The room was pitch black. Kian lay awake, clutching his sleeping bag tightly up to his neck. He didn’t like the dark. He’d never liked it, and in his room at school he always slept with a light on. Bradley would have understood, but Kian didn’t want to look like a baby in front of Leon, so he’d said he would be fine with the lights off. He hadn’t considered that they were in a cabin in the middle of the woods, with no light coming from outside.

He reached into his bag and pulled out his phone to check the time, hiding it under the covers. 02:57. The torch function was quite bright, but he turned it on anyway, making his sleeping bag glow from the inside. Kian quickly shone his torch at the other two beds to check he hadn’t woken Bradley or Leon, and his heart leapt into his throat. Their beds were empty.

Where had they gone? He lay still for a moment, wondering what might have happened. Knowing Bradley, he’d snuck off with Courtney again. But where was Leon? All sorts of scenarios raced through Kian’s mind, each one worse than the last, until he unzipped his sleeping bag, swung his legs out and went to the door.

Leon was probably just in the bathroom, he told himself. If he waited for a few minutes, he’d come back and ask why Kian was awake. He opened the door and saw a light at the end of the corridor, but it was coming from the living room, not the bathroom.

Without thinking, he padded softly up the corridor to where the light was spilling out from under the door, and pulled it open carefully. He poked his head around it.

Leon was standing in the kitchen, a mug on the table in front of him. As Kian craned his head round further, he saw that Mr Wilkinson was there too. Why were they up? Still, Leon was safe, so he should go back to bed.

As he backed away, letting the door close silently behind him, Kian wondered why the head teacher had put his arm around Leon.

Chapter 31

Monday 3rd December

The police hadn’t booked me for anything that morning, but as I was eating my breakfast a text came through from Singh asking me to meet him at the school as soon as possible. I had a rushed shower and was dressed and out of the door within fifteen minutes.

‘What was so urgent?’ I asked, when I met him in the school car park. It was snowing lightly, the sky heavy and grey.