Free Raggy Maggie by Barry Hutchison Page A

terror. I caught the edges of the black sludge and pulled down, fighting to free her nose and mouth. Fighting to keep her alive.
    Thick strands of the stuff tore off with an elastic snap. I heard Ameena’s breath draw in sharply, but the blackness had already flooded back over her eyes. No matter how quickly I ripped it away, any gap I created closed back up almost at once.
    ‘Getitoff, getitoff.’ She barely managed to get the words out before her mouth was swallowed up once again.
    The strands I’d already torn off had quickly wrapped themselves around my wrists. Even as I fought to free Ameena I could feel them slithering up the insides of my shirt sleeves, cold and clammy against my skin.
    Twins bands of the goop squirmed up beneath my collar. For a moment they curled up in front of my face, coilingand wriggling like tentacles, and then they were tight around my throat, cutting off my air.
    Frantically I dug my fingers into them, trying to force my nails underneath, to prise them off. No use. Too tight. Too tight.
    A puddle of chill damp oozed over my shoes. A heaving mass of dark shapes rose from the floor. I watched on helplessly as the darkness began to creep and crawl up my legs.
    I was still gasping for air as it passed my knees. Still spluttering as it oozed up over my stomach and chest. Still choking as the shadows wrapped their arms around me, cocooning me and dragging me down into an inky void of absolute black.

Chapter Nine
SWALLOWED WHOLE
    I have almost drowned twice in my life. Once was when I was five. The other was two weeks ago. Christmas Day. I don’t recommend it. It’s a horrible sensation – that feeling of absolute hopelessness and inevitability as your lungs burn like fire and your head goes light and you brace yourself for the end.
    This was worse.
    The shadows squirmed across my skin and scurried through my hair. They forced through my clenched lips and rushed up my nostrils, flooding my insides with their icy cold touch. They slithered in through my ears and pushedbelow my eyelids, filling my head with a pulsating cloud of darkness.
    They tightened around my body, forcing my arms to my sides. My legs too were pulled together, throwing my balance. I didn’t realise I was falling until my shoulder crunched solidly against the floor. The darkness that covered me felt thick and oily, but it didn’t do anything to cushion the blow.
    As I lay there – trapped, helpless and rapidly running out of air – the electrical sensation tingled across my scalp. It was faint, but it was there. This time I didn’t push it away. If I could concentrate, if I could just focus for a few seconds, then maybe I could get out of this.
    Then I remembered the third rule. Caddie had said I wasn’t allowed to use my abilities. Something bad would happen, she had warned. Then again, something bad was happening now. I couldn’t think of anything worse, in fact.
    I hesitated. I could probably use my power to get us outof this, but was there another way? Another way that wouldn’t break Caddie’s rules? Maybe.
    The black shroud around me made it impossible to know exactly where I had fallen, but I could take a guess. The windows had been at my left when I’d been standing up, and I’d landed on my right shoulder.
    I bucked my body against the writhing shadows, trying desperately to shuffle myself down in the direction of my feet. The pressure was building around me. A tightness like the grip of an icy claw was squeezing at my lungs. If this didn’t work then I was dead.
    It was going to work. It had to work. These things were shadows, and shadows had a weakness.
    Through the gloop I felt my heels bump into something solid. Not too solid, I hoped.
    Struggling against my bonds I raised both knees to my chest and fired both feet out, aiming as high up as I could manage. The painted windowpane shuddered in its frame.Again I brought my legs up, and again I powered them towards the glass. Again it failed to break, and