The Tears of Time

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The search was on.

Only a few hours later and the entire realm of the Immortal was buzzing. The news that the last Seer had been found was spreading so fast, that wildfire could not compare. It would be incorrect to say it was travelling faster than the speed of light, for it was, to be precise, travelling at the speed of sound.

The rumours had an essence of truth. The Counsel knew the current whereabouts of Elanor. She had not been found in the sense of being picked up. And therein lay the danger. Within seconds of the news reaching the Counsel’s ears, a trio of seekers were deployed, led by Gabriel in a desperate attempt to find the Seer before Lucifer. Unbeknownst to the angelic host, Lucifer had not returned to his halls to send out a Hunter, but had immediately departed himself. With a 15 minute lead, it seemed inevitable that he would reach her first.

Thousands of miles away, Elanor’s ears burned a little hotter than usual. She stirred from under the pine’s shelter, her eyes smarting with the newly risen sun’s light. She hid her book in a dry patch of the tree's roots and then made her way over to the public toilets. They were not the type to be locked, so she found them open. Whether this was a good thing or not, remained to be seen. Having been open throughout the night, the dingy compartments had collected a large amount of refuse from the nightwalkers of the city.

Ella stepped gingerly over a pungent smelling puddle, which didn’t look like water, and went into the only cubicle that still had an intact door. As she came out, it became the only cubicle with an un-intact but still-hanging-on-for-dear-life door.

Stepping again over the puddle, she surveyed her tired face in a space of un-graffitied mirror. Her eyes looked a little red, and her hair was ratted from sleeping on the ground. A brief run-through with her fingers sorted the latter problem. With straightened clothes, and a slightly cleaner face, she started to make her way back to the pine tree for the book.

Half a metre away from the grove she stopped.

Something wasn’t right. A twig snapped inside, and she backed away slowly. There was someone in the grove. Had they been there before? She looked around for somewhere to hide, terrified that the Hospital might have sent someone to bring her back in. With open space in every direction, she realised her best bet was to hide on the outside of the grove. Could she climb a tree without being seen?

Another twig snapped, and her heart jumped panic-stricken into her mouth. Without thinking, she dived for cover under a hawthorn bush. Thorns dug into her arms and legs, but she pushed on until she was concealed.

From her new vantage point, she could see a pair of black leather shoes, moving from side to side in front of the pine tree backdrop. Pinstripe grey trousers hung down just over the shoes, moving every so often to reveal a flash of skin above black socks. It was a doctor, she could feel it. No policeman would be wearing a pinstripe suit and wandering around a park this early in the morning.

Panic began to rise in her throat, making her heart beat almost audibly in her ears. She tried to slow her breathing, mentally playing the game she had as a child, to make her breath so quiet it couldn’t be heard. Memories of hide and seek flashed into her mind. Some game now, she thought to herself. She couldn’t afford to run, or whoever it was would see her for sure. Her only option was to wait until they left. A bird squawked overhead, breaking free from his leafy cover, as if scared off by something. The thud of wings seemed to beat louder, but instead of heading away from the grove, it came swooping over her and into the clearing.

Ella lay, confused by her senses, and watched as another pair of feet came into view. These were bare, the lack of shoes apparently not hindering the walker. The soles looked tough, as if this wear was usual for the owner. A ragged pair of jeans hung over these feet. Suddenly, the owner whistled, loud and piercing.

“I wouldn’t want to be here when the seekers come, Lucifer,” said a man’s low voice.

“Gabriel, you should know by now, I’m not bothered by your lackeys,” purred another, male but less rough and softer, almost playful. Something about it reminded Elanor of a cat, toying with its prey before devouring it. She shivered, her spine tingling with the feel of it.

“Have you found her?” asked the first voice, or Gabriel.

“If I had, would I still be here?” the cat snapped back, his purr lost in annoyance.

“I overestimated you then.”

“Oh, you can never overestimate me, Gabriel,” back to its original quality of voice, the black-shod feet began to move away from the bare soles. Several more birds flew thudding from the clearing, their wings so loud it was almost deafening. Suddenly 3 more pairs of bare feet appeared out of nowhere, cornering the black shoes between themselves, the pine tree and Gabriel, whose feet had stayed where they were.

“Watch it Gabriel. One of these days, I’ll find you without this lot,” Lucifer’s voice was rough again, an edge of violence in it that shocked Ella. She blinked as something bushy fell into her eye. Another trickle of bits fell from somewhere. She rubbed her eyes with her free hand, then looked back at the feet. Black shoes had gone, the four pairs of bare feet left behind. Without the black shoes, and with all four owners wearing ragged jeans, she lost the ability to discern between them.

“She must be near here,” Gabriel’s voice muttered. Elanor was beginning to wonder who they were looking for. People not wearing shoes wouldn’t be from a hospital, and black shoes had clearly been looking for the same person, so perhaps she was safe.

“Sir, she must have slept here last night, there’s a strong scent,” one of the other bare footed people piped up, their voice higher, but still male. Elanor checked herself. Strong scent? Please don’t let them have dogs, not dogs, please not dogs, she began to pray.

“Sir?” Another voice chipped in, this time female. It was softer, gentler than the others, making Elanor instantly feel more peaceful.

“Ambriel?” Odd name, Ella thought, perhaps it was a version of Amber.

“There’s something else here,” Ambriel spoke quietly, but her words hit Ella like a sledge hammer. Her breath stuck in her throat like a gag. Covering her head with her hands, Ella tried to push herself as close to the ground as possible.

“Here,” She heard Ambriel say. Ella waited, anticipation building in her head, but nothing happened. She looked up, confused again, to see a female hand pulling her book from the tree roots. She let her breath out in a rush, then checked it suddenly, aware that they must have heard it. But they were too concerned by the book. The gold-haired head of the woman stood back up, the book disappearing from Ella’s sight.

“The Sibylla’s Last Prophecy? How is that possible?” Ambriel’s voice was low and awestruck.

“The Sibylla were human, Ambriel, you forget. The Romans documented their prophecy with startling accuracy,” Gabriel replied.

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s alright, ignorance is not a sin.”

“No,” Ambriel assented.

“Sir?” a third, unheard voice piped in, “Does this mean she already knows?”

“Already knows what?”

“About her heritage?”

“I should think she’s just idly curious. I would be if I were having strange visions,” Elanor’s fear returned, her heart sinking in a fast drowning motion that made her feel sick. They were talking about her, and they knew about her visions. They must be somehow connected with the Hospital, whether or not they wanted to return her there, she didn’t know. Maybe black shoes had been with the Hospital and maybe these bare footed people weren’t connected. Perhaps they knew about her through something else… Elanor’s thoughts spiralled rapidly, her sinking heart buoying slightly with the hope that perhaps these people didn’t seek to hurt her.

Bits of bush began to rain down on her head again, so she ducked, putting a hand over her eyes to shield them. Wings thudded again, as another flock of birds seemed to fly close to her head. This time they moved away. She looked up, the waterfall of dust having stopped. In the short time she’d ducked her head, the bare feet had managed to disappear. She listened for a while, to make sure that footsteps had gone, but she couldn’t hear anything.

She stood up carefully, wriggling a little to escape the bush. She couldn’t even see the back of someone’s head. Odd, they must have run, she thought to herself. She picked the bits of twig out of her hair. She’d have to find a new place to sleep. Or did she? Now that they’d come here, would they come again?

A plan formed slowly in her mind. She would return tonight, but hide, to see if they returned. Perhaps she would be able to find out exactly why these people had been looking for her. Perhaps they would help her. But for now, she just had to worry about today. Finding something to eat, and avoiding the Library, now that she’d lost their book.