Torn (10 page)

I had no idea why people would actively choose to watch something like that. Real life is scary enough, surely. Bad things happen all the time. Cass was loving it: she whooped like a crazy person every time another hapless girl got killed. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying it too, but I had a headache. I told Cass I was off to get some painkillers. She nodded distractedly, already salivating over the next gruesome murder that was about to happen on-screen.
How is it possible for one person to love cheesy old Hugh Grant films AND gorefests like this? Surely the two should be mutually exclusive?

I ran to the cabin. The woods looked different,
threatening. Anyone could be out there watching you, and you’d never know. Not until it was too late.
See? Horror films mess with your head. Yesterday you’d have thought the woods were darkly romantic or something. But today …

I slammed the door shut behind me and flicked on the light switch.
Made it, safe and sound.
I laughed at myself for being such a loser. And then a voice behind me scared me half to death.

‘Leave me alone.’ There was a person-shaped lump under the covers on Tara’s bed.

‘Tara? Is that you?’

‘Who the fuck did you think it was, the Gruffalo?’ Her voice was muffled by the blankets.

‘I thought you were watching the film with the others.’

She said nothing, and I went over to my bed and started rummaging for ibuprofen. I swallowed the pills dry, wincing. I had my hand on the door handle, ready to head back to murder and mayhem, when I said, ‘Tara … are you OK?’
Who cares?

‘I’m fine.’ And then there was a too-long pause. ‘Thanks.’

‘Are you sure? Do you want me to get Danni or someone?’

‘No. I just want to be left alone.’

‘Is it something to do with Duncan?’ I have no idea why I said that.

‘Look, Alice, could you just piss off and leave me alone … please?’

She didn’t emerge from under the covers. So I did as she asked. It was only later that it struck me that the person-shaped lump under the covers might have in fact been a two-person-shaped lump. But I couldn’t be sure.

Another sleepless night. My head was full of Tara and Duncan and The Plan. I tried to think about mundane things like whether Dad’s big presentation at work had gone OK, and if he’d take me to our favourite Indian restaurant when I got back, and was Bruno missing me as much as I was missing him?

I managed to trick my mind for approximately thirty seconds at a time before the worries came crashing back. I don’t know why the idea of Tara and Duncan bothered me so much. It was really none of my business if they wanted to shag each other senseless. And they very probably
weren’t
, anyway. Maybe I was just jealous.

The Plan was another matter. I didn’t want to go
through with it, but I knew I would. I’m not going to pretend I had some kind of premonition or something, but I definitely had a bad feeling. In my mind it was a terrible idea, no matter how much Cass tried to convince me otherwise.

The next day arrived way too soon. Jess interrupted our breakfast to tell us that we were supposed to have been going on a gorge-walk (what even
is
that?), but because it had rained so much overnight it would be too dangerous. Paul had organized a nature trail for us instead. There were a few groans and mutters around the tables. Everyone thought a nature trail sounded really lame. I wasn’t bothered.
Sounds a lot safer than gorge-walking, that’s for sure.

We were divided into groups of six, roughly along the lines of our cabin groups. Unfortunately for us, we got the addition of Danni the Delightful. Miss Daley would be leading our group, which wasn’t so bad. At least it wasn’t Duncan. I wouldn’t have to worry about him and Tara ripping each other’s clothes off in the middle of some sunshine-dappled glade.

The sun
was
shining for once, so the walk was actually kind of nice. I stayed at the front with Daley. She was surprisingly knowledgeable, but I guess
she’d been swotting up for the occasion. It was more interesting than I’d expected – I even managed to forget about what we’d got in store for Tara that night. For a little while, at least.

Tara and Danni hung back, not the slightest bit interested in anything Daley had to say. We had to keep stopping so they could catch up. It was annoying, but Daley let them get away with it. Maybe she was starting to realize that you really didn’t want to make an enemy out of someone like Tara.

Towards the end of the trail we came across an old tumbledown cottage in the darkest part of the woods. The sunshine barely managed to make it through the treetops. It was properly creepy, like something out of last night’s film. The empty windows looked like the eye sockets of something long dead. No one else seemed to think it was creepy. They all set about exploring while Daley sat down on a tree stump and munched on an apple. I stood watching the cottage warily, half expecting to see a ghost appear in one of the windows.

‘Alice! Get over here!’ Cass shouted from the other side of the house. I sighed and headed in the direction of her voice. They were gathered round something, but I couldn’t see what it was. It was strange seeing Tara and Danni there too. If you
didn’t know better, you might think all of them were friends.

It turned out to be a well. Nothing more than a low, moss-encrusted wall with a great big hole in the middle. Big deal. I leaned over and peered down into the black. I couldn’t see the bottom and it smelled dank. Cass grabbed my shoulders as if to push me in. I yelped – I couldn’t help it. Tara and Danni laughed, and Cass looked supremely smug.
Traitor.

Meanwhile, Polly had found a grapefruit-sized rock and was holding it above the well. We all fell silent and watched as she dropped it. We didn’t hear it hit the bottom for a good second or two. And when the sound came, it wasn’t a splash like I’d expected. It just sounded like a rock hitting more rock. Cass reckoned that whoever had lived in the tumbledown house had left when the well dried up. Cass has a theory for almost everything. And she has a way of sounding ultra-convincing, even when she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

It only took us about ten minutes to get back to camp from the Creepy House in the Woods.
Who in their right mind would choose to live all the way out here on their own?
I mean, I like my privacy, but that kind of isolation is just plain odd. Thinking about it made me feel cold and strange in a way I can’t quite explain.

Midnight. A suitably sinister time to be putting The Plan into action. As discussed, we’d all come back to the cabin early and changed into plain black clothes. The black seemed a bit unnecessary to me, but Cass insisted. Rae had to lend me a pair of black jeans (I couldn’t do up the top button). Cass had gone over everything again and again, making sure each of us knew what we had to do. Essentially, Rae and I were going to be there as an extra couple of pairs of hands. Our instructions were clear: we were to stay silent the whole time. I was fine with that.

We were all huddled up in our own beds by the time Tara came back. She switched on the overhead light so we all had to try extra-hard to look like we were asleep. Switching on the light was such a typically inconsiderate Tara thing to do. I was beginning to think this plan might not be such a bad idea after
all. That didn’t stop me feeling nervous as hell though.

I didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep, but I suppose I must have done. Next thing I knew, Cass was shaking me awake and handing me a balaclava (definitely overdramatic – Tara would know it was us for sure). Reluctantly I pulled it over my head. It smelled of stale smoke and made me gag a little. I grabbed the torch from my bedside drawer and crept over to the door where Rae was waiting with a rope Cass had stashed under her bed earlier. Cass had a rope too. She’d been raiding the storerooms over the past couple of days; God knows how she’d managed it without getting caught.

Rae and I headed out into the darkness while Cass and Polly stood over Tara’s bed whispering. Sleeping, Tara looked impossibly beautiful. It was hard to believe she could ever be mean or spiteful.

The night was colder than I’d expected, and we weren’t really dressed for it. Cass had said our jackets would be a dead giveaway if anyone spotted us. I cursed her for thinking of everything as my teeth started to chatter.

The stars were out in full force and the moon seemed to be making a concerted effort to illuminate us. Almost like it wanted the world to know we were
up to no good. Rae led the way along the path away from camp and I hurried after her, tripping over the occasional tree root. She was the first to recognize the tree that Cass had pointed out on the way back from the nature trail. I didn’t think it was particularly distinctive, but Rae seemed sure it was the right one. Cass had said we needed to be far enough away from camp that no one would hear Tara if she screamed, but not so far that we risked getting lost in the dark ourselves. I really hoped there wasn’t going to be any screaming.

Rae leaned against the tree to wait. I jumped up and down on the spot, trying in vain to get some warmth back into my body.

‘You look like some kind of insane ninja keep-fit guru.’ Rae did a little kung-fu move to demonstrate. I laughed, which made me feel a bit more normal in the midst of the craziness.

A few minutes later I heard them coming along the trail. Polly and Cass were on either side of Tara, their hands gripping her arms. At least I
assumed
it was Tara – kind of hard to tell with a pillowcase over her head. Tara was barefoot and wearing the skimpiest vest and a tiny pair of shorts.
She must be freezing.
I hadn’t really thought about the fact that she wouldn’t be dressed. I wondered if it was something
Cass had overlooked or if she’d planned it this way. The latter option seemed most likely – she’d thought of everything else.

Tara’s shoulders were hunched against the cold. Her hands were tied behind her back. Cass and Polly weren’t exactly being gentle with her as she stumbled her way towards us.
I can’t believe I agreed to this.
I wanted to turn and run back to camp.

They led Tara to the tree and forced her into a sitting position with her back to the trunk. Polly grabbed the rope from Rae and proceeded to wind the rope around the trunk and Tara. The rope made her vest ride up; Tara’s belly was white and goosebumpy.

I grabbed Cass by the arm and pulled her away from the others. I yanked off my balaclava. ‘Right, I think that’s enough. We should stop before she freezes to death. She must be scared out of her mind,’ I hissed.

‘I know! It’s awesome.’

I couldn’t see Cass’s face. It felt like I was talking to a stranger. ‘No, it’s
not
awesome. We should stop now. Let her go.’

‘What the fuck?! We’re just getting started. Don’t you go wimping out on me now, Alice. Don’t you dare …’

I sighed. ‘All right, five more minutes. But then I’m untying her, OK?’

Cass glared at me before holding up her hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘OK, OK! Five more minutes, I promise.’

We turned back to the others. Rae was standing a little way away, her arms folded across her chest. Polly was crouched down in front of Tara. There was an awful muffled sound coming from beneath the pillowcase – halfway between a moan and a scream.

I grabbed Cass again. ‘Did you
gag
her?’

‘Of course we fucking gagged her! Otherwise she’d have screamed bloody murder and woken up the whole camp! What did you think we were going to do, Alice? Ask her nicely to be quiet?’

I was out of my depth. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected. Either I just hadn’t thought it through properly, or Cass and Polly had kept things from me on purpose, knowing that I’d never go through with it otherwise. I thought we were going to bring Tara out into the woods, give her a bit of a scare, have a laugh at her expense. I hadn’t thought about gags and pillowcases and just how scared she would be. It was my own fault. I’d just gone along with it all, because it was easier that way. And because a part of me really did want to get Tara back. For everything.