Chapter 7

Except they weren’t. Sam was alone.

The floor seemed to tilt under Sam’s feet. Where the hell had they gone? Frantically, he scrambled along the landing, throwing open doors, but all the upstairs rooms were empty. It was as if James and Seb had just vanished. As if they’d never even been there.

In a daze, Sam made his way down the stairs to where everyone was clustered around Kev’s still form. He should feel something, he knew. He should feel sorry for Kev, and for Lucy. Or guilty, even. Was it his fault Kev had fallen?

All he felt was a horrible sense of loss.

James had gone.

“How can he be dead?” someone was asking in disbelief. “He’s not even bleeding!”

“Didn’t you see?” another voice demanded. “Why isn’t anyone calling the police?”

“See what? I just saw him fall!” Dave’s voice. “And oi, Sam wasn’t anywhere near him, all right?”

“But he was stabbed!”

“So where’s the blood, then? Or the knife?”

“All I saw was Sam talking to himself and then Kev falling.”