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Suddenly, the TV switched itself back on. The same newsreader was sitting in the same BBC news studio.
    ‘Oh, well, that’s nice,’ said the newsreader.
    Rani blinked. What an odd thing for a newsreader to say, she thought. She switched the television off again. Instantly, the newsreader re-appeared on the screen.
    ‘No, go ahead. Switch me off.’
    Rani stared at the screen. The newsreader stood up and moved in front of her desk.
    ‘I’m talking to you, Rani,’ she said.
    Rani jumped off the sofa and crawled towards the television. She crouched in front of it.
    ‘How? How are you doing that?’ she whispered.
    ‘I’m Louise Marlowe, BBC News,’ replied the newsreader.
    ‘But…you’re talking to me!’ said Rani.
    She reached up with her hand and gently knocked the screen. It was glass. It was solid. It was a normal television.
    Louise Marlowe’s smile suddenly became a snarl. ‘Didn’t your mum ever tell you not to sit so close to the screen?’
    And suddenly, impossibly, she reached through the screen and grabbed Rani’s wrist! Rani started to scream and struggle.
    ‘Get off me! Get off!’
    But it was no good. The laughing newsreader just pulled her arm back into the television – taking a screaming Rani with her. Rani was pulled right through the screen!
    The Chandras’ living room fell silent as the television set switched off.
    In Luke’s bedroom, the Nightmare Man was grinning down at Rani. He could taste her fear. And he loved it.
    ‘Oh, but I need so much more!’ he said. Then he looked down at Clyde. ‘Oh, hello…’
    Sarah Jane was crouched next to Luke as K-9 scanned him.
    ‘My sensors indicate that Master Luke is asleep.’ K-9 almost sounded sorry. He knew that Sarah Jane needed more information.
    ‘I know that,’ she replied.
    She spun around and looked at Mr Smith. He was examining the footage on Rani’s digital camera. On his screen, an image of the Nightmare Man grinned at Sarah Jane, making her shudder.
    ‘And what about you?’ she asked Mr Smith. ‘You got anything?’
    ‘I’m scanning the alien’s face and running a check through my –’
    But Sarah Jane turned away from him. She was scared and she was impatient. She needed her son back.
    ‘What’s wrong with you two?’ she said. ‘Don’t you see? That creature stopped Luke telling us about him, but oh, he’s clever. Luke didn’t record the video because he was scared, but because he knew we’d find it! He knew we’d save him!’
    She crouched down next to her son and stroked his face. ‘Please, Luke, wake up,’ she said, with tears in her eyes.
    For a second there was silence in the attic. Then, Mr Smith spoke. ‘I’ve completed my scan, Sarah Jane. Luke’s Nightmare Man is a Vishclar from the Saretti dimension. There are stories throughout the universe of them attempting to break into our reality.’
    Sarah Jane stood up again, full of hope. The creature was just an alien. ‘Stories? So people have stopped them! How?’
    ‘I am still searching for that information,’ replied Mr Smith. Sarah Jane turned and looked at Luke again.
    ‘Please,’ she whispered. ‘Please just be okay.’

Chapter Fourteen
    Trapped!
    Luke was alone. Completely alone. Surrounded by a black void that was neither hot nor cold. There was no up or down. No left or right. It was just darkness.
    ‘Hello,’ he said, quietly. He heard his voice echo once. Hello . Then again. Hello . And then again and again. Hello… Hello . Suddenly it was echoing faster and louder and faster and louder, surrounding him! His own voice taunting him. Hello hello hello hello !
    ‘Stop it!’ he shouted. But, of course, that just added to the noise.
    He started to panic, started to run. He couldn’t see where he was going. There was no floor, no ceiling, no walls. It was all just darkness. His echoing voice started to fade away and for a second there was silence. All Luke could hear was his own heart beating. He tried to stop panicking. There had