‘And what happens then?’ Peter asks.
I raise my eyebrows at him. ‘World go boom.’
Everyone falls silent at my prophetic statement.
‘So what do we do?’ Jem asks eventually.
Kit answers him. ‘We steal it.’
Chapter Seventeen: No Go
Christmas Eve. Show day.
I pull back a curtain and look out at the snowy landscape, glowing orange in the twilight. I count five Hoarders from here.
Claire peers over my shoulder. ‘They’re still there,’ she calls.
‘Well, they were unlikely to all go for a coffee break at this point,’ Kit says. ‘The Christmas show starts in a couple of hours.’
‘There’s only three at the back now,’ Jem reports, coming into the lounge from the training room. ‘The other two left about ten minutes ago.’
‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ Peter says, looking up from a map of the school grounds. ‘Evens the odds a bit.’
Kit shakes her head. ‘They know they can keep us bailed up in here fairly easily. I wouldn’t risk trying to fight our way out of here until they were down to at least four.’
‘But there’s nine of us,’ Jem protests.
‘I don’t see Winifred taking down a couple of Hoarders for us,’ Will says from the corner of the room, where he’s sharpening some throwing knives.
‘In addition to which,’ Kit adds, ‘we don’t entirely consist of Guardians in here. Magically, we’re outnumbered two to one.’
I glare out at the Hoarders. I can’t believe this. A whole twenty-four hours of plotting and planning, and now we can’t get anywhere near the battle because we’re trapped in a pokey old flat with wolves at the gate. They don’t even have to do anything; they just have to stand out there looking menacing, and they know that we won’t dare move a…
Hey!
‘Will,’ I call out, not taking my eyes off the people outside, ‘are all Hoarders really stupid?’
‘You think the time to mouth off at me is when I’m holding knives, do you?’ Will says threateningly.
‘No, I’m serious. Come and have a look at this.’
He groans, but walks over. I point towards a particular Hoarder standing to our right under a big pine tree. The snow on the tree’s boughs is melting slightly and sliding off to bury the Hoarder’s legs, all the way up to his thighs. As we watch, another clod of snow falls onto his head, pushing his hat down over his eyes with the weight. He doesn’t move an inch.
‘At first I thought they were just being creepy and vigilant,’ I say. ‘But that’s just mindless, right?’
Will frowns, staring out at them all. Then he starts to smile. ‘Yeah. That’s really dumb.’ He turns and walks back to the others. ‘Good news, kids. They’re not Hoarders out there.’
The others look up in surprise.
‘You’re sure?’ Kit asks.
He nods. ‘I can’t sense them because of the communication block, but I still know a Hoarder when I see one, and they aren’t them. I didn’t even think to check before.’ He rubs Kit’s thigh. ‘Sorry, love.’
Blimey. Will just apologised to someone.
‘You can sense other Hoarders?’ I ask.
‘Hoarders can sense Hoarders; Guardians can sense Guardians.’
‘But you’re an ex-Hoarder.’
‘I can’t access the Thirteenth Dimension,’ he says. ‘That doesn’t mean I don’t come from there.’
‘This is good,’ Kit says excitedly. ‘Those people out there must be more mindless drones of Grayson’s. We can take them on, no problem.’
‘No good,’ Mr Lancer says, shaking his head. ‘If they’re under his control, then as soon as we attack them he’ll feel it and know we’re coming for him. He’ll put everyone he’s got on high alert, and we won’t get within a mile of the school play. In addition to which, those are innocent people out there, and there’s a limit to what I’m comfortable doing to them. They’re going to be suffering from hypothermia as it is.’
Will rolls his eyes. ‘Guardian softies. Alright, if it’s not attack then it’s stealth. We need to get out of the house without them realising.’
‘Can we wait until it gets a bit darker outside and just sneak out?’ Jem asks.
‘Too risky,’ Pippa says. ‘They may not have minds, but I think they still have eyes.’
‘Can we distract them somehow?’
‘They may not be programmed to pay any attention to anything except us.’
We sit around trying to think of ways to sneak out but we don’t really get anywhere. After a while Jem heads back into the training room to check on the zombies out back. I follow him. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.
‘Jem, what do you know about Martin Hacker?’
‘That he’s a douchebag and that I’m going to beat him up the next time I see him,’ he says automatically. He swings a couple of times at Will’s practice dummy to demonstrate.
‘Yeah, but apart from that.’
He stops punching the dummy and shrugs. ‘Not a lot. His dad’s on the council, I think, and does some charity stuff, but I don’t think Martin’s into that kind of thing. Why do you ask, anyway?’
‘Mr Grayson said something about his little brother.’
‘Oh, that.’ He starts swinging again. ‘Yeah, it was pretty sad. He fell out of a tree while Martin was looking after him and got brain damage, or something. His mum couldn’t handle it and took off. Martin was actually pretty nice up until then, but then he started getting in fights and stuff. Can’t have been easy on him, I guess.’
I think back to my early encounters with Martin: my zombie face on the window in the take-away; my comment to him about embarrassing families; me and Jem acting like simpletons in the school grounds.
I think I know why Martin Hacker doesn’t like me.
Jem takes a few steps back from the dummy, gives a ninja yell and aims a kick at its head. I move the dummy back a few feet with my mind and Jem slips and falls on his arse. I laugh, then have to concentrate on keeping Jem from killing me by moving the dummy between us. The three of us are charging around the room like maniacs when we notice Mr Lancer standing in the doorway watching us.
‘Now, there’s a thought,’ he says, smiling.
Five of Grayson’s drones stand silently at their posts, when suddenly the front door of Will’s house bursts open. A figure in a long coat and wide-brimmed hat charges out into the snowy night. The drones take off after it as it ducks and weaves its way around the yard, out into the road, then over the fence into the field at the back. The group almost collides with another three drones who are chasing a tall, well-padded figure in a baseball cap. Around and around they run, and never notice the nine shadowy figures with assorted weapons creeping out the front door and away into the woods to the side.
‘Alright, Jim,’ Mr Lancer whispers to me as we peer out from behind a couple of trees. ‘I think we’ve run them round the garden enough, don’t you? Let’s bring them home.’
The two figures in the field decide that escape is impossible with such hot-shots on their tails, and they charge back to the front of the house and in the door, which slams shut behind them. The drones stop short, unable to enter, and eventually return to their posts to watch the training dummy and the hat-stand settle in for a quiet evening.
‘Good work,’ Mr Lancer says. ‘Now let’s get out of here.’
It’s freezing out here.
We crept through the woods and are now standing at the edge of the trees, looking down at the school below us. It’s all lit up in the snowy night and families are trudging towards it from different directions, wrapped up in coats and scarves against the December cold.
It’s Christmas Eve, they’re trudging towards certain doom, and it’s up to us to save them. Poor sods.
Not all of us are looking too confident, now we’re on the brink. Peter keeps squatting and standing, like an athlete stretching before a big race. Jem’s p
acing between the trees searching for a better view but never finding one. Claire is jumping up and down like she needs to visit the nearest toilet block. It’s hard to tell how Will’s feeling because he’s busy teaching Winifred how to kick someone in the groin.
And me? I’m just trying to ignore the others so I can focus on staying calm. If my power goes off the deep end tonight, we’re sunk.
Three of us remain perfectly still. Mr Lancer and the twins, one on either side of him, stand erect and watchful on the crest of the hill, gazing intently towards the school buildings. It’s hard to tell in the dark which girl is which; Pippa has forsaken her traditional long skirt for jeans and a black jacket, and in return Kit has given up her casual attitude for Pippa’s intensity. They don’t react at all when the wind tugs at their coats. They just stare out towards the distant lights.
I narrow my eyes and focus my attention on them. Voices start fluttering in my ears.
Two by the main entrance.
Another one guarding the back stairwell.
It sounds like the Guardian Hotline is back up and running. Kit said she could quickly organise some undercover agents to keep us updated on what’s happening inside, but how they’re sneaking all over the school without being noticed is beyond me. The information’s coming in thick and fast, though.
He’s left the library door unguarded, but positioned someone further up the hall, so they can watch the staffroom door at the same time.
He must have run out of time, to keep any entrance unguarded.
Keep looking.
‘Are you listening in on the conference?’ Will asks quietly, coming up beside me with Winifred on one hip.
‘Just interested,’ I say defensively. ‘Aren’t you? You can, can’t you? You used to be a Hoarder.’
‘Emphasis on the “used to be”, mate,’ Will says. ‘I can sense other Hoarders, but that’s pretty much all I can do these days. I lost my privileges when I decided not to be evil anymore.’
‘Because you fell in love?’
I think he’s going to shut down after I stupidly let that one out, but he just looks at the small girl on the left. He knows which is which. ‘Yeah,’ he says softly. ‘God knows why she did, though.’
I leave him to his thoughts, and stare out across the darkened grounds. There are fewer people hurrying towards the school, now that the show is about to start – just a few stragglers carrying props and costumes and instrument cases.
I check in with the three sentinels for an update.
They’re beginning to move in on the hall. That leaves most entrances free.
Only two guarding his office now. It should make it easier for you to get in there.
Is the Orb still in the office?
‘No, it’s in the hall,’ I say.
The three of them turn and stare at me.
No, it’s in the hall, a Guardian voice from the school says.
Kit and Mr Lancer exchange a look. Mr Lancer nods slightly. Kit puffs out her cheeks and exhales slowly.
Thanks, everyone, she says in her head. A couple of you stay in the building and keep the updates coming. The rest of you get into position.
‘Okay,’ she says aloud, walking back to the rest of us. ‘According to the update there are a few entrances clear enough to try for. I want us to split up among them just in case there’s any trouble getting in, though.
‘Will and Claire, I want you with Warwick at the main school entrance. It’s not completely clear, but it’s the most direct route to Grayson’s office, and Warwick should be able to take care of any extra-dimensional trouble for you.
‘Pippa and Jem, you’ve got the side entrance in the junior school. It’s clear, but you’ve got a longer route through the school to the office, so stay sharp. Whoever gets there first, start looking for the mind-numbing talismans – the DNA items that Grayson is controlling everyone with. The sooner we give them back to their rightful owners, the fewer zombie-people we have to fight.
‘Peter, take Winifred round to the back courtyard and get ready for us. I don’t want you in the thick of it, but be ready for anyone exiting.
‘I’m making straight for the hall and the Orb.’
She looks around at them all as they straighten their shoulders, grip their weapons and clench their lips together.
‘Is everyone ready?’ she asks quietly.
‘No,’ I say. ‘I don’t know where I am.’
She looks at me, takes a deep breath and lifts her chin. ‘You’re here.’
‘Very funny,’ I say. ‘I know I’m here now, smartarse, but I don’t know which entrance I have to –’
‘You’re here.’
Hang on. ‘What?’
‘You’re not coming with us. You’re staying here.’
‘I’m… what? Why?’
‘It’s too dangerous.’
‘Too dangerous?’
Sudden anger wells up inside me. My ears ring and the woods around me seem to grow darker.
‘Then why the hell are you letting my little sister go down there, if it’s so bloody dangerous?’
‘Jim, calm down.’
‘She’s only seven, for God’s sake!’
‘Jim, breathe.’
‘What’s the matter with you people? You’re all so bloodthirsty you’d turn little children into killers?’
‘James Munkers!’
Kit’s voice is like a slap in the face, there’s so much power behind it. I gasp to a stop and feel my whole body shaking. Looking down, I can see dark power sizzling at my fingertips, aching to burst forth.
Oh, God. I didn’t do anything, did I? I look up quickly to check that everyone’s alright. They are, but they’re all white-faced and they’ve taken a few steps away from me.
I look back at Kit in despair. She looks just as upset, but she takes a deep breath to steady herself. ‘You’re staying here, and Winifred’s coming with us,’ she says carefully, ‘because you’re too dangerous.’
I clench my fists together and take a deep breath myself. ‘I can control it,’ I say. ‘I can. I just have to try harder.’
Kit shakes her head. ‘I don’t think you are controlling it, sweetheart. I think someone else is. I think Grayson’s used the Orb on you.’
I blink in astonishment. ‘No, he hasn’t. I haven’t been Orbed.’
‘How do you know he hasn’t?’
‘How do you know he has?’
‘You said you don’t always feel in control,’ Will reminds me.
‘I’m still getting used to my powers.’
‘You’ve been feeling stronger emotions than normal,’ Pippa says.
‘I’ve had a big week.’
‘You’ve got a connection to the Orb,’ Kit says. ‘You knew it was in the hall.’
‘That was just a guess.’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
No, it wasn’t. She’s right. I knew it was there. But how on earth did I know that?
Unless she’s right.
‘Jim,’ she says gently, ‘when I went into your mind I felt the connection.’
‘But that was because I was in Grayson’s mind, and he’s got a connection to it,’ I say desperately.
‘No, before that. All those times you’ve felt sick – that was you reacting to the Orb. There’s something of it in you, and when you get close to it you react badly to it, like static on the radio when you pass under power lines.’
‘But, but…’ Oh, hell, there must be something. I’m not all mind-controlled! ‘But I felt a connection to something in Grayson’s mind while I was there, too. Maybe I’m just extra-sensitive.’
‘I think he’s extra-sensitive,’ Jem says supportively.
‘Or you felt a connection to the part of Grayson’s mind that was controlling you,’ Kit says. ‘I’m sorry, Jim, but it’s too risky. You have to stay behind.’
‘I’m staying with him, then,’ Jem says at once.
Kit turns to him. ‘No, you’re not. If you want to help him, the
n you help us get that Orb and destroy it. It’s the only way to make sure the connection’s broken.’
‘Also, if he stays, I could be mind-controlled into killing him, right?’ I ask her unhappily.
She looks back at me. ‘I’m sorry,’ she says quietly.
That’s a yes.
She squeezes my arm. ‘We’ll fix this,’ she promises. ‘Just stay here and stay as Jim-like as you possibly can, okay?’ She turns to the others. ‘Everybody ready?’ she says to them. ‘Okay, let’s go.’
They start filing out of the trees, glancing back at me as they go. Jem lingers to give me a “sorry” thumbs up, then turns and follows the others down the hill towards the school.
Chapter Eighteen: All Through the House
Scummy bastards could have left me a torch.
The only light source is the school down the hill. I pace about in the trees with my collar turned up, staring down at the buildings. I wish I knew what was happening. It feels like they left hours ago. It’s probably only been a few minutes, but I can’t read my watch in the darkness, and I don’t dare use my power to create a light, just in case it turns into a huge fireball that whizzes down and blows up the entire school, killing every single person in the…
Now, was that my horrible thought, or Grayson’s?
I moan in fear and crouch down by a tree. This is awful. Every thought I have, I don’t know whether it’s mine or not. I still feel like me – I feel alone and scared and pathetic – but if a mind-controlling device is telling me to feel like me, I would, wouldn’t I?
I don’t know. If massive brains like Kit and Mr Lancer say I can’t be trusted, then I guess…
What was that?
I turn my head sharply and look back into the woods. I can’t see a thing, of course, but I can sense something in there.
In fact, I’ve always sensed something in there.
The hairs on the back of my neck start to prickle. Without moving a muscle I gather my power and send it down the hill towards the school. It takes a lot of concentration, especially as I’m concentrating on the woods at the same time, but I painstakingly sweep my awareness through the school until I find what I’m after.
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