As the two of them made their way back down the rock, Hilary battled with her thoughts, muttering under her breath. "Should I have come out today - no something would have happened whether I'd gone out or not, and it might have happened to Max or Kenny - why does this happen to my friends - Nowait." Her thoughts slowed down a bit. "What happened to Ray and Kai was all to do with me. Well at least I know this hasn't started targeting my friends. Not much of a comfort, though, to know that today I've potential to do just about anything ... Hey, I've coped with it for years, I should be fine. But will the rest of the guys? Never mind, as long as I get home soon, nothing really bad can happen." Can it? With her head in turmoil, she didn't notice that Kai had stopped climbing until her foot hit solid ground. Her eyes flew wide open and she blinked a few times before everything came back into focus. Ray was sitting on the ground, with his back against the cliff and his eyes shut. Scared, she ran over as fast as she could.
"Ray, are you alright?" Ray opened his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine Hil," he said, taking in how anxious she was, "Twisted my ankle a bit, but it's OK." He stood tentatively on one foot and slowly eased his weight onto his second foot. He winced slightly, but it was obviously bearable. Hilary relaxed and moved away, allowing Kai and Ray to size each other up. Ray whistled softly
"Hey Kai! What happened to you, then?" he exclaimed, eying the clearly painful wound on the back of his team-mate's head.
"Oh, nothing much," Kai's voice was indifferent, as usual, but the look he flashed at Ray was very clear. Don't upset Hilary. "Just this little fire-brand didn't believe in your cliff-diving abilities." Ray quickly read in-between the lines. He now knew more or less what had happened up there, and that Hilary blamed herself for it. He would have to be careful.
"So, guys," Hilary said, interrupting their chain of thought. "Are we carrying on, or going home? And you can stop leaving me out of the conversation!" she snapped, as the other two exchanged glances.
"Home, then!" muttered Kai wearily, the tension that had been building snapping in an instant. Sensing this, Hilary turned away, pleased with herself, but worried too. She couldn't stay out in the open much longer. It was going to be dangerous enough if she got inside in time… Ray was worried too. When Hilary had been angry, just for a second, there had been a red pinprick of light in the centre of her eye. He decided to keep an eye on her. Something really weird was going on…
"Hey, guys," Kai said hoarsely, "Wait a minute!" He leaned against a tree-trunk, trying to keep his vision straight. God, he felt so dizzy! Ray swung round, his worst fear confirmed. As he had suspected, the blow Kai had received had given him concussion. He dashed back to check. If it was bad, they would have to stop here and wait until Kai had recovered. He quickly glanced Kai up and down and breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected, but they should probably stay here a for little while, just to be on the safe side.
"What? Why have we stopped?" Hilary demanded. Then she saw Kai, and her hands flew to her mouth. It wasn't serious, she knew that, but it would mean delays-Wait! What was she talking about! This was her team mate, Kai! If they didn't stop, she knew it could get serious, and here she was, worrying about herself! But if they didn't hurry…oh, she didn't want to think about it. She pulled a face, and turned away sharply.
Ray looked up quickly. He'd thought it might have been guilt he would see on her face, but there was so much more… Guilt, yes, but also irritation, worry, sadness and…fear? Ray shook himself. He was seeing things again, he told himself firmly.
"No, you're not," said an amused voice. Ray nearly fell over in shock.
"Did you just read my mind, Kai?" he asked incredulously.
"No. You really should be careful of your face when you're thinking, Ray. An open book! Almost as bad as Hilary." Kai chuckled wearily, sinking down to sit on the ground with his back against the tree trunk. Ray latched onto the last thing Kai had said. "So? Do you know what Hilary's thinking then?" he asked.
"No." Kai's voice was flat and matter-of-fact. "If Hilary normally is an open book, then Hilary now is a book that's been chained, padlocked, and bolted shut. You couldn't get in there with a chainsaw. There's something she doesn't want us to know, and there isn't a hope in hell of us finding out until she does." Ray shivered.
" 'Cause, Kai, I'm starting to get really worried about her." he admitted roughly. Kai's eyes flickered and he muttered,
"Yeah…me too…" before slipping into sleep. Sleep? Oh no-
"Kai! Wake up!" Ray yelled into the older boy's ear, every first-aid lesson he'd ever learned screaming at him, never let a concussed patient fall asleep. He was such an idiot! He should have seen, should have noticed- "Hey Hilary!" he yelled over to where the girl was sitting, hunched up by a tree with her back to them. "Come and help me wake Kai up!"
Hilary dimly heard Ray shouting her name through a red fog.
"Not a good idea, Ray." a slimy voice whispered. Hilary froze, terrified.
"G-Get out of my head, you stinking worm!" she hissed.
"Oops, bad girl Hilary, you know what happens if you resist…" Hilary screamed silently as a wave of pain swept through her head . She clung on by her fingertips and fought to regain control of her mind.
"Not yet." she swore silently.
As Hilary turned around, Ray's heart skipped a beat. It was as if a red mist had fallen over her eyes, and what was looking out of it was the most malevolent, evil presence Ray had ever felt. Instinctively, his pupils contracted and all the hair went up on his neck. Then it blinked, and Hilary was back again, tense and scared, but Hilary again. Ray nearly melted with relief. "Hilary!" he yelled again, "Help me wake Kai up!" As she ran over and started trying to wake Kai up, although she looked in control, inside, she was petrified, couldn't think straight. I can't believe it-it happened-in front of Ray-oh my god that was terrifying-it was worse than ever before-what next?-I've got to get home!
Hilary got up and tried to start running. The second she moved, Ray grabbed her. Sick with fear, Hilary looked down at Ray, who was holding onto her legs for dear life.
"Ray, let go!" she panted.
"Never!" he said hotly, holding on even tighter.
"Ray, you don't understand, I'm-"But even as the larger part of her panicked, a small part was calmly registering that it was, in all probability, too late. Interrupted by her own thoughts, she froze and swallowed dryly. "Ray, what's the time?" she hissed frantically.
"The time?" Ray squinted at the sky. "About two o'clock."
"How close?" Hillary said shortly.
"A minute or so. Why?" Ray heard a thump and looked up to see Hilary falling to her knees.
"Never mind." Hilary said through clenched teeth "It's too late now, anyway. Guess you can't run forever. Ray," Ray stared at her profile. Slowly, she turned her head to face his. He gasped. Her eyes were starting to glow red. Tears fell from them as she turned away from him. "So now…you know." she said, struggling to talk. "I…can't explain…now, but…promise me…you'll get you and Kai… away from here…now!" Her breathing was growing ragged and she was shaking violently.
"B-But-"
"No buts, Ray. Trust me, you… don't want… to know." She smiled wearily and ran her fingers slowly through his hair. "Just… get… away. NOW!" She lost control and red flooded through her once again. With a final, desperate, scream, she stood upright in one, long movement. When she swung round to face Ray this time, there was no flicker of Hilary in eyes that burned bright, blood red, teeth bared in a triumphant grin.
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