by Andy Coltart
‘This is a beautiful home,’ said Mrs Johnson. ‘Isn’t it, Casey?’
‘Erm, yes Mum it is,’ replied Casey. She didn’t let on that she felt at home or knew were everything was.
‘Well thank you, Mrs Johnson,’ said Alex’s father. ‘Come this way, Alex is in the kitchen,’ he added.
Just as Alex had finished making drinks, the doorbell went again.
‘I’ll get it,’ said Casey, not thinking. She was keen to see Riley again. Her mum grabbed her arm.
‘Best let Mr Manning get it, it is his home,’ she said.
‘Oh yeah,’ said Casey going slightly red. Alex’s dad returned to the kitchen with Riley.
‘Is your mum not here?’ said Mrs Johnson.
‘No, she’s taking the twins to their tumble class,’ said Riley.
‘Well in that case I’ll leave you kids to it. Just give me a call when you’ve had enough of them,’ she said to Alex’s father.
‘Will do,’ he replied. With that she left.
Chapter 18
A New Power
‘Come on you two, let me show you my room,’ said Alex, knowing full well they’d seen it just days before. The three of them climbed the stairs and went into his room. The girls sat themselves down next to each other on the end of Alex’s bed. Alex pulled the chair from his desk and sat in that.
‘So,’ he said, looking at Riley, ‘tell us more about controlling your invisibility.’
‘I’m not sure what else I can tell you,’ she replied. ‘Have you tried it again since we spoke?’ asked Casey.
‘No,’ said Riley, ‘I decided to give my brain a rest.’ The others laughed.
‘What!’ said Riley, sounding annoyed. ‘Well how would you describe it then!’
‘Sorry,’ said Alex, ‘you’re right, rest is the best word for it.’
‘Have you two tried to go invisible since we spoke?’ asked Riley.
‘I have,’ said Casey. ‘It’s not worked though.’
‘What happens?’ asked Riley.
‘I just get dizzy and fall over,’ said Casey.
‘How about you, Alex?’ asked Riley.
‘No, I’ve not tried since last night,’ he replied.
‘Can you show us again?’ asked Casey.
‘Okay,’ said Riley standing up. She found some space and started to spin around and around. Suddenly she got a burning sensation in her brain. She clutched her hands to her head and lost her balance, falling on top of Casey on the bed.
Casey lay flat on her back with Riley on top of her still clutching her head.
‘Some help please, Alex,’ said Casey. Alex had already jumped up when Riley fell over and was now helping Casey to move Riley onto the bed. Casey sat up and looked at Alex. ‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘No problem,’ said Alex. They both looked at Riley, who was now sitting up.
‘Look,’ said Casey, pointing at Riley’s hands. They all looked to see her hands shimmering. They knew this meant it had worked.
‘Wow,’ said Casey, hugging Riley, ‘you’ve done it again!’
‘I want to test it out as I know you guys can see me when I’m invisible,’ said Riley.
‘Okay,’ said Alex, ‘I have a mission for you.’
‘Sounds fun, go on,’ said Riley.
‘Well,’ said Alex, ‘my father will be in the kitchen. I want you to go in there and get the biscuit tin and bring it back without him knowing.’
‘You’re on!’ said Riley. She got up from the bed and opened the bedroom door. The others followed as far as the stairs then waited as Riley crept down them and out of view.
Once she entered the kitchen she noticed Mr Manning sat at the table in the middle of the room working on his laptop computer. She walked right past him without him noticing. She reached for the biscuit tin making sure not to scrape it on the worktop. Once it was inside her invisibility field the tin vanished. She was then able to creep out of the kitchen and back up the stairs unnoticed. Back in the room the others were excited to see her return with the biscuits.
‘Yay, you did it!’ said Casey, grabbing the tin and taking off the lid.
‘Nice one,’ said Alex as he also took a biscuit from the tin.
‘So what’s the plan now?’ said Riley, helping herself to a biscuit.
‘Let’s go into town,’ said Casey.
‘Do you think your dad will let us?’ asked Riley.
‘He will probably want to take us and pick us up because of my eyes,’ said Alex.
‘I’ll need to be visible again if we are going to get a lift,’ said Riley. The others gave Riley some room to spin and were ready to help her when the brain burn came. A minute or so after the burn Riley was up on her feet and visible again.
The three of them made their way downstairs to the kitchen. Alex’s father was still sat at his laptop.
‘Hi, everything okay?’ he said as they walked in.
‘Yeah, fine thanks, Dad,’ said Alex. ‘We were wondering if we could go to town for a few hours this afternoon,’ he continued.
‘I don’t see why not as long as the girls stay with you. Until the hospital decide what they’re going to do with your eyes you need some help,’ said Mr Manning.
‘We will look after him,’ said Riley.
‘Very well,’ said Mr Manning, ‘I’ll drop you off and pick you up later, if that’s okay.’
‘Thanks Dad, that’s great,’ said Alex.
Half an hour later they were all getting out of Mr Manning’s Mercedes at the local shopping mall.
‘I’ll pick you up from here in three hours’ time,’ said Mr Manning.
‘Okay, Dad,’ said Alex. The three of them headed off towards the shops arm in arm with Alex in the middle.
‘So where to first?’ said Alex.
‘Clothes shops,’ said the girls together, laughing.
‘Why did I ask?’ said Alex. ‘Come on then, clothes shops it is.’
They entered the mall and went to a large store selling various fashion lines.
‘You okay if Riley and I try a few things on?’ asked Casey.
‘Yeah, go ahead,’ said Alex. He found a chair to sit on near the changing rooms, while the girls went through the racks pulling off items they wanted to try on. After about twenty minutes they came to where he was sat.
‘We’re just gonna try these on and we’ll be back,’ said Casey.
‘Okay,’ said Alex, sounding slightly bored at this point. The girls went through to the changing area.
‘This one,’ said Casey pulling Riley’s arm towards a large cubicle.
‘What, together?’ said Riley.
‘Yeah,’ said Casey. ‘We can help each other and comment on the outfits too.’
‘Oh, okay,’ said Riley following her in. Casey drew the curtain and hung up her outfits. Riley did the same.
They’ve been in there for ages, thought Alex. Suddenly the two girls emerged. Alex got up.
‘We’re done,’ said Riley.
‘Oh, thank heavens,’ said Alex. ‘I seriously thought I was going to spend the rest of my life sat on that chair!’
‘Very funny,’ said Casey.
‘Did you decide on anything?’ asked Alex.
‘Yeah, we both decided on these,’ said Riley, holding up some crop tops.
‘Great, let’s go pay for them and find a cafe,’ said Alex.
‘Sounds good,’ said Casey.
They left the store with the girls carrying bags containing their new clothes. They each took hold of one of Alex’s arms to guide him to a cafe. They decided to cross the car park to the stores opposite as the cafes were all in those buildings. They were about half way across when suddenly a car came at them at speed. They had no time to move, no time to get out of the car’s way. It was almost upon them when Riley, who was closest, simply put her arm out with the palm of her hand facing the car. At that moment the strangest thing happened. A pulse of energy seemed to come from her hand. It hit the car square on
, slowing it down enough for them to get clear. The driver didn’t seem to notice what had happened but Casey and Alex saw everything.
As they stepped clear and the car went past, Casey said, ‘What on earth just happened?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Riley staring at her hand.
‘That was the weirdest thing to happen to us so far!’ said Alex.
‘Yeah it was,’ said Casey, ‘but the coolest too!’
‘Let’s get to the cafe,’ said Riley. ‘I need a drink!’
They entered the mall and could see several stores ahead of them.
‘Here, let’s try this one,’ said Riley as they walked past a diner set out in 1950s style.
‘Fine by me,’ said Alex, who was feeling a little shaken from the car incident, but hadn’t said so. They went inside and found a table with a view out into the mall. From there they could watch people going by. Casey and Riley sat opposite each other by the window and Alex next to Casey.
‘Let me see your hand,’ said Casey.
Riley put her right hand on the table and Casey took hold of it. Casey ran her fingers over the palm and looked closely.
‘See anything?’ said Alex.
‘No, and I guess I wasn’t going to but I thought I should look,’ said Casey.
Riley smiled. ‘Any excuse to hold my hand,’ she said laughing.
Casey blushed. Fortunately for her a waitress stopped the conversation by asking if they’d like a drink. They all grabbed a menu and had a quick look while the waitress found a clean page in her book to write the order on.
‘Can I have a strawberry milkshake?’ said Casey.
‘Same for me,’ said Riley.
‘I’ll have a coffee, thanks,’ said Alex.
‘Anything to eat?’ she said.
‘Maybe later,’ said Alex, handing the menus to the waitress. Wanting to avoid any further discussion on the subject of holding hands Casey quickly spoke up.
‘So what happened in the car park?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Riley.
‘It looked like a burst of energy pushing the car back and slowing it down,’ said Alex.
‘Yeah that car should have hit us,’ said Casey. ‘How did you know to do that?’
‘I didn’t and to be honest I don’t know why I put my hand out. It’s not like that would have stopped the car if the energy burst hadn’t appeared.’
‘I guess in difficult situations instincts just kick in,’ said Alex.
‘Well I for one am grateful for Riley’s new power,’ said Casey.
‘You make me sound like a super hero,’ said Riley. ‘Well, you are to us,’ said Alex. ‘That car could have killed us.’
Riley smiled. ‘I’m just glad we are all okay,’ she said.
Chapter 19
A Major Threat
The waitress came back carrying a tray of drinks.
‘Here we are,’ she said. ‘One coffee and two milkshakes.’ She placed them on the table and everyone reached over to take hold of their own drink. As they sat drinking their drinks they talked about this new ability Riley had shown.
‘Perhaps we should test it out,’ said Alex.
‘Yeah, if I can push a car with it then I could maybe move something bigger,’ said Riley.
‘The main thing is being able to control it like you do the invisibility,’ said Casey.
‘That’s true,’ said Alex, ‘or you might hurt someone with this new power.’
‘Excuse me a minute, will you,’ said Riley. ‘I’m just gonna use the bathroom.’
She got up from the table and went towards the toilets. She walked past a table at the end of the cafe with three really dodgy looking guys sat at it. As she passed she heard one say ‘So you gonna kill him or what?’ She knew better than to make eye contact so carried on to the loo as if she’d heard nothing.
Alex and Casey were talking at their table.
‘So you really like Riley then,’ said Alex. Casey, looked awkward.
‘Erm yeah I guess I do,’ she said.
‘Are you going to say anything to her?’ asked Alex.
‘I don’t know,’ said Casey. ‘I’ve never felt this way before so I need some time. Please don’t say anything, will you!’
‘Of course I won’t. If you need to talk I’m here that’s all,’ said Alex.
‘Thanks,’ said Casey looking more relaxed again.
Riley was washing her hands after using the toilet and was still thinking about what the dodgy guys had been saying. I know, she thought to herself, I’ll turn invisible and sit nearby and learn more. So after drying her hands she stood in the middle of the room and started to spin. Round and round she went until the brain burn started. Knowing she’d fall over she grabbed a sink with one hand and leant over it. She managed to stay on her feet until the burn past.
Making her way back into the cafe she went over and sat at the same table as the three dodgy guys. Alex and Casey saw what she was doing.
‘What’s she up to?’ said Casey.
‘I have no idea. I can’t tell if she’s made herself invisible from here so I think we should stay put until she comes to us,’ said Alex. So they sat and watched as Riley listened to the conversation.
‘So how’s this gonna work?’ said one of the guys.
‘Well, Vince,’ said another, ‘we will need to get to Washington DC for starters.’
‘Don’t use my name, Joe!’ said Vince.
‘Give it a rest, bud, there’s no one here!’ The other guy, whose name was Sam, interrupted, ‘Yeah, getting to Washington is the easy bit, but how we gonna get to the President?’
Riley looked at him with shock on her face. These men were plotting an assassination. She wanted to get up and go back to her friends but knew she had to stay and learn more.
‘If we can get tour passes to the White House we can get in that way,’ said Joe.
‘That place is crawling with Secret Service though,’ said Vince. ‘You’ll never get close.’
‘There is the added issue of taking a gun in through the front door,’ added Sam.
‘I’ve got that covered,’ said Joe. ‘I’ve got someone on the inside. He’s a cleaner and he’s gonna get a gun in through the laundry delivery and place it hidden on the tour route for us to find.’
‘Excellent,’ said Sam.
‘So, when we gonna do this?’ said Vince.
‘Next Saturday,’ said Joe. ‘The President is at the White House all weekend as there’s an African delegation in town or something like that.’
‘I’m still not convinced this will work,’ said Vince. ‘We’ve got no way of getting to the President.’
‘We have, though!’ said Joe. ‘If we get on the first tour we will be there when the President does a public press conference to announce his new African Initiative.’
‘The African what?’ said Vince.
‘Never mind that,’ said Sam, ‘is your contact gonna be able to place the gun that morning coz the Secret Service will find it if it’s there more than an hour or so.’
‘It’s all handled,’ said Joe.
Riley couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She sat still and quiet, taking it all in.
‘One last big worry,’ said Vince.
‘What now?’ said Sam.
‘How are we getting outta there after the deed is done?’
‘Good question,’ said Sam, looking back at Joe.
‘All sorted, lads,’ said Joe. ‘As soon as the shot is fired one of you will set off the fire alarm. In the chaos we can just walk out with all the other tourists!’
‘Nice one,’ said Vince giving Joe a high five.
Riley decided now was the time to get away from these dodgy characters. She quietly got up from the table and then walked with some pace back to Alex and Casey.
‘What have you been doing?’ said Alex. He looked at her hands, they were shimmering. ‘You’re invisible, aren’t you?’ he asked.
‘Yeah I am,’ said Rile
y, her voice shaking.
‘You okay, hun?’ said Casey. Alex looked at Casey and raised his eyebrows. Casey frowned at him and said, ‘Look, she’s shaking!’ Casey got out of her seat and slid under the table popping up next to Riley and putting her arm round her.
‘What’s happened?’ she said, rubbing Riley’s back gently.
Riley took a deep breath and started to talk. She explained what she’d overheard on the way to the washroom and why she’d changed to be invisible. She then told her friends the entire plan the gang had been talking about. Alex and Casey just sat there in stunned silence.
‘Say something!’ said Riley.
‘Wow,’ said Casey.
‘Wow indeed,’ added Alex.
‘Is that it?’ said Riley.
‘No, of course not,’ said Alex. ‘We just need to think seriously what we do about this.’
Both the girls stared across the table at him.
‘What do you mean what WE do about this?’ said Casey.
‘Can’t we just tell the police?’ said Riley.
‘Tell them what?’ said Alex. ‘Our invisible friend heard a gang plotting to assassinate the President! We’d be the ones they’d lock up!’
‘Yeah, good point,’ said Riley.
The waitress came over to the table. ‘Hi, would you like more drinks or some food?’ she said. Alex looked at the girls.
‘No food,’ said Riley. ‘I couldn’t eat right now.’
‘Same again with the drinks please,’ said Alex.
As the waitress walked away Casey asked, ‘Just exactly what have you got in mind, Alex?’
‘Think about it,’ said Alex. ‘We know where, when and how this assassination is going to take place and we have Riley with her powers of invisibility and the energy pulse.’
‘So you want to send Riley to stop the President’s assassination?’ said Casey, sounding very defensive.
‘Why not?’ said Riley.
Casey looked at her, really surprised to see her speak so confidently about something so dangerous.
‘Look, we’d have to prepare properly for this. We couldn’t just send her off right now,’ said Alex.
‘I’d hope not!’ said Riley winking at him.
