Ellimere the Strange - Chapter 2

Chapter 21

About two hundred miles away from the house a girl woke up to a very loud cackle of thunder and rain tapping at the window. The thunder coincided with the end of a nightmare. She was lying on her side at the edge of her bed, then she hit the floor as she woke, lying on her front on impact.2

“Ugh… ow.”3

She looked up at her alarm clock on her bedside table. Two-forty-five pm.4

“Oh crap.”5

She pushed herself up off of the floor and stood up. Then a loud rattling of a phone vibrating against plywood sounded frightening the girl as it did. A catching song started to play as it started ringing. For a second, she considered ignoring it and dancing around the room, but after due hesitation she answered it.6

“Hello?” she yawned.7

“What kept you?”8

“Huh?”9

“You’re late…”10

“For what? Oh crap…”11

“Don’t worry, if you can still make it, come to that Coffee Shop next door to Aiken’s Bakery in town.”12

“Right I’ll be there…”13

She hung up and stretched out her arms, yawning very loudly as she did. She stared out of her bedroom window and looked at the raindrops on the pane. Her arms and legs seemed to be popular spots for wounds and scars, more so than her face and torso, though recent wounds seemed to tell different. The girl was an entity to most people, unknown but popular still. She was very mysterious in many ways. She went downstairs and went into her bathroom and cleaned herself up, staring at her reflection in the mirror in disbelief, she pulled away and went into her front room. The girl grabbed her coat, bag and put her shoes on, grabbed her keys and left the dormitory in what she slept in during the night. She locked her dormitory and went into town. The girl walked down a very long corridor towards the Main Hall of the Castle she lived in. The Castle was a training facility for fighters. She had been training there for fourteen years and had recently been promoted to Second Sub-Commander. The Sub-Commander was a close friend of hers and the Commander was her friends Father, head of the facility. So she walked past the Main Hall out into the open, walking past the Old Cherry Blossom Tree at the other side of the grounds, near the edge of the cliff. It was in full bloom now, even in amongst what was left of last Winter’s snow. The girl thought it was still too early for it to be blooming, but then everything around these parts was a mystery even to her. She carried on the Coffee Shop that her friend had told her about. She stopped at the door and looked up at the sign. “The Old Cherry Tree.” It was obviously named after the blossom at the top of the cliff. She hesitated before entering even though she was receiving a positive vibe from the door. She entered. The inside of The Old Cherry Tree was throbbing with positive energy, it began to uplift the tiredness she was feeling. She didn’t sleep well last night. The staff were very friendly smiling at her when she looked towards them. Although she had never ever set foot in this place it felt very familiar to her. She sat down at her friends table after looking around her.14

“Well it’s about time you got here.”15

“Hi Nathan, hi Fallon, hi Katy.”16

She got up and gave all three of them hugs. She was still looking around even when she embraced them.17

“Are you alright, Cali?”18

“Uh yeah… I’ll be back in a minute, I need to get a drink.”19

Cali got up and went to the counter.20

“Can I help you sweetheart?”21

“Hi, can I have a Latte please?”22

“Of course you can Sweetheart, any sugar?”23

“Two please.”24

She looked around her again.25

“How long have you been open here?”26

“Oh a really long time. How long have we been open again Vala?”27

“About two hundred or so years, I’ve been her a long time myself.”28

“Why do you ask Sweetheart?”29

“Well it’s just I’ve never been here but this place seems so familiar to me. And I guess I just don’t pay any attention when I’m out in the street.”30

“Yes that’s probably it.”31

Cali laughed and looked at the lady serving her.32

“I really like this place you know.”33

“Oh that’s great to hear, we never get feedback from the customers. It’s usually flood in, get the Coffee and leave again, never a word.”34

“Here’s your Latte, love,” said Vala.35

“Thank you. I’m Cali.”36

“I’m Gerda. Thank you for talking to us.”37

“You’re welcome.”38

Cali bowed to Vala and Gerda and went to her table again. She smiled and sat down. Nathan, Fallon and Katy looked at her in disbelief, they were a bit confused by the looks of things.39

“What?”40

“Doesn’t matter.”41

“No really what?”42

“It doesn’t matter.”43

“I wanted to talk to them. Hello, what’s wrong with friendly conversation once in a while?”44

“Right whatever.”45

Cali took a sip of her Latte and felt it warm her insides up. She felt a lot happier now she was here and seemed to have forgotten what she had dreamt about.46

“So hi guys, is there any human life left in you today?” she said sarcastically.47

“Oh yeah hi. Sorry Cali.”48

“No problem. Don’t freak me out again okay?”49

“Yeah.”50

“Sorry.”51

“Okay, I won’t.”52

“So what’d I miss?” asked Cali taking another sip of her Latte.53

“Nothing really, just Ryan Wilder trying to commit suicide just to feel the pain, or so he says. Got carted off to the Psyche Ward,” said Fallon.54

“And about time too.”55

“Yeah,” said Katy giggling.56

“So what happened to you this morning then?” asked Nathan.57

“Well I didn’t fall asleep until six o’ clock this morning and then I woke up about two seconds before you rang me,” she said. Then she placed her arm on the table her hand flat against the surface. The wounds caught Katy’s attention.58

“Uh, Cali, what?” she said pointing to them.59

“Oh just wounds from my practices.”60

Katy stared at her. She was trying to get into her mind, or it looked that way.61

“No, don’t even think about asking me that because they aren’t.”62

“Yeah okay.”63

“Look I’m not even having this conversation with you okay?”64

Katy looked away and drank her own drink. There was a look in her eye of worry. She was a close friend of Cali’s. Cali was going through a stage of depression but she insisted that she would never be so stupid as to cut herself.65

“Yes, I am going through depression right now, but I wont cut myself okay?”66

“Okay.”67

“So stop worrying about me and worry about yourself for a change.”68

“Okay.”69

“Is okay the only word in your vocabulary now?”70

“No sorry…”71

Katy laughed and took another sip of her drink. Just as she did, Cali’s mobile began to ring again. The picked it out of her bag and read the display on the lid. ‘Evan.’72

“Oh great.”73

“Who is it?”74

“Your Father.”75

“Answer it then.”76

She flipped the lid and answered it.77

“Hello, Cali speaking.”78

“Hello Cali, where are you?”79

“In The Old Cherry Tree, why?”80

“We need to talk.”81

“How badly?”82

“Well unless you want to avoid me coming to drag you away from there, then very badly.”83

“Can’t we talk about it on the phone.”84

“Fine, I had a call from the Police Station in Leicester.”85

“Leicester?”86

“Yes, last night there was an attack. Your family were killed in the attack, I am so sorry Cali.”87

“They were?”88

“I am very sorry Cali.”89

“Thank you. I appreciate you calling me. I’ll see you later.”90

“Okay, if there is anything I can do for you, just call me okay?”91

“Yes, thank you. Bye.”92

“Goodbye.”93

Cali flipped her phone closed. Then she stared directly at the froth in her cup. She shook her head and placed it in her hands. Then she got up and ran off.94

“Cali! Wait! You forgot your… bag,” called Fallon.95

“What do you think is wrong with her?”96

“I don’t know, let’s follow her.”97

“I’d leave her alone if I were you,” called Gerda.98

“How…?”99

“She doesn’t want you all to follow. She wants to be alone.”100

“How do you know that?”101

“I can sense her. Just leave her be. You boy, go and find her, take her bag.”102

“Y-yes Ma’am.”103

Nathan took the bag from Fallon.104

“Stay with her.”105

“Yes, I will.”106

Gerda smiled as he left the shop. The girls looked at each other with frustration written across their faces. Gerda went back to cleaning the machine on the counter and hummed tunelessly, and the girls sat back down at the table. Nathan followed Cali along the street as she pushed past everyone going back to the Castle. He apologised to the shoppers as he ran past them. A taller man stopped him.107

“Have you upset the lady? Hey what are you doing with that bag.”108

“No I didn’t, I running after her to give her back her bag.”109

The man was rather tall and Nathan felt like a dwarf standing in front of him. He looked at Nathan and let him pass.110

“Don’t hurt her, you hear?”111

“Of course not.”112

Nathan ran after Cali, who was already in through the doors. Everyone looked at her as she passed. She didn’t stop until she got to the door of her dormitory. She didn’t realise she had forgotten her bag until she got to her door. So she banged at the door until she broke into tears and slid down the wall. Lucky for her, Nathan arrived with her bag and her keys. He knelt down beside her and pulled her into an embrace.113

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. Come on. Let’s get you inside.”114

He pulled her up off of the floor and opened her door, then he lead her to the sofa in the middle of the room. She laid down on the sofa and fell asleep. Nathan went and sat on the steps that led down to the sofa. He watched her for an hour or so before beginning to feel drowsy himself. He laid down on the floor and fell asleep. After a little while the room was filled with snoring from both of them. Nathan didn’t even hear his phone ringing when a text message came through. Cali was the first one to wake up, at about two in the morning. She sat up and stretched. She heard Nathan’s snoring and laughed. About twenty minutes later he woke up and sat up yawning.115

“Oh hey, you’re awake.”116