The Treatment: the gripping twist-filled YA thriller from the million copy Sunday Times bestselling author of The Escape. C.L. Taylor
snatch up my phone and click on the Snapchat icon. As I do the landing floorboards creak loudly. Someone’s creeping about outside my bedroom door.
‘Mum?’ I peer outside but it’s Tony’s shadow that disappears into the master bedroom. I hear the deep, bassy rumble of his voice then the door clicks closed. He’s making a call. Mum must be in the kitchen. I can hear plates and dishes clinking and clanking as though they’re being loaded into the dishwasher. I close my bedroom door and return to my desk. I swivel my chair round so I can see the door then I add ZedGreen as a friend on Snapchat. The request is immediately accepted so I tap out a message.
ME
My brother is at RRA and I’m worried about him. Can you help?
I have no idea who ZedGreen is. For all I know he could be someone at the academy, an ex-pupil, or even a teacher.
A message flashes up on the screen:
ZEDGREEN
Send me a photo.
I type back.
ME
Of what?
ZEDGREEN
You, holding a sign with today’s date written on it.
ME
Why?
ZEDGREEN
So I know you are who you say you are.
ME
But I don’t know who you are.
ZEDGREEN
You’re the one who came knocking on my door, not the other way round.
I stare at the screen. I don’t share photos. Not in real life and particularly not online.
I type back:
ME
I can’t do that. Sorry.
ZEDGREEN
Then we can’t talk. Goodbye.
ME
Wait! I need your help.
Thirty seconds pass. ZedGreen doesn’t reply. I tap my feet on the carpet. C’mon. C’mon. I put my phone down and do a search on Reddit using all the terms that led me to ZedGreen’s blog but there’s nothing. He’s the only person in the world who can help me and if I don’t do what he asks is not going to play ball. But if I show him a photo that means LoneVoice isn’t anonymous any more. I won’t be anonymous any more. If ZedGreen screenshotted my photo and put it online I wouldn’t be able to be me. I wouldn’t feel safe.
I snatch up my phone again.
ME
Please,
I tap out.
ME
My brother sent me a message telling me that he’s being brainwashed. I need to know if it’s true or not.
ZedGreen doesn’t reply.
ME
PLEASE!
I feel sick as he continues to ignore me. What if he only gave me one chance to respond and I’ve blown it? I’ll never find out the truth. If Dr Cobey was killed just for trying to help Mason, God knows what kind of danger he’s in. Mum and Tony are convinced that he’s fine. But what if he’s not? I could never forgive myself if something awful happened to him.
‘This had better not be a wind-up, Mase,’ I mutter, as I rip a page out of my journal and write today’s date on it. I hold it under my chin, reach out my arm and snap a scowling selfie.
A couple of seconds later and I’ve sent it to ZedGreen.
ME
There,
I type.
ME
Happy now?
The message is delivered but nothing happens. Zed doesn’t respond.
ME
Hello? Are you still there?
A sick feeling grips my stomach. Some random stranger has got my photo and I’m still no closer to finding out what’s going on with my brother.
Ping! My phone vibrates in my hand. A message from ZedGreen:
ZEDGREEN
If you want to discover the truth about the RRA you need to meet me. Grab a pen. I will send you details in my next message. Do not screengrab it. Do not tell anyone where you’re going. Meet me alone. If you break any of these rules I will vanish. Do we understand each other?
ME
Yes
I type back.
ME
Tell me where and when and I’ll be there.
I am waiting where Zed told me to meet him, under the horse chestnut tree in Redcatch Park. It’s seven o’clock and the park is almost pitch black. The only light is the amber glow from the houses on the edge of the park. It’s November and the ground is thick with fallen leaves. The red, orange, yellow leaves look gorgeous in the daytime but, at night, every crunch, every crackle, every skittering leaf makes me jump.
When Zed’s message flashed up on my phone.
ZEDGREEN
Horse chestnut tree, Redcatch Park, 7 p.m.
I actually laughed. Meet a total stranger in a deserted park in near darkness? What kind of idiot did he think I was?
ME
You need to show me a photo with today’s date. So I know who I’m meeting.
ZEDGREEN
You’ll find out who I am when we meet. This is as much of a risk for me as it is you.
ME
Why?
ZEDGREEN
You’ll understand when we meet.
ME
Understand what?
He didn’t reply.
In fact, he ignored every single message I sent him afterwards.
At dinner, I told Mum and Tony that I was going to Lucy’s to work on an English project. Tony raised an eyebrow – I never go to anyone’s house – but he didn’t say a word. Mum, on the other hand, couldn’t hide her delight.
‘Who’s Lucy? Is she a new friend? You haven’t mentioned her before. Would you like to invite her here? She could come to dinner. What’s your favourite food? I’ll make it if you like.’
She was so embarrassingly OTT I wanted to slide off my chair, slither across the kitchen floor and out the back door. Hooray, my hermit daughter has a friend. Let’s roll out the banners and pump up the balloons!
I’m not a total idiot. I didn’t go out in the dark to meet a stranger without telling anyone. I sent messages to three of my online friends – Chapman who lives in London, Isla who lives in Scotland, and Sadie who lives in Birmingham – telling them what had happened and including a photo of Mason’s note. Chapman replied straight away. He’s nineteen, a tester for a computer games company and he doesn’t go anywhere without at least four different gadgets.
You’re an idiot, he typed back. It’s probably some kind of paedo trap. Give me a sec and I’ll see what I can find out about ZedGreen.
A couple of minutes later he sent me another message.
Can’t find anything on ZedGreen but I still think you shouldn’t go.