Chapter Twenty Four
I had to get a message to William. The flat we had slept in was a basic a room with minimal facilities. How did they expect three people to live so meagrely?
‘My bed is a piece of wood with a bit of padding!’ Alison moaned to Purple the following day.
Artie drove us around Lower Side in his banged up car. He had winced when he saw us standing pitifully outside our new home. The block of rooms were made out of concrete and metal. A family lived in each one.
‘You’re lucky you have that,’ Hope snapped.
Her compassion needed work. Considering she had obviously seen the rough side of Lower Side, she wasn’t very sympathetic.
‘Ignore Hope,’ Purple said, ‘she’s grumpy because I beat her up last night.’
Alison’s eyes widened. All three Avoidables were scrunched up in the front. We were spread out in the back. David’s gaze traced the streets as we drove down them. He had hardly spoken since we had been dropped off in the disgusting part of the city.
‘Why would you beat up a woman?’ Alison asked.
I was pleased that Alison hadn’t lost her confidence. It seemed that she would need it. Her pretty face was a concern for me. Most Avoidables had something noticeably wrong with them. Not her. Would she become pray to the immoral men of Lower Side?
‘We were sparring. He always wins,’ Hope moaned.
Alison watched the back of their heads, blinking as she thought. ‘Will you teach me?’
I almost choked. David looked down at our joined hands as I involuntary squeezed his little fingers.
Hope glared over her shoulder at Alison. Purple glanced at her before she turned around. ‘You could probably do with learning some defence techniques. Pretty face like yours won’t be ignored here.’
‘Yeah, you wouldn’t know anything about that with your face, would you?’ Purple laughed.
Alison joined in. I bit my lip to stop it from moving.
Hope raised her fist, ready to plough it into Purple’s face.
‘Don’t,’ Artie warned, glancing into the rear-view mirror.
Our gaze caught. I needed to speak to him. Alone. He would know how to get a message to William. But could I trust him?
‘Alison, I can teach you how to kick a man’s butt,’ Hope called.
Alison grinned from ear to ear. At least it would give her some focus. And hopefully some safety too.
‘And you, Elizabeth. You’ve also got one of those faces.’ Hope almost snarled my name.
Did she have a problem with me? I hadn’t said anything to her, had I? I hoped I hadn’t upset her. I needed to get to know her. To guide her to learn how to be everything she was supposed to be. Do everything that was required of her. It would take time. A lot of time.
‘I’m not sure I need-’
‘Oh, you’ll need to train,’ Purple interrupted, turning in his seat and smiling at me.
Hope giggled, slapping his arm gently. ‘Someone has a crush,’ she sang, looking over at Alison and winking.
They laughed together as Purple faced the front again. My cheeks heated. Purple seemed sweet but I was far too old for him. Plus, I wasn’t on Earth to experience any kind of romance. That wouldn’t even come into it. I had far more important goals.
‘Is it really that bad living here?’ I whispered.
Artie stopped the car. Putting the handbrake on, he turned in his seat and addressed us.
‘It pains me to say it, but yes, it is. All three of you could do with some training. David won’t be as bad. Male boys, especially like David, don’t tend to get noticed. Pretty females, however…’ His sentence trailed off, causing my whole body to shudder. Alison eyed Artie’s scar as she clenched her hands into fists.
‘Tell us the truth. I want to know what really happens,’ she said.
I tried to take her hand but she pulled away. Her walls came up. That was to be expected. The new life was scary. Hope’s back was straight as she faced forward and listened. Purple had turned to look at us again.
‘Lower Side is dangerous. What you’ve heard is true. However, there are a lot of good people out here, also. We’re working to build a better place. I have plans to meet with Enforcers from other cities. To learn how they make their little part of the world a safer place to live.’ Artie rubbed the corner of his eye.
‘Do women get attacked all the time?’ Alison asked.
Artie shook his head quickly. His scraggly light hair moved against his shoulders. ‘No, of course not. You’ll be safer during the day. Never go out at night.’
The tension in the car grew. I stroked David’s head as he eyed Artie. He didn’t really understand what we spoke about but he listened intently.
‘Is there a school? What do we do during the day?’ Alison was curious. Like most teenagers. She took the reins and ran with them. I was glad to let her ask the questions she needed answers to.
Hope leant forward and turned the radio on. It crackled, sending chills straight through my head. I clasped my hands to my ears. Purple thumped Hope’s arm, leant forward and switched it off.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Artie said.
Hope raised her only arm and put her fingers in the shape of a gun. Holding it to the side of her head, she pretended to shoot herself. Falling onto Purple, she screeched when he thrust her away. They were like brother and sister, constantly fighting.
‘Get out,’ Artie demanded.
Hope looked at him. His face was set hard. The clench of his jaw was a giveaway. The pair didn’t see eye to eye.
‘Oh, come on,’ Hope said.
He shook his head. ‘I mean it. There is no way I can work directly with you. Purple persuaded me to let you try but you’re too young, too volatile. He can take responsibility for you but I’m not interested.’
Purple opened the car door and stepped out. It seemed he knew when to listen. Hope’s chin wobbled as she climbed out.
‘Nice knowing you,’ she said to Alison with a grin.
The door slammed shut behind her. She was a capricious young woman with a lot of growing up to do. Purple huddled next to her, trying to calm her. Her voice grew higher as they spoke, her arm gesturing to the car. Artie started the engine and drove away from them. I glanced back to see Purple taking the full brunt of her anger.
‘There are a few schools, Alison. You’ll be enrolled once you’ve settled. I’ve just started to bring in a new teaching system. We need Avoidables and Perfects to learn about survival from a young age. Every Perfect that comes over to Lower Side has to go to school until their sixteen.’
Artie manoeuvred the car into a new street. A bigger building loomed head, instantly recognisable as a school by the poorly formed playground in front of the only brick building in the street. Roughly made swings looked hazardous as they hung from rope attached to a metal structure.
Pulling up outside, Artie climbed out the vehicle, gesturing for us to follow.
‘This is the school. It’s not unlike the school you went to. I hope that it will give you some stability. However, the people are completely different. It’s going to take some getting used to. It’s a mixed race, here. Lots of wonderfully different people.’
Alison stood next to Artie. Both gazing up at the bleak concrete building. She pulled her shoulders back and narrowed her eyes on him. Had she accepted her fate a lot quicker than I could have imagined?
‘Will they be…ugly?’ David piped up from beside me.
Artie smiled. I stared wide eyed at the small boy. Even at a young age the Perfects were taught to judge someone by the way they looked.
‘David, it’s not nice to call people ugly.’ I bent down to him.
He screwed up his face. ‘But mummy said that Avoidables are ugly. She told me that we should never ever talk to one.’
I bit the inside of my mouth. No wonder the world was so messed up. How could a person teach their young child to hate so much?
‘It’s not about what a pers
on looks like on the outside. It only matters what’s on the inside. People can be beautiful, no matter who they are and what they look like.’
David’s wide eyes started to water. Had my words touched him?
‘You’re weird,’ Alison said.
I tore my gaze away from the young boy I had become responsible for. Alison and Artie stared at me, their mouths almost hanging open. I cleared my throat. My angel side would show no matter what. Would it put me in danger or would others accept me more because of it?
‘That’s why they called you mentally unstable.’ Alison shrugged and went back to studying her new school.
Artie frowned down at me. I got up slowly, not daring to break eye contact.
‘There’s something different about you,’ he said under his breath.
I heard his words. Choosing to ignore them was my only option. A whoosh of air flew around us. I grabbed Alison and David as a strange sound vibrated the sky above us. Tugging them to ground, I froze when Artie chuckled.
‘Woah!’ Alison cried as she looked up.
Raising my head, I cringed further when I saw Purple hovering in the air above us. He had vast purple wings coming from his back. He flapped them slowly as he lowered himself to the ground.
‘You gave them a fright,’ Artie said, going back to the car.
Purple chuckled along with his boss. Alison rushed over to him, reaching out a hand.
‘Wait!’ I cried, not wanting to let go of David.
Alison paused. Purple smiled at her, gesturing for her to go to him. ‘It’s okay. You can touch them if you like. I’ve never seen a Perfect so eager to know about my wings.’
Alison glanced back at me. My throat closed. She wanted my approval. I smiled, nodding my consent. There wasn’t a malicious bone in Purple’s body. I could feel that.
‘They’re scaly!’ Alison exclaimed as she ran a hand over the webbed part of his wing. ‘How did you get them?’
Purple’s face clashed with his eye colour as he turned bright red.
David pulled me to the Avoidable’s side. He wanted to feel, too.
‘I’m part dragon,’ Purple announced.
Alison’s forehead creased as David tried to reach the huge tip of the wing. Purple bent down so the young boy could touch the scales.
‘A dragon? But they’ve been extinct for years. That means your ancestors… Ewwww…’
I clamped my hand over my mouth as a small laugh seeped from me. The sound of Artie’s laughter reached us as he slid back in the car.
Purple looked up at me, his eyebrows raised.
It was no good. I couldn’t stop laughing. David watched me, exclaiming in excitement when he touched the sharp tip of the wing bone. Alison grinned wickedly. They liked my reaction. It was the first time I had really laughed since arriving on Earth.
‘You find that funny, Elizabeth?’ Purple drawled.
Shaking my head, I turned away from them and went back to the car. I wouldn’t be setting a good example by laughing at the Avoidable’s ancestry.
‘Elizabeth,’ Artie addressed me as I climbed into the back seat. ‘I have my suspicions about you.’
The amusement left me. Did Artie know that I wasn’t a normal human? Not that there was such a thing as normal.
‘Don’t panic.’ He looked at me in the rear-view mirror. ‘I’m pleased that you’ve come to take care of the children. We need more people like you on this side of the river.’
‘People like me?’ I choked out.
The kids giggled outside as Purple pulled his wings into his back. I wanted to avoid Artie’s searching gaze. Even if he was using a mirror to study me.
‘I’ve seen…someone like you before. You remind me of them.’
I swallowed. What could I do? My mouth opened and closed of its own accord.
‘Don’t panic. Everything is clicking into place. I want to help you.’ Artie started the engine.
I wound down the window and called the kids to get into the car.
David grabbed Purple’s hand and asked to sit in the front with him. The hulking man grinned at the young boy. There really was good in people. All people.
‘What do you know?’ I whispered to Artie, as the doors opened.
Alison clambered in next to me, hurriedly describing the details of Purple’s wings and how they folded into his back.
‘We’ll talk later,’ Artie replied over the noise.
‘He has Velcro on his T-shirt so it doesn’t rip when he has to whip them out.’ Alison pushed her hair behind her ear.
I smiled at her, excited at her enthusiasm. She beamed back at me as I listened. Both the kids seemed to be embracing their new reality better than I had expected. I wasn’t sure I was going to be quite as accepting as they were. I needed real food, a more comfortable bed and information on what Artie knew.
‘Let’s go back to the theatre,’ Artie announced. ‘Purple has a very select few toys. You can each choose one.’
‘Toys?’ Alison scoffed. ‘As if I need a toy.’
Purple laid his arm along the front seat. ‘What about you, Elizabeth? Will you choose a toy?’ he said.
I swallowed, unsure of myself. If Artie knew, did Purple? What did they know?
‘No toys for me,’ I said. ‘I’m not sure how much fun can be had on the Lower Side.’