Hollow Earth

by John Barrowman

  Simon grabbed Em in realization. ‘You and Matt are doing this. These creatures are your fears! You’re creating them with your imaginations.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I’m scared. I can’t help it,’ Em sobbed.

  ‘Yes, you can.’ Zach took Em’s hand, looked into her eyes and smiled. He turned to Matt. ‘You can control them, too.’

  ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘Do your best, both of you,’ added Simon grimly. ‘Otherwise we’ll be slowed down even more.’

  They reached the Abbey’s front door. The twins’ fears were muted but still palpable in the carved relief of the monastery crest – the peryton was bursting from the wood.

  A trail of colour flashed across the courtyard behind them. Matt turned in time to see Em’s dwarfish night creature dart under the stone arch and into the garden. But then Simon pushed open the Abbey doors, and the awful scene in the hallway drove the creature from his mind.

  It looked as if a hurricane had struck. Paintings lay slashed on the ground; side-tables were overturned; vases were smashed. A trail of torn pages and ripped books lined the floor from the library to the bottom of the stairs, where Renard’s broken body lay. Jeannie was cradling his head in her lap, weeping. Mara was kneeling next to them, bleeding from a gash on her forehead.

  Em felt as if she was back in the vault again, only this time, her heart, not her head, was about to burst. She threw herself on to her grandfather.

  ‘Mara, draw something. Make Grandpa wake up, please!’

  ‘It doesn’t work that way, Em. We can’t animate people.’ Mara pulled Em into an embrace. ‘We’ve called for an ambulance. It’ll be here soon.’

  ‘What happened?’ Simon demanded.

  ‘It was right after dinner,’ said Jeannie, red-eyed. ‘Mr R. felt the anger in the Abbey getting heavier. He sent me to fetch Mara. I found her, poor thing, out cold on the floor of her studio.’

  ‘Someone attacked me,’ said Mara. ‘I didn’t see who. I’m so sorry. I could have done something if I’d been with him. I could have drawn …’ She stifled a sob.

  Simon used the bottom of his shirt to wipe the blood gently from Mara’s eye. ‘This is not your fault.’ He scanned the room. ‘Where’s Sandie?’

  ‘We couldn’t find her,’ said Mara, choking back more tears. ‘She’s gone!’

  THIRTY-THREE

  Within ten minutes, the grounds of the Abbey were packed with emergency vehicles. An RAF helicopter had landed on the back lawn, airlifting Renard to hospital. Jeannie had gone with him. And now a paramedic was helping Mara into an ambulance.

  Wrapped in blankets, the twins and Zach sat in the front courtyard on a bench. Behind them, the woods were full of shifting shadows. Every few seconds, something would fly out from the darkness – a screaming banshee, a rotting corpse, a shrouded phantom – dissolving to nothingness as it flew into the bright lights of the courtyard. The hellhound gargoyles twitched on the Abbey’s turrets, trying to wrench free of their stone moorings.

  Simon came outside, observing the chaos that the twins’ fears were creating. It would only be a matter of minutes before a policeman or an emergency worker noticed, too. Sitting next to Matt, he put his arm around his shoulders. Zach had taken Em’s hand. The darkness behind them gradually quietened, the shadows slowly faded.

  The Chief Constable for Ayrshire and Western Scotland was a tall, elegant, middle-aged woman named Clarissa Bond. She’d arrived at the Abbey within thirty minutes of her deputy informing her who was involved in the attack. Renard was well-known in Scotland for his philanthropy, so any attack on his property, never mind his person, was immediately considered a high-profile crime. Chief Constable Bond was also one of a handful of people in public positions of power and influence who knew of the Animare and the Guardians.

  She walked over to the bench, crouching in front of Matt and Em. ‘I’m sorry about what has happened to your grandfather, but he’s a very strong man, and I’m sure he’ll pull through.’

  ‘What about our mum?’ asked Matt, shifting out from under Simon’s embrace. ‘She’s not here.’

  ‘She wouldn’t go anywhere without us,’ cried Em.

  ‘Whoever did this to our grandfather must have taken her!’

  ‘It’s likely, I’m afraid,’ said the Chief Constable. ‘In case she’s hurt and still on the island, we’re doing a thorough search. Try not to worry.’ She patted Em’s leg sympathetically. ‘I’ve notified the authorities on the mainland. We have alerts at all the airports and at every train station up and down the coast. I’ve sent two men to check the ferry to see if anyone remembers seeing anything out of the ordinary this evening. Unfortunately, tonight’s beach party means the entire island is swarming with strangers.’

  She could be hurt somewhere, Matt, or else when the Abbey was being attacked, she would’ve drawn something to stop it. Why didn’t she help Grandpa?

  But if she was hurt, wouldn’t Simon be in pain or something?

  He’s Mara’s Guardian, remember, not Mum’s. Dad was Mum’s Guardian.

  The Chief Constable stood up, motioning to Simon. ‘May I speak with you privately?’

  ‘Zach,’ signed Matt, shifting over on the bench as Clarissa Bond and Simon walked together to the far side of the courtyard. ‘Read their lips. Telepath Em what they’re saying, so your dad doesn’t see you’re eavesdropping.’

  Zach leaned forward.

  Are you listening, Em? The policewoman is telling my dad that whoever did this was looking for something. She wants my dad to walk through the Abbey with one of her officers and … and, uh, see if he can tell if anything is missing.

  Em relayed the conversation to Matt, trying to concentrate on the rest of what Zach was telling her. It was strange, having two voices in her head at the same time. She wants to know if Simon can tell if your mum did anything to stop whoever it was. I think she means did she draw anything?

  I know what she means, Zach!

  You don’t have to yell.

  Sorry. Sorry. What else?

  Zach turned his gaze across the courtyard again.

  Dad wants to know why she’s asking … she says, uh, because if Sandie had drawn something to defend everyone, then she’d be here. And if she didn’t, it might mean she was involved. There’s no evidence she’s been kidnapped. My dad says that’s rubbish.

  ‘Well, it is,’ snarled Em.

  ‘What is?’ asked Matt.

  Em filled him in. Matt felt his anger building again. He sat on his clenched fists, breathing deeply – in and out, in and out – trying to use the breathing techniques Renard had taught him to help control his temper. The gargoyle above the door flexed a claw.

  Zach was still concentrating on the conversation on the far side of the courtyard. Dad says if Sandie had been drugged or knocked unconscious like Mara, then she wouldn’t have been able to draw anything.

  They watched the Chief Constable call for one of her forensic officers, who climbed from the back of a police van carrying a plastic evidence bag. She showed the sealed plastic bag to Simon.

  She’s asking Dad if he recognizes this. She says her crime-scene people found it in Mara’s studio.

  ‘What’s inside the bag?’ asked Matt. ‘I can’t see from here.’

  What’s in the bag, Zach?

  Dad’s looking at it, but I can’t see either. Whatever it is, Dad is saying he’s never seen it before.

  The children watched as Simon returned the evidence bag to the crime-scene officer. The Chief Constable shook Simon’s hand, then they walked back towards Zach, Em and Matt.

  Did you see what it was that time, Zach?

  It looked like a plastic first-aid kit.

  It was the early hours of the morning before the Abbey finally settled for the night. There was still no sign of Sandie. Jeannie had called from the hospital around midnight with the news that Renard’s wounds, although numerous, would heal easily, but the head injury was more serious. Until the swelling went down in his brain,
the doctors had put him in a medically induced coma. Simon sent everyone off to their beds with big mugs of hot chocolate.

  Zach was climbing into his bed when his watch flashed a text from Matt.

  Meet me in the kitchen and dont wake Em

  Why? typed Zach.

  Cos she wont like that Im going to break more rules

  THIRTY-FOUR

  Sneaking down the servants’ stairs was the best way for Matt and Zach to avoid disturbing Em or Simon. Jeannie had remained at the hospital with Renard, and Mara was still being treated in A&E. Navigating the kitchen in the dark was easy because of the floodlights spilling in from the gardens.

  Matt opened the refrigerator, pouring each of them a glass of juice. Zach fished a handful of chocolate biscuits from the tin on the counter.

  ‘If we can figure out what the intruders were looking for, it might give us a clue as to why they took your mum,’ signed Zach, before dunking a biscuit in the juice. The Chief Constable’s idea that Sandie might be involved in some way was completely ludicrous. Sandie would never do anything to hurt Renard.

  ‘We need to get into Mum’s studio.’ Matt ate his biscuit in two quick bites, washing it down with one gulp of juice. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he said, ‘I think Grandpa keeps a spare key in his desk in the library. Let’s go.’

  The dark foyer was more difficult to navigate than the kitchen. Almost immediately, the boys stumbled over two broken chairs that the police had shoved against the wall, their clumsiness echoing in the cavernous hallway. They froze, Matt listening for any movement from upstairs to suggest they’d been discovered. Nothing. After a few seconds, Zach began to step over the chairs, but Matt grabbed his T-shirt, pulling him back.

  ‘I can hear something in the library.’

  ‘The intruders might’ve returned.’ Zach looked worried as he signed. ‘We should go get my dad.’

  ‘Wait. I want to check it out first.’

  Trying not to think about Renard as they passed the bloodstains at the bottom of the stairs, the boys darted to the library.

  ‘Still hear something?’ signed Zach.

  Matt nodded. ‘It’s weird. Sounds like a cat scratching.’

  ‘Seriously, we should wake my dad.’

  The library doors were locked.

  ‘These doors are never shut up like this.’ Zach shifted closer to the door, trying the handles for himself. ‘Maybe Jeannie locked it when she finished clearing some of the mess.’

  ‘I need to know what’s going on in there,’ said Matt.

  He pressed his ear against the door. The distant scratching persisted.

  Without warning, a hand shot out from the darkness behind them, thumping Matt on the shoulder. Both boys jumped with fright.

  Draw something, Genius.

  It was Em. She punched Zach in the arm next.

  Hey, why’d you hit me?

  For not waking me up.

  Pulling a small sketchpad and a stubby pencil from her dressing-gown pocket, Em began to draw. While she outlined the library’s doors, Matt concentrated, imagining his hand on top of hers tracing every stroke. When she was almost finished, he began shading in the drawing. As he did so, the wood at the centre of one of the double doors began to shimmer. Within seconds, Matt was able to put his eye against a perfectly placed peephole tha had materialized in the wood.

  What do you see?

  Hard to say … it’s a person, for sure. Hey, it looks like a monk!

  ‘A monk?’ said Em, forgetting to keep silent as she pushed her brother out of the way and looked for herself.

  She saw a tall figure in a dark, hooded robe rummaging in Renard’s desk. Instinctively, she sent the thought to Zach.

  Maybe it’s a ghost.

  Zach frowned. There’s no such thing.

  Says you.

  As if their thoughts had charged into the room, the hooded figure cocked its head, staring directly at the peephole. Em fell away from the door with a gasp, feeling as if someone had poked her in the eye.

  ‘It does look like a monk. But I think it’s an animation,’ she said, trying to stop her voice from shaking.

  ‘How can you tell?’ signed Zach.

  ‘When Matt and I animate a drawing, we can always see a shimmering kind of glow around it. Either it’s that monk or something else in that room has been animated.’

  Zach took Em’s place and peered inside the room. Instead of seeing a monk as Em had suggested, he found himself staring at a grotesque, dwarfish creature scuttling towards the library doors.

  ‘It’s some kind of gnome or goblin.’ Zach backed away. ‘Now I’m definitely getting my dad.’

  Matt and Em glanced at each other as Zach raced upstairs. Panicked, Matt took another look. The creature was grinning up at the peephole from the other side of the door.

  It’s your night terror, Em.

  Em looked. Her pallor shifted from pale to ashen. Will you stop saying that? I keep telling everyone, I didn’t imagine that thing!

  Looking into the peephole again, Matt watched the creature slowly claw its way up the other side of the door, tearing at the peephole.

  Grabbing the sketchpad from his sister, Matt tore up the drawing. A wave of light rippled across the wood, and the creature shrieked, the door instantly healing over. The twins fled under the stairs. The scratching and screeching from the other side of the library door was getting louder.

  Simon came bounding down the stairs with Zach at his heels. At the same time, Mara, her arm in a sling, walked in through the front door.

  ‘What’s going on?’ she said at once. ‘Why’s everyone down here in the middle of the night?’

  ‘The twins think there’s an animation in the library.’

  Mara stared at the twins, noting their sketchbook. ‘Whose?’

  ‘Why won’t anyone believe me?’ raged Em. ‘It’s not mine!’

  ‘What’s not yours?’ asked Simon and Mara in unison.

  ‘The thing in the library,’ said Em, close to tears. ‘It’s been coming into my room late at night, getting into my dreams, but it’s definitely not come from my imagination. It’s nothing to do with me.’

  ‘We can talk about that later,’ said Simon. ‘For now, let’s deal with what’s behind the door.’ He looked curiously at Mara. ‘How did you get back? Ferries don’t run at this time.’

  ‘A friendly fisherman gave me a lift,’ Mara answered. She set her handbag on the ground. Pulling out her sketchbook, she rested it on a table in the hall, ready to draw with her good hand. She nodded at Simon, who unlocked the library, pushing the double doors open wide.

  The room was empty.

  ‘Are you sure about what you all saw?’ Mara said.

  The three children nodded.

  ‘Look,’ said Em, pointing to the back of the door.

  They all shivered. Pencil-thin claw marks had been gouged deep into the wood.

  THIRTY-FIVE

  Exhausted, but far too wired to sleep, Simon, Mara and the three children decided to investigate the library, giving it more than the cursory walk-through Simon had completed with the Chief Constable earlier. Hoping to find something that might suggest a reason for Sandie’s disappearance, they all moved around the room, eyes peeled for anything that seemed out of place. Possible sources of the animation the children had seen were not discussed, as the twins and Zach restacked books on to the shelves, and Simon and Mara poked around in Renard’s desk

  It’s not fair, Zach. Simon and Mara think my fears animated the creature.

  That’s not true, Em. My dad’s worried … but not about you. I can tell.

  ‘Renard never kept anything of value in this room,’ said Mara in frustration, settling into one of the leather couches, as the children and Simon continued to scour the room.

  Em dropped into the leather couch beside Mara. ‘Were you able to see Grandpa before the hospital released you?’

  ‘I went up to intensive care and spoke to the doctors fo
r a few minutes. There’s no change, Em, and there may not be for a long time.’

  ‘Do you remember anything about what happened? I’m so worried about my mum.’ Em snuggled next to Mara.

  ‘I remember working in my studio, seeing the grounds and the Abbey’s emergency lights flashing, then nothing. That is until Jeannie was leaning over me, telling me Renard was hurt.’

  ‘There’s a lot of mess,’ Simon said with a sigh. ‘I don’t know what they were looking for, and I can’t find anything missing. The doors to the gardens were unlocked, but I think that was my doing. I left them like that earlier for the police.’

  We need to get into Mum’s studio.

  ‘Has anyone checked my mum’s studio?’ asked Em, ignoring the scowl from Matt, who wanted to continue investigating without the adults.

  ‘The police checked it before they left,’ said Simon, ‘it didn’t look as if anything had been damaged or moved. In fact, it looked more like …’ His words trailed off.

  ‘You might as well tell them, Simon,’ said Mara.

  ‘Tell us what?’ asked Matt.

  Simon signed to Zach to stop sorting the books and join them. ‘When the police searched Sandie’s studio, they found a vial and a partially empty syringe that they think had recently dispensed a fairly strong anaesthetic—’

  ‘To Mum?’ asked Em.

  Simon shrugged, perching on the arm of a chair. ‘They can’t tell with any certainty, Em, but the Chief Constable and her team did think the mess in your mum’s studio looked as if it had been caused by a brief struggle, not a search.’

  ‘You mean they could have come to kidnap Mum? But why?’ Matt ran his hands through his hair in frustration. ‘It’s not like we have any money.’

  ‘Kidnapping isn’t always about money, Matt,’ Mara said. ‘Your mum is a powerful Animare. We can’t rule out that she was taken because of that.’

  ‘So we’re looking for another Animare or a Guardian?’ suggested Em, her voice cracking from exhaustion and a growing sense of unease. ‘They’re the only ones who know we exist.’