Dad swears as well, now, and he doesn’t care if I hear. Their arguments used to be whispers, but not anymore. Now I’m the only one who whispers, and I hope my brother can hear me even if I’m not sure about heaven. Dad said that’s where he’s gone, and Mum made a face like she didn’t believe it. I keep changing my mind.

If he’s not there, he’s nowhere, and I hate thinking that. I wish we’d never played Creatures. I don’t like the garden, but I still go outside because it feels like he’s there. If I close my eyes, I can see him running toward me, and, if I concentrate, I can hear his laugh. And it feels nice until it doesn’t.

Remembering him makes him real again, but it also hurts.

I hate pretending nothing’s wrong. I didn’t go to school for a while, and Mum said I was ill, but now I have to be strong for the family.

No one talks about Will at school, because people don’t care about little brothers. Before I went back, Mum said, “It’s not going to be easy. But you can’t tell anyone what happened. Do you understand?”

She says that a lot, now, and I always nod because it makes her happy.

Before we take the boy, she says it again, and I say, “Yes.”

“And what do you do if it goes wrong?”

“I say I was just playing a game, and then I say I’ve lost my mummy.”

She smiles and kisses my forehead. “This will all be over soon.”

IIII IIII IIII

“That’s the one,” Mum says. “Don’t let me down.”

The boy is crying, and I wonder if Mum’s made a mistake, but she pushes me forward and says, “Do it.”

He’s not like the children I usually follow. He seems dirty and upset and not someone I’d want in our house, but he does look a bit like Will. And Mum knows best.

I turn to her, and she shakes her head and points forward. We’re not supposed to be together, because, if one of us gets caught, we both do. But I don’t want to do this anymore, so I stand still.

We’re not at the shopping center this time. We’re on a street I hadn’t seen until last week, when Mum drove us here and spent ages looking for cameras.

“Security cameras are everywhere these days,” she said, but that’s not totally true. It’s not here, where I’m standing, and it’s not where we’re going if this works.