Connor Clover and the Lost Children (Book 1)

CHAPTER EIGHT

  K the Shape-Shifter

  ‘Wow!’ Connor breathed. ‘Thanks for the rescue.’

  ‘I’m glad you made it!’ K shook Connor’s hand and planted a kiss on Deana’s cheek. ‘How’s my favourite girl?’

  ‘As good as can be expected,’ she blushed. ‘How did it go?’

  ‘Altogether about forty ACE men out of action,’ he briefed her

  ‘I dealt with another five,’ Deana informed him.

  K rummaged in his bag looking for a bottle of water. ‘Good, because they can’t inflict pain where they’ve gone.’

  ‘What will happen to them?’ inquired Connor.

  ‘They’ll get a fair hearing to decide on what level of mind sweeping is required for them to become better citizens.’

  Startled, Connor snapped. ‘You wipe their minds? You can’t mess with people like that! It’s wrong.’

  ‘People have been doing it for centuries. You’ve heard of people being hypnotised, haven’t you?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, it’s a similar thing. It’s a harmless process and an effective way of dealing with traumatic memories. We help people come to terms with grief and pain and help them remember events long since forgotten,’ Deana explained.

  ‘What right do you have to tell someone what they can and can’t remember?’ Connor argued.

  Deana looked at him. ‘Don’t you want to remember your past – to remember the first two years of your life? We can make it happen for you.’

  Connor opened his mouth to say something but closed it again and remained quiet. He’d be a hypocrite to say he didn’t. Of course he wanted to remember.

  Deana continued. ‘I’m a warrior and a nurse. Sometimes I battle for survival and sometimes the people I fight against get hurt. These people have been brainwashed in a sense too. They believe fighting against other star-spirits is a good thing. “Rid the world of threats!” they say.’

  Connor frowned. ‘But the mind sweeping isn’t humane.’

  ‘Isn’t it? Can you imagine witnessing a terrible crime and remembering it day after day? You’d wouldn’t achieve peace of mind. Sometimes intervening and helping people forget is a healing process in itself. Sometimes a person who has done terrible crimes in the past wants a chance to change. Mind sweeping gives a person the opportunity to start again. It can be difficult for someone to change without help. But everyone gets a second chance at the AAA.’

  ‘Oh.’ Connor ran his fingers through his hair. ‘It makes sense now you’ve explained it.’

  ‘Go, get some sleep,’ soothed Deana, before giving orders. ‘Sparkie, recline Connor’s seat so he can relax, – K, grab a pillow from the back for Connor.’ She whispered something to Sparkie. From the glove compartment he grasped a small flask and passed it to her. ‘Drink this. You’ll feel better when you wake.’

  Connor held the flask to his lips and sipped gently. The sweet, juicy liquid quenched his thirst. Being so delicious, he’d consumed the entire contents before he knew it, leaving him sleepier than before.

  His seat slowly reclined backwards. K passed Deana the pillow to place under Connor’s head.

  ‘Are you really half-alien?’ Connor whispered to K.

  ‘Yes. My father is an alien but my mother is human,’ K explained. ‘And because I’m both, I’m mixed.’

  ‘Mixed-up in the head,’ added Sparkie.

  ‘But how is it possible?’ Connor eyelids drooped heavily.

  ‘I’m sure I don’t have to explain to you the ins and outs of the biological process of having a baby,’ K smirked.

  Connor’s face burned with embarrassment. ‘No, of course not.’

  ‘Sleep well, Connor,’ Deana whispered, stroking his head.

  He closed his eyes and drifted off into a world of dreams where his parents were again. But this time he saw other faces near his parents. As he hugged his mum, a teenage girl cried beside her. Between her sobs, she whimpered, ‘Don’t forget me. I’ll always be your sister.’

  More solemn faces came forward to stroke his hair. People were saying goodbye. He had no idea why they were distressed, as strong arms held him securely and took him away from his parents.

  Next a young puppy scampered after him, and since he was held a long way off the ground it suddenly changed into a teenage boy.

  He called the boy’s name. ‘K!’

  Sadly, the boy waved, watching him being taken away.

  He called for his mum, who had collapsed to the ground, heartbroken.

  The crowd watched, but no one came to his assistance as the hairy-faced man with warm, deep-set eyes carried him away. Connor hugged him.

  The dream faded and Connor entered a second dream with a man and a dog. Connor feared for his life and ran home, but they’d followed him. The man had smothered his mouth. He’d been unable to scream. The man had wanted to give him a letter, but they’d been struggle and the man vanished in mid-air and the dog scampered off.

  He dreamt of Deana talking to someone in the kitchen, but when he entered the room she’d been alone. She’d been surprised by the letter. But it hadn’t been an ordinary letter and he had to hold it for several seconds until the words unscrambled. His parent had written it to warn him of danger. A man had come to his house to give him the Starstone.

  Now Connor was alone in his bedroom, with Deana screaming downstairs. Outside his window, little grey men with large, black eyes clambered the walls to his bedroom.

  The Starstone had floated into his body and he’d fallen unconscious. By the time he’d stirred, his window had been smashed and little grey men, wearing hateful expressions, were crawling through it. They were odd creatures with long, rubbery noses. He grasped a bat and whacked them with it as they tried to take him away. He jumped on his bed and repeatedly smacked them. The door burst open and Tookar stood in the doorway, his face glowering.

  ‘Get away from him!’ he yelled, shooting at them with a strange weapon, making them vanish.

  Although Connor had been wounded, he’d suffered no pain. The little creatures had sliced him with their daggers, soaked in blood.

  ‘We’ll have to take him to the hospital!’ she screamed in panic.

  Connor woke with a jolt to see Deana next to him, resting her eyes. Her flowery scent comforted him. With the dreams still fresh in his mind, it took him a few seconds to focus on what had happened.

  K and Sparkie were discussing Tookar’s whereabouts and voicing their concerns.

  ‘Any luck?’ K asked Sparkie.

  ‘No, but I have a terrible feeling something has happened to him. Ley’s go!’

  ‘What about Connor? It’s not safe for him,’ K reminded him.

  ‘Is anywhere safe for the poor child at the moment? At least he has us to protect him.’

  Connor perked up. ‘What’s going on?’

  K spun round. ‘Hey – how are you?’

  ‘Okay, thanks. How long did I asleep for?’

  ‘Half an hour.’ Yawning, Deana stretched and touched Connor’s forehead. She smiled with relief. ‘Good. Your temperature is back to normal.’

  ‘I know what happened. I remember everything?’

  ‘The drink we gave you helped to relax you so you’d start remembering again. Someone opened a portal from Dramian to your home. They were after the Starstone.’

  ‘I guessed as much,’ murmured Connor. ‘But didn’t those rock dwellers cut me with daggers?’

  ‘Yes, they were vicious little blighters.’

  ‘But I don’t have any knife wounds on my body. I don’t have any wounds.’

  ‘Tookar used his healing ointment to close your wounds before you lost any more blood. We washed your body and changed your clothes before taking you to the hospital so they didn’t get too suspicious.’

  ‘You washed me!’ Connor recoiled.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ smirked Deana. ‘I’m a nurse. It’s my job!’

  Easier said than done. ‘I dreamt of you too, K.’


  ‘Me?’ K smirked.

  ‘Poor lad. It must’ve been a nightmare,’ added Sparkie.

  ‘I remember saying goodbye to you and you’d shape-shifted into a puppy.’

  K’s face paled. ‘I can’t believe you remembered something from so long ago. We’d play together.’ His eyes softened. ‘When you were a little kid you insisted I change my shape before we played. When you were living with your parents you came to visit me, with your sis...’ K quickly broke off, glancing nervously at Deana, who shaked her head.

  ‘My sister,’ finished Connor. ‘I dreamt of her too. I can’t believe I’ve a sister. Why hasn’t anyone mentioned her to me as yet? Is she dead?’

  It became uncomfortably quiet.

  ‘Well – is she?’ Connor persisted, glancing from one face to another. ‘Tell me!’

  Deana spoke. ‘She’s alive and well, but we’ve had strict instructions to keep her identity secret in case Definastine became aware of her. If he knew you had a sister he might want to blackmail you. If he ever kidnapped her he’d place you in a position to rescue her. We can’t afford to let that happen. You’re too important.’

  ‘What is she like? And do I have any other brothers or sisters?’

  Deana carried on. ‘No, but your sister is a fabulous person.’

  K smirked. ‘She reminds me of you, as she’s brave and misses you.’

  Like the luckiest boy alive, Connor smiled in disbelief for he had a sister, plus he hadn’t been abandoned. Giving him up had broken his mum and dad’s heart. A glimmer of hope grew; perhaps he’d be reunited with his family.

  ‘I’ve been helping Tookar watch you for some time now,’ said K.

  ‘You have?’ Connor’s nose puckered.

  ‘Tookar would be invisible while watching you from time to time. I’d sometimes go with him. I remember him being good at dealing with nasty little boys who picked on you. He’d trip them so they fell into a nice dirty puddle.’

  ‘Tookar did that?’ Something unfavourable would often happen to anyone bullying him. He had developed a reputation of sorts. For this reason he ‘d been bullied less often.

  ‘Tookar also saved you when a speeding car almost knocked into you. He pushed you, saving your life.’

  Connor’s face paled. He recalled the incident with clarity, as he’d spent many sleepless nights thinking of it. And no matter how hard he tried to make sense of it, he still remembered two hands pushing him to safety. It had spooked him for weeks for the car had missed him by inches.

  ‘So how long have you been watching me?’ queried Connor.

  ‘We weren’t watching you all the time.’

  ‘How long?’

  ‘A few years,’ K confessed.

  ‘How many years?’

  ‘Oh, for goodness sake, tell him the truth!’ snapped Deana.

  ‘Most of your life,’ whispered K.

  Connor recalled the time he had tripped down the stairs at school and had sworn someone had took hold of his arm, but he’d been alone.

  ‘So I wasn’t imagining it. Why you and Tookar?’

  ‘You were my best friend. I didn’t want to lose contact with you,’ K confessed. ‘And Tookar kept his promise to a friend – to watch over you as a guardian angel.’

  ‘He did?’ whispered Connor, feeling guilty for being rude to Tookar before.

  ‘By the way, Connor had the pleasure of meeting Definastine tonight,’ Sparkie mentioned.

  ‘No! What happened? Were you hurt? Did he say anything to you? How did you get away? Why didn’t anyone tell me?’

  ‘We’ve been concerned about Tookar!’ answered Sparkie.

  Connor laughed.

  ‘He might’ve killed you!’ gasped K.

  ‘But he didn’t,’ Deana reminded him.

  ‘So. What happened?’

  ‘This creature stepped though the wall, took one look at Deana and she collapsed on the ground.’

  K whitened. ‘Were you hurt?’

  ‘Don’t fuss. I’m fine. Connor was the hero.’

  Connor talked non-stop to his friends, his fear long forgotten. ‘He tried to take the Starstone from my stomach but my body became so strong. He dropped me after Deana knocked him on the head with something. Then we ran for our lives.’

  ‘He wants the Starstone. It’s amazing Tookar kept it secret for as long as he did,’ muttered Sparkie.

  ‘What’s the Starstone?’ Connor yearned to know more about it.

  ‘It’s an intelligent alien life form. In the past two thousand years, Tookar has been stranded on this planet it hadn’t chosen anyone until you came along.’

  ‘Stranded for two thousand years!’ gasped Connor. ‘But why didn’t you take him back in this van?’

  ‘Impossible! As long as Tookar is Guardian of the Starstone, the Tinxshians are in grave danger. Tookar left his planet to hide with the Starstone. In doing so, he’s protecting his people. When his spacecraft crashed to earth, Tookar remained.’

  ‘But why did it choose me? And why do you suppose Definastine kidnapped my aunt and uncle?’

  ‘It’s blackmail. He wants to capture you by using your aunt and uncle as bait to snare you. But don’t worry. I can rescue them. I’ve tracked them to a secret underground hideout used by Definastine’s servants. And to answer your first question, I don’t know. I suspect fate has something to do with it. Are you strapped in?’

  ‘No!’ yelled Deana.

  Taking a silver pen from his trouser pocket, Sparkie traced a route on the screen. They moved with lightning speed, the view outside blurred.

  ‘Right. Are you ready? We’re going to use the transporter.’

  ‘Yes,’ rang a chorus of voices.

  He pressed the button and the van gave a little shuddered. Sparkie undid his seat belt and unlocked his door.

  Connor wriggled in his seat. ‘Has it broken?’

  Sparkie choked. ‘No, we’ve been transported to the woods near Tookar’s cottage.’

  ‘What! Impossible!’ Connor gasped in disbelief.

  ‘Learn to believe in the impossible and you’ll learn to live. This van has an auto driver mechanism. Once you give it the information it requires, such as the place we want to go and how we wish to travel it will move on automatic pilot. The screen is the brain of this van. This small screen shows me more than looking through an ordinary car windscreen. As you are aware this van can disappear,’ Sparkie explained. ‘It can travel on roads, in the air, beneath water, or underground. It depends how urgent my destination is. Anyway, enough time has been wasted.’

  Stepping from the vehicle, Sparkie gasped. The others hurried to join him, gaping too. In front of them, a building burned with smoke pouring thickly into the air, and flames tearing into the night. Shadows in the woods flickered and danced in the furious blaze.

  ‘Oh my. Oh my,’ Sparkie repeated. ‘This can’t be true.’

  ‘They found his home!’ panicked Deana.

  ‘But hopefully not him,’ muttered Sparkie.

  In silence they watched as the flames rose higher. Amidst the snapping and crackling of burning material, a siren wailed in the distance.

  ‘This is terrible,’ gasped Deana, her eyes searching for any sign of Tookar. ‘I wonder where he is now.’

  ‘Who did this?’ asked Connor.

  ‘Definastine’s servants.’ Sparkie spat the words as if they tasted foul and stroked his fingers through his tufts of hair.

  A few trees bordering the edge of the garden were smouldering. The bark had blackened and smouldered. Approaching sirens filled the smoke thickened night.

  ‘Where now?’ Connor eyes stung.

  Sparkie coughed to clear his throat. ‘Why, to find Tookar of course.’