London Belongs to the Alchemist (Class Heroes Book 4) Page 26

  Lolly focussed on the fire, concentrated, controlled it. Fuelled by anger and guilt, she drew the fire out of the car and formed in into a ball, spinning it in mid-air. Then she hurled it at Zak with all her might. He was instantly engulfed in the flames, burning, screaming in agony. Lolly conjured up another flame burst in her hands and sent that flying at Zak’s thrashing, stumbling body. The force of the blow knocked him down.

  There was a roar of primal rage and another shot rang out. It took Lolly a moment to register she’d been hit. She felt a terrible pain in her right shoulder. She looked down. There was a jagged hole in her dress where the bullet had passed through and blood was pouring out.

  She whipped around and hurled a ball of flame at Nicky Cairo, who was preparing to shoot again. He ducked just in time as the flame bolt set the red estate car alight.

  Lolly ran for the green car that contained Stannard’s husband. She ripped the back door off its hinges, removed the blindfold from around the frightened man’s eyes, snapped the bonds around his wrists, pulled him out of the car and pushed him in the opposite direction to Nicky and his men.

  A bullet shattered the back window of the car.

  “Run!” Lolly yelled.

  The guy was scared and didn’t know what was happening.

  “Where’s Jenny?” he shouted. From his position, he was unable to see his wife’s body lying on the ground.

  “She’s not here,” lied Lolly. “Now run”.

  The guy started running.

  Lolly turned back to face Nicky Cairo and his men. All of them had got out of their cars now. With Zak down, she was facing ten in total. All of them were armed, and all of them started firing at once.

  Lolly back-flipped and landed behind a pile of cars, which she could use as a shield. She returned their fire with some of her own. Great bursts of flame that she directed at the two black cars and Nicky’s grey Mercedes.

  One of the black cars exploded and the thugs scattered.

  She reviewed her situation. She had the information she needed and could leave at any time. Even if Nicky’s men had taken Super D, she would be able to outrun them all. But there was a tiny pricking of her conscience. She needed to give Stannard’s husband time to get clear or one of these killers would quickly catch him and put a bullet through his head. She had made a promise to Stannard and, much as it went against her nature, she decided she must keep it.

  Nicky’s men fanned out. They were intending to outflank her. Several were firing shots in her general direction as if they were doing it purely for fun. When the bullets ran out, two of the guys ran for one of the broken cars.

  Evidently Nicky had dished out Super D to all his crew, because the men lifted up the car between them, one at each end, and hurled it towards Lolly.

  She wanted to show these boys who they were messing with, so she took a step forward into the open and leant into the falling car with her good shoulder. It hit her, front bumper first, in the face and across the left side of her body. The bonnet crumpled, the front window smashed, and the vehicle remained balanced on her shoulder for almost three seconds before gravity took hold and it dropped, rear-end first, to the ground.

  To Lolly’s surprise, it hurt like hell, like her left shoulder was broken. She tried moving it. It was ok. She tentatively touched her right shoulder where the bullet had passed through. It had almost totally healed, but it was sore.

  She felt her stomach contract. She hadn’t taken enough fuel on board before this battle. Stupid. She hoped she had given Stannard’s husband enough time to get clear, because she needed to make her own escape right now.

  Nicky Cairo emerged from behind a pile of scrap metal, gun in hand. Lolly sent him ducking with another flame bolt.

  Three of Nicky’s boys clambered over a line of cars from her left. Two more from the right. She had no idea where the others were. She needed a show of strength to dissuade them.

  Lolly conjured up fire in both hands, stretched out her arms and unleashed a long streak of flame. She then turned around on the spot, continuously spraying fire like a catherine wheel.

  As vehicles exploded around her and metal shards were projected in all directions, the encroaching thugs were forced to jump clear.

  Acrid black smoke swamped the yard. Lolly could have used it as cover to turn and run, but her blood was up for the fight now.

  Out of the smoke they came running at her. Four, five, six men, some carrying bits of rusty metal, others still holding guns. They looked savage and angry.

  The first guy reached her, clutching an old car exhaust like a baseball bat. Lolly swung out her right hand, palm face down, and neatly broke his neck.

  A second guy literally threw himself at her. She caught his arms and swung him through the air, propelling him over the line of burning cars.

  A third guy was dispatched with a swift kick to the head.

  Lolly backed away to try and catch her breath. The pain in her stomach returned with a vengeance, as though her metabolism was burning up her very innards to convert to fuel.

  A fourth guy made his move. It was Nicky Cairo himself. He led with his gun hand, trying to pistol-whip her. Lolly ducked the assault, flicked her hand up and sent the gun spinning out of Nicky’s grasp.

  She punched him in the stomach, sending him crashing to the floor. Super D or no Super D, he was still no match for her.

  Two more guys reached out for her. She performed three backwards somersaults to land on the summit of a stack of three cars. From here, she could hurl more fire bolts at Nicky’s men beneath her. Two men died wreathed in flame.

  She didn’t see the assault that got her.

  It felt like every bone in her body shattered at once. There was a blinding flash of light, then a sensation like a thousand knives had been thrust into her, and her world started spinning. It ended with a sickening crunch as she hit the ground below. Almost instantly, the breath and the fight was crushed out of her body as something large and heavy landed on top of her, blotting out the light.

  Chapter 43

  Lolly let out a slow groan of agony. She tried opening her eyes. One side of her face was buried in mud, so she only had a narrow field of vision. She was pinned down, unable to move. Her neck cricked as she tried to lift her head out of the dirt.

  Grunting and whimpering, she tried to heave herself up, as though she was performing a press up. The muscles in her arms exploded with pain. She managed to get her chest a few centimetres off the ground before she collapsed under the terrible weight. Her strength was all but gone.

  Summoning up what energy she had left, she crawled, dragged and heaved herself in the direction of daylight, trying to shrug off the sharp metal that tore at her skin, hair and clothing. She finally managed to stick her head out from beneath her burden, whereupon she realized what it was that had been thrown at her. The stolen four-by-four, she noted with some humour.

  She tried to pull herself clear of the upturned vehicle but her strength gave out. She couldn’t feel her left arm. Her hair, matted with blood, dirt and rain, stuck to her face and she couldn’t see a thing. She could only feel the all-consuming pain in her stomach. Her face sank back into the mud as a long sigh escaped her.

  There was a crunch of boots close to her head. Suddenly the weight of the four-by-four was removed from her back. Someone grabbed her arms and pulled her clear. The pain in her left arm was excruciating. She gasped in agony as she was unceremoniously dragged across the muddy track.

  “You’re going to wish you’d never been born,” growled a voice.

  Lolly tried to get to her feet, stumbled, and fell back to the ground as she was manhandled through the dirt, her bare legs scraping on stone and metal.

  The painful journey ended when she was dumped at somebody’s feet. She looked up to see the face of Nicky Cairo, covered in blood and soot, his white teeth exposed in a vicious snarl. His eyes were wet with tears.

  “I’m going to hurt you so bad for what you’ve done,” he hiss
ed, and started choking. “You killed Zak. You killed him!” he shouted, and lashed out with his foot, kicking her in the stomach. Lolly doubled up in agony and remained curled in a foetal position.

  “You burned him to death,” seethed Nicky, kicking her again. “And for the very short remainder of your life, you’re going to feel ten times the pain you put him through.”

  “They say that smoking kills,” managed Lolly, in between breaths. Her only chance was that Nicky would keep on talking until her strength returned.

  Nicky’s eyes flashed with anger. He whipped out a large knife from a sheath attached to his belt and held it in front of her face. Then he grabbed Lolly by her hair and yanked her across the dirt track until she was back facing the upturned four-by-four, whereupon he slammed her headfirst onto the underside of the vehicle.

  Lolly’s head span. She grabbed the car for support with her one good arm, but her legs gave way.

  Was it her imagination or could she hear police sirens?

  “Do it Nicky, we got to get out of here,” yelled another voice.

  Lolly thought of her father and how she had let him down. She started sobbing.

  A shot rang out and Lolly closed her eyes. Then another shot. Then another. Nicky released his grip on Lolly. Lolly opened her eyes and risked a look behind her. Nicky was gone.

  She managed to turn herself around, still holding onto the four-by-four for support. Nicky had run for cover behind another vehicle. Two of Nicky’s guys were looking around them, frantically trying to deduce where the shooting was coming from. Lolly spotted it. Stannard’s husband, looking frightened and wild, was standing on the dirt track, holding a gun and shooting bullets in random directions.

  “Run,” he shouted at her, firing again. “Run. Get out of it.”

  Lolly didn’t need telling again. She summoned up the last vestiges of her strength, conjured up a small flame in her hand and set light to the four-by-four. Then she ran.

  She looked over her shoulder to see Nicky Cairo backing away from the vehicle, shouting maniacally at her. The four-by-four exploded, obscuring Nicky from her view. Lolly faced forward, ran as fast as she could and didn’t look back.

  Stumbling and in pain, she followed the dirt track in the reverse direction to the way she had driven in. She hadn’t imagined the sirens. As she rounded the bend in the road, she was met by a line of police cars and vans bearing down on her.

  The vehicles screeched to a halt in front of her and Lolly tipped forward, using the bonnet of the nearest car for support.

  A policeman got out of the car and rushed to her side. He looked horrified at her appearance. The blood, the ripped dress, the bruises, he obviously suspected the worst.

  “It’s all right, Miss, you’re safe. Are you ok, Miss? What happened?” he asked, anxiously.

  “Please help,” sobbed Lolly, collapsing into his arms and burying her head in his chest. “Some men grabbed me last night. I was at my friend’s party. They brought me here. They hurt me.” She started pointing back in the direction of the fire. “They have guns. They killed a woman, please, get me out of here,” she screamed.

  “It’s ok, Miss, you’re safe,” the policeman repeated, leading Lolly to the car. The other vehicles sped off to face Nicky and his men.

  The policeman helped Lolly into the car and put his jacket around her shoulders.

  “I was on my way home. They stopped in a car and dragged me in. They’ve got guns and knives,” she babbled.

  “Ok, ok,” said the policeman, trying to calm her down. “We’ll take you home, you’re safe, I promise you.”

  It took several minutes to get her breath back. What she really needed was food.

  She could hear the sound of gunshots, so obviously the police had brought an armed response team and were taking on Nicky’s men. Lolly hoped the police killed them all.

  The officer who had donated his jacket to her was very attentive and concerned for her wellbeing. She had to wait until he got on his radio and his back was turned before she was able to slip away behind a stack of rusting cars. Then she just kept on running.

  Chapter 44

  Samantha sat on her favourite bench in the playground, munching her cheese sandwich, lost in a daydream.

  She had spent all last night and all this morning thinking about Al. She had only vaguely paid attention in classes and all of a sudden it was lunchtime.

  They had kissed on Wednesday night. She’d barely had time to reflect on that since it happened. But today — from maths, to English, to French, to now — that image of them together at South Ealing underground station was on a constant loop in her head. She could smell his scent, feel his hand on her back, hear the rumble of the tube trains and bask in the warm air that bathed her body.

  Every now and then she checked her phone to see if a message had come through.

  But nothing.

  The sweet memory of the kiss turned to a panic that he had gone off her. He hadn’t called her at all today. No texts, either. Perhaps it was because she had disagreed with him about Super D? But she had a right to be angry, didn’t she? Super D was bad — end of! The problem was, Al wasn’t some power-mad tyrant like Sir Michael Rosewood. He was just… Al. She couldn’t charge over to his house and hand him in to the police, could she? It wasn’t like that.

  Al had such conviction about what he was doing. And she… didn’t. She didn’t have a cause, she didn’t have a battle to fight. She just wanted to have a nice life. Was that so bad?

  Thinking about Al’s mission reminded her that he had pledged to broadcast another video at half-past twelve. She looked at her watch. It was nearly that now.

  Word had got around the school that she was going out with DJ Alchemy, and so people had been asking her all morning what the next video would be about. She was too embarrassed to say that she didn’t know.

  Perhaps she was better off single. Just concentrate on being a better person. Mend her relationship with James. Well, actually, she had already tried to do that. Earlier on she had even sent Lolly a friendly text. That was when she had been happy and just wanted to spread the love around. Not like now. Now everything was grey and empty.

  She looked up. Groups were forming in the playground. There was a buzz of chatter. Everyone was waiting for the video. James, Steve, Nina and Sasha Curran walked over to her bench. Sasha couldn’t take her eyes off James, noted Sam.

  “You ok, Sis?” asked James.

  Sam smiled, bravely.

  “You are so lucky going out with someone famous,” said Nina.

  “DJ Alchemy is pretty cool,” admitted Sasha. “Do you know him, James?”

  “Uh-huh,” replied James.

  ***

  At exactly 12:30, Steve and Nina’s phones sprang to life. As Sam and James had guessed, nothing happened on their ‘clean’ phones.

  Sam looked at Nina’s screen. Sasha and James shared Steve’s.

  The initial image was bright and blurry. When the camera focussed, it was on Al, again in his DJ Alchemy skeleton suit.

  “Welcome, crew,” he saluted the camera. As usual, his voice was modulated to sound robotic.

  “Y’know,” said Steve. “I keep expecting Diversity to break out into a dance routine behind him.”

  Sam shushed him.

  “And if there’s my special girl out there, I’m missing you, baby,” Al added. “I got your messages. Sorry I couldn’t reply. I’ll call you tonight, yeah? Thinking about you lots.”

  “That’s you, Sam,” squealed Nina, and Sam became aware how all the groups clustered around the playground were suddenly looking at her.

  Sam’s heart roller-coastered and she went red. She took back all she had said about wanting to be single. She had goosebumps on her arms, her face broke out into an uncontrollable smile and suddenly she couldn’t sit still.

  She was frightened, too. After what Al had done to Nicky Cairo’s car yesterday, she feared for what he would do today. She tried to work out where he was. He
was standing in a street.

  “Where am I today?” asked Al, as though he had heard her. “Well, I’ve returned to yesterday’s crime scene, actually.”

  The camera panned left and right to reveal more of the street. Members of the public passed by, barely sparing the oddly dressed character a second look. Clearly they’d seen far stranger things. The camera then tilted upwards to reveal the tasteless pink lettering of the New Cross Empire Casino.

  “That’s Nicky Cairo’s place,” exclaimed Sam.

  “Who?” asked Steve, blankly.

  James just gave Sam a look to say, ‘don’t talk about it now.’

  “You may remember,” said Al, “that yesterday I liquidated the prize asset of a very rich man.”

  Steve guffawed. “Liquidated. That’s so sick.”

  “Well, today I wanted to tell you about the owner of that car. His name is Nicky Cairo. He’s a crook. A gangster. A nasty piece of work who got rich by extorting money and selling drugs. He thinks nothing of stepping on people or even killing them, if it means getting what he wants. And he’s got a terrible haircut.”

  Steve laughed again until Sam put her hand over his mouth.

  “Do you think a man like that has learned his lesson just because his prize Lamborghini Testosterone got turned into a champagne pavement cocktail?” asked Al.

  The camera swayed from side to side, as though the operator was shaking his or her head.

  “No?” queried Al, playfully. “So, do you think I need to pay Nicky Cairo another visit?”

  This time the camera went up and down in a pantomime nod.

  “Ok,” said Al, giving the camera a thumbs-up. “Well, as luck would have it, he owns this very classy nightspot.” Al waved his arms to present the casino to the audience. “Let’s try the front door.”

  Theatrically, Al walked up the big stone steps to the heavy wooden door.

  “Take a look at this,” said Al, indicating a brass plaque on the wall beside the door. The camera moved in closer until the engraving was legible.