Xinder Rises Read online

  ‘I see you need convincing,’ the old man said, his voice as smooth as honey once more. ‘I’m going to show you something to ... reassure you. All I’m asking for is a little co-operation.’

  The old man took a step back.

  Fitzpatrick stood up, his knees barely able to hold him.

  ‘You see, I’m going to tell you the story of what has happened so far, and then I’m going to tell you what will happen next. Do you understand?’

  Fitzpatrick nodded.

  ‘Good. Let me tell you about that piece of paper in your pocket, and how I generated your image in the lightning,’ the ghost said, this time softer. ‘Then, Danny Delaux, I’m going to tell you who you are and how we are going to help one another.’

  Olivia

  ‘STOP IT – ALL OF YOU!’ Olivia strode towards the players with a sense of purpose.

  The teams almost instantly ceased brawling. Olivia’s direct approach had that effect on people.

  ‘Pathetic, all of you,’ she shouted, pointing at various individuals. ‘It’s like a wrestling match for the Under 5s. Newton, you three especially, should be ashamed of yourselves.’

  Olivia scooped up the ball. ‘As for the refereeing. Twelve deliberate fouls totally unaccounted for and you haven’t even got the balls to book them, let alone send them off for repeated violent conduct.’

  The football smacked into the referee’s hands. ‘You should be struck off—?’

  Before she had a chance to finish, she was grabbed by Coach and Mr Steele. They hauled her off her feet and away to the side line.

  The referee responded by pointing belatedly at Olivia.

  ‘You’ll be dealt with later by the authorities,’ he roared, blinking, trying hard to pull himself together.

  Why couldn’t he remember the procedure for dealing with a brawl?

  It felt as if his brain had emptied.

  ‘And along with that madwoman,’ he continued, ‘Sutton numbers one and eight, and Newton players five, seven and four,’ he said pointing at the Newton players, ‘GET OFF THIS PITCH.’

  He waved his red card at the players and scribbled in his book.

  Another huge slap of thunder exploded almost directly overhead. The ground shook. A terrible feeling tiptoed up his spine, sending his hairs erect.

  ‘Direct free kick to red,’ he said, pointing to a spot just outside the penalty area. ‘And the quicker we’re out of here, the better.’

  The ref studied his watch. ‘Last couple of minutes,’ he announced.

  The girl was right, though. His had been a truly woeful performance.

  Danny

  Danny ran.

  He had to find out what Fitzpatrick was up to, and fast. If he was right, there wasn’t much more time left.

  His stomach churned, and darkness seeped into his bones.

  Thunder crashed and boomed as spectators began to flee to their cars and the school buildings.

  Danny sprinted and scampered up the steep bank, pulling himself up on the longer tufts with his hands and using his studs to give him grip. At the top of the bank he caught his breath.

  Another dramatic roll of thunder rattled the ground as Danny watched Olivia being marched off the football pitch. People were streaming away, pointing skywards.

  Wow. What a mental couple of minutes. He couldn’t believe his strength.

  He shook his head and smiled. Was it from the strange glass of water left by the ghost?

  He spied the alleyway and ran over, the studs of his boots clacking on the stone beneath him. He thought for a minute about taking them off but really, was there any point? This ghost, he thought, couldn’t really exist, could it?

  He peered down the alleyway and saw two shapes.

  A sudden burst of lightning brought the pair to light and he could make out Fitzpatrick’s hair, as well as another figure beside him wearing a long coat and a kind of wide brim hat. Danny’s heart pounded. They were moving towards him.

  OK. OMG. Wrongo. So, the ghost did exist and Fitzpatrick had got there first.

  Danny shrank down, wiping rivulets of sweat off his forehead.

  Xinder was blind, wasn’t he? He’d gone on about the fact that he didn’t have any eyes, like the Ancient Lady, so perhaps the ghost couldn’t see Fitzpatrick.

  So, what if the ghost thought Fitzpatrick was him?

  Danny stood up from behind the wheelie bin so that only his head might be seen. Fitzpatrick was about ten paces away and Danny could definitely make out that the figure next to him was a ghost by the simple fact that he didn’t have any feet and his face was mostly covered by a scarf.

  A crackle of lightning fizzed above them and, from the light it momentarily threw out, Danny saw Fitzpatrick’s face.

  And his expression was one he’d never seen before on his friend. One of pure terror.

  Sas

  There was more, Sas thought, but she’d finally said what needed to be said. Thank goodness she’d had the presence of mind to scribble down her dreams the moment she’d woken up.

  ‘GO! Run! Run, all of you,’ she screamed at the spectators. ‘It’s going to break. The storm’s going to break.’

  Thunder rolled.

  She sprinted up the slope towards the buildings.

  As she passed the top end of the ground she spied Ryan leaning on the lamppost, near to the leaning houses. She headed directly towards him. ‘Ryan. What are you doing?’

  ‘Following Fitzpatrick. He’s been acting weird all afternoon. Are we winning?’

  ‘Listen, Ryan,’ she said as she caught her breath. ‘Rain,’ she panted, ‘like you’ve never seen ... get out of here ... fast. You’ve got to believe me.’ Her hand touched some paper in her pocket and she pulled out Olivia’s note.

  Ryan rolled his eyes.

  She read it out loud.

  ‘Sas, there’s a boat in the old shed. Key under a pot by door, oars on the side. Think there’s a canopy in cupboard ... just in case. Love you. Be safe, Olivia.’

  Sas kissed it in relief. Clever, brilliant Olivia.

  Ryan grabbed the note. ‘What is it with you two?’

  ‘Look at the sky, Ryan. When that "thing" bursts it will rain harder than you can possibly imagine. In minutes, the water will flash flood. I’ve had a premonition. I’ll tell you about it’

  ‘A premonition? Blimey. Cool. You sure?’

  ‘Absolutely. No one has a chance. Can you drive? Do you have access to a car?’

  ‘Of course not!’

  ‘Nor me,’ she fired back. ‘Some of the kids have gone but I’m being picked up later, after the music concert.’

  ‘Same,’ Ryan said, trying to keep pace with her.

  ‘Then we’re stuck, Ryan,’ she said. ‘Properly screwed. There’s no way out.’

  ‘Screwed? What are you talking about? Why should we be stuck?’

  ‘Look up, Ryan,’ she said. ‘I promise you I am not crazy. I am being absolutely deadly serious. This cloud isn’t holding an ordinary storm. When it lets go the result will be catastrophic. Come on, keep up.’

  Ryan frowned. ‘You’re really serious, aren’t you?’ he said, the smile slipping off his face.

  ‘Never more so.’ She stopped to catch her breath. ‘Please, Ryan,’ she began, ‘I need your help. Will you help me? Please?’

  Ryan scratched his nose. He liked Sas, and he’d certainly never seen her quite so animated. ‘OK. I’m going to have to trust you on this one. Where do we start?’

  ‘Oh, great! Thanks, Ryan,’ Sas said, moving in and bear-hugging him. If she was going to do this, better to do it with big, strong Ryan Williams than by herself.

  ‘First off, provisions. Food: high-energy snack bars; chocolates; lemons; dried fruit; tinned food like tuna and baked beans; sweetcorn;, a couple of lighters and firelighters; bottled water,’ Sas rattled off, ‘and blankets—’

  ‘Blankets?’

  ‘Anything you can get hold of.’ She urged him to keep up. ‘You’re a Scout leader, are
n’t you? So, you know, stuff we can survive on.’

  ‘To the shop, then,’ Ryan said, smiling his keen smile and feeling rather important.

  ‘I’ve got about twenty pounds from the footie snacks and drinks. I’ll pay it back later.’ Sas did some calculations in her head. ‘Actually, that’s probably not enough. Have you got anything?’

  Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets and pulled out some change. ‘Just short of four quid.’

  Sas grimaced. ‘In that case, Ryan, I hope you don’t mind but you’re going to have to steal. Come on, there’s not a second to lose. When we get in there, grab some bags and start filling them. Don’t hesitate or stop, understand? When it’s done, I’ll drop the money on the counter and we run. Alright?’

  ‘Blimey, Sas. What if we get stopped?’

  ‘We won’t. Oh, and if necessary, use force.’

  Ryan nodded, and handed over his money. His eyes were bulging with surprise. ‘Where are we going afterwards?’

  ‘The boat shed.’

  ‘Boat shed? What boat shed?’

  ‘By the river.’ She waved her hand in its rough direction. ‘We should have time to sort out some kind of cover and find survival things, then we’re going to have to hope for the best. I don’t know what we’ll find when we get there, but, right now, it’s our only chance.’

  Ryan smiled. He loved a girl who meant business. If there was to be a catastrophe, this girl had the whole thing planned.

  Danny

  Danny gasped.

  Fitzpatrick’s eyes widened as their eyes met.

  Now, he could discern the ghost’s words, like ‘power’ and ‘magic’ and ‘strength’.

  Danny was stunned. This spook, Xinder, did think Fitzpatrick was him!

  Danny realised that the ghost was holding Fitzpatrick around his left arm. Was Fitzpatrick moving them, or was it the other way around?

  He listened harder as they came to a stop just on the other side of the wheelie bin.

  He heard Fitzpatrick’s quivering voice. ‘Tell me again about the Prophecy. I need to be absolutely certain before I make my final decision.’

  ‘Did you not listen, Danny?’ the ghost complained.

  Danny reeled. He was right! What was Fitzpatrick playing at?

  Why was he asking Xinder to tell him about this Prophecy one more time? It seemed a pretty odd thing to do.

  Was it for his benefit?

  ‘I need to be sure,’ Fitzpatrick said, his voice wavering.

  ‘Very well.’ Xinder tipped his head to the sky as though sniffing it. ‘But we are running out of time.’

  Danny stole another look at Fitzpatrick from around the corner of the wheelie bin. When he caught sight of Fitzpatrick’s face, tears were streaming down his cheeks.

  Why? Why was Fitzpatrick crying?

  He crouched down and listened to Xinder’s deep, powerful voice. ‘There is a great shift that occurs every now and then in the way of the universe, Danny,’ the ghost began.

  ‘Every now and then the world changes. There is a change in the world’s relationship to its surroundings, the infinite and beyond. The process of these movements have been given to you in the form of dreams. These dreams are the Prophecy of Genartus and they are given to three people who are known as Sacrum,’ the ghost paused. ‘You and your sisters are the Sacrum. You are the anointed ones, charged with undertaking the tasks that have been shown to you.’

  Danny’s gut turned. WOAH! Anointed ones! Blimey. The strange creature above Anika had been feeding her dreams.

  The ghost coughed and carried on. ‘It is complex. This is not the time to tell you the ways of the universe. All you need know is that the Sacrum face fearsome challenges. The first of which begins with a terrible storm aimed entirely at you. If any of you do not survive the storm, it will rage for forty days and forty nights. It will wash away the world, bit by bit.’ Xinder paused. ‘When the waters recede, there will be a different world and a new beginning.

  ‘I tell you now. You children stand little chance. There is no ark to save you, nor any place you can go where you will not find yourselves shot at by lightning or washed out by torrents of rain. The earth will slip down hillsides, the rivers will swell, and trees will crash down. There is nowhere you can hide. I do not tell you this with any joy, but the storm was designed when men were strong, lived long, and knew how to fight with nature through other means such as magic. You are about to enter a time you are not equipped to cope with. Do you understand?’

  Fitzpatrick nodded and his eyes bulged. ‘Why?’ he croaked.

  ‘Young man, the Prophecy is a measure; a test, if you like, to see if the people on this planet are equipped to move into a new age. It was designed to test the strength, courage, intelligence and skill of mankind.’

  Xinder stopped for a moment and chuckled.

  ‘You and your sisters, the Sacrum, are now the measure of human life on Earth. Together you must survive until sundown and locate the cave of riddles.’

  ‘Then what?’ Fitzpatrick stammered.

  ‘Then, the destructive force of the storm will cease and the Sacrum must look for the clues that will open Genartus and save Earth, as you know it today.’

  Xinder sniffed the air. ‘There is no more time,’ he barked. ‘It will break in a few moments. You must willingly make your choice.’

  Anika

  Anika dragged herself up and flicked a fleck of mud off her shorts.

  What a crazy match! Her being kicked to bits, Sas screaming at Olivia, and Olivia going mad again and screaming at everyone else. Danny missed a total sitter and then beat up the opposition like a prize-fighter before getting sent off, while thunder crashed overhead, lightning fizzed, and everything was deafening.

  Now, with the last kick of the game, Anika had a chance to win the match. Boy, pressure kicks don’t come much bigger than this, she thought. Better make it a good one.

  ‘Come on, Sutton. Come on, Anika Delaux, you can do it,’ roared the small section of crowd still remaining. They continued their chant.

  “Oh, Ani, Ani. Ani, Ani, Ani, Ani, A-A-Ani-iii”.

  Anika rubbed her tired, bruised legs, and drew her hands through her muddy blonde hair. She fixed her boots and selected a slightly raised patch of turf on which she carefully placed the ball.

  She stood back and studied her route to goal. Twenty, twenty-three yards perhaps? Perfect. Just as she’d practised time and again with Danny.

  She rubbed her eyes and concentrated hard. It was now or never. Everything she’d ever played for came down to this one shot.

  She sucked in a large mouthful of air, her eyes focusing on the ball so intently that she felt she could see its entire trajectory and the precise spot on the leather where she aim her boot.

  The whole atmosphere of the crowd, and the rumbling sky seemed to disappear for a moment, leaving behind a strange hush.

  The referee blew.

  Anika exhaled. It was time to step up.

  Ryan

  Ryan hurried after Sas, his arms nearly dropping off with the weight of the shopping bags. In the shop, he’d rushed round and shovelled everything he could find into three carrier bags, much to the proprietor Mr Ranji’s increasing curiosity. Sas was on the other side doing the same, before she ran up to the counter and literally threw money at the shopkeeper. Notes fluttered through the air like leaves and coins sprayed the counter. Sas spun on her heel and fled out of the door with Ryan right behind her, burning with shame.

  ‘Come back here!’ Ranji shouted. ‘Stop them! Thieves!’

  Ryan bit his lips and shrugged his shoulders, as a sort of apology, then ran off as fast as his legs could carry him. He headed down the hill, hoping like mad that a thunderbolt wouldn’t get him. When he took a little breather, he spotted Fitzpatrick in the alley looking nothing less than utterly terrified.

  What the hell was he up to?

  Danny

  Danny trembled. Everything Xinder said rang true.

  D
anny heard Fitzpatrick’s voice, strangely muffled. ‘So, there’s little hope for me and my sisters.’

  ‘There is always hope, young man,’ the ghost replied. ‘But in comparison to the thickness of a rainbow, the chances that the three of you will survive this storm are but an atom wide. You are a child. You have neither the strength, nor the skills, to combat what lies ahead. You have no magic, and you do not understand nature. What chance do you have?’

  He paused for effect. ‘None. That is why you must join me now, Danny. While the world is washed away, I alone offer you the chance to escape through me. You have the opportunity to start again. All I need is the use of your body.’

  ‘Will this help save your mother?’ Fitzpatrick said.

  The ghost seemed a little surprised. ‘Yes. You have seen her and you know that she holds a great secret within her that others seek to destroy. By joining me, Danny, she will be saved. I guarantee it.’

  Xinder was laying on the charm. His persuasion was intoxicating. ‘Here, on earth, the suffering will be great. Together, Danny, we can build a new future. I am nearly useless without you, and you are helpless without me.’

  Fitzpatrick looked over at Danny whose terrified face had risen from the other side of the wheelie bin. ‘But, I still don’t understand,’ Fitzpatrick whimpered.

  Xinder growled. ‘These things are beyond your understanding. Open your mind. Give me your body.’

  Fitzpatrick tried to make a run for it. He attempted to loosen the grip on his arm by suddenly charging at the wheelie bin. ‘GO!’ he screamed at Danny. ‘RUN!’ But the ghost held him tight and forced him to the floor. Fitzpatrick whimpered at the stabbing pain in his hand.

  The ghost moved into Danny’s path and began to unfurl the scarf wrapped around his face. ‘I see,’ he said. ‘There is another.’ His head moved. ‘Only one of you is Danny. You have deceived me,’ the ghost said.