8. Invitation
I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow and I don't wake up again until the morning has well and truly broken. I hear my name called through a thick cold forest. Dark creatures with golden eyes stalk in the shadows.
"Robin." I am safe as long as I stay in this clearing and its sun pool. Leaves scatter and fall around me, some slapping my face.
"Robin!" I wake with a jolt. It wasn't leaves slapping my face, it was Chloe. My forehead is lined in a thin film of sweat and my hair sticks to it. "Welcome to the land of the living!" she says. I'm rattled and out of it, surprised to find myself in my bed. "You look terrible."
"Yeah, thanks," I croak. My throat is sore and my ribs are tender.
"Some dream you were having there. It took me five minutes to pull you out of it. We're late. Are you coming to school or what?" she asks, stepping away from my bed and lifting her school bag up from the floor. I shake my head and sit up a little, running my hand through sweaty hair.
"I'm staying home sick; at least for the A.M. I hope to be in by fifth. I'll meet you at lunch. If any teachers come sniffing can you cover for me?"
"You certainly look sick, Robin. It wouldn't be covering, since you have every reason to stay home. Get some sleep, drink some water, maybe call the doctor. I'll see you later." The door closes behind her and I'm left to myself. I peer around my room, letting my head readjust itself. There's a knock at my door followed immediately by it opening. My Mam comes in and sits herself on the edge of my bed, a look of deep concern written on her features. She feels for my temperature, cool hand pressing against hot sweaty forehead. I think she will always smell of wool and milk to me.
"Chloe said you're not feeling well. My poor boy." Gently I push her hand away.
"I'm fine. Just a little worn down. I'll catch a few more hours kip and feel the world better for it," I mutter. She is hesitant to leave, concerned and motherly.
"I'll call the doctor when I get back from dropping Chole off."
"Not necessary. Go on, you know how Chloe hates to be late." She nods and plants a small kiss on my forehead before leaving. I stay here on pause until I hear the front door close, the campervan engine roar into life and roll out the drive. As soon as silence descends over the house I push the covers off me and go over to my desk. I start up my laptop, go online and log into my email.
The email I write Jonno is short, considering the weir of stuff sluicing through my brain. I relay that I went up to the castle, met Ingrid, and the rest. Writing this all down has made me realise that though I feel that I've jumped a long way forwards since the phone call with Jonno, I am actually only a couple of baby steps ahead of where I was. I still don't get any of it. Frustrated with myself, I decide to honour my words to my mam and catch a couple more hours kip.
It's midday by the time I get up. I check my email, but there's no reply from Jonno yet. So I surf around, looking up certain keywords. I take a long look at the wikipedia page about vampires. I feel like such a numpty doing it. But it's a word that was thrown about an awful lot yesterday. And I know it's probably all at my expense. Some big joke and I'm the punch line. So what if I'm one big joke to everybody. It's my head, my life, my deal. I don't care who's laughing at me, as long as I get the straight.
I'm no further ahead so I get dressed and pack up my school bag. Mam is at the breakfast table doing the crossword when I come down.
"Are you feeling any better?" she asks as I root around in the cupboards for something to eat.
"Muchly. I'm heading into school in a few," I say through a bite into a welsh cake.
"I'll give you a ride."
"I'll be fine walking. The fresh air will do me good," I insist, heading towards the front door.
"It's not safe to wander around by yourself, Robin."
"Mam, I'm seventeen. I can look after my own. See you later."
It's lunch, so I cross the campus towards my usual bench. Chloe's there, waiting for me. I sit beside her and look out across the playing fields.
"Where were you last night?" she asks. I turn to face her and then back out at the playing fields again.
"Will Clarke's place. Then the castle. Did you rat on me?"
"No I didn't tell anyone that you weren't in your room. But I was worried about where you'd flown to." I choose not to respond to that. So she digs around some more. "Did you find anything there, at the castle?"
"Plenty."
"Who's Will Clarke?" she asks when it's clear I'm not throwing her a line.
"If you don't know who Will Clarke is then I doubt you can help me much," I say. "This whole deal seems to be hanging from him. You don't remember Will?" She shakes her head. "Never mind. Apparently he's dead and has been that way for three years. But then again, it seems that it doesn't matter how dead people are these days, they might well show up again." I get to my feet as the end of lunch bell sings. "Catch you later," I say and stride towards school.
I sit through sixth, totally distracted. There's no point in going to seventh. I won't listen to a word. So I skip it and head to the library. It's quiet in here, the way I like it. I head to the computer terminals and log on. My inbox is still empty. Jonathon is a techie kind of a kid, the kind of guy who's got all the latest gadgets, who is constantly jacked into the web. I don't have a facebook profile, my friend list would be too embarrassing. But if I did I'll bet I'd see Jonno updating his status via his mobile, twitter, whatever. It sits uneasily with me, his lack of reply. I lean back in my chair and consider what to do about this. There's not much I can do, other than try to figure stuff out on my own. I log out and make my way through the stacks towards the non-fiction section, plugging my ears with black earphones and piping KoRn out of my mp3 player into my ears. My fingers trace the spines, flicking past Greek Mythology, Ragnorok and folk lore. I stop on a section at the bottom shelf and pull out a couple of volumes, Vampires and Vampirism, Vampires: The World of the Undead. With a small pile loaded up in my arms I take a desk and start to flick through them. They are familiar to me. I poured through these same pages a few years ago, wild with excitement. I wouldn't call it excitement that's pumping through me right now. Try impatience, frustration, embarrassment. The bell for registration shouts out and I slam the book covers closed, leaving them on the table for the librarian to put back. This has been a waste of time. My feet take me to my locker, pushing against the main flow of lesson changeover.
The locker door is warped and partially open. I study the damage, smoothing my fingers over the contours of the dent. Most of the passing students have made their way to registration, so the corridor is empty. I open the door and see a postcard leaning up against my books. I take it out and study the image. It's a full moon with a bat silhouette. I sigh and flip the card over. There is a message written in gothic style calligraphy and it reads: Robin Branagh, you are cordially invited to a dinner party reunion at the castle this Friday evening at 7pm sharp. Black Tie. Running shoes recommended. Countess D.
Soundlessly I mouth 'running shoes?' and then flip the card over to take another look at the image. The bell for end of school will ring any moment, and my registration room is a few minutes walk from here. I slip the postcard into a page of a book and shove the book into my bag before banging my dented locker loosely closed.
The bell goes as I descend down the steps at the front of school. Mam's already waiting, so I climb into the van and slouch into the backseat.
"Did you have an okay day? Didn't feel too sick?" she asks.
"It was fine," I mutter dismissively, staring out the window. Chloe clicks the front passenger door open and climbs in.
"Hello dear. Good day at school? Ooh, what's that you have there?" Mam asks her, taking a piece of paper or card from her hand and studying it. "An invitation to the castle. I got one of those in the post today as well! Isn't that lovely? The Count family must be back from their long travels," Mam grins widely, all warm and happy. I lurch forward in my seat and snatch the card from Mam as she hands it back to Chloe.
"No one's going to that party," I say, ripping the card into two.
"Robin!" shouts Mam.
"I'm serious! Them lot at the castle are freaks."
Angrily Mam puts the campervan into gear and pulls away from school. Her eyes flash at me via the rearview mirror. "That is no way to talk about your neighbours, Robin Branagh." I narrow my eyes and clench my jaw, ripping the card into four.
Thanks for reading. And many thanks to my reviewers!
I think I'll wait until Thursday until I put chapter 9 up. I might change my mind and put it up before then. I can't decide.
Also, Craig Roberts fans might be interested to read the book Submarine by Joe Dunthorne.
Here's a tagline I wrote that drygionus agrees gets to the crux of the matter:
'Craig Roberts fangirls will go mental for it, since Oliver spends a certain proportion of the book putting his dick in places it shouldn't be for a kid under the age of 16.'
Submarine is getting turned into a film. Craig has been cast as Oliver Tate.
I wrote a review of the book which can be read if you follow a bunch of links from my profile page, to my blog, to the review.