‘No!’ screamed Matilda.

Their world lurched as another howl pierced the air. The wind increased. Statues toppled. Books fell from shelves. The pile of comics was strewn about the store, pages flying free of their rusty old staples. Bottles tumbled from tables and smashed. The suit of armour clattered to the floor. One of the stuffed cats landed at Keagan’s feet, its glass eyes springing from its head.

‘What’s happening?’ shouted Keagan, trying to keep his balance as the building trembled.

‘It’s as I feared,’ answered Matilda. ‘Something’s trying to get through. Something that has no right to.’

‘What do we do?’ Keagan was so confused.

Matilda looked down at her hands. The stuffed cat had disappeared.

Seeing the copper coin lying on the floor among a scattering of glass splinters, Matilda reached down. She nicked her finger on a shard of glass as she snatched it up. Blood smeared the coin.

Another unearthly howl blasted across the other world and Matilda stood, facing the approaching darkness.

‘I need to close that door,’ Matilda shouted over the sound of the rushing wind. ‘And you need to get out of here.’

Another massive gust blew through the opening, knocking over the side table. The computer chip went skittering across the floor. Keagan made a dive for it, but it slid under the fallen suit of armour.

The whole store shook as if it were about to be torn apart. Shelves and displays crashed down.

As Keagan attempted to lift the armour, Matilda made for the mysterious doorway, fighting against the wind. Black wisps of darkness streamed through the doorway, and she ducked and wove to avoid them. Some of the blackness circled around the stuffed kittens on the counter and the animals withered and fell apart.

Keagan jumped back as more of the darkness tumbled over the armour. Before his eyes the metal aged and rusted, crumpling to dust.

‘Get out!’ yelled Matilda. ‘I don’t know if I can close it.’

Keagan thrust his hand in the remains of the armour, sifting through it until he found the computer chip. As his hand closed around the key, a bright light flared.

A doorway appeared – his doorway.

Through the opening was …

A wall. A stark, white wall.

‘GO!’ Matilda’s voice was filled with panic.

Keagan looked from his doorway to the shop’s front door. The sensible thing to do would be to get out of this place and run home. That’s what his mum would want him to do. But the urge to step into this other world was beginning to overpower him.

I should go home, he thought. As he tried to convince himself, another violent shudder sent a bookshelf crashing down in front of the shop’s door.

Now he had no option.

He saw Matilda with swirls of darkness circling her, as if they were taunting the old woman.

‘I can’t get to my doorway,’ she cried.

Keagan was torn. Part of him wanted to help her, although really, he had no idea what he’d be able to do. But most of him was aching to go through his doorway.

‘GO!’ Matilda yelled again.

Keagan didn’t need any more convincing. He stepped through.

His vision blurred, his head spun and his stomach lurched.