Nymphs

by Sari Luhtanen, Miikko Oikkonen

Genres: General Fiction; Fantasy Romance

Synopsis

Sexy, dark and exciting, NYMPHS is the novel of the smash-hit international TV series. Perfect for fans of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES and THE ORIGINALS. Meet the nymphs: living among us, they're forever young, dangerously seductive - and ever so deadly... A young man is found dead after a college party in a small town. His body bears the marks of a brutal attack, but police are mystified as to the actual cause of death. Afterwards, student Didi Tiensuu is approached by two mysterious women. Beautiful and other-worldly, they have come to warn her she is in danger. And to live, she must for ever leave her old life behind. There are evil forces at work that mere mortals can never comprehend. And Didi is about to discover her past is a lie. The night of reckoning is coming and the choice is hers. Reject her fate. Or accept her destiny and embrace her power...

Release date: August 27, 2015

Publisher: Headline

Print pages: 432

Sample

Prologue



The last rays of the setting sun penetrated the whitewashed hall, creating an amber glow. Before long, the southern night would turn pitch black, and even the plants surrounding the villa seemed to be anticipating the evening cool with relief. Didi stood there, looking at herself. She couldn’t understand how she could be in two places at once. Then the dream revealed itself in all of its familiarity. She was gazing at a marble statue of herself standing in the middle of a grand hall. She stepped in to examine it more closely, and marveled at the die-cast precision. The artist had captured every single strand of hair. And that wasn’t all. The artist clearly knew her intimately, because the statue wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing. Didi reached out to touch the surface of the statue. The marble was both cool and warm. But it was the smoothness that aroused the sensation in the pit of Didi’s stomach that she both craved and feared. It was desire. Didi was at a complete loss as how to react to it. The statue, on the other hand, smiled knowingly. It stood there on its bed of moss, hands at its sides, hiding nothing, utterly unashamed of its nakedness.

Suddenly Didi sensed that she was no longer alone in the magnificent hall. She turned around and saw a dark, broad-shouldered man in a starched white shirt and black trousers. The evening heat didn’t appear to faze him in the least. Meanwhile, beads of sweat gathered on Didi’s forehead and between her breasts. The man stared as one of the pearls of perspiration rolled lower, lower . . . Didi wanted to brush it away, but she was unable to move. A wine glass had appeared in the man’s hand, and he held it out to Didi.

‘Taste,’ he said. ‘It’s an old vintage, but that statue is older. I commissioned it centuries ago. I hadn’t seen you in the flesh yet. You are perfection, Desirée Volanté.’

Didi raised the glass to her lips. The wine was cold; she tasted apricot, a hint of resin.

The man’s gaze continued to linger on her and the sensation in the pit of her stomach intensified. A red glimmer appeared in the man’s eyes; a moment later they were burning like embers. They scorched her skin, she could feel them somewhere inside her, deeper than anything she had ever felt before. Pain, and yet not pain . . . Didi wanted to scream, but she couldn’t make a sound.

Didi snapped awake, her heart still hammering. Her belly was on fire, and her limbs were possessed by an agonizing tension.

It was only the dream again, Didi told herself, trying to breathe more steadily. She had had it so many times she ought to be used to it by now. And yet each time she had it, it was more vivid, somehow closer. A clear case of pent-up sexual energy, Laura had teased, and Didi had accused her friend of putting too much stock in what she read in Cosmo.

What Laura didn’t know was that, in the dream, Didi was also terrified she would die. She never wanted to have that dream again.

Didi rolled onto her side and slipped her hand lower, down past her belly. If Laura was right, she ought to take appropriate measures. Maybe that would keep the restless dream from tormenting her again.



Chapter 1



The sight facing Didi in the bathroom mirror was becoming far too frequent. She had dressed for school and was giving herself the final once-over before she headed out the door, but at the last minute she had to stop and take a peek under the collar of her aquamarine hoodie.

‘Fuck!’

She heaved her bag onto the bed and grabbed the tube of concealer from beside the mirror. She squeezed out a little too much, and the mess frazzled her nerves even more. She calmed herself and tried to spread the makeup as evenly as possible over the bruise that was starting to stick out above her collar. Then she assessed her handiwork. No one would probably notice.

Didi raced down the stairs, into the kitchen and over to the fridge, flying past her mom. She’d down a quick gulp of juice and then head out before they had time to start fighting.

‘You’re going to be late,’ Elina nagged, just like Didi knew she would.

Didi filled her glass with one slosh. ‘I couldn’t sleep.’

‘It’s probably the moon. It kept me up, too. I was reading a detective novel until it was almost time to get up.’

‘Sounds like it was the book, not the moon.’

‘You’re going to have to run,’ Elina said, putting the juice carton back in the fridge.

Elina picked up her gargantuan coffee mug with both hands. She examined Didi as she drank her juice and before Didi could turn away, Elina had swept Didi’s long red hair away from her throat. Didi shoved her mother’s hand away in irritation.

‘They’re not hickeys,’ Didi said.

‘I never said they were.’ Elina clearly had no interest in starting her morning off bickering either, but she couldn’t hide her concern any more than Didi could hide the marks on her skin.

Didi didn’t have to say what she was thinking; her eyes said it all. She slammed the glass down on the counter and rushed out.

But she did tell Laura what she was thinking.

‘Why does Mom have to treat me like a little kid?’ They were in the gym locker room, and Didi handed her best friend the extra pair of clean panties she was loaning her.

A couple of other girls walked past, already clothed, and Didi and Laura waited a second so they could talk privately. Earlier, Didi had spilled the entire contents of her bag onto the bench to find the panties Laura needed, and now she was cramming everything back in.

‘That’s just how moms are, I guess,’ Laura said, wrapping the towel more tightly around her. Water was still dripping from her brown hair onto her shoulders. ‘Besides, you have less to complain about than I do. I’d be so goddamn grateful if I didn’t have to deal with periods.’

‘It’s not as great as you think it is, believe me.’

Didi shut the red metal door to her locker and sat down next to Laura. Laura was shorter than she was and more delicately built, but in Didi’s mind she was still somehow more feminine. Didi lowered her bag to the floor.

‘It’s not some disease, is it?’ Laura said. ‘God, you’re so lucky, you can jump around in your shorts as much as you want without having to worry.’

‘As usual, Mom has a diagnosis. Like she does for all of my problems,’ Didi said. ‘At least it has a fancy name: Primary amenorrhea. Your period just never starts; it’s some hormonal thing. There’s still nothing to worry about if you’re only sixteen.’

‘I guess.’ Laura collected her clothes and headed for the bathroom. ‘I think it’s a gift. Think about it. No migraines, no insatiable craving for chocolate, no bloating.’

‘I wouldn’t mind being a woman, though,’ Didi said.

‘Yeah, but you get to be a woman without this,’ Laura said, pointing at the cheerful red pimple sticking out in the middle of her chin. ‘See ya!’

Didi waved her fingertips at Laura, signaling that she was leaving and Laura should take her time getting ready. Didi yanked the zipper on her bag shut and headed out to the bike rack. Easy for Laura to say, she thought, kicking at the gravel with the tips of her tennis shoes. Laura was fun, popular, she got to live her life without someone breathing down her neck all the time, she got to date . . . Didi wasn’t so sure about Laura’s boyfriend, but Laura refused to listen to any criticism about him.

Didi unlocked her bike, tossed her bag over her shoulder, and started pedaling. At least Mom wouldn’t be home from work yet. She’d have a moment’s peace before the badgering began.

This pleasurable thought inspired Didi to pick up her pace, and before long, she was turning onto her street. She had almost reached their white wooden house with the mansard roof when something buzzed out of nowhere and flew into her hair. Didi was startled and tried to rake the creature out, but whatever it was seemed to be getting more and more entangled in her tresses. Didi started to panic. She lost control of her bike, and immediately her front tire hit the curb.

‘Goddammit . . .’

Didi barely had time to swear before her knee was scraping nastily against the asphalt; the pain made tears spring to her eyes. The bike crashed over on its side. Didi lay there on the ground, wondering for a moment whether she was dead or alive, and then she could tell she was alive from the pain. She heard someone honking behind her. The stupid idiot was probably getting a good laugh.

Didi half-crawled over to the edge of the sidewalk and pulled herself up. Luckily her bike had toppled to the side of the street. She examined her wound and tried to straighten her leg. Then she heard footsteps. Didi got even more worked up. Now the jerk is going to come over and tell me to be more careful. What a dick, she thought.

‘Did you fall?’ asked a young man’s voice.

Didi squinted into the sunlight. She gradually made out a tall young man in khaki cargo shorts and a gray T-shirt that had seen better days. He had brown hair and a nose that was a little too big for his face.

‘Impressive deduction,’ Didi said, immediately wishing she had bitten her tongue. The guy is hot, Laura would have pointed out. Come on, at least try a little.

He knelt down next to Didi.

‘Can I take a look?’ he asked, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressing it against Didi’s wound. ‘It’s clean.’

Didi didn’t even have time to be thrown off by the sudden contact, because she was staring so intently into the boy’s eyes. ‘Ouch,’ she said, a second too late.

‘It doesn’t look too bad. What exactly happened back there?’

‘Some bug flew out of the bushes and attacked me,’ Didi said. A nervous giggle struggled to get out, but she managed to stifle it.

‘Show me who did it and I’ll kill the bastard,’ the boy said.

This time Didi dared to laugh. She was on the verge of saying something, but of course right at that moment, her mom appeared on the porch. Elina wasn’t even supposed to be home yet!

‘Didi!’ Elina’s voice was angry from the get-go. ‘Didi, get in here right this instant!’

The boy stood up and tried to wave at Elina, but Didi’s mother refused to look in his direction. He looked at Didi inquisitively.

‘That’s my mom,’ Didi explained.

‘You didn’t manage to get too far on your escape, did you? My name’s Johannes.’

‘Didi. I guess I’d better get going. My mom’s a doctor. She ought to be able to patch up a scratched knee.’

Johannes picked up Didi’s bike and carried it along, following Didi as she limped into the yard. Elina had already gone back inside, but she was monitoring the young people from the window. She gestured sternly at Didi.

‘I really have to go,’ Didi said. She limped up the porch stairs a little theatrically. But the bee that had flown into her hair and the pain were long forgotten.

Once she got inside, Didi scurried into the bathroom without any trouble at all. She pulled the door shut and twisted the lock. She could hear Elina waiting on the other side of the door, though, and she totally lost it.

‘Stop spying on me like I’m some fucking twelve year old,’ she shouted, while she searched the cabinets, looking for Band-Aids and antiseptic.

‘You’re the one who’s acting like a twelve year old,’ Elina retorted.

‘Can’t I even go to the bathroom in peace? Or is that also too much to ask these days?’

‘Didi, knock it off,’ Elina said, listening to the sounds Didi was making. ‘I was just worried.’

Didi sat down on the toilet lid. Mom had always been protective when it came to her, but lately she had practically turned into a stalker. ‘Worried about what – that I’m going to go off with some guy, get shit-faced, and next thing you know I’ll be pregnant?’

‘You know why.’

‘I’m serious.’ Didi tried to pull the backing off the Band-Aid. ‘I never met that guy before and I wasn’t trying to get anything past you. Not all men want to get into your pants right away. Some are just nice guys.’

‘Didi, teenage boys are only nice for one reason.’

Why did Mom always have to blurt out the wrong thing? On some level, Didi knew that Elina was trying to comfort her, even make up to her, but instead all she heard was bitching and nagging. Didi didn’t say anything so Mom would have time to calm down. A moment later, there was a tentative knock at the door.

‘Let me in so I can have a look.’

Didi had no intention of giving in. She knew Mom had agonized over every tiny bump and scratch of hers since she was a little girl, so Elina may as well agonize a little longer.

‘I’m putting disinfectant on it. Stop bugging me.’

Didi poured antiseptic over the scratch. But when she thought about Johannes’ smiling eyes, she couldn’t even feel the sting.



Chapter 2



Didi was standing in the middle of her room, gazing at her reflection. She was perplexed by what she saw. Earlier that day, when she had carried the pastel floral bra and panties over to the cashier, she was certain that the salesperson, a disapproving old sourpuss, assumed that they were meant for someone else’s enjoyment. That had flustered Didi, but Didi had known what she wanted, and she had put on an air of self-confidence. Now she wondered how she had ever been capable of such a performance. There was a stranger looking back at her from the mirror, a stranger who looked like a woman. But Didi didn’t feel like a real woman at all.

Still, Didi had wanted something special for tonight. Her gaze focused on the inviting red bow between her breasts. The first time she and Johannes met they had gone to a movie, and then for coffee, and then they had started to see each other without any pretenses. And each time, things had gone a little further. Tonight they were going to Laura’s party, and there was no reason why it shouldn’t be just a totally normal date. But ever since they had made plans over the phone, Didi had felt a growing desire within her. Was there something in Johannes’ voice this time that had responded to Didi’s cravings?

These days it’s not like your virginity is some major achievement that you have to guard with your life, Didi thought. Laura had encouraged her to take the final step plenty of times. But was it a little over the top to prepare for it by buying a new bra and panties?

Didi bent in closer to the reflective surface of the mirror and scanned her skin for the teeny-tiny bruises with a practiced eye. They had appeared for as long as she could remember. When she found one, she deftly covered it up with concealer and highlighter. Her highlighter was about to run out, too – it was almost time to get a new one.

Didi glanced over at the bed, where the floral spring dress she had bought on the same shopping trip was laid out. Now she slipped into it. The lightweight fabric put her in a party mood. Didi spun around in front of the mirror once, but her sense of satisfaction proved momentary. Back in the store, Laura had called the dress frumpy, even though it was cut beautifully at the breasts and caressed Didi’s hips as it skimmed down. Laura had carried a couple of her own suggestions into the dressing room. They were a lot sexier and more revealing, and Didi had liked them for a second, but then she realized that they would make her too self-conscious, too embarrassed at the party. This dress was cute, the cotton felt so wonderful against her skin. Maybe if she put her hair up, or knotted it in a cute bun, or . . .

Didi was overcome with frustration down to the hairs on her neck. She had envisioned herself gliding into the party, carefree and beautiful. The other guests’ gazes would be drawn to her, but the gaze of only one guest would be important, and both of them knew it . . . That’s how it always happened in the books and the movies. But probably not in real life. Didi tugged the zipper down and let the dress fall to the floor in a heap. After a moment’s thought, she went over to her closet and pulled out a blouse and skirt, but thirty seconds later they ended up on the floor too. As did her black miniskirt. She reached for her cell phone.

‘Laura—’ Didi didn’t have time to say anything except her friend’s name.

‘Flirty white skirt, pink top and your new patent heels. Ponytail, nude makeup, maybe a little extra lip gloss. Done and out the door,’ Laura said.

‘Am I really that hopeless?’

‘Yes,’ Laura replied. ‘Luckily your personal stylist is only a phone call away. Hurry up, get over here.’

In the end, Didi decided she wouldn’t try so hard after all. She put the new dress back on. A moment later, she was bounding down the stairs two at a time. She’d better try to get past Mom quickly. Luckily, Elina looked like she was in a hurry, too; she was trying to gobble down a sandwich and put on her coat at the same time.

‘Where are you going this late?’

‘I promised Laura I’d go to her party.’

Elina swallowed a bite of her sandwich and Didi knew there was no escaping her mother’s eagle eyes. She folded her arms across her chest and stood there, bracing herself for the criticism.

‘It’s a full moon tonight,’ Elina said. ‘When it’s a full moon, you’re always . . .’

‘I’m what?’

‘You always have a hard time sleeping,’ Elina said.

‘Right, so I may as well go to a party,’ Didi said defiantly.

‘I’m working the late shift. I can drop you off at Laura’s.’

‘I’ll ride my bike.’

Elina followed Didi at a half-run, but then she remembered her purse and had to go back inside. Didi made it to the gate with her bike before she heard a window open and Elina call out.

‘You won’t stay out too late, will you, honey?’

‘No, Mom,’ Didi answered, without meaning it in the least. She waved, and a second later, she was out of sight.

It was a perfect end-of-summer evening: dusky but warm, and the heady scents of flowers and ripening apples mingled into such a heavy perfume that Didi could feel it on her skin and streaming off her hair. The tiff with Mom had seemed like it might develop into a full-blown fight, but now Didi was swaying in Johannes’ arms on the dimly lit patio, and she thrust it out of her mind. Didi looked around for Laura, but her friend was utterly focused on smiling at her boyfriend. A few couples were moving along with Didi and Johannes in time to the gentle rhythms of the music. The rest of the guests were talking animatedly, helping themselves to food, clinking their wine glasses. And yet Didi and Johannes’ expressions were grave. Suddenly Didi let out an involuntary gasp; the heavy clouds blanketing the sky parted, and the full moon gleamed above them, a pale disc. Johannes pulled her closer.

‘What is it?’ Didi asked.

She followed his eyes over to the side of the patio, where a few young men were shamelessly ogling Didi. Didi had been aware of how she had been drawing the attention of men all night. She was like a magnet. It was disgusting. She didn’t want the men to look at her; it made her feel like there was something wrong with her. Tonight she wanted to concentrate on Johannes and Johannes alone.

The slow song switched to a faster one and Didi let Johannes twirl her a little further away. Both of them wanted to lighten the mood. Didi allowed her gaze to circle around to the other guests, the toasts, the people in their party clothes. The mood was buoyant, and with the help of the music, it rapidly infected Didi. She smiled at Johannes, and that made her feel bolder. It was easy to give in to the rhythm and not have to say anything.

By the time the song ended, Didi was sweltering.

‘You want to go outside?’ Johannes asked, his voice hoarse.

Before Didi could answer, he had grabbed her hand and was leading her back out onto the patio, a little further away from the others. They found a bench and sat down, and Johannes wrapped his arms around Didi. The party, the music, Johannes so close to her . . . The moment was absolutely everything Didi had dreamed of.

Didi looked up, and now her eyes met Johannes’. She pressed herself against him. Johannes didn’t need to say a word; he could tell Didi felt what he was feeling.

‘I want to be together, you know, really be together,’ Johannes said right at the base of Didi’s ear.

Didi ran her fingertips across Johannes’ throat. Her skin touched his, and for an instant Didi expected to be surrounded by flying sparks. They looked deep into each other’s eyes. Wow, Didi thought, relieved. This is the feeling I’ve been waiting for. Her belly felt hot. Johannes’ hand moved lower, to her thigh, and her heart almost leapt out of her chest. She would never be more ready.

Laura’s knowing glances followed Didi and Johannes as they discreetly made their way out of the party. Laura mimed that she would be expecting a full report from Didi later, and Didi acknowledged her with a noncommittal nod and a wave.

Now she and Johannes were sitting on the seats of their bicycles. The cooling air caressed Didi’s face, offering momentary relief from the burning she was feeling inside. Their tires hummed steadily down the asphalt as the branches of the trees overhead reached across and grasped each other. Didi held out her hand, too, and Johannes did the same.

Didi burst into peals of laughter, the sensation was so indescribably right. At that instant, she loved Johannes, she loved this evening, and she loved the anticipation that would soon be rewarded. They rode the rest of the way hand in hand, and didn’t let go until they curved into Didi’s yard.

They walked through the dim house and upstairs to Didi’s room, and Didi’s self-confidence immediately evaporated. She had been so certain of what she wanted. Now her head was overflowing with Laura’s practical instructions, the theoretical lessons from health class, and Mom’s endless sermons and warnings. She stole a peek at Johannes and went over to sit on the windowsill to collect her thoughts and win some time.

The moonlight struck her face, and she felt her body tense as she took off her coat. She took a deep breath. I need this, it needs to happen now, she said almost out loud. A warm sensation rippled through her, surging into a larger wave. All it would take would be a single touch from Johannes, and the wave would crash over and engulf her.

Johannes came over next to her and tentatively stroked her cheek. Didi guided his hands to the straps of her dress, helped him lower them. Her dress fell to her waist. Didi shivered.

‘We don’t have to,’ Johannes said, but the hoarseness in his voice spoke a different language as he drew Didi in to his body. ‘There’s no wrong way of doing this.’

‘And this is just our first time,’ Didi said.

Didi leaned into Johannes’ inviting smile, inhaling both the potent high summer pouring in through the windows and Johannes’ fresh, masculine scent.

‘You smell nice,’ Didi whispered, her breathing growing heavier. Now she was back to knowing what she should do. She slowly unbuttoned Johannes’ shirt, until she saw his broad, bare chest. She rose gracefully from the windowsill, and Johannes couldn’t take his eyes off her as she stepped into the middle of the floor and pushed her dress all of the way down. It slid to the floor with a soft rustle, and then she was standing in its pool, like a flower that had relinquished its petals.

And at that moment, all of her timidity fell away. She enjoyed the way Johannes’ eyes lingered over her, full of longing and expectation. He took a couple of slow steps towards her and wrapped her in his embrace. They kissed.

As Didi continued to unbutton Johannes’ shirt, he pulled off his belt. Their movements melted into one. Hot flesh pressed into hot flesh. Didi was panting by the time she led Johannes over to the edge of the bed. She flung her stuffed animals aside.

Didi wrapped her arms around Johannes’ neck. Even though her desire was insatiable, she wanted to experience every inch of Johannes’ mouth, chest, throat, waist. She wanted everything to happen in such a way that she would never forget a single second of this.

‘Let’s take our time, OK?’ Didi whispered into Johannes’ ear, and she could see the shivers run up and down his spine.

‘Didi . . .’ Johannes started to say, but Didi wasn’t interested in listening to silly words any more.

Didi settled into his arms, soft and warm, and slowly unclasped her bra. She lifted his hands to her breasts and moaned as he curled his lips around one of her nipples. She was afraid she would completely melt into a puddle. She tilted her head, and her lips searched for Johannes’ mouth. Their tongues toyed with each other for a moment, and then their kisses grew greedy.

Didi was on fire. She and Johannes were in each other’s arms, and she leaned back on the bed. Johannes was tender and passionate at the same time. Didi had no idea how good another pair of lips could feel as they nipped lightly at your stomach and your inner thighs. Or how wonderful the weight of a man’s body could feel against hers. Her senses were so heightened that she felt like she had been drugged; the world fell away. Most of all, she was aware of Johannes’ scent. He smelled clean and masculine, and his aroma entered her nostrils and traveled deep into her chest, and then lower down. Didi pulled Johannes up, pressed her face against his throat, and licked it so long and hard that he groaned out loud.

Johannes worked his way between her legs and caressed the curve of her buttocks with one hand before slightly raising her hips.

‘I’ll be careful,’ Johannes whispered, pulling a condom on with a practiced hand.

‘Let’s stop talking,’ Didi said.

The tile under Didi’s cheek was cold and cruel. Her skin no longer tingled with joy, and the only smell she could make out was the faint whiff of disinfectant. She curled up into an even tighter ball on the bathroom floor. She was cold, but she was incapable of getting up. All she wanted to do was keep her eyes closed and wait for someone to come take her away, to say something that would dispel the horror.

A car drove past, and she could hear partygoers laughing. Of course. It was a perfect night for carefree fun. A tear rolled down Didi’s cheek. She didn’t dare to give in to the emotion, because that would make her start crying uncontrollably and hysterically, and insanity would take hold of her.

Then Didi felt the gleam of the moon and slowly opened her eyelids. Through the window, she could see the silvery sphere slip out from behind the clouds, bathing the room in a pale light. The light called to her, and, shivering, she rose. She pulled a bathrobe from the hook and wrapped it tightly around her, but she felt like she would never be warm again. Didi slowly walked back to her room and gazed at the moon, as if it could offer her advice. But none came, and Didi had to fall back on plan B. She groped for her cell phone.

‘Laura?’ Didi sobbed.

‘Well, how did it go?’ Laura was giggling. ‘Tell me everything!’

Didi heard the chattering and the clinking of glasses from Laura’s party in the background. Just a little while ago she had been there, too, but now that felt like another reality.

‘Did you finally lose your virginity? Things looked pretty promising when you guys left,’ Laura said.

A wail escaped Didi’s lips.

‘What’s going on?’ Laura seemed to sense that something was seriously wrong. ‘Did he do something to you? Wait a sec, I’ll go in the other room.’

Didi stared at her bed, and once again her limbs were paralyzed in horror.

‘Is everything OK?’ Laura asked a second later, this time with no background noise. ‘Didi?’

‘Johannes . . .’ Didi didn’t know if she would be able to say it out loud. She raised her eyes and saw Johannes lying naked on the bed. Johannes was smiling. But Johannes wasn’t breathing any more. ‘I think Johannes is dead.’

Even Laura didn’t have a response to that.

And from somewhere, the faint drone of a bee carried into Didi’s consciousness.



Chapter 3



Didi opened her eyelids and saw a pair of gentle eyes, familiar and yet unfamiliar. Johannes didn’t die after all, she thought, exhaling. Her relief was immeasurable. It had all just been a bad dream. Soon Laura would be laughing heartily at Didi about the pressures of losing her virginity.

‘Didi, is that you?’ asked a voice. But it wasn’t Johannes’. ‘Did that bee sting you?’

And the eyes weren’t Johannes’ either; they were blue-green and steady and Didi had seen them countless times. The expression in them was familiar from years ago. Didi had just jumped off the deep end of the dock for the first time, and suddenly she hadn’t been sure which way was up and which way was down. The feeling she was experiencing right now was exactly the same, and just like back then, she found herself gazing into a calm but concerned pair of eyes.

‘Samuel?’ Didi was completely bewildered. ‘Where am I?’

‘Outside the hospital,’ Samuel said. ‘I told your friend to go in and get you some water. A bee was buzzing around you and you freaked out. I brought you into the shade. Bees only like the sunlight.’

Didi looked around. She saw a large, pale building, people walking in and out of a broad set of sliding doors, and a green lawn. She gradually realized where she was.

Then her gaze shifted back to Samuel, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her this whole time. He was wearing a white lab coat. His hair was brown and shaggy,