The Fifth World 2

Bo: By the time I come to it takes me a moment to realise where in the world I am - and which world too. I am half expecting to wake in my bed in Manchester, to walk downstairs to see my gorgeous little brother watching television and my mother sipping a cup of tea not two metres beside him in the armchair.

I make my eyes roll back to the front of my head and the darkness surrounding me comes into sight. I am beneath the trees because I can barely see the sky. I can hear people. Their voices echo. They are angry but they are excited.

"She is waking," I hear a voice mutter.

"We should kill her now... what time we have spent on this creature, it would be so relieving to know that the deed is over and done with."

There are five figures around me and somewhere out in the distance I can hear many more people. Why am I not surrounded by them all? I am the reason they are here... aren't I?

"We mustn't, not yet. Alfred would like to see her with his own eyes," a female voice says.

I hear a male scoff, "Then why does he not come here himself?"

My eyes open completely just as the Justice Agent flicks her hand and takes the male by the throat. He is taken aback as she thrusts him against a tree, his feet just above the ground. He chokes as his face turns a deadly pale that even I can see in the dark. He is a Time Jumper.

"Katerina," the man whispers as he tries to swallow, "please."

"You will obey instruction, Jack," she says, "Walter may spare your life when you are out of line but I will not."

I stare at her. She is strikingly beautiful. Her hair is long and dark, curled and reaching to her bottom. It hangs loosely. Her eyes are deep and a chocolate brown, they are big and beautiful. Her body is long and skinny but I know that she would be able to run as quickly as a Thorne. I am sure she is as strong as one too.

"Katerina!" I hear another voice.

A sixth figure appears in the trees and far behind him I can still see the crowds of people. They are dispersing... but they are not disappearing out into the clearing... they are disappearing through the walls. No.

Katerina's head flicks in the man's direction and I recognise him as the man that was commanding his army earlier... he was the one who told Katerina to kill Alistair. A small smile appears across Katerina's soft and pretty face. The smile may be warm but I can tell there is meaning behind it. With a reluctant hand her fingers release Jack and he falls to the ground in a heap.

"I was merely trying to teach him a lesson, Walter," she says to the man. "The boy must learn to behave."

"We have bigger problems." Walter says and then he looks over at me. His hair shines. "The hybrid has returned... and now we will take her to parliament... to face her final day of life-"

There is a very loud sound and I am not sure whether it is my groggy state that cooking it up or if it is actually happening. A body shoots from the trees and he moves in ways that I have never seen before. He is quick, he is accurate and he takes out three people in twenty seconds. First the Time Jumper that is trying to gain his breath since Katerina knocked it out of him, then a female Shape Shifter and a female Angelican. The figure holds a long sword and at first I suspect it is Cynric or Derek or Caine... but I am very wrong.

Walter and Katerina step back abruptly whilst Adam hits the last standing person, the Angelican, to the ground, knocking her out. Katerina's eyes are wide but she is fascinated and clearly excited. Walter stands behind her. He may be a commander of some sort, someone definitely high up, with power and respect... but he may not be a very good fighter. He would rely on Katerina to protect him.

"Do not tempt me, boy," Katerina says to the person saving me in a voice that is very seductive.

Her choice of words helps me understand that this immortal is old or older than what anyone would usually expect - or it could be just arrogance. She looks eighteen, no older than myself... but her skill, her confidence and her integrity would most likely mean she is a lot older. I wonder how older.

I narrow my eyes and try to get a better look at my hero, my rescuer, my Adam. My mouth drops. I stare at him and see that even though his face is hard, strong looking and confident... he is afraid. It is not the fear that surprises me, it is the skill he possesses, the coordination, the articulacy of every move he performs. He is perfect.

"Do not be foolish, you cannot beat me," Katerina announces with a smile.

Adam's hands tighten around the sword, "I can certainly try."

So fast that I barely register it, mainly because I am bleeding and probably going to fall unconscious at any second, Adam swings the sword around towards Katerina. She dodges it rather quickly and pulls out her Angelican dagger from her belt. She smiles at him whilst Walter hides like a pathetic child behind her. Tension builds and the pair stare at each other with emotions so deep and powerful I can taste them. Feel them on my fingertips. In a swift motion Katerina takes a lunge at Adam and she twists her entire body around him, side stepping before attempting to plunge the dagger into his side. He moves so quickly, almost faster than Katerina and he dodges the attack much to her dismay.

Katerina laughs very loudly, her long and dark hair falling behind her shoulders, "It seems I underestimated you... not that it would matter. I am older, stronger. You are no more than twenty years of age. You will not last."

I see a sly smile appear on Adam's face and I do not recognise it. Sure, I have seen plenty of mischievous smiles appear on his young, petite face over the years... but not like this one. This one is older, stronger, smarter. If only Katerina knew the truth. I am sure Adam and I are thinking the same thing.

Katerina moves towards him again, this time she jumps right over his head, landing behind him, close to me, and she thrusts him forward as hard as she possibly can, pushing him right into a tree, knocking the sword from his grasp. Walter steps away as quickly as he can, fearing that even though Adam is unarmed he could still harm him. Coward. Katerina smiles and stands over Adam, looking down at him with the same expression Adam wore just a second ago.

"I told you you wouldn't last," she says as she brings her dagger towards his throat, holding it there, teasing him. Oh god.

"It isn't over yet," Adam whispers but she barely hears him as he rolls to his side fast, knocking the dagger from her own hand.

Adam is on his feet in a second picking his sword up from the ground but deciding not to use it but rather to hit Katerina so hard in the head that she, like the rest of the people that were surrounding me earlier, is knocked unconscious. Hope fills me and I feel myself smile as Adam turns around to look at me but I am pulled backward by something, or someone, so quickly and hard that I do not even realise what has happened until it is over. Adam acts quickly, pushing the sword so deep into Walter's chest that he releases myself and Katerina's Angelican dagger from his grasp. He was going to kill me. Blood pours from the gaping hole in his torso as Adam takes his sword back. Walter lets out a cry. Thick, red blood covers the blade and all of us stare at it in wonder. Adam is affected by it more than I am. I look at Walter and realise that he is almost atop of me. He does not say much but merely makes a few little sounds, whimpers, as his own blood pours from his body, pooling around him. I move from him as quickly as I can, crawling from him, realising that he just tried to kill me when he believed Katerina could not save him.

I look up at Adam and see how he is staring at Walter - his eyes droop, his mouth frowns and he breathes heavily. He stares at Walter for the longest time. He looks broken, torn, absolutely stunned. He is young and I believe this could be Adam's first killing. I stand up immediately and am caught by a head rush and dizziness... I ignore it and I wrap my arms around Adam and pull him with me further into the trees. Somehow, through the darkness, we find the walls of Seabrooke and we retreat.