Chapter 1: Going digital

"It's so good to have you here for this, Will," said Donald Jamison and let out a relieved sigh.

Will looked up from the cables at his father standing behind him. He seemed genuinely thankful. Will immediately felt a pang of guilt.

"It isn't a problem, really," he muttered and shifted his attention back to the electrical gadget he was trying to get to work. The Jamisons had decided to purchase a family computer, but due to a lack of technical skills, Will's father had waited for his eldest to come home during the summer holidays to connect the machine. All around Will lay wires, screw wrenches and parts of the computer's case his father had scattered about the floor.

"I don't know how you do it," Jamison senior went on, "I never know which cable connects what. They really do teach you something at that university, don't they?"

"I guess they do," Will answered rather automatically, his mind still on the task of determining which plug could possibly fit into the socket beneath the desk.

"Was this made for English sockets? I think we may need an adapter," he mused. His father scratched the back of his head and gave a bleak look.

"I honestly don't know." When he saw his son's frustrated face, he added, "I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you."

Will sighed and shook his head.

"It's alright, dad. I'll have a look in the garage."

As soon as he opened the door, he was attacked. A rubber dart hit him in the head and stuck to his cheek, accompanied by loud cries of joy.

"We got you, evil warlock!" yelled one of them. It was full of fervour and undoubtedly the voice of his little sister, Joanna.

"I thought you said he was a barbarian?" asked the other, equally high but clearly male. His brother and Joanna's twin, Michael.

"Did I? No, I didn't," decided Joanna, "He has to be a warlock. He can vanish."

"But I'm not afraid of magic," claimed Michael.

"Even if he turns you into a frog?" This made the ten-year-old think for a while.

"No," he replied, "Because if I was a frog, you'd be afraid of me."

As to be expected, the discussion soon turned heated when both started listing things the other was supposedly afraid of. Will pulled the dart from his cheek and threw it at his bickering siblings.

"Will you two be quiet for a moment?" he snapped and started looking through drawers. When he turned to look at the twins, they had stopped fighting and eyed him, Joanna defiantly, Michael on the verge of tears.

"Oh, come on. I just need to find something is all." That did not help much, but it made Joanna get up, reach out to her brother and drag him along into the house.

"I didn't mean that," shouted Will after them, but he knew he had forfeited their affections for the evening. He sighed again and opened the next drawer.

About an hour later, Will leant back in the desk chair. The machine's humming sound and the light from the screen filled the room. He had successfully installed the operating system, hardware and basic programmes, but he felt tired from all the typing. The bright light from the screen burned in his eyes. He rubbed them and yawned loudly. Only now did he realize what a privilege it had been to use the computers at the university without having to do any of the maintenance. He felt as though he owed the IT guy an apology.

A blinking on the computer screen captured his attention. The email programme had opened, seemingly by itself. At least he could not remember having opened it. There was no use, since he had not connected the computer to the internet yet. Just as well, the programme presented him with an email in the inbox. He knew this had to be an error.

"Dad?" he called, his eyes never leaving the screen. Maybe this was some kind of default email that showed up after the installation.

He clicked on the envelope symbol and opened it. Behind him, the door that had been ajar before was opened silently. On the screen, a bright and brilliant light started to shine. It became so bright that closing his eyes was not enough; he had to shield them with his hands. And suddenly, without a sound, the screen turned black and the room lay in darkness. The chair was empty, as if no one had sat in it.

When he woke up, Will knew immediately that he was not in the study at home. He was lying on something soft, but it was not the threadbare carpet he knew. He moved his hands to make fists and felt small, warm grains trickle through the gaps between his fingers. Sand, he concluded. Was he at the beach? He could feel how slow his thoughts came. It was as if his mind was preoccupied by trying to wrap itself around an incomprehensible fact.

"Will!" shouted a high-pitched voice. Probably Joanna, he thought.

He opened his eyes, saw blue sky overhead and sat up, looking around for his sister. But instead of a little, blond girl in a pink T-shirt, he saw a brown object fly towards him. As it came closer, he noticed that it was not flying, but rather jumping up and down—due to a lack of feet. It sported a strange, beige to brown hue of fur and three little horns on its head, but that was not what surprised Will. Directly beneath the horn, two round, black eyes locked with his.

"Will!" it cried again, exposing small, sharp teeth.

He raised his hands in front of his face to ward off the jumping creature and caught it mid-air.

"Will," it said, this time almost whispering, "I've waited so long for you."