pads and held them by my side. The wires attaching them to the machine were coiled like old-style telephone cables, which meant Iâd have plenty of room to manoeuvre.
âOK,â I said. âOpen the door.â
The monster on the other side thumped hard against it. Ameena stared at me in disbelief. âOpen it? Are you nuts?â
I shrugged. âWeâll find out in a minute.â I readied myself. âDo it. Now. And stay out of sight.â
Ameena yanked open the door just as the brute hurled itself again. It came charging through, its long arms swinging, a serpent-like tongue flicking across its bulging eyeballs.
It ran straight for me, grunting and snorting through its snout of a nose. I dodged as it made its final lunge, brought up both pads and clamped them down on to the monsterâs head.
There was a sound like a camera flash going off. I felt a jolt travel the length of my arms. The creatureâs whole body went rigid for a moment, then it clattered against the wall, bounced off and fell to the floor.
We watched it for a few moments, hoping it wouldnât get back up. After a while, I nudged it with my bare foot. It didnât react, and I realised it was quite probably dead.
âI think youâre supposed to say âClearâ before you use those things,â Ameena said.
âOh yeah,â I said, still staring at the fallen monster. â Clear .â
I put the pads back into their holders on the side of the defibrillator and switched the machine off. My fingers traced along the button and down the metal case.
âI made this,â I said. The idea seemed alien. Yes, Iâd used my abilities to create things before, but nothing this complicated. And I hadnât even been thinking about it. My head spun. Just how powerful had my abilities been? Now I would never know.
âSo,â Ameena began. She had her hands in her pockets and was swinging one foot idly above the floor. âWe OK?â
I should hate her. I wanted to hate her.
âNo,â I told her. âWeâre not.â
âOh. Right, yeah,â she said. âI mean⦠thatâs fair enough.â
âWhy you?â
She raised her eyes to mine. âWhat?â
âWhy you? Why did he send you?â
Ameena shrugged. âHe brought me up.â
âHe what?â
âHe brought me up. Heâs your dad, but you see⦠Well, heâs my dad too.â She smiled weakly. âIâm your sister, kiddo.â
My mouth dropped open. âYouâre my sister ?â I spluttered. âBut⦠but⦠I kissed you !â
âYeah, I know, ya sicko,â she said.
âMy sister ?â
A smile cracked across her face. âNah, not really,â she grinned. âJust kidding.â
I almost smiled. Almost. But a sudden swelling of anger pushed it aside. âYou donât get to do that,â I said, grabbing her by the shoulders. âYou donât get to do that any more! You donât get to make jokes and laugh and pretend like everythingâs OK. Everything is not OK! Everything is never going to be OK again!â
I shoved her harder than I meant to. She gave a yelp as she tumbled to the floor beside the fallen thing. She peered up at me through a curtain of hair and did her best to fight back tears.
âYou hate me. I get that,â she said. âBut what you said earlier, about me picking him over you, thatâs not right. As far as I knew there was only ever him. Heâs not my dad, but he may as well be. He saved me when I landed in the Darkest Corners.â
She glanced at the monster lying dead on the floorboards. âSaved me from things like that. I wouldâve been killed if it wasnât for him. Or worse. He looked after me and fed me and kept me safe.â A tear broke through her defences. She whipped it quickly away. âAnd now I see he was using me the whole time. He was preparing me