When the lights flickered back on, more than a minute later, Carmen and Holly were clinging to each other. Mona was standing just beyond Carmen’s shoulder. She was wearing the clown mask that she’d foraged from The Ritz. Devilish, star-smudged eyes glared out from a face that was twisted in excruciating malice, flickering in the re-illuminated lamplight like hellfire. To the ordinary eye, the mask would have appeared to have been floating on thin air-
Holly raised a quivering finger and pointed over Carmen’s shoulder. “C-C-Carmen…”
“Holly, what?” Carmen frowned. Her cheeks were still chalky-pale from the blackout. She followed Holly’s finger over her shoulder and that was when Mona lunged so that the clown mask loomed almost within kissing-distance from Carmen.
Chaos ensued.
The scream that tore itself free of Carmen’s throat sounded inhuman, as though she’d tapped into a higher dimension of fear that people weren’t capable of. She ducked and, barrelling Holly out of the way, scrambled back up the path from which we’d come, her terrified pleas enough to shatter the delicate cavern above our heads.
I stared after her, dumbfounded. Holly was climbing back to her feet from when Carmen had shoved her to the ground, and she whimpered at something. I tore around and saw Mona waving the mask in her hands, her mouth quivering around a laugh that I couldn’t hear over the thunderous orchestra of the river.
Holly cowered away just as Mona let the mask flutter to the ground. With a triumphant wink in my direction, she turned and vanished into the shadows of the Cathedral Caves.
I glanced back up the path. Carmen had disappeared from sight. My heart was beating in my chest, the blood pulsing in my ears. I was vaguely aware of Mr Carmody cutting across the cavern in our direction as I turned to grab Holly by the wrist and pull her to her feet.
“Holly, come on!” I hissed. “We have to go after her.”
Holly didn’t object, although I could feel the irrepressible shudder of her bones beneath my fingertips. I tugged her up the path, running as quickly as was possible without slipping on the soaked rocky platforms that had been carved into the cave floor, and as fast as my body would allow.
The mouth of the cave came into view, the daylight washing over my cheeks like an approaching sunrise. The river crashed alongside us in a race towards the exit. We rushed through the mouth of the cave and burst into the daylight, so dazzling that it hurt my eyes, and I came to an abrupt standstill as I realized what I was seeing before me.
Carmen was standing just a metre or so from the edge of the river, a stark plummet the only thing distancing her from the churning waters below. She was pacing back and forth, her arms flailing violently as though she were trying to shudder away the memories of a spider. Her skin was so pale that it was almost translucent.
Mona, I saw, was standing only a couple of feet away from her. The clown mask was nowhere in sight, and she was wearing instead a look of vindictive intent. There was fire, scarlet and hungry, dancing in her eyes. It was only when she glanced at me that I realized what she intended to do.
“Mona, no,” I whispered, as Holly scrambled out of the cave after me. She gasped as her eyes landed on Carmen, and called out her name. I could hear the shouts of Mr Carmody, and the muffled slap of approaching feet as yet more people followed us out of the caves.
This wasn’t part of the plan, I wanted to scream. I couldn’t help myself; my feet tugged me forwards of their own accord, so that before I knew what I was doing I was almost upon them, waving my arms as the gap between myself and Carmen and Mona closed.
Mr Carmody emerged from the cave, tailed by a flank of confused students, just as Mona surged forwards. “What’s going on out here?”
But he was too late. Mona vaulted across the small opening with lightning agility, arms outstretched and yodelling a demented war-cry. Her hands collided with Carmen, still pacing hysterically back and forth, and she was sent flying through the air, over the small cliff of embankment and into the murky river below.
The abyss swallowed her whole, the waves clambering over each other like a pit of snakes, each silver coil writhing to sink their fangs into a fresh meal. The water heaved and churned as though angered by the sudden interference.
The entire world fell away. There was no sign of Carmen. What if a snare of current plucked her by the ankle and off into the river? What if we never saw her again?
I could feel my insides shredding themselves, alive with cannibalistic terror that fed on itself and grew. I was barely aware of Mr Carmody as he propelled past me, not even stopping to peel off his jacket before he dived into the river.
The students that had congregated behind me rushed forward as one, so that we were all stood on the edge of the precipice, staring downwards in anticipation. Mona was lost amongst the crowd, her body consumed by a tangle of fabric and limbs. On the margins of my consciousness I could hear somebody shouting my name, over and over again.
The next few seconds trickled by tauntingly. All I knew was roiling nausea, the furious rumble of water below, and the rush of blood in my ears.
When Mr Carmody broke the surface, with Carmen flailing in his arms, the whole crowd seemed to swell with relief. She had her arms draped around his neck but she was barely moving, as though the cold of the water had snatched her energy away and sent it sailing down the river.
We all watched as Mr Carmody heaved Carmen towards the shore, setting her on the bank so that he could climb out after her. For a second she was still, and then she began to splutter.
“Somebody give me their coat!” Mr Carmody barked. Somebody rushed forward and handed him their jacket, and he proceeded to wrap it over Carmen’s shoulders. She was shuddering violently, I noticed. Her cheeks almost looked blue.
Just then, I felt something snag at my attention. It was Debbie, with both of her hands on my shoulders. “Saffy,” she was saying. “Are you ok? What happened? You saw what happened, right?”
I was too dazed to answer. I could see Mona hovering over her shoulder, her thumbs raised in a sign of conquest.
Mr Carmody turned his attention to the crowd. “What just happened?” he demanded. His rage wasn’t harboured; it was written across his face in bulging veins and ruddy explosions of colour. “Will somebody please tell me what happened in there-” he jabbed his hands in the direction of the cave, “and out here?”
Nobody answered. The tumble of water and Carmen’s uncontained sobs were the only things to be heard.
Mr Carmody got to his feet, gently pulling Carmen up alongside him. Holly rushed to the aid of her friend, wrapping her arm around her shoulders and whispering soothingly into her ear. Mr Carmody, however, broke away from them and stormed over to the mouth of the cave, where he appeared to have dropped something.
He knelt down to pick it up, and then presented it to the crowd of open-mouthed students. Mona started to laugh all over again.
It was the clown mask.
“What is this?” he boomed, holding it high like a decapitated head. “Somebody’s idea of fun? A harmless prank? Whoever is behind this ought to know that their immaturity almost cost somebody their life. I want answers. I want them now.”
The crowd answered with uncompromising silence. I was sure that my body was going to betray me, slash my cheeks with red as a symbol of my guilt. I tried to slowly, invisibly, inhale and exhale. Technically, I hadn’t done anything wrong and yet I could feel the guilt festering beneath the skin of my cheeks like burning rubies.
A couple of seconds passed, and just when it seemed that nobody was going to answer, Carmen lifted her head. Her hair was clinging to her forehead and her make-up was coursing down her cheeks in rivulets of black. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her look so unattractive before, and for a fraction of a second, before she parted her quivering, partially-blue lips, an unclenching sense of satisfaction took hold of me.
But that was before she opened her mouth and said, “I can help you, Mr Carmody.” I watched as she reached out with a trembling finger and pointed it directly at me. “It was her. She did this to me. She pushed me into the river.”
*********
Eeek, the enmity is getting even more personal! What do you guys think? Please don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT if you enjoyed, and thank you so much for reading!