A smug grin cracked across his face. “I’m his best friend.”
The sobbing broke from behind me. “I don’t want to go back,” Benji said. He buried his face into the teddy bear.
“Your mum and dad are worried.” I knelt by his side, grazing the back of my hand against his arm in the sling. “What happened to you?”
For a brief moment, Benji looked up, his eyes connecting with the boy behind me. “An accident.”
“You can tell me the truth,” I said, placing a hand beneath his chin, trying to get him to look me in the eye. “Who did this?”
“I said, an accident.”
A bony hand grabbed my shoulder, tensing in place, it ached. I rolled my shoulders, knocking the hand away. I couldn’t be hurt here, so why the pain? “What are you? Elf? Goblin? You’re not—”
“He’s my imaginary friend,” Benji said, standing beside me. “He helps me. He told me I could escape.”
I shook my head. Impossible. At least, it would’ve been on the physical plane. This wasn’t an ordinary imaginary friend. There was nothing ordinary about this place, or anything happening inside it.
I took Benji’s hand. “We need to go!”
The boy opened his mouth, widely, revealing sharp talon-like teeth. “No.”
TWENTY-TWO
Benji hugged his teddy bear tight beneath an arm. His wide eyes glanced at me to his imaginary friend. I was a relative stranger, he’d never seen me before, but I was an adult, and to a child, that should’ve meant authority.
“He’s my best friend,” he said.
“Benji, your parents need you,” I said, taking a second look at my watch, aware the hands had stopped ticking by.
His imaginary friend growled, his jaw crunching as it shut. “They’re trying to take him away from me!” Snap. I watched as his eyes shook and his shoulders rolled.
If we waited any longer, we’d be late. I couldn’t entertain these antics. I’d found the boy, and that all I was here to do. “Leave,” I commanded.
He disappeared instantly.
“What did you do?” Benji asked, tears forming in his eyes. “Where did he go?” He pulled his hand from mine. “He’s my best friend. He brought me here.”
My brows furrowed as I stared. “He did?”
He nodded, squeezing the toy harder and closer to his chest. “Yes.”
Imaginary friends had no physical footing. Looking at the teddy bear he coddled close, I made the connection, this wasn’t a run of the mill imaginary friend, existing in a boy’s mind. This was something else, something with footing in the physical world.
“We need to leave,” I said. “Right now.”
“I—I—I—I can’t,” he said. “Not without my friend.”
There’s no way of telling him, but I could’ve been wrong, which rarely happened, I didn’t want to get him worked up. “We should go upstairs and look for him, that’s how we’ll get back home.”
He grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. “He likes upstairs.”
“What about your other friend?” I asked, referring to the feral one who’d chased me.
He shook his head. “I only have Otis.”
“Otis?” I asked. A pang struck my chest. “You gave him a name?” It wasn’t that bad to give an imaginary friend a name, but it allowed them room to believe they could be part of your life, your reality.
He nodded. “That’s his name.”
With my heart racing a mile a minute, we walked through the empty dining room to the foot of the staircase. In the empty living room at the right, I noticed the boy who’d chased me, standing with his face against a wall.
“Him,” I said, pointing. “Is he your—”
“No, no, no!” he pulled his hand away and ran upstairs.
“Benji, come back.” Before following him, I glanced at the other boy one last time. He was a little scary to be around, but this was his creation, all of this was because Ben wanted it. He had to know who he was.
As I walked up the stairs, I heard faint voices from his room.
“—stay with me—”
“I want to go home.”
I crept up the rest of the stairs. Nothing had appeared yet, if it had, it would’ve startled both of them. I stepped slowly, the wood breathing beneath me with creaks and sighs. There was something sinister about the way the boys were with each other, more so, the grunting and occasional growl from Otis.
“Ben,” I said, standing in the doorway. “Come with me.”
Both Ben and Otis were sat on the end of the bed, looking at me. Ben’s blank face stared hopelessly, while Otis’ sinister smile seemed to grace the space around me.
He stood. “I—I—I want to go home now.”
“We can! We can go back!” I said.
Otis pushed Ben into my arms. “Go then.”
Forced to take a couple steps into the hall with Ben, I attempted to step forward. “We need—”
Dum. The door slammed shut.
“We need to be inside,” I said, rattling the handle.
Ben sighed, sobbing into his teddy. “When can I go home?”
I dipped to my knees, locking eyes with him. “I have a friend, and she’s going to open a door inside your room. We need to go through it to go home.”
“And my mum and dad are waiting?”
I ruffled the hair on his head. “They’re worried.”
“I didn’t want to do that.”
I stood, my knees cracking with little pops. “Gosh, okay.” I attempted the door handle once again, hoping something would occur. Nothing, it didn’t budge. I knocked, I pushed, I whacked with the base of my hand. “Open up.”
A growl vibrated through the atmosphere.
“Who is he?” I asked.
“Otis. My friend.”
“Tell him to open the door.”
“Otis, open the door,” he said, meekly. “Please.”
The door handle rattled.
“Who is he?”
“He helps me, from the bullies.” His eyes darted to the stairwell.
I clasped his hand. “The boy downstairs.”
He gulped. “I—I—I wanna go home.”
The door swung open and standing as tall and as wide as the frame itself, was Otis, or something else in Otis’ place.
Behind him, a whirring sound and a blue light bloomed. The first colour I’d seen in a while. I grabbed the tall demonic creature by his arm, trying to wrap my hand around his wrist. It was cold, frozen veins pumped iced blood in his limbs. He had a pulse. He was alive.
“What—” I swallowed hard. “You’re a boggart.”
“What’s a boggart?” Ben asked, his voice a mere whisper behind me.
A boggart is nothing but an evil spirit, but with a name, a boggart is much more. It’s powerful and stubborn. It was also a murderer. Benji had named his boggart, and now it had strength while I had no magic.
TWENTY-THREE
The cold-skinned boggart continued to stand in the doorway, surrounded by blue hues from the open portal behind him. It made him appear more dominating than what he was, except I had no power, and he really did have all the power.
“Move,” I spoke, attempting to command him like I had done. “Leave.”
“Otis, please,” Benji said. “I want to go home.”
A chuckle came from the back of his throat. “You are home.”
Extending my fingers, I pushed forward. My hands collided with his abdomen. A thud. I pushed again, harder this time. I needed him to budge. He had to move. We had to get into the portal before it closed. “Let—us—out!”
“You can go,” Otis said, grabbing my hand.
I took Benji’s hand. “With him.”
“No.”
With Otis’ cold grip on my wrist, I knew one false step and it’d be snapped. While none of my crystals worked and I had zero ability, this was going to be fatal.
“Please,” Benji pleaded. “I’ll come back.”
The light behind
Otis’ body seemed to dull slightly. Was it closing? My throat gripped tight. He pushed my hand away. I noticed something around his wrist. A little ribbon, a deep shade of grey in the black and white world.
It was familiar.
“Come with us,” I said. “If you come through the portal, you’ll be free.” Or we’d be free from him.
His deep laughter turned into a fit of coughing. “I have all the power here, lady.”
He knew I was powerless. I turned back to Benji, noticing the same ribbon wrapped around the teddy bear’s neck. They’re connected.
“Please,” Benji said.
The blue hue faded behind Otis. I knew the portal had closed. We weren’t getting out anytime soon, nor were we getting out easily.
“Has it gone?” Benji asked.
The hopelessness in my eyes told him everything I felt in that moment. I didn’t want to tell him, but we’d have to think a little more creatively. Cassandra could open a second, but she’d have to find a new stone and we’d have to be here. There had to have been an easier way.
“Benji,” I said, “did your imaginary friend come from the teddy?”
His eyes towered the heavy breathing beast, his lips trembling as realisation stuck in.
“He’ll stay with me forever,” Otis said.
“Please. I’ll come back,” he begged in tears. “Please.”
If they got here without a gemstone, we can get back without one. “How do you leave?” I asked. He must’ve been the one coming in and out with milk bottles, and the boy’s arm, it all had to have been him.
“You can’t now.”
Benjamin dropped to his knees in hard choking sobs. “Please, please. I’ll come back,” he pleaded with Otis.
I knew what we had to do. “Ben,” I said, reaching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Ben.”
“Yes.” He lifted his head.
I dipped and pressed my lips to his ear. “The teddy is keeping him here,” I said. “You’re giving him the power.”
He looked away. “No.” He squeezed the bear tighter.
“It’s the only way I can make sure you’re safe.” It was the only thought I had at that minute. It would make sure we were both safe from the monster, and he had the ability to do it. “If you get rid of him, we can leave,” I said.
Otis laughed. “You can’t.”
“I’ll get you a new one,” I said, one that would’ve have been plagued with a boggart from Northern England.
“Really?” he outstretched the toy. “Promise.”
A harrumphing growl came from Otis. “What?”
If this place was from Otis’ mind, it would go when he does. He was tying Ben here and suppressing my abilities.
“Do it,” I said.
Ben grabbed both arms of the teddy bear and pulled tight, tearing away the sling around his arm. A zip came as the stitching from the teddy came free at the shoulders. Stuffing dropped to the ground. He pulled the arms free, his eyes watering, sobbing at his prized possession. It fell into a small dune of polyester stuffing.
“I’m staying for you,” Otis said. A hand struggling to grab at his neckline. “I’m stay—stay—stay—” he stopped.
Ben grabbed the teddy bear again, tears wet his entire face. He grabbed a leg in each hand and pulled hard, bearing down, he tore the legs from the body until only the torso was left. It dropped to the mound. He collapsed to his knees, pushing his fingers deep into the fluffy innards.
I stroked Benji’s back, glancing to the man in the door as he shrunk back to the boy he was. He gasped as smoke left his mouth and his hands scratched deep rivets into his neck. I placed a hand over Benji’s eyes; I didn’t want him to see, even if his memory would be wiped.
Black foot imprints were all that was left of him.
“He’s gone,” I said in a whisper, glancing at his arm and the grey patches of blood travelling up his sleeve.
He’d done this to him. He’d stolen the milk. He’d framed his parents. He’d taken the boy, and he’d played on his own insecurities as a new kid in a new town at a school where there’s a bully. He’d used all that against him.
“Can I go home now?” he asked.
I hoped we would’ve gone once the boggart left, but we didn’t.
“Yes, we can go,” I said.
He turned to me, collapsing in my arms. He wrapped his arms around my neck, falling around me. “I don’t feel good.” His arms dropped loose around my neck as he fell back into my arms.
TWENTY-FOUR
The light faded around us as darkness encroached on the peripherals of my vision. I glanced around, sat on the bare floor with Ben in my arms, the area around us was warped in colour. We were no longer stuck.
I looked up from his bead, directly into the boy’s bedroom, a mournful Cassandra sat on the bottom of the bed. Her head in her hands. I could only imagine she was plotting and planning the next step.
I watched her for a moment, unsure whether or not she could see me.
“Cassandra?”
She looked across at me with her big bug eyes glinting in the little light. “Nora!” she gasped. “Is that him?”
I nodded to the boy in my arms, his head resting against my shoulder. The teddy bear and all of its stuffing had gone; nothing remained. The hard part was over now. “It worked.”
“What happened? The portal closed.”
“He did it.”
She approached us, holding out her hand. “I was worried.” She presented the charred rock, now sporting a large crack through the centre. “I’d have to find a crystal shop, wait twenty-four hours to do it again, and by that point, this place could’ve been swarming with officers.”
“Could’ve been,” I grumbled. “Well we’re back.”
Her smile pushed her cheeks high. “So, what was it? What happened?”
“It was a boggart,” I revealed. “He’d hidden him away. I think the boy was being bullied and the boggart was trying to help.”
She shuddered. “Awful creatures. But aren’t they supposed to be—”
“In the north?” I chuckled. “Yes. That’s where the family are from.”
The family moved because of troubles and that trouble ultimately followed them to their new home. Alongside the milk bottles being collected in the other world, this boggart had caused a lot of trouble.
“What should we do?” Cassandra asked.
I let the thought sink in for a moment. “I want you to think of a plan,” I said. “This is a learning curve.”
She nodded, turning on a foot as she looked around. “So, the boy’s been found, the family has been locked up, there’s blood in the family car, but the boggart is dead now.” She continued to wander around the room. “So, we wipe the boy’s memory, we remove the blood. If the boy is found here, then—then—”
“Then we need to figure out how.”
“He went wandering and couldn’t find his way home,” she said with a self-assured nod. “Oh, well removing the blood might be tricky if someone has already taken it. We’ll have to replace it with something red with consistency.”
“Improvisation. Good.” I stroked a hand through Benji’s hair. “Do you want to wipe his memory, or shall I?”
“I will,” she volunteered. “Need to get the practice in any way.”
Cassandra helped me get Ben to his feet. We slowly walked him to his bed and laid him down. I surrounded him with plush toys near his pillow. Now he was without his teddy bear, he’d have to make do with the ones he had.
“Are we ready?” I asked.
She cracked her knuckles. “Ready and waiting.”
“Well, I know what happened to the milk now,” I said with a slight smile. “The boggart stole it. And of course, Ben gave him a name, the power enough needed to give him the ability to somewhat put his foot in this world.” I sighed. “Not to mention, the connection it had with his teddy.”
“Have you come across one of these before?” she asked, pressing a fi
nger against Ben’s temple.
“Usually in Northern England,” I said, planting myself at the foot of the bed. “Never one to steal a child though, just steal their belongings.”
No two cases were ever the same.
“Perhaps there’s something much more powerful about being here,” she said.
A comment out of left-field. “Sorry?”
She shrugged. “Some places have much more power in them than others.”
I knew as well. “If that was the case, we’d have much more supernatural people flocking the streets,” I said, “and the goddess knows Ivory would’ve told me.”
“As would Jinx.”
While Cassandra dealt with the boy, I headed back downstairs to clean away everything we’d unpacked on our way into the house. Ivory was perched on the ground beside the gemstones, her head turning three-sixty.
“Where were you?” she asked.
“Finding the boy,” I said. “Turns out the parents didn’t have anything to do with it.”
She scoffed. “So, it wasn’t a case for the humans?”
I knelt beside her, gathering the tools we’d used. “Exactly. Imagine if I never felt the draw, he could’ve been lost forever.”
“And the parents in prison.”
The twang struck my stomach harder. “How did you get in?”
“Kitchen door, all it took was a little push.”
I smiled, remembering what Cass had said. “What do you think about Witchwood, as a place for magic?”
“Not sure what you mean.”
“An energy hub,” I said. “Like the one we found near Durham. Supernatural creatures flocked to it.”
“It just vanished.”
“That’s the one.”
I’d never solved it, it was written up as a case solved by disbanding enough creatures that the energy scattered. Before then, the small city we’d visited had been a giant beacon of magical energy. It was a case closed in my books, and for the people at the Council too. Of course, energy spots appeared everywhere, and they’d always come and go when someone was sent to investigate them.
There’s no knowing what they were there for, or what they were doing.
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