Page 31

As the Blanks sense Neon’s presence, a wave of movement washes over the street.

One by one, they spin towards us, an entire crowd of empty faces turned in our direction.

Breathing fast, I try to imagine a way out of this.

Nothing comes. I close my eyes and squeeze the top of my nose, but the fog in my head won’t clear.

After a moment, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“Laurie, my time’s up,” Neon says softly. “If I go back to the Realm now, they won’t have the chance to erase me.”

“No!” I shake my head. “No, there has to be a way.”

“But look how many of them there are! If I stay, they’re going to suck the imagination out of everyone in this town.”

I think about it: Mutti not being able to write; me unable to come up with my stories; Tilly without her love of all things fantastical; Carrie taking down the unicorn ornaments on her mantelpiece, hiding them away in the attic; no one in our town making music or drawing or creating beautiful things. The idea is too sad for words.

But so is the thought of letting Neon go. I’m still not ready to give up yet.

I scan the street. The lights are on in Every Book Mutti’s tea sloshes over the rim of her cup and on to her cream cardigan.

Joel leaps to his feet and hurries to the entrance. My heart flutters as he undoes the double locks and opens the door. “What’s wrong? Has something happened?” He reaches for me as I pull Neon inside, his eyes widening when he finally notices the Blanks swarming the high street. “What are those ?”

I slam the door shut and bolt it closed again.

Mum and Mutti rush over from the counter.

Mum’s face is pale, and Mutti barely seems to have noticed the beige splodge on her favourite cardigan.

They both look so worried, and for a moment all I feel is regret.

I should have told them what was going on much sooner.

We’re in over our heads, and now I don’t know even know where to start.

“Don’t worry.” Neon holds up his hands with a wobbly smile. “Everything’s OK. It’s just…”

“Everything is not OK! Those things are after Neon. He needs to get out of here now.” I run to the storeroom and grab Mum’s car keys from the hook behind the door.

“He’s been staying at Carrie’s friend’s house – you know, Tamara Mackenzie, the director?

They live in that big house in the woods. Can you drive us there? Please?”

Mutti and Mum look at each other. There are times when my parents appear to have an entire conversation in one glance, but right now they both look completely flummoxed.

Mutti turns back to us and shakes her head in confusion. “Wait – start again, Laurie. Those people are after Neon?” She peers at the Blanks through the window, more confused than worried. “Who are they?”

“And what do you mean, Neon’s been staying at Tamara Mackenzie’s house?” Mum says, a hint of anger creeping into her words. “Does Carrie know that?”

“Yes, it was her idea, but – look, there’s no time to explain!” I shake the keys in frustration. The Blanks are drawing in, and the fog in my head is expanding. “I promise I’ll tell you everything later. Please can you trust me on this?”

Joel rubs his forehead. He seems to be having trouble thinking too, but he takes the keys from me. “I can drive you over there.”

“No, we’re coming,” Mum says, snatching them back from him. “It sounds like we’ve got things to talk to Carrie about.”

While Joel locks up the shop, the rest of us hurry out through the back door and down the side street where my parents’ car is parked. Mum slides into the driver’s seat and Mutti gets in beside her, rubbing her temples like she’s getting a headache.

Joel appears a moment later and squeezes into the back beside Neon and me. “Is this something to do with Aurora?” he asks, pulling the door shut behind him. “Is she OK?”

“Who’s Aurora?” Mum glances at me as she slowly manoeuvres out of her parking space. When none of us replies, she sighs. “Fine. Maybe Carrie will give us some answers.”

She edges down the narrow street and turns left on to a wider residential road.

A group of seven or eight-year-olds dressed as cartoon characters come out of a house, each clutching a plastic pumpkin full of sweets.

Suddenly one stops by the gate and drops his haul.

As chocolate bars and monkey nuts go tumbling on to the pavement, a Blank glides past. The pale sphere where its face should be turns slowly towards the children.

Half of them freeze; the others scream and sprint back into the house.

“What are those faceless people supposed to be?” Mutti turns her head to stare at the Blanks as we drive past. “Are they from one of those superhero movies?”

Mum points to the other side of the street. “Look, there’s another one.”

Under a street lamp, a second Blank is walking slowly towards a man dressed in a medieval-style tunic.

The headlights of Mum’s car wash over them, making the Blank’s featureless face glow like the moon.

As I twist round in my seat, the Blank puts its hand on the man’s chest. He crumbles into a thousand tiny pieces and falls to the ground like ashes, blown away on the wind.

I gasp and clamp my hand over my mouth, but my parents are looking ahead and didn’t see the character vanish into nothing.

As we drive, more Blanks appear. They seem to come from nowhere, pale flames springing into the night air.

I keep waiting for Mum or Mutti to realise that this isn’t normal, that there’s something very strange going on here.

But, like the kids at school, they don’t seem to have considered anything other than the most logical explanation.

Soon they stop asking questions and sit in silence, their expressions turning blank like Carrie’s did yesterday.

It’s as if all their curiosity about the situation has run out.

As Mum turns on to the long road that borders the loch, a cacophony of horns and raised voices fills the air.

The traffic on both sides of the road has come to a standstill.

Some cars seem to have been abandoned, doors still gaping open.

Mum stops the car behind a furiously honking minivan.

Neither she nor Mutti comments on what’s going on, so Joel gets out to take a look.

“There seems to have been an accident, but I can’t see anything,” he says. “Can’t hear any ambulances on their way, either.”

Neon and I climb out of the back seat after him.

Down by the water, a constellation of lights twinkles.

At first I think it’s a boat, but when my eyes adjust to the dim light I realise it’s coming from the banks of the loch.

A large crowd of people have gathered there, and they’re all holding phones or cameras to the water, just like in the video that Tilly sent me this morning.

In the darkness, the surface of the water ripples.

Someone screams, and I can’t tell whether it’s from fear or excitement.

Neon takes a sharp breath. “Hang on. You don’t think…?”

It takes me a long moment for the mist in my mind to clear and for me to understand what he’s suggesting. There’s something in the water.

Something is moving in Loch Ness.