‘You haven’t worked out the riddle yet?’
Liam shook his head. ‘I asked Sophie to help, but she still thinks it’s some kind of gag.’
‘My mum says I have to go to school tomorrow. She thinks it’ll help me feel better.’
‘That sounds like a really bad idea.’
Evan shrugged. ‘Well, I might as well let it eat the right people. The sports teacher, the football team …’
‘Evan, pretty soon it’s going to eat us! We have to figure this out. Maybe there’s something in the chemistry lab we can use to melt it down?’
‘Not without melting me down,’ sighed Evan.
‘Hey, don’t worry,’ said Liam bravely. ‘We’ll beat it, I know we will. There has to be a way …’
Despite Liam’s encouragement, the next morning could hardly have started out worse. With Evan leaving a slimy trail as he entered the school building, Liam could only watch in dismay as Mr Donahue became the first to skid on a slick of demonic gunge.
‘Crogan! What on earth do you look like, boy?’ demanded the elderly maths teacher, pulling Evan aside. ‘Are you a man or a snail?’
‘I’ve been possessed by a demon, sir.’
‘Well that’s no excuse for untidiness.’ The teacher handed him a clean white handkerchief. ‘I suggest you start by blowing your nose.’
‘You could be sucked into the Netherworld,’ warned Evan.
‘You could be sucked into the headmaster’s office,’ retorted Mr Donahue.
The blast from Evan’s nose propelled the maths teacher down the corridor, Liam cowering as the torrent of gunge quickly reformed into the hungry Barzabalus. The lenses of Mr Donahue’s glasses steamed over as he was pulled into the creature’s swirling innards, the teacher managing one last cry before he was completely enveloped.
‘Crogan!! Detennnnttiioonnn!’
Other schoolchildren in the corridor scattered, screaming, before Barzabalus could devour them, leaving the demon to spit out a pair of immaculately polished shoes and a calculator before dissolving again.
‘He always gaveme rotten grades anyway,’ said Evan, with a throaty cackle.
Liam gazed at his friend with alarm.
‘This is what I was worried about, Evan. The demon is starting to take over your personality. You’re beginning to enjoy it!’
Before Evan had time to protest, Liam had dragged him out of the corridor and into the schoolyard.
‘Listen, don’t let it gain control,’ he urged. ‘You have to try to contain it.’
Evan was about to mumble a protest when the tall figure of the headmaster strode into the yard, accompanied by a frightened young girl who pointed both of them out.
‘Crogan! Brodie! In my office at once!’ shouted the headmaster.
Evan scowled and opened his mouth wide to release a thick jet of slime. The vile-smelling liquid splashed onto the ground, where it immediately began to form the fearsome shape of Barzabalus.
‘Evan, no!’ cried Liam. ‘Don’t do it!’
‘Too late,’ grinned Evan, his eyes narrowing to a menacing squint.
The headmaster took one look at the wobbling bulk that was Barzabalus and began to sprint back across the yard to the school building, the demon following close behind him.
Evan chuckled manically, green saliva dripping from his mouth.
‘Evan, I can’t believe you did that!’ Liam cupped his hands to shout to the fleeing headmaster. ‘Sir, run to the chemistry lab!’
‘Teacher’s pet,’ snorted Evan.
Liam ran after Barzabalus, the pursuit taking him back into the school building and up the stairs to the chemistry lab, where he found the door smashed from its hinges. Looking into the classroom, he saw the headmaster trying to squeeze under a desk while the demon seethed and pulsed, its claws waving and snapping at the class of terrified students. And right at the very front, her face tight with fear, cowered Sophie.
‘Sis!’ cried Liam, running into the room. ‘Keep away from it! Find something to throw!’
Liam dodged around the monster, just out of reach of its claws, as Sophie frantically searched through a cupboard of apparatus and supplies. She picked up a test tube rack and Bunsen burner and hurled them as hard as she could, the demon’s body absorbing them as they hit.
‘Chemicals!’ yelled Liam. ‘Throw some chemicals!’
Sophie scanned several labels and grabbed two large, stoppered flasks.
‘Don’t you dare, young lady!’ instructed the chemistry teacher, his bearded face suddenly appearing from behind a desk. ‘We don’t throw dangerous substances around in my class!’
Sophie paused a moment, only for the headmaster to dash forward and snatch the flasks, flinging them at the demon for all he was worth. The chemistry teacher tutted and disappeared again.
The creature’s skin began to hiss and foam, its antennae and claws threshing furiously as it began to shrink.
‘Yes!!’ shouted Liam triumphantly. ‘We did it!’
Sophie’s smile faltered as Barzabalus shook like an electrified blancmange then began to expand again, its body rapidly doubling then tripling in size.
‘Oh no, what have we done!?’ exclaimed Liam in horror. He grabbed Sophie’s hand and bolted from the room, the rest of the class following them.
As they ran back into the yard, the school building was already beginning to shake, a cascade of roof tiles smashing to the ground. To a chorus of gasps, the top of the roof exploded, Barzabalus’s wobbling green mass thrusting through it.
‘Cool,’ sniggered Evan, as everybody else ran for their lives, the side of the school crumbling away.
As Barzabalus’s huge mass slithered into the yard, Liam could see the headmaster floating around in its body, his mouth opening and closing fish-like as he pointed an accusing finger.
‘See! Now we’re both expelled!’ Liam shouted to Evan, who didn’t look as though he cared very much.
Barzabalus surged across the yard to the sports hall, large panes from its glass roof shattering and falling away as the demon began to crush the building.
‘Evan, call it back!’ bellowed Liam. ‘Hurry!’
Evan simply shrugged as the sports hall collapsed. It wasn’t until Sophie had manhandled him to the ground that his arrogance disappeared, a look of fear crossing his face as she drew back her fist.
‘Whatever my brother asked you to do,’ she shouted, ‘you’d better do it right now!’
Evan issued a gurgling roar, then drew a huge breath causing the demon to begin shrinking again. Sophie smartly hopped off his chest as a green tide surged across the yard and rushed back into Evan’s mouth and nose, leaving him dazed and spluttering.
‘Now you have to believe me!’ Liam pleaded.
Sophie frowned as she picked small lumps of gunge from her hair and flicked them at Evan.
‘How did that riddle go again?’ she asked, tersely.
7. Supermarket Showdown
‘Harder than the thing I’m made of,’ murmured Sophie to herself, for the umpteenth time. ‘More is hidden than you see. Summer and salt make me to vanish, whatever could I be?’
She stared with bleary eyes at the riddle she had written out then looked across the kitchen table at Liam. ‘Are you absolutely sure that’s what he said?’
‘I’m sure,’ sighed Liam. ‘Come on, sis, it’s two in the morning. We’re not going to crack it now. I can barely stay awake. Besides, Dad will go nuts if he finds us still up.’
‘I thought you said this was the last day?’
Liam nodded dejectedly. ‘It is.’
‘Then we can’t stop trying.’ She hopped off her seat and went to the fridge. ‘Have a drink, it’ll keep you awake.’
‘I’ll have a Coke,’ he mumbled. ‘There are some cans in the cupboard. They won’t be cold though.’
‘That’s okay,’ replied Sophie, ‘I’ll put one in the freezer for a couple of m—’ She suddenly stopped in her tracks then dashed back to the table to g
aze at the words of the riddle again.
‘It’s ice!’ she said triumphantly. ‘The answer is ice! Harder than water; more is hidden than you see, like black ice and icebergs. And summer sun and salting roads both dissolve ice!’
Liam sat bolt upright. ‘I think you’re right,’ he exclaimed. ‘But how do we beat it with ice?’
Sophie pondered for a moment. ‘It’s not going to be easy,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘And we can’t let Evan know what we’re going to try. But I have an idea.’
When Liam and Sophie came calling for Evan in the morning his mum was glad to be rid of him for a while. Stained green from head to toe and with her hair fastened up in a net, it looked like she had been scrubbing out a swamp.
‘Don’t forget your doctor’s appointment at twelve,’ she reminded him.
‘Where are we going?’ rasped Evan suspiciously, his voice as hollow as a drainpipe. ‘I think you should tell us. We need to know.’
Liam glanced at Sophie, unnerved by Evan’s use of ‘we’ to describe himself. But his sister stayed resolute, her gaze fixed firmly ahead.
‘Just thought we’d get some sweets and crisps from the supermarket,’ she said breezily. ‘You like those, don’t you?’
‘No,’ snapped Evan. ‘We like human souls.’
Liam felt his fists clench as they approached the supermarket. It was important not to think about what they were planning. For all they knew, demons might be able to read minds.
Evan seemed even more wary as they walked down the food aisles, disgusted shoppers pushing their trolleys clear of him as he continued to drool and slobber.
Sophie kept calm as she led them over to the frozen food bays.
‘What are you up to?’ croaked Evan, ‘Are you trying to trap us?’
‘Now!!’ yelled Sophie. ‘Quickly!’
Before Evan could react, Liam and Sophie grabbed him and pushed him into one of the deep frozen food bays, his red hair disappearing amongst packets of frozen sausages.
Liam flinched as he heard the familiar roar, a rush of green bile bursting up between the frozen packets. He was about to let go when the slime slowed to a crawl then stopped altogether, the thick liquid hardening to a brittle, crystalline form.
Sophie pulled a pencil case from her pocket and handed a drawing compass to Liam.
‘Quick! Break it up!’ she instructed. ‘Into little pieces. All of it!’
The gunge continued to freeze and solidify as it left Evan’s mouth, Liam and Sophie frantically shattering each new piece as it appeared. Liam hesitated as the supermarket security officer appeared, but before the man had time to say anything, Sophie spun around and swiftly kicked him in a spot that brought tears to his eyes.
As the red-faced officer dropped to the floor, Liam took pity and tossed him a bag of frozen peas.
‘Grab a couple of those empty food boxes,’ ordered Sophie, still furiously breaking up the pieces of frozen slime with the end of a ballpoint pen.
Liam found himself in awe of his sister – she was acting like a female ninja warrior, just like the ones he’d played in video games. Not that he’d ever tell her that, of course!
He snatched the cardboard boxes up and helped Sophie fill them with the frozen pieces. They pulled Evan from the freezer bay and hurried from the supermarket, leaving the security officer spluttering on the floor.
Liam panted as they ran, the warm sunshine already beginning to melt the lumps in the boxes. Evan staggered behind them, coughing and wheezing, his hands reaching towards the boxes as though seeking to regain a missing twin.
‘We’re here!’ cried Sophie, as they rounded a bend in the road and came across a stretch of roadworks, where fresh tarmac was being laid and steamrollered.
Before the workmen could stop them, Sophie and Liam emptied the boxes onto the steaming tarmac, the pieces of demon sticking to the hot surface. Evan slumped onto his bottom and watched helplessly as the pieces began to swell and froth, each one furiously stretching and pulling to reach another.
‘Flatten them!’ screamed Sophie to the driver of the steamroller.
The man’s eyes were almost popping out of his head.
‘Flatten them now, or I’ll do it!’ she threatened.
Stunned into silence, the driver of the steamroller rolled the vehicle forwards to crush the struggling chunks of demon. Liam and Sophie watched nervously as the squashed pieces stopped moving, each of them slowly evaporating into a thick cloud of green steam that billowed outwards, covering the entire road.
When it cleared again, those watching were astonished to see a collection of dazed and bedraggled individuals picking themselves up from the ground. Liam recognised Mr Donahue, the headmaster, the hotel guest, the flight attendant and the man from the airport, as well as other victims he hadn’t seen before.
‘Wow!’ breathed Evan, the green tinge fading from his face. ‘It chundered them all back up from the Netherworld. How cool is that?’ He began searching his pockets for his MOVIE IDEAS notebook.
The headmaster had recovered enough to point an accusing finger at him.
‘Crogan! You are in a world of trouble, boy! Be in my office tomorrow at 9 a.m. sharp!’
Liam didn’t have the heart to tell the headmaster his office was now a Portakabin. Instead, he patted Evan gently on the shoulder and they walked with Sophie from the scene, leaving the regurgitated victims to search for their missing shoes.
‘Well that was intense,’ commented Evan, sweeping away the last flecks of slime from his shoulders. ‘Though I’d have done it differently if it had been my movie.’
‘You’re lucky you’re still around,’ replied Liam, lifting his face up to feel the sun’s warmth. ‘We both are. And we have one person to thank for that.’
He put his arm around Sophie and squeezed her.
‘We’d never have made it without you, sis,’ he told her.
‘Yeah, nice one, Sophie,’ chipped in Evan. ‘Maybe a bit over the top on the violence though. We’ll have to tone that down a bit in the movie version, make sure the kids can watch it.’
‘Here’s an idea,’ she retorted. ‘Don’t bother.’
Liam spotted an ice cream van parked by the side of the road. ‘How about a celebratory ice cream?’ he suggested.
‘Seems appropriate,’ agreed Sophie.
As the three of them approached the van, a familiar, thin figure leaned from the window, his eyes covered by large sunglasses.
Even with the disguise, all three recognised the hotel manager, and drew to a nervous halt.
The manager broke into a steady clap.
‘Well done, well done. You’ve defeated the Gatekeeper. I’m impressed. Would anybody like a treat?’
The manager held out an ice cream cone, but seeing insect legs sticking out of the top, the three of them declined. The manager withdrew the cone and began eating it himself.
‘Of course,’ he continued, ‘there will always be a Netherworld. And there must always be a Gatekeeper. And so Barzabalus will return. You’ve challenged this time and won, but next time you may not be so fortunate.’ He leaned forward and lowered his sunglasses to reveal his large, fishy eyes. And so my advice to you all,’ he concluded, ‘is to mind your own business next time! Do we understand each other?’
The three of them nodded mutely, leaving the manager to lean back again and lower his shades. Taking a final bite from the ice cream, he flung up both of his spindly hands, and the van collapsed inwards into a tiny series of cubes before vanishing in a plume of black smoke, leaving behind only a vile, farty stink.
‘What now?’ asked Liam.
‘I should apologise to that guy in the supermarket,’ said Sophie ruefully. ‘And you need to make it up to your poor mother, Evan.’
Evan paused from scribbling in his notebook.
‘Hey, I have a great idea for a movie sequel. It starts just where the first story finishes, do you want to hear it?’
REVENGE OF THE BLOBSTER
by Evan Cargan
Several months after being partially demolished by the rampaging demon, Barzabalus, the school building had still not been rebuilt, requiring students to attend the local sports hall and swimming baths for their physical education lessons. During the school cleanup, nobody noticed the small spots of green slime that hung silently in the shadows and in dark corners, and it became common for schoolchildren to unwittingly pick up blobs of slime on their skin and clothes, carrying them beyond the school. By the time the annual swimming competition came around, the local baths had already begun to exhibit the strange phenomenon of bubbling water and a strange green colouration. But only one person knew the signs, knew what to expect and how to face it. And he waited patiently, watched carefully, knowing his time would soon come. His name was Evan Crogan. And he would be known as The Destroyer of Demons …
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