*My cousin used to work there,' said Amin, pointing at a used-car yard.

Fergus wasn't interested. He leaned towards me. *Did you ever read about that guy who was executed with a nail gun?' he whispered into my ear. *The police found something like thirty nails in his skull. Gross, eh?'

I grunted, but my heart sank. Sometimes you suddenly know that you've made a mistake. Sitting in that unfamiliar cab, smelling the driver's deodorant and watching all the coloured lights flash past, I felt as if I'd been cut adrift in a totally strange world. Not a computer-generated world a" a real one. Full of real people and real consequences.

What the hell did I think I was doing? Was I out of my mind ?

*I bet you forgot to bring nails,' Fergus said to Amin, just as the car began to slow.

*What's that number again?' the driver queried. *Are you sure this is the place you want?'

We'd reached a small clump of shops on a modest intersection. There was a newsagency, a hairdresser's, a pub, a drycleaner's and a place selling office equipment. There were also several buildings that were hard to identify. One might have been a doctor's surgery, or perhaps a dental clinic; it was hard to tell in the dark. Another was either a post office or a police station. And there was a two-storeyed structure that obviously wasn't a house, though it didn't look much like a business, either. For one thing, it didn't have any signs affixed to its blank, imposing facade.

The driver halted in front of it.

*Number sixty-eight,' he announced.

Fergus, Amin and I peered out the window.

*That looks like an old bank to me,' said Amin.

*Yeah.' I swallowed. *You wait here.'

*I can come too,' Fergus offered.

*No. Both of you wait here.'

I scrambled out of the car, then approached an imposing set of double doors flanked by two stone pillars. To my surprise, the doorbell was just an ordinary plastic button; I was expecting some kind of elaborate, wrought-iron thing. Overhead a light was burning.

One of the doors swung open before I could even announce my arrival.

*Ah!' said Father Ramon. He was standing on the threshold, wearing his cassock. *You're early. Excellent. Did you bring your two friends?'

My mouth was so dry that I couldn't talk. So I jerked my chin at the cab.

Father Ramon responded by slapping his brow.

*Oh!' he exclaimed. *That's right. There's a fare to pay. Let me take care of that . . .'

As he hurried past, I saw someone else hovering behind him, just inside the front door. It wasn't Reuben; it was a little old lady with white hair and a walking stick. Her blue eyes looked enormous, enlarged by the coke-bottle lenses of her steel-rimmed spectacles.

*Hello,' she croaked. *I'm Bridget.'

As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I saw a small group of people standing in an enormous room. Above them, two glowing balls of frosted glass hung from a cavernous ceiling. Glass screens were attached to a distant row of counter tops. The floor was made of polished stone. Every window had been sealed behind a set of massive, reinforced security shutters.

It was an old bank, all right a" and it was being used as an art studio. It smelled strongly of turpentine. An easel had been set up. There were canvases stacked against the walls.

*Hi, Toby,' said Reuben, who was lurking in one corner near a half-finished still life. He was wearing greasy blue overalls. Beside him were two other people: a pale girl in a long floral dress, with dark hair and matchstick arms, and an old woman with steel-wool hair, who was smoking a cigarette.

Thinking back, I could recall that Father Ramon had mentioned a girl a" someone called Nina. I figured this had to be the same girl. But the old woman didn't ring any bells. I didn't like the look of her. I didn't like her hacking cough, or the way she kept blowing smoke around.

I liked the look of Nina, though. She had the most Gothic face I'd ever seen, all blanched skin and dark smudges. But she wasn't dressed like a Goth, so I could tell that she was naturally gloomy and mysterious. She wasn't putting it on, like all those other girls who strut around in black lipstick and purple velvet and fishnet stockings. She wasn't trying too hard.

Maybe it was Nina who suddenly cheered me up. Or maybe I was reassured by a whole range of things: Nina's pink sandals, and Bridget's walking stick, and the person who introduced himself to me as Dr Sanford Plackett a" who had to be the world's straightest guy. He was a thin, pasty-faced, middle-aged man wearing a three-piece suit and a boring moustache, like an old-fashioned bank manager. It was impossible to be scared of him. Or of Nina. Or of Bridget.

I thought, These people aren't going to hurt me. No way. They're just a bunch of losers.

So I took a deep breath and went inside.

*Where's your gang?' Reuben asked. *Didn't you bring them?' He was trying to be jovial, I think, but I wasn't amused. Not one little bit.

*They're just coming,' I rejoined. *And they're not my gang. I don't have a gang.' Even as I gestured towards the front entrance, Fergus and Amin stumbled into the room behind me. Amin looked scared and harmless. Fergus, on the other hand, was wearing camouflage pants and Blundstone boots.

*This is Amin Kairouz, and this is Fergus Duffy,' I said, by way of introduction. The words were barely out of my mouth before it occurred to me: should I have used aliases?

*Hello, Amin. Hello, Fergus.' Dr Plackett gave a nod. *Welcome to my home. I'm Dr Sanford Plackett, and this is Nina Harrison, and Estelle Harrison.' He pointed at the pale girl, then the old smoker. *And this is Bridget Doherty, and you know Reuben Schneider, of course.'

Fergus grinned when he spotted Reuben. Amin winced. Then they both shuffled aside to admit Father Ramon, who closed the big double doors behind him.

With the doors shut, everything seemed a lot more shadowy and mysterious.

*Thanks for coming,' said Reuben. In response to a reproving glance from the doctor, he reluctantly added, *Sorry I lost my temper yesterday.'

I shrugged. Father Ramon offered me a nervous little smile.

*Shall we have a cup of tea?' he suggested. *There's a proper living room out the back, where we can sit and talk.'

*It's the old manager's residence,' Dr Plackett broke in. *I don't really use this area very much. It's too hard to heat in winter. I spend most of my time out the back. And in the rooms upstairs.'

*I baked some scones,' Bridget quavered.

Hearing this, I couldn't help sneaking a look at Fergus. Tea and scones? What the hell were these people up to?

Fergus obviously thought they were dithering about. *We wanna see the vault,' he declared. And Amin echoed, *Yeah. We wanna see the vault.'

*But we'll have some scones afterwards,' I said hastily, because I suspected that Reuben and his friends wouldn't be discussing me in the old bank vault, once I'd left. They would probably talk in a comfortable place, where they could sit down with a nice cup of tea. For that reason, I decided to leave my mobile phone in the living room, under a sofa cushion or behind a pot plant.

*All right.' Dr Plackett turned to the priest, who nodded. *We'll do the bank vault first. Not you, though, Bridget. Those stairs would be too much for your hips.'

*I'll go and set the table,' Bridget volunteered. *Do you have any paper doilies, Sanford?'

*Of course not. Why on earth would I have paper doilies?'

*Never mind.' Bridget began to stump away. *Napkins are just as good . . .'

It was interesting to see how everyone reacted to this exchange. Reuben heaved an impatient sigh. Estelle snorted. Amin screwed up his face in sheer bewilderment; I don't think he even knew what doilies were.

Nina caught my eye and smiled without showing her teeth.

*Are you really thirteen?' she asked.

*Yeah,' I said. *Are you?'

She shook her head. *You're tall for your age,' she observed, *but you are a lot like Reuben.'

*No, I'm not.'

*Yes, you are,' she insisted. *You're all fizzy and glowing.'

Fizzy and glowing? Fergus gave a honk of laughter. Reuben said sourly, *Come on. Shake a leg. We haven't got all night.'

Various people began to move, heading for a door behind the old teller's counter. Watching them, I wondered if I was making a big mistake. Should I really be going into an underground vault with a crowd of total strangers?

Amin must have been thinking the same thing. *Maybe I should stay up here,' he squeaked. I saw that his forehead was damp.

Reuben spun around to glare at him.

*What's the matter with you?' asked Reuben. *I thought you wanted to see the vault?'

*He's scared,' said Estelle. She removed the cigarette from her mouth before addressing Amin. *Isn't that right, love? You don't feel safe.'

*Oh, fora"' Reuben stopped himself just in time. He took a deep, steadying breath as Father Ramon protested, *We're not going to hurt you, boys. We're trying to help .'

Amin didn't seem convinced. But then Fergus spoke up.

*Amin, that cab driver saw us, remember? And Toby's girlfriend used the same cab before we got into it. So if something happens, the coppers will know where to look. Okay?'

Man, I hate it when Fergus does that. *She's not my girlfriend , Fergus! I don't even know her!'

*Yeah, yeah.' Fergus waved me aside as he made for the next room. *Anyway, my brother's a drug dealer. He chops off people's feet. He'll go mental if anything happens to us.' Upon reaching the exit, he stopped to gaze back at a ring of astonished, deeply disturbed expressions. He seemed surprised that no one was coming after him. *So is it down these stairs through here, or what?'

*Er . . . yes,' Dr Plackett agreed. He was the first to set off in pursuit of Fergus. Reuben was next in line. Then Amin darted forward.

I finally found myself clattering down the stairs at the rear of the group, beside Nina Harrison. She was very small; the top of her head barely reached my shoulder.

She smelled vaguely of dust, like old potpourri.

*So where do you go to school?' was the only question I could think of to ask her. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

*I don't go to school.' After a moment's pause, she explained, *I get taught at home.'

*Oh.'

*Mum does it.' She cocked her thumb at Estelle, who was shuffling along behind us in a pair of rundown moccasins.

I blinked. Estelle was her mum ?

*She calls me Mum because I raised her,' Estelle interjected, then broke into a fit of coughing. Nina added quickly, *She's my grandmother, really. Mum's dead. So's my dad.'

*Oh yeah?' That was a coincidence. *My dad's dead too.' I might have said more if we hadn't reached the bottom of the stairs just then. All at once I realised that I was standing in front of an honest-to-goodness bank vault, like the ones you see in the movies. Behind a big, iron-barred gate lay a grey steel door that had to be at least half a metre thick; although it was very old-fashioned, with no digital locks or fancy laser alarms attached to it, this door was still impressive. I especially liked the giant bolts and tumblers.

*Oh, man,' Fergus exclaimed. *That is so cool. '

Even Amin had perked up. Reuben, however, wasn't interested in him a" or in Fergus. Reuben was watching my face.

*Now, this is where Reuben comes every full moon,' Dr Plackett remarked. He pulled the vault door open until its inner surface was revealed. *See that? And that?' he continued, indicating damage on the painted metal. *They're marks left by Reuben. You can see where he's been scratching at it, trying to get out. And this is where he chipped a tooth on the hinge. And if you come and look at this little patch, there's a smear of blood here with some hairs embedded in it. We didn't clean those off because we wanted you to examine them, Toby.' To my amazement, the doctor suddenly produced a heavy, silver-rimmed magnifying glass from somewhere beneath his jacket, like a magician pulling a scarf out of someone's ear. *You can even take those hairs with you, if you want,' he said, thrusting the glass into my hand. *Give them to any laboratory and you'll find that no one can identify the species. It's a unique dna signature. I can provide you with a sterile specimen bag, of course . . .'

Every eye was fixed on me. Everyone was waiting to see what I would do. Father Ramon smiled his encouragement.

Fergus said, *It's okay, Toby.' And he crooked his trigger finger, his gaze flicking towards Amin's back. If anything goes wrong , he was trying to say (without actually speaking), I'll whip out the nail gun .

*For God's sake . . .' I muttered, wishing that I was a million miles away. But I couldn't leave. I had to step forward and inspect the smear of blood. I had to appear cooperative if I wanted to be invited into the living room afterwards.

Besides, Nina was watching. And I didn't want to look like a snivelling kid in front of her .

*It's just here by the door,' Dr Plackett instructed. As I drew near him, I caught a whiff of his cologne, which was very strong. When I stuck my head into the bank vault, however, his piney scent was blasted away by a stench like a tidal wave. That stench a" I kid you not a" hit me with the force of a ten-tonne truck. I reeled back. I couldn't breathe. It did something weird to my muscles, which all contracted at once. It made my head spin, and my heart race, and the blood burn red-hot under my skin. It gripped my stomach like a fist.

*Toby?' said Father Ramon. *Are you all right?'

I had to get out. I was frantic. Something was after me a" I had to get out before it tore me to pieces!

Choking and gasping, I hurtled back upstairs.

N ext thing I knew, I was surrounded by sticky paintings of flowers and apples and teapots. They were crowding in on me. But I couldn't escape because someone was holding me back.

*Let go!' I cried, struggling and kicking.

*Calm down,' said Reuben. *It's all right.' His arms were clamped firmly across my chest like steel bars. And when I tried to buck him off, he drove the front of his knee into the back of mine.

*Ow!' My left leg crumpled.

*Toby, listen. No one's going to hurt you.' This was probably Father Ramon's voice, though I couldn't be sure. I wasn't really paying attention. As I threw myself backwards, Reuben staggered a little. For a moment I thought he was going to collapse under my weight.

*Jesus!' He managed to brace himself against the impact. * Calm down , or I will bloody hurt you!'

*No, you won't.' Dr Plackett was talking from somewhere in my immediate vicinity. He lowered his voice to add, *This is a post-traumatic response. Something to do with those specialised olfactory organsa"'

*For God's sake,' Estelle interrupted. I recognised her smoker's rasp. *Shut up and give the kid a valium or something, can't you?'

*Toby? Toby!' All at once I felt a cold little hand on my cheek. It was Nina's hand. The shock of that icy touch snapped me out of my panic; I stopped fighting to stare at her.

*Relax,' she said. *You're okay. What's wrong?'

*It was the smell,' Reuben growled into my ear. *It was the smell, wasn't it? Eh?' He shifted his grip. *There's nothing in that vault, mate. Just the smell.'

*Why is your hand so cold?' I mumbled. I was addressing Nina, who shrugged as she retreated a step.

*I don't know. I'm just a cold person,' she replied.