‘What are you going to do to me?’ I asked as I emerged from one of the cubicles and looked him directly in the eyes. Those green eyes I’d fallen for … How stupid I’d been!

‘Well, you see, we have a problem. This wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Not yet, anyway. I wanted to play with you a bit more. And Julie, too. She’s not like you and Clare, is she? Not a slut like you two. It was harder to get under her skin. She’s no idea, of course, of who I really am. She thinks I’m just the friendly dad at the school gates. The one who helped to change her tyre when it was flat. She doesn’t know I was the one who let the air out, but still …’

He was speaking quickly – had an almost manic air about him. I noticed he was still wearing the same clothes as the night before and his eyes were red-ringed, as if he hadn’t slept much, if at all. He kept stepping from foot to foot, glancing around him, then back at me. Each time he looked at me he wore an expression as if he’d just seen me for the first time. It was unnerving.

‘Back into the classroom,’ he said.

I did as I was told and followed.

‘Anyway, Rachel, the thing is, I don’t quite know what to do with you. I mean, ultimately I do, but things have changed. They haven’t followed my plan. So I’m going to hang onto you a for a bit while I work it all out.’

‘How long?’ I asked. The thought of being here in this space with him was making me feel sick to my stomach.

‘I’ve not quite decided. But don’t worry; you’ll be safe here until I do decide. This site’s deserted. It’s the perfect place to keep you, to be honest, and you’ve got to admit, there’s a certain poetic justice to it.’

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I said. ‘What am I supposed to have done – what are we all supposed to have done – to deserve this?’

He shook his head, pulled his fingers through his hair. Then, without warning, he turned and kicked at the door, growling as he did so. I startled and took a few steps back before he turned to look at me again.

‘The fact that you don’t know,’ he said, ‘just proves you deserve it. It meant nothing to you, did it? You didn’t even notice and you certainly didn’t care. So self-involved. Not caring what impact your actions had on others – as long as your life was perfect, that was all that mattered. You and Julie and Clare. All the same.’