would absolutely rip him apart, laughing themselves sick the whole time. They would never, in his whole life, let him forget this. Olivia wouldn’t talk to him anymore. His parents would find out, and Toby as well. Toby would laugh too.

‘Please. I want to go home.’

‘Jesus.’ Sean shook his head, his heart pounding with the knowledge of what was waiting for him outside that cave. ‘So just bloody go, Gabby.’

‘I don’t know the way.’

Maybe he could leave Evelyn Bay. The thought unravelled in front of Sean like a lifeline. Maybe he could move somewhere interstate. He felt a tiny burst of hope. Maybe he could do that. Could he? He tried to think.

‘The floor’s wet. My legs are getting wet. The water’s coming in. Please.’

‘Bloody hell, Gabby.’ But she was right. Sean looked down and felt the water pulse higher against his own skin and the sensation brought him crashing back to the present.

‘Christ. Yeah, okay, follow me.’ Sean pushed past her, the back of his hand brushing hers. He snatched it away as though he’d been burned. ‘Hurry up.’

That’s what he would do. He would leave Evelyn Bay. He would pack his stuff and book a flight and move somewhere else. And he’d make new friends, and meet new people, and everyone would forget all about this eventually.

The thoughts ran through his head on a chattering loop as he felt his way through the tunnels. The water was higher than he had realised. He held his torch with one hand and felt the roof with the other as it dipped and lowered. At the junction, the water was thigh-deep now and he had to duck his head to get through the opening.

‘Wait.’ He heard splashing behind him. ‘Sean. Wait.’ Gabby’s voice had a muffled directionless quality.

‘This way,’ he called, but didn’t stop. He couldn’t look at her. He could just hear her splashing over the sound of the rain now hammering down outside.

The water was pouring from the sky in sheets as he emerged into a daylight that was more like night, and he was relieved as the rain hit his face, disguising the first few stinging tears that threatened to slip out. Sean slowed when he hit the spot where the beach usually lay and, against his better judgement, looked back.

‘This way,’ he called again into the entrance of the cave.

And he heard – he was sure he heard, above the howl of the wind and the driving rain and the rush of the ocean bearing down – the splash of movement in the dark. Gabby was right behind him, somewhere.

He couldn’t face her. Not out here in the open, no matter how rapidly the light was fading. He couldn’t stand the thought of that awful long walk back to the marina together, every step agonising and shameful.

‘This way,’ Sean called again.

Then he turned and waded through the water to the path and the cliffs. He didn’t look back as the greedy sea lapped against the rock. He started climbing. He needed to hurry. The storm was coming in.





Chapter 39


Kieran stared at Sean, his head pounding. The sea water rushed in and out of the North Cave, foaming white against the rock. Kieran looked into its empty mouth and felt sick.

‘I thought she was behind me.’ Sean’s voice was quiet. The waves were swirling around his legs now. ‘She had a torch. I thought she was following me out.’

Kieran couldn’t tell whether Sean was telling the truth, or had managed to convince himself it was the truth. Kieran’s own thoughts were clamouring, falling over each other as he tried to make sense of things. He said the first thing that rang true.