The streets of Birmingham, were at their best on a fine May evening when flowers burst out of beautification troughs along the avenues and split from vendor carts. The scents of them nearly overpowered the stinks of exhaust as streets and traffic air clogged both roads and skyways.
Young danced and leapt over the public sports courts, working up healthy, sweat balls and hoops and pegs.
Airbuses carted patrons to the sky mall, cruising with their endless streams of chatter. Life bustled, bloomed and burgeoned in the city.
The train station was clogged with people waiting for their train to the next town. There on the waiting line was Mrs Langson and her daughter waiting for the next train to pull out, she was chatting with another woman on the line and they were also going in the same direction.
"Nora here's our train", her mother said as she tugged on her hands leading her towards the entrance followed by the woman she had been chatting with, suddenly she froze on her steps as she saw a man standing at the end of the entrance to the train he was six foot tall, with long hairs and purple eyes just exactly like her's, he wore a coat of mail called a hauberk made of metal rings linked tightly together, his sword by his side, he gazed directly at her.
" Come on dear, what is the problem?" said her mother as she turned back to find Nora staring at the end of the entrance of the train. She turned and looked in that direction but didn't find anything aside from people moving into the train.
"Can't you see him, mum"? Nora asked as she pointed in the direction where he stood.
"Come on dear, there's no one," said her mother as she held her hand and led her to board the train. Nora looked there again but didn't see him anymore, she shook her head and let it slide.
Nora, who was 15 years old, has an oval face with purple eyes, long white hair that is tied up in a bun, slender with an oval face, so pretty and fair she just stands out wherever she is, with those distinctive features of hers.
They boarded the train and found a seat overlooking the window, they settled down, with her mum looking at her suspiciously,
"You saw him again?" She asked her, looking quite disturbed,
"Yes, but this time he looked right at me without breaking contact like he was trying to tell me something," Nora replied, looking at her mum.
"Do you think it has anything to do with my dream mum?" Asked Nora
"Just go to school and don't think about it, you will be fine and next time you see him, don't stare back, just walk away and call me immediately."
"Okay, mum," she replied as she let out a long breath and relaxed for the ride to school, but Mrs Langson had an unsettled feeling and a disturbed spirit throughout the ride to the next town.
* * * * *
She stood at the entrance of the Brighton high school gate, thinking of how her first day at Brighton high would be, she hadn't thought much about it, but as she stood at the gate she could only imagine, as she stood there, students in their colourful clothes swept pass her chatting to one another all smiles.
"Take it a step after another dear," her mother said, looking at her intently with a smile "you will be fine Nora, now hurry before you miss your first class", she said as she gave her a little push on her shoulder.
" Bye Mum, Said Nora as she made her way into the school.
Brighton high school is very big, bigger than her previous school, she made her way into the school hall to locate her locker and to get ready for her first class, when she bumped into a boy in the hallway while he was running away from some group of boys quite older and huge than him, they should be from the senior grade she thought.
"I am so sorry," he said as he tried to stand up, the boys caught up with him, jeering at him, she stood up and helped him up.
"Seems you've gotten yourself a new friend," said the tallest of them that seemed like their leader, at this point people were already gathering in the hallway, she cursed under her breath, this was not how she foresaw her first day, not with these bullies.
She was going to ignore them all and not interfere. She said to herself, as she was dusting her clothes, picking up her bag, she was about to step out when the leader halted her in her tracks.
"Are you going to leave without your friend? new girl " he said mockingly,
She didn't look back, she kept moving,
" You see Darey you are alone in this World, loner no one loves you, no one wants you not even the new girl,"
he jeered at the boy she had bumped into while others watched, his group laughed at him, as he approached Darey menacingly, she couldn't hold herself anymore she turned her back with anger, cursing under her breath she walked back to where Darey was standing and held his hand,
"Let him go bully", said Nora with anger in her eyes,
"And if I don't, what would you do, new girl?" The leader of the group said as he charged towards both of them standing face to face with them, he poked Nora, on the shoulder,
"What would you do huh?" He asked again, this time hitting her on the shoulder.
"That's enough Baxter, I'm the one you want not her, please let her be," said Darey almost in tears,
Baxter launched a punch towards Darey's face, in that instant Nora swoops in taking in the effect of the punch in between her palms as she grabs him by the shirt in that instant and lunged him in a nearby locker, smashing the locker with great speed and strength, he slumped to the floor, looking at her through pain in awe and astonishment.
"Oh my!" Exclaimed students, as they started murmuring, pointing towards her direction, her eyes had turned darker, she was trying her best to control the anger that was simmering through her veins.
"What is happening here?" Asked a man in his late forties, he stood at the end of the hallway in his brisk white shirt and black trousers well tucked in and his brown tie matching his brown pair of shoes, he squinted at the scene before him.
The students began to disperse leaving only Nora, Darey and Dexter, still on the floor, in disbelief.
"My office now", yelled the man.
They followed him and made their way to the end of the hallway turning to the right, there was an office boldly written principal, none of them said a word as they entered the principal office.
" Sit," he said.
He went around his desk and sat down, his office was quite big with a big oval desk at the centre and four chairs positioned at the front of the desk, he had a mini library at the left side of the office, and books, files were arranged on the table with, a cup of coffee was just in front of him, the office was at the east side of the school, he pinched the bridge of his nose while peering at them.
"I won't ask who started the fight, because this is not the first time both of you are appearing in my office,'' said the principal, looking at Dexter and Darey. Turning his attention towards Nora, he opened a file before him and looked up
"Nora Langson," he called looking at Nora,
"Yes," she answered gently,
"You all may go, the three of you should come back immediately after your classes," said the principal, as they made their way out of his office.
"Hey, Nora," called out Darey as they left the principal's office, but she didn't stop, she kept walking till she got to her locker, dropped her bag and picked up her book and left for class.
There was an empty seat near the window, she walked there and sat down, just then the teacher walked in with Darey following closely behind him, he made his way to the seat at her back, she cursed under her breath.
"We have a new student in our midst," he said as he looked in the direction of Nora.
"Stand up and introduce yourself to the class," said the teacher, as she stood up.
"My name is Nora Langson," she said with her head slightly bent to her desk, the class began to murmur,
"That's alright, everyone settles down, welcome Norah Langson, you may take your seat now," said the teacher as the class continued.
* * * * *
Mrs Langson had returned from Nora's school, she entered her house, that was where Nora had grown, the house overlooked the city, had five rooms and a big parlour downstairs with a fireplace, the kitchen was at the west wing of the duplex, she had two chefs, two gardeners, one nanny and one porter.
As she entered her room, it was unusually cold, she checked if she had left her windows open, just then she heard a voice by the corner of her room,
"It is time," she shivered and turned immediately towards the direction of the voice, there she saw the Knight,
"Who are you?" Asked Mrs Langson,
"It is time, she has to come home," he replied and vanished just the same way he had appeared, she just stared in the direction for a while thinking of what to do.
She has to send a message home, she immediately pushed open a button behind her dressing mirror which made way for a secret doorway, she made her way down to the stairs and arrived at a room, which was neatly arranged with types of strange objects, a long table was at the centre of the room with two chairs, she sat down, in front of her was an ancient plate, she wrote down a message on a paper,
"Did you send a messenger, a Knight has been appearing to her and I just saw one today, saying she should come home," she finished writing and squeezed it together, then she closed her eyes and recited some words "Infinito Esquarles Guenero tues" in a different language and it caught fire in her palms got burnt, but there were no ashes.
She exhaled and went back to her room, to meet her phone ringing, she picked, up
"Mrs, Langson on the line,"
"Brighton high school principal, we require your attention in school, today," said the voice at the other end,
"Sure," she replied, as she dropped the phone wondering if there was a problem, she had to dress up to get the next train to the school on time.
Stepping her feet on the floor of Brighton high school, she knew something was wrong, as she made her way to the principal office where she met Nora and two boys with their parent or guardian whichever they were, she was yet to find out, one of the boys was injured and could barely keep a good posture while sitting, as tho his waist and back were cracked, she sat down on the seat close to her daughter, without altering a word the principal began."Good afternoon Mrs Langson, I didn't know I would be calling you this early to such an incident on the first day of your daughter's resumption," he said looking at Nora.Her face was emotionless while she stared at her shoes,"I am sorry principal, but I am lost here," replied Mrs Langson
Nora ran out of the house with a teary face, she ran across the street and didn't know where she was headed to, she wasn't thinking all she knew was that something was wrong with her, but she didn't know what it was, she left the streets and was headed down the hills when a figure was running behind her breathless and eager to catch up with her, she increased her stride and kept still crying."How was she to find out? What is she going to do? What If I can hurt people?" All these thoughts circled her head, as she ran still increasing her stride, then she heard her name,"Nora! Nora!!" Yelled the voice, still running after her,She didn't look back, neither did she turn her head, she kept running, by this time she had left the town and almost at the hills, t
It was dark already, they could only see each other with the lights in the garden, the night breeze blew on their faces as they sat there, waiting for him to answer.Nora was already tired, she needed answers and answers she must get, she thought to herself,"Just answer my questions," said Nora."Okay I'll answer you, just sit down, take a deep breath and don't let those tears fall, at least not just yet," said Gretchen, Nora sits down,"So, who are you? What am I?" asked Nora."As I said before I'm Gretchen of Vermont," said Gretchen.
The air was chilled and filled with mists, no sound was heard except the insects chirping and the sound of the breeze. Darey was there in her front yard waiting on her.She walked out and saw him, they both walked hand in hand to a garden close to both of their homes, the quiet and the peace felt so good, calming her nerves, they sat down in silence staring at the stars and moon in the sky."Darey," Nora said, "Nora," Darey said, As they faced each other, breathlessly Darey covered her lips, she felt feather light touch on her lips, as he sucked her bottom lips, his lips tasted of mint. His tongue caressed her cheek and a moan slipped from her throat. His hands roamed all over her body, as he ripped her nightgown off and fondled her breast, he slipped his hands down to her inner thighs, and she gasped."Darey!" she exclaimed, This was exactly what she wanted, she thought to her
The wind gushed with great pressure as it whisked them away to the past, the ancient kingdom, where their journey begins, dropping them in a desert surrounded by thickets and hedges, not their usual woods, the whole place was different, the wind there blew with so much pressure as if wanting to blow them far away. Aubrey opened her eyes to this new surroundings as fear gripped her and she shivered from the cold, now laid on a bed that creaked with her every movement, she was covered in animal skin that looked like it had survived many winters, her skin was so white now and dry as though it would crack under any pressure, she shut her eyes again trying to make sense of her surroundings, but couldn't as she opened her eyes again, this time so won't her eyes could pop out.The walls were decorated in carved drawings of men and arrows, bows all dressed in knight attire, she gasped now remembering everything, how she left, she and….."Darey
The voices outside were so low she couldn't make out what they were saying, she had just woken up from another nap, after lunch she had felt headaches, she was taken to her room by Gretchen and given a bitter liquid to take that would make her feel better, with Alstin sitting by the side of her bed, she slept off. Outside was so cold, with the wind blowing stronger than the afternoon, she sighted Alstin in the company of the other men by the threshold of the tower, they had made a fire and sat around it, warming their skin, while sharpening their swords, and telling tales, she walked over there, ignoring the two figures whispering to each other, she joined them by the fireside, and sat beside Alstin."What do you think you are doing, Gretchen? asked an older version of Gretchen, worries written all over his face, "Taking responsibility," replied Gretchen, "She is trouble, I have been trying my best to hol
He came in the early hours of the morning, and went straight to Aubrey's room, but couldn't find her there, he felt a sudden rush of panic, as he doubled his footsteps to Alstin's room, the door creaked open and he saw them lying in each other's arm, the dry tears streak on her face shined in the reflection of the early morning light coming through the window high on the wall, he looked around and sighed before stepping out. He made his way back to the main hall and poured himself a drink, he shuddered as he sensed a presence was with him, "You did take your time, Gretchen," said Brent, standing at the window, gazing outside, still no reply from Gretchen, so he left where he was and made his way to the table, grabbed a cup, while Gretchen poured him a drink. "We would leave today," said Gretchen with a straight face, Brent Scoffed, "typical you, huh!" He replied, "I just don't want to cause anyone troubl
"It's been a long time," said Valerie, "Yes, it has been," replied Gretchen, "How have you been?" Asked Valerie, "Good," replied Gretchen, "Okay, this is awkward, I know I messed up," and………., said Valerie, "You are here for Aubrey, she needs a woman figure which I am not, and she needs help with her powers too, as you might have observed," replied Gretchen interrupting her, "Seriously, Gretchen we can not keep doing this to us," said Valerie, "We are not doing anything, Val," he replied, "You just called me Val, it is still there," she said smiling, "I don't know what you are talking about," he said, making his way into the tower, as Valerie jumped right in front of him, "I am so sorry about what happened, things went out of my control, I just couldn't," "Hey, hey," said Gretchen using his palm he slightly raised h