Alex Rider wasn't happy. He was standing under the drooping tree next to the school gates, trying not to get too wet. It was raining, fat droplets splashed against the grey pavement, and every so often a car would drive past, splashing drain water over the kerb, closely missing Alex's school shoes.

Alex frowned at the parked cars, at the flickering street light opposite, that every now and then plunged the houses on the other side of the road into a murky darkness. Where on earth was Jack?

He checked his watch; it was three minutes to six, and then looked at the piece of paper clenched in his left hand. The first appointment had started at a quarter to, and Jack was never late.

Two shadowy figures appeared from inside the school gate, the taller one clutching an umbrella, trying to stop it from turning inside out. It wasn't working. Alex nodded at the smaller person. She was in his class.

The girl caught his eye, smiled quickly and hurried on, down the road and out of sight.

Parents evening. It was bad enough already, without having to prolong it any more by standing outside the school gate getting soaked in a storm, waiting for Jack who was already over a quarter of an hour late. Jack had said that she'd meet him at twenty to six, he remembered, because she had been up in town having lunch with a friend beforehand and she said that the timing would 'fit perfectly.'

Having lunch with a friend. Alex would have laughed if he hadn't been in such a bad mood. Not just any friend. He'd met Dan a couple of times- he was a nice kind of guy- they'd played on the computer, chatted- Dan had even helped Alex with his English coursework- he'd done a English degree at Cambridge.

Alex shoved one hand in his trouser pocket and focused his attention on the flickering street lamp opposite. On... Off… On... Off... He counted the seconds it was on for. One. Two. Three. Four. Then it turned off again.

He liked Dan. Jack certainly got on well with him. But try as he might, he really couldn't see Dan taking charge of a fourteen year old boy let alone a fourteen year old spy. A kid who came home every couple of weeks with a new set of injuries, a colder look in his eyes and more English and IT coursework than he could every catch up with. Yes. Alex could see that Dan might have a problem with that.

He turned away from the road and stared through wire fence, into the dark school grounds. The trees, surrounding the playing field groaned in the wind and the rain was whipped up into a frenzy over the grass. Football would be muddy tomorrow, Alex thought. The only lights coming from behind the fence were the ones from the school, and even they were eaten up quickly by the night and the storm. It was a miserable evening, the kind of one, contemplated Alex, which you'd see from a car window and feel glad you weren't out in.

Oh come on Jack.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked his missed calls. No one. So he dialled Jack's number and held the phone up to his ear. Nine rings, and then voicemail.

'Hi, Jack here! I'm sorry I can't get the phone at the moment, but if you leave a message with your name and number, I'll get back to you soon as I can.'

'Hey, Jack,' said Alex, raising his voice above the weather. 'I was just wondering where you are. If you could give me a ring and tell me how long you'll be that would be good…' He ended the call. Why was he bothering? Jack never checked her messages.

Several more people came out of the school, two boys, each with their mothers'.

'Hey. Rider,' one of them called. 'Still standing outside the gate!' He laughed.

'Druggie!' the other one called.

The smaller one's mother smiled at him. 'Hello there,' she simpered. Then they were gone.

Alex turned back to look at the school. He wasn't sure why he didn't go in- at least he'd be dry inside, but then he'd have to face his teachers. He wasn't sure he wanted to do that, even though he knew what they'd say. Prolonged Absences. Ill Health. All regrettable, but they were damaging his marks and chances of getting good grades at GCSE.

He kicked the fence with his shoe, probably a little harder than he meant to, and then scowled. He felt a shiver of fear run through him and squashed it immediately. This was ridiculous. Why was he scared? There was nothing to be scared of. He was just waiting for Jack outside the school gates.

Then the lights went out.

All was silent, but for the swaying of the trees and the patter of the rain. There was no one about. The road was suddenly hushed, and the street and the school behind him stood stock still.

Then he heard the purr of a car coming down the street. He raised himself on his tiptoes. It was a black BMW, headlights off, crawling along the road at a snail's pace. The windows were darkened but Alex could have sworn he saw the silver of a gun. Silently he stood beneath the trees and wondered what to do.

The people in the car was looking for him, he just knew it. Call it being paranoid but then and there he wanted, no, he knew he had to get away.

He looked up and down the street. At both ends, he could have sworn he could make out a shadowy figure. He took a deep breath and turned to the school. The lights hadn't come back on and the gate was open. If he could only scale the fence at the other end…

He was moving through the gate before he knew it, sticking to the shadows, sliding on the wet grass. He checked the road behind him. The car was drawing level with the gate. He carried on walking. He heard the engine turn off. Heard the noise of people getting out.

'Where is he?' someone said. The man was quiet yet sharp, and his voice cut through the rain like a knife. 'You said the boy would be here. Where the hell is he?'

Alex froze in the shadows of the trees and turned towards the road. A torch had been switched on, illuminating the shape of three men. One of them had their arm outstretched, and in his hand he held a gun.

'Where is he?'

The beam of the torch was passed over the playing field, illuminating the rain drops in the air and turning the grass a shining gold in the reflection. Alex stood frozen to the spot. The torch came closer to him. Still, he didn't move. Then it jerked away, back towards the school and the other side of field. Alex let out a deep breath and edged a little further away, taking care not to slip on the grass.

But suddenly, his foot touched down on a branch and it cracked under his weight.

'What was that?' one of the men hissed.

'The torch!' Another one said, and swung the beam over the grass until Alex was looking right into the glare, squinting at the light.

'There!' The man yelled, and cocked the gun.

Alex ran.