Nowhere Boys (24 page)

‘It won’t happen again, sir.’

Bates turned to the others. ‘It better not. Or the four of you will be spending every Saturday cleaning graffiti off desks. Now, open your books. Today we’re looking at the life cycle of the dust mite.’

Sam sighed and opened his book. Even being arrested by Jake’s dad was looking good compared with being stuck in an airless room with Bates and his dust mites.

As Bates turned to write on the whiteboard, the door swung open and Mia walked in. She walked straight towards Sam and sat down in the empty seat next to his. He looked at her, taken aback.

She reached into her bag and pulled out the drawing he’d done of her. It was a perfect likeness. ‘You’re really good.’

Sam’s heart swelled. ‘Yeah, well, my subject wasn’t too bad,’ he said, smiling.

Mia smiled back and put her hand over his. She felt cold, which was strange. Mia always had the warmest hands.

She squeezed his hand gently and before Sam knew what was happening, he began to draw.

He glanced at Mia. She was paying attention to the board as if the seven stages of a dust mite’s life were the most interesting thing in the world.

He looked back at his notepad and, to his shock, saw that his hand was drawing the talisman. He watched his hand move quickly across the page. It was the weirdest feeling – like his hand was moving completely independently of his mind. It drew a perfect replica of the talisman, complete with details Sam hadn’t even seen. ‘What’s happening?’ he whispered to Mia.

Her head twitched toward him like she was a puppet on a string. ‘It is keeping you here.’ Her voice was deep and raspy. ‘Destroy it and you will return to where you belong.’

Sam looked into her eyes. What she was saying made a strange kind of sense. ‘I can’t.’

‘Then you will never go home,’ said Mia, turning to look straight ahead again.

Sam followed her gaze. On the whiteboard, Bates’s letters and words started to crawl over each other. Wriggling like a bunch of ants they slowly formed the words
DESTROY IT
.

Mia squeezed his hand again, and smiled. Sam stared at the words.
DESTROY IT
.

Slowly, Sam turned around to look at Felix, who was sitting a few rows back. The talisman, as always, was hanging around his neck – and Sam saw that it was steadily glowing.

Mia was right. The talisman wasn’t protecting them, it was getting in the way! If the demon wanted them to go home, why were they fighting it? Because he was right: the others weren’t interested in going home. They wanted to stay here.
They
were the ones stopping Sam from getting home. Why hadn’t he realised that before? All he had to do was destroy the talisman and he could go home.

Sam felt an overwhelming urge to leap across the desks and grab it off Felix. He stood up suddenly, just as the lunch bell rang.

Mia stood up with a jerk, next to him. ‘Follow them.’

Felix was making his way out the door. Sam pushed through the other students, and saw Felix and Andy at the end of the corridor, heading towards the library. He set off after them. He had to get that talisman.

Sam swung open the library door and looked around. Felix and Andy were sitting at the computers. Sam moved stealthily towards them. Andy was scrolling through internet searches on magic. Sam watched, wondering what the best tactic might be.

‘If science and magic are both governed by cause and effect …’ Andy was saying.

Felix seemed too intent on his own research to be paying him much attention.

‘Then what’s the cause?’ asked Andy. ‘Why us?’

‘Probably just random,’ Felix said casually.

‘But that doesn’t make sense.’

Sam edged closer, his eyes on the talisman. He moved towards it, mesmerised.

Felix looked up, startled. ‘Sam, can you stop sneaking up on me? It’s freaking me out.’

Sam could almost feel the talisman.

It was calling him to take it.

He slid into the seat next to Felix and was about to reach his hand towards Felix’s neck when Ellen appeared next to them.

‘You want to go and check out the physics section?’ she asked Andy.

‘Sure,’ he said, tripping over his chair in his eagerness to get up.

‘I hope the lights don’t go out again like last time,’ Ellen said coyly as they walked off.

‘Excuse me while I throw up,’ said Felix, banging at the keys on the computer.

Sam kept his eye on the talisman around Felix’s neck. ‘This is the only way,’ he murmured. ‘One day you’ll thank me for it.’ He lunged for the talisman.

But Felix was too quick. He grabbed Sam’s hand and they struggled.

‘Give it to me,’ said Sam.

Felix pulled the talisman away from Sam. ‘Why are you being such a psycho?’ He turned to escape Sam, but Mia had appeared on the other side of him. ‘Mia? What’s going … ?’

She directed her gaze at Sam, her eyes turning a deep red. Her head twitched like a bird’s. ‘You can succeed,’ she said in a strange, deep voice. ‘Destroy the talisman and go back home, where you belong.’

‘Oh, Jesus. No, no, no. Not Mia.’ Felix got to his feet.

Sam jumped up, seizing his chance. He grabbed the talisman and pulled the cord as hard as he could. The cord snapped and Sam hurtled out the door with the talisman in his hand.

‘Sam! Wait! No!’ Felix yelled.

Sam sprinted down the corridor. He heard Andy and Felix yelling as they chased after him, but he didn’t care. He had the talisman and he was going to get rid of it.
Destroy it
, Mia had said, so he couldn’t just throw it in a lake. He had to physically destroy it. He slid down the stair rail and burst out of the school’s main entrance.

Jake was crossing the quad. ‘Hey man, what’s the rush?’

Sam ignored him. The auto workshop. That’s where he’d go.

He reached the roller door and, yanking it up, slipped inside. He looked around.

The workshop was dark and chaotic. Tools lined the walls and cars crowded the floor, their bonnets up, ready for repair.

Sam dropped the talisman onto a bench. He wrenched a hammer off the wall, testing its weight in his hand. That should do it.

He looked down at the talisman, feeling anger flood through him. It was keeping him here. It had taken everything from him. He raised the hammer above his head. He was going to smash it to pieces and finally,
finally
, he’d get to go home.

‘Sam.
No!
’

Jake, Felix and Andy had slipped under the roller door.

‘Sam. Stop. The talisman is protecting us.’

Sam raised the hammer higher. ‘It’s not. It’s keeping us here. Mia told me.’

He heard Felix yelling but he didn’t care. He brought the hammer down as hard as he could. Right into the centre of the talisman.

Smash!

The hammer bounced off it. Sam stared at it in disbelief. It was completely unscathed. Damn! He’d have to hit it harder. He lifted the hammer again but before he could drop it, the talisman began to shake. The air suddenly filled with an intense high-pitched sound that rang in his ears, like the whine of a thousand mosquitoes. The talisman shook harder and then split into four even pieces.

The hammer fell to the ground as Sam clutched his hands to his ears. He stared down at the four broken pieces of talisman in front of him. The ringing sound dissipated.

‘Poor boys. All alone,’ said that familiar deep, raspy voice.

Sam looked up. Mia was standing by the roller door. Her eyes were still blood red and she was holding a metal chain.

Oh God. Sam reeled back. He suddenly felt like he’d got control of his mind and body back. He stared at Mia. What had he done? She was possessed – and he hadn’t even realised. He picked up the pieces of talisman.

‘Is your little toy broken, Sam?’

Felix turned just as Mia swung the chain at him.

‘Felix!’ Sam yelled. ‘Run!’

Mia advanced towards them, her walk as jolting as her head movements.

‘Quick! Behind the cars,’ Sam called to the others. They dropped to their haunches and scurried to the back of the workshop. ‘She’s the demon,’ whispered Sam.

‘Like, you just worked that out?’ said Felix scornfully.

Sam bit his lip. What an idiot!

‘We have to confuse her,’ said Felix. ‘It’s like with Roland. She’ll be slow at first.’

They crouched behind a car, watching as Mia turned in circles, swinging her chain. Felix was right: she couldn’t work out where they’d gone.

Sam looked at the four broken pieces of talisman in his hand. ‘Can it be fixed?’

‘Unlikely,’ said Felix.

Hearing their voices, Mia started to weave her way between the cars towards them.

‘Felix, I’m sorry,’ whispered Sam. ‘She was controlling me somehow.’

Felix picked up a spanner and threw it as hard as he could across the workshop. It landed with a clatter and Mia turned sharply. She headed towards the noise.

‘Come on,’ Felix whispered. ‘We haven’t got long to outsmart her.’ He led them quietly around the back of cars towards the roller door.

Just as they reached it, Mia saw them.

Sam spotted a fire extinguisher on the wall. He thought fast. He’d got them into this – he was going to get them out of it. ‘You guys go. I’ll deal with her.’

Mia was moving fast towards them.

‘Go.
Go!
’ Sam shoved them towards the roller door. He grabbed the fire extinguisher.

Felix looked back, unsure, as Andy and Jake slipped under the door.

‘Felix, trust me. Go.’

Mia moved quickly, with her eyes fixed on Felix. The chain swung from her hand, clanking menacingly on the concrete floor.

Sam waited until she was an arm’s length away, then let rip with the fire extinguisher. A cloud of white mist covered her just as Felix, taking no more chances, slipped under the roller door.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, the others were safe. Now it was just him and Mia.

The foam cleared, and Mia turned her red glare towards Sam. ‘Order must be restored,’ she rasped as she moved towards him.

‘Mia, it’s me, Sam. I know this isn’t you. There is something else in control,’ Sam tried desperately.

Mia let the chain fall to her side.

‘You can beat this thing, Mia. Don’t be afraid.’ He took a small step forward. ‘Fight it, Mia. I know you can.’

Sam thought he saw a flash of recognition, but then Mia lifted the chain and swung it hard towards him. He ducked, but only just in time. He remembered what had happened with Roland – the way he’d seemed to grow in strength. He had to get out of there.

He blasted Mia again with the fire extinguisher, knocking her off balance, and covering her with a mist. Disoriented, she thrashed wildly around her. Sam bolted under the roller door and pulled the door closed.

The others were waiting for him on the other side.

From inside he could hear Mia recovering. She started to bang against the door, roaring furiously.

‘Quick,’ said Felix. ‘Give me the pieces. Sam handed him the four broken pieces of talisman. Felix quickly pieced them back together and held them out. ‘
Divinity of the elements
…’

They all looked at the talisman. Nothing. Not even the hint of a glow.

Mia’s roar became deafening and the roller door started shaking.

‘She’s getting stronger,’ said Jake.

‘And now we have absolutely no protection,’ Felix said, looking pointedly at Sam.

Sam stared at the broken talisman. Oh God. What had he done?

‘We have to get out of here,’ yelled Jake.

‘But – what about Mia?’ Sam was concerned.

‘Your demon girlfriend in there?’

‘She’s getting stronger. If we stay, she’ll break out of there and rip us to pieces,’ said Jake.

‘You guys go. I want to make sure she’s okay.’

Felix shrugged. ‘It’s your funeral,’ he said.

Sam felt terrible. He’d just destroyed the one thing that could protect them. And now his girlfriend was a demon who wanted to kill him way more than she wanted to date him.

jake:
happy mother’s day

‘All right, you lot. If you’re staying here, you can damn well earn your keep.’ A feather duster flew across the shop and landed at Jake’s feet.

‘You can mop,’ said Phoebe to Andy. Then she turned to Sam and Felix. ‘And you two can clean the windows.’ She handed them a bucket and sponges and then disappeared into the back room.

‘Do you really think this is the time to be concerned with cleanliness?’ muttered Andy as he picked up the mop.

‘Yeah, like being clean is going to stop the demon coming after us,’ agreed Felix.

Andy sloshed some water onto the floor. ‘Maybe the smell of Pine O Cleen will scare it away.’

‘Worth a try, given we’ve got no other protection,’ said Felix, glaring darkly at Sam.

Sam looked away, shame-faced.

Jake put his hand on Sam’s shoulder supportively. ‘Give him a break. He actually saved us from the demon.’

‘Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have had to if I hadn’t been such an idiot,’ Sam admitted.

‘Shh,’ said Felix.

Phoebe came out of the back room, struggling with a cheesy-looking sign that read
MAKE YOUR MOTHER SMILE THIS MOTHER’S DAY
.