Chapter 1

 

It was Monday and I was walking to school as normal as any other day. I saw my friend, April, talking to Benny. He’s the coolest boy in the whole school and everybody liked him, even all the teachers. April was my best friend and I was hers but she had a strange relationship with Benny. This seemed strange but it had always been like that, from Kindergarten and upwards. Whenever I was around, Benny would smile nervously and quickly run off to find his friends, Sammy and Jacob. I walked towards them and April and Benny saw me. Benny did his nervous smile, as if he was trying to keep a very important secret which would almost be impossible to resist telling me about it, and he said a quick word to her and hurried off, supposedly to find Sammy or Jacob. I galloped over to April and we began talking together.

“Hey April, what’s Benny been up to recently?” I smiled at her,

“Well… he’s been having some problems recently…” April replied unsurely,

“Okay, let’s go in for class,” I grinned.

 She grinned back and we dawdled in together. Inside we saw Benny and Sammy rummaging inside their lockers. Benny suddenly pulled out a small silver ball with golden wings folded as if it was cross. He chucked in across the corridor to April. She caught it and stuffed it randomly into her locker, hoping that no-one would see. But I wasn’t silly. You couldn’t fool me. Something was going on between these two. And they didn’t want anybody finding out.

“Hey, what was that?” I demanded,

“Um… just something he made for out science project,” she mumbled.

She knew I hardly paid attention in Science but I knew that there wasn’t a project going on but I decided to keep quiet about it.

“Right,” I agreed sarcastically.

April was happy with this answer and she hurried ahead of me to math’s class.

I saw her sitting down at her desk, Benny sitting beside her and myself the other side. Our math’s teacher, Mrs Plum, began drowning on about algebra and how

to work out what the sum adds up to. I almost knew what she was on about, so I mainly focused on what was happening between Benny and April. Something was wrong. I was staring at April and suddenly she turned a light green colour as if she was about to throw up onto her math’s books.

“April Johnson, are you alright; you look a little green?” Mrs Plum asked kindly

“Please may I go to the loo?” April replied, looking even greener than before,

“Yes, of course you can. Jessie, you can go with her,” Mrs Plum agreed hurriedly.

April and I shuffled out and immediately she began stumbling towards the loo with me lolloping behind her.

“Hey April, wait for me!” I called behind her

“Don’t worry about me, Jessie, just go off somewhere!” April called back.

I stopped in my tracks. How come April didn’t want my help? I suddenly blasted into action and charged towards the girl’s loo. Suddenly Miss Lance spotted me running so fast.

“Whoa, slow down Jessie. Anybody would think your running from a fire,”

I stopped,

“Sorry Miss, but April’s feeling sick and needs to go to the loo,” I explained hurriedly.

“Oh, okay. You can go but don’t run at full speed; you could knock someone over,” she smiled kindly at me,

“Thank you, Miss,” I smiled back.

I began jogging into through the toilet door and I heard April making sick noises.

“April, are you sure you’re feeling okay?” I asked her,

“I thought I told you to leave me alone,” April murmured from inside the toilet.

I heard a faint fluttering noise that sounded like a pair of wings being ruffled. I tried to push the door open but April had locked it.

“April, please come out,” I begged her,

“Um… okay,” she whispered.

I heard the lock shift and the door swung open. April was looking as white as chalk.

“Hi,” she whispered.

We walked out of the toilets and everybody was running down the corridor; it was obviously the end of class. Benny stopped and stared at April worriedly.

“Are you okay?” He asked,

“Um… yeah, I s’ppose,” she replied and Benny was whisked away by his mates in the huge crowd of people.

Suddenly the loud booming voice of the Headmaster rang through the long echoing corridors:

“Benny Jackson and April Johnson please report to the office,” Mr. Smith called.

April suddenly raced in the direction Benny had gone, as if she’d never been ill. I began following her but I soon lost my way so I just went to my next class, history. In the lesson, I was told that April had gone home. I’ve never actually been to April’s house. She said it was just a scruffy flat but she’d been round mine so surely I could go round hers. I’d never seen her Mum or Dad. Something was definitely wrong with April. Benny entered the classroom and sat next to Sammy, looking worst than a rain cloud. Everyone stared at him. I continued my lessons and it eventually was time to go home. I noticed Benny walking along the street on his own instead of with his mates. I caught up with him and questioned him eagerly.

“So, why were you and April called to the office?” I asked him annoyingly,

“Um… the Head told us not to tell anybody, it was important business to do with our parents,” Benny tried to explain,

“I’ve never seen April’s parents, thinking about it, I’ve never seen yours either,” I said,

“Um…well, mine are often out, you know leaving me at home, and April’s parents are always… well I don’t know, you’ll have to ask her,” Benny began.

“Okay, have you ever been round hers?” I demanded

“Um… yeah, but it’s really posh and sparkly, almost too clean and bright for anybody. I was only round there because her father and mine work together,” Benny finished and he bustled off hurriedly.

I shrugged and rolled my eyes and I ran home.

 

*  *  *  *

 

I galloped up to my bedroom, James, my little brother, stumbling up the stairs behind me. I slammed the door and collapsed on my pink bed. I pulled my diary out from deep under my bed and began writing about the strange day that I’d had:

 

Dear Diary,

                  Today had been one of the strangest day’s ever, April gone off sick without a single word to me. I’ve had different views about April’s mysterious house; shabby and scruffy from April, and too clean from Benny. Something strange is going on and that’s all I know. But tomorrow I’ll find out more.

 

Jessie

 

Now I had little James banging on the door. I opened it reluctantly.

“Will Jess-jess play with me?” He asked me,

“Okay, little fellow, let’s go and play hide-and-seek,” I suggested.

James was gripping onto his stuffed elephant, Nelly.

“Yes, yes,” He cried,

“Right, you go and hide with Nelly and I’ll count to a hundred,” I smiled sarcastically at him.

He grinned back and I began counting,

“One, two, three, four, five…” I began and James ran away “Six, seven,eight…” I got louder so he could hear me counting.

Finally I heard him waddle down the stairs and I rolled my eyes and wondered back inside my room. I sat reading about mysterious creatures that I got from the local library. I turned the page onto something about Angels and I began reading it:

 

Angels are kind, soft and gentle. They are normally sent to guide or protect someone. There have been sightings of them but nobody actually has any proof that they are real but some people are convinced that they exist. Many stories in the bible contain passages about Angels delivering messages. Angels enemies are the evil demons, they always cause trouble for people and have always been seen as the villain. Angels are often used as statues and decorations for instance on the top of a Christmas tree. To finish, there is no proof that Angels exist but there is no proof that they don’t.

 

Suddenly my mum called for dinner. I stumbled down the stairs and sat down on the chair.

“Where’s James?” Mum asked me,

“Um… he said to me that he was going to hide,” I lied.

Mum called up the stairs.

There wasn’t a sound to be heard.

“Where did he go?” Mum demanded,

“I dunno, he didn’t say,” I lied again, getting worried about all the questions being thrown at me.

Mum stomped up the stairs and began calling his name.

“Jessie, come up here and help me!” She called nervously.

I plodded up; James had probably hidden under the duvet on his bed and Mum was too panicky to notice him. I wondered into James’ large bedroom and, as I expected, there was a huge lump under the duvet. I pulled the covers off him, but it wasn’t him; it was his large teddy stuffed under the covers. I gazed at it in amazement.

I burst back out of the door and began calling desperately.

“James! James, can you hear me?” I shouted.

Of course he didn’t reply, it was pointless calling in the first place.

“Right Mum, let’s go downstairs and eat dinner, hopefully he’ll notice the smell and come racing down,” I suggested

“Good idea,” Mum panted “Let’s go.”

We nervously walked down the stairs, listening for signs of movement. There was nothing. We sat down and began eating. After we finished we began waiting. We’d waited for what seemed to be an age but it was only five minutes before Mum began panicking.

“Where is he? You said he’d smell dinner and come down!” She panicked,

“Mum, it was just a suggestion,” I explained to her.

Suddenly the doorbell went. I rushed to open it, Mum galloping behind me. I opened it. It was Terry. John was my stepfather, or James’ father. I hated him and he hated me back. He wasn’t very fond of little James either, we were all there to serve him. If I answered back he’d chase after me, attempting to whack me, while Mum begged him to stop. He didn’t listen to anybody. He stormed in and collapsed onto the sofa. He switched on the TV and watched, blocking everything else out.

“Um… John dear, we’ve got into a little problem with James,” She explained kindly,

“Has he got stuck in the wardrobe,again?” he guessed lazily,

“Um… no dear, we can’t find him,” Mum corrected.

She would always talk to John in this soft annoying voice, trying not to be whacked by him.

“Oh, you’d better find him then,” he rolled his eyes.

“Um… aren’t you going to help find you little son?” She asked desperately,

“Well, I'm not looking after him so I’m not clearing up your mess; you find him!” Johns houted angrily.

Mum backed away. I was angry with John for shouting at Mum but what use was I?

“Okay dear,” Mum said, “Jessie and I will find him.”

Mum and I began searching the whole house top to bottom, calling James’ name.

“WILL YOU KEEP IT DOWN UP THERE?” John bellowed “I’M TRYING TO WATCH THE NEWS!”

Mum and I didn’t dare to reply, we just called for James quietly instead. We searched and searched but we couldn’t find James anywhere at all.

“Jessie, do you think I should call the police?” Mum whispered,

“Mum! We can’t; John would absolutely go mad!” I whispered urgently back,

“Okay, but it’s nearly seven, he should have been asleep at half past six!” Mum urged,

“Right, let’s wait downstairs, James is bound to come out soon,” I suggested

“Okay let’s do it,” Mum agreed nervously.

We sat down on the kitchen chairs and waited. Nothing happened. The doorbell rang. I raced to get it, Terry, still hypnotized by the screen, and ignored it. I opened it quickly. It was April, with little James holding her hand beside her.

“Hi, I found James in the park, he said he was playing hide-and-seek with you,” She explained.

“Naughty Jess-jess; you didn’t find me,” James bawled and he burst out in tears.

“Come here James,” I said and crouched to give him a hug “Mummy and I have been looking for you all over the house, you’re the naughty one, you’re meant to stay in the house.”

“Oh, never mind,” James replied casually.

I let him run to see Mum and I stared at April.

“What was all the fuss about at school today?” I demanded,

“Oh, I wasn’t feeling well,” April explained, “Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Yeah, I suppose,” I replied “Mum, I’m going out.”
“Okay, love, be back by nine,” Mum smiled at me.

I followed April out towards the park.

 

*  *  *  *

 

We began wondering through, silently.

“Jessie?” April began,

“Yeah?” I said,

“Um… can I trust you?” she asked,

“Well, of course; I’m your best friend and I always have and I always will,” I explained,

“If I tell you my worst secret, will you keep it and still like me?” she asked nervously.

“Yeah, of course, you’re meant to tell best friends your secrets,” I rolled my eyes.

April paused. It was dark, the moon was shimmering. Everything was still, apart from the sound of April’s and my own footsteps. We walked past an unusually large bush and something rustled. I froze.

“What’s up?” April asked,

“There’s something in the bush,” I whispered back.

“Let’s have a look,” She grinned.

We crept towards it nervously, April grinning, myself worrying frantically. April hoped closer and peered in. Immediately she pulled her head out, worryingly.

“What?” I demanded “What’s in there?”

“A family of foxes, do you want to see?” she asked.

I crept forwards. I saw April slightly nod her head. There was a slight twinkle sound for a second and it stopped suddenly.

“What was that?” I questioned,

“Probably the baby foxes,” April smiled.

I knew she was trying to distract me. I pretended to be distracted and I peered into the bush. There were foxes there but something was slightly sparkling in their fur. I knew this wasn’t natural but I didn’t dare question April. I took my head out and April and I continued walking.

“About my secret, I’m…” She took a large breath in “I'm an…”

Suddenly something leaped out of us. I screamed. April froze. We turned round towards my house and we legged it. I heard the thing roar in anger but it didn’t follow. We slammed my front door and I told Mum that April was staying for the night. Mum was too tired to disagree and April phoned her Mum and it was okay for her to stay for the night. She borrowed my bed-clothes and we went out like a couple of lights.

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