Young Writers Society

What they did was play. Vernon had decided on a slow build up, so he played a series of four notes on violin and repeated them. They slowly developed into a base line, while the piano slowly added chords and a few notes that nodded to the top line. The vocalist joined in with the violin, and suddenly and unexpectantly the music increased in volume, with the adventurous loud themes of the original. At that point the saw added the top line in a ghostly otherworldly tambre, and for a few moments the music was complete. Then the saw and vocals faded to the original violin prolonged notes, and the piano sstarted to pick up the second theme.
But then again I doubt the cat noticed all of that. I did sound pretty impressive though.

Quinn was fascinated. That was quite a power. She looked each Vernon up and down. They were complete replicas of the original Vernon. Slowly, Quinn walked out of the room and to the entry room. She quickly changed into her human form, making sure none of the Vernon's were following her. She walked back into the music room, now a human.

"That was quite an interesting thing, Vernon's" Quinn smiled at the one she knew was the real Vernon as she leaned against the wall.

Most mortals would have been shocked. But after ten minutes of the calming ossolations of the musical saw, Vernon needed quite a blow to phase him. So what he said was "You mean I built that walkway for nothing?!?" He smiled back, just to show he was friendly.
It was obviously the cat. Not only was the hair the same colour, but those dark blue eyes, one slightly lighter than the other, were unmistakable.
That said she did look astoundingly different. She wasn't a cat for a start. If he hadn't know her so long it would have been easy to mistake them for different people. And her hair was all different.
"I have a number of questions to ask," said Vernon. "Firstly, how did you find me, secondly, why did you stay a cat, and finally, do you play any musical instruments?" He cocked his head to one side questioningly.

"Well, you see I was bored, and what better to do then became a sweet little harmless cat? I needed somebody to entertain me, and your music caught my ears. So I came over here and your seemed quite interesting, so I decided to stay. Now to answer your second question, I stayed a cat because being an animal is way more fun than being me. With all due respect to myself, it's just easier also. Plus you were more likely to let me in if I was a cat, and my house is pretty boring." Quinn made a fanning a yawn face at Vernon. "To answer your last question, I don't play. I used to play the piano but my, uh, dad pulled me out of lessons." Quinn felt her eyes beginning to water but quickly blinked the tears away.

"Such a pity," said Vernon, "I really needed a guitarist. "
"So, will you be sticking around? You can take my parent's bedroom, but I wouldn't recommend going into my dad's, well, my, study. Quite alot of the stuff in there is explosive. Or flammable. Or corrosive."
"I think you have seen my power, although I can make a single tangible copy also, and I have seen yours. But tell me, is it all animals? Or just cats? And will I be seeing you as a cat or human now?"
"Oh, and it is a pity you don't play an instrument. Tomorrow I shall give you singing lessons. "

"Singing? I don't sing in front of people. But sure ya I'll stick around, you seem cool. Don't worry about me going into the banned room, I'd rather not explode your house into a million pieces. To answer the power question, it's all animals. Anything from a frog to a bird even a chinchilla. I just favor cats, they're usually quite harmless to people so often looked at as innocent." Quinn chuckled for no reason really. "But, uh, are there going to be like a million of you all the time? Because what if I like, I don't know. Go to shake your hand? It'd be really awkward if my hand just went through you..."

"That shouldn't be too much of a problem. I can only make three max, at least so far, and only when I have reason to do so. But you can always ask if I am the real me. I have often wondered scientifically how it worked, but although my tangible form may work by particle rebuilding, I don't know about illusions. "
"You don't sing in front of people? That's is due to a lack of self-confidence. The best way to build self confidence is getting better. And the best way to get better is lessons. Anyway as qualified singing teacher I don't count. I can't force you to have singing lessons, but I strongly recommend you do."
"Anyway, what do you do in your free time? Tell me about yourself. Where are you from for a start."

"I'm from down the road. Like, literally I'm 4 houses down. Umm, I read and write, I like animals. I can cook. Had to do that for my dad and I." Quinn rolled her eyes when she mentioned her dad. "What about you? Besides music, do you like anything else? Or are you just some obsessive band freak." Quinn laughed a little a winked at Vernon to let him know she was just playfully teasing.

"As well as being a massive band freak, well, I box, do archery, draw, read, do a little DIY, collect badges, I am a bit of a board game nut and I dance Appalachian and morris. Also I watch TV, but we don't have a license or anything. We just have a massive DVD collection. "
"It's strange I haven't seen you around before. Didn't you get out much? "

Quinn looked down to the floor and bit her lip before she spoke. "N-No. I'd go straight to school and come straight home." She was sure that her voice cracked but she didn't give in to her emotions. She thought of a quick excuse for what she had said. "I'm not very social. Don't hang around people much, and keep to myself."

Vernon decided not to press the conversation. He didn't want to upset the girl, and it was obvious that it was a touchy subject. She kept on forcing herself not to cry; She tried to hide it, but it was still pretty obvious to the intelligent observer, particularly on so well versed on Doyle.
So instead he left the room and headed upstairs. Once in his room he climbed upon his bed to reach a high shelf; His record collection. He took down a a blank sleeve, and removed the vinal disk, which he then put on a grammerphone player. He wound the handle on tthe side thrice, and the table started to turn. He set the needle in the spiral groove, and sat down at his desk. Drawing to the beat of Captain Beaky's band. He desk was by the window, with Venetian Blinds to prevent the light getting in his eyes. He had semi-permanently set up an A2 drawing board, on which was pinned a large sheet of paper. A pot of pencils stood by the desk, and Vernon selected a 2B. He then rolled up his tailcoat sleeves, and set to work.



One and a half hours later, Vernon had finished. He stood up and looked at his work. Not bad. Not bad at all. The fur was easy, as he had done animals before, but the eyes were trickier, because of the emotion they needed to convey. But he was pleased with his result, particularly as he had never drawn a cat before.

Luke Hall


I sat taping my pencil along the length of the desk waiting for school to finally end. The day had consisted of nothing but test after test and annoying teacher after annoying teacher. I leaned forwards and rested my head in my folded arms exhausted from the already long day.

"What the hell?" A small female voice said from the back of the class room.

I brought my head up to see an empty chair still spinning slightly. I gasped just as a scream from down the hall sounded through the thin classroom walls. I ran into the hall to see books laying astray across the floor and a girl clutching a bag.

"She's gone," She mumbled tears streaming down her cheeks.

I ran into the next class over to see that their teacher had disappeared too. I ran back into our class to find Jimmy Carter who was the only 16 year old in the class had gone. Anyone over 15 had just evaporated.

Then I realized that also my mother would have to be gone. I collapsed onto the hard tile and stuck my hands into my hair. I heard a small sigh next to me and looked over to see a small girl with dark curly hair in the same position of me.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered to her putting a hand on the small of her back.

She lifted her head and nodded. I smiled and helped her up.

"I'm Luke by the way," I said wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Lillavera," She replied through choked tears.

I followed her out into the streets and sat her down onto a bench.

"Anyone at your home?"

"My sister,"

I'll get her for you."

Thank you,"

I ran through the streets till I came to the house that Lillavera had described to me. I heard a small cry from inside as I enter through the red French doors. I followed the sound into a room with a small girl sitting on her bed clutching a doll. I picked up the girl and started back towards the bench slowly calming the toddler down.

I found Lillavera again and handed her the now sleeping child. I sat next to her and waited for something to happen.

Quinn left the house and went back to her cat form. She walked around for awhile, her tail swooshing in the wind. She started to wonder how high up the invisible "bowl" was they were all trapped in. She made sure no one was looking and switched into a raven. It took her awhile to get used to using the wings.

Finally she got the use of them and soared high up. She kept flying and flying until she hit the thing. She started falling to the ground. As Quinn fell she felt herself transforming back. She let out a terrified screech. "I'm going to die, I'm going to die. Oh. My. God. I'm going to die." She thought to herself. Quinn shut her eyes and focused. She tried to turn into something. The only animal that came to her mind was a fox. She focused. She turned. When Quinn was close to the ground she landed on her feet in a somersault.

Tempe turned quickly as she heard a scream outside. Tilly heard it too, and together they ran outside.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Tempe called.

"Kitty!" Tilly exclaimed.

"Kitty?" Tempe frowned. She turned to see Tilly grabbing a red/brown feline shape with frightened eyes. A fox.

"Tilly! No!" Tempe screeched. Startled, Tilley dropped the animal. The fox twisted and scored a gash in the small girl's arm and ran off into the brush. Tilly's eyes grew wide and she started to cry and hyperventilate. The ground trembled and leaves flew across the pavement. Tempe rushed to her sister's side and scooped her up, cradling her and blowing wind through her teeth to calm the hysterical child. She flushed out the wound with water from her palm as she set Tilly on the faded couch.

A flash of scarlet flit by the window. Vernon stared at where it had been: He had never seen a flying fox before.
"And what's our favorite shape shifter been doing this time." he wondered to himself.
Quickly he slid down the spiral banisters (a difficult feet yet one Vernon had mastered these past weeks) and landed in the porch. Grabbing the first aid kit he ran outside to make sure Quinn wasn't heard. To his surprise the scene was not as he imagined; No wounded fox but instead he saw a girl cradling a child in her arms, who promptly disappeared into a house two doors down. Vernon had seen her before, but not since the disappearing.
Vernon stood in shock for a few seconds, before pulling himself together. He would visit there house and offer what medical assistance he could; He had undertaken a two week first aid course and was now an official first aider. But it was too dangerous to go as himself: The girl was frightened and defensive and likely to lash out, which could prove fatal should she be a freak. So Vernon went back inside, lay down on the sofa and concentrated.
A few moments later a perfect tangible copy picked up the fist aid box, walked the ten meters of pavement to the house two doors down, and knocked.