[Phone]

[sothis_rising]

[When he picks up the phone Sirius sounds angry. Very angry. His voice is low and dangerous and something is very not pleasant in Mayfield.]

What the hell did you do to her? My mum, no, that lady. Margot, she said her name was Margot.

[There's a long hiss as the headache slices through his eye.]

She said she wasn't from this place. She said, she said a lot of things. Give her back. Give her back or I'll burn this ruddy place to the ground.

[He sounds like he means it.]

Comments

[a_gentle_boy]

She disappeared!

[The voice on the other line is shrill and horrified.]

I-I was leaning right against her and she -- she... I saw -- ......Nngh. She was there I saw her and I felt her and then she...

She wasn't. She's not here anymore. She went. To... Maybe to Westport...

[sothis_rising]

[Sirius is shaking his head but it's impossible to see over the phone.]

No, not like that. She would have had to pack. She would have told us. She's my ... no, no she's not - [More hissing as the headache increases.]

How do we get her back?

[a_gentle_boy]

I-I-I don't know. She... left. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go home. She's...

[Lucas takes a breath to try and clear his thoughts. ...A second breath. And a few more. Just when it seems that he has nothing else to say, his voice comes through the phone lines again, much calmer and much more distant.]

I had a dream. Last night, when I was sleeping. I dreamed about a time when I was... playing a game. Someone asked me to disappear, and so... I did. I disappeared.

But it was a game that had an end, of course, and when the game was over...

Everything was OK. We all came back.

[sothis_rising]

I found my brother locked in a closet. He looked like he'd been there for days. He looked at me like I'd done it. I remember her, Margot, as my mum. She said she'd never been married so she can't be my mum.

[There's a long pause. Sirius is clearly trying to think and it's hard.]

Maybe James isn't really my brother. He's not right. There's something wrong about him. Looking at his face makes me angry. I don't know why.

[a_gentle_boy]

[His voice continues, as calmly as it can be under the circumstances. The indistinct quality pervades, as if the speaker is whispering through some sort of trance.]

Don't think about it that way.

That's what we were talking about when she... had to go. Mayfield is real. We were born here. We grew up here. We have a future and we're thankful for everything we have.

But... that doesn't mean we can't play games... Or write stories. Or dream. I dreamed and dreamed for a long time yesterday - of wars and armies and monsters, of miracles and laughter and love... of a boy named Lucas who lived in another world. Just like a fairy tale.

What about you?

[sothis_rising]

I don't have dreams, but I know something's wrong with James. Something big. He used to do stuff.

[There's a longer pause before he growls out the next words.]

I can't ... think. My heads all ... wonkey. It hurts!

[a_gentle_boy]

[Lucas sighs slightly and exhales again.]

Don't try so hard. ...It might happen to you, too, you know. It has to be... subtle.

[sothis_rising]

I can't, I can't let them replace him.

[a_gentle_boy]

Your brother?

Then, is he...? But -- As long as you know. We're -- we've got to keep dreaming.

[sothis_rising]

Yeah .... I mean no! James, my best friend. They, they killed him .... in the closet.They took James away and now they took mom, I mean Margot.