The three of them pressed up against her, leaning in, their faces twisted in hostile grimaces. She felt the points of their knives digging into different parts of her body – her stomach, her chest, her neck.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ said Toni.

‘Where the fuck are you from?’ said Keisha.

‘What the fuck do you want?’ said Rong.

Bailey cowered beneath them, frozen, not daring to move for fear of puncturing herself on their shanks.

‘We’re going to fuck you up unless you start answering our questions,’ said Toni.

Bailey could feel beads of sweat rolling down her face.

‘My name’s Bailey Pike, I come from London, and I want to hang out with you guys because…’ she paused to think of a reason and they leaned in even closer ‘…because you’re cool.’

She bit her lip, realising in retrospect that it sounded a bit lame, but it was the best she could manage under the circumstances.

‘Because we’re cool?’ said Toni, her face morphing into an expression of absolute disdain. The three of them swapped derisory glances, shaking their heads in disbelief.

Toni drew back her lips, revealing her gold tooth, which glinted in the afternoon sun. It took Bailey a few moments to realise that it was a smile, but one that was devoid of any warmth.

‘Well, that was a clever little move you pulled back there, jumping off the balcony. I suppose you think I should be thanking you. The thing is though… you could be a snitch for all we know. All that could just have been a set-up, just so you could ingratiate yourself with us.’

The three of them glowered at her, the sharp points of their knives pressing into her even harder.

‘Tell us why you’re really here,’ hissed Toni.

Bailey’s blood turned cold as fear seeped through her veins. Had she made a massive misjudgement? Had she underestimated their powers of perception? Had Alice made the same mistake? Was she about to end up the same way?

She gritted her teeth and held eye contact with Toni. Toni was clearly a sociopath – the mildly amicable front was a thin facade behind which dwelt a ruthless, highly intelligent and very paranoid individual. She’d encountered people like this before as a police officer and she knew just how dangerous and unpredictable they could be.

She took a deep breath, willing the steel from within. To reveal any sign of weakness right now would be fatal.

‘Fuck you,’ she snarled. ‘I’m no snitch.’

Toni raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Oh yeah? So why did you help me then?’

These were people who didn’t help anyone. To them it was a pathological behaviour.

‘Like you said, maybe I just want to sit at your table.’

Toni smiled and laughed softly. ‘Not just anyone can join our gang. No, I’m afraid it’s not going to be quite that easy.’ She crossed her arms and smiled sadistically. ‘No. First, you’ve got to prove yourself.’