Like This, for Ever

probably send her to Durham. At least then she’d have someone to talk to.
    Lacey realized she was laughing. Too loudly. She had to stop, she’d wake the people upstairs.
    But it was impossible to stop, even with both hands clamped to her mouth, and now the laugh was turning into a scream. She felt it, behind her hands, a steady, building pressure, like cheap fizzy wine pushing at a cork; she had to let it go, no one could keep this much pain inside them and not howl out loud.
    The kitchen drawer slid open, smooth and silent. The knives looked very clean. Lacey’s fingers touched the one that was sharpest and she ran the edge of the blade along the length of the scar on her wrist.
    The easiest thing in the world. She watched white skin fall apart like fresh snow before a plough. The pain was like an electric current, starting in her wrist and speeding out to every part of her. It was like energy. The blood appeared in tiny, perfect droplets that stretched and met, forming a single scarlet line.
    She raised her hand, let the blood flow snake-like down her arm, bent her head and stretched out her tongue. Warm, salty, metallic.
    The scream had gone from Lacey’s head. In its place was a soft, ivory light.

37
    ‘ SOME OF THE boys didn’t die right away, did you know that?’
    The psychiatrist opened her mouth to speak.
    ‘You’d think if your throat was cut, right the way across from one ear to the other, you’d think you’d die pretty much straight away, wouldn’t you?’ continued the patient.
    ‘Even with very severe injuries, it can take a while for the body to shut down,’ said the psychiatrist.
    ‘There was this one kid I remember, his whole body was shivering. I suppose he was scared. He was, like, shaking with fear. I suppose I would have been.’
    ‘More likely his body was going into shock. Loss of blood and lack of oxygen getting to the main organs will send someone into shock. Seizures are quite a common symptom.’
    ‘He was looking at me while he was dying. Never took his eyes off me, all the time he was shaking and pissing himself. I’ll never forget that, the way he looked at me.’

PART TWO

38
Sunday 17 February
    ‘SOMEONE KNOWS THIS killer,’ said the dark-skinned detective. ‘He has friends, he goes home at night, he talks to his family. Someone knows who he is.’
    By eight-thirty in the morning, Barney had already been up for two hours and it had felt safe to turn the TV on. The news on all channels was covering the discovery last night of the dead body of a young boy. It hadn’t officially been confirmed as that of Tyler King, the first of the Twilight Killer’s five victims, but no one really had any doubt.
    ‘We believe he lives or works in South London,’ the detective, Dana Tulloch, continued. ‘We believe he doesn’t live alone and that he has some good reason for being out of the house on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. That’s when the boys disappear and their bodies are found.’
    Tuesdays and Thursdays – what he’d spotted days ago. Barney heard noise on the floor above him. His dad was moving around.
    ‘He doesn’t look like a monster. He persuaded five sensible, streetwise boys to leave their homes and go with him. He’ll be convincing, plausible. He’ll look normal.’
    Footsteps coming down the stairs.
    Almond-shaped eyes, oddly pale against the detective’s skin andhair, seemed to be looking directly at Barney. ‘It isn’t easy to betray someone you know and trust, maybe someone you love, but if you are protecting this killer, you are doing him no favours because he will carry on killing until he’s stopped. If you know something, anything at all, please help us to stop him.’
    The picture on the screen switched to a shot of Deptford Creek. Barney could see the yard, the line of boats, the ring of police tape around where the body had lain. The reporter was talking to another detective, a young man with dark, curly hair. Behind Barney, the kitchen door opened.
    ‘Whoever found the body last night contacted the police anonymously,’ the detective was saying. ‘Whilst we appreciate their efforts to let us know immediately, we do need to ask them some further questions. If you were anywhere near this yard last night, please contact Lewisham police station as soon as you can.’
    ‘Morning, Barney.’
    His dad looked tired, a bit more crumpled around the edges of his face than normal. ‘I see they found him.’ He was looking over Barney’s