He was instantly back, half-asleep, slumped forward in his wheelchair. The wheels squeaked upon the wooden flooring of his bedroom. He stayed for a moment or two, gathering his thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity, he made his decision.
He left a mind-message for Ben. Then, harnessing the power of the ruro material in his chest he beamed Orb across to Jodie. He planted the sleeping mind-entity in a dark recess at the back of Jodie's mind. Neither of them would notice for a while. He then swiftly departed the ordinary realm.
Danny entered the Thought Realm of the Earth itself. His body slumped forward once again.
‘Danny, Danny, wake up, wake up,’ pleaded Ben. His voice was hoarse with effort. ‘C'mon, don't leave me like this. Wake up!’ Ben had felt sure something was seriously wrong.
He had struggled getting to the room quickly. He had found Danny half-comatose in his wheelchair. At first he had thought Danny had merely gone to the Sapient Realm, but this felt different. Something about Danny just wasn't right.
‘My mind messages!' Why didn’t I think of that before,’ Ben whispered to himself. His eyes went white and then closed as he nipped into the Thought Realm and across to their secret mind arena. Sure enough there on the tiny island was a letter symbol, ‘M,’ hanging in mid-air above a small palm on the beach. In his imagination Ben reached out to the letter and touched it. It unfolded outwards to reveal a message written in gold ink on blue paper.
‘I have been to see Thinking Stone. A terrible time has come. There is a creature called the Elif. It is a dark being that causes this whole planet untold trouble. The special substance from the Akashi library, the ruro, gives me the power to enter its sanctuary. I must go alone to the Elif. We may need you here. You should gate-crash Jodie's mind and tell her all that you can. We are all in grave danger, Danny.’
Ben wasn't sure what to do. Should he disobey his friend and follow Danny to the Elif or should he find Jodie first? Would Thinking Stone know what to do? He should take control himself but which path to take? One thing was certain - Jodie was going to get a surprise.
Jodie was quietly putting the books in their rightful places. She enjoyed her work and it was good to be back now that life was slowly returning to normal.
She had wanted to be a librarian ever since she could remember. Her father had discouraged her once, many years previous. She still remembered the conversation, ‘Go make dinner now would you love? There's a good girl. And don't be filling you head with daft ideas,’ he'd said in a kindly tone, from the lounge. Jodie had waited for the inevitable rasp of the can-pull. He wasn’t known for his sparkling wit. After a gulp or two, he continued, ‘You're not clever enough to be a librarian. Everyone knows you’re a practical lass.’
Her mum hadn't been in her life since she was a toddler. There was no other adult in the household. No-one to tell her she could, if she tried, be who she wanted to be. But finally, with a little help from her friends, she had gathered the courage to apply for an access course. She had to work harder than the other students but she got the grades eventually.
Despite it all, she’d always felt responsible for her dad, like she had always been the adult in this relationship. He had a knack for twisting things. He'd even made her feel guilty about going back to work, like she should be at home looking after him.
The untoward events at the library had certainly got around. Quiet little Jodie was getting a reputation. She just couldn't help getting involved in weird situations so it was said. Perhaps she attracted them. Perhaps it was her fault.
Whilst Jodie was returning books to the shelves she felt her whole world go jet-black in a mere moment. Her legs became a mass of jelly as she slid gracelessly to the floor. All she could hear now was a loud, low-pitched buzzing sound. It seemed to rise and fall in a set pattern. She lost control of her eyes and then her head followed, then her whole body. The noise just ceased. It was as if she had been dipped, in an instant, into a pond of cool clear celestial water. In the water were messages and pictures waiting just for her.
Susan, the head-librarian, happened to be passing when Jodie took her funny turn. Susan stood rooted to the spot swaying like a tree, at that moment, completely unable to respond.
Jodie's mind was being fed data. It was something about an entity, the Elif. Danny had gone to the Thought Realm of the Earth, to attack it. She, Ben and Danny were all in grave danger apparently. She just wanted her quiet life back but they needed her. She couldn’t see any other choice than to be involved. But then she saw other things, things from the future. An ambulance, a kidnapping, men in black with automatic weapons, a strange headquarters full of things she had never seen before - alien things.
But the worst thing of all was the black satellite orbiting the Earth. This, she knew instinctively, was where Danny was going. It looked evil. It seemed to emanate a black light, if there could be such a thing. On its surface dark continents moved. Tar-like seas swept its face with glacial hatred. She could see myriad eyes just beneath the surface of the globe. They looked at her with contempt. She felt that if she looked directly into those eyes they would eat her soul. The eyes were hungry and cold. They radiated anger.
Then the black globe was gone. She could see Ben. He smiled and said,
‘Sorry to gate-crash your mind like this. Danny sent me. I went to see Thinking Stone too. He has felt some of the patterns of the future in order to help us. We need you Jodie. Thinking Stone also sends you this - it is some sort of sonic key or code.’ Thinking Stone had entrusted him with a mind recording. Ben played it to Jodie.
Jodie felt a beam of blue light hit her powerfully in the chest. She was overwhelmed with the most fantastic feeling of peace and of courage. The feelings were encoded sonically. The sounds echoed within every atom of her body, a most beautiful symphony. It was like being in touch with the most fantastic part of her own self. It was like something that had always been there but she had never quite known before. Not like this, so tangible, so real. The doubts and guilt of her childhood evaporated like dew in the sun. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. She smiled to herself. Then a doubt crept across her mind - how long could she hold on to this feeling, she wondered.
Suddenly she was awake - back in the library. Susan was on the phone, asking for an ambulance. Jodie jumped up in a single leap and snatched the phone from her.
‘False alarm. No need for an ambulance, just gone a little faint. I’m diabetic you see, and I’m not as careful as I should be,’ Jodie lied. ‘Yes, I am sure, sorry to waste your time.’ Jodie put the phone down slowly. Angela was staring at her with a mixture of horror and rage.
‘Give me your car keys,’ Jodie demanded in a low growl with her hand out-turned.
‘Erm, I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ said Susan, whose voice had suddenly gone weak. Jodie's own car was in the garage being prepared for its MOT.
‘Yes of course it’s a good idea. Now just give me the damn keys,’ Jodie menaced through gritted teeth. Susan just stood there, unable to move a finger. When mild-mannered Jodie snapped only the foolish would get in the way. She remembered where Angela kept the keys. Reaching into the fake designer handbag that was stowed beneath the library counter, Jodie’s fingers encircled a small key-fob. In Jodie's light grasp the keys for Susan’s small metallic-green Japanese SUV sat temptingly. Jodie knew exactly where it would be parked - in the space near the CCTV cameras.
Susan regained some of her composure, ‘Come back here young woman! Put those keys down immediately.’
Jodie marched off.