A World Apart (26 page)

‘Are you part of the activity?’ asked Edward, ignoring any kind of feeling of sadness for the small creature.

‘If by activity you mean life, and life as in the river, then yes of course’ replied the leech, confusing Edward.

‘You don’t like to answer the questions do you?’ said Edward sternly as he could feel his anger ready to burst at any second, for he was tired, lost and now talking to a leech that he barely could see. Edward began urging the leech to instruct him to what he was doing there by the bridge but he kept on fobbing him off with lame and long-winded sentences that bemused the adolescent mind.

‘I cannot tell you the things I know directly, but I can however guide you’ said Lionel the leech after a short interval where him and Edward had stood breathless, taking in what was happening to them both, more so for Edward though. Lionel’s intellect is tremendous for someone who studied at Harbour Leech School; Lionel’s years of acquired clever wit went unappreciated whilst he was with Edward, the words fluttering over his head and into the sky. Edward was exactly stupid or dumb, he just came across as quite oblivious sometimes and missed the odd joke, not matter how simplistic. The other leech’s from a rival school would taunt his manner and spoken word, the only thing that reassured Lionel was that they had all been made speechless, which to this day he still doesn’t know why they became impaired.

‘If you ever want to revisit what you have done, just come back to me and write your message so I can see, just like many before. To come with me then stand where things cross, one or more is the choice’ said Lionel the leech calmly and coolly, reading from what looked like a small manual he had produced which he hid behind his back and gave a gracious smile that gleamed for an eternity. Soon after Lionel spoke there was a slithering sound and then the sound of a water droplet, Edward looked back at the pebble to see slimy residue on the once occupied bubbly blue pebble that now rocked lonesome. Edward walked dizzily over to the bridge’s face, wondering what to do next when he was overcome with a sensation of rising. Edward couldn’t believe what he was feeling, he was gliding through the air getting closer and closer to the clouds, when he heard some mechanical noise and he felt like he had been propped down. Looking down he saw the sky and clouds beneath he feet, which made him panic and become unbalanced. He was high up in the sky where the air was warm and the air unaltered as it stroked his head as it past. Edward was looking down on where he had just been standing, until someone close to him spoke in a language he didn’t recognise. He looked cautiously straight ahead of him and to see a mixed raced, tall athletically built male with gold chains, red torn clothes draped over his shoulders. He had a black engraving on his forehead that was circular and split into eight sections, one of which was shaded in. The man stood there for a while as Edward gathered his thoughts, totally mesmerised by the past few events. The man in front of him held out is hand at a stretch, his hand clenched in a fist as he unfolded his fingers and thumb to reveal a chipped but glamorous key and neck chain as the man placed it around his neck. Edward felt falling and it wasn’t nice, it felt as though he had been chucked out of an aeroplane as his veins pumped with uncontrollable fear.

Edward awoke face first on the undernourished ground, coughing and spitting out all the dust and soil that had collected in his mouth. He felt so bruised and in agony but all of this was put on hold as a dome shape came into sight. 

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The school grounds were visible at the top of a small incline, just as the two started to have doubts about the direction they had chosen. A few children could be seen standing near the tall door they exited out to begin the activity. As they surged closer they saw the children were in the lower years of the school, and by the looks of the activities they were practising movement and delivery for a new game called yat’b they are so fond of, the game consisting of three teams that all battle in the race for the ball which they have to then follow its instructions correctly or suffer the consequences. Old games such as hopscotch, tiddlywinks and skipping were all banned from the school’s grounds, but others such as football, cricket and chess existed and were enjoyed still by all of the pupils. Edward had always wanted to be a footballer and tried so hard to compete with the other school players, but unfortunately for him he had an unlucky trial and couldn’t show off his real ability due to an incident that Pennie remembers as if it were yesterday.

The girl’s walked swiftly past the football and tennis courts on their way to the school, taking a slight detour around a large hole in the ground that looked as though it had been there for centuries. Pennie recalled a game of football that she had accidentally watched and she noticed Edward playing, his hair fluctuating in the wind, his face raging red as though he was holding his breath and he remembers him falling face first into the mud as the ball came across from a corner. The ball came in swinging delightfully, all Edward had to do was get the slightest of touches and it would be game over for the opposing team. As he ran his foot clipped his other and he went tumbling into the ice cold brown water that had gathered as the ball ricocheted off his back making his head go further into the puddle, he lifted his head in agony to only watch the ball stumble past the post. The whole team was so angry with Edward but Pennie felt so sorry for him, she thought that the other players were so mean and that it was an accident and could have happened to anyone. Her cheeks blushed as the wind wiped the thought out of her mind as she past the tall conifers and an oak tree as they both headed up the rough grass towards the side entrance to the school. Each step came with ease now they had safely found their way back to the school until something black appeared in the corner of Francesca’s eye, which made her look immediately. Seeing what she dreaded it might be she covered her mouth and felt her stomach drop to the floor.

‘You ok Fran?’ said Pennie, realising that Francesca wasn’t following her anymore as she stopped and looked back to see the pale shocked expression hammered across Francesca’s face as though it would be there for an eternity.

‘Y-e…eah’ said Francesca as she remained fixated on something at the front of the school. Pennie noticed this and moved towards her with intrigue to what she was staring at. Pennie saw a very long black car that was parked outside the front gates to the school, its metallic black coating glistening in the late morning sun.

‘What’s wrong?’ enquired Pennie, looking from the car to her slowly encase she missed something that was utterly shocking coming from the same direction.

‘It’s just a car Fran, nothing scary about the car, regular as you and me’ added Pennie, worried that Francesca hadn’t chirped up and said something like she would normally do.

‘Pennie there’s something I should have told you two at the start of the activity’ said Francesca, still locked on the car. Two men suddenly came into view and Francesca raised her arm and extended her index finger and pointed straight at them. Pennie was beginning to give up on Francesca and had decided to keep her distance as her behaviour was alarming. Francesca made an attempt to speak, only the words were lost as she grunted and waved her arm frantically at the car and looked to Pennie to get her attention but she was in a world of her own trying to desperately figure out where Edward could be, which took her mind away from Francesca. Pennie’s eyes drifted casually over in Francesca’s direction as she stopped replaying the lines of the puzzles they had obtained earlier. Pennie stopped and remained silent for a long period as she watched to men emerge from the car, one walking to the boot and extracting a briefcase and some equipment that she had never seen before. The men were dressed in shiny black suits, ties, shoes and even sunglasses to match, which made their appearance look that more secretive and mystic. One of the men stayed in the passenger seat a few seconds longer than the other as he was in partial view over the other side of the car, walking towards the school promptly.

‘Who are they?’ whispered Pennie as they both crouched and watched the men entering the school suspiciously.

‘No idea, I saw them when we first started the activity. I was in the undergrowth remember’ said Francesca, confessing what she had kept quiet up until now, which made Pennie feel like she couldn’t trust her.

‘You said you were looking at some insect or something didn’t you, I can’t remember’ said Pennie, feeling disheartened by her friend’s secrecy.

‘Why didn’t you tell us; we are your friends?’ added Pennie now more frustrated than curious of the unknown people entering the school.

‘I have noticed quite a few weird things going on over the past few days Pennie and I thought I was just under a lot of pressure, what with the work and my groups of course’ said Francesca, Pennie nodding as she pictured Francesca in the middle of her group with her hands on her head whilst the other members messed around and behaved preposterously. Francesca went on to tell Pennie all the suspicious things she has seen over the past few days, the same routine from her bedroom window, the same black car, the twitching light and the sudden increase in temperature over certain areas within the grounds at the school. Pennie couldn’t believe what Francesca was saying, as Francesca told her just how it happened, which made it especially scary for Pennie, gasping and jumping as the stories twisted and turned, jolting her insides from one side to the other. Francesca finally finished revealing her secret and was surprised to see the blank face upon Pennie’s face, expecting more of a reaction, which had now faded into an anticlimax.

‘I can’t believe you held this in for so long, I would have blurted it out straight away. What do you think it all means?’ said Pennie, making Francesca feel sane at least for she was now expecting the worst and for her to question her health.

‘I didn’t want to tell anyone because I didn’t know if it was my mind playing tricks on me or it was real. The past few days have been totally surreal. The main thing that worries me the most is Edward’s disappearance, we need to find him, and quick’ said Francesca, a tear of fright coating her eyes, which Pennie witnessed.

‘Do you think the men have something to do with Miss Taylor’s sudden disappearance?’ asked Pennie, shocking Francesca that she had the same thoughts and maybe it wasn’t her mind playing tricks as she so often assumed.

‘I’m not sure what those men were up to, but I know one thing and that is we must tell Mr Johnson right away, he can help us’ said Francesca as she rose from crouching and viewing the black car to a more athletic pose as she started to sprint towards the side entrance.

‘Hurry’ shouted Francesca back at Pennie clearly time was of the essence and there was an urgent reason to be heading back into the school so quickly, Pennie assumed it was to go and inform a teacher but it wasn’t the case at all.

‘Coming…Don’t you think we should go alone?’ said Pennie loudly, making one of the men in suits freeze and look directly at her, the hairs on Pennie’s back raised and alerted as she stayed in her position starring back at the tall man in a suit. He stood there starring straight at her as if his was suspicious about what she was doing watching him. The man quickly went inside, which Pennie thought it was a perfect opportunity to catch up with Francesca as she was waiting close to the school entrance and slightly short of breath. The two girls had little time to find Mr Johnson, so they headed for the canteen where they thought he would possibly be. They sprinted as fast as they could until they reached the busy canteen hall that contained swarms of hungry and greedy pupils and teachers, selecting their meals and heading back up for more when necessary. There was a long outside the hall which halted the progress of finding Mr Johnson. They waited in line for a few minutes as the line shuffled minutely every so often.

‘Ah, there…There he is!’ claimed Pennie as she had been scanning the hallway seating for the health and fitness teacher they had been so longing to talk to. The queue still was rather long so they would have to wait for a few minutes until they could go over and start talking.

‘What are we going to do?’ said Francesca, watching Mr Johnson walk towards them, heading for the exit presumptuously.

‘We’ll just ask if we can have a talk in his office now for a few minutes informally’ said Pennie as if Francesca didn’t have a clue about these things. Mr Johnson was on his way past as the girls politely asked him for a talk in his office, which he was more than happy to assist them with. The girls had been told to go to room 12b in around ten minutes, after him making a joke about tidying his office, which surprisingly it was in need of, only he neither had the strength nor the desire to bring himself to do it.

Around ten minutes later the girls arrived at his small office door at the other end of the corridor of similar offices, hearing a muffled shout for them to come in, which made Francesca open the door right away, on opening they were greeted by a staggeringly broad smile. He appeared to be pulling a box of files towards himself with his feet as though he was hiding something. They sat down and explained all the things they have experienced over the past few days, going into great detail so that he could get all the facts before making a decision. Francesca spoke mostly as Pennie interjected small details to make the whole story accurate and concise as possible. Pennie noticed that there was a certain disbelief or frightened look in Mr Johnson’s eyes as though he found this all hard to comprehend. He sat back in his comfy leather chair that fell back at his command; he gazed out of the window and stroked his beard with his finger and thumb, taking in all the details. He then appeared very shifty and restless as he excused himself from their company and exited into a small room where a few other teachers were located. He closed the door but Pennie just managed to sneak over and placed her foot in the doorway to prevent the door from closing. Francesca was perplexed to see what she was doing but soon sneaked over and followed suit after she waved her over moments after he had left the room. Listening intently, they could hear what he was saying to the other teachers in the room, Francesca holding back a cough that would have alerted their position.