Like before Xandra and I ran for hours to make sure the odds of the police and the Pied Piper Task Force catching up to us were slim.


    The day drew on with little conversation between Xandra and I due, for the most part, because I wasn''t in any mood at all to talk. The other, smaller part, was because we were both prone to losing track of time when coiling up and sprinting for long periods of time.


    Often I would find myself looking up at the sky and being startled by how much it changed in the blink of an eye. At first becoming brighter and then, later in the day, darker, with much thicker clouds threatening to rain on us.


    By the time it started to get dark Xandra and I had come to the fringe of a very familiar, though not particularly welcome sight for me.


    It was a rugby pitch.


    It wasn''t one I had been to before since I had only been to a handful during my mid-teens on trips to games with my Dad, of which I hardly ever got picked to play. When I did it was for a spare five to ten minutes.


    We stopped, panting, at the fading white line at the back left corner of the huge pitch, which was bordered by forestation all around save for a clubhouse off in the far corner diagonal to us.


    "If it''s clear we should stop there for tonight," said Xandra, "It''ll be another half day before we reach the underground bunker."


    She set the box filled with food and other items stolen from the petrol station onto the damp grass with a sigh. She then arched her back, which popped several times from the effort.


    "Sure," I said, setting the two carry bags down on the ground as well. I wasn''t tired, but I was fed up with having to hoist the carry bags for hours.


    We both took a minute to breathe in the increasingly cold night air. I didn''t like being outside at this time of night, especially because of the rain which had already begun to spit on us as a precursor for more to come at any second.


    A horrible nervous energy gripped me as I sniffed and put my hands to my hips and looked about the rugby pitch. My heightened hearing and vision told me there were no people for a good distance.


    My body was brought back to normal for the most part. No more huge bulked frog legs, or overly huge musculature across my body. I had kept about a year''s worth of hitting the gym on me just to make sure I wasn''t too weak to carry the bags and keep up with Xandra.


    "Come on," said Xandra, nicely,


    She picked up the cardboard box from the grass and set off at a jogging pace towards the clubhouse.


    Xandra''s tone had softened since everything that had gone down at the petrol station. She hadn''t made any mention of our bet either, not even to get an ''I told you so'' gloat out of the way.


    In a way I would have preferred her to gloat just so there wasn''t an ongoing question of when or how she intended to talk to me about what happened.


    We reached the gravelled parking lot at the edge of the clubhouse. It was almost pitch black outside and the nearby floodlights hadn''t come on automatically to compensate.


    Xandra led the way up to the front door.


    "Okay," she said, "I think we''ll be able to break in without much trouble if-"


    A loud bang followed after I kicked in the front door. The metal lock had bent and the wood frame which held the lock in place splintered and burst from the impact.


    "Or just kick it in, I guess," said Xandra.


    She sighed and followed in after me.


    I found the nearby lightswitch. A single bulb lit the hallway space.


    Although she didn''t say anything I could feel Xandra''s questioning look at my decision to turn the light on, which would be an obvious sign to anyone passing by outside that the clubhouse had been illegally entered. I simply didn''t have it in me to care.


    I led the way deeper inside. A large banner reading ''Shepperton Rugby Club'' hung from the top of the first doorway. There were cabinets filled with trophies of various sizes too.


    I looked around for the next lightswitch and found it.


    We were in the main hall. It wasn''t much bigger than a living room, but it was big enough to serve as a good place to buy hotdogs, burgers, and chips during and after games. I set down the carry bags and spotted the nearby counter beyond which lay a narrow kitchen.


    "Should be showers here," I said, "I can wait with the stuff if you want to go first."


    Xandra set her cardboard box down and moved over to a nearby wooden bench set against the wall. She sighed and started to unlace her shoes.


    "I can wait for a bit," she said, "But yeah, a shower sounds good."


    The sudden gurgle coming from Xandra''s stomach asked and answered an obvious question.


    "Let''s eat first," I mumbled, "Showering can wait. I''m starving."


    Although neither of us were physically exhausted, our mental tiredness was more than making up for it.


    I lumbered into the kitchen, flicked the light on, then leaned against the counter. Xandra hurried inside with the cardboard box in hand which she set onto the counter as well.


    "Well," she said, digging into the box, "In the mood for noodles?"


    "Sure," I mumbled.


    "O-kay," said Xandra.


    She set to work preparing two bowls, which she found in one of the cupboards, then she filled up a kettle with water and switched it on.


    "And," she said, "Whilst we wait for the noodles; here ya go."


    She took out two large Jupiter bars and slid them across the counter to me.


    "Thanks," I muttered.


    I made quick work eating both bars, my body seeming to become hungrier the more chocolate I ate.


    The kettle started to grumble. Xandra leaned against the opposite counter. She shot me a look with her large eyes which told me she was thinking about asking me something personal.


    "Ah," I said, "Forgot something."


    I hurried out of the kitchen and went to my carry bag.


    I returned to the kitchen holding the portable DVD player and several discs.


    "Might as well make use of the electricity while we''ve got it," I said.


    "Good idea," said Xandra.


    I plugged the portable DVD player''s charging cable into the wall socket and was greatly relieved to see a small red LED charging light appear on the device.


    Food''s good, I thought, But what I''m really starving for is something to watch.


    The kettle finished boiling and Xandra saw to filling the bowls with the dried noodles, which she poured hot water onto.


    "How do you handle spice?" She said.


    "Not great," I said, "But I''ll manage."


    I had the portable DVD player open. I pressed the power button and the screen blinked to life.


    I thumbed the button to open up the middle of the player. There wasn''t a disc already inside. I took one of the discs from the few I had taken from the carry bag and slipped it into the player.


    The disc spun and whirred within.


    Please work, I thought, being taken a little by surprise by just how badly I wanted to be able to do something as simple as watch a movie.


    The menu for School of the One Thousand Sorrow Fist flickered onto the screen. It showed a snippet from the movie on a loop; expert martial artist Sonney Yen stood surrounded by thirty other fighters in gi clothing. Traditional oriental music played from the tinny speakers. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "Noodles and a movie, then?" said Xandra.


    "Sure," I said.


    She finished preparing the noodles. I unplugged the player, which was charged enough to last until we were sat in the main hall. We used our coats and jumpers as seats, positioning ourselves against the wall.


    We started eating the noodles (boy were they spicy) and School of the One Thousand Sorrow Fist began to play.


    "So is this any good?" said Xandra.


    "No idea," I said, "Never watched it before."


    I made sure to heighten my hearing again to make sure there wasn''t anything or anyone approaching the clubhouse. It wasn''t a foolproof way to keep us safe and prepared for trouble, but I was finding it difficult to be overly cautious given how mentally drained I was.


    The movie turned out to have a wafer thin plot; in the movie a young warrior''s master is murdered by an arrogant warlord, thus kickstarting a murderous revenge spree. The fights on the other hand were cartoonishly bloody, brutal, and spectacular.


    I had always delighted in the over the top fighting sequences in martial arts movies, so the many bone breaks and burst organs were gorishly delightful. Xandra barely batted an eye to all the violence, though she did gasp and giggle at the right moments, particularly at the more bloody kills nearer the end of the movie.


    The more the movie progressed, the more I wanted to learn how to fight just like the lead actor, Sonny Yen.


    Sure, it was all choreographed, and wires were used to help them make those impossible leaps and bounds; and all manner of special FX were used to make the fighters seem superhuman; but maybe that wouldn''t matter for me. Maybe I would be able to do the things they could only pretend to do?


    "Mind if we take a tea break?" I asked halfway through the movie.


    "Sure," said Xandra.


    We both headed back to the kitchen. Xandra hurried ahead and made sure she was the one making the cups of tea for us both. She flicked on the kettle again and prepared the tea bags and took the milk from the fridge (it came as a pleasant surprise to have tea and milk already provided in the clubhouse, neither of which Xandra had bothered stealing from the petrol station.)


    Whilst the kettle boiled she just leaned against the counter and stared at me again.


    "Yes?" I said.


    "What?" she said.


    "You look like you want to say something," I said.


    Xandra played dumb. She just shrugged.


    "So you don''t want to talk about what happened at the petrol station?" I said.


    Xandra forced a smile.


    "You lost the bet," she said, playfully.


    "Yeah," I said, "So congratulations, I guess."


    "I wanted you to win," said Xandra, "I just knew you wouldn''t. So now you know."


    "Yeah," I said, "Now I know. Next time I''ll just use the power to make myself look older. The woman working behind the counter didn''t ask the older people for a Piper Pass."


    "Gross," said Xandra, "I''m not making myself look older."


    "What?" I said, "Not even old enough not to get carded?"


    Xandra shrugged, "Haven''t you noticed how the changes also change us?" she said, "The more we tap into our power, the more it sort of wants to mess with our heads."


    "So it messes with your head too?" I said.


    The kettle finished boiling. Xandra forced her attention from me and spun around to occupy her attention with making our drinks.


    "Xandra?" I said.


    "Yeah," she said, a bit agitated, "It messes with my head too."


    "How?" I said.


    Xandra placed her hands on the counter top as if to stop herself from screaming. She stiffened and an awkward silence followed. After steeling herself for a moment she turned and faced me.


    "You''ve seen stuff, right?" she said, "Things that shouldn''t be there? Like that baby fox you mentioned?"


    "Yeah," I said, "And something else too."


    "What?" said Xandra.


    I grinned and rubbed the back of my head.


    "Well, I-er, saw a talking. Puppet. Frog," I said, "I saw it in the petrol station. It told me to jump when all the adults were trying to pin me down."


    Xandra nodded. "Okay," she said, "Well, I have a theory about what it is, but I didn''t want to say anything until I was sure you''d seen this kind of thing too."


    "Why?" I said, still grinning, "Don''t want me to think you''re crazy or something?"


    "I''m not crazy," said Xandra, "Don''t ever call me crazy, I mean it."


    "Hey," I said, "I don''t think you''re crazy, so you don''t have to worry about me saying that. What''s your theory?"


    Xandra sighed and played with her hair nervously for a moment, as if wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to share her theory after all.


    "I think it''s a ''you are what you eat'' situation," she said, "You know what I mean?"


    "Like you eat carrots, you can see in the dark type thing?" I said, half-joking.


    "Yeah," said Xandra, "Or, have you ever heard the phrase, ''You stare into the abyss, the abyss stares into you?''"


    I nodded, "Oh yeah, something like that."


    "I''m paraphrasing, obviously," said Xandra.


    "Right," I said.


    "So," said Xandra, "I think that this power sort of…reflects back at us what it sees. So you say you saw a baby fox, was there anything that happened to you before that made you have some kind of extra personal connection with baby foxes, or something?"


    "Yeah," I said, quickly, not having to give the question much thought.


    Xandra finished making the teas and handed me over mine as I spoke.


    "When I was escaping from Wedder Gorge I used my power to heighten my scream. I screamed so loud I practically made the Pied Piper–"


    "-Peepers-" Xandra interjected.


    "-Pied Peepers, deaf," I said.


    "Well that''s good," said Xandra.


    "Yeah, well," I said, "The thing is, when I did that I knew I had to boost the power enough to get my throat to the point it could scream that loud. I thought about foxes and half transformed into one – like a were-fox – in order to get it done. I kind of regretted doing it to the Peepers after since, you know, I''m not some monster that enjoys making people go deaf."


    "Not even if they deserve it?" said Xandra.


    "Not even if they deserve it," I said.


    "And what about frogs?" said Xandra, "Do you like puppets or something?"


    She sipped her drink. I sipped mine.


    "Nectar," I muttered contentedly under my breath. Xandra giggled.


    "Look," I said, "I think it probably has something to do with the frog rucksack I got from the charity shop. I saw it and I just had this impulse to take it. Maybe that and the fact I knew I needed to jump to get the officers off me created that weird little hallucination. But I blinked and the little puppet frog guy disappeared. I don''t think it was really there."


    "It wasn''t," said Xandra, "But that doesn''t mean you didn''t see something."


    I took another sip of my tea and then said, "So what do you see?"


    Xandra winced a little at the question. She set her cup of tea aside and started hugging herself for comfort.


    "I''ve seen stuff all my life," she said, "At first I thought my drawings could come to life. And not just my drawings, but, like, stickers and pictures and stuff like that too. The images would talk to me."


    Xandra fixed me with a look to see if I was seriously questioning her sanity or not. I made an effort to make it clear that I was sincerely listening.


    "So," she said, "The older I got the more my Mum and Dad thought I just had an active imagination. And then when I kept talking to the drawings in my room they started to think I was, you know, crazy."


    "But I''m not," she said, "I tried to explain to my parents that the drawings were really talking to me. They were my friends. Particularly this little raccoon girl, sort of like Minnie Mouse or Lola Bunny, that I drew over and over again. Her name''s Regina Raccoon and she''s sort of become my best friend."


    "You still talk to…her?" I said.


    Xandra nodded, "But I know better now. I figured out she''s not real. That it''s just the power communicating with me."


    "What kind of stuff does it say?" I said.


    Xandra shrugged again and tried for an answer.


    "She used to tell me the things that my parents tried to keep secret. Like how they planned to get a divorce, or how they were heavy into credit card debt. Regina would tell me all sorts of things like that about people; at first I thought she must''ve been able to move on her own, to leave the pages where I had drawn her, but she couldn''t do that; because she was just a drawing, just the power trying to communicate with me; or feeding back what I already knew in a way that made sense to me as a child. I think I was heightening my hearing back then and hearing all the things, and the drawings were just a kind of…coping mechanism I guess. Does that make sense?"


    I nodded, "Yeah," I said, sincerely, "I''ve heard of others having powers when they were younger. Someone I knew at the facility said he could use his power to make his hands colder. It was only after coming to the facility that he was able to make the water cold enough that he could prove it wasn''t all in his head."


    "What about you?" said Xandra, "Did you ever do anything with the power when you were growing up?"


    "No way," I said, "I was pretty much useless at anything I tried. I played rugby for two years and couldn''t even score a single try during a real game, not after many nights turning up and being one of about three boys to actually bother training. I didn''t have any idea I might have powers until after the evacuation started."


    "So," I said, "Your parents know about your powers?"


    Xandra looked cross all of a sudden, though not at me.


    "Oh they knew," she said, "At first they were determined to make me think I was just imagining things. And then when I started telling them things they wanted to keep secret they thought I was just being a troublemaker. When I was fifteen they had already tried taking me to therapists and doctors because they wanted to prove that I was crazy. But I''m not crazy. When the Pied Peepers started the evacuation my parents tried to force me to evacuate too. They bought into all the fear mongering on the news; thought I might blow up and kill them, or worse."


    Black streaks from Xandra''s tears mixing with her make-up leaked down her cheeks.


    "They said I had to give myself up for evacuation or leave home. So I left home."


    "Have you talked to them since?" I said.


    "No," she said, "And good riddance. What use is family if they don''t stick up for you? I''m better off on my own."


    She sniffled and saw to drinking the rest of her tea as if she were suddenly very thirsty.


    "So I went on the run for two weeks," she said, "And then I thought, hey, why not stay with my aunt and uncle? They''d always been nice to me. That was a big mistake. I''m not going into that mess."


    "It''s fine," I said, "You don''t have to. Do you want to get back to watching the movie?"


    "Sure," said Xandra.


    She put her empty mug aside and I put mine down next to hers.


    We returned to the main hall and finished watching the rest of the movie.


    As much as my body was able to fend off physical tiredness, the mental tiredness from the last forty-eight hours finally caught up with me. I fell asleep sometime near the end of the movie.