Would You Go Out With A Freak?

Samantha Blake
Starting to feel a bit better about things. Had my first night’s sleep last night when I didn’t burn anything, have a nightmare, or go sleepwalking. I feel really good actually. Just got to work on the daytime anxiety now.

James was talking about my friend Susan. He says he fancies her, and I know that she really - really likes him. It got me thinking about boys and stuff. Will they fancy me? I mean, they might at first, but then what if they find out about what I can do?

Will they think I’m a freak?

Who wants to go out with a freak? I can’t imagine having a boyfriend. Just being that close to someone, and kissing and - aaaarrrrggghhh - think about something else.

I’d feel too self conscious all the time. Sometimes I feel like my skin is prickling with heat as it is. I just couldn’t ever relax or be myself with anyone.

There’s no way I’d be able to talk to anyone about this. I know James might see this. Actually, I don’t think he even bothers to read this. I read his stuff though. I want to know how my brother is. Want to make sure he’s ok.

I know Mum and Dad are looking out for me, but sometimes having these powers makes me feel very alone.

Hansel and Gretel Woods

Samantha Blake
Witches Wood wasn't as scary as I thought it would be.

I suppose I'd built it up in my head that it would be really bad. But then again, woods are really only scary at night aren't they? Not on summer's days.

However, I found the remains of lots of fires. Which makes sense because I saw the glow of a fire last night.

There’s also a big house which is in the middle of the wood.

It’s like something out of a fairytale. I wonder who owns it. I wouldn’t like to live there. It must have at least six or seven bedrooms. It’s old. Probably made from bread.

PS. Woods isn't Hansel and Gretel's surname, in case you thought it was, from the title. I don't know what it was. Kettle? It kind of goes...

Bad Things Happen in Scary Woods, Don’t They?

Samantha Blake
For such a quiet place, there’s a lot going on in so-called sleepy Suffolk.

I wish Nina was here. Susan, the girl I met the other day, seems nice, but I really miss my best friend. Nina Palmer and I have been friends for forever, but her parents took her over to India to stay with family after the bombing. Just want someone to talk to. Can only really talk to my brother because he's the only one who really understands what's going on with me.

But you can't talk to your brother about everything can you!?

Witches Wood really fascinates me! It's just across the field from Nan and Grandad's farmhouse.

I think it is because we weren’t allowed in the wood when we were younger. It’s just such a big deal for me. I’m actually more scared now, thinking about going into the wood, than I was I was when I was stuck in the hospital - and all the weird things that went on there!

Thing is, I know there’s nothing bad in the woods, and even if there was, nothing could hurt me.

I'm going to go for a run in the woods later. I want to see the wood for myself.

Things happen in woods don’t they? Scary things. It's supposed to be haunted. It's supposed to  have ghosts in it. People have seen them. I'm scared, but I want to see one too.

Even if there are ghosts, surely they wouldn't be able to hurt me, with my powers?

My Auntie is a Ghost?!

Samantha Blake
OMG!!!

The people in the village think my Aunty Katie is a ghost!

I just came right out with it and asked Mrs Meredith. Apparently all the village used to say that Katie was evil!!! My Dad’s sister!

Even Mum doesn’t know why. I asked her too. But she didn't know Dad back then cos it was in the 1980s or sometime in pre-history.

But that isn’t the strangest thing. Apparently, I look like her! I’ve never ever seen a photo of Aunty Katie, so I don’t know if I really do. But that’s what Mrs Meredith says.

“You’re the spit of her you are,” she said.

Which wasn’t exactly the nicest compliment I’ve ever had. “But you’re a lovely girl,” she added.

Thanks Mrs M. I feel so much better.

Ghost Hunters in Witches Wood - Shocker!

Samantha Blake
I’ve heard Mum and Dad talk about some kind of festival thing with Nan and Grandad. I thought I heard them say “ghost hunters”, although then I heard them talk about a music festival. That might be cool. Think it’s on later in the summer.

Mum and Dad aren’t pleased.  Don’t know why. Maybe they think James and I will want to go? It is sort of right on our doorstep. You probably don’t know this, but my grandparents’ farm is right on the edge of a really big wood. And don’t tell me to shut up, but it’s called Witches’ Wood, although it’s more like a forest. It’s got a reputation for being haunted!

People say they’ve seen ghosts there. Nan would never let us go into the wood when we were younger.

Dad nearly freaked when he heard about the ghost hunters. I was with him at the shops in the local village and we overheard Mrs Meredith talking about it. Mrs M is the local gossip.

Dad is never really comfortable when he comes back home to Suffolk. He never tells us anything, but I think it’s because Dad’s sister, my Aunty Katie, died when she was 16. She had run away from home and was found drowned in the wood. It all happened years ago.

I don’t really know the full story, but it was all really horrible because the people of the village used to say Aunty Katie was a Witch, or something. Reputations like that tend to stick, particularly in a small village. I don’t know why they would say it. Dad never talks about it.

Might try and find out though. Mrs Meredith will know.

School's Out Of The Question

Samantha Blake
Dad is talking about schools.

It’s officially summer holiday, and he’s talking about school!

Don’t really want to think about school. Makes me think about home, about Ealing, and about the bomb.

Just want to enjoy being here at Nan and Grandad's, and doing stuff. So thank you Dad, but no thank you. He’s already saying that we need to catch up on lessons that we’ve missed. Just can’t think about that now.

I want to experiment with my powers. I've got them, and I want to learn how to use them. Flame power for example. There must be loads of things I could do with that. I need to do some tests.

The Healing Power of Running

Samantha Blake
Seems really silly to say it, but I'm scared to go to bed. I feel like a kid or something. I used to sleepwalk a lot when I was little, but I'm 14 and I'm not a kid. But I just get scared when the lights go out. Is that stupid? Am I stupid?

I've woken up three times in the night in the last week, just screaming. And then I realise that the bed is on fire. And that's not a dream, the bed really is on fire. I have the power to create fire from my hands. I can also stop fires, so I can quickly put it out when I realise what's happening. But it means that the smoke alarms keep going off, the sheets are ruined, and I've destroyed 5 mattresses since I've been here. It's so .... humiliating.

Mum and Dad and my grandparents have been brilliant. And I'm starting to feel better. James has been great too. He deals with it in a different way I think. Boys just do don't they. But I know that he's been feeling all strange and like he's going to explode too.

I've started doing more running. That really helps. When I'm out on the road, it feels like I'm free. Now I've just got to persuade Dad to let me run on my own. He keeps saying he wants to go out with me. But he can't keep up and I worry about him. I mean, he's old! He shouldn't be out there running with me. Not that I don't want him there. I love my Dad. But I worry about him.

Two Cool for School

Hello computer. My name is Samantha Blake.

This is the first post in our Class Heroes blog. Hope you like the name. It was my twin brother, James's idea. He thinks it's funny. He think's he's funny. He's so not.

I wanted to call the blog SamJam. That's what Heat magazine would have called us. Better than JamSam isn’t it?

This blog is my Dad’s idea. He says me and James need to keep a diary, and this it. Our shared, private blog, that no one but us will ever see.

Dad says we’ve just been through a traumatic ordeal, and we need some kind of outlet to deal with what’s happened to us. He’s probably right. Unless you’ve fallen down a big hole over the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard about the school coach that got blown up by a terrorist bomb in London. Or you might have heard about the fire at the big hospital in London. Or about the siege in that hospital. Well, all those events involved me and my brother.

We didn’t start the fire (think that’s a line from one of my Dad’s CDs????). Honest. We were the victims of the bomb, and the fire, and the siege. You probably think we’re pretty unlucky after reading that (or as my Dad says “come the end of the world, you wouldn’t want to be standing behind us”.)

I’ll stop talking about my Dad now.

Actually, we weren’t unlucky. We were very, very fortunate. We survived. When I woke up in hospital, I had super powers. Yep. No kidding. So did my brother, James. But it’s a secret. That’s why this a secret blog. And have you ever tried keeping a secret? It's really, really hard, particularly when you just want to show your friends all the amazing things that you can do. Feels like I'll burst into flames if I don't write it all down - which, incidentally, is something that I can do.

At the moment, we're sort of lying low. It's the school summer holidays, and I don't even know what we're going to do about going back to school. James says we're too cool for school now. Or perhaps that should be two cool for school?

Dad is kind of doing my head in. He's so worried about us all the time. I know we've been through a lot, but we are 14! We're not kids anymore! Well, alright, we are. But we're faster, stronger, and better able to look after ourselves than most adults.

Ever thought what it might be like to have super powers, and have an over protective dad? I think I'm going to be finding out...

Samantha Blake