There was a creak, a noise like a footstep on a floorboard. After a moment, the sound repeated. It seemed to be coming from the darkened corridor off to his right. Ben edged forward to try to see if somebody was approaching – and then jumped when a voice sounded directly behind him.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’

Ben spun. Seeing who was there, he clutched his heart.

‘Lance. You scared me. I thought I heard you coming the other way.’ Ben peered over Lance’s shoulder. ‘Where are the others?’

‘Keep your voice down, for Christ’s sake,’ Lance hissed, dragging Ben back into the corner. ‘The others aren’t coming. Callum didn’t see the point in all of us taking the risk of getting caught. So it’s just me,’ he added sourly.

‘Just you? But—’

Lance leered. His face seemed to warp in the pallid moonlight. ‘What’s the matter? Were you hoping Callum would hold your hand? Or Melissa, maybe?’

Ben couldn’t think how to reply. He swallowed.

Lance checked the space around them. ‘Did anyone see you leave your dorm?’

This time Ben shook his head. When he’d slipped from his bed, there’d been the usual stirrings from the other bunks, but if anyone had noticed him leave, they would have assumed he was going to the toilet.

‘They better not have,’ Lance warned, and his eyes hardened.

Ben swallowed again, and Lance flicked his head.

‘Come on. Let’s get this over with.’

Even during daylight hours, the school felt cold and inhospitable. At night, when the rest of the occupants were asleep, it was like creeping through a nightmare. The floorboards protested every footstep, and the corners seemed to crawl with shadows. At one point Ben stopped and turned, certain he’d felt a breath on his neck. But the corridor behind them was empty.

‘Is this the quickest way?’ Ben whispered to Lance’s back. As far as Ben could tell, they were taking the long way around, via the wing of the building that was closest to the woods. When Ben looked through one of the windows towards the trees, he saw their ghostly silhouettes, as well as his own ashen reflection looking back at him.

‘No,’ Lance replied, without turning around. ‘But if we go the most direct route, we pass Harris’s room, and rumour has it the man never sleeps.’

Ben recalled his last encounter with the headmaster, in the passageway outside Melissa’s room. He felt nothing like as bold as he had then. And he knew as well that, were the headmaster to catch him prowling the corridors again, even the mention of Callum’s name wouldn’t be enough to save him.

They climbed a winding stone staircase, and when they reached the top Lance slowed his pace.

‘Which room is his?’ he hissed to Ben.