‘Coming, Mrs. Cooke,’ Samantha replied releasing her grip on Flicker. ‘Brendan!’ She exclaimed when she saw him. She was covered in tears down to her neck. ‘Fred, this is my classmate, Brendan. Brendan, this is my brother, Frederick who had been missing for two years!’Fred gave a short laugh. ‘Looks like we meet again, Eriksson.’‘You’ve already met?’ Samantha was beyond surprised.‘Yeah, a while back,’ Fred answered, his grin still spread across his face.‘And you didn’t tell me, Brendan?’ she shrugged in protest. ‘Fred, we’ll catch up later after school, okay?’‘Sure, sis.’‘Coming, Brendan?’ She beckoned him and they both walked into class.‘Our fight isn’t over, Eriksson,’ Thomas whispered in his direction as soon as he sat down.‘You really think I’m scared of you, Bradl

‘I want you to count my inheritance money for me.’ He was proud of himself for using the word “inheritance”. Much more subtle.‘Money?’ she asked, her eyes widening in surprise.He nodded.‘Howard left you money?’ Her eyes continued to widen in bafflement.‘Yes,’ he answered plainly.‘It must be a fortune if you can’t count it yourself, right?’‘That’s why I’m asking you to do it…If you are willing to do it.’‘Wow! I cannot believe you trust me this much but yes…yes, of course I will,’ she nodded her head quickly as if this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.‘I never said I trust you,’ Brendan said coolly, but inwardly he was relieved that she had said yes. ‘I have my own reasons. So, I’ll drop it by your house tomorrow?’‘Yes, yes, tomorrow’s perfect.’ She stood

The bell for recess rang and he headed for the table where he usually sat with Simon in the cafeteria. He was there and so was Owen.‘Don’t even try talking to me,’ Simon began when Brendan sat in front of them.‘I’m not,’ Brendan said maintaining his calm. ‘Has any of you seen Samantha today or did she come into your classroom at all?’ he asked them. Owen had been placed in the same class as Simon.‘Like that’s any of my business,’ Simon responded with spite in his voice.‘Look, just tell me if you did or didn’t, that’s all.’Simon sighed furiously then said, ‘Well, she called me last night. I don’t know how that witch got my number but she did.’‘What did she say?’‘It was distorted, I couldn’t hear it.’‘So you captured not a single word at all?’‘She sounded like she was in trouble

‘He’s just a boy,’ the officer in charge said to the female officer, chuckling in the process. ‘You failed to restrain, a what..? A seventeen or eighteen year old junkie? You are a disgrace, Sergeant Stone.’ In Bradwield, the highest police rank was lieutenant, followed by commissioner then the sergeant and then the corporal and below corporal were the trainees. The sergeant gulped, ‘His flame weapon is what makes him irrepressible, sir.’‘So you’re telling me that with all your guns you were chased away by a seventeen year old junkie who happened to hustle some jeans or a skateboard to get that flamethrower? Humph! Where’s the flamethrower, boy?!’ The officer in charge had resumed communicating with the Flicker through the megaphone.‘What flamethrower?’ The Flicker’s smile had changed to a smirk. His entire body was covered in ash but the crimson of his hair was still noticeable eve

‘That tree won’t save you, Eriksson,’ said the Flicker rubbing his hands together, a little blue still visible from beneath his skin, like a kitchen stove after use. ‘I understand that you have principles, but so do I. You have a good heart. My sister told me all about how badly she treated you…she even wept over it. And you’re still willing to save her all the same. To risk your life for someone that treated you like garbage. Dissed you for being an orphan etcetera. And you helped those people back there, at the bank. I mean, if it wasn’t for you, they’d be toast right now. Literally.’ He shrugged, now getting closer to Brendan’s hiding spot. ‘I guess I can respect those principles, Eriksson. But it doesn’t mean they won’t get you killed some day.’The Flicker began hurling electric spheres at the tree Brendan was hiding behind. The impact of one of these spheres would produce a whip-like sound, ripping a huge amount of the bark and scattering it in many places, progressively de