“Two wouldn’t be enough, Mr Saunders. I know you will find all of this strange, weird, unbelievable, but it’s the truth and I just want to tell you what an amazingly brave daughter you have.” Shane pulled back the chair next to him and Mike sat down.
“Please call me Mike,” he said to Shane.
“So it goes like this...” Val would have told her mum and dad the story if there hadn’t been an enormous smashing sound in the living room.
“Get my mum and dad out of here now,” she yelled, grabbing for her sword them remembering it was broken. She raised her hand creating an instant flame.
“Oh dear Lord, you’re on fire,” Susan squealed.
“No, Mum it’s ok. Just get out the back or something.”
“Hello.” A voice called. “Val?”
She lowered her hand. “False alarm. It’s Zac.” She walked into the lounge to find him standing in the middle of the new glass coffee table.
“Sorry. I was in with the Warden and Excariot and then I involuntarily teleported. What’s going on? Sorry about this piece of your belongings.” He raised a grin.
“Val, why is there a young man standing in my coffee table? How did he get in? Mike, if I’ve told you once I’ve told you a million times to lock the front door.” Susan swiped at him with her free hand.
“I locked it,” Mike defended himself.
“Mum, Dad, it’s ok. Zac here is my hunter,” Val said proudly.
“Well he found you, I suppose that’s a good sign.” Susan looked at him and smiled. “Would you like a hot chocolate?” Zac shook his head vigorously.
“Val’s Mum it is an honour to meet you at last, but I do not eat your Earth food as it is poisonous.”
“To him, Mum. He’s not saying anything against your food. He’s an alien.”
“Oh, what does he eat then?” Susan asked.
“He takes tablets every couple of days and drinks this soup thing. It’s vile.” Val made gagging impressions at them. “No offence, Zac.”
“I have information. I was with Excariot when I was sent here, but the Warden seemed very distressed. It seems that Lailah has been released and they aren’t sure of her whereabouts.”
“Right, yeah, slight problem there,” Val grinned.
“Why are we here? I expected you to be at the bookshop.” Zac stepped out of the coffee table.
“Right, yeah, slight problem there too.” Val was edging towards the kitchen. “I think maybe you need to sit down and listen very carefully. I would like to say this just the once.”
Val sat at the kitchen table surrounded by her friends and family and related their adventures of the last few days. Susan hugged Belinda as Val explained about Wendy, and Mike was impressed with Zac’s sacrifices for Val. Then she told them about Delta. They didn’t remember her and Val explained how she had become forgotten, and about Daniel, Flo and Eva.
“And so we get to Lailah, who is now here on Earth, readying an army as we speak.” Val took a large sip of hot chocolate.”
“She’s here! We must get back; it’s time to go,” Zac grabbed Val’s hand across the table.
“Slight problem. The bookshop is no more. Daniel burned it down.”
“I’m sorry, but did you just say our portal to Alchany has gone?” Zac was visibly panicking. He studied his watch, and then looked up. “I still have a connection, but we can’t get to Alchany.”
“I’m sorry, Zac, plus I’m not sure how safe we are here.”
“Don’t worry, we can use the dellatrax to get back.” He looked at them expectantly. “Where is the dellatrax?”
“Back at Excariot’s hideout,” Fran said in an attempt to take some of the attention away from Val.
“How could you leave it there?” Zac put his head down on the table.
“Look, we needed to try and get to Yassmin, but we failed. Sam said you would return to me. That’s why you’re here, and now you’re as stuck as me. I think we need to move out. We need to go and make a base somewhere new.”
“What about work, our lives, Val?” asked Shane. “They’ve taken too much from us already. That would be giving in to them. We can’t let them win.”
“I agree with Shane,” Mike chirped up. “We have lived in this house, Val, since you were born and I’m not running away from a bunch of bullies just because they want to take over the world.” Mike looked pleased with his speech, but Val knew better. She knew that this would never work, that’s why Wyetta had asked her to protect them in the first place.”
Susan’s phone suddenly broke into song. She opened it up and looked surprised, and then worried.
“What’s wrong mum?” Val enquired.
“It’s a text message, from you.” She showed it to Val.
“Oh my God!” Val said. Susan slapped her hand. “Sorry. Oh my gosh. I sent you this from Alchany. I never thought it would arrive. Maybe it re-sent when I came home, but if it did travel from there, then that means I can maybe send Sam a text to tell him what’s going on.”
“It has to be worth a try. I can still tell if a prisoner takes form, but that’s about it.” Zac was annoyed. “If we had the dellatrax it would be different.”
“What does this deliatrixy thing do?” Susan asked, placing another plate of biscuits down on the table.
“It’s the life force of the universe. It connects with its guard at birth and stays with them forever. Normally a guard is connected physically, but as Val has so many problems we couldn’t do that for her, so we made books, which
they
left behind,” Zac stated.
“I’m sorry, are you trying to say that my daughter isn’t perfect in every way?” Susan questioned him.
“She can’t help it. We have also given her symbols because she is a reject.” Zac raised his hand. “Sorry, not a reject, she doesn’t like this word. We use needy instead.”
“Ok Zac, I think you have said quite enough, buddy.” Val pulled her chair back. “We need to start making a plan to get out of this situation. If you want to stay here then, Belinda, we will need the coven to come in and make this place safe.”
Belinda nodded. “Consider it done. As long as my Wendy is in your world I will be in yours.”
“Right Fran, what are you going to tell your parents about Yassmin?” Val asked.
“What do you think?”
“Give us a couple of days to see what we can accomplish then we tell them everything.”
Fran nodded in agreement.
“Shane, are you intending to go to work tomorrow morning?”
“Unless you have anything better for me to do?” He had a glint in his eye.
“Mum, you need...” Val was about the tell Susan to keep the troops fed when the front door exploded.
Susan screamed, throwing herself onto the floor; Mike followed. Val and Zac ran for the kitchen door. “Jason, protect my mum and dad!” Val called.
“On it.”
“Zac, come with me.” Her back was now touching the door. She was about to open it when it slammed inwards, knocking her across the floor towards her dad.
The door swung shut, and on the next swing Flo walked in pushing it open for Lailah to enter. “Well, all having a nice time I see.”
“What do you want?” Val was openly hostile. Flo had just crossed a big line by coming into her parent’s home.
“Why Val, that’s not very good manners. I’m sure your mother would be very disappointed in you.” Lailah bent down looking under the table. “Are you Val’s mother?”
“Get away!” Val exploded. A huge gush of wind hit Lailah from the side making her skid across the polished floor. “Get everyone out,” she yelled at Shane, turning the wind across the kitchen so it blew the back door off, accidentally throwing Zac against the fridge. “You will not touch my family!” Her body sprang into flames.
Daniel now came in, throwing a bolt at Val, which she deflected with a fireball.
“Stop children, please,” Lailah called over the noise. “Val, all we want is the dellatrax. Just hand it over and we will go away and leave you alone.”
“We thought you had it, so who’s the loser now?” Val stood ready to attack anyone who took another step towards her family.
“She’s lying.” Delta came in behind Daniel.
“You said you would never tell anyone where my family were.”
“Oh, did I? Sorry.” Delta snarled.
“Enough. I want the books and you had better get them for me or else!” Lailah yelled.
“Have you heard yourself speak? You’re like one of those really bad villains from the nineteen fifties. Do you remember the nineteen fifties? Oh no you were in a little plastic box. My advice would be you need to do a very deep mwahaha at the end, they all do it.” Val knew she had given the others enough time to exit the house.
“Do not waste my time, guard. You are trapped on this planet just like me and you know the power the dellatrax possesses. So, if I don’t have it, and you don’t have it, someone does.” Lailah said. “Let us leave. They have nothing here. Val we will be watching you and your family.” Daniel was stood motionless, staring at Val, pure hatred in his eyes. “Daniel, now!” Lailah snapped impatiently. He grabbed her hand, teleporting them out.
“Facebook me, alright,” she shouted into the empty kitchen.
“Well, they don’t have the dellatrax; this is good news,” Zac said as he pulled himself from behind the fridge door. Your powers are growing; just try to aim them at the right person.” He brushed himself down.
“Sorry. We have to get out of here.” Val stepped out the back door where the rest were waiting near her mum’s potting shed. “We need to leave. Get Bessie. We can go to Sam’s. If I know him, they won’t be able to track us there. Dad we need to go to the house you have just built with the cherry wood front door and the glass wall.” Val started pushing them through the garden.
“Mr Law?” Mike asked.
“You’re joking. He called himself Mr Law and he’s a Judge.” Val laughed.
“Oh that’s nice. Well at least we will be safe there,” Susan said following the others.
“No mum, he’s not that type of Judge, you know, but yes I think we stand a chance of being safer than we are here.”
“How do you know Mr Law, honey?” Mike enquired as they all climbed into Bessie.
“He’s a good friend.” She didn’t want to go into detail at this moment in time.
“Do you have a skeleton key, Dad?”
“Yes, but it’s not appropriate to break into my customers’ houses.” Mike shook his head.
“Dad, a crazed psychopath from another planet just blew your front door off. I think now would be a good time to break the rules just a little.”
“Yes, I suppose you have a point.”
Shane drove while Mike gave directions. They arrived there within a few minutes. Sandy was sitting on the drive. Val’s heart skipped a beat. Would Sam be there?
She watched, on guard with Zac, as they all made their way to the front door and Mike opened up.
“Come on.” Zac signalled to Val when they were all inside.
“Coming.” She followed and was pleased to be behind a door that, hopefully, no one knew about.
“Oh Mike, it’s fabulous.” Susan put her hand on his arm.
“Thank you. I think it’s a good job.” He kissed his wife on the cheek.
“Val, I think someone was expecting you.” Jason came out the kitchen with an envelope.
Surely Delta hadn’t been here. She took it with trepidation in her heart. The envelope read simply ‘V’. She knew straight away it was from Sam. She tore it open and pulled out the letter.
“Fran, will you please get my parents a drink, I will be there in a second.” She took the letter to the staircase and sat down to read.
Dear V,
If you are reading this letter, things have changed. My home is yours to use for as long as necessary. There are spare keys to all locks in the garage. I am guessing by now you know who or what I am. I would have told you sooner, but it wouldn’t have helped either of us in our journeys. If things have gone to plan then Wendy will be with me, and she will be ready to start her training as a Judge. We have been watching her for a long time. It’s unusual for a Judge to be born out of our galaxy, but not completely unheard of.
The other day when you visited, I tricked you a little by imprinting your fingerprints onto the weapons room, so you will have no problem accessing it. This has all the equipment I have given you and a few extras. Jason should have some fun in there. If things have not gone well, then I hope the tools I have left you will come in handy.
V, I
will
return for you, I promise you that. My life is complicated and I have obligations to my people, but we have to complete what we have started. I think I owe you pudding.
Val laughed out loud.
Be brave until my return and remember that my love for you has no walls.
Sam
She stared at the letter for what seemed like an eternity. Then Susan came to her with a cup of tea. “You alright?”
“Yes, I think I am.” She leaned on her mum’s shoulder.
Her life was different now. She had her parents back and a new home. She had won a huge victory, made a few new friends and some enemies as well. So not everything was sorted or easy, but she was starting to understand that that was a side effect of real life. No one knew what was around the next corner - until they dared to look.
The End
Chyna, Jason, Mum and John.
Niki Shakallis and Lyndsey Cooper for your support.
Jo Turner and all the staff at Waterstone’s stores, for all your encouragement and advice.
Karen Waring for tirelessly dragging in those children to Lincolnshire libraries.
All the children and young adults I have had the pleasure of meeting on my travels.
Veronica for giving me a chance and Alison for not giving up so easily.
All the fans of
The Thirteenth
on Facebook, “Hi”.
To Dom and Jess at the Advocate Arms Market Rasen (Hot Chocolate!).
Rand Farm near Wragby for the time to edit and the socket!
To all the WW ladies who supported me when no one else knew.
To the Carlton family for being so amazing always.
Miss Lockley and the gang; you know who you are!