The Final Endgame.

Chapter 1

We sat in steely silence as the cart rattled along the lane. I say we, I mean Isabel, Newham, Fisher, Hettie, Broker and I. Not one of us had spoken for four hours.

We had left Felicity's house in low spirits, and our mood was dropping further the closer we got to London. Hettie was reading, hands clasped tightly over the book in her hands; Broker was staring at his feet, Fisher and Isabel sat together, hand in hand, lost in silent speech only they could hear, and Newham drummed his fingers worriedly on the edge of the cart. I was holding onto my side-bag, still not empty, but something about the fabric comforted me, reassured me that really, everything was going to be fine, even if it wasn't. The silence was terrible, full of guilt and worry and fear. I knew there was at least one guilty conscience in this cart.

My thoughts turned to the doctor, lying in St. Bart's. He was in danger too. Stephenson's workers could easily get to him, and if he was injured he would hardly be able to defend himself. I just hoped that my arrival back in London would be enough to get Stephenson to leave him alone. He would know I'd returned, since the traitor sitting metres away from me would undoubtedly let him know. As I had been doing time and time again over the last four hours, I fought down the whirlwind of emotions encircling that betrayal of trust. I didn't dare let on that I knew. That would bring worse consequences, and not just for me.

Newham stirred. We all stared at him expectantly, as if he was going to say something. He was.

"Where are we going to go?" he asked us. The general stare shifted over to me, and understandably so, as this was all my idea. It was an excellent thing I'd been thinking this problem over for the last four hours.

"There's an old church abandoned just off Barber Street. I was thinking we could head there" I told them, to a general shrugging and nodding of assent. Truth be told, I had no intention of staying at the old church, but Harley Street was between us and it and I had a niggle of curiosity as to what had gone on. Luckily for me, nobody else's London geography was as good as mine was, and they didn't complain.

"What then?" Broker asked. "We can't just keep on hiding, you know. We'll get found eventually."

I sighed.

"I know. I'll think of that when we get there."

There was a general tutting and shaking of heads, as it seemed nobody was all that keen on my strategy. Everything had become a little haphazard recently, in the way I planned and the way I thought. I tended not to plan ahead too much these days, which personally, I thought was excellent. Plans had far too much leeway to be intercepted.

"Do you even know where we are, Allie?" Isabel piped up worriedly. I bit my lip. For all I knew, we could have been abducted by the cabbie and on our way to Scotland. That wasn't a good thing.

"We're a f...few miles from L-London" Fisher cut in swiftly, before anyone had reason to panic. "I'm watching where we're going."

Everyone visibly relaxed.

I mentally slapped myself. Yes, it was good that Fisher was watching the road, but it was bad that I hadn't thought of doing just that. I needed to get my head in the game.

We rattled into London half a hour later, and I contented myself with counting the turns before we arrived at Harley Street. I had to see what had gone on.

Or, what hadn't, I realised suddenly, as the street came into view.

"Stop!" I shouted, pointing in amazement.

"What?" everyone asked, as the cart rattled to a halt.

"That's...Harley Street" I explained slowly, brain whirring to find an explanation.

"But that's impossible!" Newham exclaimed, jumping clear out of the cart before anyone could stop him. "It's not damaged!"

"Check Dr. Scott's practice" Broker chipped in. "It's a little way down, isn't it?"

We all scrambled out of the cart and began to walk quickly down Harley Street. Despite my subconscious screaming at me to turn around, nothing made sense, so I didn't.

Although, looking back, I probably should have. We stood in a group looking up at the building, and as everyone else's confusion built my vision cleared.

"No!" I gasped, looking wildly around. Everyone's eyes were now on me as I raked my hands through my hair.

"Stupid!" I yelled frustratedly. "The newspaper was fake! It was a rouse to get us back here!"

But nobody had time to react to my words, as the practice we were standing by suddenly burst into flame.