Quest (The Quest Saga)

1 - One Month Later

Dean looked into the red box he had always kept in his wardrobe, hidden behind the clothes. There had been £70 in there one month ago. It had taken a while to save that up. He took out the solitary 50p that was all that was left. He was starving. The local supermarket was fully stocked with delicious, succulent treats, all of which Dean couldn't have. He wouldn't have done this unless he was desperate. As surreptitiously as possible he made his way to the ready meals. Licking his lips he opened his jacket and quickly tucked a lasagne under his armpit and a Thai green curry for tomorrow under the other. Zipping his jacket back up he made his way to the door. Just then a security guard stepped in his way.

"Now, now laddie." He sneered patronisingly, Dean panicked and kneed the security guard in the groin and then ran out the door setting of the alarm, dropping his curry in the process.

"Thou shalt not steal." Dean sighed closing the front door behind him and unzipping his jacket letting the lasagne fall to the floor. Dean sat on the pile of bills under the letter box. He didn't know why, maybe it would make them go away? Maybe he'd wake up from this nightmare? He began to unwrap a parcel that he'd found; it had his name on it. He never got mail.

*

Katherine ran all the way home from school. She was late. She got home but her social worker was already there.

"Hello Katherine darling, do you know where mummy is?"

"Why do you want to know?" the worry in her voice showed as much as she tried to hide it.

"Ok, listen, your sister Tallis is already in a care home and unless we find your mother you kids are orphans. So where's mummy?"

"What about Gran?" Katherine was growing ever more flustered.

"They are too old to look after you they can’t look after themselves!"

"But I don't know where Mum is!" Katherine was shouting now.

Dean ripped of the wrapping paper only to find another layer underneath.

Katherine went to pack her bags. She was losing everything now. She went into Tallis's room, the wardrobe was empty and things were laden all over the floor. Katherine picked up Tallis's blanket. It was tear stained.

Dean ripped of another layer of the parcel.

Katherine shoved as much as she could into a duffel bag and left her room she quickly meandered into her mum’s room and searched for a memento, under the bed she found an old, tatty book with the word TEAM on it in gold letters.

Dean ripped of another layer of the parcel.

Katherine packed the book and a picture of her mum’s mantelpiece and left the house. Before she got into the car she asked the social worker for her ID, just too waste time mainly, she knew the social worker from her parents divorce.

*

When Dean was sad he went to the park across the street , he had always done ever since he could walk. Dean decided to go to the park now, taking to parcel with him. After five minutes Dean still hadn't reached the contents of the parcel, he had a bad habit of unwrapping layer by layer. It annoyed everyone on his birthday. Suddenly there was a bang, Dean pocketed the parcel which went from begin the size if his hand to the size of a 50 pence.

“Open the door!"

There were several large looking men out side Dean's house. They were dressed in black and giving the orders was a tall, sickly thin woman who Dean knew was called Ruth - she was his social worker. She was dressed in black too, which Dean thought was a bad idea because it made her unnaturally orange her even more pronounced.

“There he is!” One of the large men shouted. Dean wondered if he should run. Ruth readied herself and opened her mouth, the words she had rehearsed flooded out in the grey monotone all adults have inbuilt into their circuitry. “Dean you must come with me it is important…”

*

The matron did her last round for the night. Walking up and down the wards. She was in a hurry her wedding was tomorrow (she would be Mrs. Monica Davidson!) and she had to pick up the cake. She came to the last two beds and stopped, the curtains were drawn; Monica wasn’t sure whether she should be allowed to leave without checking on the patients, even though they had been there longer than she had worked at the hospital. She knew what would happen next. It was harmless but none the less scared her. Monica forced her self forwards, peeped through the curtains to check on the patients.

“Fire and ice, Good and Bad, Heroes and Villains”

There it was again.

“All together at end of the sand, Good will fall…

She wondered why it had stopped and realised eyes were on her. She backed away, fast. Headed for the door. She had her hand on the handle but she couldn’t turn it, she had never heard the next bit of the so called ‘prophecy’

"…For…"

Now she would hear it…