The Host

by Beth Chambers

  I’ve got my wish.

  Alex is gone.

  Chapter Eight

  “Alex!” yells Brains. He tries to get to the edge of the hole but the flames are so hot that he has to step back.

  The door to the corridor suddenly swings open and we stumble through it.

  “We have to get help,” Warren shouts, his eyes wide with fear.

  We race along the corridor, our feet pounding the dusty floorboards.

  An eerie low light fills the corridor. It looks like it’s coming from the moon but I can’t see any windows. And that’s not all. I can’t see any doors, either. The corridor twists and we race down another long passageway. It turns but there are still no doors or windows.

  I skid to a stop and hold my side. “We should go back,” I gasp. “We will never be able to get out this way.”

  We turn around. The passage we just raced through is now blocked with a solid wall. Brains runs up to it and beats his fists against the stone.

  Warren spins around and stares at me. His hair is stuck against his forehead and his face shines with sweat. “This is all your fault!” he yells. “We would never have come here if it wasn’t for you trying to make us think you are so cool!”

  Brains slides down the wall to the ground and hugs his knees against his chest. “What if we never find a way out?” he whispers. “What if no one ever finds us?”

  “Shut up!” Warren snaps. “That is not going to happen because Dribbler is going to get us out of here.” His eyes are full of fear as he walks up close to me. He prods me in the chest as he speaks. “Isn’t… that… right… Dribbler?”

  I stare at him. I want to tell him how unfair he is being but no words come out of my mouth. If the boys didn’t always mock me I would never have tried to impress them. Anyway, they had heard Mystic Miranda’s warning as clearly as I did but they still wanted to come here. Why is this my fault?

  Warren reaches out and gives me a push that sends me flying back. I land heavily and hear him coming towards me. “Come on, loser,” he says. “Why don’t you find a way out of here and impress us for the first time in your life?”

  I get to my feet. The scratching sound that has been going since we came in to the house gets louder in the sudden silence. It is enough to drive me mad. I feel a surge of anger run through me. Fine, I will find a way out. I will prove to them that I am not a loser.

  Deciding to ignore Warren I call over my shoulder to Brains. “Follow me.” I shove past Warren. I wish that Warren had never been born.

  I stride along the corridor, and make a turn. At the end of the passageway is a flight of stairs.

  “I think this is the way out!” I call back over my shoulder.

  Brains brushes past and races towards the stairs.

  I peer into the gloom behind me. “Come on, Warren!”

  I turn back around, wondering if Warren has gone past without me noticing. But up ahead there is only Brains, his pale face staring out through the gloomy light.

  He looks blankly at me.

  “Who is Warren?”

  Chapter Nine

  “Stop fooling around,” I snap. “Where is he?”

  “Who?” Brains frowns. Before I can answer he says, “I’m not hanging around while you have a nervous breakdown. Are you coming with me or staying here?” Without waiting for my answer he disappears down the stairs, his steps quickly fading.

  “Warren!” I shout, peering into the gloom. No reply. I’m not going to hang around any longer on my own. Cursing Brains for leaving me I chase after him.

  There are even more stairs here than in my tower block. I can’t see Brains but I can hear him just ahead, his feet tapping out a rhythm as he takes each step.

  “Wait up!” I shout and his footsteps slow.

  I catch up with him and grasp his arm. “This is pointless,” I tell him. “We are never going to reach the end.”

  Brains shakes me off. “There are no such things as ghosts,” he says, his face terrified. “This is all in my mind. If I believe I can get out of here, I will.”

  “Just like Warren was all in my mind?” I snap. “Wake up, Brains. We are in a haunted house and its owner isn’t going to let us go.”

  Goosebumps break out all over my body. I’m too young to die. This is all the others’ fault. If they hadn’t always given me a hard time over everything I wouldn’t have needed to try and impress them.

  Brains shakes his head. “There has to be a way out,” he gasps. “You stay here if you want but I’m going to keep moving.”

  He doesn’t care if I’m trapped in here forever. So much for friendship. “Fine,” I tell him. “Disappear then. We will see how long you last on your own.”

  A startled expression flits over Brains’ face and he holds up his hands. For a moment I think he is trying to make peace with me but then I notice something strange is happening. His palms are blurry as if they are out of focus. “What’s happening?” I whisper.

  Brains’ body starts to shimmer until I can see straight through him. “Dribbler!” he screams. “What’s happening?”

  “I don’t know,” I whimper, shrinking away from him.

  Brains disappears, fading to nothing.

  I’m left in silence. Apart from the one persistent sound.

  Scratch… scratch… scratch.

  Chapter Ten

  “Brains!” I yell, covering my ears with my hands to block out the sound of the scratching.

  I run down the stairs, two at a time even though I can barely make them out in the half-light. “I just want to get out of here,” I sob.

  I reach the final step so suddenly that I fall forward. I put my hands out in front of me to break my fall. I roll over on the dusty floorboards before scrambling to my feet.

  The front door is in front of me.

  I have never been so glad to see a door in my entire life. To the side of it is a small wooden table, with an open book on it. Finally, I see where the scratching sound is coming from. Above the book floats an old-fashioned feathered quill pen. The quill’s nib is writing on the pages of the book and making that horrible scratching sound.

  Fear trickles down my spine. The old man who lived here was an author. Is he moving the pen now? Is he causing things to happen? I am desperate to get out of the house. I inch along the opposite wall keeping as far away from the book as possible.

  I keep my eyes fixed on the open front door. Please let it stay open. I’m sweating with fear as I reach the doorstep. My heart thuds so loudly I swear I can hear it.

  As I’m about to step outside, the scratching sound stops.

  I look back and see that the quill has stopped writing.

  Suddenly I want to know what has been written in the book. “The others are right, you really are a fool,” I mutter to myself.

  Immediately the quill begins to write again. I watch it form the words I’ve just spoken on the page. Before I know what I’m doing I stride over to the table and seize the book. I flick back through the pages and read aloud some of the spidery writing.

  “Dribbler told his friend to disappear.” I flick back further. “With a rush of hate Dribbler wished his friend had never been born.” My breathing comes hard and fast as I flick back to the first page. “Dribbler’s friend pushed him over. Foul water spilt over Dribbler from an old bucket. All Dribbler wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow his friend.”

  “No!” I shout. “That’s not what I wanted. I just wanted them to stop making fun of me all of the time!”

  The book is ripped out of my hands and flips its pages back to the last entry. The quill then begins to write, “Dribbler stared at the book and read the fates of his friends.”

  An idea suddenly comes to me. “Dribbler wished that his friends would each come back,” I call out, my voice echoing around the hall. “He wished Alex would return from the hole in the ground.”

  As the quill begins to form my words the door handle of the downstairs room rattles. The door jerks
open and Alex stumbles out. His face is blackened and his clothes are covered in filth.

  “No!” A voice howls. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to end. You’re spoiling the story!”

  A picture is ripped off the wall and flung at me. I duck and it crashes to the floor. “Dribbler then wished that Warren had been born,” I yell, “and that Brains would reappear.”

  Footsteps suddenly race across the landing above our heads. A moment later Warren and Brains clatter down the stairs.

  “This is my house and this is my story,” the terrible voice shrieks. A vase rises into the air from a rotting sideboard. It floats for a moment before being thrown at me.

  “No,” I shout back as the vase explodes against the wall behind me. “It’s my story and I get to decide how it ends.”

  I point at the door and watch my friends run out of the house.

  I suddenly realise that anything I say will happen. I have the power over the quill. I could make myself a hero in my friends’ eyes. I could make myself into the coolest boy in school. I open my mouth to say the words but instead find myself saying, “My friends must remember nothing of their visit to the haunted house. You have caused enough misery with your haunting. Now you must leave and never return.”

  “No!” The voice howls as the quill scratches down my words. The book slams shut and the voice fades to nothing.

  I rush out of the house where I find my friends waiting. They all look bored.

  “You are such a loser, Dribbler,” Warren says. “That is not a haunted house.”

  “Actually,” I tell him standing up straight and looking him in the eyes, “the name is Nic. Not Dribbler. Don’t forget it.” I turn and walk away and the others follow behind me.

  Right that minute I made myself a promise. I’ll never let my friends boss me around again. From now on I’ll be the author of my own story.”

  Bonus Bits!

  Beth Chambers

  Here are a few fascinating facts about the author of this book. Maybe you could have your writing published one day…

  When Beth was little she enjoyed:

  building dens

  climbing trees

  writing ideas for stories on pieces of paper

  Beth had her first short story published when she was only 16 years old. Her first novel was published when she was in her mid-20s.

  Since then Beth has had over 40 books published. Some of these were written under a made up name (known as a pseudonym).

  Test your knowledge

  Turn to the back for the answers (no peeking along the way!)

  1. How many steps did Dribbler have to walk down when his lift was not working?

  a) 127

  b) 124

  c) 131

  2. Why does Dribbler jump on top of the bin?

  a) He thinks the angry dog from the estate is following him.

  b) He is scared of the angry Jack Russell that is following him.

  c) He wanted to make his friends laugh.

  3. Why is the narrator’s nickname Dribbler?

  a) He once fell asleep in History and dribbled on his desk.

  b) He dribbles when he is eating.

  c) He once fell asleep at his friend’s house and dribbled on a cushion.

  4. What is the name of the Science teacher?

  a) Mr Green

  b) Mr Flick

  c) Mr Kelly

  5. Why is Aunt Flick’s house a good setting for a Halloween party?

  a) It is haunted.

  b) It is a big, rambling house overlooking the sea.

  c) It is cold and dark.

  6. What job did the man who first lived in Magpies do?

  a) He was an author.

  b) He was an accountant.

  c) He was a teacher.

  7. What does Dribbler smell when he enters Magpies?

  a) burning

  b) rat droppings

  c) mint

  8. What happens to the chair in the room?

  a) it breaks up into pieces

  b) it rocks on its own

  c) it bursts into flames

  9. What is Dribbler’s wish about Warren?

  a) he would vanish

  b) he had never been born

  c) he would fall down a hole.

  10. What is making the horrible scratching sound?

  a) A quill writing on the pages of the book all by itself.

  b) The man who is sitting at the table writing in his book.

  c) The rats in the skirting boards.

  Who said what?

  Read each quote below and decide which of these characters said it:

  1. Aunt Flick

  2. Warren

  3. Dribbler

  4. The old author

  5. Brains

  6. Alex

  7. Mystic Miranda

  Check back in the book too if you need to.

  “…you may want to be on the lookout for the hamster I hear is on the loose.”

  “Running away is the worst thing you can do.”

  “I’m having a Halloween party next weekend.”

  “Someone pass me my head.”

  “Beware new places.”

  “Actually, the name is Nic.”

  “This is my house and this is my story.”

  Answers to “Test your knowledge”

  1. b) 124

  2. b) He is scared of the angry Jack Russell that is following him.

  3. a) He once fell asleep in History and dribbled on his desk.

  4. c) Mr Kelly

  5. b) It is a big, rambling house overlooking the sea.

  6. a) He was an author.

  7. b) rat droppings

  8. c) it bursts into flames

  9. b) he had never been born

  10. a) A quill writing on the pages of the book all by itself.

  Answers to “Who said what?”

  A: 2 (Warren)

  B: 5 (Brains)

  C: 1 (Aunt Flick)

  D: 6 (Alex)

  E: 7 (Mystic Miranda)

  F: 3 (Dribbler)

  G: 4 (The old author)

  By the same author

  9781472909534

  Twelve-year-olds in Scott’s town are not safe. They disappear and are never seen again, taken by the Prankster who makes them play his awful game.

  Losing is bad… but winning could be worse!

  NEW!

  9781472911810

  In the fierce heat of summer the school trip has turned dangerous. Can Sol convince anyone to listen to him or will the expedition end in disaster?

  First published 2016

  This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Copyright © Bloomsbury Education 2016

  Text copyright © Beth Chambers 2016

  Illustrations copyright © Sean Longcroft 2015

  The moral rights of the author and illustrators have been asserted

  All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

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  Bloomsbury is a trademark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi and Sydney

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  eISBN 978 1 4729 1018 9

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