Megan looked tired. Shaun wanted to hug her. And it wasn’t about being closer to her. He just wanted to hug her; he couldn’t think of anything else that would bring her comfort. Especially when he knew what she didn’t: that Tyson was already dead. He was never coming home.

‘What are you doing here?’ said Will.

‘I thought you might turn up,’ she said, looking at Shaun. He smiled weakly.

He stepped forward and put his arms round her, felt her weight sink into the hug, heavy and grateful.

Will hugged her too, and that was strange to watch – Shaun had never seen them so close before. Sincerity was unusual for Will. It was like Shaun had arrived on another planet, right from when he had touched the dead man in the water. They were at the pool, on a Friday, as normal, except fully clothed in the baking sun, with Will there too, and this dark shadow looming over them.

‘I’m so sorry,’ said Shaun.

She looked down. ‘Thanks. It’s weird. He’s just literally disappeared. Nowhere to be seen. We’ve been out searching for three days now. My whole family.’

The story poured out of her, easy and willing. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to anyone outside of her family since the madness started.

‘At first I thought Dad was being stupid. Because all that happened was that Tyson’s girlfriend, Millie, phoned to say he hadn’t come to see her like she’d expected. I thought he’d just gone to get drunk somewhere. But Dad freaked out. He got our neighbour and my cousin and a few others to form a search party. But there weren’t enough cars, so my dad hired a bunch.’

Shaun felt Will glance at him. He had been right. The Grants on the car hire form were Megan’s family searching for Tyson.

‘I seriously thought it was an overreaction,’ she continued. ‘But it’s Friday now and he’s nowhere …’ Her words trailed off and she looked away.

‘They’ve checked the lake. And storm drains. They’ve gone out and checked the cliffs near the mines. Cause they think he might have …’ Again, she couldn’t finish the sentence.

Shaun swallowed, suddenly feeling guilty. They were right to check the lake, but they were too late. He needed to tell her. Now.

‘Let’s sit down somewhere,’ he said.

They found a table under a bright blue shade cloth. Shaun could feel his heart throbbing under his skin. He wasn’t sure what was worse: telling Megan that her brother was dead, or not telling her and watching her nurture a false hope.

‘Um,’ he began, ‘Megan, I’m so sorry.’ He didn’t know what else to say.

‘Sorry, this is so awkward,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why I’m here.’

‘Nah,’ he said, smiling. ‘It’s good to see you. I was worried. You haven’t been replying to messages.’

She looked down. ‘I know. It just felt weird, even texting. Like, what is there to say? Everyone’s been out looking for ages and there’s nothing to do. Mum’s crying at home. Dad and everyone are doing laps of everywhere in town, but he’s nowhere. How can someone just disappear?’

Shaun’s chest tightened. ‘I think I know something,’ he said.

Her eyes flicked up at once. ‘What? What do you mean?’

‘Okay, so—’ He took a breath and closed his eyes. ‘I think I saw him. Tyson. In the lake. Floating.’

Silence.

Shaun opened his eyes and looked at Megan, her face open and disbelieving. ‘What … what? Like, swimming?’

Shaun swallowed. ‘No, like, floating upside down. He wasn’t moving. He was still.’

‘What?’ she said, but it was barely a whisper.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said again.

‘I don’t understand.’

‘He was just floating in the water. I found him because I ran from school when Tenner hit me, got me in the eye and, um, yeah, he was just there. I didn’t know who he was at first, but when I heard at assembly that Tyson was missing, I knew it had to be him. I only met him a couple of times but I knew that it was him then.’

In the distance, a small child dive-bombed into the pool. A crow cawed on the fence line.

Megan straightened herself up, breathing in, trying not to cry. ‘Are you sure?’

Shaun nodded. ‘Yes.’

She leant in closer. ‘Really? How can you be?’

He felt himself tense. If even Megan didn’t believe him, what was he supposed to do?

He took her hand. He would never have been brave enough to touch her like this normally. He looked her in the eye. ‘I promise,’ he said. ‘It was him.’

She swallowed and took her hand away. ‘Dad said he might have killed himself, he was so sad, I guess, ah—’

But Will interrupted her. ‘No – it’s not suicide. He was hit on the head.’

Shaun didn’t think it was possible to feel any worse. His stomach was a tiny ache inside him.

‘Right, Shaun?’ Will said.

Shaun felt Megan’s eyes on him once again. If her brother had died, please let it not be by his own hand. Let it be because of an attack.

He nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s right. He was bleeding from his head. Like he’d been hit.’

She stood up, suddenly wild. ‘We should go. God, is he still there? Is he—’

Shaun got up, trying to reach her hand to calm her. ‘No, no. He’s not there. I went and I ran to the police and then when we came back to the water he was gone.’

‘What?’

‘He was gone. He wasn’t there anymore.’

‘What?’

Shaun knew she had heard him. But she couldn’t believe it.

‘He wasn’t there anymore.’

Then she howled.

Shaun had heard that sound before, and it made him want to run away. Instead, he just stood and watched as she crumpled onto the table and cried.