Classroom Demons Read online

  ‘Oh, so it’s all my fault we’re losing, is it?’

  Cherry didn’t even bother to answer.

  House and Inchy looked on from the goal. Inchy’s face was well spattered with mud. House, however, was completely covered. The one part of him that was clear of the gooey sludge was his eyes, but only because he’d just wiped them.

  ‘We need Alex,’ said House.

  ‘No, we need a miracle,’ replied Inchy.

  ‘But playing one man down is just totally unfair.’

  ‘It’s what Dante’s best at, I reckon.’

  Dante’s voice echoed across the pitch: ‘Foul! Free kick!’

  Cheers rang out from the sidelines. It was a horrible sound. Back at Cloud Nine, everyone used to cheer for their team, The Wingers, but here it seemed like they were the least popular team ever.

  ‘Foul? What foul?’ asked House, turning. ‘We weren’t even playing!’

  Dante strode towards them.

  ‘You!’ he yelled, pointing at one of the other team.

  A large gorilla‐like boy lolloped towards them.

  ‘Take the free kick here,’ Dante commanded, handing the ball to the boy.

  ‘But there wasn’t a –’

  Before House had a chance to finish, the boy passed the ball towards one of his team‐mates. Cherry sprinted to intercept, but another of their opponents stuck out a leg, tripping her up.

  ‘Foul!’ she screamed. ‘That was a foul!’

  ‘Play on,’ said Dante.

  ‘No diving!’ shrieked one of the tall girls who had insulted Cherry on the gang’s first day at school. ‘Get up, chubby!’

  Thundering towards the angels’ goal, one of the Crows niftily nutmegged House and smashed the ball past Inchy into the back of the net.

  ‘Great goal, Jackson!’ bellowed Dante, blowing his whistle sharply. ‘That’s full time! The Black Crows win, six–two!’

  The crowd went wild. Whooping, the Crows rushed off towards the changing rooms, exchanging high‐fives. Dante strode after them, ignoring Cherry, who was still sprawled in the mud, nursing her ankle.

  Spit jogged over and held out his hand.

  ‘I’m fine,’ said Cherry, pushing him away, ‘I’m fine.’

  House and Inchy joined them.

  ‘I think we’ve lost,’ said Inchy.

  ‘We lost even before we came on the pitch,’ said Spit.

  ‘Well, it’s not like you did anything to help, is it?’ hissed Cherry. ‘You might as well have been on their side – you played like a total muppet.’

  Spit opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted.

  ‘Look!’ cried House, pointing towards the school.

  The gang turned to see a figure charging across the grass towards them.

  ‘It’s Alex,’ said Inchy. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen him run so fast. What do you think he’s done now? Blown up the headmaster’s office?’

  Alex skidded across the grass and landed in a pile at their feet. A few of the kids still hanging around on the touchline hooted with laughter.

  ‘What’s up?’ asked Cherry. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

  ‘We lost, by the way,’ said Spit.

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ puffed Alex. ‘Not now. Not after what I found.’

  ‘Dante’s a demon, then?’ asked Inchy.

  ‘Worse,’ said Alex. ‘A lot, lot worse. He locked me in a cupboard with this secret room behind it. There was this freaky chair, and four candles –’

  ‘Was the chair covered in lots of sharp, spiky stuff, like it was supposed to cut you?’ asked Spit.

  Alex nodded.

  ‘I’ve read about them. It’s a Weeping Chair.’

  ‘What’s a Weeping Chair?’ asked Cherry, although she suspected she didn’t want to hear the answer.

  ‘Demons use them to contact each other. The demon has to sit on their chair so that the sharp bits cut into them – their blood acts like a phone line. The chair weeps their blood, so it’s called a Weeping Chair.’

  ‘That’s sick,’ said Inchy.

  ‘That’s demons,’ replied Spit. ‘And the four candles above the chair tell us exactly what sort we’re dealing with – a Level Four Fire Demon.’

  ‘We’re dead,’ whispered House. ‘We are so dead.’

  ‘What else did you find, Alex?’ asked Cherry.

  The blond angel was silent for a moment. He tried to speak, but his voice was stuck in his throat.

  ‘What was it?’ asked Spit. ‘What did you see?’

  ‘A soul,’ said Alex finally, his voice cracking. ‘I found a trapped soul.’

  10

  Council of War

  Midnight, and the whole gang was back in the shed at the bottom of the garden, huddled up in their warmest clothes to keep out the cool night air. Despite their disagreements on the football pitch, they each knew that what Alex had discovered was much more important. Dante was a demon. Unquestionably. Now they had to work together to figure out what to do about it. Silently, they racked their brains for any hint of an idea that might help them. Seconds stretched into minutes. Finally, a voice pierced the silence.

  ‘Who’s got the biscuits?’

  ‘You what?’ said Cherry disbelievingly.

  ‘Biscuits,’ repeated Big House. ‘I’m hungry.’

  ‘How can you think about your stomach at a time like this?’ asked Inchy.

  ‘It’s difficult to miss, really, isn’t it?’ grinned Spit, poking House in the tummy.

  ‘Well, we can’t work out how to save the world from an insane demon on empty stomachs, can we?’

  Alex smiled and held out a plastic bag.

  ‘Here you go, mate.’

  House took the bag and moments later was passing around not only biscuits, but crisps and cans of lemonade.

  ‘Right,’ said Alex with a deep breath. ‘It’s time to take Dante down.’

  ‘What, just like that?’ grumbled Spit. ‘Five not‐quite angels against a Level Four Fire Demon?’

  He laughed coldly, shaking his head.

  ‘What is your problem?’ asked House, finishing his third packet of crisps. ‘Scared?’

  Spit turned to face him.

  ‘Of a Level Four Demon? You bet I’m scared. Only an idiot wouldn’t be. Which explains why you’re not.’

  ‘Taking on a Level Four does sound insane,’ admitted Inchy, ‘but what choice do we have?’

  ‘Quite an obvious one, really,’ said Spit. ‘We don’t do anything.’

  ‘Are you ill?’ asked Cherry.

  Spit ignored her.

  ‘And what about what Alex saw?’ spluttered House. ‘What kind of monster keeps a chair made of razor blades and a soul trapped in a box? We can’t just ignore that – we’ve got to do something!’

  ‘This isn’t some fun adventure, you idiot, this is serious! If Dante’s a Level Four, then we’re dead! Don’t you get it? Finito! Game over!’

  ‘Shouting at House isn’t going to help, is it?’ interrupted Cherry. ‘So why don’t you do something more useful, like shutting up?’

  The conversation exploded.

  ‘Oh, so you think you can take on a Level Four, do you?’

  ‘Well, at least I’d try!’

  ‘What good’s trying if you end up dead?’

  ‘Go boil your head!’

  ‘Only if you fry yours first!’

  Alex watched his friends screaming at each other and knew it was time to play his trump card.

  A heavy thud silenced the argument. Four pairs of eyes turned to stare at what was now sitting on the box in the middle of the shed. Alex folded his arms and waited.

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Cherry.

  ‘It can’t be,’ said Inchy.

  ‘It is.’

  House took a step forward.

  ‘It’s a book,’ he said.

  ‘Not just any book,’ said Spit, looking straight at Alex. ‘Why didn’t you say you had this?’

  ‘You
didn’t give me a chance,’ Alex replied. ‘Besides, you’d probably have started shouting at me about what an idiot I was to nick it.’

  ‘You’ve got a point,’ said Inchy, ‘although perhaps suicidal idiot would be more accurate.’

  ‘But it’s just a book,’ said Cherry. ‘What’s the big deal?’

  His pale face whiter than ever, Spit gingerly reached out his hand, almost as though he was afraid the book was red hot.

  ‘If Dante finds out you’ve got this…’

  ‘When Dante finds out we’ve got this,’ corrected Inchy, shaking his head, ‘he’s going to know we’re on to him.’

  ‘He might not notice for ages,’ protested Alex. ‘I closed the secret door on my way out. He knows I picked the lock of the cupboard to get away, so I’m going to be in big trouble on Monday, but that doesn’t mean he knows I found the hidden room.’

  ‘And it’s only a book, anyway,’ repeated House. ‘Just a big book with a black cover and no title. What are you worrying about?’

  ‘Watch,’ said Alex, and he picked up a candle and touched the flame to the book.

  A flash seared through the shed, making everyone gasp. For a few moments, no one could see. Then, as the glare faded, each of them stared at the book.

  Etched into the black cover sat the number 666 – and from each figure, flames licked high into the air.

  ‘You have got to be joking,’ breathed Cherry.

  ‘I don’t hear anyone laughing,’ said Inchy.

  Alex looked at Spit, who threw up his hands. ‘Well, everyone, we are now the proud, soon‐to‐be‐dead owners of a Necronomicon.’

  ‘Necro what?’ asked House.

  ‘Necronomicon. Otherwise known as The Book of the Dead,’ said Inchy, leafing through his mental library. ‘It’s written by people who are dead to everything except darkness. It’s full of terrible dark rites and rituals, instructions for making monsters, zombies and other icky stuff.’

  House looked horrified.

  ‘And I thought the worst book I’d ever come across was Intermediate Maths.’

  The discussion of ‘What To Do About Dante’ went round and round in circles and long into the night. Inchy suggested hacking into the school computer system to see if they could discover what he was up to by following him on CCTV. House’s idea was more simple. It involved creeping up behind Dante, hitting him on the head with a big piece of wood, then dragging him before the Council of Heaven. Eventually it was Cherry who came up with the only plan that actually made any sense at all.

  ‘It’s the best way,’ she said, looking at the rest of the gang. ‘We already know what’s behind the cupboard in Dante’s office, thanks to Alex. And we now know that Dante’s a demon. What we don’t know is why Demon Dante was in the cellar – or who he was with. Maybe if we find that out, we’ll know exactly what he’s up to. Then we can do something about it.’

  ‘So what do you suggest?’ asked Spit.

  ‘We go back to the cellar. That’s where the answer is.’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Inchy, sounding nervous. ‘Couldn’t we just give hacking into the computers a go?’

  ‘I’m with Cherry on this,’ said Alex. ‘We need to know if Dante is planning something. It could be putting the whole school in danger. And the best lead we’ve got is what you saw in the cellar, Inchy.’

  ‘I know. That’s what scares me.’

  Alex stood up.

  ‘It’s too risky to try it while we’re at school. Too many people around – and Dante might drop in as well. We’ll sneak in there tomorrow night when the place is empty, suss out the cellar, then sneak away again. No one will ever know we were there.’

  Spit grimaced.

  ‘You make it sound so easy.’

  ‘It’s a gift,’ grinned Alex. ‘Anyone got any better ideas?’

  He was answered with silence.

  ‘That’s it, then. Tomorrow night it is.’

  11

  Into the Dark

  It was just past midnight and the gang were huddled against the playground wall. Getting past Tabbris had been more tricky than they had anticipated – the old Guardian Angel might have retired from Special Operations, but his instincts were still surprisingly sharp. He had nearly caught them as they sneaked down the hall, almost as if he could sense that something was wrong.

  Luckily, the gang were able to duck into the shadows and crouch, holding their breath, until Tabbris limped back into the living room, where he was listening to one of his old vinyl gramophone records of marching music.

  Finally, they had managed to sneak through the front door, leaving it on the latch. Now all they had to do was get into the school.

  ‘So how do we get in? I do hope we haven’t come all this way only to discover that we’re shut out.’

  The tone of Spit’s voice suggested he hoped exactly the opposite.

  ‘I left one of the windows open in the toilets.’

  ‘But the caretaker might’ve locked it again?’ asked Cherry hopefully.

  ‘Well,’ said Alex, a grin sneaking across his face, ‘I say “left it open”, but I guess a more accurate description would be that I sort of broke the lock.’

  ‘That’s vandalism,’ said Inchy.

  ‘That’s forward thinking. Come on; this way.’ Before anyone had a chance to reply, Alex scampered off towards the school building.

  A couple of minutes later, the gang were in a corner of the playground, underneath the window to the boys’ toilet. Shadows were playing chase on the walls as dark smoky clouds drifted silently across a crescent moon. A faint breeze danced in the air, kicking up bits of litter and rustling branches, carrying with it strange sounds from far off.

  ‘Can’t say I like this,’ said Inchy.

  ‘What’s not to like?’ replied Spit with a curl of his lip. ‘The dark? The cold? The fact that we’re about to break into school in the middle of the night to try and discover what a Level Four Demon is playing at in the cellar? You mean this isn’t your idea of fun?’

  Inchy didn’t bother to reply.

  ‘Smells a bit,’ observed Cherry, sniffing. ‘You sure there isn’t another way in?’

  ‘Not that I know of,’ said Alex. Tapping House on the shoulder, he added, ‘Give us a leg‐up.’

  House leaned forward, grabbed Alex’s foot and launched him up the wall. With a smack, Alex’s head cracked on the stone window ledge.

  ‘Sorry.’

  ‘A bit less of a leg‐up,’ winced Alex, rubbing his head.

  More carefully this time, House boosted Alex up to the window above. With a push, it swung open and Alex wriggled in.

  ‘Who’s next?’ asked House, rubbing his hands together.

  The others glanced at each other nervously.

  ‘Ladies first,’ said Spit.

  Cherry, then Inchy and finally Spit all followed Alex in through the window. Last, but by no means least, House leapt up, grabbed the window frame and hauled himself on to the window ledge. Textbook stuff. He was pretty proud of the way he’d remembered everything he’d read about scaling walls in his Guardian Angel manual.

  What he wasn’t so proud of was the way he then jumped inside, only to land with his left foot in a toilet.

  ‘Classy,’ said Spit. ‘Smooth, professional – talented even. I’d probably give you, ooh, eight out of ten for technique and two out of ten for artistic impression.’

  One look from House was enough to wipe the smirk off Spit’s face as he shook his foot free, dripping water across the floor.

  Alex was already by the toilet door, his torch spreading a path of light down the hallway outside.

  ‘Ready?’

  Before anyone could back out, Alex was off. The rest of the gang followed, House squelching behind them.

  ‘Can you hear that rattling?’ whispered Inchy.

  Beside him Cherry strained to listen.

  ‘There’s nothing there. I can’t hear a thing.’

  ‘You must be able to,�
�� replied Inchy. ‘It’s a sort of scratching…’

  ‘What, like the sound of demon claws dragging along the floor?’ suggested Spit.

  ‘I’m serious,’ said Inchy. ‘There’s something over there, I’m sure of it.’

  The gang had been trying to ignore the strange sounds the school was making in the dark. Inchy wasn’t exactly helping.

  ‘Will you shut up?’ hissed Cherry. ‘It’s creepy enough without you hearing things!’

  ‘And why’s it so warm?’ asked House, his forehead beaded with sweat.

  ‘The heating must still be on,’ said Alex, leading the gang ever closer to the cellar.

  ‘That doesn’t make sense. Why would the heating be on at night?’

  ‘How should I know?’ said Alex. ‘But it is; this radiator’s boiling.’

  A rattle echoed down the hall.

  ‘See?’ said Inchy. ‘That’s the rattle I was talking about! It’s the pipes.’

  ‘How about we shove you in to find out what it is, then?’ said Spit with an evil grin.

  ‘Erm, I wouldn’t fit,’ said Inchy, backing away nervously.

  ‘Are you sure about that?’

  Inchy thought better of making a smart reply.

  ‘Probably just rats. That’ll be it…’ His voice trailed off. ‘We’re here!’

  Everyone peered forward and, sure enough, just ahead lay a small door. It didn’t look much like the kind of door behind which a demon would hide. But then again, Dante’s cupboard had seemed innocent enough at first.

  Inchy reached out, turned the door handle and pushed. Without a sound, the door swung open, as if inviting them into the darkness beyond.

  The gang walked in single file down a narrow stair, each step taking them further and further into the unknown. And the further they went, the warmer it became.

  ‘Do you have to walk so close to me?’ hissed Cherry.

  ‘Do you have to walk so slowly?’ replied House.

  ‘I’m not walking slowly, I’m just being careful.’

  House didn’t reply. Instead, he lost his footing on the edge of the next step and slipped, taking Cherry with him.

  Then Alex.

  And finally – with a yelp – Inchy.

  ‘Well, it’s a good job we’re all being so quiet,’ said Spit, standing at the rear. ‘Otherwise Dante might hear us coming.’