‘I’m fine now sir, honest, much better.’ Sam moved to the bed, grabbed the shirt and rolled it into a tight ball so the green patches couldn’t be seen. ‘Must have been something I ate at breakfast.’ He tossed his shirt into the laundry basket in the corner of the room.

  ‘Maybe so,’ Mr Rowe said, ‘but I would feel better if the nurse gave you a quick check. Come on, I’ll walk you down. If the nurse gives you the all clear, you can return to class.’

  ‘Yes sir,’ Sam said. He tucked his clean T-shirt into his black school trousers to avoid detention. Now he would be poked and prodded while his temperature was taken and pulse registered.

  He followed Mr Rowe out of the room. One thought cheered him up; he would miss math class.

  Chapter 12

  The clock struck 11pm. In the dark, two figures silhouetted by moonlight rose, went to the bedroom door, quietly opened it and glanced down the hall. Sam gave Dan the nod. All clear. Slowly and with great trepidation, they edged their way down the stairs and to the front door of their school block, avoiding the random stairs that creaked and groaned with every footfall.

  Outside, clear of the building, they breathed a sigh of relief. It was dark and cool and they both preferred to be in bed, but they had no choice. Today was a close call and if anyone saw them morphing, how would they ever explain it? They’d be poked and prodded and locked away like science experiments for the rest of their lives! They had to practice when no one else was around, and not in their dorm where it might be hard to explain why a cat or crow was in there.

  Bending down low, Sam and Dan raced around to the back of the school. Several paths lead into the forest and they made their way to the nearest one. No school rule forbade entry to the forest at night because no one wanted to go there; it was dark, cold and eerie. Besides, the school was light on rules. Once they were far enough in, Sam grabbed his torch and shone the torchlight along the ground.

  ‘At least there’s enough moonlight tonight so we don’t need to use both torches,’ Dan looked skyward.

  ‘Yeah, the first clearing will do,’ Sam said, leading the way. He stopped after a few minutes. ‘Here. No one can see us.’

  ‘Or would be stupid enough to come here at night, anyway,’ Dan added.

  ‘You got that right,’ Sam agreed. ‘Unless Miss Rose-Lily is going to jump out from behind a tree and tell us that “knowledge is power, my petals” or something like that,’ Sam said, imitating her, and earning a laugh from Dan.

  ‘Okay you first,’ Dan said, and grabbed a pad and pen from his pocket. He pressed a button on his watch to get the stopwatch function. ‘Focus on morphing and as soon as you have morphed, focus on returning to human.’

  Sam laughed.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Kind of weird to focus on being a human,’ Sam said.

  Dan smiled. ‘Yeah, you’d think we’d have that one down by now. I’ll time it, see if we can make it happen faster than last time. Then, we’ll practice saying triggers to each other again and trying not to morph.’

  A loud noise nearby made them both jump and what looked like a bat bustled past.

  ‘Far out!’ Dan shook his head, his heart racing, and they both laughed. ‘Ready?’

  Sam nodded, closed his eyes and concentrated. Within seconds he grabbed onto a tree trunk to steady himself.

  Dan saw a haze forming around Sam and then, nothing.

  Sam opened his eyes and looked at his hands. ‘That didn’t work.’

  Dan reset the stopwatch. ‘Try again.’

  Sam inhaled and closed his eyes. Again, Dan saw a haze form as Sam’s body shape softened. Dan could see the shape of the cat, then it disappeared and Sam was there again. Sam kept his eyes closed this time. Dan watched as the haze came again and hovered for a while before disappearing.

  Sam opened his eyes and looked down at his body. ‘This is cheesing me off!’

  ‘Yeah, don’t lose your cool,’ Dan turned off the stopwatch. ‘We’re here to practice. At least you don’t stay half-half.’

  ‘That’d be freaky,’ Sam agreed. ‘My head with cat paws!’

  ‘Or a cat head on your body. Gross!’ Dan reset the stopwatch. They heard another sound nearby and stopped to listen. Nothing. After a few minutes, they started again.

  ‘Why don’t you sit down? Maybe standing is too hard,’ Dan suggested.

  Sam shrugged, sat on the ground and crossed his legs.

  ‘Are you feeling anything?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I’m getting the start of the tingles and the dizzy feeling but it is really weak,’ Sam sighed, closed his eyes, shuffled a bit and inhaled. ‘Right, I’m going to do it this time,’ he told himself. ‘I’d run, but it is too dark, I’d probably hit a tree.’

  Dan set the stopwatch again. ‘Ready when you are.’

  This time, it was quicker. Dan’s eyes widened as the haze became more shimmery and as Sam became less distinct, the cat was prominent. Dan glanced at the stopwatch. And then, Sam was gone. The black cat sat in Sam’s place.

  Ten seconds!

  ‘Good job!’ Dan said to the black cat. ‘Now, morph back.’

  The cat circled the tree trunk and within a minute a soft haze filled the air and Sam had returned.

  ‘Wow!’ Dan exclaimed. ‘That was seriously good. You did that in forty-five seconds all up.’

  Dan and Sam high-fived in the air.

  Sam grinned, swayed and steadied himself against a tree trunk. ‘This would be such a great power if we can control it,’ he coughed, and spat out some cat hair. ‘It still freaks me out that feeling, even though we know what to expect, it’s just weird.’

  ‘What were you thinking, you know, to make it happen so fast?’

  Sam looked sheepish. ‘I thought about milk.’

  Dan grinned. ‘And what about when you morphed back?’

  ‘Ah… I’m not telling,’ Sam said.

  ‘Ah, your girlfriend,’ Dan teased.

  Sam brushed himself off and leaves scattered to the forest floor. ‘She’s not my girlfriend. But it would be alright if she was,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, they’re both okay,’ Dan agreed, thinking about the twins.

  ‘Your turn,’ Sam reached for the watch.

  Dan cleared the stopwatch back to zero and handed it to Sam, along with his pen and notebook. He swapped positions with Sam, and sat on the ground, leaning back against the tree.

  With the torch off and relying on moonlight only, you could barely see the two of them in their black gear against the dark backdrop of the forest. Their eyes had adjusted enough to make out each other but Sam noticed the difference after coming back from having brilliant ‘cat sight’. He blinked to readjust.

  ‘Good luck!’ he said.

  ‘Yeah, thanks.’ Dan closed his eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened. After a minute, he opened his eyes.

  ‘It is not working!’ Dan complained.

  ‘That was only a minute,’ Sam said, resetting the stopwatch. ‘Try again.’

  Dan placed his hands on his knees, closed his eyes and frowned. After what seemed like ages, Dan opened his eyes again.

  ‘Nothing is happening. I can’t do this,’ Dan freaked out.

  ‘Chill,’ Sam said. ‘You are trying to beat my timing. This time you could be slower, next time I might be, we don’t know,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Just do it when you are ready. Maybe try to listen to some noises around… you know, like getting back to nature.’

  Dan nodded. ‘Yeah, okay, good idea.’ He closed his eyes and sat still.

  *****

  Emma leaned up to the top bunk above her and tapped her twin sister on the shoulder. Chloe jerked awake and looked down at Emma.

  ‘What? Is it time to get up already? Wow, that was the quickest night ever,’ Chloe said, and groaned.

  ‘No silly, we’ve only been in bed for an hour.’

  ‘Then why did you wake me,’ Chloe said, now in a cranky mood. She rolled over to look down on her twin sister. ‘Are you not sleeping again?’

  Emma nodded.

  ‘So, the lettuce and carrots didn’t work?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘No, well, maybe. Maybe I would be worse without them! The articles I found online definitely said they are supposed to help you relax and make you sleep, but all I can think about is winning that art award.’

  Chloe looked down on her sister. ‘I’d love you to win too. We could have four weeks in Europe while you painted. That would be so cool if we were allowed to go; I could take some brilliant photos. But…’

  Emma swung her legs out of her bed, rose, and went to the bedroom window. ‘But?’ she asked her sister.

  ‘You can’t let this competition stress you out, Em. It doesn’t matter if you win or if you don’t. You’re still a brilliant artist.’

  Emma smiled. ‘Thanks.’

  Chloe continued. ‘We can’t get stressed again, we don’t have to be worried about being the best anymore. Siggy said so.’

  Emma nodded. The twins were at Weatherly Heights for a strange reason – they were super-stressed. Their parents were concert pianists and the family had lived in Paris. The pressure on Emma and Chloe to be good at the piano was so extreme that they both had started to crack… coming home from school with headaches, not eating, not wanting to leave their room, hating piano practice. Finally, the doctor suggested to their parents that they needed to let Emma and Chloe find their own talents. With their parents touring regularly in the orchestra, the girls ‘won’ scholarships to Weatherly Heights. But the weird thing was, they didn’t win music scholarships, they won what Siggy called ‘talent’ scholarships. Siggy included in the terms of their contract that they weren’t allowed to play any musical instrument unless they wanted to do so. It was probably the only scholarship in the world where you were not supposed to do what you were best at! Siggy got it.

  Instead, the scholarship stipulated they must find a passion they love, and hence Emma found art and Chloe found photography. But now and then, their old stress habits surfaced and they had to remember that there was no pressure anymore. They didn’t have to be the best artist or best photographer. The carrots and lettuce were supposed to help chill them out and help them sleep because of all the vitamins. They had done their research and Emma was sure it would help them if they relapsed.

  Emma turned back to the window. ‘You’re right. It’s just a competition and I have to remember it is supposed to be fun to be in it.’

  ‘Exactly!’ Chloe agreed.

  Emma stood up straight. ‘Hey, I just saw a light in the forest.’

  Chloe dropped from the top bunk and went to join her sister at the window. ‘Where?’

  Emma pointed in the direction and they watched, trying to catch it again but nothing happened.

  ‘Maybe someone had a torch on and turned it off,’ Emma suggested.

  ‘Want to go see?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘No way!’ Emma’s eyes were huge. ‘I’m not going out there at night. Don’t be crazy.’

  They watched the area again for a while and then Chloe gasped.

  ‘Is that Mr Rowe out there?’ she said.

  ‘It is!’ Emma agreed. ‘What is he doing going into the forest?’

  They stepped back behind their curtains to stay a little more out of sight and kept their eyes on the forest, waiting to see what happened next.

  Chapter 13

  Sam reset the stopwatch. After a few minutes with nothing happening, Sam looked around while he waited for Dan to morph. It was deathly quiet in the bush, the silence broken by the occasional sound of something scampering in the bush, some kind of wildlife.

  Suddenly, Sam felt a slight movement in the air. He looked back at Dan; the surrounding haze was forming. Dan’s wings were forming. He could see them fully now; a merger of Dan’s human form and the black crow. Dan contracted, shrinking… the morphing seemed to be in slow motion, and finally, Dan transcended completely into bird form.

  The black crow flapped its wings and flew to the branch above Sam.

  ‘Good job,’ Sam looked up at him and grinned. He stopped the watch and noted down the time. It had taken a good four minutes, but that wasn’t bad given they were just practising control. ‘Okay, morph back when you are ready,’ Sam said, and reset the stopwatch.

  Dan morphed in a matter of seconds, falling to the ground with a thud.

  ‘Yeah, show off,’ Sam said, with a grin. ‘Four-minutes-twenty-seconds all up, good stuff.’

  They practised another two times each, both times improving slightly. On Sam’s third try, something happened. Instead of morphing back, the black cat bolted past Dan deep into the forest, leaving Dan alone.

  ‘Sam,’ Dan called, as he watched him run off. ‘What the—?’

  Dan looked around. It was eerily quiet and dark.

  ‘Sam,’ he hissed, ‘what are you doing? This is not the time to be funny!’

  There was no sound at all.

  ‘Great! I love being in the forest by myself at night.’ Dan muttered, as he kept the stopwatch going. I guess I can morph if things get hairy, he realised. He tried to keep calm, but every sound seemed magnified and every shadow looked threatening.

  Dan heard a sound, spun around and saw a dark figure behind him.

  He yelped in alarm.

  ‘Dan! Relax.’ Mr Rowe said. The science teacher stood behind him, holding up his hands in a calming gesture.

  ‘You nearly gave me a heart attack, sir,’ Dan gasped.

  ‘Why are you here? I thought I saw someone heading into the bush from where I was standing on the oval. I like to watch the stars at night.’

  ‘I was just looking for, um, some roots for science class,’ he said.

  ‘By yourself?’ Mr Rowe asked.

  ‘No, Sam’s with me, he was with me. He just morph… uh, has gone ahead… he’s meeting me at the start of the path.’ Dan almost put his foot in it.

  Mr Rowe stared at Dan. Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Dan wondered if Sam was watching from nearby.

  ‘I should go meet him,’ Dan turned to walk back.

  ‘The black cat may be a while yet,’ Mr Rowe said.

  Chapter 14

  Dan froze. He looked back at Mr Rowe who was only just visible amongst the shadows and silhouettes of the trees.

  ‘Sorry sir, what did you say?’ Dan’s heartbeat was as loud as a drum.

  ‘I know, Dan,’ Mr Rowe said. ‘I know all about you and Sam and your, um, animal egos. I saw it happen in the classroom and tonight,’ Mr Rowe said. ‘Perhaps we better talk.’

  Dan continued to stare at Mr Rowe. He didn’t know what to say – whether to keep denying it, make out like Mr Rowe was funny or give up. He didn’t get much choice.

  ‘Come on,’ Mr Rowe said. ‘Let’s wait for Sam.’

  They walked in silence for a few minutes until they reached the start of the path. Dan’s mind was working overtime, racing ahead. He was at a complete loss.

  Where are you Sam when I need you, he thought.

  Dan jumped every time he heard a rustle in the bush. His mind was spinning, trying to work out what to tell Mr Rowe. They waited.

  At last, the black cat came around the corner and morphed. Sam swayed as he stood to full height and regained his balance. He turned to talk to Dan, his eyes widened at the sight of Mr Rowe.

  ‘Mr Rowe!’ he exclaimed, with a glance to Dan. Sam coughed, cleared his throat and spat out a fur ball. Disgusted he wiped his mouth along his sleeve.

  He looked back. Mr Rowe was still there; he hadn’t imagined it.

  ‘Are you okay?’ Mr Rowe asked.

  ‘Yes sir,’ Sam said, with a glance to Dan whose facial expression told him they had been found out. Would they be locked away now? Should they tell Mr Rowe that the experiment came from Siggy’s book which they found? Or should they not say a word like prisoners who have to protect their sources.

  Sam and Dan looked at each other and Dan narrowed his eyes and gave a small shake of his head.

  Sam understood him completely. This was their secret and Mr Rowe would not coerce it from them.

  *****

  The science lab was different at 11.30pm – creepy, quiet and it felt a little dangerous. Sam and Dan sat opposite Mr Rowe in the room in which he taught them every day. It was less than thirty minutes until lights were put out at midnight and Mr Rowe wanted to talk. The building was silent as most students were in bed, but now and then, outside noises crept in – the hooting of owls, the rustle of tree branches against the window.

  ‘Start from the top, Sam,’ Mr Rowe suggested, sitting back in his chair behind a desk out the front of the room and making himself comfortable. Dan and Sam sat in chairs in front of him, looking out of place.

  Sam took a breath and started his story… he kicked Dan under the table, hoping he’d understand that he was going to embellish it a bit in the telling.

  ‘Sir, I can’t tell you the whole story, because we don’t know what happened. It all started when Dan started to make a potion….’ Sam didn’t mention Siggy’s book of Extraordinary Science Potions.

  When he finished, Mr Rowe let out a low whistle.

  ‘It must have been very scary for you two to deal with this all by yourself,’ he said.

  Sam and Dan exchanged looks.

  ‘It’s getting worse though, sir,’ Dan elaborated on Sam’s story. ‘We’re both morphing more often and it is taking longer to recover every time.’

  Mr Rowe glanced at his watch. ‘Okay, here’s what we’ll do. You need to give me the formula to the potion for safekeeping. Once we identify all the ingredients and the process you undertook the first time, we’ll work on an antidote… you know, a potion that will stop the morphing.’

  Sam’s eyes widened in panic.

  ‘I don’t have the formula on me, sir,’ Dan hesitated, buying time so he could talk with Sam about it in private.

 

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