“No, no, it’s something more than that. It’s… You know that thing where you stare in the mirror for so long that you almost don’t recognize yourself any more? Well, something similar just happened to me, but it wasn’t only that. It was… For a second, I actually… I couldn’t remember who I was.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sounds like you’re spending too much time cooped up inside. Look, the sun is finally shining. Why don’t you go for a walk along the cliffs after lunch? Take photos of the birds or something.” 146

I was pleased when Rosie agreed to my suggestion and went out after lunch. I would have liked to get out of the lighthouse for a bit and go with her, but I was afraid she’d just bang on about haunted mirrors, so I got some music up on my phone and soaked up the sun in the garden instead. It was kind of nice to begin with. Then as the time passed by and Rosie didn’t come back, I started to worry. I’d only expected her to be gone half an hour or so, but soon a couple of hours had passed and she was still out.

It was impossible to know which part of the island she was on, and I didn’t want to walk round in circles for hours, so I gritted my teeth and climbed the spiral staircase back to the Strangers’ Room, thinking that I might be able to spot her from the window. When I walked in, my eyes were drawn to that horrible piece of graffiti, the single word:

There was something eerily persuasive about it, as if it wasn’t merely a painted word but a voice whispering in my ear, or inside my mind, daring me to do it… I shook my head and looked out of the 147window. I saw Rosie at once. It would have been impossible to spot her from the lower windows, but I had a good view over much of the island from this height, and there she was, a little way along the cliff path. To my dismay, she wasn’t alone. Will was with her. They stood close together, their heads bent over something, and I guessed Rosie was showing him the photos and video on her camera.

But then, all of a sudden, Rosie recoiled with a sudden jerky movement that almost sent her tumbling to the ground. She looked up at Will just once, and then she was running away from him like her life depended on it, back along the path towards the lighthouse. Will didn’t make any attempt to follow her, and I saw that the object in his hands wasn’t a camera, but a phone. He slipped it into his pocket and slowly looked up at the lighthouse.