Without question Rebecca drives past my house. She turns to look at me; her blue eyes glinting.

"Where we going?"

"Kensington Cemetery."

Behind us Jared leans his big arms around the backs of our chairs and pokes his head through the gap between us. I look down at the newspaper, glancing at the crossed out obituary - the words not fresh enough scribbled beside it. That girl was buried yesterday. Shelley was buried this morning.

I feel sick as I think it over.

One of the cadavers is fresher than the other...

"I think he's going to dig up a grave. I think he's going to steal a body."

Out of the corner of my eye I see Jared's serious face blanche. Rebecca lets out a low whistle.

"Wow...gross..."

The crumpled paper rattles in my hands as the hearse weaves around the tall houses of suburban Kensington.

"I just don't understand why," I say.

"Not fresh enough," mumbles Jared.

Rebecca spares him a quick glance over her shoulder.

"Erm...you alright there, Creepy?"

He prods the damp newspaper, his finger touching Mr Redwood's writing. His lips are pursed as though frustrated we're not keeping up with his train of thought.

"Not fresh enough. Back at the wax museum the Curator said something Mr Redwood had supplied him with wasn't fresh enough. I wonder if he's been supplying him with..."

"Bodies," I mutter, feeling a horrible twist in my gut. "But why?"

The tall iron gates to the graveyard come into sight down the quiet road, nestled into an overgrown hedge running the vast perimeter of the cemetery.

"I did say those wax models look realistic..." says Rebecca.

"Jesus Christ, Rigor," I snap. "You don't think the models on display were actually...? No...surely not. That's...horrible."

She momentarily raises her hands from the steering wheel.

"Hey...I'm not the one doing it. What do you think, Jazza?"

He gives her a pained look.

"Jazza?! We're not brining that nickname back again are we?" He pauses then pulls his phone out of his jeans pocket. "I don't know. It's possible I suppose. I'll text Carter, see what he thinks."

The main Cemetery gates are closed, blocking access to the hearse, so Rebecca parks up. The road is deserted except for a vehicle a short way down the street. Rebecca narrows her eyes.

"That's Mr Redwood's car. I've seen it at school."

She pulls out the ignition and we sit in darkness for a moment – the only sound being the light patter of rain and Jared's fingers thudding against his phone as he sends the text to Carter.

"Do you think he's a demon?" I say.

Rebecca looks at me and holds my gaze.

"Maybe. Maybe not," her blue eyes darken. "Not all monsters come out at night."

The she opens the car door and jumps out of the hearse.

"Come on. Let's go find out what's going on."

I follow her to the gates, Jared clambering out behind us. The rain has pretty much desisted now but it has released scents into the air; fresh earth, grass and decaying flowers. We all look up at the tall iron gate, peering through the bars to the assortment of night painted headstones on the other side.

Then Rebecca strolls forward and rattles the padlock, sending a clattering noise out into the darkness. Jared and I both jerk our gazes towards her.

"Shhhhh!"

She raises her arms and tiptoes backwards a couple of steps.

"Sorry..." she whispers. She looks at me, "I don't suppose any part of you knows how to pick a lock, do they?"

I give her a look.

"I don't know," I snap.

She pulls a face then look back up to the slippery black bars of the fence.

"Hmm, OK...well I suppose you can jump it. You were like a human ping pong ball in the gym last week," she grins then her face falls as she sees my expression. "What?! It was a compliment."

"Being compared to a ball is not a compliment," I say. I look at the high fence, "And I can't jump over this, Kerri can. I can't just tap into her skills when I want – it doesn't work that way."

As we're talking Jared skulks off down the hedge. Rebecca turns to face me.

"Carter could help you with that, you know. Train you."

"I don't want to be..."

"Guys," interjects Jared from a few metres away. "There's a pedestrian entrance here. The chain has been broken. Mr Redwood must have come in this way."

There's a creaking sound as he pushes the gate and disappears into the foliage. Rebecca pulls a face at me.

"God, imagine how silly you would have looked if you'd have been kangarooing around the graveyard when there was an open gate all along..."

Despite myself the corner of my lip tugs upwards. I give her a soft shove and she stumbles to the side slightly, a big grin on her face.

"Shut up, Rigor."

We find the gate and follow Jared into the cemetery. He stalks ahead, his body looking tense.

"The newer graves are near the back," says Jared, his voice a little flatter than usual.

I wonder how he knows, but then remember what Rebecca said when I first met him. His girlfriend died. I wonder if she's buried here.

I decide not to mention it.

"What are we actually going to do when we find Mr Redwood?" I whisper.

"We'll restrain him and take him to Carter," says Jared.

"What?! We're going to kidnap a teacher??"

Rebecca raises an eyebrow at me.

"Well yeah... but a creepy body-snatching, potentially murderous, demonic teacher..."

I exhale heavily, wringing my hands together as my eyes dart about me. The headstones around this part of the cemetery seem newer. We must be getting close.

"OK...OK...I suppose that's OK then," I say shakily, "But... how?"

"There's three of us, one of him," whispers Jared, his eyes fixed on the dark path ahead.

Suddenly he stops dead and pulls us behind a nearby mausoleum, its white marble practically glowing in the dim light of the moon. The sound of shovelling permeates the air. We peer around the edge of the building and sure enough, Mr Redwood is digging up the fresh grave. He's panting heavily, and even in the murky light I can see his face is red from the exertion.

Jared turns to us, his jawline hard.

"Ready?"

I feel adrenalin surge through my veins. I nod.

He makes to step outwards but then the sound of more footsteps fill the night, coming from the path we just walked down. Jared takes a step back into Rebecca and me. From behind a group of men in suits and top hats approach the oblivious Mr Redwood. As they step into the moonlight I notice their black eyes and greyish sallow skin.

"They're the same type of demons we saw in the Meat Market," I whisper.

Rebecca puts a finger to her lips as one of them grabs Mr Redwood and spins him around. Our teacher's face whitens and he begins to whimper.

"You had your instructions," the gentlemanly demon says. "And this is how you act? She is not fresh enough."

Four other demons crowd around them.

"P...p...please," whimpers Mr Redwood. "She is fresh. Please. I don't want to kill. Not again."

The demons shakes his head, the moonlight refracting from the sharp bones in his face.

"The Curator did you a great service, getting rid of that first body for you. And this is how you repay him? With a dead body?!"

"Fine...just...just tell the world what I did. Tell...tell them about the killings. Anything. I don't want to do it anymore...please..."

"Do you think you're the only man who works for him? Do you think you're his only supplier of models?"

The demons around him take a step closer and Mr Redwood whimpers. Eerily wide grins cross their faces.

"Because you're not. He is the greatest artist the world has ever seen. And he will get his girls with or without you," he pulls out an old crooked dagger and I feel Rebecca tense beside me. "I'm afraid your services are no longer required."

Tears stream down Mr Redwood's podgy face.

"P...p...please..."

The demon thrusts the blade into his heart and our former teacher's screams are silenced. He is thrown into the grave he was digging. There is a thud as his corpse hits the wooden coffin.

"Bury him," says his killer.

Then he stiffens as though he hears something. He moves his head suddenly, his hollow eyes fixing on the mausoleum.

My body feels cold. Rebecca turns to me and Jared, her eyes wide.

"We need to get out of here," she whispers. "Now."