front of her; its motion abruptly ceased in mid-air, as though being held by something unseen. Ryan

could see now that the pendant was wood, a cluster of different coloured wood, bound together in a

oval shape. Beth began to swing the pendant, creating a circle in front of her. The motion was calmer

than before, and she stared straight at Fizz as she did so.

“Accept my light. Leave this body. Leave this place.”

Fizz seemed entranced by the pendant, yet he slowly backed away to the wall. Just as he touched it,

the wall shuddered, rippling like liquid. Fizz jumped away, some of the wall coming with him as

though it were sticky. He swiped a hand out, smacking the sticky tendrils away. The wall sucked back

into place, becoming as it had before.

Ryan was scared. He caught Matt’s expression from across the room; he had moved in front of

Sammy’s body, like he was trying to protect him. Fizz glared at Beth, prowling sideways. He kept his

distance from the wall now.

“I will not leave,” he rasped out. “No one commands me.”

“Leave this body,” Beth repeated firmly, still swinging the pendant. “Leave this place.”

“I won’t!”

“You must move on. Leave this place.”

“No!” Fizz’s hands clutched his head as a sob wracked out of him. Ryan watched as the edges of his

body appeared to blur, and something else appeared over him. What was happening? It looked as

though there were two images where Fizz should be, one overlaid on top of the other. With a

wrenching cry, the images moved apart. Ryan recognised Fizz, the boy who stood in the same spot, but

he didn’t recognise the faded image of a young man in a suit, who staggered to the side.

The young man growled, his hand snapped out to grab Fizz’s wrist. “I’m not leaving!”

“Leave. This. Place,” Beth said.

Fizz stared at the young man, his eyes bright and full of tears. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

The man sneered. “If I can’t have your body, no one will.” He pulled sharply on Fizz’s wrist. A

faded blur – the same shape and size as Fizz – lifted from Fizz’s body.

A second man appeared, planting a huge knuckled hand over Fizz’s chest. He pushed the faded

shape back into Fizz’s body.

“No,” the man in uniform said, glaring at the younger man. “That’s enough.”

The younger man tried to shove at him, but the uniformed man stood in place.

“You can’t hurt me, you fool,” he said in a brusque Northern accent. “I’ve saved up all my energy

for years, unlike you, who squandered it away.”

“Bastard!” The younger man flailed at him, trying to attack.

Beth swung her pendant faster. “Leave this place!” she shouted.

Ryan watched, horrified at what he saw. The two men appeared to be fighting, but too fast for him

to see, blurring in motion. A third shape – Fizz’s shape – was pulled between them, and Fizz’s body

crumpled to the ground.

The faded image of Fizz was left standing between the two men.

“Oh no!” Sheila raced into the room, dropping down beside Fizz’s body. Beth followed her,

swinging her pendant at the wispy forms of the two strange men. “Be gone!” She shouted, cutting her

pendant through them. “Leave this place!”

The men disappeared, shrinking into wisps, and falling to the floor. Beth rounded on the third form,

the one that looked like Fizz. “What’s his name again?” She glanced at Ryan, a worried look on her

face.

“Fi – I mean, Jamie!”

“Jamie.” Beth opened her hands in the air, wafting them at the form. “Jamie, it’s not your time. Go

back into your body now.”

Sheila knelt on the floor, moving Fizz onto his back, tilting his head up. It wasn’t until she pressed

her mouth to his, holding his nose, that Ryan realised the enormity of the situation. Fizz hadn’t just

passed out, he had died.

“Oh, fuck, oh, fuck.” Ryan forced his body to move, ignoring the pain. His first thought was to go

out, get help, get the defibrillator from downstairs in the bar. Then his eyes fell on the paramedic’s

abandoned kit bag. Oh, please, please. Ryan crawled toward it, fingers reaching out to snatch the

handle and drag it across the floor. It was heavy, but he prayed that weight inside would save the day.

Ryan knew what a defib looked like; they had a smaller version in the bar. Ginger had shown him

how to use it. Ryan had hoped he’d never have to. With trembling hands, he pulled a defib machine

from the bag. The kit spilt everywhere; razor, safety scissors, cardiac pads. Ryan held the machine,

clutching it, the pads, and wires to his chest. Then he grabbed the scissors and crawled over the floor,

toward Sheila. He tried to ignore Beth, still encouraging the apparition of Fizz back into his body.

Ryan put it out of his mind. He had to focus on the flesh and blood body on the floor. He placed the

defib on the floor beside Sheila. The scissors fell out of his trembling hands, clattering to the floor,

but he quickly picked them up again.

“One, two, three, four,” Sheila grunted out, doing compressions on Fizz’s chest. “That’s it, Ryan,”

she said quickly, before bending over Fizz’s mouth again. Ryan had to move fast. While Sheila

breathed into Fizz, Ryan used the scissors to cut the bottom of Fizz’s t-shirt, then threw them aside

and yanked hard on the fabric until it ripped open.

Sheila was already waiting to do more compressions. It was all moving too fast, and with every

second, Fizz’s life hung in the balance. Ryan reached for the pads next. His fingers trembled too

much, and Sheila had to take over.

“Let me.” She snatched the pads, placing one on the centre of Fizz’s chest, the other to the side. She

turned on the machine. “Get back, Ryan.” The machine came on – thank God – and whirred to life.

“Clear.” Sheila pressed the button. An electrical current buzzed from the machine. Chu-chk.

Fizz’s body jerked on the floor. His eyes remained closed.

Ryan held his breath, praying, willing Fizz to wake up. Sheila leaned over his body, breathed into

his mouth again. Ryan had to look up, where Beth stood above them. A perfect vision of Fizz gazed

down at him, his blue eyes looked lost, confused.

“Please,” Ryan told him. “Jamie, please. Come back.”

“Clear,” Sheila said. Ryan heard the buzz of electricity, the Chu-chk sound as it jolted through the

body next to him. The vision of Fizz wavered; his eyes went wide, then he collapsed soundlessly, in

slow motion. Ryan watched the vision fade into mere wisps, and the wisps sucked into Fizz’s body. A

gasping breath had never sounded so sweet. Ryan watched Fizz open his eyes, as the boy stared up at

them, sucking in air.

Sheila let out a sound, halfway between a sob and a laugh. She smoothed the hair from Fizz’s face.

“Well done, love. Thought we’d lost you there.”

Beth dropped down next to them, laying her pendant on Fizz’s heaving chest. “You’re one very

lucky boy.”

Fizz gazed up at them, blinking. His eyes were a deep, deep blue. “I...I am?”

Ryan breathed in relief. He certainly was.

Chapter Twenty

Ryan’s body protested as he moved, but he had to get out of that room. He had to check on Ginger.

He left Fizz, dazed, in the capable hands of Beth, who had helped him to sit up against the wall. Sheila

had rushed over to Matt, who was freaking out because Sammy wasn’t moving.

“He’s breathing,” Sheila said. “Unconscious. Did he hit his head?” Her voice trailed away in Ryan’s

ears. Ryan staggered to his feet, muscles screaming in agony. The bodies of Pete and the two

paramedics still lay lifeless on the floor. Ryan couldn’t look at them, prayed they were still breathing,

but he had to get to Ginger.