There was a crash of footsteps in the undergrowth, and Ben found himself screwing up his eyes, the way he did sometimes when he was lying in bed and there were shapes in the dark closing in.

But the footsteps seemed to be moving away: Callum in one direction, Lance and Melissa in the other. Tentatively, Ben raised his head. He got to his feet, ready to run but unsure which way to go. From the sound of it, Callum was focusing on the area around the lake. Melissa and Lance were heading uphill, just as Callum had instructed, meaning to block his way back to the school. But if Ben followed behind them, maybe he could make it to the chapel …

He moved as stealthily as he could. It felt like twilight beneath the canopy and the thickening rain, and Melissa and Lance were no more than shadows up ahead. Ben kept as close as he dared, his stomach aching from where Lance had punched him, a sharper pain in the palms of his hands. His tears were mingling with the rain, and it felt like he was stumbling around blind.

But then he saw the chapel through the trees. The main entrance faced the school, but there was another door at the rear, pointing towards the abandoned graveyard. It was never locked. For Father Steiner, it was a source of pride that the chapel’s doors were always kept open.

Ben changed direction, his pace quickening as the trees around him began to thin. The door was just ahead of him now, and he didn’t even pause to make sure none of the others were following him. He burst through the entrance at a run, emerging into one of the aisles beside the vestry.

‘Father Steiner!’ he called, not caring now about how much noise he made. ‘Father Steiner, please. Help me!’

But when Ben staggered from the aisle into the nave, he saw that the chapel was empty. Of course it was empty. It was Saturday, and Callum had told Ben that the chaplain was in his room.

‘Father Steiner!’ Ben called again, not yet ready to give up hope. His eyes fixed on the door to the vestry. It was the only other place the chaplain might be. He crossed the nave and threw open the door – but the vestry was as empty as the rest of the chapel.

Ben could have howled with disappointment. He thought he might actually be sick. Yet before he could do either of those things, he heard what sounded like the main door into the church creaking open. And then there were footsteps on the cold stone floor, steadily making their way towards him.