As they stepped back from the scene, several policemen, medics and news reporters dashed to the Prime Minister’s aid, but Dylan was looking around the mass of people for someone else. “It must have been her,” he thought. He scanned the crowd hopefully – and there she was.
“Scarlett,” he said with a hint of a smile as she walked towards them. “That was you, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, you know, I thought it was time someone sent Goulden a sign that he needs to change his ways.”
Dylan managed a laugh. It was good to see Scarlett right now. She stared at him for a second, unable to find the right words, then leant forward and gave him a huge hug.
“We need to get out of here quickly,” Dylan said. “So we can get the rest of your families to safety somehow.”
“You really think he’ll hurt them?” Jay asked.
“I have absolutely no doubt about it. We need to protect them and we need to do it now.”
Chapter 11
Just after 10am the following morning, the 10 teenagers walked up the pathway to a large mansion in Highgate, north London. Dylan glanced up at the grand building, which had an Edwardian-period design and was positioned on a quaint, tree-lined street.
“No one will think to look for us here,” Lucy said as she put a key in the door.
“Are you sure Goulden won’t be able to link this house to you?” Dylan asked.
“Nah. It belonged to my godmother and there is absolutely no information in existence linking this house to me. She wasn’t even my official godmother – my parents just called her that because they were such great friends.” She walked into the house.
“Well, if you’re certain,” Dylan said. He looked around cautiously as he followed her inside. It was clear he still had reservations about the idea.
“Don’t worry. Just to make you feel better, I’ll track down all the records and if any computer files do lead back to me, I’ll zap them,” Lucy said to reassure him.
“You can do that?”
She nodded. “I’ve always been good with computers and now I can short circuit most machines too.”
“Chill out, Dylan,” Sasha said. “Where else are we going to go? This place is as good as any and, as Lucy said, Goulden will never expect to find us living in a millionaire’s mansion.” She stared around the entrance hall. “This place is amazing.”
Jay whistled as he stepped inside. “Nice, very nice.”
“Let’s go and have a seat in the front room,” Lucy said. “I’m shattered.”
Dylan, Sasha, Jay, Toshiko, Andrew, Alex, Ethan, Neelam and Scarlett followed her through to a large living room with matching green sofas and curtains. There was a Chinese rug covering the wood floor and an oak TV stand and bookshelves at one side of the room.
Lucy collapsed onto one of the sofas. “I never want to have to go through a day like that again,” she said.
Scarlett and Dylan sat down next to her, while Neelam, Sasha and Toshiko made themselves comfy on the other sofa. Jay and Ethan grabbed two stools from the corner and perched on those, while Andrew and Alex crashed on the floor.
“Me too,” Scarlett said. She turned to Dylan and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “How are you holding up?”
“OK.” He put on a brave face and nodded, but he felt like breaking down inside. “I’m glad we’ve managed to get all your parents and siblings to safety. That makes me feel better.”
The 10 teens had spent the past 16 hours or so staging the supposed deaths of all of their families and helping them to start their lives afresh.
In recent weeks, there had been riots and violent outbursts across the country in retaliation to Goulden’s government cuts. Neelam came up with the idea of pretending their homes had been burned down by rioting arsonists with their loved ones still inside and the group knew it was the perfect cover story.
They put the plan into action, then helped their parents and siblings sneak away and sent them on their way to new lives with reinvented identities.
“I can’t believe we’ll never see them again,” Neelam said sadly.
“We will one day,” Scarlett said. “Once we beat Goulden and he is no longer a threat. For now, it’s best that they’re somewhere he can’t find them.”
“Hopefully, he’ll believe that they no longer exist,” Jay said.
“I wish we could just contact them, so we know they’re OK,” Alex sighed. “That’s the bit that makes it so hard for me.”
“If we do that, we risk Goulden finding out they’re still alive,” Scarlett said. “We can’t see them, talk to them, write to them or even know where they are. It’s the only way we can be sure of keeping them safe.”
“I know,” Alex sighed. “But I still don’t like it.”
“Look,” Lucy said as she flicked on the TV. She pointed at the screen, where a newsreader was reporting from Scarlett’s house in Dulwich.
“This is Diana Donald reporting from the scene of one of the many fires that have shocked the UK tonight. This detached, new-build house in south east London was burned to the ground with the family inside. Many other homes have been destroyed, including several across the capital, one in Yorkshire, one in Manchester and another in Coventry.
“Meanwhile, there have also been incidents of arson at several shopping centres while rioting has occurred again in many cities, including, London, Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool. It is believed that all of these events are linked to the riots that have been ongoing for the last two weeks.”
“Thank you Diana,” a presenter back in the studio said. “And we’ll have more on this story after the news along with a report on the bus bombing in Enfield, north London, where it has been confirmed that 118 people lost their lives.”
Lucy quickly switched the TV off. “Sorry,” she said to Dylan.
“It’s OK,” he said. “It’s certainly been quite a day. We’re all over the news. Well, not us exactly because no one knows about us and our powers…”
“I think we should keep it that way,” Andrew mused. “Look what happened when Goulden found out. He started plotting to use us as his own personal weapons and he’s more than willing to kill people whenever he feels like it. It makes me afraid to ever use my abilities again.”
“Don’t be,” Scarlett said. “We have to use our powers to bring Goulden down. We need to overthrow him to make our families safe again and for the sake of the country too.”
Andrew looked at her quizzically.
“He’s destroying the UK,” she said. “It seems subtle – cuts here, closures there, riots and unrest, but look how much the country has already changed since his New Way party came to power last summer. Think about it. If things continue like this, I dread to think what kind of a state this country will be in in a few years’ time.”
“Aren’t you being a bit dramatic?” Andrew asked.
Dylan shook his head. “She’s right. Goulden is a risk to us all. He’s a power-crazed maniac who will do the most unthinkable things to get his own way – who knows what kind of vision he has for the country and the world. We have to stop him.”
“I guess so…” Andrew said. “Can’t we just kill him in his sleep?”
“No. While we have to do what we can to stop him, we can’t stoop to his level – that would make us no better than him. We will bring him down though, I swear. We’ll make it safe for your families to come back and we’ll avenge the death of my parents and Sophia.”
Scarlett gave his hand another squeeze. “Well said Dylan. From now on, it’s us versus Goulden.”
He nodded. “It’s us versus the world and the world is not going to know what’s hit it.”
The end, for now
Out Of Time by Donna Marie Oldfield
Super Unknown is a 20,000-word novella and is written as a prequel to Out Of Time, a 65,000-word, full-length novel.
There’s a brief description of the book below and over the following pages, you can read the first four chapters of Out Of T
ime for free.
Out Of Time begins with the Super Unknown character Scarlett Shortt living in a very normal London three years after the events of the prequel. She’s never had super powers, she’s never heard of Goulden and she’s never met Dylan, Lucy, Neelam and their friends. But that is all about to change…
One minute she is just an average 18-year-old girl, but then her life takes an extraordinary turn following a road accident. She wakes up to find that the world has twisted beyond recognition – everything is very dark and different now and a bunch of teenagers she’s never met before claim to be her best friends. The group can do amazing things, such as fly, read minds and control electricity, and Scarlett is shocked to learn that she has special powers too.
The reluctant superhero soon finds herself caught up in their mission to make the world a better place and overthrow the evil prime minister, Adam Goulden. Will she learn how to use her powers in time to face their dangerous adversaries and will she ever discover exactly where she is and how she got there?
Out Of Time is the first book in a continuing series.
Out Of Time – Free Chapters
Prologue
October 19, 2013
“Fluffy, no!” Scarlett Shortt heard her mum yell as their excitable puppy galloped through the door and bounced onto the bed.
The teenager groaned grumpily and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She blearily looked around her purple bedroom before focussing on the little white poodle that was bouncing up and down on her polka-dot bedspread.
“Sorry, Scarlett, I tried to stop her. I guess she just wanted to wish you happy birthday,” said her mum, who was looking as chic as usual with her grey shift dress and neat black bob.
“My birthday!” Scarlett said. Being so damply awakened had made her completely forget.
She smiled at her mother and patted the eager pooch on the head, then noticed that there was an amazing digital watch where the dog’s collar should be. It was a silver, 1980s-style timepiece with a light-up face. She instantly realised it was the same one she’d been eyeing up for weeks.
“Happy birthday!” her mum said.
“Is this mine?” she squealed.
Her mum nodded and smiled.
“It’s so beautiful. Wow, thanks, it’s amazing!”
Scarlett removed the watch from Fluffy, who seemed a bit disgruntled to lose her funky accessory. The pup stomped off, probably in search of excitement, or food, elsewhere.
“I’m going to make a special breakfast. See you downstairs soon?” Mum said.
“Sure, and thanks again.”
Scarlett quickly showered, then dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a fitted grey T-shirt. Finally, she put on her new digital watch, then headed downstairs.
“Happy birthday!” said her little brother, Dan, who was sitting at the breakfast bar in their parents’ stylish, glossy white kitchen.
“Thanks,” she said as she noticed he was munching his way through a piled-high bowl of cereal. “I thought Mum was making a cooked breakfast.”
“She is, but I’m starving, so I’m having this first.”
Scarlett rolled her eyes. She wished she had the metabolism of a 14-year-old boy.
“So how does it feel to be 18?” he asked, while handing her a card and present.
“The same,” she shrugged, tearing open the first gift.
“Brilliant! A Super Hero City 2 game for the Wii. Thanks, Dan.”
“Well, I know you like your geeky stuff and I was hoping you’d let me play it.”
“Of course,” Scarlett said as she wandered over to her mum, who was preparing food at the other end of the galley kitchen.
“Do you need a hand?” she asked, while stealing a bit of tomato off the chopping board.
Her mum prodded her thieving hands with a fork.
“Hey!”
“No, Scarlett, it’s your special day. You go and sit down in the lounge.”
Scarlett didn’t need to be told twice. She walked through to the other room, where her dad was sat engrossed in the newspaper. He was probably analysing all the sports fixtures like he did every Saturday.
“Hi Scarlett! Happy birthday,” he said, glancing up and putting his paper aside.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Did you like your watch?”
“It’s just what I wanted, thank you.”
“That’s OK. We’ve got another surprise for you, too, but you’ll have to wait until we’ve been to the Tate Modern to find out what it is.”
“Ohhhh,” she said, pretending to sulk.
“Speaking of which,” her dad said. “We’re leaving in an hour or so. Alex will be here before then, won’t he?”
“Oh no!” she said.
She’d completely forgotten her friend Alex was arriving this morning. She raced up the stairs to switch her mobile phone on.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered impatiently as the contraption flickered into life. She didn’t have time for this ‘searching for a signal’ nonsense, she was desperate to see if Alex had called or he’d be wandering around East Dulwich lost and most probably cross with her.
Alex had been Scarlett’s best friend growing up in south Manchester, but she’d hardly seen him since her family moved to London 18 months ago. She loved her new life down south, but she still missed home and she missed her friends even more. She couldn’t wait to see him.
“Ding! Ding! Ding!” sang Scarlett’s phone as it powered on. Eleven messages from Alex. Whoops. She quickly dialled his number and he answered straight away.
“Scarlett, where the hell have you been?”
“Sorry! My phone was off. Where are you? Are you at Euston yet?”
“I got there ages ago. In fact, I just got on the bus at East Dulwich station, so I’m minutes away from your house. The driver says I need to get off at the next stop.”
“OK! I’ll come to meet you. I’ll see you there in a few minutes.”
“Cool, bye.”
She quickly dashed back down the stairs, which led straight to the front hallway.
“I’m going to meet Alex,” Scarlett said to her parents as she grabbed her keys from a white rack that spelled out the word ‘home’. “I won’t be long.”
She slipped on her Converse and grabbed her grey, leather bomber jacket, then darted out of the door.
Scarlett felt lucky to live in such a beautiful neighbourhood as she walked up the tree-lined street, which was a mix of contemporary detached, semi and terraced houses. At the end, she turned the corner and came to the main road where the bus stop was. She squinted through her jet-black fringe at the sunshine to check for traffic, then noticed Alex was already there.
“Alex!”
He waved.
He’d certainly grown up a lot since she last saw him. His floppy brown hair was longer and he was a couple of inches taller – he must be 6ft now. The road was clear, so Scarlett darted out, but at that second, her new watch fell off.
“Typical!” she said as she glanced around, then spotted it on the floor behind her. She rushed back to retrieve it, only to see a lorry speeding far too quickly around the bend.
Scarlett’s eyes met with Alex’s – he was running towards her, but she didn’t even have time to scream before everything went black.
Chapter 1
Four weeks later
“Alex,” Scarlett mumbled as she groggily awoke from what felt like a really long sleep. There was no response, so she forced her eyes to open.
“Alex?”
She glanced around the room and realised she was in a hospital. A pretty grotty hospital at that. The yellowing walls looked like they hadn’t been painted in years, the fluorescent lights had a fair few cobwebs attached to them and her bed sheets looked threadbare and disgustingly grim. Where on earth was she – the middle of a war zone?
“The Jane Doe’s awake,” she heard someone shout, then a nurse came running in.
Scarlett looked at the woman, who was wearing a
mint-green dress and thick-rimmed spectacles with her hair up in a severe bun. She had a mean, stern look about her. “Where am I?”
The nurse narrowed her eyes in response, before snapping: “Hospital, dear. You’ve been here for four weeks.” She had a way of saying ‘dear’ that made it sound like a scathing putdown rather than a term of endearment.
“Did the lorry hit me?” Scarlett started to remember her last waking moments.
The nurse looked at her like she was crazy. “No, dear. It seems that you had a tumble in the street and hit your head. You’ve been unconscious all this time. You’re lucky that a stranger found you and called for help.”
“But I remember a lorry coming towards me and Alex.”
“Who, what? There was no road accident, and you were admitted on your own.”
“But…”
“You rest dear, the doctor’s on his way.”
A few minutes later, an important-looking man in a white coat entered the room. He appeared to be a little kinder than the nurse, but Scarlett still didn’t trust him.
“I think she’s got amnesia,” she heard the nurse whisper, not very quietly.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Johnstone.” he said. “It’s certainly good to see you awake, how are you feeling?”
“Alright.”
“Good, good. Well, we’ve been running lots of tests and you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve found no major problems physically.”
Well, that was good news, but Scarlett still had a horrible gut feeling. She looked around the room suspiciously. Something didn’t feel quite right.
“It’s curious really,” the doctor continued, “we expected there to be much more damage, considering how long you’ve been unconscious, but you’re absolutely fine.”
Scarlett was taken aback by how disappointed he sounded. It was like he wanted there to be something wrong with her.
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