Soul Fire

the wash basin. The only thing that was left was that fear I had. The feeling that pure evil had seeped into the four walls and would never be cleaned
away.
    Sahara’s still talking. ‘Please come, Alice. I promise it’ll help. We knew Meggie. We understand what a difference she made to all our lives.’
    Dinner is awkward. Mum and Dad have turned into lovesick kids. The idea that they’re closer now because Tim is dead makes me feel queasy.
    I excuse myself as soon as I can, and I hear them stacking the dishwasher together , like some TV commercial couple. I go to my bedroom but I forget about my laptop again till I open the
door and see my empty desk. For a moment, I feel like I’ve been burgled.
    I half wish I’d stayed downstairs, but the thought of them holding hands while they watch Coronation Street is too much.
    It’s only when they creep past my door giggling – giggling? – that I have an idea. How come it’s taken me this long to realise they can’t watch me
twenty-four seven?
    I can still hear them whispering as I set my alarm. I hope they’re drunk enough to sleep all through the night.

14
    Four a.m. is the loneliest time. I feel like I’m the only person awake, or even alive.
    I’ve never been on the Beach at this hour. Beach time seems fluid, but most of the Guests are asleep and the moon is ghostly.
    I feel a hand on my shoulder. Spin round.
    ‘Danny! Bloody hell, you nearly scared the life out—’
    He silences me with a kiss, and my anger fades as his lips cast their spell on me. But . . .
    He pulls away before I do. ‘What is it?’
    ‘What’s what?’
    ‘Alice, even a kiss when your heart’s not in it is still the best kiss ever, but a guy gets insecure. Is it the new Guest who’s distracted you?’
    I look over his shoulder. Meggie and Tim are lying next to each other. In her sleep, Meggie loses her coolness and they look like children. Babes in the wood.
    ‘There. You’re staring at him. You don’t think he’s cuter than me, do you?’
    I laugh, despite myself.
    ‘That’s funny?’ he asks.
    ‘It’s funny because in the real world . . .’ I tail off. I was going to tell him how everyone thought I had a crush on Tim when Meggie first started dating him. But maybe
it’s not funny anymore. ‘Forget it. There’s no one I fancy except you.’
    ‘Right answer,’ he says, and this time, when he kisses me, I let myself forget everything else, just for a while. The darkness offers something so rare on the Beach –
privacy.
    Ever since Triti escaped, I’m always being watched. So many Guests want to leave, and they know I am their best chance. I sense them looking at me, and I feel the burden of their hopes,
their dreams, their fears. If I could, I’d help every one of them, but Meggie has to come first.
    Tonight, though, the darkhides me. Danny and I kiss as the water laps around our ankles. I store it up in my memory: the cool breeze, the touch of his lips on mine, the ticklish whisper of his
voice in my ear.
    ‘So what shall we do, lovely Alice?’ he asks.
    ‘Nothing. I want a night of doing nothing except being with you. Being . . . well, normal.’
    ‘Normal has never sounded so wonderful.’
    We kiss. We talk. We watch the sea, and the birds silhouetted against the moon. Whenever my eyes droop, Danny wakes me by whispering in my ear. He never falls asleep
himself.
    ‘I can sleep while you’re far away from me, Alice. I’d rather be awake while you’re here.’
    And as we relax, we talk. Not about the big stuff, but first-date small talk. All the little things we never knew about each other.
    ‘Favourite food, Danny?’
    ‘Carbonara. And my grandma’s apple pie. You?’
    ‘Chicken tikka masala. And the little Greek honey pastries we had on our last holiday with Meggie.’
    ‘I’ve never been to Greece. Or even Europe. I was supposed to go before college. The Grand Tour . . .’
    I don’t want him to dwell on what he’s missing. ‘What languages do you speak?’
    ‘A little Spanish. We had a Mexican maid.’
    ‘She taught you?’
    ‘No. I taught myself. I was twelve. She was cute, so I tried to talk to her. My friend taught me.’
    ‘What did you say to her?’
    His forehead wrinkles. ‘Um . . . Vaca guapa. Quiero la leche, ’ he whispers.
    ‘That sounds really good. What does it mean?’
    ‘I thought it meant, you’re cute, girl. I want you . But then my buddy admitted it meant cute cow, I want your milk . Or something like