She looked at Nicholas and added, “I told Fran last night that I used to work as a nurse. I think you will have to stay in bed for a bit, my dear, before you can leave the house.”
“Yes, as much as I appreciate your help, I have to let you know that we can’t stay here. I need to find a way back home to Draconia,” I told them both and involuntarily started flicking my wristband. I couldn’t help myself. I felt trapped again. Maybe I just needed to go outside, get some fresh air and wait for the anxiety attack to pass.
“As you can see, Fran is a bit anxious,” Nicolas said, staring at me intensely. “I keep telling her that we truly have nothing to go back to, at least I don’t.”
“I understand, and I think I may know how to help you,” Aly said. “I only thought about this now, but my late husband always believed in all that supernatural nonsense. He read a lot of books about magic and witchcraft in his spare time. His friends always laughed at him. I let him get on with his hobbies, thinking that at some point, he would lose interest. He never stopped talking about witches and vampires, even before his death. We will go to the city today to see a real magician who my late husband used to speak about, Fran—someone who may know how to help you.”
5
The crowd.
Nicolas didn’t look happy when Aly mentioned that she knew someone who could actually take me back to Draconia. I couldn’t allow myself to get worked up too much about what he thought. He was still only a stranger. He didn’t understand why this was so important to me, and I wasn’t ready to talk about Dara. The Dark Ones killed her; they created the Dragon Fever and I couldn’t just let it go. I was ready to fight for truth and justice.
“Whatever, Fran. You do what you want, but in my opinion, you should wait,” Nicolas said, before I left the room and headed upstairs with Aly.
I needed to have a bit of privacy and I was dreaming about a hot shower. She led me to the room upstairs. I took the sack with me and my head was beginning to spin. I was overwhelmed with everything that had been going on.
“This can be your room for now. You know, until you leave. I was never blessed with children. I want you to know that you can trust me,” she told me, placing her hand on my arm. I smiled at her, staring at her ordinary eyes. They were a light shade of grey.
I nodded and sat on the bed. She began removing some clothes from of her wardrobe, telling me that at least now I would have something that I could change into later on. She left me alone and I headed to the shower. I was really filthy, and my head wasn’t in the right place. Her house was very cozy, and it looked like the bathroom had been recently renovated. In comparison to my apartment in Draconia these conditions were luxurious. Dara’s old dump was just a square room that stunk of death. I hated that she was forced to live there.
It was very difficult to get any kind of housing in Draconia. The waiting list was lengthy, and after waiting for years she was approved to move off the street to a studio flat that was ridiculously small. I was only able to get my flat because I knew certain people. The truth was that I could always steal something for someone, and that’s how I ended up getting a decent-sized apartment that would normally cost a small fortune.
After my shower, I put some trousers on and a large, long-sleeved shirt. The clothes weren’t my style, but I couldn’t be picky. Aly was taking me to the other side of the city to see someone her dead husband thought to have magic. I didn’t want to get my hopes up. According to her, no one in this world knew magic, so I needed to be careful. The egg could hatch out at any moment. The timing was bad, and I wanted to be on my way home.
My heart rate picked up, and this time it had nothing to do with my anxiety. I was nervous about discovering this new world. Other wardens had no idea that cracks even existed. I felt responsible for changing their lives.
Once I was ready, I went downstairs to see Aly in the living room. The black box that she called a TV was switched on and the people on the screen were talking. Apparently, there was a massive accident in another city. I saw a lot of vehicles piled together and people that looked hurt.
“Here is the gun that used to belong to my husband. I carry it with me sometimes when I come home late at night from bingo. This area isn’t very safe,” my new, non-magical friend told me, placing a large old-looking pistol on the coffee table next to her tea. She called it a gun, and I suspected that it was just another name for a pistol. I had seen these kinds of automatic weapons back in Draconia, and I knew they were valuable. The pistol could kill a warden instantly without any use of magic. I even traded one for a potion with another warden, but never used one. I didn’t know if it was a good idea for me to carry it.
“It sounds like you need it more than I do,” I told her, but she only smiled, and shook her head.
“No one is going to attack an elderly lady in Camden Market. I want you to have it, just in case. If you don’t need to use it, you can always give it back later,” she said. I lifted the gun. It was heavy, and Aly quickly demonstrated how to use it. I practised for a bit until she was satisfied with how I handled it. She was pretty firm, and I suspected that I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to.
My hair was still wet, but I put it together in a nice plait and tossed it behind me. It was too risky to consider taking the egg with me. I was too afraid to lose it and now I kind of felt responsible for it. “Are you ready to see what’s out there?”
“Yes, let’s go,” I said, with determination in my voice.
“Good luck, I will be here, resting and enjoying the pictures inside that black box,” Nicolas shouted when we were heading towards the door. He’d moved from the bedroom to the living room, and made himself comfortable on the sofa.
Outside, Aly told me that I didn’t have to be scared of cars—that’s what she called the oddly shaped vehicles moving extremely fast. The weather was warm and grey-looking. The landscape here was different, and so were the people. Everyone seemed so isolated, always rushing to get somewhere.
We started walking, passing other terrace houses. Aly greeted some older gentlemen on the streets. I noticed that she knew a lot of people around here. I tried not to jump when cars moved along the road. I kept telling myself that this world wasn’t much different from Draconia.
My heart was pounding in my chest. Several men glanced at me and I wondered if they could sense that I was different. I glanced behind me, seeing that one or two had stopped on the street and stared when I passed. The funny thing was that every person that I was looking at had plain eyes. It was something that I noticed in humans and it was hard to get used to.
“They are probably staring because your eyes are unusual, dear. No one has ever seen someone with such intense golden irises. We should have thought about it before we left, but I guess it’s too late now,” Aly explained. “We are going to the tube. It’s a fast train that runs underground. We will be surrounded by people in there and it can get cramped sometimes.”
I didn’t like the sound of travelling underground, but we couldn’t waste any time. Sometime later, we left the residential area and I was thrown into complete havoc. I remembered seeing a glimpse of this world when I was running away from the Dark Ones a couple of weeks back. Women and men in suits were walking around, staring at what Aly said were mobile phones. I was seeing people from different cultures: black, white, tall, short and large and small. There was a lot to take in, but what bothered me the most was the noise. I couldn’t concentrate on my own thoughts when there were so many cars nearby.
Once we entered the tunnel, things calmed down a little. We were walking along with several hundred-other people, then we rode down the moving stairs. Aly explained that I needed to have a special card to be able to travel in the tube. In Draconia most people travelled on foot or on steam bikes. The bikes were very expensive, and only middle-class wardens could afford them. The Dark Ones could evaporate wherever they wanted. Some apparently travelled on large birds, but I had never seen one, so I suspected that these were just un
believable rumours.
My heart started pounding extremely fast when we were underground. My top was soaked with sweat and I knew that something was wrong. Magic travelled through my system, and my skin tingled everywhere. People were staring at me, glancing with curiosity. My eyes. I remembered that no one in this non-magical world had eyes like mine, so it was obvious that I was bringing a lot of attention to myself.
I didn’t like the crowd; people were pushing and walking into each other, speaking in different languages. Aly must have sensed that there was something wrong with me, because she grabbed my hand when I started taking long deep breaths. We walked through the bright white tunnels until we got to the rail track. People were waiting for what I assumed was the train, and most of them were staring down at their strange small devices. Sweat was running down my face, but I told myself that I needed to keep it together.
“Where are all these people going?” I asked her, feeling lightheaded and hot. I didn’t think that I could cope in this world. There was so much noise and people didn’t seem to care about anyone but themselves. No one was talking to anyone.
“Work, meetings, to see others, to buy something. Everyone has different reasons,” Aly answered. “Are you okay, Fran? You look a little flustered.”
I wasn’t okay, but I stepped inside the tube with her. My heart was beating a hundred miles an hour and I had to flick my wristband. She was still talking to me, and I was just telling her that I was all right to keep her from asking questions. My vision went a little blurry, and I just needed to get out. The fresh air was what I needed, my wrist was hurting now, and Dara’s face appeared right in front of me. She was pale, and hard dragon skin was covering her whole body. She was telling me that it was all my fault that she was dead. The ride in the tube wasn’t long, but I couldn’t take it anymore. My chest cracked open and I had to flick the band harder, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Just breathe in through your nose—in and out—just keep going. We will be out on the street in less than five minutes,” Aly was telling me, moving her hand over my back. I didn’t know if that was helping, but soon I was moving my feet. We were in the crowd, and I felt overwhelmed. There were too many voices in my head. I kept seeing Dara walking past me. She was blaming me for everything that ever happened to her, blaming me for having to live on the streets and steal from people that didn’t have much at all. Her voice was ringing in my head, and I wanted to cut my skin with a sharp knife—feel real pain—make it all go away. I was walking in a fog, as if someone was leading me into the darkness.
No one in this world understood what was going on. The wardens were being oppressed and I felt as if I was slowly losing my mind. I wasn’t coping well with stress or the death of my friend, and I knew it. Dark thoughts seemed to overtake me at the worst of times. The only way I knew to fix it was to avenge Dara and stand up for what was right. The wardens of Draconia had a right to know what the Dark Ones were up to.
Eventually we were out of the tube, and the sun blinded me for a moment. I was wheezing, and my knees were just about to give out on me. I had never been so weak, and right now, I was falling apart. Aly’s voice kept whispering in my ear. I didn’t know where we were, but there were so many cars around, and so many people. I needed to touch my egg. The shell’s energy calmed me down, filled me with warmth and good fuzzy feelings.
“Okay, count to ten in your head and take long deep breaths. It’s just a panic attack. It will pass, Fran. Trust me,” she kept repeating. I continued flicking the band on my wrist, and my skin was raw now. There was a dull pain in my chest, but I listened to what she said. I shut my eyes and started counting, breathing at the same time. The darkness that was consuming me began easing off a little.
I told myself that everything was all right, that Dara’s death wasn’t my fault. She had been infected by the Dark Ones.
“Fran, think about Nicolas. He wouldn’t have survived without you. You helped him, so start being joyful. Breathe in and out. Come on, with me,” Aly was saying.
After some time, my heartbeat finally started to slow down. I arched my head backwards, having a clear picture of Draconia in my head. I knew that I would be back there in no time at all. I wasn’t going to be stuck in this world forever.
“See, it’s better now. Stop flicking the band. That’s not going to help you. Come on, are you able to keep going?” she asked, staring at me with her kind grey eyes. I didn’t know anything about this woman, and yet, she was helping me, without expecting anything in return.
I looked around, aware that people were staring at me, but I didn’t care about them. My whole body was trembling when Aly handed me a bottle of water.
“Drink this, you will feel better,” she said, and I nodded, opening the bottle. It took me several more minutes to gain full control of my body. I wiped the sweat off my forehead, feeling a tingling sensation in my stomach. There were large red vehicles moving through the streets; they looked like miniature houses. I saw motorbikes and very nice-looking cars. People were talking loudly and maybe their voices were triggering my anxiety. I had no idea. I just wanted to get out of there. A split moment later, someone approached me, then grabbed my hand.
“What are you doing amongst humans without cover? You could expose us all, stupid warden!” he shouted, getting very close to me.
It was another warden. I didn’t know how I knew it, because his eyes were normal too. A little green and hazel, but the colour was nowhere near as intense as what I was used to back in Draconia. He was tall, dark-haired and much older than me.
“Let go of her, young man, or I’m going—”
“It’s okay, Aly. He’s like me. I can sense it,” I said, cutting her off.
“Damn right, I’m a warden. Have you lost your mind? You can’t walk around central London without cover. You are going to bring too much attention to yourself, girl. The Dark Ones will snap your neck before you can even blink.”
6
It’s not my thing.
I was breathing steadily, all of a sudden, forgetting about the panic attack and the fact that I was just about to lose my mind. My hands were still shaking like crazy, but I had to focus. Maybe it was silly for me to believe that apart from me and Nicolas there wasn’t any other warden in London. Obviously, I couldn’t have been more wrong and now the warden with longish dark hair was glaring at me with anger. He was dressed in a blue shirt with a funny logo and a bunch of rainbows on the front.
“Are you saying that the Dark Ones are here too?” I asked, quickly glancing around like I was expecting one to randomly jump on me. People were walking by, some stared at me, others were in too much of a hurry to pay any attention to what was going on around them. I noticed that the warden blended well into his surroundings, but his magic was there. I sensed that he was one of my kind straight away.
“Come with me. We need to start moving. It isn’t safe here and we are exposed. You must be new here, right?” he asked.
“She’s not going anywhere. Fran, let’s be reasonable. We can’t trust this man and a real magician can help you,” Aly said, reminding me that she was standing next to me. The warden looked at her and frowned.
“Human? Does she know about you? Girl, you aren’t going to survive here long if you bla—”
“Cut it out, man. Aly knows everything, and she is a friend. And we don’t need your help,” I snapped at him, getting tired of him lecturing me on the street. He had no idea who I was, and if other wardens were here, then I could ask for their help. Aly gave me a soft smile and then glanced at the stranger placing her hands on her hips, like she was asking him if he was preparing to cross her.
“Come on, let’s start moving. Seriously, it isn’t safe here,” he said. “There aren’t many Dark Ones in London, but those that are here know how to use their magic to disguise themselves, so they can look like any ordinary human. My name is Marek, by the way.”
I wished that I had brought the egg with me. Aly was a great friend, but she sa
id herself that there was no magic in her world, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from her so-called “magician.”
“I suppose we should go with him,” Aly said, and I nodded. Marek took something out of his bag and then he handed it to me. It was a silly hat with a firm front.
“Put this baseball cap on; otherwise we will both be screwed. I’d forgotten that our eyes can be so vivid in this world. We have to use the tube. It’s risky, but right now we haven’t got much choice,” he told me.
I didn’t like this green hat that he called a “baseball cap” but I put it on, thinking that I really didn’t want to get us into trouble. The small voice in my head kept whispering to me that I had to do what was necessary, and for now, trusting this warden was one of those options.
We quickly made it back to the tube station again, and I tried to stay strong. The panic attacks were getting more severe here in London. The warden filled me with hope, and I was also hoping that my mental state wouldn’t slow us down again. Once we were in the tube again, Aly started bombarding Marek with all sorts of questions.
“How do we know that you are who you say you are? How long have you lived in London? Are you married, or maybe you want to take advantage of Fran?” she prattled on.
“Please, Aly, I’m trying really hard to stay calm and you’re not helping. He’s like me, he’s a warden. I can sense it,” I told her, feeling my thoughts racing again. Everyone in the wagon was so quiet. No one was talking to each other and I just wasn’t used to it. Flicking my band helped a little, but I had been playing with it for so long that now my wrist was on fire.
Marek winked at Aly, and scratched his chin. He must have been in his mid-forties; long jaw and he was losing his hair. I noticed a bald patch on the back of his head.
“I’m surprised that you were willing to help her. We tend to stay away from humans. All of you tend to freak out if you see any sort of magic. It’s comical,” he said, staring at her with a mixture of admiration and pity. I tried to keep my head down, not looking at anyone if I could help it. Most humans weren’t paying much attention to me, but the young children were the worst. A little boy was staring at me so intensely that I had to turn around in case his mother noticed.
Hatched (Draconia World Book 1) Page 4