Page 49 of Someone in the Water

Frankie

‘Oh my God, Lola, where have you been?!’ Adrenaline is threatening to overwhelm me. I feel an urge to grab Lola’s shoulders, but I don’t know whether I want to hug her until she suffocates or shake her until she breaks.

‘All right, Mum, chill out.’ Lola lifts her hands.

‘But I haven’t seen you since first thing this morning! I’ve been so worried. Why didn’t you tell me you were going out? Or answer my calls?’

‘I’ve been on a picnic with Patrick, okay?

And I didn’t get any calls.’ Lola pulls her phone out of her back pocket with a look of injustice.

But then her expression changes. ‘Oh,’ she says, her voice deflating.

‘It’s out of juice. It’s this stupid, cheap phone you got me.

The battery only lasts five minutes. But why didn’t you ask Anna or Raphael where I was? ’

‘I did! Both of them said they didn’t know.’

‘Really?’ Lola tilts her head. ‘That’s weird; I’m sure Patrick told them.’

I blink away tears. After getting that terrifying note last night, I ran straight out to see Lola.

But I found I couldn’t knock on her door, not after our argument.

So I pulled a sun lounger up to the staff accommodation block entrance instead, grabbed a couple of towels from the water sports hut, and curled up on that.

I didn’t think I’d sleep at all, but the dawn birdsong woke me around five o’clock so I must have dropped off at some point.

When Lola emerged a few hours later, I pretended I’d been out for an early morning walk.

I desperately wanted to convince her of the danger we’re in, but I couldn’t bear another argument, so I kept quiet and promised myself that I’d bring it up when I found the strength.

I hoped we’d have breakfast together, but Lola said she wanted to check on the progress of her travel documents first. That was such welcome news that I let her go without arranging to meet up afterwards.

And when I came down from my shower fifteen minutes later, I couldn’t find her anywhere.

‘No one knew where you were,’ I say, my voice breaking.

‘I’m sorry, okay?’ Lola says, dropping down opposite me and leaning forward over the small table.

‘I should have told you. But I’ll be an adult in three days, Mum.

I went for a picnic with a friend, we ate, swam, chatted, and then I came back to the hotel.

No drama, no danger. Just usual holiday stuff. ’

I nod. I need to let this go. Remember that the only thing that matters right now is that she’s okay. ‘So have your travel documents arrived?’

Lola lets out a long sigh and leans back. ‘I haven’t checked at reception yet, but yes, I guess so. I got an email from the consulate.’

‘Great.’ I try to hide the relief dripping off me. ‘Shall we go pick them up now?’

Lola looks away. ‘There’s no hurry. I need a shower, and I want to charge my phone. I also think I might have run out of credit.’

I push my lips together. Last night Lola threatened to stay in Corsica by herself if I insisted on leaving.

But she was angry then and I hoped it was just her lashing out.

After last night’s note, there’s no way I can let her stay, but if I push too hard, I risk her storming off again.

‘I can buy the phone card while you’re in the shower.

And we may as well pick up your documents now,’ I coax. ‘As we’re so close to reception.’

‘I know what you’re doing, Mum,’ Lola says quietly. ‘You think that once I have them, I’ll suddenly want to go home. But it doesn’t work like that.’

I feel my eyes grow hot. I don’t know who is sliding notes under my door, or what they know about my dream in Gatwick Airport car park.

The first note could just about be described as harmless goading, but there’s no sugar-coating the second one.

That was a threat to kill. I need to change Lola’s mind, and maybe there’s only one way I can do that.

‘I need to tell you something.’

‘Oh?’ Lola stiffens.

I scan the room. The bar area is empty, but not private. Anyone could wander in. ‘Will you come for a walk with me?’

Lola looks away, then back again, and sighs. ‘Okay.’

We push out of our chairs and walk through the sliding doors in tandem. We skirt silently around the pool and head in the direction of the sea. When we reach the beach, I veer left, until I reach an empty stretch of sand.

Here goes.

I turn away from Lola and look out to sea. ‘Last night you thought I was overreacting about the danger we’re in.’

‘Yeah, I guess.’

‘Well, I haven’t told you everything.’ I listen to Lola’s breathing become shallower as she prepares for yet another secret.

‘Oh?’

‘I’ve been getting these notes,’ I continue. ‘One on Sunday night, and then again last night.’

‘What notes?’ Lola’s tone is part disdain, part fear.

I reach into the pocket of my shorts and pull them out – as though I always knew, eventually, that I’d have to show them to her. I watch as Lola starts reading, but seeing her hand begin to shake drags down the corners of my mouth. ‘I’m sorry,’ I murmur. ‘I didn’t want to scare you.’

‘What do they mean?’ she finally asks, looking up. ‘Calling you a mazzera, talking about dreams.’

I’ve never confided in anyone about my mazzeri dreams, at least not when I’ve been thinking straight. But I need to try now. ‘Do you remember us talking about the mazzeri last night?’ I start.

‘Yeah, of course. But what has that got to do with you?’

I take a breath. ‘I … I had a dream about Izzy. It was grotesque, but vivid,’ I say, trying to find the right words.

‘And I had it the night before she died. It was Salvo’s fault, putting crazy ideas in my head the morning after we found Archie’s body, saying my dad was mazzeri so I probably was too.

I knew the dream wasn’t really witchcraft or anything, but it was horrible.

Me killing a deer, then seeing Izzy’s face on the carcass.

I can still see it now, clear as day. And then Izzy died, just like the dream foretold. ’

‘So you started to believe it?’ Lola asks, but her voice is soft, not judgemental and it allows me to look at her. My skin feels taut as I hold it in place.

‘Not really. At least, not during the daytime,’ I say. ‘But when I went to bed … I was scared it might happen again. It was safer to stay awake, but then I’d get so tired.’

‘And you’ve been dealing with this for twenty-one years?’

I shake my head. ‘I really struggled in the beginning, but then you came along, and I had something else to focus on. Something amazing. And now most of the time I can treat it as what it is – a creepy story to scare kids around campfires. But then the anniversary comes around, which happens to also be the most powerful night for the mazzeri. And the doubt starts to take over again.’

‘Which is the real reason you hide away,’ Lola says. ‘Why your mental health suffers so much.’

‘I never wanted to leave you. But when I nearly killed us both in that car accident when you were three, and then I lost my mind in the hospital and didn’t leave for nearly a month, I knew I had to take precautions.’

‘And then I came out to Corsica in secret, and you were forced to come rescue me.’

‘I’ll do anything for you, I promise. But it was scary. Coming to this hotel, at this time of year.’

‘And someone here knows about your vulnerability and is using it against you. To stress you out, or scare you away.’

‘I hope that’s all it is,’ I whisper.

Lola looks back at the notes and takes a long breath. ‘You dreamed about me, didn’t you?’

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘That’s why you’re so desperate to take me home. You think some dark magic is going to kill me.’

I look out to sea. ‘I have been fighting it with every ounce of sanity I have. But now someone is sending me these notes. I thought the first one might just be a nasty joke, but look at the words of the second one: “Who will die first? Mother or daughter?” That’s a clear threat. And there’s a countdown.’

‘A count up, you mean.’

‘Sorry?’

‘One, two, three, four. And the first note only counts to three.’

I look down at the notes in Lola’s hand. ‘Yes, you’re right. Look, I don’t know what it means, but I do know it’s threatening.’

Lola furrows her brow. ‘The first note only mentions me, the second talks about both of us.’ She scrapes her bottom lip with her teeth, then looks up. ‘What if it’s a body count? I’m the third, which is why the first note counts that far, and you’re the fourth.’

‘But that means …’

‘There have been two before us.’

The waves lap against the shoreline. Cloud has gathered around the mountain peaks in the distance, and it reminds me of a childhood film, a magic kingdom in the sky.

Two before us. If Lola is right …

‘Izzy and Archie,’ I whisper.