Terra: The Beginning

PROLOGUE

ENGLAND, 12:15 AM

LINNET

It is past midnight, and moonlight spills across the dusty wooden floor. I slip out of bed, pull on a sweater and creep to the window as noiselessly as possible. I can hear the other girls' peaceful breathing behind me. I clamber up onto the sill and tiptoe up the fire escape onto the roof. There is someone waiting there already. He stands up and bows low.

"Good evening, m'lady. I trust your arrival was pleasant?"

I roll my eyes. "Well, if clambering up four flights of rickety stairs, trying not to wake anyone is pleasant, then yes, I suppose it was."

He grins at me, his stormy blue eyes sparkling in the dark. The roof of St. Bartholomew's Orphanage for Troubled Children is a large flat area, made of red brick. It doesn't have any walls, so you can sit on the edge with your feet dangling over the road below and watch the tiny people and cars scurrying below you like ants. I sit there now.

"So, why did you want to meet me?"

He sits down next to me. A few cars zip by below, and a cold breeze blows through the roof, making me shiver.

"I just needed to talk to you."

I look at him, Tyler Castell, my best friend in the whole world. He does not meet my eyes. The moonlight makes his longish dark hair and blue-grey eyes look silver. His mouth is smiling, but his eyes are hard. I wait for him to speak.

"Fourteen years, Linnet, it's been fourteen years since we were dumped into this hell-hole. Our parents are never coming, they're either dead, or don't care."

The smile has disappeared now. His eyes are blazing and, when he looks at me, I can feel the fire spreading toward me, enveloping me, drawing me in.

"Let's get out of here, Lin. Just you and me. We'll travel the world, see amazing places. Anything has got to be better than this place."

I want to agree with him so badly, want to go with him, but I know I can't.

"We can't leave, Ty, you know it. What about the kids? We can't leave them alone here."

He looks away in frustration. His hands clench tightly, but I know he won't leave. He stands up and holds out his hand.

"I have to show you something."

I take his hand and he leads me to the centre of the roof.

"Whatever you do, don't move from this spot, okay?"

I frown. "Oh-kay, what are you up to?"

He smiles. The sparkle has returned to his eyes. He walks back and mimes holding a microphone.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, prepare for a sight you have never seen before! A miracle, a feat so incredible you won't believe your eyes!"

He raises his hands as if to a cheering crowd. I can't help laughing.

He winks at me and continues, "I give you, ladies and gentlemen, the one and only – TYLER, the boy who can fly!"

Before I can react, he runs full speed to the edge of the roof and jumps. I scream.

*