8 March 2023, Week 3: Clues and conflict

Autumn arrived without a change. The golden brown leaves crunched beneath my feet as I stood in front of our new house.It was a bleached white, ironically reflecting the age of the neighbourhood. A verandah framed the wooden structure of our two story house. A small breeze whipped some leaves onto our doorstep. I crouched down as I suddenly saw a letter on the gate. It was a flyer for a sewing workshop. I picked it up curiously and headed back inside. The shop was not that far from our house. I pinned it onto the fridge secretly hoping that Mum would notice it. A voice called from my bedroom. "Ari! Look there's a new neighbour!" I hurried inside to see my twin sister staring out the window. The house in front of us had been put up for sale for a very long time. I wondered how desperate the agent was to have found such an odd client. The man was old and frail but his wrinkles told times of adventure. I looked at him and racked my brains to where I'd seen that face before. And then I lit up when I recognised him to be the man on the sewing flyer. His arrival was not acknowledged by anyone. It was only when the snipping started did people start to realise. Mrs Beekman lived next door and she was the perfect stereotypical grandma. She was the first person who welcomed us and she left baked goods at our doorstep. Mrs Beekman was also the first person who was troubled by the snipping noises. They started getting louder through the days and moaning could be heard. I didn't really pay attention to it and many other neighbours swatted it away as well. It was the day of the sewing workshop and I was very excited. My Mum agreed to take me and my sister to it. When we got there, I walked inside and immediately recognised the person in the shop. Sure enough, it was the man who had just moved in. He introduced himself as Mr Hockelm. He seemed to be a flower fanatic because everywhere in his studio were posters and books about the language of flowers. In a corner of the room was a glass box of highly crafted delicate scissors. After Mr Hockelm had finished explained the embroidery lesson, he went into a room upstairs. Then I heard the snipping again. I got out of my seat and excused myself to the bathroom. I crept up the stairs, the dusty railings making my palms sweaty. When I reached the top of the winding steps, I saw a room filled with a green glow. A deep voice boomed from inside. "Find the girl. I sent you here for a reason!" The figure inside shrunk in shame as the voice continued to talk. "If she is not here by midnight I will dispose of you Hemlock." My heat skipped a beat. Hemlock? letters jumbled in my head as I replaced the letters in my mind. H, O, C, K, E, L, M. Mr Hockelm. I quickly ran back down the stairs when something caught my eye. A small watercolour card was dropped on the step and I reached to pick it up. A green flower was embroidered onto the paper. Underneath read 'Hemlock. A poisonous plant symbolising death'. When we got home, I was surprised to see our Mum burst through the door in shock. "Quick! You have to come! The news says that the city is being contaminated!" I ran inside with my sister and together we sat at the rounded, wooden table of the kitchen. "The neighbourhood of Green Haven will be plagued with acid rain for the next 24 hours. Authorities will come with safety equipment for those in need." The report stopped suddenly as the screen turned static. I looked in horror at my Mum as the dangerous rain started falling from the skies. A lockdown was ensued for the whole town as the droplets of acid terrorised the nearby forests. We listened to the radio every day but the rain showed no hope of stopping. On the third day, people in protective jackets came in with helicopters and buckets of lime. They instructed everyone to pour the buckets into the lake near the town. As we walked towards the river bank, I looked around in pride to see everyone in the neighbourhood laboriously throwing the lime into the water. I felt that today stronger ties were made between neighbours. Even Mr Hockelm. 2 months after... Spring was approaching. The neighbourhood was abuzz with sprouting flowers. I was surprised how quickly Mr Hockelm revealed everything. All was well now. The town was a safe haven. For now.

Limping lies The salty air stung my eyes and the sea breeze whipped my hair. People hurried along paveways, their black cloaks like birds desperate to go with the wind. The stagnant air of the museum was stifling and I greeted the fresh air with pleasure. Grey clouds blanketed the sky and a thin fog started to gather. The sea was alive with waves that tossed sea foam onto the sand. I stared at the rickety houses and waved to our neighbours. Iris and Harold were frequent visitors of Addison's Hall of Quirks and Wonders. Iris would often bring us freshly baked goods and Harold would donate us interesting pieces of glass and shells he found at sea. I shook my head trying to get the thought out of my head. Something was happening. I could feel it. I squinted into the thick sea of people and I saw a limping man. A small silver box poked out of his pocket and I knew exactly who he was. Inside the box was a key. A key to the house in front of us. The new tenant had a sharp cane and a proud limp. Everyone in the whole of Sardine harbour knew that to have a limp was nothing to be proud of. You wouldn't be able to work and feed the harbour.This man clearly didn't know his Sardinian ways. Part two "Does the new tenant mow his lawn?" "I do hope so Barbara." "They better not get up at five in the morning to mow it though." "You are very right Mary." "I hope they'll give us fresh jam for our toast!" "Seriously Anna is that all you care about?!" I stared at the gossiping ladies wondering what rumours they were going to spread. I glanced at the old house when I noticed tightly drawn blinds. When the man came out he was wearing old fishermen's clothes. I took a walk by the sea to clear my thoughts. I knew something was up, he was secretive and private. Too private. He hadn't spoken to any of our neighbours and he seemed to know his way around already. Part 3 I snuck around the gate in my ragged clothes. I was exposed. Exposed to all the dangers. Calm down I said to myself. This is an ordinary town. With ordinary houses and a not so ordinary girl. With a spatter of freckles, a mop of brown hair and frost coloured eyes. She stared at me so I ran. I ran as fast as I could. "Darling, can you tell me why the man was behaving ever so strangely?" "How would I know Barbara?" "I bet he has some bad business going with the kid." "Mary you are being so obnoxious." "He is just trying to befriend her." "A middle aged man befriending a girl like Adele!" "No way Anna." I stared behind a prickly bush looking for the hunched figure. I saw a man with the same scar, the same gaunt face and hollow eyes. Except, he had no limp and no cane. That was strange. He was wearing beach clothes and thick sunglasses. Had I made a mistake and intercepted the wrong code? Begonia Lavender 88 Astilbe Water Lily Send me Iris. Daffodil must Chrysanthemum. This was definitely the right person. I quietly headed down the curving road lost in my thoughts. Behind me, I heard a rusty sharp screech. Turning around to hide behind the fence, I saw a thin blade of silver come out from under the man's jacket. A glimpse was enough. A thin chuckle escaped from under his breath. I listened straining my ears and he said I shall get rid of that girl and no one will know my secret. Next full blood moon. In two weeks, I will have unimaginable power in my hands. Now there was an expiry date on my life. What a great way to add stress to my already growing problems. I would save my community if I defeated him or lose everyone I loved to his wrath. I needed to find out more about this suspicious man. Late at night, I crept out of my house guided by only the fingernail scratch of moonlight. Peeking through the window, I saw rows of weapons and detective gear. A shining crest glittered in the light. I couldn't trace the source of it, so I crept back to bed in the unearthly rising sun. Later in the day, the alarm bell was rung. Multiple storms had been tracked right of the coast and a big tsunami was forcast. "Listen up every one!" "We must build barriers to protect ourselves!" "We're going to fail nothing can save us now!" "We will die!!!" Despare resonated across the crowd. "We must be positive and stay strong!" I frailed against the wave of people and I ran into my mysterious neighbour. We locked eyes and I wondered if he could save my neighbourhood. I grabbed his coat sleeve and dragged him to a corner. "Who are you?" I didn't need a single reply. I dropped a single yellow rose at his feet and spun on my heel. I didn't need answers to all his secrets but I believed he was not all rotten and he might have the power to manipulate the storm. Two years later... My new neighbour Waltor has been acting unusually for the past few weeks. He seems to have a case of the jitters like the police chasing him. My birthday is in two days and so far it seems the tsunami has no interest in coming back. I handed out invitations to my neighbourhood on a warm and clear sunny day spreading joy. The day of my celebration... Waltor gave me the heart stopping information at twelve noon. This is what he said to me. " I am your father."

Forest hill street was always the most normal place in the world. There was no nonsense and no peculiarities. The sun glazed the smooth tiles as the blazed high above them. Rows of fine and handsome houses lined the street. It was Saturday and many neighbours were labouring at their green lawns. Today was the best day of Greta’s the week. One, she did not have school two,shewould spend the day with my favourite neighbour Mrs Schwartz. Mrs Schwartz was a kind old lady that lived next door. She was something like the best grandmother in the world. She lived in a handsome house that stood out from all the other houses. It had fruits and roses bushes in its yard that shimmered with droplets of water in the morning. Inside the house was four bedrooms, Mrs Schwartz sleeped in a different one each night. On a hot a summers day you could slip into Mrs Schwartz’s pool. At nine o’clock she hurried next door. Mrs Schwatz seemed oddly strange. Something was out of place. Greta knew she was elderly but something was DEFINITELY wrong. “How is your Monday going dear?”she wheezed . “But it's Saturday Mrs Schwartz.”I exclaimed. “We’ll get moving on dearie, let's have some tea.”She cheerfully,almost too cheerfully. She turned to pour some green tea into my porcelain cup. She could not help but notice her hands was shaking and at one point she nearly dropped the kettle.“Thanks.”She could only muster a weak,small smile. Then things got worse. Mrs Schwartz began shaking, she fell to the floor. The shaking intensified.It looked like she was an old-fashioned clock. Her chest was heaving up and down. Greta phoned the ambulance hurriedly. Mrs Schwartz had al- ready passed out. When the ambulance arrived, a paramedic winked at her and said “You have done a good job.” News of the incident spread quickly around Forest Hill street all thanks to the nosiest `neighbour of all, Alice Romanov. Then a even bigger news struck Forest Hill street, tcMrs Schwartz was selling her house for a nice life in the countryside. When the new neighbour moved in Greta sensed something wicked and evil that she radiated at everyone who dared to approach her. She boarded up the windows of her house, grew thorns and prickly pears a far cry from a “lawn”. She put a prickly fence around the pool. She always sat on the balcony waving and smiling (that’s what she calls a smile,) her face twists with an expression of disgust and delight. She was a tall middle-aged lady that walked with her chin held high. Her hair was raven black and her eyes were purple. She walked around with a cat fur handbag. She always claimed she was a foreign cat breeder. “She might be a witch you know, look at her cat, it's BLACK!” She reasoned to herself. Even the neighbours were talking about her. “She seems nice, the other day she was Ioffering to mow my lawn!’’ Alice Romanov cried loudly. “But Miako Smith is very rude”noted Mrs Johnson bitterly. “ I don’t know what to think of her '' Mr Johnson cut ein. “But HER lawn is horrible!”Mr Johnson added. To her disappointment she was woken up by strange noises and a riot of animals barking and squeaking. What was the problem? It’s Sunday. Animals barking at this unearthly hour. A loud cackle and a swish of a broom. Little did Greta De Medici know what was happening… Maiko Smith was lounging in a black armchair,next door. Surrounded by a hoard of cats and dogs.“For thousands of years witches helped people until… the darks days began, Tens of thousands of witches were killed by a mysterious boy on a steed.” She said evilly. “Children ARE THE CAUSE OF THE fall of MY ancestors I PLEDGE BY THE THREE HAGS THAT I WILL KILL ALL CHILDREN IN THIS NEIGHBOURHOOD!!!”Maiko shouted. “My slaves get to work immediately. I need another three thousand vials of potion.” Her anger had cooled slightly. The cats and dogs stared mutinously at her and began working. Smiling to herself she began to set an ingenious trap. Back up the winding staircase of Greta’s house she lay asleep and couldn’t bear the racket. A minuscule black cat with its luminous orange eyes stared up at her. It blinked and she fell to sleep. The next day she felt a horrible stare following her to Science Art. English. Maths. Lunch. She held onto sanity and wanted to let go into the depths of insanity. A voice was inside her head “kill, ensnare,murder!”the voice shouted louder and louder. She looked around at the mass of students. They too seemed to be tortured by the voice. The voice abruptly changed. “I give you a week to prepare before I strike and kill all of you!” Menacing spiders erupted around the lunch hall. Screams of terror choked the atmosphere. Suspiciousness crept up her throat Time being, time did not slow down for the children at Greta's school.Each day seemed like a few seconds. Disappearances of students, freak weather plagued they school. “Another few disappearances from forest hill street, hurricanes are heading towards the school.” Greta's heartbeat drowned the reporter's posh nasal voice. Who would be next? What would happen at the end of the week? Greta heard more and more cackling next door and went to investigate and there Miako stood in the living room in a billowing black coat and stirring a pot full of what seemed like nothing. Her suspicions confirmed, Miako was a witch. The last day of the week. Doomsday. Miako stood in the middle of the road ready to bring forth a calamity and bring justice to her ancestors. Purple liquid swirled from every corner of the town wrapping around each soul of a kid ready to it from the body. Meanwhile just as the children were outside playing, a huge hurricane tore through the road to the school. This was not controlled by the witch, no. This was much worse, a being of the most evil rode his bony steed across the road burning the ground. It saw the school and Miako ready to attack. The hurricane swirled fiercely and broke the school into pieces. Screaming. Greta knew what to do. Out of the school she sprinted all the way to Miako. She tackled her to the ground. “Stop the hurricane, please stop!”she pleaded. Miako stared at the destruction of her . “ is not me.” “I must go to help, I was blinded by anger.” “This was the events that happened in the time of the dark age.” “Not a boy on a steed but an evil.” Back at the school the children had formed a human chain in front of evil. Despite the teachers shouting, Greta ran to Miakos side. “My school!!”Yelled the principally as the hurricane destroyed his office. The students cheered as all the confiscated stuff flew out. “I can help you Miako and everyone hold on!” Greta and Miako joined the human chain. “Now everyone focus on expelling evil and the hurricane.” Miako addressed. As they all focused a invisible hand pushed and squished the hurricane and evil. Opening their eyes they found that they were standing in a newly repaired playground. They had done it!! Forest hill street was not always normal. Instead of neat lawns, the residents grew beautiful fruits and vegetables. Morning dew sparkled. Miako smith did that too and invited (especially Greta) and the local children to tea. Instead of a bleak school children painted their own classroom. Forest hill street was a vibrant place. Perhaps you would like to visit.

Chapter 3 “Hand over the wand!” ordered Aunt Georgia. The whole neighbourhood had figured out the whole “evil neighbours” thing and were currently standing in my front yard. It was 20 v 3, so they were powerless (sort of). “NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” protested Skulldeath, roaring louder than 20 speakers on full volume. “We’ll call the cops! NOW HAND OVER THE WAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Skulldeath moaned. He threw his wand over to Aunt Georgia. I really couldn’t believe this got solved so quickly…… CRRRRRRASHHHHHHHHHHH! The wand smacked into the ground and snapped from the impact! Suddenly, purple electricity started coming out of the insides.(Dramatic music) “Uh- oh! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Aunt Georgia screamed. “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Suddenly, the sky went pitch black. Towering violet flames rose out of the ground. I bolted away from the fire. As I ran for my life, I realized that the flames were burning away the ground!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dashed away even faster. The blazes were starting to crawl out of my house and onto the street. Buildings, lawns, cars, trees…you name it, if it was on Leyle Lane, it was burnt. Someone yelled out “Alright, everyone, follow me! We’ve got to come up with a plan!” As soon as we got into a group, the same person said “Alright, everybody, what should we do?” “No. There’s no point in fighting this.” I glanced around at who was talking. It was Aunt Georgia!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t believe she gave up so easily! “Terreste flames can only be reversed by professional wizards.” Suddenly, I had an idea. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, TAKE OUT YOUR WANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!” For a second, nobody said or did anything. And then, something unbelievable happened. SOMEONE ACTUALLY RAISED THEIR HAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We split up into four groups, each with two wizards or witches. This is how it worked: One of the wizards created a Defra plant (whose ashes can do almost anything) and then passed it on to a bunch of people who cut them up into tiny ashes. They passed on the ashes to another group of people who threw them into the fire. The other wizard then restored the burnt down ground. As dusk approached, everyone let out a huge sigh of relief. WE HAD DONE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Epilogue After all that action, a lot of things have changed: Firstly, I am now an official wizard, though I’m only allowed to use magic in emergencies. It’s still cool, though. Secondly, more people are moving in! I’ve got loads more friends now, so I guess all that hard work payed off. And finally, I have now learnt all the neighbour’s names: Abby, Alan, Archer, Arturina, Ava, Ave……………….. This is gonna take a while.

The cars zoomed past the neat bushes. Doors slammed shut as the wind pushed us towards the wooden gates. Just another day at Roseinton Avenue. My name is Spring and I’m about to tell you the story of my neighborhood. It all started on a fine spring (get it?) morning. My pet dog ,Pop, bounced all over my body as I rose from my bed. My hair appeared as if a tornado had a dance party inside my brown locks. I changed into my favorite Sunday wear as I gazed upon the horizon. Birds chirping a melodious song, clouds floating in the clear blue sky, flowers blossoming across every garden. My feet tapped on the concrete along the path as I made my way to my best friend's house, Winter. Noticing her roses and sunflowers beautifully planted across her lawn I carefully leaped over each and every one. As soon as I reached her door it flew right open revealing her face. Long black hair hung down her head as she offered me to come inside. Her room was perfectly organised as I sat down on one of her cushions. Just before I could comment on her new flowers a loud BOOM interrupted me. “What was that?!” I questioned. “I’m not sure, Spring. But it sounded like it was coming from your house!” Winter guessed. “Can I borrow your binoculars?” I asked as she handed me sparkly pink binoculars. I examined my home as my mind was whirling with questions. Nothing was wrong with my house. The ordinary had stayed in the town Forestville. Mum ironing the clothes, Dad clicking the keys on his laptop, Pop chewing my slippers (bad dog!). It was then I noticed the new neighbor. Smoke rose from its chimney as I was able to make out sparks sprouting out into the air! I couldn’t believe my eyes! Explaining my discoveries to Winter she responded, “Yes they are the newcomers to Roseinton Avenue. Although I did find that their child always hid his/her face.” This mystery seemed to get stranger and stranger. Deciding to have a closer look I dashed straight back in my house! Racing into my home I peered over the fence as I discovered some relieving news. The smoke came from sausages and the sparks were the starting of a fire. It was just a normal backyard barbeque. Soon, Winter had caught up with me as she burst into my yard. I then discovered my new neighbor. Her short golden locks were hanging over her face, a bright purple dress shone in the sun. Guessing she’d decided to show her face, I asked my mum what her name was. Apparently, there was her mother (Mrs Packpun), her father (Mr Packpun) and her big sister (Rose Packpun). Which left her to be Daisy Packpun. “How lovely would it be if she could be your friend, girls?” cries Mum. “I hope they don’t disturb my silent reading. I’m just about to finish the last book of Harry Potter!” Winter worried. “Did you see their naked cat? It's as pale as a ghost!” I shouted. “Oh, stop worrying. I’m sure she’s a wonderful child who’s very lonely.” Mum commented. I gathered all of my courage as I made my way over with Winter. As soon as we knocked on the door, a lady with a long pink dress and silky beige hair appeared. We explained we wanted to welcome them and get to know what brings them to Roseinton Avenue in Forestville. “Where did you use to live before you moved?” Winter asked politely. I could tell she was trying hard not to scream at the naked cat. “We used to live in New York City. It was a lovely place.” Mrs Packpun replied. “Why’d you move if you were so happy?” I questioned. Winter gave me a hard kick in the leg (ouch!). Okay! I know, it's a bit of pressure when you’re being asked like that but I can’t help it! “Well, I got a new job here and so we had to move.” Mr Packpun answered. I offered them a box of handmade cookies to make them feel better. I had to admit, they looked pretty sad. As I was heading out the door a row of bizarre flowers were planted on the front lawn. Strange petals hung crookedly along the paranormal stem. I decided to ask the other neighbors what they thought of the Packpun family. Ms Billings said she thought they were very caring to look after her garden. Mr Catal replied saying he thought they were quite an odd bunch but are the perfect people for a conversation on a bright morning. Most of them said positive comments. Realising there's nothing to worry about I headed back home. There is nothing to worry about, right? The hours flew by as I climbed into my bed diving under my covers. BOOM! A blast exploded from my neighbors house. Peering through my bedroom window I discovered silence had reigned throughout the entire street. What was that?! Was it an explosion? A science experiment? I wondered in curiosity. A thought suddenly struck me like thunder. At school, we had a project to mix elements and record what we found out! Realising my silly mistake I drifted off to sleep, pillow closing into my head. DING-A-LING! My alarm clock screamed in my ears as I jumped out of bed ready for a brand new day! Deciding to go over to Winter's house, I dashed down the street as I noticed a peculiar event. The Packpun family had gone out for their daily run (as usual) and had worn their sports clothes (as usual) and were running in a straight line in unison!? That was not normal like every other family who went out for morning runs. The pattern continued nonstop,left ,right ,left ,right ,left ,right. Not a single hair out of line followed by shining clothes glittering in the burning sun. They were neater than Winter and she’s the neatest, most organised, cleanest person I had ever met in my whole 12 years. Realising they’re all just neat freaks, I skipped happily towards Winter's house. Suddenly, an arm reached out to grab me as it yanked me toward their room. “I FOUND SOMETHING TERRIFYING!!!! DURING THE NIGHT YOUR NEW NEIGHBORS NAKED CAT HAS FUR!” Winter panted. My eyes widened as my jaw fell to the ground. I’d had enough! Racing back home I climbed my tree next to the Packpuns families gate to plan out my actions. Glancing over to their window I discovered the most horrifying sight. The father had turned into a ghost, mother into a witch and the two daughters into witch-ghosts. My heart skipped a beat, a lump had formed into my throat and my breathing became more intense. I had found out their secret at last. “rmrmfhfhfjdkfdj…turn..skfdkfjdisjijeifjdif..every…djkfjdkj…one…skskfsjsl…into….skfjd..toad!” Mrs Packpun murmered. My body froze in fear as it turned as still as a statue. “Turn…djkfjdskakjd…them…skfjdkfjskajkj…into…kfsdjklfdj…ghosts!” Mr Packpun whispered. My hands shook, as sweat dripped down my face. “How about toad ghosts?!” the daughters suggested. It was clear that the Packpun family definitely had plans. Scrambling down the branch of my tree, I leapt into my house. Suddenly, a horrible thought struck me like a bolt of lightning. Mum had informed me of a barbeque lunch with the Packpun family next Saturday! Dipping my face in a sink of water, I sat down on my silky sheets imagining the possible consequences. Gathering the last of my courage I began to plan a way to make sure nobody gets turned into ANYTHING! It was my job to save everyone in Forestville no matter what! “Spring! Take a look at the newspaper!” Mum cried. I dashed over to find the Headline to say: The Daily Banana says a huge tsunami is coming! My heart drummed as sweat flooded my face, my entire body shaking like a leaf. As soon as Winter heard the news she turned as pale as a ghost at the same time stuffing a sandwich in her mouth. Breathing heavily, my brain was jammed to get any new ideas. That was when I realised that the only hope was the Packpun family. A witch could do some sort of spell to protect us and I’m pretty sure that a ghost has some sort of death magic!? “Perhaps Mrs Packpun could do a spell that could stop the tsunami or protect Forestville from it damaging anything. And I’ve been reading about ghost magic lately. So Mr Packpun could somehow allow the water to freeze (since ghosts are so cold) or let the water dissolve (kinda like killing water).” Winter suggested wisely. I knew I could always count on Winter to get all sorts of good ideas. “What about the daughters?” I asked “Well one daughter must be more of a dad or mum.” she replied “And?” “So one could help Mr Packpun and the other could help Mrs Packpun. That should definitely work!” “That's a really good idea Winter!” “Thanks Spring.” After we’d finished deciding our move we thought about how to persuade them to help us. Winter pointed out that the tsunami should be enough to get them on our side. Darting out the door we made our way to the Packpun family’s house. Alarmingly, we spotted a parade of splashes laying on the road! CRASH! A wave flew over roofs of houses as I thumped on the Packpun family’s door. Winter panting like a dog, stared at the terrifying sight. Everyone who lived in Roseinton Avenue had evacuated their homes onto the street. “I’m too young to die!” wailed Miss Petty, the lady who always offered choc chip cookies on Christmas Eve. “We’ll never survive out of this.” snorted Stacie who was 13 years old and the drama queen of the street. “We got this together!” Winter and I chanted. Suddenly Rose and Daisy burst through the door! “We know exactly what to do!” they cried. A splash of relief swept over me as we explained everything to the Packpun family. Eventually, we decided that Mr Packpun, Rose and Winter would be sending the tsunami back into the ocean. Mrs Packpun, Daisy and I would protect the street if anything went wrong. Leaping into action, we split into our places. Daisy instructed me to hold tight onto her hand as our feet left the ground. Mrs Packpun began chanting a spell as Daisy and I followed. A flash of purple light fell over the entire town as I gazed upon our magnificent work. Meanwhile, Mr Packpun and Rose were busy thinking of the perfect way to send it back. “How about we do momeli?” Winter advised. “Perfect!” Rose complimented. They formed a circle until Mr Packpun pushed towards the wave with a mighty…SPLASH! It dissolved into the sea. Everyone cheered as the tsunami had finally gone back to its origin. My fist punched the air as I thanked the Packpun family for helping them save Forestville. A month passed as our friendship grew closer together than ever before! “Hi Daisy! Any new spells lately?” I asked. Flashing me a smile she replied, “Yep! I learned how to turn water into wine, make a full moon appear and how to bake a cake!” Winter had started a climate change club with Rose and so far so good. I’d figured over the past days that anyone could be friends with anyone. And so we lived in harmony forever hand in hand. (Also I found out that that night I found out their secret, they were just deciding what to do for Daisy's next spell. And were thinking of turning a cat into a toad or a ghost. So they decided on a toad ghost instead.)

Prologue Far away, on the west side of west Africa, something was running. It was running from men with guns, men with nets, and men with determination. It broke through the deep jungles, and ran out onto the beach. The men were shouting, ‘Get it!’ and, ‘it can’t get away!’ The thing laughed as guns belched fire around him. It would get away, like it always did.   Just then, a net hit the thing, and it rolled to the ground. The net was flat on top of it.
‘Amateurs,’ the creature rasped as it took a deep breath and plunged under the sand. It dug its way through the sand, until its lungs started to burn. But it wouldn’t die. It couldn’t die.   Finally, it reached the sea, and burst out. It dove into the waves. One step, two steps, three steps, and it was submerged in the tide. It let the water drag him away.   3 months later, the thing climbed out on an unfamiliar shore. A sign proclaimed, Melbourne Beach! in big letters. So, it was in Australia. It could conquer the world starting with Australia just as well as Africa. It walked up the shore. The people had no idea what he would do. It cackled. Now, to find a human host.   Chapter 1   Banktown Avenue was a cosy, rundown sort of place. There was a park filled with trees nearby, and the houses all had circular windows in their attics, but other than that, the houses were all different. This was how the people in Banktown Avenue liked it. the Avenue was dusty and well ridden on, by people in big cars going on business trips, who just happened to ride through, and kids on skateboards who threw rocks through the windows of number 8 Banktown Avenue, which was said to be haunted, and smelled like lemons. The rest of the Avenue smelled like eucalyptus. But aside from all the weirdness, Banktown Avenue was pretty quiet…in most of the houses.   Number 4 Banktown Avenue was different to all the rest. Not because it was weird, no, all the houses were weird to some extent. Number 3 Banktown Avenue even had a large chicken farm in the front yard complete with miniature pond, playground, and gym, while number 1’s house was shaped like a large 1, and had net traps in the front of it. No, number 4 was weird because of the girl who lived there. The girl, whose favourite hobby, was playing with daggers and swords.   Leena Tavin stared out of the circular attic window, taking careful aim with her dagger. Leena was a tall 12-year-old girl with dark red hair, and sharp dark brown eyes. she wore a belt hung with daggers around her waist, and her hair was in a messy ponytail. Her face was pale. It was the holidays, and Leena had decided to spend the time throwing daggers at their ewe tree. She was a great shot.   As she went down to pick up the 4 daggers she had thrown, Leena saw her best friend, Bill Drake, coming out of number 5 Banktown Avenue, holding a large donut covered with black icing.   Bill’s house was peculiar, because it had 3 chimneys. Leena had once asked why the house had 3 chimneys, but Bill had just said, ‘it’s for some good reasons,’ and gave no further explanations. Leena suspected it was so that the explosions continually issuing from Bill’s room (which all the chimneys connected to) would let out the smoke. Bill said he was going to invent something useful one day, and Leena believed him. He had a great mind. He just got distracted by food often.   Bill had large glasses, with purple frames, and with tape all over the arms. He had curly brown hair, and was short for his age, which was 13. He usually wore overalls over his black jeans, and bought donuts online with the computer he made out of a kit. His face was kind, and slightly pudgy. When he wasn’t eating, he was thinking, and when he wasn’t thinking, he was making. So far, he had made a robotic toy for cats, which ran around while his pet cat, Fluffles, chased it.   ‘Ey Leena,’ Bill said, his mouth full of donut. He quickly swallowed all the donut, and licked his lips. ‘Why are you throwing daggers now? It’s a holiday! You should be, I dunno, relaxing at a beach in Hawaii, not throwing daggers in a dangerous sort of way?’ Bill never got why Leena loved weapons so much. ‘This is all I can do,’ Leena said. ‘I don’t like reading, or inventing, or eating, or sleeping, and we’re not going on a holiday, so this is what I do. You’ll thank me when someone tries to kill us, and I stop them.’ ‘Alright,’ Bill said. He knew there was no point arguing with Leena. ‘Hey, did you notice, there’s a new guy. His van is over there. I think he’s moving into number 8. Leena looked over, and saw a large moving truck with Barry’s Best Dog Food spray-painted on the side. Then, she saw the man.   Chapter 2   The man was old. Like, he was old old! His skin was wrinklier than the wrinkliest wrinkly elephant’s hide you’d ever seen. His eyes were green, and just seemed to project wisdom and…well other things old guys emanate. He was wearing a worn white baseball cap, a pink, purple, and red plaided shirt, white pants, different coloured sneakers, one black, the other white, and blue fingerless gloves. On his right finger, there was a strange ring. It seemed to be gold, but it had a dark red gem set in the top. There were intricate patterns all over the gold part. He yawned, and his false teeth glinted in the light, brown and black. He brought out a walking stick. ‘Hey kids!’ the man said. ‘Is this Banktown street?’ ‘Yeah,’ Leena said, flipping a dagger. ‘What of it?’ ‘Have a donut.’ The man said, bringing out a giant box of donuts and throwing one at them. Bill caught it, and looked down. ‘Strawberry icing! Awesome!’ he said, biting down on the donut, an expression of ecstasy on his face as he ate it in 2 bites. The man threw the donuts over his head, and they landed on the dusty Avenue, exploding in colours, and colouring everything in icing. The man didn’t seem to care that he had wasted all his donuts. Bill looked on in an expression on horror on his face now, at the way the man had wasted the donuts. He then walked to the house, dragging a suitcase behind him.   ‘He…wasted all those donuts!’ Bill cried out, kneeling in front of the rainbow-coloured dusty road, and holding his hands together as if in prayer. ‘May you rest in peace.’   The next few days, Mr Evans was seen all around the place. He was talking with the neighbours for a few minutes, then moving off again. He was seen dusting the avenue with a broom. The neighbours thought he was just a bit mental (which wasn’t actually really strange. Number 2 had a demented cat, dog, and pig.). He was also seen mowing his lawn with a scythe, and there were loud bangs coming from his house, as well as the occasional strange orange light coming from the windows, but Bill did the exact same things all the time, so the neighbours didn’t worry.   One day, Leena opened her eyes, and yawned. She picked up her daggers, went down the stairs, grabbed a bread roll, and walked out of the door. Leena walked across the street, and knocked on the door of Bill’s house. Bill answered the door.
‘You’re just in time for my invention!’ Bill said. He dragged Leena up 3 flights of stairs, and they went into Bill’s room. Bill’s room was a comfy, rundown room, if you ignored the scorch marks on almost every available surface. There was a blast furnace right in the centre of the room which all the chimneys were connected to, and a cupboard on the side. A slightly burned red bed sat in a corner, with a bedside table sitting right next to it, covered in bits and bobs.   Bill ran to the centre of the room, and picked up a weird contraption thing.   ‘I think I’ve finally got it made,’ he said excitedly. ‘A contraption that can fry eggs!’ he brought a frying pan out, and put it on the thing. He then pressed a button, and put an egg in a slot. The machine lit a fire underneath the pan, and rolled the egg on the pan. The egg smashed, leaving shell all over the pan. A claw picked the egg shell pieces out. Some egg white dripped into the egg fryer. The machine stopped, and made a sputtering sound.   ‘Duck!’ Bill yelled, and they both ran into the cupboard, Bill grabbing Fluffles, the fluffy white cat. There was a loud explosion. Bill peered around the door, grabbed his water bottle, and poured water on the fire. It fizzled, and went out.   ‘Phew,’ Bill said. ‘Well, that’s definitely a failure.’ ‘Yup,’ Leena said. ‘Well,’ Bill said, ‘what about that Mr Evans?’ ‘Mr Evans?’ Leena said. ‘Is that the name of the guy we saw with the Barry’s best dog food truck?’ ‘Yeah,’ Bill said. ‘My mum invited him over for dinner last night. He was really nervous. It was as if he had never really been around people before. In the end he left early.’ ‘Weird,’ Leena said. ‘Anyway, can you help me erect the target board? I’ve just finished painting it.’ ‘Alright,’ Bill said. ‘Let me just…’ he grabbed a box of donuts that had miraculously survived the egg fryer’s explosion, and pulled one out, along with some cat food for Fluffles. Then, they went outside.   Leena went inside her house and grabbed the target board. She rolled it down the steps, being careful not to make any noise. Her mum and dad were still sleeping. Leena brought the target board, and saw Bill waiting with a bottle of his home-made super glue, and Fluffles in his arms. The super-glue was made with a combination of different super-glues, and hardened in a minute after being squirted out. Leena took the bottle from Bill.   ‘Hold this up for me, will you?’ she said. Bill lifted the circular board up, and Leena glued the back of it to the tree. They both crept up the stairs, and up into Leena’s room. Bill settled himself down on a bean bag, while Leena opened the window, and stared down at the target board. She took careful aim, and threw. It thunked into the target board. Just then, Mr Evans came out of his house. Leena threw another dagger. It thudded next to the first one. Mr Evans walked over to Leena’s house, and stared up at the window.   ‘Hey!’ he called up. ‘What are you doing? You could kill yourself with those things!’ Leena leant out of the window. ‘I’ve done this before Mr Evans!’ she shouted back. ‘Don’t worry!’ just then, a bird landed on the window sill. Fluffles leapt for the window, and knocked Leena’s hand. The dagger slipped, and fell directly into Mr Evans’s leg! ‘Oh my!’ Leena exclaimed. She ran down the stairs, with Bill who had seen it as well. ‘Are you all right, Mr Evans?’ she asked. ‘Yes, quite all right,’ he said, inspecting the wound with interest. He pulled the dagger out of his leg. ‘I’ll be fine.’ ‘Aren’t you hurt?’ Bill asked, worriedly. ‘Hurt?’ the Mr Evans asked. ‘Oh yeah, hurt!’ he hurriedly made a few pained noises, and clutched at his leg. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’ll be off then.’ Then, he walked off with an obviously fake limp. ‘What was that about?’ Bill asked. ‘I have no idea,’ Leena said. She knew that there was something strange about that man. And she was going to find out what it was.   Chapter 3   ‘What,’ Bill asked for the 50th time, ‘are we doing here again?’ ‘Gathering critical info on the suspect,’ Leena said. ‘And why,’ Bill said, ‘does that involve my binoculars?’ It was 8:00, and the two friends were crouching underneath Mr Evans’ window, and Leena was staring through the window with Bill’s binoculars. The curtains were opened, and Leena could see a dusty living room, and an even dustier staircase, with the dustiest coat on the dustiest coat hanger she had ever seen. The smell of lemons wafted out as usual, and there was a cornflake packet on the table. But Leena noticed something else.   ‘There’s a large painting on the wall!’ she whisper-exclaimed, ignoring Bills grumbles of, ‘You could have just asked for the binoculars,’ ‘it…it has a picture of a…of a…what is that? Oh my!’ Leena stared. ‘That looks like an…an…an alien! And it’s dated the first epoch of the third century! What does that mean?’ ‘Who cares?’ Bill said, as his stomach gurgled. ‘Say, do you want to go and get a donut? Or 10?’ ‘This painting could be a clue!’ Leena said. ‘My stomach is giving me a clue,’ Bill said, as his belly gave another gurgle. ‘It says that I want a donut.’ ‘Be quiet about your…Oh!’ Leena dived for cover behind a bush, dragging Bill with her. She peeked over the windowsill again. ‘Mr Evans has come back in!’ Mr Evans walked into the living room, and sat on the chair, letting out a large puff of dust. He poured some cornflakes for himself, and began eating. 2 hours later, Bill had gone and got some donuts, and was busy devouring the lot, and Leena was beginning to doze off, when she was jolted awake by the noise of a scraping chair. Mr Evans had gotten up, and was walking out of the door!    ‘Come on!’ Leena hissed to Bill, but Bill was finishing his 4th donut and wouldn’t move an inch. ‘Oo u ithut e,’ he said through a mouthful of blueberry icing. Leena stood up, and crouched behind the bush as Mr Evans came out of his house. He stretched, yawned, and walked off. Leena followed him.   Mr Evans walked down the street, past the chickens in sunglasses having a pool party, past the big number 1 of a house, and walked straight across the corresponding road. He walked into the park, and soon swept into the forest. Leena crept behind him, holding her dagger just in case. Soon, Mr Evans reached the centre of the forest. He sat, and took a deep breath in. ‘Soon,’ he said, but his voice wasn’t his voice. It was rasping, low, and menacing. ‘Soon, I will conquer the world. I will destroy this pitiful place once and for all. I can wait. I have waited 1000 years, and I can wait. I must wait for 1 more day. Then, my power will be fully charged, and I can strike. The whole world will soon know the name of Viggo Armagno, destroyer of worlds, conqueror of cities, enslaver of galaxies.’ As he spoke, he slowly grew bigger. He unhunched, flexing his shoulder blades, and two huge ragged bat wings sprouted out. He became blacker, and his eyes burned a fiery red. Horns grew from the top of his head, and claws on his fingers. His eyes turned a burning red, and as he smiled, two sharp teeth stuck out of his mouth. A tail shot out from behind him, and it waved around. He laughed, and his voice had become a whip of burning hatred. ‘The whole world will soon know the name, of Viggo Armagno, the immortal demon.’   ‘Wait,’ Bill said, ‘so Mr Evans, the peaceful, cuts-his-lawn-with-scythes-and-sweeps-the-road-guy, is an immortal demon alien, intent on destroying the world, and all we know?’ ‘Yup,’ Leena said flatly. ‘On a Wednesday?’ Bill asked. ‘Yeah,’ Leena said. ‘Great!’ Bill said happily. ‘I won’t have to mow the lawn!’ ‘What?’ Leena exclaimed. ‘The end that Mr Wilkins has being proclaiming is nigh is nigh, and you’re thinking about lawn mowing?’ (Mr Wilkins was a street tramp who lived in a tree in the park, and had been telling anyone who passed that ‘the end is nigh!’) ‘Yes?’ Bill said, but it was more of a question. Seeing the look on Leena’s face, he stuttered, ‘no, I mean no! We should call the police.’ ‘Say what?’ Leena asked incredulously. ‘Call the police? Shouldn’t we, I dunno, call the Prime Minister instead?’ ‘Nah,’ Bill said, waving away the question, ‘he’s probably busy. And besides, the police can tell him if they think it’s serious.’ ‘It is serious!’ Leena yelled. ‘But who’s going to believe a couple of kids?’ Bill said. Leena stopped.   They were currently situated in the middle of the chicken farm, feeding the chickens for money. Mr Digory had told them that if even one chicken looked underfed, then he was personally going to go up to each of their houses, take back the money, and throw them out of a third story window. As there were about 1000 chickens in the chicken farm, Bill and Leena just had to grab a chicken feed bag each, and spin around with it, flinging chicken feed everywhere. Having finished feeding the chickens, they had each grabbed a chair, a lettuce, bacon, peanut butter, and onion sandwich (which Mr Digory had kindly brought out for lunch) and plopped down on it with their favourite chickens (Terrison and Vigbun (Mr Digory liked exotic sounding names)) while Mr Digory inspected the chickens.   ‘You’re right,’ Leena said slowly, ‘no one will listen to a couple of kids. Bill, I need you to get your impression book out.’ ‘Not that old thing,’ groaned Bill. ‘You know I’m terrible at impressions!’
‘Well, this is an excellent way to practice then,’ Leena grinned. And they both picked up the chickens, placed them on the ground, and walked out of the front yard onto the road.   Chapter 4 ‘Hello? This is Sergeant Larry speaking,’ said a voice on the other end of the telephone that Bill was holding. ‘Hello,’ Bill said in a way to deep voice. Leena winced. ‘This is Mr Drake speaking.’ ‘Who?’ Sergeant Larry asked. ‘Oh, Mr Drake. What seems to be troubling you? Is it about that bank robbery that happened a few days ago? Have you caught the criminal?’ ‘No,’ Bill said, still in that overly deep voice, ‘this is about something new. Something more serious.’ ‘Something more serious than half the bank being robbed?’ Sergeant Larry exclaimed incredulously. ‘You have to be joking.’ ‘No,’ Bill said, ‘I’m not.’ ‘Then what is it?’ asked Sergeant Larry asked. ‘Australia,’ said Bill in a very serious voice, ‘is about to be attacked by an immortal demon, by the name of Viggo Armagno, code name Mr Evans.’ There was a long silence. Then, Sergeant Larry began to laugh. ‘You seriously think that I would believe something like that?’ he chortled. ‘I don’t know if your kids set you up for this, but it’s not funny.’ For someone who said something wasn’t funny though, he was laughing pretty hard. ‘You’re wasting valuable police time. Immortal demon indeed.’ He hung up, leaving the kids in silence.   ‘Well,’ Bill said, ‘that didn’t go too well.’ ‘Nope,’ Leena said. There was more silence. ‘Maybe…’ Bill said hesitantly, ‘maybe I could try make something? You know, to fight him?’ ‘It’s no use,’ Leena said heavily. ‘Unless you can make a fire-proof, bite-proof, claw-proof, evil-demon-magic-proof, horn-proof, wing proof net-cage-prison, I don’t really think we have a chance. We’re all going to die, because of some stupid police officer who stupidly didn’t listen to us, and stupidly doomed the world as a result.’ ‘At least we have donuts,’ Bill said quietly. Leena stared at him in disbelief. ‘Donuts?’ she asked, her voice slowly growing hysterical, ‘donuts? The world is going to end! I haven’t even lived half my life yet! I haven’t made it to Europe, I haven’t been in a life-threatening situation, the universe is doomed, and the bright side is having donuts? Donuts don’t matter as much as the world! Donuts aren’t everything! You can’t make a house with donuts! You can’t fight a demon with donuts! All you can do is eat donuts, and eating isn’t going to help anything!’ Her voice had rose to a shriek. ‘CAN YOU JUST STAY ON THE SUBJECT FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, BILL?’ ‘Sorry!’ Bill said, holding his hands up. ‘But seriously, if we’re going to die, I’d rather die with a full stomach.’   This was so outrageous that Leena had to laugh. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Tears rolled down her face as she laughed. Finally, she stopped, her face shining with mirth. ‘That,’ she giggled, ‘is the most stupid thing I have ever heard!’ ‘Glad to be of use,’ Bill muttered. ‘Well, since the adults are too stupid to help,’ Leena said, wiping tears of laughter from her face, ‘we’ll have to take matters in our own hands. First, we need to sneak into Viggo’s house. It’s Tuesday, so we should have enough time to do this and prepare. Bill, can you design an easily transportable weapon for this in about,’ Leena checked her watch, ‘3 hours? If your parents ask you what you’re doing, say it’s for a science project. Then, tell them that you’re going over to my house for a sleepover. I’ll bring snacks, and we can get into Viggo’s house, and, well, try to stop him. And if we die, at least then the adults will take us seriously.’ ‘If we die!?!?’ Bill said hysterically. ‘If we die!?!? I don’t want to die!’ ‘Just make a weapon!’ Leena said loudly. ‘Don’t argue!’ ‘Okay, okay,’ Bill said shakily, ‘okay. I can do this. Alright.’ ‘Then let’s get to it!’ Leena said.   Chapter 5   Bill brought out his tool box, and stared down at it, along with a box full of bits and bobs. ‘Weapon, easily transportable,’ he muttered to himself as he stared through the box. ‘Alright.’ He took out a couple pieces of metal, walked to the blast furnace in the centre of the room.   Soon, Leena was handing Bill things he asked for, like tools, nails, more metal, and obviously, donuts. There were soon the familiar sounds of explosions coming from the furnace, as Bill worked his considerably unpredictable magic on the metal. He shaped, banged, bended, cracked, and exploded the material. Fluffles curled around his feet, purring. Leena ate a sandwich. Bill roasted his in the furnace. Finally, Bill brought something out. His face was black with ash and smoke, and a little wisp of fire was curling from his hair. Leena put it out for him.   ‘Well,’ Bill said, ‘I’ve made a club.’ He held up a sort of club-shaped piece of melded metal, with metal spikes sticking out from it. ‘Alright,’ Leena said. By this time, it was about 5:00 in the afternoon. ‘Okay,’ Leena said. ‘I’ll go and tell my dad and mum that I’m staying at your house for a sleepover. That way, we’ll be able to sneak out.’   Leena dashed out the door, and into the slowly setting sun. She paused to feel the sun on her face, and then ran across the road and into her house. ‘Mum, Dad,’ she yelled running into the kitchen and rummaging around for some snacks in the larder, ‘I’m going to Bill’s house for a sleepover!’ ‘Alright,’ Leena’s dad yelled back. ‘Make sure you don’t eat too many of the boy’s donuts. You might get sick.’ ‘Sure!’ Leena yelled. ‘I’ll take my own snacks!’ And she ran out again.   She arrived in Bill’s house just in time to see him walking out of his room, club in one hand. He ran down the stairs, tripped, and fell in a heap at Leena’s feet. ‘We going?’ he asked, pushing his glasses more firmly up his nose. ‘Yeah,’ Leena said. ‘Now pick up that club and get a move on. We don’t have all day.’ Bill stood up. Then, they walked out of the house. Little did they know what they were going to end up doing that day.   They crept up to Viggo’s house, and hid underneath the large bushes in front of the house. They stared through the window, and saw Viggo climb down into the basement. ‘Let’s go in,’ Leena said. They ran up the front stairs, and tried the doorknob.   ‘Locked!’ Leena groaned. ‘Don’t worry,’ Bill said. ‘I learned how to pick locks on YouTube.’ He brought out 2 hairpins, and twiddled it in the lock for a bit. The lock clicked, and the door swung open. The two friends snuck down the stairs after Viggo. They stared down. The scene was one of the strangest they had ever seen. Viggo, in demon form, was floating in mid-air. There were hundreds of little models of humans all over the ground. Some of them were ripped up completely.   Viggo stared down at a still intact dummy, and shouted. He pointed at it, and it was slowly torn apart. Then he bellowed, and launched fire at it. It exploded, and he laughed. Suddenly, he turned into human form.   ‘You can’t do this!’ he gasped, and Leena had a sudden feeling that this was the real Mr Evans. ‘I can fight! I will fight you!’ All of a sudden, Viggo came out again. ‘You know I will win,’ he growled, punching himself in the stomach. ‘The world is going to be doomed, and you will be the cause of it. How does that make you feel, Gregory, Fido, Evans?’ ‘Gregory Fido Evans?’ Bill said incredulously. ‘Who named him?’ ‘Isn’t better than Bill Scranton Drake,’ Leena said. Bill fell silent. ‘I can warn them!’ Gregory Fido Evans coughed. ‘I’ll warn them of you! I won’t let you win!’ ‘AAAAAAUUUUUUHHHHHHGGGGGG!!!!!!’ Viggo yelled, and he turned back into a demon. ‘You know that I am more powerful than you! Can you just give up? I will not tolerate such insolence!’ He slammed himself against the wall, and grunted. ‘Just get back in your mind were you belong!’ It seemed Mr Evans had lost the fight. Viggo sighed, and turned around to blow up more dummies. Chapter 6 ‘I can’t believe Mr Evans is being possessed!’ Bill said, pulling his curly brown hair in agitation. ‘I mean, now we think about it, it seems obvious! All his strange behaviour with…well everything!’ ‘We’ll have to warn the others about this,’ Leena said. ‘They have to know!’ ‘Okay,’ Bill said, ‘I’ll gather my parents, and you’ll gather yours. We’ll round up the entire neighbourhood, and discuss battle.’ Surprised by Bill’s sudden seriousness, Leena paused. Come on, come on!’ Bill urged. ‘Let’s go!’ The two friends ran from the avenue and each to their own houses. ‘Dad,’ Leena panted, ‘I’m going to tell you something that you probably won’t believe. I only ask you to attempt to believe me.’ ‘Okay,’ Leena’s dad said, ‘I’ll try to believe you. What are you going to tell me that’s so unbelievable?’ ‘So,’ Leena said, ‘you know that Mr Evans?’ ‘Yeah?’ her dad said. ‘Well, me and Billy thought he was suspicious, so we went and spied on his house…’ Leena said in a rush. ‘You spied on his house?’ Leena’s dad exclaimed. ‘Yeah, but we found things out!’ Leena said. ‘Oh yeah?’ Leena’s dad asked with eyebrows raised. ‘Yeah!’ Leena said loudly. ‘We found out that Mr Evans…’ she paused for effect, ‘has been possessed by a demon, intent on destroying or conquering the world as we know it.’ She stopped. Mr Tavin was standing there with his mouth open. ‘Are you sure?’ Mr Tavin asked. ‘are you quite sure of this?’ ‘Why would I lie?’ Leena asked back. ‘Good point,’ Leena’s dad said. ‘Alright, what do you want me to do?’ ‘Get mum, and round up all the neighbours,’ Leena said. ‘Then, discuss battle plans.’ ‘Okay,’ Leena’s dad said, ‘let’s do this!’ Leena ran out with her dad and mum to find that Bill had already convinced his parents to come out, and they had rounded up more than half of the neighbours, all of which were grumbling about the late hour. ‘Hey Leena,’ Bill whispered, ‘I think you should be the one who tells the crowd about Mr Evans.’ ‘Okay,’ Leena whispered back. ‘Okay. Yo, neighbours,’ She said in a louder voice, ‘we have a problem!’ ‘Right we do,’ grumbled Mr Plander, who lived in number 6, ‘I can’t tend my bromeliads!’ ‘This problem is much more serious than plants!’ Leena said. ‘More important than my bromeliads?’ Mr Plander exclaimed in outrage. ‘More important than my bromeliads? My bromeliads are the most important things in the world! More important than food! More important than life! More important than…’ ‘Oh be quiet about your bromeliads!’ Mrs Wanda. ‘Now, if any of my paintings get destroyed, then that would be $100,000,000 wasted! Much more than a few plants.’ ‘Few plants? A few plants!?!’ Mr Plander said. ‘I’ll give you a few plants, along with a piece of my mind!’ ‘EVERYONE SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!!!!’ Bill bellowed so loud, everyone instantly obeyed. ‘LISTEN TO WHAT LEENA IS GOING TO SAY!’ There was a silence so deep that you could probably hear a pin drop. Leena coughed, and began again. ‘Well, me and Bill thought that Mr Evans seemed suspicious, so we went to spy on him,’ Leena said. ‘Then, we found out something. We found out that Mr Evans…was possessed by an immortal demon.’ There was another silence. Suddenly, Miss Nix shrieked, ‘We’re all going to die!’ She waved her hands around in a crazed panic. Her cat and dog hissed and howled. ‘We shall mass to battle!’ Mr Digory cried. ‘My chickens will be able to fight beside us! Mr Wanda, do you have any chicken sized armour?’ ‘Maybe,’ Mr Wanda said, ‘but I won’t give it to you unless you don’t damage it. It’s dwarf armour.’ ‘Protect my bromeliads!’ Mr Plander yelled. ‘Protect my house!’ Mrs Terry yelled over him. ‘We’re doomed,’ Miss Canter sighed. ‘Just doomed I tell you. I shall bake no more!’ ‘We’ll make some real lava grenades!’ Mr Arden said. ‘We’ll collect lava, and burn down the sucker’s house!’ ‘We can’t do that!’ Leena yelled. ‘Mr Evans is being possessed. We need to get the demon out of him before it gets it’s full power!’ ‘Let’s make a plan before we attack,’ Bill said. ‘We’ll need one for the fight ahead.’ Chapter 7 The army of neighbours stood in front of number 8 Banktown Avenue. The chickens were in the throng, all in little pieces of armour, all ready to fight, all, well all pecking nonchalantly at the ground. Mr Digory was squatting on the ground and whispering instructions to the chickens. Mr and Mrs Terry sat behind their large red Ferrari, and pressed buttons. Everyone knew that they had made adjustments to the Ferrari ever since they had put the sign up in front of their house with making adjustments to the Ferrari on it. Miss Nix was hiding behind her cat, which was hiding behind her dog, which was hiding behind the pig, which was eating a ham sandwich. Leena had armed her mum, dad, Bill, and his mum and dad, with daggers, and armed herself with one too. Bill refused the dagger and instead carried the club he had made for them. Mr Plander begrudgingly armed himself and Miss Canter with bromeliad whips, and was muttering under his breath about evil neighbours who took his plants. Mr Wanda was wearing a suit of armour, and was holding the arm of a sculpture of Pliny the younger, while his wife was heaving a Viking shield and axe around the place. Mr and Mrs Arden were both holding buckets of lava, and grinning evilly, every so often “accidentally” slopping lava near, ‘those blasted chickens!’ They were ready for battle. ‘Alright troops,’ Leena said, standing in front of the door to Mr Evan’s house, ‘It’s time for battle.’ She walked up to the door, and kicked it. It didn’t budge. ‘You could just ring the doorbell,’ Bill pointed out. ‘Oh yeah,’ Leena said. She rang the doorbell. There was a long silence. A chicken clucked, and then silence fell again. Mr Plander coughed. The concrete sizzled as more lava slopped out of the buckets Mr and Mrs Arden were holding. Then, the door slowly creaked open. ‘Hello?’ Mr Evans asked. ‘Oh, my neighbours! How good of you to stop by! Do you want some tea? Oh.’ He had finally noticed the armed chickens, the weapons, the lava. ‘We know your secret, Mr Evans,’ Leena said. ‘You can fight it.’ Suddenly, Mr Evans yelled in pain. Viggo came out, and the yell of pain became a roar of anger. ‘You dare oppose me?’ Viggo roared. ‘I shall teach you a lesson you will never forget! You will rue the day you met me!’ He swiped with his hand, and the neighbours were flung into the air. Mr Digory yelled a battle cry, and flung a chicken at Viggo. Viggo swiped it out of the air before it had even touched him. The chicken fell to the ground, dead. ‘Natinus! No!’ Mr Digory cried. Thunder cracked in the sky. Lighting came down with booms of sound. The sky turned dark as a coming thunderstorm covered the sun. Cold rain poured down from the heavens as Viggo attacked and the neighbours fought back. Mr Plander shouted in anger as Viggo trampled his precious bromeliads, and wrapped his arm with his whip, while Miss Canter did the same with the demon’s other arm. Viggo roared in anger and swung his arms up, sending Mr Plander and Miss Canter flying. They landed in the ewe tree, Mr Plander hanging by his foot, Miss Canter by her arms. The chickens flew at Viggo, while Leena tried to distract him by cutting small cuts in his arms and legs. These seemed to do no damage. He simply growled, and threw out his arms, flinging the chickens away. The Ferrari charged, spitting what seemed to be ice cream, but Viggo slammed his wings into it, and it went flying. Suddenly, Mr Evans seemed to come out of Viggo’s face. ‘The ring!’ He gasped, ‘get the…’ but Viggo burst out again before Mr Evans could say any more. Leena realised that though Mr Evans’ clothes had disappeared, the ring with the intricate carvings and the dark red gem had not. With a roar, Viggo flew at Bill, and grabbed him. Bill reached for the ring, but Viggo threw him across the avenue. He landed against the chicken house, and slid down. ‘Bill!’ Leena cried. She ran straight for Viggo, but he raised his arm, and Leena was captured in an invisible grip. Viggo brought Leena closer, smiling widely. ‘You’ve lost,’ he said. ‘Just admit it. You will die like the others that tried to fight against me!’ Leena struggled, but she was slowly dragged toward Viggo. Then, Mr Evans came up again. ‘Get the ring!’ He choked. Viggo’s grip let go of Leena, and she ran toward Mr Evans. She grabbed the ring just as Viggo came out again. She pulled. ‘No!!!!!’ Viggo yelled. The ring came off. Viggo seemed to be sucked from Mr Evans’ body. Leena saw what seemed to be his ghost floating in the air. The ghost that was Viggo was sucked into the ring. The rain stopped. The clouds cleared. The stars came out. Mr Evans slumped onto the ground. The neighbours stared up at the sky, awed at the beauty. Mr Plander and Miss Canter finally fell from the tree. Bill stood unsteadily from the ground. The chickens clucked and fluffed up their feathers. They had won. Epilogue Leena and Bill stood together on the steps of number 4 Banktown Avenue. It had been 2 days since the battle had taken place. The ring had been taken away into a safe. The neighbours had all gotten interviews, the prime minister had visited Leena’s house, and they had all gotten presents. Mr Plander got a shipment of exotic plants. Leena got a bunch of weapons. Her parents got a new veranda chair, and a giant TV. Mr Terry and Mrs Terry got a new car, this one a monster truck. Miss Nix got a new house (Miss Nix was so frazzled that she had moved away, with cat, dog, and pig.) Bill got some more bits and bobs to add to his collection, as well as some tools. His parents got some new ear plugs. Mr Digory got an extension to his chicken farm, a cinema. Miss Canter got some cook books. Mr and Mrs Wanda got another ancient artefact to add to their ancient artefact collection. Mr and Mrs Arden got more lava. Leena sighed, and leant back on their new veranda chair. I ‘Well, I hope we never have any other adventures,’ Bill said. ‘This one was too big.’ ‘Yeah,’ Leena said. Suddenly, they saw a moving van. It seemed to be moving into the newly vacated number 2. ‘A new neighbour?’ Bill groaned. ‘Please tell me that this neighbour will be a nice old normal lady, with an obsession with food.’ A man stepped out of the van. He was dressed in a black cloak, a black shirt, black pants, black gloves, and black shoes. His eyes were red, and staring. His face was lean and haggard, and seemed to have seen many ages, many times. He was holding a long staff in one hand, and a suitcase in the other. And his hair was blacker than the night. ‘Oh, bother!’ Bill said.

Neighborhood Mayhem Brian broke his arm 10 times in his old job as a stuntman. After years of travelling the world like a rockstar Brian now lives alone in a small house in sleepy suburb of Summer Heights. Brian loves to garden, listen to the birds and watch his favourite team the Sydney Kings basketball team live on television. Summer Heights has a sweet smell like strong perfume. Every garden in Brian’s street had an old white jasmine bush so maybe that’s why the air smelled so delightful. One night Brian heard a strange noise to the side of his house where the new neighbour had moved in. 80 firecrackers loudly exploded to celebrate his new neighbours 80th birthday but Brian didn’t move from the comfort of his couch. Instead upon hearing all the noise Brian closed his curtains and turned up the television volumes so he could hear his insane basketball game. Through the window curtain gaps Brian could see 80 candles on a 80th birthday cake which unbeknown to him almost started a fire but Brian still continued ignored the outside world to concentrate on his basketball game. Brian thinks the smell of the 80 candles burning is instead his bbq hotdogs cooking on the stove for dinner during the half time at the basketball match. Suddenly 80 police cars and fire engines arrive with sirens sounding followed by 80 gunshots fired. Brian then hears a knock at the door. It is a police officer in full uniform apologising for all the loud noise. The party goers were honoring his new neighbor the retired Chief Commissioner of Police 80th birthday with a traditional gun shot salute. Brian says, “No worries” and closes the door to continue watching the basketball game though all the noise of the party. The Sydney Kings are just about to win the basketball game and just then the television cuts out because a traditional 80 gun shot salute bullet hits the power lines and Brian never knows who won the game. Just before the TV cut out the Channel 7 newsbreak had mentioned the brand new Police Commissioner was on her way to the 80th birthday party and was expected to arrive in 30 minutes. Brian really wanted to know the score of his basketball game but with no electricity and no phone because his phone was broken from posting too many old stunt show footage to his Tik Tok feed Brain has no choice but to go outside and ask someone at the party to check their phone for the score He also saw it as a good opportunity to meet the new Chief of Police. Just as Brain gets to his outside letterbox he sees the retired Chief Commissioner running towards him yelling something strange. “Can I use your bathtub?” says the retired Police Commissioner puffing. Brian thinking it was a bad idea to be going outside as it was very windy says to the retired Police Chief Commissioner, “No way, go away!” The retired Chief Commissioner yells, “There’s a cyclone coming now and the bath is the safest place to be in a house during a cyclone.” The retired Chief commissioner gets his rusty old megaphone out from his car and invites everyone on the street to get in Brian’s bathtub yelling; “Run, jump, leap into Brian’s bathtub and you will survive the cyclone. “ Brian with all his years of stunt training steals a police officers motorbike and rangles up neighbors on the street by placing them on the back of the bike just like you see in a Mission Impossible movie - saving everyone on the street. The two neighbors and the many others neighbors form the street hop into the bathtub fully clothed together, which was a very funny sight to see. To break the ice Brian tells everyone. “Luckily I ordered the extra large luxury bathtub during my bathroom renovation last year!” Everyone laughs nervously because they don’t know each other or their fate. All the neighbors and Brian wait in the bathtub for the cyclone to pass over. The neighbors wait for many hours in the bathtub together and were forced to know each other because they were piled on top of each other in such a small space. The cyclone never comes but the neighbors get out of the bathtub as new best friends especially Brian and the Chief Commissioner who discover they both follow the Sydney Kings basketball team. Now Brian goes to the actual Sydney Kings basketball stadium to watch the games as the special guest of the retired Chief Commissioner of Police. The retired Chief Commissioner of Police holds a lifetime Sydney Kings membership with courtside seats – and gets a police escort to and from the game. Brian gets to proudly lead the police escort riding his old stunt motorbike with a large Sydney Kings flag on the back. His new best friend the retired Chief Commissioner prefers to ride in the luxury of a stretch limousine but at the game they never leave each others side. Brian is currently in talks to get the 2023 Local Hero Award from the Summer Heights Mayor who wants to honor him for saving the town.

Chaos on Korrigan Street The sweat that covered Tallis somehow made them both incredibly sticky (their shirt had glued itself to their skin about fifteen minutes ago) and incredibly slippery (it’s getting harder and harder to grip the lawnmower but that might just be fatigue). Combined with the harsh sun, occasional required fiddly focus and hard labour, it was the perfect recipe for exhaustion. Trying to keep in mind how beautiful a cool shower would be after this, Tallis pushed the lawnmower over the last bit of longish grass. They straightened up and rolled their shoulders back. Finally, their lawn was back to a decent uniform length. The headphones were taken off their ears. Exhaling a tired breath, they turned to the thick reddish tree that brushed the sky from the middle of the roundabout. It was one of the most interesting trees they’d ever seen, partly because of the calm power it exuded, partly because of the blue-grey bark that clung to it in splotches and partly because of the person who inhabited it. Not that they’d ever admit it. They swung themself to face their pretty ivy-woven brick house and jumped as a long finger poked their back. “Cory,” Tallis hissed, snapping their head around and stumbling back. The person behind them smiled sardonically, looking at them with sharp eyes that changed colour like the sky during sunset. His frizzy hair was cropped close to his head and his red-brown skin was spotted with lighter patches, resembling the bark on his tree. “Tallis,” Cory smirked. His palazzo pants fluttered around his ankles as he strode forward with an ethereal grace. “How goes the grass-mangling?” Tallis harrumphed, maintaining eye contact with the tree spirit. “It’s going well. Y’know, maybe if you had let me mow your lawn last summer, or the one before that, you wouldn’t have had to hire a professional gardener to hack through it for the owners.” “How was I supposed to know they were coming back?” Cory countered, tilting his head challengingly. Tallis deflated. He had a point. The tenancy termination notice had been sudden and unexpected, throwing the everyday pandemonium of Korrigan Street into sombre normalcy. The hellhounds at Number 2 stopped their infernal midnight howling, the werewolf kids at Number 5 had put their constant playfights on pause, May, Ampelus and Leander’s satyr parties at Number 9 hadn’t attracted police attention for two weeks, the constant chimney smoke from Felix’s magic at Number 8 had almost stopped completely, the folks at Number 4 hadn’t started raising any new illegal mythical livestock since those cockatrices a few months ago, Amunet the sphinx had stopped forcing people passing Number 7 to answer riddles and just sat solemnly in the sunshine instead, no explosions or magic fluctuations had come from Dr. Blackwood’s experiments at Number 6 for a while, the unspeakable horrors that lived at Number 3 hadn’t tried to consume Sydney this month and the people at Number 1… Tallis didn’t like to think about the people at Number 1. The letter had been different from the problems all of the fantastical residents of Korrigan Street were used to, and they hadn’t liked it one bit. Cory being forced out of his house was something that couldn’t be stopped by finding a magic sword, figuring out the puzzle, making a wacky invention or throwing a party that would put the gods to shame. It was too real to fight with spells, teeth, claws or existential terror. “I’m going to Donut Dining to spy on our new neighbours,” Cory declared, shaking off the funk they’d both sunk into. “They should be coming soon. Would you care to join me?” “AFTER I have a shower,” Tallis bargained, ‘pausing’ Cory with a finger. Cory grinned. Whenever he did, it wasn’t an expression of joy. It was a smug celebration. “See you there, sweetheart.” - - - ~ * ~ - - - Cory sipped his chai latte, alternating between watching the road and the person opposite him at the cafe table. Tallis was certainly an interesting person to be- to have been next door neighbours with. Especially given what both of them were: two spirits of the forest as different as autumn and spring. Cory was an immortal tree spirit and Tallis was just barely touched by magic, their skills given an edge by forest enchantment. A huntsman, a woodcutter, stepped right out of a fairytale to kill something or save the day. But they weren’t killing anything right now. And they had never done anything more drastic than eradicate a colony of termites in the floorboards of his house one time… So Cory could quietly justify enjoying Tallis’ presence to himself. He’d never do it out loud. Tallis would never let her hear the end of it. (Her? Okay) When Tallis turned around, they didn’t bat an eyelid at Cory’s longer hair or altered appearance. They just pointed at a truck meandering down the road, unmistakably heading toward Korrigan Street. “So that’s them,” Cory sniffed. “Kinda anticlimactic, to be honest,” Tallis said, “Given-” -they made a circling gesture with their hands, presumably referring to them and their street- “I thought they’d be riding in on broomsticks or dragons.” Cory shrugged and sipped her latte before continuing. “They aren’t supernatural in the slightest.” “Oh,” Tallis said, taking an idle bite of their donut. Then they almost spat it out after they processed what she said. “OH-!” “Indeed,” Cory smiled. “By d’Aulnoy,” Tallis breathed, “What’s everyone going to do? You all had enough trouble telling me and Silvine and we had magic in our blood.” “It’s not my concern-” “It IS your concern and don’t you dare pretend otherwise,” the woodcutter snarled, squashing their poor cheesymite donut in their fist as they leaned forward. “You live on Korrigan Street too. Moving out of Number 11 didn’t change where your tree is and don’t pretend you could just disappear forever. Your family lived here long before any humans arrived, Aboriginal or European, and you’ve stayed where Korrigan Street would be centuries before the First Fleet came. I don’t think you can just leave it. Not because of duty, or anything like that. Because you care. You’re the protector of the street and you have been for longer than even you remember. Whoever’s moving in could change everything, expose us all.” They slumped a bit as the fire racing through their veins cooled, but the eyes that met Tallis’ were just as intense. “Please don’t abandon us now.” Tallis couldn’t get words out - her throat was as dry as scorched sandstone. Even if she could, she wouldn’t. She couldn’t form any answer to that bloody monologue that wasn’t how dare you say that to me, you little twig. I’ve seen victories and people fighting with everything they have. This is nothing. But it wasn’t. What would happen to Dr. Blackwood’s experiments with magic and the dozen-odd yokai living with her if the police came in? Her research on utilising magic as renewable energy would never see the light of day. There were children in the werewolf pack who would be put in danger. Most of the residents would be locked up - or worse, given what they were known for. And her tree was there. If everyone was discovered, whoever moved there could have it killed. They might even go after it deliberately if they knew it was tied to her. Cory swallowed the sip of latte she’d had a minute ago. “Alright,” she whispered, nodding. “Good,” Tallis harrumphed. “Someone needs to keep everyone in check and it’s not going to be me.”

A month later it was October 1st and everyone was eagerly anticipating “The Best Garden in Town” competition. Excitement was building and everyone in Blackbrey had only 5 days to sign-up. The winner would not just get a very shiny trophy, but also a year’s worth of ‘happy sunshine manure’ (Definity sponsored). Interestingly, the winner of this competition for 13 years and still going, was Scarlet. Would she keep her title and garden fresh for another year with Happy Sunshine Manure or would someone else have their garden made happy for the next year? The event was fast approaching, and it was October 5th, 1 day to go until “The Best Garden in Town” competition officially started and the last day to sign up. Already Scarlet, Charly, Mary and nearly the entire town had signed up, except the new neighbour in the windmill and a few others. Later in the day, Scarlet and Mary were curious and trying to see who signed up for the B.G.T (Best Garden in Town Competition). When they were headed into town, Sarah, the towns go to rumour person, revealed the new neighbour, was a nightmare neighbour and in secret was a witch who is trying to escape the police. All of a sudden Mary ask Scarlet “What do you think of all of this hocus-pocus about the newcomer?” “You mean the Miss Nightmare neighbour? Weeeellllll, I believe what you said, it is just some hocus-pocus. I think she is just a tired and old cranky hag who is a bit mad” Scarlet replied honestly. “I wish people will stop calling her that and just ask her what her name is” Mary said. “As if she would keep her door open for long enough for someone to say” Scarlet replied coldly. “Ok then, let’s go up to her house right now! and we ask her for her name and if she wants to join the B.G.T” Mary proposed. “I hope after this, when she does not answer, you will finally take the hint; she doesn’t want anything to do with you” and Scarlet agreed to go. “But after that, we visit Sarah, I need to rub in that her roses oddly disappeared” Scarlet added on mischievously.

Amary yawned as her alarm beeped noisily in the background. She groaned and went to the bathroom to splash some water on her face. As she pulled on a light set of clothing, she grabbed her earbuds and plugged them into her ears. She jogged out the door to find Lydia in her work outfit with a basket. "Good morning, Am," Lydia said cheerily, waving enthusiastically. Amary smiled, waving but saying nothing, walking ahead and bobbing her head in time to the cheerful music. As Amary walked past number 18, she noticed the curtains were drawn tightly and a red stain was dripping down the curtains. Amary frowned and rubbed her neck awkwardly. She shook it off. It was probably nothing. Maybe the stain was jam, or tomato sauce? The second strange thing happened before Amary had even passed number 18. The black cat with glowing red eyes crept down the path and its eyes glowed eerily as it looked at Amary. Amary shivered and looked away. When she looked back, the cat was gone. Amary tilted her head, confused. She was sure the cat had been right there... Amary returned to her house, panting and red-faced. She was about to go inside when she heard a door slam. She saw the new neighbour creeping out of her door cautiously and looking around. She turned her head in Amary's direction and Amary quickly ducked behind the door. When Amary peeked out again, the new neighbour was gone. She crept stealthily to number 18 and she saw a whirl of grey disappear behind the side gate of the house. Amary peeked over the gate and saw the lady fiddling with a cape. She put on a pointed witch hat. Amary gasped. Her new neighbour was a witch! Then Amary remembered. She had the welcome tea with the new neighbour!

The hours flew by as I climbed into my bed diving under my covers. BOOM! A blast exploded from my neighbours house. Peering through my bedroom window I discovered silence had reigned throughout the entire street. What was that?! Was it an explosion? A science experiment? I wondered in curiosity. A thought suddenly struck me like thunder. At school, we had a project to mix elements and record what we found out! Realising my silly mistake I drifted off to sleep, pillow closing into my head. DING-A-LING! My alarm clock screamed in my ears as I jumped out of bed ready for a brand new day! Deciding to go over to Winter's house, I dashed down the street as I noticed a peculiar event. The Packpun family had gone out for their daily run (as usual) and had worn their sports clothes (as usual) and were running in a straight line in unison!? That was not normal like every other family who went out for morning runs. The pattern continued nonstop,left ,right ,left ,right ,left ,right. Not a single hair out of line followed by shining clothes glittering in the burning sun. They were neater than Winter and she’s the neatest, most organised, cleanest person I had ever met in my whole 12 years. Realising they’re all just neat freaks, I skipped happily towards Winter's house. Suddenly, an arm reached out to grab me as it yanked me toward their room. “I FOUND SOMETHING TERRIFYING!!!! DURING THE NIGHT YOUR NEW NEIGHBOURS NAKED CAT HAS FUR!” Winter panted. My eyes widened as my jaw fell to the ground. I’d had enough! Racing back home I climbed my tree next to the Packpuns families gate to plan out my actions. Glancing over to their window I discovered the most horrifying sight. The father had turned into a ghost, mother into a witch and the two daughters into witch-ghosts. My heart skipped a beat, a lump had formed into my throat and my breathing became more intense. I had found out their secret at last. “rmrmfhfhfjdkfdj…turn..skfdkfjdisjijeifjdif..every…djkfjdkj…one…skskfsjsl…into….skfjd..toad!” Mrs Packpun murmered. My body froze in fear as it turned as still as a statue. “Turn…djkfjdskakjd…them…skfjdkfjskajkj…into…kfsdjklfdj…ghosts!” Mr Packpun whispered. My hands shook, as sweat dripped down my face. “How about toad ghosts?!” the daughters suggested. It was clear that the Packpun family definitely had plans. Scrambling down the branch of my tree, I leapt into my house. Suddenly, a horrible thought struck me like a bolt of lightning. Mum had informed me of a barbeque lunch with the Packpun family next Saturday! Dipping my face in a sink of water, I sat down on my silky sheets imagining the possible consequences. Gathering the last of my courage I began to plan a way to make sure nobody gets turned into ANYTHING! It was my job to save everyone in Forestville no matter what!

Limping lies The salty air stung my eyes and the sea breeze whipped by hair. People hurried along paveways, their black cloaks like birds desperate to go with the wind. The stagnant air of the museum was stifling and I greeted the fresh air with pleasure. Grey clouds blanketed the sky and a thin fog started to gather. The sea was alive with waves that tossed sea foam onto the sand. I stared at the rickety houses and waved to our neighbours. Iris and Harold were frequent visitors of Addison's Hall of Quirks and Wonders. Iris would often bring us freshly baked goods and Harold would donate us interesting pieces of glass and shells he found at sea. I shook my head trying to get the thought out of my head. Something was happening. I could feel it. I squinted into the thick sea of people and I saw a limping man. A small silver box poked out of his pocket and I knew exactly who he was. Inside the box was a key. A key to the house in front of us. The new tenant had a sharp cane and a proud limp. Everyone in the whole of Sardine harbour knew that to have a limp was nothing to be proud of. You wouldn't be able to work and feed the harbour.This man clearly didn't know his Sardinian ways. Part two Does the new tenant mow his lawn? I do hope so Barbara. They better not get up at five in the morning to mow it though. You are very right Mary. I hope they'll give us fresh jam for our toast! Seriously Anna is that all you care about?! I stared at the gossiping ladies wondering what rumours the were going to spread. I glanced at the old house when I noticed tightly drawn blinds. When the man came out he was wearing old fishermen's clothes. I took a walk by the sea to clear my thoughts. I knew something was up he was secretive and private. Too private. He hadn't spoken to any of our neighbours and he seemed to know his way around already. Part 3 I snuck around the gate in my ragged clothes. I was exposed. Exposed to all the dangers. Calm down. This is an ordinary town. With ordinary houses and a not so ordinary girl. With a spatter of freckles, a mop of brown hair and frost coloured eyes. She was staring at me so I ran. I ran as fast as I could. Darling, can you tell me why the man was behaving ever so strangely? How would I know Barbara. I bet he has some bad business going with the kid. Mary you are being so obnoxious. He is just trying to befriend her. A middle aged man befriending a girl like Adele! No way Anna. I stared behind a prickly bush looking for the hunched figure. I saw a man with the same scar, the same gaunt face and hollow eyes. Except, he had no limp and no cane. That was strange. He was wearing beach clothes and thick sunglasses. Had I made a mistake and intercepted the wrong code? Begonia Lavender 88 Astilbe Water Lily Send me Iris. Daffodil must Chrysanthemum. This was definitely the right person. I quietly headed down the curving road lost in my thoughts. Behind me, I heard a rusty sharp screech. Turning around to hide behind the fence, I saw a thin blade of silver come out from under the man's cane. A glimpse was enough. A thin chuckle escaped from under his breath I listened straining my ears and he said I shall get rid of that girl and no one will know my secret. Next full blood moon. In two weeks, I will have unimaginable power in my hands. Now there was an expiry date on my life. What a great way to add stress to my already growing problems. I will save my community if I defeat him or lose everyone I love to his wrath.

A month later it was October 1st and everyone was eagerly anticipating “The Best Garden in Town” competition. Excitement was building and everyone in Blackbrey had only 5 days to sign-up. The winner would not just get a very shiny trophy, but also a year’s worth of ‘happy sunshine manure’ (Definity sponsored). Interestingly, the winner of this competition for 13 years and still going, was Scarlet. Would she keep her title and garden fresh for another year with Happy Sunshine Manure or would someone else have their garden made happy for the next year? The event was fast approaching, and it was October 5th, 1 day to go until “The Best Garden in Town” competition officially started and the last day to sign up. Already Scarlet, Charly, Mary and nearly the entire town had signed up, except the new neighbour in the windmill and a few others. Later in the day, Scarlet and Mary were curious and trying to see who signed up for the B.G.T (Best Garden in Town Competition). When they were headed into town, Sarah, the towns go to rumour person, revealed the new neighbour, was a nightmare neighbour and in secret was a witch who is trying to escape the police. All of a sudden Mary ask Scarlet “What do you think of all of this hocus-pocus about the newcomer?” “You mean the Miss Nightmare neighbour? Weeeellllll, I believe what you said, it is just some hocus-pocus. I think she is just a tired and old cranky hag who is a bit mad” Scarlet replied honestly. “I wish people will stop calling her that and just ask her what her name is” Mary said. “As if she would keep her door open for long enough for someone to say” Scarlet replied coldly. “Ok then, let’s go up to her house right now! and we ask her for her name and if she wants to join the B.G.T” Mary proposed. “I hope after this, when she does not answer, you will finally take the hint; she doesn’t want anything to do with you” and Scarlet agreed to go. “But after that, we visit Sarah, I need to rub

There was nowhere to hide. Snip. Snip. Snip. The blades came closer, reflecting the bright moonlight. I took a step back only feeling brick wall behind me. It was a dead end. Snip. Snip. Snip. Slowly, the man turned his green goggles at me and stopped abruptly. He peered curiously into my eyes like a fortune teller would. Then he took off his mask. 2 weeks earlier... Autumn arrived without a change. The golden brown leaves crunched beneath my feet as I stood in front of our new house.It was white, ironically reflecting the age of the neighbourhood. A verandah framed the wooden structure of our two story house. A small breeze whipped some leaves onto our doorstep. I crouched down as I suddenly saw a letter on the gate. It was a flyer for a sewing workshop. I picked it up curiously and headed back inside. The shop was not that far from our house. I pinned it onto the fridge secretly hoping that Mum would notice it. A voice called from my bedroom. "Ari! Look there's a new neighbour!" I hurried inside to see my twin sister staring out the window. The house in front of us had been put up for sale for a very long time. I wondered how desperate the agent was to have found such an odd client. The man was old and frail but his wrinkles told times of adventure. I looked at him and racked my brains to where I'd seen that face before. And then I lit up when I recognised him to be the man on the sewing flyer. His arrival was not acknowledged by anyone. It was only when the snipping started did people start to realise. Mrs Beekman lived next door and she was the perfect stereotypical grandma. She was the first person who welcomed us and she left baked muffins at our doorstep. Mrs Beekman was also the first person who was troubled by the snipping noises. They started getting louder through the days and moaning could be heard. I didn't really pay attention to it and many other neighbours swatted it away as well. It was the day of the sewing workshop and I was very excited. My Mum agreed to take me and my sister to it. When we got there, I walked inside and immediately recognised the person in the shop. Sure enough, it was the man who had just moved in. He introduced himself as Mr Hockelm. He seemed to be a flower fanatic because everywhere in his studio were posters and books about the language of flowers. In a corner of the room was a glass box of highly crafted delicate scissors. After Mr Hockelm had finshed explained the embroidery lesson, he went into a room upstairs. Then I heard the snipping again. I got out of my seat and excused myself to the bathroom. I crept up the stairs, the dusty railings making my palms sweaty. When I reached the top of the winding steps, I saw a room filled with a green glow. A deep voice boomed from inside. "Find the girl. I sent you here for a reason!" The figure inside shrunk in shame as the voice continued to talk. "If she is not here by midnight I will dispose of you Hemlock." My heat skipped a beat. Hemlock? letters jumbled in my head as I replaced the letters in my mind. H, O, C, K, E, L, M. Mr Hockelm. I quickly ran back down the stairs when something caught my eye. A small watercolour card was dropped on the step and I reached to pick it up. A green flower was embroidered onto the paper. Underneath read 'Hemlock. A poisonous plant symbolising death'.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I’m turning 13. Mrs White’s planning the party because Dad’s too busy. Dad doesn’t like my friends, so I can’t invite them. I invite the whole apartment block though. I made these beautiful invitations, but Dad said I had to invite everyone in person, so now they are in the bin. I decide to start at the bottom and work my way up. At unit one, old Mrs Arrington greeted me warmly. “Kara, dear, what brings you here so early in the morning?” “Well, my birthday party is tomorrow, and I am her to tell you that your invited.” It took Mrs Arrington a while to figure out what I said, “Of course, yes! I’m coming! What time dear?” “12 o’clock.” Mrs Arrington nodded and went back inside. I then went to unit two, where Sofia lived. But she wasn’t home, so I left a post-it on her door. Then I went to unit four, where Mr Jones lived. He also wasn’t home, so I left another post-it. Then I went to unit six, where Mrs Smith, gave me a box of decorations to put up around the house. “Now, I don’t mind if you want to put them up by yourself or if you want me to help.” “Yes. Um, could you come about half an hour before?” Mrs White nodded. “Thanks!” I said, then turned to face the door of unit five. I took a deep breath then knocked. The girl who answered the door was dressed in an old apron and an ankle-length dress. “Hello?” “Um, Hi. I love your costume, you must be going to a costume party, right?” The girl looked at me in confusion, “Aye, we art going to a costume party. But wherefore art thee here?” “Ummmm. Sorry do you mean why am I here?” The girl nodded, “Aye.” “Oh, well, my birthday party is tomorrow, and I am here to say you and your family are invited.” “Aye, we shall beest there. But our parents has’t work, so they can’t cometh.” “Oh, ok. Well, it’s at twelve o’clock tomorrow.” The girl nodded and went back inside. *** The day of my birthday arrived, and the decorations were finally hung. I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and Dad promised me that he wouldn’t do any work today. Sofia arrived first, bringing with her and huge box wrapped in newspaper. “Happy Birthday Kara!” Miss Arrington came next; she brought out a little box and lay in down on the table. The she wished me a happy birthday. The Mr Jones came. He went straight to my Dad and they began talking about where they thought computers were heading in the future. Then the new neighbours came. They were wearing the same outfits as yesterday. The who greeted me at the door came and said, “Joyous Birthday.” Now that everyone was there, I began opening presents. Sofia’s present was a painting she’d done of me, based off a photo Dad had given her. Mr and Mrs Smith got me a cookbook, full of easy meals I could make by myself. Miss Arrington got me knitting needles so I could knit with her sometimes. After that Mr Jones stood up and said, “My present for Kara is outside.” So we all followed him down the stairs to where a brand new bicycle was waiting. After that it was cake time. Mrs White brought out a beautiful cake from the refrigerator. It was lilac, my favourite colour with my name written in swirly writing on it. “I’ll go grab the candles.” I say, and then I run to my room. I open my bedroom door, then I freeze. In my room were the new neighbours, rummaging through all my things. “What on earth do you think you’re doing!?” I shout. The all look up at me in shock. Frozen to the spot. The smallest looked like she was about to cry. Then the girl who had wished me a “Joyous Birthday” said, “Well, thee seeth, we didn’t get thee a present.” I glared at them, “Tell me the truth.” The girl hesitated. The boy hissed something in her ear. She nodded. “Mine own nameth is Rowena, and that gent is mine own brother Easton, and the young lady is our cousin, Heather. We cometh from the year 1707 and we art running from the International Society of Time Gem Protection, they want this.” The girl said, holding up a locket with the letters K.H. of it. Then the boy stepped in, “Thy family, thee, thy mother, thy grandmother, and so on, have the same initials, K.H. This did belong to a friend of ours, Katie. The lady toldeth us to runneth taketh it far away.” Then the littlest, Heather interrupted, “It’s a timeth gem. An object that has been touch by magic. We had to find Katie's ancestors, and putteth a peice of their soul in it. We wenteth to 1707 and tooketh a paintbrush from a mistress named Katharine, then we wenteth through generations finding things, and now we hath found thee.” Then Rowena said, “But we can’t seem to find Kimberly Hope.” I freeze, “My Mum.” “We has't four days until thy family disappears from history.” *** I had to help them, they were so afraid of this society that would delete a family from history, the family of their best friend. But I hadn’t seen Mum for years, after she and dad got a divorce, I hadn’t ever heard from her, I had no idea where she would be. If we find her, I’ll get to be with my Mum, I’ll get to see her for the first time in 12 years. But if we can’t find her in time. I will lose everything.

CHAPTER THREE “Giddy up, horsy, giddy up!” Cried Jimmy’s disoriented voice from my back. “Get off, Jimmy. Besides, i’m not a horse.” I garbled back at him in a strange voice. “No, but I am! Neeeeiigghh!!” Whinnied Jimmy as he transformed into a black stallion and began galloping around. “Reffreffreffreff!” Barked Jimmy. Hm. That barking sounds just like Poppy. “Reffreffreffreff!” He yipped again as he trampled me with his hooves and licked my face. I woke from my odd dream with a start to find Poppy licking my face. “Ow! Urgh! Eeeek!” I yelped as the little pug bounced around on my head. “Alright, i’m awake! Get off!” I cried as I sat up in bed. Ding dong! Went the doorbell. Poppy immediately jumped off my head and ran to the door. I found her there ripping into a number of newspapers. In a few short seconds she had turned them into confetti. “Rreffreffreffreff!” She barked. As I walked into the kitchen, I realised that I could smell something. It smelt disgusting. It was faint, but it was still strong enough to waft through house. “Hey, Anna.” I said. “What’s that smell? It smells like a public toilet, a dead rat and a garbage bin all rolled into one!” It’s true, it does. Anna sniffed the air. “I dunno. I think its… well, I have no idea. Look, Poppy can definitely smell it.” I looked over at Poppy, who was running in circles, panting and snorting. I went over to the toaster and began toasting some bread. The smell of the toaster muffled the smell somewhat, but didn’t get rid of it completely. Ding dong! Went the doorbell again. Poppy stopped running in circles and ran to the door. When I opened it, Jimmy was standing there. “Yullo!” He chirped. I sighed. “You may come in.” Jimmy bounced into the kitchen, said “Hi!” to Anna, and then stopped in his tracks. “POOH!” He screamed. I winced. My parents wouldn’t appreciate being woken up by somebody screaming ‘pooh’. “What’s that stinking stinky smell?! It smells like a public toilet, a dead rat, a garbage bin and a toaster all rolled into one!” Ker-chunk! Went the toaster, highly offended. “Sorry, toasty.” Said Jimmy. “I’ve no idea. It just appeared this morning.” Said Anna. Dad stumbled into the room. “What’s going on? What’s that smell? Who screamed ‘pooh’? Ari Anderson, if you’ve invited that lunatic Jimmy over again-“ Dad stopped in his tracks, noticing Jimmy over in the corner, patting the toaster, not paying any attention to anything else that was going on in the world. “Jimmy. So great to see you. Having some toast, are you? Good, good.” Said Dad, his voice dripping with honey. As soon as Dad’s back was turned, Jimmy bugged out his eyes, stuck out his tongue and leered at him. The rest of the day seemed pretty normal after that. Me and Jimmy got out of the house to avoid the smell, did a bit of drawing. “Hey, Ari.” Said Jimmy as we were walking home. “Do you have new neighbours?” I paused. “Um…No. Not that I know of.” “Well, I’m pretty sure you do now.” He said, pointing to 2 people unloading boxes from a van and hauling them into a house. CHAPTER FOUR “Hi!” I chirped to one of the new neighbours. She glanced up sharply, as if expecting a tiger to jump onto her, and then relaxed. “H-hi boys. Me and my husband Adam are moving into that house over there.” She pointed over to the house next to mine. “We are going to have a party tonight. Maybe a welcome to the neighbourhood party. We might invite you. Now, i’m sorry I can’t talk now, but i’m very busy unloading these boxes. See you!” She hobbled into the house. “Um… I thought the other people threw you a welcome party, not yourself.” Mused Jimmy. “You’re right, actually. You can’t welcome yourself to somewhere you’ve never been. Odd, but it was probably just a mistake.” I said. “And why did she say, we might invite us? We’re her closest neighbours! Or at least you are.” I stayed silent, pondering. “And it was funny how she didn’t tell us her name.” Said Jimmy once the woman had left. He gasped. “Maybe… maybe she’s a wanted criminal on the run and she can’t reveal her name because then she’d be caught!” I rolled my eyes. “Then why would she reveal her husband’s name?” Jimmy though for a moment, and then gasped twice. “Maybe it’s only herq who’s on the the run! Maybe the husbands done nothing!” Jimmy attempted to gasp three times, but he ran out of lung space and began coughing like a smoker. While Jimmy was writhing around choking on his own throat, I slipped back inside my own house, and was met by that familiar odour again. I told Mum about our odd new neighbours. “Hm. They’re probably just nervous from being in a new neighbourhood. And they’re probably just a bit rushed. And maybe the party were just with a few people they already knew.” Explained Mum. I looked out the window. It was dark, and a small crowd of people were streaming into the small house. “Wow.” I said. “That’s a lot of people for such a small house.” We all sat in silence at the dinner table. There wasn’t much point in talking, because the stink was still hanging around and the party next door was absolutely deafening. Suddenly the music cranked up even louder. The windows shuddered, and we all clapped our hands over our ears. “Geez!” Yelled Anna over the wall of noise, “If it’s this loud in here, imagine what it would be like in there!” “What? I can’t hear you, i’ve got my fingers in my ears!” The stink then got really, really bad, and I swear I could hear angry bellows and screaming and some sort of crunching noise. Finally, the music died down, and we all blew out in relief. “Cripes, did you hear that?” Yelped Anna. “OF COURSE I HEARD IT, OTHERWISE I WOULDN’T BE STICKING MY FINGERS IN MY EARS!!!” “No, not the music, Ari, the screaming! And that weird crunching noise!” She paused to sniff. “And how the stink just got ten times worse!” “But…You can’t hear smells!” Anna put her head in her hands. I smirked. “But yes, I did hear the noises, and smell the smell.” I said. “What were they, Dad?” Asked Anna. “Errr… Well… Maybe the, um, screams were screams because the music was too loud, and the crunching might have been the boombox or whatever was making that horrible noise malfunctioning. “And the smell… well…search me.” I nodded slowly. He was probably right. “I’m just surprised they aren’t streaming out of the house now. I doubt anyone would stay after something like that happened.” Mused Mum. “And it’s so quiet!” After dinner, me and Anna decided to find out where that godawful smell was coming from. We wandered around the house for a while, and found nothing. “Well, we’ve checked the bedrooms, the lounge room, and the kitchen. Where else could we look?” I asked finally. “AACKASplashoooo!” Sneezed Anna, who was covered in dust from crawling under the bed. “Well, we haven’t looked in the basement yet…” We looked at eachother. We both fully knew that the basement was out of bounds. We would get in big trouble. Anna sighed. “Come on.” She said. The basement would remind an onlooker of a very, very small, completely empty underground carpark. Smooth, grey concrete, cobwebs and boxes were the main focus in here. Except for the stink. “Urggh.” Shuddered Anna. “De smell is devinidly gumming from hee!” I whined in a high pitched voice with my hand over my nose. The smell seemed to be strongest coming from a wall. “Look!” I said, pointing at the wall. Anna raised an eyebrow. I sighed. “Smell! De smell is de stongest here!” “Wait…” Said Anna, putting hear ear up to the wall. “Dad’s your ear, Anna.” “I know id’s my ear! Dust Shud ub vor a seg!” Said Anna, with her nose pinched. I listened closely too. Strange slurping noises were coming from behind the wall, like someone was eating very messily. Me and Anna stared at eachother in horror. “What the heck is that?” I squeaked, forgetting about the smell and unblocking my nose. The stink surged into my nose holes, making me cough and splutter. “Huuuh?” Boomed someone, or even something, with an incredibly deep, otherworldly voice. “Eees thaat youuu, youuu eedeeiitt hyooooo-muun?” Anna and I ran, trampling eachother trying to get away from what ever that thing was. We ran through the house, banging and crashing into things. The rumbling of the creature or whatever it was was deafening, or was it just our own stomping footfalls? Eventually, we stopped, our heads hurting, our legs aching and our lungs completely empty of oxygen. “Thank, huff, g, huff, god, I think we huff, puff, lost it.” I panted. “Hey kids!” Said the perky voice of Dad. “We just got an invitation from our new neighbours. We are invited to their next party!” I was confused. “The next one? They’ve already HAD one!” Dad shrugged and handed me the invitation. ___________________________________________________________ Dear Resident, it said. You have been invited to our next house party! Come over on the 29th of January and feast with us! Signed, Your new neighbours. ____________________________________________________________ Anna raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t they bother to learn our names? Why didn’t they say their names?” We looked at eachother and thought. About the stink. About the people going in and not coming out. About the screaming and crunching noises. About the funny voice. And we realised. “They’re hiding a monster in the basement.” Whispered Anna. “And they’re inviting people in to get eaten.” I completed.

Task 1. Adhalia woke up one night to the sound of banging, most likely on a wall. It was quite a loud sound and also one quite hard to ignore. There was also the sound of… a sewing machine? Adhalia recognised that sound from when she did sewing classes when she was ten and her teacher always used this old vintage sewing machine that would always break down but she insisted on using it. She was ultimately confused about what she was hearing but she was also half asleep and couldn’t really make sense of anything. So, she went back to sleep without a second thought. Two nights later, she saw that new neighbour, she had never seen him before, only heard him talk which was barely anything, and wasn’t even English, she didn’t think. But it was late at night where the only light was the bright crescent moon up in the sky. The man seemed to be carrying a heavy bag, the bag looked, from what Adhalia could tell (which was mostly nothing), lumpy, it looked to have lots of curves in it. But she didn’t think anything of it, all she was thinking about was what she was going to have for breakfast the next morning. Task 2. Adhalia was driving home from seeing her mother, she was in hospital with a brain injury which made her very sad but Adhalia had faith that her mother would get through it. The sky was now a dark purple and everyone was now in their homes, safe and sound. As she was driving past Boronia St, she saw someone inside of Denny’s house. Denny was a good friend of Adhalia’s and had been for as long as she had lived in the area. She would always buy flowers for her mum, Helen, at Adhalia’s florist. Denny had told her that she was going to go on holiday with her two sons for the next two weeks only three days ago, she couldn’t be back now. And that definitely wasn’t Denny, Denny did not look like that. Adhalia decided to stop at the next connecting street. She unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of her Mazda into the fresh cool air of the evening breeze. I’m overthinking this. I’m crazy! That’s probably just her dad or her third son. Adhalia’s head was consumed with thoughts surrounding her mind like wildfire in a forest. But Adhalia wasn’t going to risk that, if that was a criminal, she couldn’t just let them steal all her precious belongings. She peeked over around the corner of the street where she could get a clear view of Denny’s front garden. She walked a bit further so that she could see through the windows of her house. There was definitely someone in there and that was definitely not Denny. There was a burglar in her house! Someone was grabbing her stuff and putting them into garbage bags. Adhalia was trying to inspect this criminal so that she could describe them to the authorities when she would turn him in, but then Adhalia realised… She knew this person! The person who was inside her house was Adhalia’s new neighbour, the creepy man who allegedly couldn’t speak English! Her whole body was in shock. She was still staring at him, trying to make sense of all this new knowledge. As Adhalia’s mind came back into focus, she saw the man staring straight back at her! Adhalia froze in fright, she felt like she had no more control over her own body. Oh no no no. Why did I even get out of my car! What have I done, I shouldn’t have gotten into this. She thought, petrified. They both stared at each other for a while as the man realised who she was. As soon as Adhalia felt like she had any control, she sprinted straight back to her car, got in, turned the car on and drove home as fast as she could. Task 3. Oh no. What have I done! Adhalia thought rapidly as she drove home. She was still in shock after what just happened. What was she going to do? She had never gone to the police about anything and she certainly had never been confronted by a police officer. Now he knows that I know that he is a CRIMINAL! Adhalia thought again. What if she bumped into him somewhere! At this moment, she felt more scared than she ever had before. “Okay, I need to go to a police station.” Adhalia said to herself. “But I don’t have any evidence to prove it!” She continued to say to herself again. She was now frustrated and annoyed. “He is my neighbour, how am I supposed to avoid him? Ugh!” Adhalia shouted. For all Adhalia knew, she could be wound up dead by the end of this week! Task 4. There is no real time limit, Adhalia just doesn’t have a lot of it.

Maya was shaking all over. Her knees felt weak, her stomach doing somersaults and she could hear her heart beating so fast it was hard to breathe. A teacher she didn't recognise lined all the students at the front. He was smiling. Was he enjoying the dread and horror on the students' faces? Then slowly, one by one, he began to welcome children inside the examination hall. The exam was about to begin. She answered the best she could, hoping, praying that she would get a good mark in the exam. She was almost finished and that's when she saw something, or rather someone, outside the window. It was Matt. The new neighbour's son. He was running, sprinting towards Kiss and Drop. She was instantly intrigued. She finished the last few questions of the exam and then excused herself to the bathroom. Except instead of going to the bathroom, she followed Matt. She ran after him and spotted him climbing inside his car. His whole family were there and they looked as if they were going on vacation. "MATT! You can't leave right now, are you insane? It's your yearly exam!" She screamed at him but all he did was smile and wave. With a sigh she gave up trying to stop him and dragged herself back to the examination hall. 'Well he's the one who's gonna fail.' she thought bitterly, wishing she got to escape to Hawaii or wherever the hell he was going. Next week, Matt's family returned, with souvenirs from Hawaii and a present for Maya, Diana and Haley's families. "You're saying they got us soap?" Maya asked her dad, raising an eyebrow. "Well, yes it may not be the best gift but it's better than what you got for Christmas!" He patted her on the back and went back to making dinner. He was right, it was better than what she got for Christmas. She accidentally got a pair of used boxers from her grandad who thought they were scrunchies. She got up from the chair and got a bowl from the cabinet drawer and a fork. Noodles for dinner, her dad's specialty. Really it was just Ramen with some 'secret' ingredient but she had to admit it was pretty tasty. She could hear police sirens from a distance. She groaned for the third time today. Ever since they got back from Hawaii, police sirens constantly surrounded their street. She was walking the dog once and she looked up and saw a sea of blue, a swarm of police cars rushing by her. What was most irritating is that she wasn't able to sleep with the noise and went to school half-asleep, barely focusing on what her geography teacher was babbling about. And worst of all, Matt's younger brother Tim would scream in the middle of the night, waking up from the same nightmare. He would shout for all to hear "THE POLICE! The police are coming to take us away!" She was sick of it. She climbed into bed after dinner, not bothering to brush her teeth. She was too tired. The police sirens were so irritating and then Tim screamed again. She checked the time on her phone and angrily stormed out of her bedroom. It was one o'clock in the night and she couldn't take it. Grabbing her slippers she marched towards Matt's house, still in her pyjamas. She swung the door open, stomped up the stairs and into Tim's bedroom and froze. The whole family was leaning over a safe. And not just any safe; it contained her brother's iPhone, her teacher's missing Rolex, Diana's 'priceless' earrings and Harley's famous gold necklace and so much more. "I can explain!" spluttered Matt's dad. "I promise you I'm not a thief!" he protested, holding his hands above his head as if Maya was a cop. "Explain then!" Maya asked, clearly shocked. "Your family, I mean everyone in this town, did-” “Shhh!” His wife slapped his hand to silence him. “We found them and thought we’d return them and that’s why they’re here.” said his wife, being a little bit aggressive, shoved the iPad into Maya’s hand. Something was clearly off. She had to find out why they were stealing from their own neighbourhood before the police found out. She barely had two days before the police started investigating Matt’s family. She felt weird. Almost as if she wasn’t angry at them for stealing. Almost as if she felt pity for them. But why? She shook it off and walked back, slowly, to her house.

The next few days, Mr Evans was seen all around the place. He was talking with the neighbours for a few minutes, then moving off again. He was seen dusting the avenue with a broom. The neighbours thought he was just a bit mental (which wasn’t actually really strange. Number 2 had a demented cat.). He was also seen mowing his lawn with a scythe. One day, Leena opened her eyes, and yawned. She picked up her daggers, went down the stairs, grabbed a roll, and walked out of the door. Leena walked across the street, and knocked on the door of Bill’s house. Bill answered the door. ‘You’re just in time for my invention!’ Bill said. He dragged Leena up 3 flights of stairs, and they went into Bill’s room. Bill’s room was a comfy room, if you ignored the scorch marks on almost every available surface. Bill ran to the centre of the room, and picked up a weird contraption thing. ‘I think I’ve finally got it made,’ he said excitedly. ‘A contraption that can fry eggs!’ he brought a frying pan out, and put it on the thing. He then pressed a button, and put an egg in a slot. The machine lit a fire underneath the pan, and rolled the egg on the pan. The egg smashed, leaving shell all over the pan. A claw picked the egg shell pieces out. Some egg white dripped into the egg fryer. The machine stopped, and made a sputtering sound. ‘Duck!’ Bill yelled, and they both ran into the cupboard, Bill grabbing Fluffles, the fluffy white cat. There was a loud explosion. Bill peered around the door, grabbed his water bottle, and poured water on the fire. It fizzled, and went out. ‘Phew,’ Bill said. ‘Well, that’s definitely a failure.’ ‘Yup,’ Leena said. ‘Well,’ Bill said, ‘what about that Mr Evans?’ ‘Mr Evans?’ Leena said. ‘Is that the name of the guy we saw with the Barry’s best dog food truck?’ ‘Yeah,’ Bill said. ‘My mum invited him over for dinner last night. He was really nervous. It was as if he had never really been around people before. In the end he left early.’ ‘Weird,’ Leena said. ‘Anyway, can you help me erect the target board? I’ve just finished painting it.’ ‘Alright,’ Bill said. ‘Let me just…’ he grabbed a box of donuts that had miraculously survived the egg fryer’s explosion, and pulled one out, along with some cat food for Fluffles. Then, they went outside. Leena went inside her house and grabbed the target board. She rolled it down the steps, being careful not to make any noise. Her mum and dad were still sleeping. Leena brought the target board, and saw Bill waiting with a bottle of his home-made super glue, and Fluffles in his arms. The super-glue was made with a combination of different super-glues, and hardened in a minute after being squirted out. Leena took the bottle from Bill. ‘Hold this up for me, will you?’ she said. Bill lifted the circular board up, and Leena glued the back of it to the tree. They both crept up the stairs, and up into Leena’s room. Bill settled himself down on a bean bag, while Leena opened the window, and stared down at the target board. She took careful aim, and threw. It thunked into the target board. Just then, Mr Evans came out of his house. Leena threw another dagger. It thudded next to the first one. Mr Evans walked over to Leena’s house, and stared up at the window. ‘Hey!’ he called up. ‘What are you doing? You could kill yourself with those things!’ Leena leant out of the window. ‘I’ve done this before Mr Evans!’ she shouted back. ‘Don’t worry!’ just then, a bird landed on the window sill. Fluffles leapt for the window, and knocked Leena’s hand. The dagger slipped, and fell directly into Mr Evans’s leg! ‘Oh my!’ Leena exclaimed. She ran down the stairs, with Bill who had seen it as well. ‘Are you all right, Mr Evans?’ she asked. ‘Yes, quite all right,’ he said, inspecting the wound with interest. He pulled the dagger out of his leg. ‘I’ll be fine.’ ‘Aren’t you hurt?’ Bill asked, worriedly. ‘Hurt?’ the Mr Evans asked. ‘Oh yeah, hurt!’ he hurriedly made a few pained noises, and clutched at his leg. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’ll be off then.’ Then, he walked off with an obviously fake limp. ‘What was that about?’ Bill asked. ‘I have no idea,’ Leena said. She knew that there was something strange about that man. And she was going to find out what it was. Chapter 3 ‘What,’ Bill asked for the 50th time, ‘are we doing here again?’ ‘Gathering critical info on the suspect,’ Leena said. ‘And why,’ Bill said, ‘does that involve my binoculars?’ The two friends were crouching underneath Mr Evans’ window, and Leena was staring through the window with Bill’s binoculars. The curtains were opened, and Leena could see a dusty living room, and an even dustier staircase, with the dustiest coat on the dustiest coat hanger she had ever seen. The smell of lemons wafted out as usual, and there was a cornflake packet on the table. But Leena noticed something else. ‘There’s a large painting on the wall!’ she whisper-exclaimed, ignoring Bills grumbles of, ‘You could have just asked for the binoculars,’ ‘it says 100 A.D!’ ‘Who cares?’ Bill said, as his stomach gurgled. ‘Say, do you want to go and get a donut? Or 10?’ ‘This painting could be a clue!’ Leena said. ‘My stomach is giving me a clue,’ Bill said, as his belly gave another gurgle. ‘It says that I want a donut.’ ‘Be quiet about your…Oh!’ Leena dived for cover behind a bush, dragging Bill with her. She peeked over the windowsill again. ‘Mr Evans has come back in!’ Mr Evans walked into the living room, and sat on the chair, letting out a large puff of dust. He poured some cornflakes for himself, and began eating. 2 hours later, Bill had gone and got some donuts, and had eaten a few, and Leena was beginning to doze off, when she was jolted awake by the noise of a scraping chair. Mr Evans had gotten up, and was walking out of the door! ‘Come on!’ Leena hissed to Bill, but Bill was finishing his 4th donut and wouldn’t move an inch. ‘O U Ithut E,’ he said through a mouthful of donut. Leena stood up, and crouched behind the bush as Mr Evans came out of his house. He stretched, yawned, and walked off. Leena followed him. Mr Evans walked down the street, past the chickens in sunglasses having a pool party, past the big number 1 of a house, and walked straight across the corresponding road. He walked into the park, and soon swept into the forest. Leena crept behind him. Soon, Mr Evans reached the centre of the forest. He sat, and took a deep breath in. ‘Soon,’ he said, but his voice wasn’t his voice. It was rasping, low, and menacing. ‘Soon, I will conquer the world. I will destroy this pitiful place once and for all. I can wait. I have waited 1000 years, and I can wait. I must wait for next Saturday. Then, I can strike. The whole world will soon know the name of Viggo Armagno, destroyer of worlds, conqueror of cities, enslaver of galaxies. The whole world will soon know the name, of Viggo Armagno, the immortal.