I knew Bird Rock pretty well by now and found it easier to pick my way back to the lighthouse, using my phone torch to keep an eye on the path. I kept a nervous eye out for gannets, but didn’t see so much as a feather. There were no people in the fog either, but all the while the stillness seemed to press down on me like a physical weight.

When I first spotted the beam of the lighthouse’s huge lamp flashing through the fog, I almost had the sense that it wasn’t a lantern up there at all, but a giant eye sweeping its gaze across the island, searching for me. As I got closer, I saw with a shudder what Kate had meant about the gannets. Many of the windows were smashed, and I could see bloodied birds hanging from the broken glass with limp, broken wings. Kate hadn’t closed the door behind her when she and Charlie had fled, and I could hear it squeaking as it moved back and forth in the breeze.

All of a sudden, I thought I could feel a chilly malevolence pouring from the tower, as if there was 287someone looking at me from one of the windows. The last thing I wanted to do was go inside, but I had no choice if I hoped to get my sister back.

I walked forward. The ground around the lighthouse was littered with dead birds. As I approached, I tried very hard not to think about how the dark, open doorway looked like the gaping mouth of some monster that would swallow me whole if it had the chance. I took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold.

288

Chapter Twenty-two

It was dark but the moon shone in through the broken windows, providing enough light to see by as it glittered over the smashed glass. I turned round to close the door, but then froze. There was one unbroken window in the entrance hall and now my eyes were stuck to it like glue. White hands pressed against the glass – not just one pair, but dozens, as many as would fit. I hurried over towards the door and almost collided with the figure coming through. He cried out and I realized – to my relief – that it was Will.

“Bloody hell, Jess! You scared the crap out of me!”

“The hands are back!” I said. “Did you see anyone out there?”

“No, there’s no one.” 289

I pushed past him and ran round to the window, but it was empty. I could make out the imprint of the hands, though, and held my fingers up to the cold glass. A moment later, Will joined me.

“I was hoping you’d stayed at the camp,” he said. “But I’m not surprised you didn’t.”

“Same.” I turned to face him. “Look, you really shouldn’t be here. Not after that dream I had about the bean nighe.”