‘Cut it out, Rosie.’ Thea grabbed her arm, uncomfortable suddenly, as if they were prodding a sleeping predator that they really, really shouldn’t wake. There had been abuse here, sadness, fear; there was a menace in those walls, porous walls that had sucked up every scream and drop of torment over the years.

‘Come on, ghosties! Helllllloooooooooooooo!’

Rosie shrugged Thea off and picked her way through some of the shallower bracken that formed a thick barricade around the monastery itself. Ethan sighed.

‘I’m carrying on to the lighthouse,’ he said to Thea. ‘You deal with your weird friend.’

They both heard a sharp yelp and the sound of rustling.

‘Rosie!’ Thea yelled.

But Rosie had disappeared.

‘Rosie!’

A patch of bracken moved in response.

‘I’m okay!’ a faint voice called back. ‘I twisted my ankle … The ground’s a bit uneven … I’m fine …’

A pause.

‘Okay, maybe I’m not fine. I can’t seem to put much weight on this ankle …’

Ethan muttered something under his breath, pushed past Thea and stomped into the undergrowth. A few moments later he came back out, supporting a limping Rosie, who looked quite ashen-faced but probably didn’t need to cling to him as tightly as she was.

Thea raised an eyebrow.

‘It was the ghosts!’ Rosie defended herself. ‘They got me. Don’t mess with the supernatural, kids!’

She sank down onto the path and hauled herself over to lean against the nearest tree. Thea and Ethan continued to look unimpressed.

‘Look, sorry for being an idiot, okay? You guys go on to the lighthouse without me. I don’t want to go back yet – our time’s not up. I’ll just stay here, enjoy the view and wait for you to return.’ She prodded her ankle gently and winced as she tried to move it.

Thea gazed at the monastery. It was just a ruin, another rotting place full of woodworm, mould and broken glass. Each window was a black hole with nothing in it. No flicker. No face. She had been wrong.

She hugged her jacket tighter to her.

Ethan hadn’t even looked back but was already climbing further on up the path. Thea lingered near Rosie, unwilling to leave her on her own, but Rosie shooed her away, shouting after them, ‘If you see a ghost, give me a yell!’

Chapter 16

Standing at the cliff edge, Thea wasn’t afraid of falling; she was afraid of jumping.

Her leg muscles twitched as if they wanted to leap without permission. She’d lose control and hurl herself straight down onto the eager rocks below, the waves like a tongue licking its lips. She wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to swim; her mangled body would be thrown against the rocks before she had time to try and take a breath.