Cameron Grey And The Other-World Wide Web

By Suzi Macdonald

Cameron Grey is a thirteen-year-old girl whose best friends are the ghost of a witch who has lost her powers, and a cowardly monster who lives under her bed. When her parents suddenly disappear and a strange 'aunt' appears in their home, Cameron and her wolf brother Conal decide to find out what is going on. They discover that their father has a secret - and it is to do with the Other-World Wide Web, an on-line service for supernaturals which has suddenly stopped working. With the help of their rather odd neighbour, Cameron and Conal travel to a fairy-tale world to find out what happened to their parents and just who is sabotaging the O-WWW and why.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Suzi Macdonald
• Release date: Jun 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311838254

Suzi Macdonald

I am an independent writer living in Fife in Scotland. I write both adult and children's fiction and I would love to hear your comments on my books.

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Cameron Grey and the

Other-World Wide Web

By

Suzi Macdonald

Copyright © Suzi Macdonald 2014

Smashwords Edition

This is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

CHAPTER 1

'There it is! There! Get it!' Jasmine shrieked.

A glossy blue translucent fizzball bombed across the room. It got right into Cameron’s face and gibbered at her, baring its yellow fangs. Cameron took a swipe at it with her baseball bat and missed. It howled and shot under the bed. The luminous orange bedspread shrieked indignantly.

'Hold on, Maya!' Cameron bounded after the fizzball, baseball bat at the ready. She landed on top of the bed and wobbled scarily. She got her balance and raised the bat, ready to strike.

'Now, Jas!' she yelled. 'Chase it out!'

'No way!' Jasmine yelled back. 'It went right through me. You have no idea how that feels! And it’s ugly.' She faded away with a sulky sniff.

'Jasmine…' Cameron pleaded, but there was no reply.

There was another shriek from under the bed and a long, bony green arm poked out, scrabbling furiously. Suddenly the fizzball bounced along the arm and Cameron got a clear shot. She swung the baseball bat wildly and it connected with a loud boing. The fizzball shattered into millions of tiny glittery pieces that swept around the room in a bright blue blizzard, outlining the girl with the bat held high in triumph. Then it settled like snow all over the place. Cameron sighed. It was going to take forever to clean up. She dropped the bat and sank on to the bed.

'Ow!'

Cameron jumped up again. 'Sorry, Maya. Are you OK?'

She leaned down and lifted the orange bedspread. A pair of green eyes glowered back at her.

'Cameron, I swear I am going to think of a way to get out of here and find another bed to live under. With a child who is actually scared of me,' Maya said grumpily.

'She has a point.' Jasmine re-materialised at the window.

'What point?' Cameron asked.

'Well, she is the monster under the bed. She’s not supposed to be the one who gets scared.'

Cameron sighed. She crawled under the bed and squeezed in beside Maya. 'I’m sorry about the fizzball. It was one of Conal’s experiments.'

Maya frowned. She crouched at the top end of the bed, her green arms wrapped around her thin body.

'Look, my cousins are coming to visit next weekend. I’ll leave the little one in here for five minutes and you can scare her, OK?'

Maya considered it for a moment. 'All right,' she agreed. Her voice was unexpectedly soft and melodious, totally unsuitable for a monster.

'Cool.' Cameron crawled out and straightened up. Jasmine floated towards her. 'You have to do something about Conal and his experiments.'

'I know,' Cameron said, 'But-'

A pale face with a shock of red hair poked around the door. 'Look at the mess!' he said admiringly. 'Mum’s going to kill you - if she can be bothered.'

'You are a complete horror!' Jasmine scolded.

Conal grinned. 'Thanks, witchy!'

'It’s Lady Jasmine Shimmer Moonbeam to you,' she said and flicked her gauzy hair disdainfully.

'It was plain Faith Smith when you were alive,' he said tauntingly. 'Or have you forgotten?'

'When you’re a witch you can make up your own name, and everyone has to call you that. And I was a very good witch!' She floated across the room towards him.

'Couldn’t have been that good if they caught you - Oi!' He ducked behind the door as Jasmine raised her wand and shot a stream of ectoplasm straight at him. It hit the wood with a splat and dripped slowly onto the floor.

'Oh, shut up, you two. Can’t you do a spell to clean up the place instead of making it worse?' Cameron asked.

Jasmine sniffed. 'You know I can only manage ectoplasm and rattling things since I became a ghost. It’s not like I don’t try.' She turned her back and faded away.

Cameron sighed. 'Come on, Con, give me a hand to get cleaned up. It’s nearly dinner time.'

'OK.' Conal came in and closed the door behind him. He looked around cautiously, but Jasmine seemed to have gone for now. He kicked at the piles of blue glitter on the floor. 'You have to admit the fizzball was good. I’m going to put one in Phil’s house next, see if it shakes him up.'

'That’s not really fair, Phil’s a nice guy. It’s his job that makes him miserable all the time.' Cameron swept the glitter off her desk while she spoke. It made little sparkly whirlwinds as it fell to the floor.

'Then he should give it up,' said Conal.

'He says he wants to, but I don't think he means it. He's got too much to do.'

'Like what?'

'I'm not sure exactly. He doesn’t go into details. Oh, this is useless.' She looked at the blue dust. All they had done was move it around. 'I’ll go get the hoover. You talk to Jasmine, see if she’ll come back.'

Conal wandered over to the dormer window. 'It’s getting late, Cameron. And it’s a full moon tonight.'

Cameron stood beside her little brother and put her arm around his shoulders. The afternoon light was fading slowly and the evening promised to be bright and clear.

'What time does the moon rise?' she asked.

'Just after seven.'

'I’ll tell Mum you’re watching a movie with me, OK? I can get Jas to put a repel spell on the door again – at least that’s one thing she can do.'

'If you ask nicely,' said a ghostly voice from inside the wardrobe. Cameron nodded at Conal and he rolled his eyes.

'OK. Please, Lady Jasmine Shimmer Moonbeam, would you put a spell on Cameron’s door to keep Mum and Dad out tonight?'

Jasmine appeared through the wardrobe door. She smiled sweetly at Conal. 'Of course I will, little wolf. Your secret will be safe with me.'

'Thank you, your Ladyship!' he said with a straight face and she nodded graciously.

Just then, their mother called from downstairs. 'Dinner on the table in five minutes!'

Cameron and Conal scrambled to wash their hands, and raced downstairs into the dining room. The table was set haphazardly with a mixture of unmatched plates and cutlery, though Conal’s special Wolverine plate was in its usual place. They sat down expectantly, and waited. And waited. Eventually Cameron huffed out a sigh and got up to investigate.

As she entered the kitchen, a waft of good smells made her stomach grumble. If she got it right, they were having mashed potatoes, buttered carrots and beef gravy. It was all on serving plates ready to go.

'Mum?'

'Yes, dear?' Mrs Grey’s voice came from the depths of the refrigerator. She turned half an eye on Cameron, but carried on rummaging.

'Shall I take the plates through? It’s just that you said dinner was ready…'

'Yes, that would be very helpful. We were supposed to have steak tonight, but it’s all disappeared.' Mrs Grey closed the fridge door and looked vacantly at Cameron. 'Now I don’t know what we’ll have.'

She thought for a moment, and then her eyes grew vague. She wandered over to the cooker and picked up her ever-present book. It was tattered and torn in places, and several pages wafted onto the floor as she lifted it up. She didn't seem to notice.

'Fine.' Cameron picked up the warm bowls of potato and carrots and carried them to the dining room. The sun had set and Conal was getting fidgety.

'Hurry up, Cameron. It’s getting late.'

'She’s only made the veg so far,' Cameron said testily. 'She’s stuck in that book again.'

'Was she always like this?' Conal asked as he helped himself to a huge pile of potatoes, and poured gravy on top.

'No, not really. She’s always been forgetful but it’s getting worse.' Cameron stared thoughtfully at her plate. 'And I’ve no idea where Dad is.'

'He’s in his shed, as usual.' Mrs Grey appeared soundlessly at the door. Cameron flashed a quick glance at her, wondering if she had heard. But she just smiled and sat down.

'Now, eat up and we can all go for a walk after dinner.'

'Mum, it’s getting dark. It’s too late for a walk,' Cameron said.

'Is it? Oh, well, never mind. Have you done your homework?'

'It's the weekend, Mum. No homework.'

'Oh...?' Mrs Grey looked at them vacantly, as if the idea of a weekend was something new.

Cameron rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. 'Mum! We wanted to watch a DVD in my room, is that OK - Mum?'

For a moment Mrs Grey looked worried, but almost instantly her smile was back in place. 'Of course, dear. I’ll be quite happy with my book.' Her hand twitched slightly.

Conal and Cameron exchanged glances. But it was getting late. By the time they had pudding, it was almost completely dark. Cameron swallowed her ice cream as quickly as she could, though Conal only played with his. He was fidgety and nervous, and Cameron knew there wasn’t much time.

'Mum, may we be excused? We have to start the movie now, or it will be bedtime before it finishes.'

'All right. Off you go.'

Conal was out of his chair before she had finished speaking. Cameron raced upstairs after him and slammed her bedroom door, not a moment too soon. The curtains were open, and the pale moon edged across the window, filling the room with silver light. Conal tore off his clothes and fell to the floor, a dark shape against the remains of the sparkling blue glitter. As Cameron watched, he began the transformation she had become so familiar with. His body stretched and writhed on the floor, then grew and filled out, stirring up little eddies of glitter which sparkled in the moonlight. Hair