Chapter 5: The Power of Love

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Jason asked, not in the mood for games.

The boy was still ignoring him, just smiling idiotically and looking far too pleased with himself.

‘Simon.’ Corelia’s voice was cold. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’

‘I like your chair. What does it do?’

‘What it needs to. What the fuck is going on?’

Simon smiled on, hands in his pockets, self-crowned king of this tiny square of Cardiff—even if only in his own mind. Jason’s initial impression was borne out. He was around Corelia’s age, but had none of her maturity or poise. Just arrogance. Fuck, Jason remembered being just like him.

‘I got you a gift. Do you like it?’

‘No. She doesn’t.’

Jason didn’t think he’d ever heard Heddwen sound so angry. The mild-mannered artist sounded like she was ready to launch herself at the boy and bite his face off. Jason would bet on Heddwen every time.

‘Oh, it’s you.’ Simon sounded disappointed. ‘Still hanging around, are you?’

‘How do you know this prick?’ Jason asked, unsure whether he’d have to restrain Heddwen or himself from acting rashly.

‘Is this your boyfriend?’ Simon looked at Jason with disdain. ‘Plays rugby, does he? Can’t believe you’re into a basic bro.’

‘What have you done, Simon?’ Corelia asked, in that sweet constrained tone that women reserved for particularly annoying men that they had to placate.

‘You don’t reply to my snaps.’

‘I’ve been busy.’

‘Yeah? Doing what?’ He put on an affected, sneering accent. ‘Hydrotherapy? Meditation? Yooooga?’

‘Recovering from the knife to my spine, yeah. And moving on from basic bros.’

Corelia was clearly not playing games, but they still didn’t know what this guy had done or how dangerous he could be. Pests could easily turn into predators. Jason had played fake boyfriend enough times in clubs to understand how this game worked. It had been no-strings on his part, but some of the girls were more than grateful. He wasn’t entirely selfless in his feminism.

‘I knew you would be here, to see your work. Who’s Amy? She your sister or something?’

‘You followed me into the Dark?’ Corelia said, sounding incredulous.

‘I would follow you to Hell,’ Simon declared, earning a loud groan from Corelia.

‘Your puns have always been shit, Simon.’

‘Shit, lit—all the same to me, Leah.’

‘Don’t fucking call me that.’

‘Don’t fuck me around then!’

‘She’s not fucking around,’ Heddwen said, through apparently gritted teeth. ‘She’s not interested. You just don’t know what “No” looks like.’

‘Salty bitch,’ Simon spat towards her.

‘That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about,’ Corelia said, all ice again.

Simon snorted. ‘Yeah, right. This is right up there with that fake wedding ring shit.’

‘It’s time to go,’ Jason said. ‘Right fucking now.’

‘You take her away and Cardiff will be dark for days. You want Christmas? You let me talk to my bae.’

‘I am not and have never fucking been your “bae”, Simon.’

‘If you hadn’t friend-zoned me—’

‘We are not friends!’ Corelia shouted over him, losing her temper now. ‘You are a dickhead and I ghosted you for a reason.’

Simon’s face twisted. ‘You did ghost me then. I fucking knew it.’

‘Yeah, I grew out of shitposting on Tumblr. Going through rehab made me grow the fuck up. Maybe you should try it.’

‘We’ve been friends for years! You can’t just walk away from that!’

His shout echoed in the empty darkness, and the silence that followed.

Simon gestured weakly towards her. ‘You… you know what I meant.’

‘Turn the fucking power back on.’

‘I just want you to talk to me! Like we used to. You’ve been away for two years, and I’ve missed you. I care about you. When everyone else gave you shit for liking tech and coding and shit, I stood by you. And then you just left me!’

Before Jason could stop her, Corelia had wheeled forward into the beam of his torchlight. Simon looked at her, and Jason saw something change in his face, though he tried to hide it. Jason had learned to read faces in prison, where the wrong look could earn you a kicking. What he saw now was disappointment—and anger.

‘You’ve changed,’ he said.

‘I put on weight, yeah,’ Corelia said, her voice shaking slightly. ‘Not what you were hoping for, Simon?’

‘You’re still beautiful to me,’ he said resolutely. ‘I love your mind, Leah.’

‘Stop calling me that,’ she said, sharply. ‘You can’t even get that right.’

‘We’ve known each other too long for stupid internet handles.’

‘My name isn’t stupid. Stop shitting all over my life.’

‘You need me,’ he pleaded.

‘No, I don’t. I’m studying for my A Levels and I’ve got an amazing girlfriend. You, on the other hand, are causing a blackout on Christmas Eve because you can’t get a date. You’re pathetic.’

‘That’s what you think? Fine. Fine! Let me fucking show you what I can do.’

Simon pulled something out of his coat, a black rectangle with an attached aerial. Jason’s body tensed, suddenly numbed to the core. Was that a detonator?

‘You fucked me over for the last time, Leah.’