He stamped down on Lance’s foot, and simultaneously grabbed for the stole. It was so tightly wound around Callum’s hands, there was no way he could have wrenched it free, but he managed to pull Callum off balance. All three of them toppled to the floor, and Ben registered the letter opener spilling from Lance’s hand. Lance cried out, a mixture of surprise and pain, while Callum roared in frustration. Ben was the first on to his feet, but when he spun to try to get his bearings, Callum was crouched in front of him, the blade somehow in his grip. He swiped, and instinctively Ben raised his hands to deflect the blow. There was no pain, not yet, but he knew from the blood that he’d been cut. He staggered backwards, and tripped over Lance. He heard Lance swear, flailing with his fists and landing a blow on Ben’s stomach. Ben lashed out himself, his elbow clashing with Lance’s jaw – and then he was up and running.

He barely registered the direction. Away from the lake, was all he could think. Away from Callum and the monsters he’d thought of as his friends. He veered, darting first one way and then the other, hoping to lose them amid the trees.

The school. He needed to get back to the school.

But the faster he ran, the more the branches seemed to want to hold him back. They snatched at him, snagging his clothes and tugging his hair. It was almost as though the forest itself was on Callum’s side.

As if to prove it, a root hooked around Ben’s toes, and he tumbled, rolling in a tangle as he landed and then slamming into a tree. For a second, two, he couldn’t breathe. The wind had been knocked out of him – all of his energy, too.

‘Where’s he gone?’ said a voice. Lance’s. ‘He was right up ahead!’

‘Don’t you lose him!’ came Callum’s reply. ‘It’s your fault he got away in the first place!’

Ben didn’t dare try to get up. The others were metres away at most, but they’d obviously lost sight of him when he’d fallen.

‘My fault?’ Lance replied. ‘You’re the one who was standing there gloating! You can never resist bragging about how clever you are, can you?’

‘Lance, don’t …’ said Melissa, and to Ben it sounded as though she were right on top of him.

‘You let him get away, I bet!’ Callum said, ignoring Melissa’s interjection. ‘The same way you tried to drive him away before! And you,’ he added, and Ben got the sense he’d rounded on Melissa. ‘You’re just as bad. Why didn’t you try to stop him?’

‘I did, I—’

‘Don’t even bother! Just find him. Go that way, both of you! Cut him off. Don’t let him get back to the school!’