Like This, for Ever

closer to Jorge. One by one the other children joined them. They stood in a circle, looking at each other.
    ‘We should switch these torches off,’ said Jorge, doing exactly that with his own. ‘People up on the embankment might see us. And there’s still people on the pier. We should work in the dark. Like he did.’
    The three remaining torch beams disappeared and the children were left in darkness on the riverbank. Barney felt a twang of nerves. This close to the water’s edge, the sound of the river was surprisingly loud. It seemed to groan, somehow, as though with the effort of continual motion. Or as though there was something beneath it, pushing to be free.
    ‘This is freaky,’ giggled Hatty. In the dim light, Barney thought he saw Sam sneak his arm around Hatty’s waist. She stepped to one side, away from him.
    ‘Quiet,’ said Jorge. ‘Let’s just listen.’
    A second of silence from the children, then another muffled giggle. Jesus, was Barney the only one who could hear the noise the river was making? It sounded like it was alive. With a start, Hatty turned to look out across the water. Had she too heard the low-pitched moaning, like half-dead creatures waking up? Then thespell was broken when Harvey pulled a plastic water bottle from his rucksack and started to walk round the others in a big circle. The children watched, increasingly mystified, as Harvey held the bottle out at arm’s length and let the water inside trickle down on to the stones. He drew a circle around them and stepped into it.
    ‘What you doing?’ asked Jorge.
    ‘Holy water,’ said Harvey. ‘I’ve just drawn a protective circle around us.’
    The noise from the children bounced across the beach.
    ‘Daft pillock!’ ‘Prat!’ ‘Dickhead!’ Only Barney stayed quiet. They weren’t going to start talking about vampires and drinking blood again, were they?
    ‘Where the hell did you get holy water?’ demanded Jorge.
    ‘St Nicholas’s,’ said Harvey, looking defensive. ‘They have a bowl of it at the back by the door, I just waited till no one was looking. Everyone knows vampires hate holy water.’
    ‘So we’re perfectly safe from vampires as long as we stay in this circle all night,’ said Jorge. ‘Course we might drown, but at least our jugulars will be intact. OK, own up, who brought garlic?’
    Sam and Lloyd laughed nervously.
    ‘Stakes?’ said Jorge.
    With a grin on her face, Hatty reached inside the neck of her fleece and pulled out a small silver crucifix.
    ‘OK, guys, quieten down,’ said Lloyd. ‘We came here for a reason, not to piss about.’
    ‘So what do we do, look for clues?’
    ‘There won’t be any clues left,’ said Barney. ‘I think we just have to get a feel for the place. Any special reason for choosing here? Did he definitely come by road or is it too soon to rule out the river?’
    ‘He’s bringing them by road,’ said Lloyd. ‘At Tower Bridge, he could get a car right to the steps, then it would take just a couple of minutes to carry them up, through the alleyway and down again to the river. All he had to do here was park on the road, carry him a few yards down the steps and he was on the beach.’
    ‘Convenience then,’ said Jorge. ‘Does your map show all the steps with road access, Barney? We can try and predict where he might leave the next one.’
    ‘Glad you think there’s going to be a next one,’ said Barney.
    ‘Serial killers don’t stop unless they’re caught or die,’ said Jorge. ‘Course there’ll be a next one.’
    ‘It’s raining,’ said Hatty, stepping away from the circle, a step closer to the river. Barney followed, resisting the temptation to pull her back. ‘I keep forgetting,’ he said. ‘I found your earring.’ He opened his hand. The tiny gold leaf sat in the centre of his palm.
    ‘Cool,’ said Hatty. ‘Where was it?’
    ‘In the drain that runs round the edge of the community-centre yard,’ said Barney.
    ‘Yuck!’ She tucked it into her pocket.
    ‘I cleaned it. It was covered in something grotty, but I cleaned it with my dad’s white spirit.’
    ‘Thanks.’ She gave him that cute, shy smile of hers, the one that made her cheeks plump up like she had gobstoppers inside them. Although she was older than Barney, she was smaller. Sometimes, when you looked down at her, you couldn’t see her eyes, just long black lashes.
    ‘How deep is it?’ she asked, turning back to the river.
    It made him feel good that there was stuff