“Wake up,” one said.
“What happened?” another asked.
There was a tug on his blanket again and Tom reluctantly opened his eyes as he felt it slip away. He sat up and squinted before rubbing his eyes, trying to focus on who it was that had ruined his dreamless sleep.
It was Gemma. And she was glaring at him crossly.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Saafir wailed as Jenna managed to take his blanket off him. “Leave me alone. I never did anything to you,” he moaned.
Tom ran his hand through his hair and looked out the window. It was pitch black outside. He blinked twice before he turned to look at Gemma.
“What time is it?”
“Just past four.”
“Four o’clock in the morning?”
She nodded.
He wanted to wail at her then, as Saafir had done, for waking him up so early. But it was Gemma who had pulled his blanket off him, Gemma who was still staring at him crossly, Gemma who would probably wail back at him.
They had heard from their father vague details of the troubles at the Queen’s Head. There was a duel between Lord Malik and Antonio Greyblood, a duel that descended into a full inn brawl and ended only when someone lit the place on fire.
There was no mention of any fatalities or about children being involved, but the twins decided to come to school as early as possible anyway just to see if they were OK. And to find out what really happened.
Saafir was fully awake now and in his element as he began to tell in minute details the events of last night. His recollection of what had happened was a little different to Tom’s, who certainly didn’t remember Saafir fighting anybody off with a staff. But he didn’t care to correct him, no matter how dubiously the twins stared at him.
“So... the Zarlocks are dead?” Jenna asked.
“My brother thinks so.”
“How can a house be alive?” Gemma asked. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she added disdainfully. “And you,” she pointed at Tom, “how can you be their heir?”
He didn’t know the answer to that. He didn’t even know what it exactly meant, what being their heir entailed. He was still tired and he wanted to sleep. So he shrugged, reached forward and pulled his blanket off her.
“There’s nothing special about you,” Gemma continued, crossing her arms over her chest.
Tom leaned back against the wall and wrapped his blanket over him before he looked at her again. He wondered if she wanted to be the heir, because he would gladly swap with her if it meant getting rid of the dreams and the very angry people that were after him, trying to kill him.
Saafir opened his mouth but Gemma cut him off. “Don’t say ‘He’s the first Wanderer with magic’,” she warned.
Saafir closed his mouth and looked longingly at his blanket that Jenna was still holding.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Tom couldn’t speak for everybody, but he knew what he was going to do now. He pushed off the wall and lay in bed. Curling up, he pulled the blanket over his head. He was going to go back to sleep.
***
Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. He got no more sleep that morning. The twins just would not leave. They wanted to talk more about what to do next, and talk they did until the sun rose and more. Tom and Saafir left them in the tree house, still talking as they went to get something to eat.
“Do you think they’ll ever go away?” Saafir asked as he bit into his toast.
“Probably,” Tom said glumly. Ever was such a long time.
The twins had been there for four hours already, talking nonstop. But they were gone by the time they returned from breakfast. Tom and Saafir sat on the back porch, facing the forest with their feet dangling off the edge throwing a Spinner. It was a Frisbee really, with one difference – it would fly back on its own accord, really fast.
“Do you think Madam Stewart is a Le Fay?” Tom asked.
His mind had drifted to the morning’s discussions and his little contribution to it, namely that he did not want to leave the school any time soon. It wasn’t safe out there. Sitting here now, he found himself wondering how safe it was in the school.
Saafir was staring out into the distance, his eyes focused, keeping a lookout for the Spinner and for good reason too. It seemed to wait until you were distracted before it flew back and hit you in the face.
“Probably,” he said. “But I think she dislikes you because you’re awful at magic,” he added absentmindedly.
Tom turned to look at him. “Thanks...”
The Spinner was coming now and Saafir caught it before he turned to Tom, grinning. “You’re not that bad,” he said, turning the grin into an apologetic smile.
Tom took the Spinner off him and threw it as hard as he could, which wasn’t really very hard. “This heir thing... what does it really mean?” He knew what the word meant. It was the context that he wasn’t so sure of.
“If the Zarlocks make you their heir, I guess everything that was theirs becomes yours,” Saafir said. “You would be Lord of Camelot.”
That didn’t sound so bad to Tom, but there had to be a catch. People didn’t just give lordships out for free. They wanted something from him. Or did they? If Kayvan was right and it was the house and not the Zarlocks that came to him in his dreams, what did that mean? Was the house entitled to bestow the title upon him?
“What’s that smell?” Saafir asked.
Tom and Saafir both covered their noses as the strong stench overwhelmed them. They could hear footsteps climbing up and a little later Jenna’s head popped up on the front porch, a wide smile on her face. She stepped into the tree house, followed by Gemma who carried a black bag in her hand.
Still smiling and seemingly oblivious to the horrible smell, Jenna stood at the door facing the back porch. “Guess what we have in the bag,” she said gleefully.
With their hands still over their noses, Tom and Saafir shook their heads disgustedly. They didn’t want to know. What they wanted was for the twins to go away and take the bag with them.
Undeterred by their behaviour, Jenna continued, “It’s the answer to the little cat problem,” she said.
Tom stared at her bewildered. He didn’t have a cat, though he would much rather a dozen cats and all their problems instead of whatever foul thing was in that bag. Saafir had forgotten about the Spinner as it came flying back, determined, almost as if it knew, and hit him on the cheek.
“What cat problem?” he growled angrily as he picked it up.
“Shera,” Gemma said stiffly.
Tom thought he knew what was in the bag. “Didn’t we agree that was a bad idea?” he asked, wondering when Shera became a “little cat”.
“That was when we thought he had killed the Zarlocks,” Jenna said, still smiling. “Now we know he’s just a pet, this should be easy. It’s deer meat,” she added brightly, “their favourite kind.”
“How do you know it’s their favourite kind?” Saafir snapped, now rubbing his cheek. “Did you ask him?”
Jenna’s smile turned into a frown but she continued anyway. “It’s laced with a strong sleeping potion,” she said and her smile returned. “We added a little something to enhance the smell, lure the kitty out.”
“You mean to say you created that horrible smell?” Saafir raged.
“Oh. It must be quite strong by now,” Jenna said. “You should probably block it out of your senses.”
It was no wonder she was smiling, Tom thought bitterly. He didn’t bother to ask how to block the smell from his senses. There was a very good chance he wouldn’t be able to do it. And now he would have to live with this smell for at least the rest of the day before it cleared out.
“We can fly out tonight?”
“No!” both Tom and Saafir said together.
“Tomorrow night?”
“No!”
“The night-”
“No,” Tom interrupted. “I don’t want to leave the scho
ol. What happened yesterday-” He stopped and looked away.
They already knew what had happened, but they didn’t know what had almost happened, what he thought was happening while he flew away with Cindy, what he feared had happened as they waited for news on Kayvan.
“Sorry...” Jenna said. “What are we going to do with this meat?” she sighed.
“Where did you get it from?” Saafir asked.
“Madam Sue.”
“Give it back to her.”
“No.” Jenna shook her head sadly. “I can’t do that. She wouldn’t let this back in her kitchen.”
But it was a problem of their own making, and they left with it. Jenna wondered out loud ways of disposing of the meat and Gemma followed her out, silent as ever. Tom and Saafir had only just had time to resume their game of throwing the Spinner before the twins were back again. And this time they were not alone.
“Cindy.”
“Hello.” She forced a smile.
“How is Kayvan?” Saafir asked.
“He’s OK. A brawl started just as we left him,” she said. “He got lucky.” She swallowed. “And that’s why I’m here.” She paused and turned to Tom. “It’s time for you to go home.”
Chapter 34
Tom had wanted to leave since his second day in Atlantis. And now, after so many months, Cindy was here to take him back. He was going home to his family. He should have been excited.
He should have been relieved too. The Le Fays would no longer be his problem. He never had the dreams on the Other Side. Maybe that would go away too. But he didn’t feel any relief. He felt anxious, worried even, and he couldn’t understand why.
“You can’t do that,” Saafir said.
“I can,” Cindy said firmly. “He’s not safe here.”
“What if he doesn’t want to go?”
All eyes turned to look at Tom. That was the question, wasn’t it? Did he want to go? The answer was yes, of course he did. Why wouldn’t he want to go?
There was nothing here for him. They hated him outside of school, and they hated him in school. Even if he survived long enough to finish his studying, what would happen to him after? He was a misfit – that would never change. There was no future for him here.
“You can’t want to go...” Saafir said.
And he was right.
Tom didn’t want to go.
Life for him on the Other Side hadn’t exactly been great. It was a lonely existence. He had family, but they wouldn’t always be there for him. He had made friends here and he lived in a tree house. He’d flown on a broom and while that was terrifying, it was exhilarating too.
Maybe that was why he had to go, because of his friends. He knew he was a danger to them. They had been lucky so far but it was only a matter of time before something ended horribly wrong. It almost did last night.
He could see Saafir staring at him from the corner of his eye, his mouth slightly open. He wasn’t going to like this.
“When do we leave?” Tom asked Cindy.
There was a muffled gasp. Gemma held her hand over her mouth and stared at him, shocked. She slowly moved her hand down. “You can’t go. You’re the heir.”
She said it without her voice dripping in condescension and he wondered if that was the first time she had ever spoken to him like that. The look of shock had faded from her eyes to be replaced by one of a plea. She really didn’t want him to go.
“Do the lords know of this?” Saafir demanded.
“He has to go.” Cindy’s voice came out loud and shaky. “He will die here if he doesn’t and others will die too,” she said. “I will not have a child’s blood on my hands...” she added as her voice dropped to a whisper.
“You think running away is the answer?” Saafir scoffed. “You think blood isn’t going to spill? They attacked my brother yesterday. War is coming. Blood will spill.” Saafir was shouting now. “And when everything is lost, you and your selfishness will be to blame.” He turned away from her to face the forest. The Spinner was in his hand and he threw it angrily.
Cindy didn’t appear fazed by Saafir’s anger. His shouting seemed to have barely registered. “We need to go now, Tom,” she said quietly.
He slowly got up off the porch, wondering if Saafir was right, if war really was coming, if he would make things worse by leaving. He didn’t have long to dwell on the matter though as his clothes floated out of the wardrobe and into his makeshift luggage. Cindy had begun packing for him.
She wasn’t joking when she said they needed to go now.
As his clothes quickly and neatly folded and filled his luggage, Tom stood in the middle of the room, looking around at his friends. Saafir remained sat on the porch, facing the forest, staring ahead intently. The twins were standing by the door awkwardly. Jenna’s eyes wandered the room, not settling on anything and never passing over him. Gemma simply looked down at her feet.
Cindy picked up his now full luggage and stepped out of the room. She stopped on the front porch and turned to wait. “We have to go, Tom.”
He didn’t want to leave them like this. He wanted to say something, anything, but he didn’t know what. And none of them met his gaze. So he stepped out after Cindy. Jenna looked at him as he passed her by the door.
“We’ll come to visit,” she said, before she turned to Cindy. “You will take us, won’t you?” she asked and Cindy nodded impatiently. Jenna smiled. “Saafir will come too,” she said. “Once he stops sulking,” she added playfully.
“Thanks...” Tom said and he immediately felt stupid for it. He glanced at Saafir, still sitting stiffly on the porch, still staring out towards the forest. He got up then and turned, no longer looking angry but confused, worried even.
“My Spinner...” he said. “It’s gone.”
“We need to go,” Cindy said irritably.
“No, you don’t understand,” Saafir said, “my Spinner... it stopped spinning. Something stopped it spinning.” He turned back to face the forest and added, “There’s something out there.”
Cindy dropped Tom’s luggage and reached into her cloak. She pulled her staff out and almost slid back into the room and out onto the back porch. Tom followed her as did the twins. He stared out at the forest, unsure of what to look for and at first he saw nothing.
“The trees...” Jenna whispered. “The branches...”
Tom had just spotted that too. There was something amongst the trees. The branches that could, parted, and those that could not simply snapped, adding the noise of echo to the visual spectacle.
“What could be doing that?”
“Something big,” Saafir said.
But he was wrong.
They saw it then. It stepped out from behind the trees and stood at the edge of the forest. It wasn’t something big. It was something small. It was a little girl.
She was shorter than Tom in height. Her clothes were torn in parts and dirty too, as was her face. Her hair was messy and bits of leaves and twigs stuck to it. Her feet were bare. And her eyes, he could see their colour even from that distance.
They were bright yellow.
A boy stepped out next to her, his feet bare, his clothes torn and covered in dirt, his eyes shining yellow. And then a grown man stepped out next to them. He too was similarly attired, except his chest was completely bare.
It was a freezing February morning, yet the three of them stood there, barely clothed and unbothered by the cold. They stared at the tree house.
“Who are they?” Tom asked.
“What are they?” Jenna asked.
“Wolves...” Cindy murmured. “They’re werewolves.”
Chapter 35
More and more wolves stepped out from within the trees – men, women and children, all looking worse for wear, all with eyes that shone, all with eyes staring at the tree house. And then they began to run.
They were incredibly fast, and they were coming towards them.
“We have to get to the school,” Cindy said.
Saafir and the twins were already climbing down the tree trunk when Cindy grabbed Tom by the arm. She pulled him off the porch and into the tree house. His mind had frozen, unable to communicate with his body, unable to command it to run. Cindy dragged him through the room and out onto the front porch.
He could still see the wolves as they ran in their human form. The closest to him was the girl that had stepped out first. She was still more than twenty metres away when she jumped.
She was in the air when her body began to transform. It tore open, fur sprouted out from everywhere – her arms, her legs. Her whole body grew bigger, longer and leaner. She landed on four feet on his back porch and growled. He saw her teeth. They had changed too. They were many now, and sharp. The only thing that remained of the girl was the colour of those eyes, still sparkling, still yellow.
There wasn’t time to climb down the tree trunk and Cindy sensibly threw him over the railing. He landed clumsily on his side. It hurt. She landed next to him gracefully on both feet. He felt her hands on his back as he struggled to rise. She helped him up.
“Run!” she shouted.
Cindy turned to face the wolf that was now tearing through his room. The fall awoke Tom from his state of frozen terror. His brain communicated with his body and he ran up the hill as fast as he could.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
He could see Saafir and the twins ahead. They had stopped running. They stood huddled together, looking around uncertainly. Tom caught up with them and dropped to the ground. His hands formed fists and pressed against the grass to support his weight as he rested.
“Wolf pack...” Jenna said.
“It can’t be.” Saafir shook his head. “They’re not supposed to-”
“But they are!” Gemma said. “Look around you. They’re everywhere, hundreds of them.”
Tom raised his head, and he noticed it for the first time.
They were everywhere.
It wasn’t just from behind the tree house that they had come. They surrounded them from all sides as more and more stepped out from between the trees that lined both sides of the path. They were there too at the top of the hill and behind them, standing in front of the tree house – some as wolves, others in their human form.
The Other Side (Thomas Skinner Book 1) Page 19