The voice whispering in my head is much crueller than I ever expected it capable, but it is his nonetheless.

‘I can’t believe you told them my secret… now I’ll have to disappear, again!’

Alex is covering his ears when I look up, the disgusting sight of our headteacher just… forcing himself on Rory (though his thoughts claim this is for our sake, and that he’s sure it’s our only chance) enough to make me feel ill. I’m almost glad I can block sounds out when I read minds nowadays — it makes it easier to think.

I ignore Sir’s thoughts about his current actions, and the ones about Rory, but I pay close attention to what he’s thinking about Alex.

The, uh, less gross thoughts, anyway.

Nothing he thinks about Alex is good. A lot of it involves a price, and it seems a high one.

I know we need to move.

But I can’t.