Jordan follows the sound of the voice but all he sees is the thing in the tank. Bubbles appear at the mouth of the mask and float upwards to the thing’s foot. The eye is no longer pale, it’s a clear blue and peering directly at him.

‘Hello, mate,’ says the thing.

Jordan jolts backward, sliding against the wall.

‘We need to talk,’ it says.

Jordan puts his hands to his ears and shuts his eyes.

‘Well, that’s not very nice,’ says the thing.

‘Shut up!’

Despite covering his ears he can still hear the voice loud and clear. His heart is pounding and he feels his head swimming.

‘Are you feeling OK, mate?’

Jordan takes three deep breaths.

He opens his eyes and lets his hands drop heavily on to his lap. The thing has somehow freed an arm and is trying its best to wave at him from within the confines of the tank.

Jordan is frozen, unable to speak, but after a moment he digs up the courage and says, ‘How can you talk?’

‘How can you talk?’ the thing replies.

Jordan has no answer to that.

‘Who are you?’ he asks.

‘You know who I am. You just haven’t figured it out yet.’

Jordan looks at the ripped denim and the eagle tattoo. He has seen them before. But where? He thinks back and a moment later it comes to him. He saw them on his mum’s Facebook. ‘You’re Ben Peters.’

‘Ten points, Sherlock.’

‘But I thought you were him . . .’

‘By him do you mean the bloke that chained you up and took paedo photos of you? The same bloke who—’

‘Stop! Don’t say it.’

‘He hurt your mum, Jordan. He hurt her bad.’

Jordan feels hollow inside. After a moment he asks, ‘What happened to you?’

‘What do you think happened to me?’

‘Did he do that to you?’

‘Yes, he did, and he’ll do it to you too.’

Jordan feels his stomach lurching. The thought of ending up a thing in a tank terrifies him. ‘Why would he do that?’

‘Because he’s demented.’

Jordan feels his chest tighten. ‘My mum . . .’

‘I know, mate. I’m sorry.’

Jordan draws in his knees and hugs them close to his chest.

‘We need a plan, Jordan. We need to get out of here.’

‘And how do we do that? I’m chained up and you’re floating upside down in a tank.’

‘Yeah, there is that. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible, does it?’

Jordan shrugs.

‘I can’t get out of this glass prison so it’s up to you to save us.’

Jordan holds up his sore and sticky shackled wrist. ‘I’ve tried!’

‘Then shout as loud as you can.’

Jordan sighs heavily. ‘I’ve tried that too but my voice—’

‘If you can’t shout then make a noise! Any noise, just make it loud!’

The light begins to flicker.