Unknown L (Book 1) [Editing]

~ Wow! Just, Wow! ~

L turned back to look, and sure enough, there was a bus trundling towards them. It definitely hadn't been there seconds before, and there was nothing around that it could have been hidden behind. It seemed to be an ordinary single decker bus, but it had been painted black and had blacked out windows.

It looked as though it had been running for far too many years; L thought it should have been scrapped a long time ago. She stepped back with Bryce while they watched it squeeze down the country road. Despite there being no bus stop, it stopped in front of them.

The doors opened, and Bryce led the way up the steps. They were met with a window of dark plate glass, and apparently, the driver must have been on the other side, though L couldn't see with her sunglasses on. The driver, however, seemed to be able to see them. He asked her and Bryce for their joint destination.

L was waiting for Bryce to pay the driver, but instead, he spoke a few quick words that she didn't catch and then ushered L further onto the bus. L moved down the aisle where Bryce directed her. The bus appeared to be much wider and longer than its outward appearance suggested. L tried not to stare at the sights she passed on her way down the bus. Which turned out to be much more difficult than she'd expected.

Two very large men took up a full two seats each near the front, they were huge and muscular but thankfully not pure white. They both had long, scraggly brown hair that fell over brown leather jackets. L had a feeling that when they stood up, they'd be at least eight feet tall. They looked squashed up in their seats but were chatting contently to each other and didn't give her a second look.

The next few seats were scattered with occupants. Some didn't look any different from an ordinary human. Some were a different story, even managing to make L jump in surprise, which she covered by pretending to trip.

One woman they passed was covered head to toe in scales-- from what L could see. They were green-blue in colour and shimmered despite the gloom. She had a human looking face, but gills opened and closed on the side of her neck. She wore odd clothing, something that might have been a dress, but looked to be the colour and texture of seaweed- which it might well have been.

L looked away quickly, so it didn't look like she was staring and carried on walking. They passed a seat that looked empty until they reached it, and a tiny figure popped up. It was a genuine Fairy, with glittery wings and a tiny princess style dress. L had to physically push herself this time to keep moving away from her. Everyone on the bus was so surreal and left her a little dazed. She couldn't seem to get her brain to believe that she was actually seeing these beings.

The next seat they passed was occupied by a dark skinned man who was looking out of the window. He appeared to be quite ordinary, but his fingers gripped a very old looking basket beside him. It wasn't clear what was inside, but he appeared to be holding it tightly.

She felt Bryce nudge her into moving on from this man. L frowned in question back at Bryce, but he just shook his head and steered her towards the very back seats. This time, there was absolutely nobody sitting there, and L took the seat by the window. Bryce sat in the seat beside her. He rested his foot on the seat facing them.

L knew it was a defensive move. It would block anyone from direct access to her; he was protecting her, though she wasn't sure from what. She peered up at him, but he wasn't looking at her. His eyes seemed to be fixed on the back of the head of the guy with the basket. L wanted to ask what was wrong, but after what Bryce had told her about being able to hear over distances, she didn't know if the other passengers shared that ability.

Instead, she took to looking around the bus some more. She tried not to keep her eyes on one spot for too long, but it was extremely difficult. The woman with gills had started smoking some kind of pipe, and the blue smoke was seeping out of her gills.