-HUNTED-

Chapter 2 - Lucy

London, 3rd January, 2020

Major Davis pulled up in front of a small, suburban house, and stared at the closed curtains.

‘Why have they got the curtains closed at 2pm?’ JJ asked.

‘You’ll find out.’ Major Davis replied, walking up to the front door, and ringing the doorbell.

A girl opened the door, looking at Major Davis. She said nothing, but just let them in.

“Hello Kath. Is Lucy in?” Major Davis asked. Kath nodded.

“She’s upstairs.”

Kath walked up the stairs, JJ and Major Davis in tow. She knocked on one of the doors, and walked in.

“Lucy? There’s someone here to see you.”

JJ looked around the room. There was a girl lying on the bed, holding a pillow over her ears, as if trying to block out a non-existent noise. She looked about 12 years old, a few years younger than JJ, and was sobbing her eyes out, silently.

“She’s been like this since December. She hasn’t spoken a word. Just sat up here, crying.”

“Could you leave us alone for a minute, Kath?” Kath nodded, and left the room, shutting the door behind her. JJ looked around the room. It had pale blue walls, with posters up everywhere of different bands and celebrities. At one end of the room there was a desk, with a small pink book on it, a pen beside it. JJ slowly walked over, as to not blow anything over, and looked at the book. The words on the front said “Lucy’s Diary”. Intrigued, JJ opened the book from the back, and read the last few entries.

December 14th

I’m going shopping tomorrow. Hope I’ll see you-know-who there, but I probably won’t. Last I heard, he was in America on holiday. Lucky.

December 15th

ARGH!!!!! It feels like my head is going to explode. I can’t get a moment’s peace. I can hear everyone, non-stop. Everything, everyone, I can hear it all. It hurts my head so badly, and I just want it to stop!

JJ stared at the dried tears which splattered the page, at the shaky writing of the last entry.

His phone buzzed.

‘JJ, I want you to try something. Think about your speed as a room in your house, and shut the door. It’s all in your head.’

JJ obliged, and suddenly found everything back to normal. Major Davis was sitting on the sofa whispering to Lucy, and JJ could hear him.

“Booyah!”

“Ah, JJ. It’s nice to meet you face to face. Come over here a second.”

JJ jogged over, smiling at the fact that he didn’t break anything.

“JJ, this is Lucy. She’s like you, but she isn’t.”

“How?”

“She can hear your thoughts. And mine. And everyone else’s.”

‘He’s not like me. He can’t be.’ A voice echoed through JJ’s head.

“How the hell?”

“I told you, JJ.” Major Davis looked at Lucy, and gently tried to pull the pillow from Lucy. “Lucy, I need to talk to you for a second.”

Lucy let go of the pillow, but stayed curled up on her bed.

“Lucy, JJ here is like you. He’s special. He can easily run faster than the speed of sound. And he’s managed to stop.”

“Yeah.” JJ sat down beside Lucy, and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s easy to stop. I just thought of it as a room in a house, and I shut the door. Try it.”

After a second, Lucy shook her head.

'It won’t work!’

Major Davis whispered to JJ.

“She’s different to you. She needs to find herself out of everyone she can hear.”

“Ah.” Said JJ.

“I have an idea.” Major Davis turned back to Lucy. “Lucy. Imagine yourself in a crowd of people. When you’ve done that, I need you to seal yourself in a bubble, so you’re cut off from everyone else.” Lucy nodded, sniffing.

A minute later, she sat up, and smiled.

“Has it worked?” Major Davis asked. Lucy nodded.

“Well, Lucy, my name is Major Davis. This is JJ. We’ve come to ask you if you wanted to join us. I work for an organisation which can help you control your ability, focus it, and use it to do whatever you want. But it would mean leaving everything behind. Your friends and family. Your school. Your whole life.”

“Ok.” Lucy said quietly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Come with me, then.”

Major Davis stood up, and led Lucy and JJ out of the door. Kath stood outside on the landing.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Away.” Major Davis replied. “We won’t be back.”

"Bye then Kath." Lucy said, looking at her sister.

"Ahem." coughed Major Davis. "I'm on a tight schedule here guys, so could we hurry this along?"

Lucy and Kath glared at the Major, who just rolled his eyes and started down the stairs. JJ followed, leaving Lucy and Kath behind.

5 minutes later, Lucy came down the stairs to find the Major waiting impatiently for her. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she said nothing.

The group walked out of the door, JJ closing it behind him.

"What was that about?" JJ asked. Lucy shook her head in reply.

"Time for emotions later later. Right now, we've got somewhere to be, and there's only room for one more on this motorbike." The Major said, throwing Lucy a helmet. "And it's ladies first."

JJ rolled his eyes and switched into fast mode as Major Davis started up the bike.