The Vampire Across the Hall-3. The Exchange
Page 2
I kept to the shade of the bushes and Eliza and Madden mimicked my steps. Then Mark and the child stopped in the middle of five long, tall, eucalyptus trees whose grey trunks rose high to the dark sky like oddly shaped limbs. Their majesty and power swallowed the park’s artificial light.
I suddenly halted, Madden, who was sometimes clumsy, stepped onto my foot. ‘Ouch.’ I groaned. And it seemed to echo through the park.
Eliza laughed softly and put her finger to her lips. ‘Hush’ she whispered.
Mark and the child stood calmly in the middle of the group of five trees and a star seemed to fall towards them bathing them in brilliant silver.
But then, Madden made a growling sound and leapt onto the sandstone wall beside us. He growled again, and disappeared into the darkness, I looked at Eliza puzzled, but then she too, growled and leapt onto the wall and out of sight.
I was almost blinded by the bright silver light which enveloped Mark and the child, but then to my surprise, I saw a round white clothed figure holding a golf club in its hand walking directly towards the spot where they were standing.
The figure was chanting loudly, ‘Begone foul spirits, begone unnatural forces which befoul our air.’ It brandished the golf club like a sword and then suddenly, it grunted and fell as Eliza leapt upon it from behind.
The silver light quickly disappeared and my eyes were still hazy from its afterglow. I heard Mark’s voice,
‘What’s going on?’
And then, another figure in white leapt towards him, but it was intercepted by Madden, who quickly knocked it to the ground.
‘Madden?’ Mark questioned, ‘What’s going on?”
My eyes were clearing now, and I walked towards Madden who had his foot firmly planted on the front of a prostrate body. Eliza then appeared dragging the other white clothed figure behind her.
‘What’s going on?” Mark asked for a third time, then he saw me, ‘Daisi?”
‘Ummm, hi Mark. ’ I stuttered. I looked around and saw no sign of a child.
Madden turned towards Mark, ‘I’ll explain later. But meanwhile,’ Madden turned towards Eliza, ‘let’s see who we have here?’
Eliza dragged the body towards Madden and lifted it easily to its feet. The figure was unconscious with blood staining its white outfit and as she lifted it I gasped. ‘That’s ..That’s Gavin Cloud.’
‘Yeah’ Madden said grimly, ‘and this one’, he kicked at the unconscious figure beneath his foot, ‘This is the one who attacked you the other night.
‘You can drop him Eliza,’ Madden said, and Gavin Cloud’s body dropped with a thump to the ground.
‘What are you going to do with them?’ I asked nobody in particular.
‘Mmmm let’s just leave them here.’ Mark suggested with a look at Madden.
‘Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.’ Madden turned to Eliza who was kneeling next to the prostrate body of Gavin Cloud, ‘ummm,..Eliza…honey…we’re leaving.’
We are?’ She looked up at him wiping her lips, ‘so quickly?’
‘Fraid so’
She sighed, ‘if you say so.’
Mark looked at us suspiciously. “I suppose there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this?”
I gulped and shuffled my feet guiltily as Madden replied, ‘I’ll let Daisi explain when we get home.’
Chapter 6
We arrived at Mark’s unit shortly after 1am. I was confused and as Anna opened the door for us, I became even more so, as a child, who looked a lot like Mason, was holding her hand.
Mark looked at his wife and smiled, ‘So who’s this?’
Anna smiled back, ‘This is Mason, he arrived a few minutes ago.’
Mark sighed, ‘Good, I was a bit worried. We’ll take you home in the morning Mason, OK? Why don’t you get some sleep?’
The child yawned and Anna took him away.
Mark waved the three of us into his home, and looked sternly at our bedraggled figures. Actually, Madden and I looked dirty and tired, but Eliza, she looked radiant, glowing with health and vitality and her red dress was unmarked, unruffled and unstained.
‘So, what’s going on here?” Asked Mark. ‘Daisi?’
I looked at Madden and he shrugged, I looked at Eliza, but she was too busy examining the books on the shelves to notice me, then I looked at Mark and quickly looked in the other direction.
‘umm..’
‘You better tell him Daisi’ Madden ordered.
So I did.
I explained my confusion about the children, the disappearance of Eric and Matilda and the strange sounds I had heard beneath my window. I also mentioned the bright light I had seen in the park. Mark looked astonished as I finished lamely, ‘So I was just kinda wondering, what was going on you know?”
‘You were kinda wondering what was going on? And you couldn’t have asked me?’
‘That would have been rude ‘ I said
‘And it’s not rude to follow me down the street?’
‘Well, it’s ...’ I sighed, knowing whatever I said would be wrong, so I decided on the blunt truth, ‘It’s more fun that way.’
Mark laughed, he looked at Madden, dirty and dusty and drawn and he looked at me with my face still slightly bruised and my clothes torn from hiding in the park and he laughed.
‘Ok, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Sit down.’
Madden and I sat quickly, but Eliza was still roaming around the room idly picking things up and inspecting them, until Madden grabbed her arm and forced her to sit.
Mark shuffled around the house riffling through some papers on a desk until he found his lap top; he switched it on and after a couple of minutes turned it towards us.
‘Look here.’
He showed us a website.
Child Behaviour Problems?
We can Help.
Anna and Mark’s Behavioural Modification Therapy (AMBMT)
-Low Cost
Good results or your money back
Email; mychildsgoodtwin@gmail.com
“For all evil is rarely intended evil.”
‘So you’re some sort of psychologist then?’ I asked.
Mark smiled ‘Look closer’
I leaned towards the screen, but saw nothing different. Then Eliza giggled, ‘For all evil is rarely intended evil? Clever’
I looked at Madden and then he smiled in recognition. I was obviously missing something.
‘What’s going on?’
Mark smiled again,‘For All Evil is Rarely Intended Evil- F A E R I E- Faerie’
‘Fairies? You’re a Fairy?’ I was astounded, ‘you have GOT to be joking. Where are your wings?’
‘Well, Anna and I aren’t. But the kids, some of the kids are…Let me explain.’
‘There have been stories for centuries about how Faeries will replace new born babies with one of their own, people thought they were legends. When the white man came to Australia, he brought the faeries with him and they continued their old tricks of replacing human babies with faeries.
A faerie child is usually hyperactive, badly behaved, destructive and mischievous and the parent knows instinctively that something is wrong. That’s where Anna and I come in. We take in the faerie children and negotiate a swap, the faerie child for the original child. Of course many of the children we see are just taking too much Ritalin and are not faeries at all.’
‘Oh, so that’s what all the light was about?’
‘That’s right. I was swapping Faerie Mason for human Mason. Tomorrow I will return the human son to his parents. We will tell them he is cured, but really, he’s just been exchanged. ‘
‘Ohhhh’ I was still confused, ‘but how …I mean…how , I mean why you?’
‘Trade secret’ Mark said. ‘I’m like the faerie version of the secret service. Not everybody in the land of Fae agrees with what we’re doing. It’s complicated.
‘So you’re a spy?’
‘I think I’ve said all I can say Daisi.’
‘Wow you are a spy!’ I exclaimed.
“Well I guess that explains everything’ said Madden, ‘we should be going.’
‘Hang on. What about Gavin Cloud and his friend?’ I asked
Madden looked at Mark meaningfully and shook his head. ‘Don’t worry about Gavin Cloud, Daisi. I think Mark and I can deal with him.’
‘What? But why was he there? And did he have a golf club? ‘
Mark looked at Madden ‘It was a five iron right?’
Madden nodded, ‘I think so’
Mark grunted, ‘Iron kills Faeries.’ Then he laughed and shook his head, ‘A golf club, honestly.’
Chapter Six
Well I guess I had solved the mystery of the disappearing children, but something didn’t seem right to me. I went home that night with more questions than answers, and seriously, Faeries? Well…
Madden and Eliza left me at my door and said goodnight. It was 2am. I was tired yet excited. As I got ready for bed, I reached for my pills and shaking the bottle noticed it was empty. Then it struck me, I hadn’t had my medication for days and I was feeling very, very funny.
END
About the Author
Daisi Malone lives in the Presidio Building in Newtown, Sydney Australia. She has two lovebirds, lots of books and a curious nature.
Daisi has a website- www.daisimalone.net and a facebook page- she needs all the friends she can get.
Look out for book 4- The Glee Club, coming soon.