The Clouds Are Always Moving

Chapter 2

JAMIE

We walk. Then we board a bus. Get kicked off that bus as no animals are allowed. Travel in the Underground. Get off. Walk into a random alley. Take a left. I have no bloody clue as to where I am(Yippee!). I am a long way from 212 Headley Way, not that I haven't been before, but just that this is different. We are still in Oxford, of course. I would never have let Credence take me out of Oxford without the barest of details - as I am currently walking around with none.

I pull a face at the family of cockroaches sitting in a corner, near a dustbin, planning probably propaganda or a sleuth attack on a house. Suddenly there's a narrow, hard right that Credence takes and a whooshing sensation in my stomach. I have been here before; I know this place. The same smell of must (one would argue must has the same smell everywhere, I know for a fact that it's not. The must in my house smells significantly better), the dim lights from small windows, and the crude laughter coming from all angles. What is this place? And why has Credence - well bred, simple, Credence brought me here?

Sprite mews mutely. Droop, well, he droops. "Credence, my dear, could you please, with a cherry on top, tell me where we are going?"

"Yes, Ella, once we reach there, which is soon, you will know so yourself." Credence mutters. Sprite mews dramatically.

"I know that. And it is obvious. Why are we here? It is midday and we are supposed to be headed out for lunch, not traversing the dingy roads of Oxford."

"Of course not, Ella. But, you see, you said that I should explore more, and here I am doing exactly that. I mean, I thought you knew where we were going, I did say it to you before you agreed to come." she glances back. Ah, yes! That! I had completely forgotten that I had given permission for this very trip to take place and that I should know where we are headed.

"Of course, my dear, but I don't remember this trip to the basement of Bedlam as a part of that agreement." I know this place. I can hear the sounds of raucous laughter as I had crossed this path in earlier days, an arm slung around my shoulder, a cold bottle in my hand. My head shakes. I mean, rather, I shake it. This can't possibly be the same place. It's been years and of course, things change after many years, that one place won't be the same.

As children say, 'Like, duh.'

We round the corner and I am blinded by the afternoon light. Sprite hisses and arches her back, while Droop actually grunts. I blink to remove the black spots from my eyes. I blink two-three times and then look for our young companion. I find her tapping her foot in front of a door. As I walk, I peer up at the name of the enterprise I have been brought to. And I stop in my tracks. Well, in my jeans, but you get the point. 

Sprite jumps out of my arms and abandons me for Credence. I don't bother bothering, I'm still ogling at the name. "Stop faffing around, would you? We have loads to do."

I look at the girl at the front door. I try speaking. Nothing comes out. I try again. Once more. Finally, a whisper comes out, "You brought me here ?" I bend down and put my hands on my knees to balance myself.

"Yes, why? Something the matter?" She pulls her sunglasses off her eyes and regards me coolly, taking a few seconds to realize that, indeed,  something is the matter. She rushes to me and puts a hand on my slightly damp back. I mentally grimace at her touching it. She takes Droop's leash from my hand and looks at me intensely. "Honestly, Ella. I do not have any knowledge as to what the problem is. But... I suggest you get over it quickly. What happened stays in the past and you can not change it. I understand it will stay in your memory. You can choose to get over it and move on or reminisce about it and whinge on your... mistakes, if I may say." I am getting up slowly and feeling better about myself, till her last pause and words. What makes her think that I made a mistake here, anyway? How dare she assume and presume and suggest and accuse me of things she knows not a thing about?