into the world beyond.
A foot stuck out from round the doorframe and I tripped. My momentum carried me down the stone steps and I landed on my back on the damp, dirty ground.
My dad stood at the top of the steps, laughing as he looked down. And there, beside him, was Ameena. My dad and Ameena. Together.
There had been a little hope inside me, buried deep down. A hope that somehow everything was going to be OK. A hope that, no matter how bad things seemed at the moment, they werenât broken beyond repair.
That hope died when I saw them standing there together. My dad was grinning, but I didnât look at him. Instead I just stared at Ameena and asked her, âWhy?â
She shrugged and pushed her hair out of her face. âNothing personal.â
âNothing personal?â I said. I was on my feet in an instant. âNothing personal ; are you nuts?â
I began to climb the stairs towards them. Ameena raised her fists and bounced on to the balls of her feet. âDonât,â she warned.
I stopped. Not because I was scared of her, but because I suddenly had no energy left to climb with.
âSo, what?â I asked croakily. âThe whole time? Itâs all been a lie?â
âBingo,â laughed my dad. âAll that stuff about you making her, about her being ââ he made quotation marks in the air with his fingers â ââa toolâ? All rubbish. None of that was true.â
âThen why say it?â I asked. âWhat was the point?â
âThe point was what itâs always been,â he continued. âTo make you care about her. To make you want to protect her.â His grin widened. âAnd you do, donât you, kiddo? You care about her a lot .â
I didnât answer. Ameena tried to hold my gaze, but glanced away.
âMan, that must be a kick in the teeth,â my dad chuckled. âThere you are falling for her charms, and all the while sheâs just trying to get you to use your abilities so you break down the barrier and she can get the Hell away from you.â
âIt was you in that brown robe all along,â I said. âIt was you.â
â Bzzzzt! Correct answer,â cried my dad. âAnd I think if youâre honest with yourself you always really knew that. You just didnât want to believe it. Am I right? Kiddo? â
I didnât answer, just kept staring and waiting for it to sink in. Sheâd been working against me. Right from day one, sheâd been working against me.
My dad put a finger behind his ear and pushed it slightly forward. âYou know, the walls between this world and yours must be paper-thin now. If you listen, you can hear your little friend Billy screaming.â
He was right. Billyâs screams were muffled, but there was no mistaking them. They came from high up in the church, a whole other world away. They were screams not of panic, but of pain.
My dad and Ameena stepped apart, leaving the path to the door clear. âYouâve got maybe a minute to get back there and save him,â said my dad. âOr you can stay here and chitchat with us. The choice is yours.â
Far away, Billy let out a squeal of agony. My dadâs face lit up with a manic grin.
âBut whatever you decide, youâd better do it quickly.â
I threw the church doors open and sprinted along the aisle. I was still in the Darkest Corners â it was too dangerous to jump back into my own world until I was up the ladder and inside the tower itself â and Joe Crow had almost finished pulling himself back together on the ruined church floor.
He was drawing himself up on his stubby legs as I ran towards him. The sackcloth mask he had been wearing hadnât made the trip back with him, and his wrinkled, old-man face twisted into a scowl at my approach. He snarled, revealing dozens of tiny, shark-like teeth poking out from his pale gums.
âI see you came back,
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