Matthew carefully sidled along the wall at his aunt’s house. It was 5:00 a.m. in the morning and his aunt, uncle, dad and his aunt’s annoying (and regular) friend Claire had all been out in the garden, drinking wine and playing scrabble. They had been making a general racket until at least 1:30 a.m. so to his calculations this meant by now they should be deep in their second R.E.M. sleep cycle.
Matthew crept down the stairs one at a time careful not to make a noise. Despite it being so early the birds were up and tweeting and the sun had lit up the house with a warm orange glow. He reached the landing and gently tiptoed across the hall. Hanging up on the coat rack were two handbags. He lifted the first one down and opened it up. He could not help but blush as he rifled through the handbag, but he found the hefty purse inside and cracked it open without hesitation. He pulled out a credit card, it read Ms. Claire Tennet.
Matthew recoiled.
Claire? She must have forgotten her handbag here, or stayed the night? No. There were not enough beds.
He went to put it back then hesitated.
On second thoughts… if she is the forgetful type then maybe this is for the best.
He pocketed the credit card and on all fours commando crawled to the office. He had left the computer on from the night before so simply swiped the mouse about to wake it up and tapped in www.southwesttrains.co.uk. The page loaded and he tapped in Salisbury Station it was the closest station to his Aunt’s house, heading to Llagollen Station where he was to meet her. A loading dial whirled in the centre of the screen as it came up with the journey details; three trains with one change at Newport and another at Ruabon. The journey time was 5hrs 52mins. The price was £143.00. Matthew hesitated for a moment.
Ouch that seemed a bit steep…. Oh well… Sorry Claire.
He carefully typed in the numbers of her credit card into the website. He had booked himself onto the 05:40 a.m. train to Wales on Saturday morning. He took down the confirmation number, his hand trembling with exhilaration as he did so. He had never done anything like this in his life.
It was done now!
A surge of excitement filled his body. He was insane. He knew he was, and he knew he would be in serious trouble for this but if he got to see Luisa for just a moment it would all be worth it. He had to stop himself from giggling as he crept out the room, shakily replaced Claire’s card and crept back up the stairs. He got into bed, but sleep was far away for Matthew. To speak to her without the judging eyes of White Manor school weighing on his every word. Without her friends listening in, free of the random violence that infected that school.
It would be incredible.
He kept playing out the conversations they would have and what they would do. Smiling, he stretched out on his back and contently watched as the sun slowly filled his room with light.
* * *
Darcius slammed his door shut. His quarters were lit by the glowing embers of his fire and even with his powerful eyes adjusted it was still a depressing gloom. He was exhausted and in a state of debilitating agitation. He leant with one aching arm on the wall and spat out a stream of thick spit. He jabbed at the fire irritably with his sword to try and coax some life from the root embers that glowed in the hearth. Giving up, he struggled with the unclipping of his armour, finally it was off and it clanged to the ground. His whole body was a mass of aches. Wiping his face he went to the box where he kept his supply of sky. Opening it up he pushed around some of the vials inside before remembering it was empty. Fury exploded from inside him. He flung the little case at the wall. It smashed sending a shower of glass over his bed. His body trembled with anger and frustration. He fell into his chair still trembling, covering his face with his paws he bent over. He felt like he was falling into a never-ending black pit of despair. There was a loud knock at the door.
“Darcius! Quickly, I have urgent news.”
Darcius took some shaky breaths and regained some of his composure. He strode across the room and cracked open the door letting just one blue eye peek out.
“Go and get me some sky. Then we can talk.”
The scouger nodded and set off in a run.
Darcius turned against the door, and slid down its length to the floor. He put his head in his hands, his body convulsing with a harsh racking that threatened tears, but he steeled himself and took a few deep shaky breaths.
He knew what he had to do.
--
Thank you so much - I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did - please don't forget to touch that little star and vote.
Anything with Matthew is one I enjoy I have to say :-)
This update is coming to you from Vancouver in British Columbia - wow! What a great city! 28'c right now - pool parties, shopping and patio fun - yes.
I love reading your comments and what you think!
My next update requires a little work - I'm aiming for Wednesday but it may be Friday - thank you!! :-)
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Cataindar
Action#1 for a month on the Fantasy-Action Hotlist. Wattys2015 Winner. Fourteen-year-old Luisa is focused on staying under the radar at her rough London school, relieved that the summer holidays are soon to begin. Exploring the ruin of an abbey at ni...
