The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean

Author:Will Maclean [Maclean, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473575899
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2020-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

28

The next day, Graham called a house meeting. The morning was stunning; the sun shone brightly, and the dew rose from the grass in soft waves of steamy vapour, so, after breakfast, we assembled on garden chairs on the front lawn, the house squatting behind us. I felt hot and my head ached a little; Tony Finch had introduced me to alcohol a long while ago, so I knew what this was. Of last night’s argument, nothing was said; Seb and Neil simply ignored each other.

Graham arrived last of all. Even though the morning was hot, he wore his usual university lecturer outfit: a bottle-green corduroy jacket, a mustard-coloured jumper, and flared jeans with desert boots. I noted also that Polly wore her ubiquitous cardigan; I wondered how either of them could stand it.

Graham made a short speech, re-introducing me to the rest of the group, then talked us through the scientific equipment, a talk superfluous to all of us, as he made it clear that only he was qualified to operate any of it. Perhaps aware he was losing his audience, he fell silent for a few seconds until he had regained our full attention.

‘One more thing,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to say that as of today, with the arrival of Tim, our approach to what we’re doing here will be changing somewhat. We’re going to intensify our search for Tobias Salt, with a slightly different method.

‘As such, we might expect a more emotionally exhausting session. Some of you may feel unaccountably drained, others might be overcome with sadness, or anger. These are perfectly normal reactions to what we’re doing here. Plus, I know that some of you are – how can I put this? – already a little troubled at the moment, whether with issues of depression, or frustration, or the problems of being a young person in today’s world.

‘In fact, without getting too personal, I know that at least one of you has already endured an enormous amount of psychic stress. And I know that one of you is recovering from the recent loss of a close family member, so that might well make you vulnerable, emotionally speaking, in this setting.’

I stared down at the lawn, sudden hot tears in my eyes. Why would he single me out like that? What right did he have? To declare that Abi was dead? I felt like punching him, in the same way I’d punched Cliff Lang, wildly and without restraint, until he sobbed. I immediately decided to confront him about this after the meeting, whilst at the same time knowing I never would.

‘With that in mind,’ Graham went on, ‘if anyone wants to stop the session at any point, just tell me or Sally, and we’ll stop, OK? Juliet?’

Juliet looked up at Graham anxiously. ‘Yes?’

‘I know you found that first session somewhat … trying.’

‘Yes, but that was just the – I mean, nothing’s happened since then, has it?’

‘No. But I need you to be prepared in case something does.

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