Connor Clover and the Lost Children (Book 1)

CHAPTER SEVEN

  A Leap into the Unknown

  Death. It wasn’t something Connor had considered before until now, as it came closer by the second as he dangled in mid-air by his neck. His body no longer screamed in pain. Could this be what dying felt like? Where fear was replaced with a sense of peacefulness as he waited for his final breath.

  Breathe, Connor! Came the soft voice of the Starstone.

  Connor shuddered with a jolt. Mustering all his strength, he took a deep breath and kicked the foul creature repeatedly, swinging his feet at the body beneath the robes. The monster snarled, striking Connor’s face hard, tearing his cheek. Blood flowed from the open wound, but numb with fright, the boy sensed no pain. Instead resentment built in the pit of his stomach until he burned with an anger engulfing his terror. The creature snarled – shaking Connor like a rag doll. The beams of blood red light from its eyes burned deep inside Connor, but had no effect.

  ‘Get off me!’ Connor screamed.

  The creature held Connor warily. ‘Surrender the Starstone to me and I’ll release you!’

  ‘No, you won’t!’ Connor gasped. ‘I’m not stupid! You’ll kill me anyway.’

  ‘I’m losing my patience,’ a warning note appeared in the chilling voice.

  The creature paused for a moment and without any warning attempted to snatch the Starstone from inside Connor’s stomach – deep purple veins poked beneath deadly grey skin where large knots covered his hand. With dirty-yellow, long and curled fingernails, he struck at the boy’s stomach. Unknown to them both, the boys muscles had knitted together; forming a surface so tough the ghoul broke its fingernails, making no impact on it

  ‘Ahhh!’ it cried.

  Connor’s muscles had become as strong as concrete and although his clothing had been ripped the ghoul made no scratch on his body whatsoever. Startled, it cursed the boy and gripped him firmly again.

  ‘What strange magic is this?’ it whispered. ‘No one encounters Definastine and lives to tell the tale!’

  ‘Definastine?’ croaked Connor.

  But something extraordinary happened, something he had little control of: his cloudy blue eyes speckled with dashes of golden light; his pale skin hardened as his muscles grew in size and strength.

  Deana slowly gained consciousness and scrambled to her feet. When she noticed the physical changes in Connor, her eyes widened. Panicking, she believed Connor was dying. She whispered his name but Connor couldn’t respond, for it would be catastrophic to lose concentration now. He had to survive and focus with the Starstone equipping him with incredible strength.

  Deana could have run at any time, but she didn’t. She wanted to stop Definastine before he killed her friend, so she aimed her laser, but afraid of harming Connor, she searched the ground, stumbling across a rusty metal pole. She swivelled it above her head and made a swing for Definastine. It surged through the air knocking the creature backwards. She struck him again and again.

  Definastine groaned loudly. Losing his footing he dropped Connor to the ground. Deana aimed her Zap-Fire and fired several shots at Definastine’s leg. The first one struck him and he fell to his knees. Immediately a red tinted shield encompassed his body, sheltering him from further harm.

  ‘Run!’ Deana screamed at Connor.

  He did. They ran for their lives and Definastine watched them flee into the distance. Snarling viciously, he gave orders to another figure lurking in the shadows.

  ‘Razor, destroy them both!’ he demanded. ‘Do it quickly and bring me the Starstone!’

  Stepping from the darkness appeared another powerfully built, tall, hooded figure.

  ‘Yes, master,’ it bowed, before pursuing the boy and the woman.

  With long strides it gained with each step. Fearing for their lives, the two of them sprinted, petrified. Deana fired several more shots but they missed as the creature dodged them with lightning speed. They tore across the car park, weaving between the cars. Connor lost Deana as she stooped behind a parked vehicle. He darted in between the parked cars and knowing he couldn’t outrun the creature, he lay flat on the ground and rolled beneath a parked Range Rover. Footsteps swiftly approached yards away. The creature paused and sniffed the air like a bloodhound, close to where Connor cowered. The moment it knelt, the creature lowered its face to the ground and peered under the vehicle.

  It’s hideous face came into view: bony and covered in grey skin stretching across a pointed jaw, with a gaping hole where the nose should have been. The eyes glowed orange straight at Connor. A cruel grin spread across on its face, revealing razor sharp teeth.

  Connor kicked its monstrous face, making it scream and retreat. Connor scrambled from beneath the vehicle and saw the creature being flung back to the ground by an invisible force. What the-? It stood a second time and gave a chilling scream. It waved wildly whilst fighting something unseen. Connor stood still. After a moment’s struggle, the creature fled in the direction from where it had come and a car tore across the car park, followed by screeching brakes and loud shouting.

  ‘Get him, men!’ screeched a woman, from a different direction.

  The familiar black car, followed by several others, raced in hot pursuit. Connor had no idea what had happened but guessed it had something to do with the creature that’d chased him. Once the danger passed, he rose from between the parked vehicles.

  ‘Ahoy, Connor!’ called a high-pitched voice ‘Giddy up!’

  It wasn’t obvious at first, but floating in the air above the cars was a partially invisible van in the surrounding darkness. This must have been what the creature had been fighting with. When an old man poked his head from the window, grinning wildly, Connor recognised him at one. He was the man from the garage where he’d bought his ice cream. The back door swung open and Deana leaned with her arms outstretched.

  ‘Come on, Connor!’ she yelled urgently. ‘Before it comes back!’

  Scrambling onto a car roof, Connor grasped Deana’s hand and clambered into the hovering vehicle.

  Deana hugged him tightly and noticing his wound, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. She tried to stop the flow of blood by applying firm pressure.

  ‘Does it hurt?’ She withdrew the cloth to examine it.

  ‘No. I can’t feel much at the moment,’ he confessed.

  ‘You’re in shock. Thank goodness you had the sense to hide. I don’t know how long I’d been unconscious for, but you’re a real warrior to survive that.’

  ‘You reminded me of your mum and dad then, leading them a merry chase across the car park,’ the old man chuckled. ‘So, aliens don’t exist, eh? Have you changed your mind yet?’

  Connor nodded and noticed what bright blue eyes and white teeth the old man had.

  ‘You used to have brown teeth,’ Connor observed.

  ‘They were false,’ Sparkie giggled.

  Deana relaxed back on the seat. ‘This has been a night I won’t forget in a hurry!’

  ‘Same,’ Connor mumbled. ‘I thought he’d killed you!’

  ‘Knocked me pretty bad – but didn’t kill me.’

  The old man chuckled. ‘I expect Deana has told you lots about me.’

  ‘No, but Deana then hasn’t told me much at all.’

  ‘It’s not my fault you forgot everything I told you on Monday morning,’ she fired back.

  ‘It’s not his either,’ Sparkie reminded her. ‘Anyway, I’m Sparkie. It’s good to meet you properly at last. I’m sorry I wasn’t parked where I’d planned to be, but other unforeseen problems presented themselves to me – such as the black car. Trust Zelda to park in the spot I’d chosen. Typical woman, spoiling plans for others.’

  Deana gave a disapproving grunt.

  ‘Oh, apart from you, my dear. You’re no problem. You’re like one of the men! Thankfully Zelda came through for us in the end.’

  ‘But not deliberately,’ Deana muttered.

  ‘But that’s the beauty of it. She helped us without knowing it. Did you see
Zelda chasing Razor away in her car? At least she took their minds off you two for a while.’

  ‘Who’s Zelda? Two men who interrogated me at the hospital mentioned her waiting for me.’

  ‘She’s the woman in the black car. She’s in charge of the ACE,’ Deana explained. ‘She’s a complete nut case.’

  ‘The ACE soldiers are swarming the hospital, but K will sort it.’ Sparkie showed them a pocket-sized television screen.

  K had changed into his human form and was dodging numerous bullets with a speed faster than light. He held his gun and fired it at the attacking party where they vanished one by one.

  ‘Huh?’ grunted Connor. ‘What’s happening to them? Where did they go?’

  ‘Straight to the interrogating unit at the AAA,’ Deana explained.

  ‘You mean – he isn’t killing them?’

  ‘Of course not!’ Deana gave Connor a stern glance. ‘Why do you always think the worst of people!’

  Sparkie chipped in. ‘K wouldn’t kill anyone. He believes in giving people a second chance. If it weren’t for him many lives would have been unnecessarily ruined. K has helped many people in his short life. He’s a Star-Lord in the making.’

  So K hadn’t killed Marty and Joe in the hospital; he had merely transported them to another place. Connor hadn’t seen their bodies disappear and had assumed K had killed them. He’d jumped to a conclusion without knowing the facts.

  ‘Star-Lord?’ quizzed Connor.

  ‘It’s the highest rank a person can achieve in the AAA and is what most star-spirits strive for,’ Deana explained.

  ‘He’ll make someone a proud husband one day.’ Sparkie winked at Deana, whose face flushed crimson. ‘The ACE must’ve tracked you after hearing of the bizarre events in the hospital last night. From now on, we’ll have to be extra careful.’

  ‘Who tried to kill me tonight?’ Connor touched his bruised cheek.

  ‘Two were after you. Definastine wanted the Starstone and it’s startling he didn’t kill you. Not many people encounter him and live to tell the tale,’ she breathed.

  If it weren’t for the Starstone, Connor would have been killed easily, however, if the Starstone hadn’t placed him in this predicament in the first place, he wouldn’t have been in that situation.

  ‘As we ran he sent one of his servants after us.’

  ‘Razor,’ said Sparkie. ‘Poor soul.’

  ‘Poor soul!’ gasped Connor. ‘He tried to kill me!’

  ‘Yes it’s true, but he wasn’t always like that. Let me explain: Razor had once been a top secret agent, working for the AAA – a fantastic man, who wouldn’t think twice of placing his life in danger to save others. He’d been one of four men who disappeared several years ago. After a secret operation failed, Definastine captured them. He trapped their souls and mutated their bodies. Now, they can’t remember their pasts,’ explained Sparkie. ‘They are lost souls.’

  Connor remained silent. Definastine wanted him dead because of the Starstone. Could he really protect this alien life form inside of him? Why hadn’t the Starstone chosen a karate champion or someone adept at self-defence? Exhausted, he leant back and relaxed his head against the cushioned headrest, watching Sparkie put on a strange hat, like an upside-down kitchen sieve. Thin blue wires poked from the top and streams of blue electric currents randomly pulsated between them. Several times, he blinked in case his eyes were playing tricks on him, for it reminded him of a lightning storm on a miniature scale.

  ‘What are you’re wearing?’ quizzed Connor.

  ‘What? This old thing?’ Sparkie pointed to his hat. ‘It’s a communication link with other star-spirits, which I invented.’

  ‘Very trendy,’ mocked Deana.

  Intrigued, Connor leaned closer. ‘What does it do?’

  ‘Apart from making me trendy, it helps me receive telepathic messages. I’m waiting for news from Tookar at the moment.’

  The odd, little man attached small suction caps to his temples and had a peculiar shaped face, with a wider than average forehead. Fluffy white tufts of hair stuck from under his hat. His long pointed chin had a long, silvery goatee hanging proudly from it, which curled near the end to form a complete loop. His red-framed glasses were too wide for his face, resting on a large nose. He was of slender build with unusually small feet and his knobbly knees resembled skin-coloured tennis balls stuck firmly on to his legs. He wore a T-shirt and shorts in the middle of winter but since the van was warm, it wasn’t too surprising. Connor placed him in his seventies due to his many wrinkles.

  Sparkie continued fiddling in the front seat. A warm golden light illuminated the van, revealing colour-changing fish swimming above their heads. The van had become a fish tank on wheels, made from a transparent material filled with clear fluid, which softly changed colour. The warm glow in the van reflected within the tank, emphasising the shimmering scales of the fish as they swam, creating an instant calming effect.

  ‘How is it possible?’ gaped Connor. ‘They’re beautiful! Where did you get them from?’

  ‘From another planet. Some friends gave them to me as a parting gift.’

  ‘From another planet?’ whispered Connor in awe.

  ‘He’s my favourite.’ Deana drew Connor’s attention to a large red and pink striped fish with fins like a magnificent ball grown.

  Connor favoured the blue and orange striped one as round as a ball with teeth.

  ‘We mustn’t hover so low. Put your seat belts on,’ ordered Sparkie, pulling a lever and making the van zoom higher in the sky. Connor’s stomach churned. The acceleration made him stick fast to his seat. At last when the van stopped, Connor banged his head on the roof.

  ‘Ow!’

  ‘Sparkie!’ snapped Deana. ‘Give him time to put the seat belt on first! Your driving is dangerous at the best of times.’

  ‘Sorry!’ Sparkie looked sheepish.

  ‘Are you okay?’ She touched his head.

  ‘I’ll live.’ Connor felt woozy.

  After Deana tightened his seat belt, he grasped the handle of the door for reassurance. The van had become twice as big on the inside than on the outside. The impossibility of this defied the natural laws of science. Neither did it possess a steering wheel or handbrake. Surprisingly relieved and happy after what he’d been through, Connor stretched his legs. ‘This is great! I bet this is better than flying in an aeroplane.’

  ‘How’s your head now?’ Deana said loud enough for Sparkie to hear.

  Connor touched his tender head, but he didn’t want Sparkie to get another earache. ‘Fine. No damage done.’

  ‘No, thank goodness. But it says in the code of conduct, to put your passengers first and make sure they know what’s going to happen next.’

  Ignoring Deana’s remarks, Sparkie occupied himself with buttons on the dashboard. He amazed Connor. If someone were nagging him, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else.

  A flat television screen sprung from the middle of the dashboard. The old man twisted a dial and the screen became a virtual reality map, revealing the entire area of the hospital car park, from the viewpoint of a helicopter suspended fifty feet in the air. When all of a sudden, the floor disappeared.

  Connor screamed.

  ‘Sparkie!’ Deana yelled. ‘You must explain to Connor what you’re going to do. You frightened him! Don’t worry, the floor is transparent but still there.’

  ‘Connor, please forgive me. I rarely have passengers to explain my next move. I’ll try to be more considerate and inform you as I go along.’

  Connor grinned. Safe in the company of his friends, he could deal with anything, including a forgetful, old man. He tapped the solid, invisible floor with his foot and leaned forward to peer between his knees at the hospital below. ‘Wow! Can anyone see us?’

  Sparkie laughed. ‘No, we’re partly transparent at the moment.’

  ‘What else does it do?’ Excited, Connor shuffled on the edge of his seat.

  ‘Th
is van is based on a typical spaceship, which I invented. It can fly, hover, float, travel underwater, cross galaxies, become invisible. It can change shape. Its design is based entirely on energy and vibrations. The Mookie Zensa people passed on their advanced knowledge to me.’

  ‘The Mookie Zensa people?’ Connor queried.

  ‘Star-spirits I met a long time ago. Good – K’s coming now,’ announced Sparkie, focussing on the screen. ‘We’d better open the window. We don’t want him slamming into it now, do we?’

  ‘I don’t see anyone.’ Connor squinted, catching sight of a small bird flying with speed towards the van. Sparkie opened the window and the bird fluttered in, flapping its wings and hopped on to the back seat, resting in the rear of the van.

  ‘Excellent work, K,’ Sparkie congratulated him. ‘Well done!’

  The tiny bird was K?

  The bird slowly changed shape. Several loud cracking noises transpired before a young man with short brown hair and dark brown eyes rested in its place. Connor shivered.