Day 64 / 12:31
On the night of the home invasion, Noah studied the ghostly outlines of his handprints on the windowpane in his bedroom. His arms hung by his sides and he remembered how small he had felt, how insignificant, how helpless against the combined power of 3 men with guns. His fingers curled into fists and he punched the air, wishing he could feel flesh turn to pulp, hear whimpering cries.
He watched as the shadowy images faded from the windowpane, then pressed his hands there once more. As he leant into glass, supporting his weight with his hands, it felt as if all that was evil and cruel and chaotic was being kept well away. He stood sentinel, warding off danger, keeping his family safe.
In the days that followed, Noah remembered how he’d felt as a small boy, counting in 5s, finding 5s, calling on them to get him from one end of the school day to the next. Now they seemed to be gathering with a different sort of force – one that kept darkness and fear at bay. It was up to him to exploit their capacitities to the full. He combed the Internet looking for information to add to their strength. He found page upon page of facts, all waiting to be organised into categories and subcategories.
First came the words like ‘pentacle’ and ‘pentagon’, ‘pentathlete’ and ‘pentasyllabic’ (which, as luck would have it, was a 5-syllable word). He arranged them in blocks of 5, sorting them according to the ability he felt each held, shuffling them to make space as he discovered newer, more effective words. Noah was well-armed when the Dark first started to appear; all he had to do was chant his most potent words and it left his head.
But that wasn’t enough. It kept returning, and each time it was harder to dislodge. The more he gleaned, the more he seemed to need. There was always another fact, and that led to another and yet another. The stronger the 5s became, the longer Noah could keep the Dark from encroaching. The more powerful they grew, the more he could rely on them to hold things steady and in balance. He needed his 5s desperately, because the Dark was always there, always ready to wreak havoc, waiting to take over completely.
One of his best discoveries was Sir Gawain, a Knight of the Round Table. His shield bore a Pentacle, and each of its 5 points represented 5 knightly virtues.
Gawain had also used 5s to protect himself.
On the evening of 26 July 2011, at 19:22, 3 men invaded the lives of Noah’s family. And every day since then, Noah has gone into battle. Every day, he raises his shield and its 5-pointed star.
Noah fights back with 5s.
Maybe one day he’ll tell Ms Turner about how the 5s arrived and how they grew, about how he prepares himself to repel the darkest of shadows.
Even so, Noah Groome, your so-called power is never quite strong enough, is it?
It’s back. Mocking him. Picking away at his defences. This time, however, it bothers him less. For the 24 minutes and 19 seconds he’s been writing in his journal, he hasn’t heard its voice. Even he has to admit that’s progress.