Life Swap

The Monster

"Sorry...this wasn't my idea," Kelly/Olivia sighed, as we settled in her bedroom in a house in the middle of Reigate. Mum, as in Mrs Hoyte-Hughes, had invited Louise and me over for a 'play' as she described it, on the Saturday morning. Louise was obviously thought of as an old friend of Kelly's, although Auntie Jenny was aware that there had been some problems just before Lou transferred to Deepdene, and Mum was clearly trying to help Kelly/Olivia settle in at school, by making some friends or reconnecting with old ones, partly because she seemed to like mum and partly because of Kelly. My inclusion in the invitation seemed to be at least partially based on the fact that Kelly had helped me survive the infamous rampage. Not that it bothered me, because visiting Professor Hoyte's house was too good an opportunity to miss as far as I was concerned. Kelly/Olivia had not really had a chance to hunt for the diary according to her, but with the three of us there, I hoped that we might have better luck. Louise was less keen on things, of course. Although she wanted to help me, she really did not like Kelly/Olivia at all, and she was not playing nicely as a result.

"Haven't you made any friends in your class?" Lou asked, plainly making conversation. She was perched on the single bed, next to me, whilst Kelly was sitting on a chair at what was quite clearly her homework desk. It was quite a nice room, although it was painted pink, which I was sure was not her choice. And all of my posters from my old room, at the old house, were long gone.

"I talk to a couple of them..." Kelly/Olivia shrugged, but I was so not in the mood for small talk, and jumped right in between them, before they started to bicker.

"Is he here?" I enquired, because we had only seen Mum downstairs. She had taken our coats in the hall and sent us upstairs, before taking Auntie Jenny through into her kitchen for a cup of coffee. Normal stuff, really. But there was nothing normal about being in his house.

"He spends most of his time in his study...which is where the stupid diary will be...and the only time I ever go in there is..."

"To be punished?" I finished the sentence for her, and she nodded, before turning her head away and looking out of the window. She was wearing a floral print dress, with white ankle socks and black Mary Janes. Her hair was braided and beribboned. It was really strange to see my old body dressed up like that.

"Yes...he locks it when he comes out of there...and I think he keeps the key in his pocket all the time?" She replied, trying to justify her failure to get the diary. "He will probably come out to say hello to your mum, Lou...and he might look in on us to be polite...but he spends hours in there doing his important work, according to Mama...your mum? That's what I have to call her now because he says it's more respectful..."

"His old office is just around the corner from the Victoria and Albert...does he still go there to work?" I wondered, because I had assumed that he liked to visit the Stone, often.

"Yes...he goes up on the train...two or three times a week...he never sees patients here...and I think he always visits the Stone." Kelly/Olivia told me, probably thinking the same things as me. "Do you think he gets some sort of power from it?"

"I think he provides suitable candidates for the Stone to help...his patients all have problems of some sort...like you?" I suggested, and she nodded again, still staring into the distance. Lou shifted on the bed beside me. "And he needs to visit the Stone regularly."

"Do you think he can actually do magic?" Lou asked me, uncertainly. My friend was wearing a red and white dress, one of her mother's favourites. I was in pale pink, Caroline's choice.

"Only through the Stone...but we have some sort of remnant of the Stone inside us, so I think he might have the same?" I replied, confiding my suspicions for the first time. "He said that he touched us, straight after the accident...to finish off what the Stone had tried to do, because we had not touched it for long enough...I think he needs to touch it regularly to top up his powers or whatever they are?"