The Substitutes: Contract

Our Desires Bend and Break Us

Kyu may have been confident, but as the week unfolded and the pair looked into the Abductor's activities it became more and more apparent that Sam's cynicism was the easier bet. The Ranthe had flopped in through a window and they'd gotten lucky with the Hybrid's hiding place, but the Abductor was a hit and run expert, flitting up and down the country with no discernible pattern. It struck Oxford, Doncaster, Brighton and Ayr in the span of hours, a pattern so cold and undiscriminating of targets as to become completely indecipherable as to where it would strike next. The sole mercy was that it hadn't yet left the country, presumably because it had yet to steal Kyu away when Sam's back was turned. But it was getting closer, as evidenced by the dismantled remains of a neighbour's sports car that were lain out neatly along his front drive like a life-sized model kit ready for assembly.

Investigation on that front was delegated to Kyu and his self-proclaimed alien tracking abilities, as the wailing that had bemused the rest of the neighbourhood had driven the last nail into Sara's willingness to leave the house. Despite Sam's best efforts to keep her from encountering the newest threat, his parents had insisted on staying updated via the evening news. As he'd foreseen, daily exposure to the overflowing number of incidents had put a fear of alien invaders into her that Kyu's most colourful descriptions could not, and it had taken all of Sam's handling tricks to keep her from freaking out at the thought that her beloved knick-knacks, books and games might be snatched up. With an attack on their front door the effectiveness of those platitudes was likely to have diminished, but as he couldn't just give up without at least making an attempt to escort her to school he headed up to her room to perform damage control with crossed fingers. Breathing in a deep wish, he knocked.

"Sara, how's getting dressed coming along? We need to leave in ten minutes."

"Not going!" Came the distressed reply. Sighing, Sam readied himself for negotiations and pushed the door open, finding that Sara had taken her hiding more seriously than he had expected. A blindingly white dome had grown against the far wall, shining pale light on discarded clothes and emptied-out drawers picked clean not by the Abductor but by the terrified girl within the magical seal she'd made for herself.

"When did you put this up?"

"Just now. It's to stop the Abductor."

"This is a bit of an overreaction, don't you think? The Abductor just came around by random chance, it's probably halfway up the country by now."

"Don't care. It'll come back, and I'm not letting it take my stuff. If I go to school I'm giving it a chance."

"And what happens when you get hungry, or need to go to the bathroom?"

There was a long pause, the shimmering prison quivering in tune to the summoner's indecision. That was Sam's best guess, as he couldn't see inside to measure Sara's state of mind.

"You can bring me food. And bottles."

"That's unhygienic and, more importantly, disgusting. If you make a mess you're going to be trapped in there with it."

"Then I'll think of something else. I've got all day and magic powers, I can come up with a plan. You can still go to school. I know how you hate to fall behind."

"I can't go without you, you know that."

"I'm not leaving until the Abductor goes away. You should be glad, now you get a day off. Want to play a game?"

"No Sara, I don't want to play. I've got to tell Mum and the school you won't be attending today." Sam said in an overly resigned tone, hoping she'd pick up on the hint that this wasn't the right way to go about solving the problem.