Taken Over by Z. Fraillon Page B

furiously.
    Boris turned towards Saffy and Felix. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m Boris,’ he said, holding out his hand.
    Saffy blinked. Felix let out a shocked laugh.
    â€˜He’s Bruno’s brother. But he’s nothing like Bruno. Right?’ Jasper looked to Boris for assurance.
    â€˜I can’t stand him. Last year, when he was here, was the best year of my life,’ Boris grinned.
    A couple of third-year students sauntered out of the food hall. ‘Are you serious? A Smurmymorph was living in your basement?’ one of them exclaimed. They dropped their voices to a whisper when they noticed Boris, and walked quickly away.
    Boris followed them with his gaze. ‘A Smurmymorph?’ he muttered under his breath. His eyes flicked to Jasper. ‘What’s going on here? This is a school for serious delinquents, right? Where they send the kids who are too bad for military school. That’s what this place is supposed to be.’
    Jasper looked at Felix and Saffy. ‘Um, well,’ he stuttered.
    â€˜Because, to be honest, none of the kids here seem that bad to me,’ Boris continued. ‘The kids at the military school I went to last year were far worse than anyone I’ve seen here so far.’
    â€˜Give us time,’ Saffy shrugged. She looked sharply at Jasper, who took his cue.
    â€˜Yeah, first day back and all,’ he added.
    â€˜And what is it with this place?’ asked Boris. ‘It’s freezing! And it’s so dark, and ... is it just my two-way radio, or is there, like, some creepy whispering going on around the place?’
    Jasper froze. Could Boris actually hear the whispering too?
    Felix laughed, ‘Yeah, Jasper used to go on about some weird whispering, hey, Jasp?’
    Jasper mumbled something into his hoodie. He’d learnt last year that the strange whispering he heard was the result of a monster bite. A bite that had infected him with monsterness. And unless he controlled the whispering, he would slowly turn into a monster himself. He hadn’t told Saffy and Felix about that yet. Whispering was the first monster characteristic to develop. Jasper knew there were other kids at school who’d been bitten too – they were called the Whispered. But Boris? A prefect ?
    Saffy shared a look with Felix. ‘Maybe it’s just your mind playing tricks. Fear will do that to you. This is a pretty cold and spooky place – until you get used to it,’ she added.
    â€˜I don’t scare easily,’ Boris said. ‘But it is really cold.’ He was interrupted by his radio crackling to life. He listened intently, and then said, ‘Roger that. I’m on my way, sir. Over and out.’
    Boris nodded at Jasper, Saffy and Felix. ‘Well, duty calls. But McPhee, you owe me a story,’ he said, turning and marching away.
    As soon as Boris had turned the corner, Saffy took off her shoe and inspected her foot. A massive bruise was blossoming across it. ‘Ow! It felt like I kicked a bloomin’ brick wall!’ she complained.
    â€˜Last time we come to save you, Jasper,’ said Felix. ‘You weren’t even in trouble.’
    â€˜Gee, don’t sound so disappointed,’ Jasper replied. ‘Anyway we have Rest and Relaxation class now, you can both let your pain simply float away. Come on.’
    The three of them started down the hallway.
    â€˜Who would have thought, hey?’ Felix said as they walked towards class. ‘Bruno has a brother who isn’t a complete bully! Mad.’
    â€˜Yeah, but I don’t know if we can trust him,’ said Saffy. ‘It’s a bit weird – him asking all those questions about the school.’
    â€˜Maybe we should let him know what’s going on,’ said Jasper, thinking of what Boris had said about the whispering. ‘He was pretty nice. And he suspects something. I bet he’ll find out sooner or later.’
    â€˜Shall I go