Do you realise what you can do, son? You can freeze time! the old man had said afterwards. At the time Billy hadn't believed him, and he questioned Davey's use of the word 'can'. It implied control, and he did not have any of that. Just anxiety. With Davey's encouragement, he had tried to induce the effect again, but the best he could manage was a state of mind the old man had called his 'trance'. When he was in the Trance, the beautiful colours and lights would become so powerful that Billy could do nothing but surrender to them, and he would stand frozen for hours, oblivious to the outside world, hypnotised by the swirling shapes and colours.

He remembered the deep voices and the car tumbling over in slow motion, his head hitting the front seat as slowly as if he were floating in space. He had been absolutely terrified then, and he tried to recall that abject terror now, as if it would work this time, while Katerina had him in her vice-like grip and the others had gone. If he could just manage that, get out of this place and find Davey...

There had been muffled sounds behind closed white doors. Children crying, screaming, calling for help. So this was where they had all been taken. He wondered if Bobby Gibson was behind one of them, and felt guilty at the thought that the bully deserved it. Nobody deserved this, to be this scared, to be treated like an animal. He bit his trembling lip and held on to the image of the old man. Courage, lad, the old man would say. But he did not see how anyone could show courage here. He had not seen where the others had gone. The men had taken a prisoner each and split up, leaving Billy alone with Katerina. He spat and struggled, calling out Alex's name over and over, but she was carried out of sight, screaming his name.

Katerina had stopped at last in a open space with corridors leading off in all directions. The room was a beautiful tropical garden contrasting strangely with the white cleanliness throughout the building. The faint bubbling of water trickling over a cascade of granite filled the room. Birdsong rang out. Katerina exchanged whispered words with one of those huge men, the ones with no neck and a confused expression. He'd looked over her shoulder at Billy with wonder in his eyes, as he swiped a little plastic card through a slot in the wall. A door opened where the plants were thickest, where Billy was sure there had been no door.

A woman materialised in the open doorway. She seemed impossibly tall and regarded Billy with disdainful curiosity down her long pointed nose. He remembered her cruel eyes narrowing as she nodded to Katerina, who grabbed Billy and pushed him through the door. White-sleeved arms had taken him and the woman turned away. He felt a sharp pain in his neck. A hiss. He knew no more.

Until now.

The woman he had named KindVoice was wiping his face with a warm towel. 'There,' she said. 'Now this may feel a little strange, but it won't hurt, I promise.' The white room and the woman swam back into view before him. His head was cold, now completely bald. He felt calmer though, the drug she had given him must had dampened his emotions. Colours faded into whiteness in the quiet room. He could feel the Shadow watching, as if it had been caged for the time being, just out of reach under the chair perhaps, behind the machines.

The woman began sticking something to the little boy's head and he felt lots of unpleasant sucking sensations as if she were attaching leeches to his newly bare skin. He heard fingers tapping away at a computer keyboard and tiny electric shocks fizzed over his skin. The woman smiled down at him. He glared back. She might be trying to be his friend, but he could still hear Alex's screams.

'Nnnnnh! Mmmm!' Still the drugs dampened his senses, still he could not talk.

'It's just a brain scan, dear. Nothing painful.' Her voice was gentle, soothing as if this was the most ordinary day in the world. Billy heard a snort from the other side of the room, as if the man working on the machine did not believe her.

'Synapses seem okay,' said WhiteCoat. 'A few stress indicators here and there, but we can filter those out in the full scan.'

'Does he have what we need?'

'Can't tell, really. There is a hell of a lot more activity than usual, I can see that.'

'Should be interesting then. Poor boy, I hope it's worth it.'

A door hissed open. So there was a way out, after all.

'Have you two finished yet?' If Billy could have jumped, he would. He recognised the confident, heavy tread of steel-tipped boots on the white floor. Warm breath against his cheek. He could not move away, although he desired nothing more. The Shadow quivered in his peripheral vision, watching like a hidden predator, waiting for the moment to strike. If I ever could control you, he thought, now's the time.

But as usual, the Shadow did nothing. It just squatted in the corner of his mind, with an air of nervous excitement, as if it knew a lot more about what was going on than he did.

Billy screwed his eyes tightly closed and held his breath, feeling the woman leaning over him and willing her away with all his might.