A knock on her door woke her. Well, it wasn't a knock on the door, but on the door frame. When she opened her eyes and rolled over Elle found that the door was already wide open and Kaye was standing in it, leaning against the frame with a stupid, self-satisfied smile on her face.
"Even heard of privacy, Kaye?" she said groggily.
Kaye shrugged.
"I knocked," she said.
Elle sat up in bed, scowling. She hadn't slept well. She'd had visions all night of that revolting grey hand suddenly appearing out of the darkness and grabbing her by the hair. A cold shudder went down her back just thinking about it.
Letty Gardener. She had to find out what had happened to Letty Gardener.
Her eyes went sideways, and narrowed. Kaye was still watching her from the door with that knowing look on her face.
"Did you want something?" Elle asked.
Kaye flicked an invisible speck of dust off the door frame.
"There's a boy at the front door for you," she said.
Elle threw her legs out of bed, staring defiantly at Kaye across the room. If it were Russell or Sellan she'd have said Russell or Sellan. There was only one person who would turn up on her doorstep and put that irritating smile on Kaye's lips.
"Tell him I'll be down in a minute," she said. "He can just wait outside."
"I'll bring him in, if you're going to be a while. He can have a cup of tea with me while he's waiting."
"No, Kaye." The last thing she needed was Kaye getting David to herself, asking him all kinds of awkward questions. "Just tell him to wait outside."
Kaye continued to watch her for a second before she shrugged.
"Suit yourself," she said, and she went out again, thumping heavily away down the stairs.
Elle was ready in less than five minutes. She raced down the stairs and found Kaye standing at the front door. David was outside. His face broke into a happy and relieved smile as Elle appeared.
"Morning, Elle," he said.
"I've just been talking to David about how you two met," Kaye said. She still had that infuriating grin on her face, like she was smirking at some private joke. "Elle, you never tell us anything."
"I don't see why you'd be interested," Elle said. Her voice was ringing with barely concealed irritation. She hated Kaye when she got like this - when she tried to feign this interest in her life. She always got the wrong end of the stick anyway.
"We're always interested when you make new friends, Elle."
Kaye's eye roamed over David, then back at Elle. Elle could see exactly what was happening in her mind. What does he see in you?
Elle rolled her eyes and said, "See you later, Kaye."
"Oh? Going out somewhere?" Kaye's voice had a slightly annoyed tone as she added, "I thought you were revising today?"
Elle did her best not to look guilty. She'd blown Kaye off for today, after all.
"We are revising. That's where we're going."
Kaye looked her over.
"Not taking your books with you?"
"We're - we're just going to use David's."
"I see." Kaye gave her a final unconvinced look, then said, "Well, I'll be free all day. If you do become available."
"Yeah. Thanks Kaye," Elle said, and to save herself from any further mortification she went out and pulled the front door shut.
She didn't stop, marching straight down the street. David raced to catch her up.
"Kaye seems sweet," he said.
"No she doesn't," Elle replied flatly. She knew he was only trying to be nice. There was nothing sweet about Kaye.
He didn't bother arguing. They didn't talk again until they reached the corner of the street, where Elle could be sure they were out of sight of the house.
Finally she stopped and turned to him, saying, "What are you doing, David? How did you know where I live?"
He gave her a slight shrug.
"Lucky guess. That was the house I thought I saw you coming out of yesterday morning. I would have just kept trying until I found the right one. Lucky for me I got it right first time."
"But why are you here?" she said. She was sounding slightly exasperated. Two nights of bad sleep had her right on the edge of her nerves.
He lifted his phone to her face, showing her the message she'd sent the night before.
"I'm here because of this, Elle."
Elle hadn't realised he was even in her friends' Whatsapp group. One of the others must have added him the day before. It only vaguely annoyed her, somewhere in the back of her mind. Surely it should have been her, as the one who introduced him to the group, to decide when he should be added to the group chat?
She pushed these insane thoughts out of her head. There was only room for a certain amount of insanity in there, and there was plenty in there to keep her occupied as it was.
"So who is Letty Gardener?" he said, stuffing his phone back in his pocket.
They began to walk again. They were heading, for some reason, back toward town, following the same route they'd taken the morning before.
"She's a girl in our year. You probably saw her at school, on Friday. Tall - blonde - very skinny - very pretty? She and a girl called Rose Bryers are, like, the popular girls. If it's possible to be popular in a class of less than fifty people."
"Rose is the girl who's having the party on Tuesday?" David said. Elle looked at him, and he said, "One of the others mentioned it yesterday. It's some big thing, apparently."
"Yeah. She has one every year. Everyone goes to Rose's end of year parties." She shook her head suddenly and said, "Anyway, none of this has anything to do with Letty Gardener."
"No, that's true. Sorry." He paused for a minute before he said, "So... what happened? Another dream?"
She nodded stiffly.
"Last night. Just as it was getting dark - about the same time as before."
"And what was it this time? Not a bear again?"
Elle felt her stomach turn as she said, "No. Much worse this time."
She told the story - quickly, stumbling and burbling through it, desperate to get it out and yet detesting every minute of telling it. When she finished David had gone very pale.
"But this thing, that pulled her out of the window," he said, "what was it?"
"I don't know. I just sort of saw it as this kind of hazy shape."
"Like - a ghost?"
"I don't think so. It was sort of human shaped, but horrible - all grey and shrivelled and old. It had on these long tattered robes, and it had this long bony clawed hand." She shivered in spite of the blazing sun overhead. Thinking it over she added, "I guess it was sort of like a witch."
"A witch?"
"Like the most horrible version of a witch you can imagine. Like a hag or a banshee or something."
"And you say it actually pulled her out of the window by her hair?"
Elle nodded. David looked very sick.
"Gosh," he said.
In spite of how horrible it all was, a small smile came to Elle's lips. It was because of the word gosh. That was the first word he'd said to her when she bumped into him the other day. It still seemed ludicrous to her that he actually used a word like that, without any trace of irony in his voice. She realised she hadn't heard him swear once since they first met, and presumed he never did.
He just didn't seem real, this guy. It was like he'd been bred to be this perfect model of a 'proper young man'. He had the meticulous manners and the kindly, interested nature of a prince or a duke or something.
"So do you know where she lives?" he asked.
"Yup," Elle replied. "And we're heading there now."