The Omega Children - The Return of the Marauders (A young adult fiction best seller): An Action Adventure Mystery

by Shane Mason

  ‘Real smart Ari,’ Melaleuca said.

  Quixote lay on the ground, laughing while a fascinated Ari stared at the pistol.

  Lexington shook her head. ‘We have to be smart about this.’

  ‘Yes,’ Melaleuca said standing up. ‘Okay guys. Stop. Time to pause. We need to think about this before we alert the entire mansion that we have found these.’

  ‘Sorry guys. I guess I just got carried away,’ Ari said.

  ‘Back to the attic,’ Melaleuca said in a tone that meant no arguing.

  Back at the attic they found another note. It read:

  ‘Well done. Your parents will be pleased. The danger is over. All will be explained shortly. For the time being, please be yourselves and play and explore the new found bracelets and the costumes. If you let your imaginations run away with you, pleasant surprises are in store for you.

  Ps - best not tell that Aunty and Uncle of yours about this and try not to let anyone else see.’

  ***

  Quesob stood before Daquan’s door and grabbed the handle, turning it with a vicious twist and pushed on it. Not budging, he could see that it had been sealed up tight around the edges.

  ‘That damn doctor.’

  The light-swallowing bracelet was too important to let the door stop him. He left in a hurry and returned with a large axe and a sledgehammer. He swung them at the door, smashing, hacking and whacking his way through the solid old timber – only stopping when he had chopped a gap big enough to squeeze through.

  Flaccid daylight beamed through the slits in the thick curtains and shadows from all the toys fell on the childish wallpaper. Daquan lay on his small child’s bed, his arms and legs flopping over the side, clad still in nappies and snoring loudly. Quesob threw the curtain open, lighting up the room. Pinned all around the walls, drawings done by a child faced him with the name ‘Nap Retep’ scrawled on them.

  A strange looking helmet with flashing lights, dials and tiny oscillators attached to it, covered Daquan’s entire head, giving off an ominous hum. A purple visor covered his eyes and inside lights flickered on and off and changed colours, and faint voices and the sound of children playing emanated from it. With electronic devices banned in New Wakefield, Quesob fumed, wondering what the doctor had convinced his master of. Surely even he knew that they had been banned due to the danger of the outside world discovering their hidden land? He examined it closer. Suspecting it brain-washed him, he reached out to pull it off though stopped himself - Daquan’s latest plan after all, centered on him returning to a child’s mind.

  A child’s mind. A child’s mind!

  Never one to question his master, the plan had irked him greatly. Why? And then he saw the flaw. If Daquan became a child again, then surely he would lose the ability to make all those decisions that only adults could make. And then of course there was the discovery of the light-swallowing bracelet. Daquan had to know about it.

  Daquan stirred, disturbed by the lights.

  ‘My lord. Wake up,’ Quesob whispered.

  Nothing.

  ‘Wake up master.’

  Still nothing.

  ‘Oh for pity’s sake, wake up!’

  Daquan continued to stir and Quesob reached into his pocket and squeezed his hands around the bracelet. Daquan squealed and began bawling like a rudely woken baby. Distressed by the light his crying grew louder and louder, sickening Quesob. He lunged at the helmet trying to pry it off.

  The splintered sealed door, opened and footsteps approached Quesob from behind. Doctor Thurgood stood there clad in his nightrobe and nightcap.

  ‘WHAT......’

  ‘Stay back,’ Quesob said. ‘You have interfered with him long enough.’

  ‘NOOOOOO!’ Doctor Thurgood charged toward Quesob. ‘STOP. HE WILL BE STUCK!’

  Doctor Thurgood threw his frail frame on top of Quesob, clasping him around the neck with all his pathetic might. He strained and pulled, trying to wrench him backwards. Quesob choked and lost his footing, slipping. His left hand dug under the base of the helmet, and Daquan screamed, and they all toppled backwards, landing in a heap. The helmet flew through the air and smashed against the wall into small pieces. Doctor Thurgood shrieked, struggled out from underneath and crawled to the helmet. He picked up the pieces, cradling them like precious jewels. Daquan went silent and fell asleep again - his hairless, fat, nappy-clad body lying on the floor like a beanbag just dropped in one spot.

  ‘You meddling fool. Bumbling idiot. Miscreant. You have ruined it. Most likely your master is now stuck in some limbo world.’

  Quesob raised himself up, towering over the runty doctor.

  ‘What damage I have done is far better than the lies you have told him. Two years ago he instructed me that should he ever look like he was losing control I was to intervene, unless he gave me the password. Which he has not.’

  A sudden look of illness passed over Doctor Thurgood. ‘Password?’

  ‘Yes, stupid man. Are you deaf?’

  Doctor Thurgood opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to Quesob.

  ‘Is this the password?’

  Quesob read it.

  ‘Yes it is. How did you...’

  ‘Ah. You see, just before placing the reversion helmet on him, he told me that he had forgotten to give you the password and so he wrote it down for me to give to you. But I, ah, forgot. Heh.’

  ‘FORGOT! Then this is doubly your fault fool. If I had been given this I would not have interfered. If he is affected then your head will roll.’

  Daquan stirred once again. Quesob bent down, and placing his hand on his shoulder, shook him.

  ‘Lord Daquan, it’s Quesob. Please wake up Master.’

  He opened his eyes and sat up as if nothing had happened.

  ‘What is it?’ Daquan said.

  ‘Thankfully you are alright,’ Quesob said and started pulling the bracelet out of his pocket.

  Doctor Thurgood approached and said, ‘Nap Retep. You are Nap Retep.’

  Daquan slumped forward and his whole body relaxed. His face unwrinkled and then creased into a large child’s smile.

  ‘Nap Retep, Nap Retep, Nap Retep,’ Daquan said over and over again in a child’s voice, clapping his hands together.

  ‘It worked,’ Doctor Thurgood shouted. ‘It worked!’

  ‘Master? What has happened to you?’ Quesob turned to Doctor Thurgood. ‘What have you done to him?’ And then turned to Daquan.

  ‘Lord Daquan.’

  On the word “Lord Daquan” the transformation reversed and in a flash he became himself again.

  ‘Quesob, what are you doing here?’ Daquan said. ‘I am supposed to be a child again.’ He became enraged and turned to Doctor Thurgood. ‘What went wrong?’

  Before Doctor Thurgood could answer, Quesob pulled the bracelet from his pocket and the room went pitch black.

  ‘Now what’s happened to the light?’ Daquan said.

  Doctor Thurgood started to speak. ‘Nap.....’

  Quesob turned around and smacked Doctor Thurgood as hard as he could, sending him sprawling against the wall, knocking him out.

  ‘Quesob, what is going on?’

  ‘The bracelet you told Amreth to guard, the one you did not tell me about has started...well...has started sucking light.’

  He pocketed it and light flooded into the room. Daquan could see Doctor Thurgood dazed and groaning in the corner though the bracelet interested him more.

  ‘When did it start?’

  ‘This morning.’

  ‘Give me the bracelet?’

  Quesob pulled it from his pocket and the light drained from the room.

  ‘My Lord what is this bracelet? And why was I not told of it?’

  Daquan guffawed. ‘There are a lot of things you have not been told, nor will be. You should know that.’

  ‘Yes, but if this is one of the bracelets?’

  ‘It is only a beacon, that’s all. If it never went off, it would have mattered no
ne. Now, give me the bracelet.’

  Quesob reached out in the darkness and felt for Daquan’s hand.

  Like a great dictator on the verge of obtaining absolute power, Daquan said with an air of malevolence, ‘So, someone has found the bracelets and activated them. Foolish fools, fool-hardly charging fool-long into a fools’ trap.’

  ‘Master?’

  Daquan clasped his hand tight around the bracelet and light spilled into the room again.

  ‘With this bracelet we can trace the other bracelets,’ Daquan said. ‘But....,’ his thoughts drifted away, ‘...with those that betrayed me dead, who could be using them now?’

  ‘My Lord as I said a few days ago, we found evidence of a playground. Possibly they had children. I could find little evidence of them though. They were careful to leave no photos, names or anything. There was lots of evidence of kids’ drawings, toys and ─ ’

  ‘So they were trying to return to their youth as well. And you are sure they are all dead?’

  ‘Yes M’lord. What does this ─ ’

  ‘Don’t worry. Whoever activated the bracelets must eventually head here.’

  Doctor Thurgood groaned and Daquan looked at his slumped body.

  ‘He was not much use.’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  Quesob explained that the words “Nap Retep” made him childlike and the words “Daquan” made him revert to his normal self. However when Quesob said the word “Nap Retep,” nothing happened, a fact that Daquan pointed out.

  ‘It appears then M’Lord that only this frail idiot can change you into the child state.’

  ‘This has worked even better,’ Daquan said, concocting as he spoke. ‘This means that I can go between the two states. As a child I shall wield the bracelets, and as myself, I shall plot my future plans.’

  ‘From what I have seen you have little recall or control when you are this Nap Retep.’

  Daquan roared with laughter. ‘Don’t fret. This is a great step forward. If we have got this far, we shall work it out further.’ He slapped Quesob hard on the back.

  ‘And what shall I do with this piece of refuse?’ Quesob pointed at Doctor Thurgood.

  ‘Keep him under house arrest. He will be needed.’

  ***

  Melaleuca let the note’s words drift through her while Lexington quizzed the note once more with her studious eye.

  ‘I don’t like this one bit,’ Lexington said.

  ‘I like it,’ Quixote said.

  ‘Of course you do. Mel. What do you feel? Something is missing.’

  ‘Lex,’ Melaleuca said, trying to see it from her point of view. ‘You hate this because you still don’t know why any of this is happening.’

  ‘Yes, only the most important piece of information. So far it’s been like putting a jigsaw puzzle together, only to find no picture has been revealed.’

  ‘Then solve it. Do what you do. Work it out.’

  Unimpressed by her command Lexington’s eyes jerked toward Quixote and Ari. ‘And them?’

  ‘Will do what they have to do.’

  Quixote spoke, drawling in a cowboy accent.

  ‘Why ya dirty mangy dog, dang nab it. I’s gonna rustle me some rescuing.’ He spat on the ground, snarled and strode off toward the door.

  Melaleuca looked to Ari for an explanation.

  ‘He thinks he is going to rescue Uncle Bear-Nard from the clutches of Aunty Gertrude.’

  ‘Well stop him!’

  Powered by the soldier’s uniform, Ari snapped to attention, saluted and said, ‘Yes ma’m. Get right on it.’ He double-timed toward the door, stopped and swung around in a crisp movement. ‘Wow, did you see that. I acted like a soldier.’

  ‘Good. Hurry and get him,’ Melaleuca said.

  He snapped to attention again and double-timed with purpose toward the door.

  ‘Urrrrr,’ Melaleuca growled at Ari’s speed.

  She ran two paces and then somersaulted over the clothes racks and executed an adroit landing, ending in a forward roll before the door, just in time to beat Ari. His eyes widened with amazement.

  ‘Do that again,’ he said.

  Stunned by her sudden feat, she replied, ‘I don’t know how I did that?’

  With her dress no longer looking ragged, Lexington glided forward, giving off a regal glow.

  ‘I decree I should offer an opinion,’ she said in a proper voice. ‘It would seem logical that the bracelets and the costumes bequeath upon us facilitating qualities,’ and then sensing her words were too highbrow, added, ‘The bracelets make the costumes come true.’

  ‘We know that. Get a costume on that can help us and follow,’ Melaleuca said.

  ‘Hmmmppph,’ Lexington replied.

  Ari marched himself through the door and scrambled for the open trap door. Melaleuca somersaulted again and landed by the trapdoor and together they went down. Pistol in hand Quixote stalked down the Grand Ascension Stairs, having made it as far as the second floor.

  ‘We have to catch him,’ Melaleuca said.

  Ari booted it down the stairs, leaping three steps at time. Melaleuca jumped on the banister and held a perfect balance despite the dizzying height. In five gigantic leaps she flipped from one storey to another, until she landed at the bottom of the stairs, right in front of Quixote.

  ‘Let’s go play outside. Come on, we’ll go and round up some baddies. I think I saw some out back.’

  Quixote whipped his pistol out.

  ‘I’ll pump ‘em full o lead.’

  As Quixote took her lead she relaxed and Ari joined them at the bottom of the stairs.

  Pemily rushed out from behind the Grand Ascension Stairs and started walking toward them, her arms full of linen. Half way toward them she stopped and dropped the linen. The colour drained from her face and her mouth opened and shut like she had lost the power of speech. She let rip an ear-piercing scream and then yelled at the top of her tiny voice, ‘MARAUDERS! MARAUDERS! MARAUDERS,’ over and over and over again.

  Chapter 15 - A new kind of playing

  The material of the princess’s dress caressed Lexington’s skin, elevating the feeling of her status. Unable to describe it she had a strong desire to rule over people in a caring fashion. As she started to analyse the sensation, it left, though the mirror still reflected an ornate dress. She turned away and waltzed up and down pretending to be a princess and the feeling returned. Her mind raced with impossible questions and again the sensation fled. After several attempts to analyse it and no success, she turned to the clothes rack.

  Maybe another costume could help her.

  She rummaged her way through the costumes, examining them one by one. The same scrawled-on yellowed bits of paper that Melaleuca had found fell out here and there though not all of them had notes. Attached to a pair of overalls with a helmet and light affixed, a note read - ‘Coal-mining. Useful for underground tunneling.’ She carried on searching for the bits of paper and found the next one clipped to a small vest and shirt, and a pair of jodhpurs with riding boots. The note read - ‘Horseman - able to make horse perform tricks.’

  Unsatisfied, she carried on pawing her way through them and found a lemon shaped checkered hat. Its sides sat tied at the top with a ribbon, and two visors peaked out over the front and back. She reached for it, and feeling the crumple of paper lifted it off the checkered cloak it sat on. It read - ‘Victorian detective - helps put facts together quicker.’ Her eyes lit up and her hands trembled. A more perfect costume could not have been found.

  ***

  ‘MARAUDERS! MARAUDERS! MARAUDERS,’ Pemily cried over and over and over again. She stared with intensity past Melaleuca, Ari and Quixote. From the look on her horrified face something deadly lurked behind them. Ari and Quixote searched up and down though remained confused as only the vastness of the empty air surrounded them.

  Melaleuca heard Uncle Bear-Nard’s run-shuffle-canter trotting toward them from somewhere, and out of nowhere Pembrooke arrived, shambling passed them,
oblivious to the shouting. Dropping crumbs of dirt from his motley clothes, he looked sideways and spied the cousins. At first he did not react but after he trained his eyes on Pemily shrieking, he began to shout as well.

  ‘Arrggggh! MARAUDERS!’

  He grabbed the frozen Pemily and turned her around, shoving her back the way she had come.

  ‘Quick as you can,’ Melaleuca said. ‘Lose the bracelets.’

  Uncle Bear-Nard burst out of a door, right in front of the slow fleeing Pemily and Pembrooke. Together Pemily and Pembrooke yelled, ‘Marauders!’ at Uncle Bear-Nard and pointed in the direction of the cousins. Confused, Uncle Bear-Nard stared at the cousins and then at Pemily and Pembrooke, looked a little wistful and then became amused.

  ‘Tut tut tut,’ he said. ‘Really..y.y.y.you two. Take another l..l..look.’

  Pemily and Pembrooke turned back toward their assailants, befuddling their expressions.

  Uncle Bear-Nard chuckled, his round body vibrating along with it.

  ‘You see. It’s just the children dressed up. Must have found that old trunk their mother used to use. No more poking around okay,’ he said to them.

  Pemily stormed toward them, the white ribbons from her maid’s hat and apron streaming behind her. ‘But they were...I mean...huge...and...’

  Confounded, she eyed the cousins up and down.

  Uncle Bear-Nard snapped an order out. ‘Be about your business. Quick. Not a word of this to Gertrude. I mean that or....well...or else!’

  Pembrooke nodded as if he knew exactly what Uncle Bear-Nard spoke of, though Pemily looked just as frightened but nodded in obedience. Uncle Bear-Nard heaved a large breath in and out and bore his eyes on Melaleuca.

  ‘I am not sorry,’ Melaleuca said. ‘No one will tell us anything, so what do you expect.’ Something about the costumes had increased her bravado.

  A wistful smile crossed his face.

  ‘Not to w..w..worry. Folks a bit spooked a..a.a.around here,’ he said and then as if a sudden thought tugged at him, an absent look crossed his face. ‘The Kockoroc’s been sighted. Much flurry of panic.’

  ‘Cock O rock? What’s a cock O rock?’