Faadi had set out to meet Rebecca with the intention of being something he’d never been before – someone he had never been before – and he knew now that if he didn’t do just that, then neither he nor Rebecca would see beyond the four walls of this church again.

He had a pair of scissors in his hand. Keeley had passed them to him, instructing him to remove Rebecca’s clothing. But he wasn’t like them. He would never be like them.

He lunged forward and thrust the opened pair of scissors at Tyler. One of the blades caught the side of his neck, piercing the skin below his ear. Faadi saw blood bubble to the surface of the wound. Tyler cried out in shock and staggered back. For a moment, Faadi was too stunned to move. He had never hurt anyone before. He had never wanted to hurt anyone, and even now, even under these circumstances, knowing he had done so made him feel sick to his stomach.

But Tyler was coming at him and there was nothing else he could do. He drew his hand back and lunged towards the other boy again, this time plunging the scissors into his chest.

‘You fat little prick.’

As Tyler fell back, Keeley came racing towards him. She had something in her hand that Faadi hadn’t noticed in the room with them until now: a petrol can. With the scissors now embedded in Tyler’s chest as the boy sprawled on the church floor crying in pain, Faadi had nothing with which to fight her off. He threw his hands up to protect his face, screaming as Keeley threw the contents of the petrol can towards him. Then she turned her attention to Rebecca and doused the girl in the liquid. Its odour seemed to fill the room, lodging in the back of Faadi’s throat. He could taste it, foul and toxic.

There was banging at the far end of the room and voices calling Rebecca’s name. There was the distant sound of sirens – a sound that should have filled Faadi with a sense of relief – but he feared they were too late. He shouted back, begging them to hurry, to help them. He couldn’t see. The petrol was burning his eyes. He had no idea what was going on elsewhere in the church and no idea what was happening to Rebecca. But he could imagine.

There was a crash at the far end of the room and then a female voice shouted Keeley’s name. Faadi blinked frantically, his sight coming back to him as patches of the darkened room reappeared like the visions of a nightmare. And then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. There were two women, women he had seen before. The pretty police detective was there, but this time it was the other woman he couldn’t take his eyes off. She raced through the church towards Keeley. The petrol can was raised again, the last of the liquid thrown at the detective, who shoved Keeley with a blow so hard it sent the girl thudding to the cold stone of the church floor, but not before a spark of light lit the darkened room, circling like a tiny Catherine wheel as it was flung towards the chair on which Rebecca still sat tied.

He didn’t notice Keeley flee the church, leaving Tyler bleeding on the cold stone floor. All he saw was the woman as she moved in front of Rebecca and blocked the flight of the match, pushing the chair on which Rebecca was tied towards Chloe, who smothered the girl with her own body, shielding her from a further assault.

And then the flame caught the woman, racing up her arm as though devouring her, quickly enveloping her clothing and catching at her shoulder-length hair. And all Faadi could hear was her screams, echoing through the wide emptiness of the church.