Free Demon Storm by Justin Richards

that,’ Knight said quietly. ‘And, although it probably doesn’t help, I’m very sorry.’
    Ben looked away, staring at the flickering shapes of the flames in the hearth. ‘I know. I heard you talking to Mr Magill.’
    Knight said nothing for several moments. The silence was broken only by the crackling of the burning wood. Ben glanced at Knight and saw that he too was staring into the flames.
    ‘The Judgement Box,’ Knight said at last, ‘tells me if the children I test have an ability. If they can see . Most can’t, of course. But some, a few, have the ability. Maybe they live with it every day. Or maybe they don’t even know they have it. You, for example …’
    He turned to look at Ben. His eyes were deep and dark, and Ben felt the man could see into every corner of his mind.
    ‘Me?’
    ‘You saw what was in the box. But I get the impression it isn’t a constant ability. You have … something. Some talent, evidently. Potential that can be unlocked.’
    ‘What about Sam?’ Ben demanded.
    ‘Ah … Your sister was unique. Even I could see she had an aura, an ability. And it’s years since …’ He sighed and turned away again, staring at the fire once more. ‘I think your sister had a far stronger ability, a far clearer Sight, than anyone else I have come across. Even Maria when she was younger. Even Gemma.’
    ‘How do you mean?’
    ‘I mean she saw them all the time . Every waking moment. It must have affected her very deeply. When did she start?’ he asked.
    ‘Start?’ Ben wasn’t sure what he was talking about.
    ‘When did she start to see the demons? The ghosts? The dead?’
    As soon as Knight said it, Ben knew he was right. He knew she saw something, but he hadn’t realised exactly what it was. But now he knew that Sam had seen demons and ghosts – each and every day. By the lake, on the bus, in the home … She’d eventold him once, he realised. He had laughed and she’d never mentioned it again.
    ‘She always saw them. Since forever,’ he said. ‘What is this place? What do you do here? Who are you? ’
    Knight smiled. ‘We do have an official title. But everyone calls us the School of Night. I suppose it’s flattering in a way. I set it up … so long ago. After I lost my own ability …’
    He stood up and walked slowly round the back of his chair. He turned so he had his back to the fire.
    ‘When we are young, we see as children.’ He smiled. ‘I know it sounds obvious. But there is an innocence, a naivety, a willingness to believe that we lose as we grow older. Maybe it’s to do with adolescence, or perhaps it’s just that we learn what we should and shouldn’t believe in. Like ghosts – how many adults believe in ghosts? I mean really believe in them? Yet almost every child is open to the idea. That’s why it’s the children who see them. It’s a world that is later closed off by experience and by reason and logic.’
    Ben leaned forward in the chair. ‘You said this place is a school?’
    ‘We’re between intakes now. But usually thereare up to a dozen children here. Sometimes more. The most gifted, the ones with the real Sight. We train them to fulfil their potential – so they can be at the forefront of the battle.’
    Ben gaped. ‘Battle?’
    ‘Most ghosts and spirits are harmless enough. After-images, souls that got left behind. We can help them find rest … But some – some are the creatures of Hell itself. And it’s our job to send them back there.’
    Ben could hardly believe what he was hearing, but the man seemed deadly serious.
    ‘And that would have been Sam’s job?’
    ‘Oh yes. I don’t know what happened to Sam, but like you I want to find out. She was going to come here. She would have been one of our most powerful soldiers. Like Gemma, she could see everything , all the time. Unfortunately that made her a potential threat to those who don’t want us to exorcise the ghosts and banish the demons. And that’s why I think they took