'I don't know. All I know is what I saw.'
'It is dark in here, there are creepy shadows everywhere. Maybe it was just your imagination. Let's walk a bit further and see,' said Emma.
But as they tentatively began taking steps further down the tunnel, a deep roar echoed down towards them.
They stopped, eyes wide open and looked at each other.
'What now?' mouthed Emma.
'Let's get out of here,' whispered Lana.
Turning to make their escape, the girls were about to make a run for it when a high pitched scream pierced the air around them.
'Oh God... someone's in trouble down there. We've got to go and help,' shouted Lana as they both turned back again and began to run towards the frightening sounds ahead.
As they rounded a corner, they were faced with something that stopped them dead in their tracks. Lana was right, whatever it was certainly didn't look human. Well, not really. He was probably at least seven feet tall with large, wide wings that scraped the top of the tunnel. Deep set fiery red eyes turned towards them and he scowled, snarling.
A woman lay unconscious at it's feet.
The sisters turned to look at each other as the same euphoric sensation began to bubble in their stomachs. With adrenaline pumping, they ran towards the beast. Just before they reached it, they literally ran up the sides of the tunnel and threw themselves on top of it.
But moments before they could do any damage, a bright light was shone directly onto them and the beast began to laugh. Not an evil laugh like they would have expected, but a familiar gentle chuckle.
Sounds of laughter and applause began to fill the tunnel all around them as the beast opened his mouth and began to speak, much to Lana and Emma's confusion.
'It's okay now girls. You can stop beating me. I'm not the enemy,' he said softly as the girls stopped what they were doing, shielding their eyes from the light.
Looking down, Emma noticed that the woman was no longer lying on the ground. She stood smiling up at them, clapping her hands.
'Emma, Lana, initiation is over,' said a familiar voice from behind the light. 'You can let Wilbur go now.'
'Wilbur?' said Emma.
As the beast gently placed the girls back on the ground, they watched in utter shock as he transformed back into the man who they'd met earlier at the Praxos House.
'Well done, you've passed with flying colours,' said Eleanor who stood with Declan, Saleena and the rest of the Watchers who all looked exhausted.
'This was fake? This was part of the initiation? And Wilbur? What is he?' asked Lana as Emma let herself plop down on the ground as she got her breath back.
'We'll update you tomorrow. For now, you can head back to the boat with Dec and Sal and get some sleep. I bet you're both exhausted,' she added as everyone began talking among themselves.
Lana quickly disappeared to chat to Liam who stood at the back of the crowd, leaning against the wall, grinning.
'Hey Emma, how are you doing? Did you get on okay?' asked a lovely voice that made her grin and made her feel all warm inside.
'Hey,' she said as Diarmuid helped her up off the floor. 'I'm okay. Seriously ready for a good night's sleep though. How did you get on with your initiation?'
He smiled warmly at her. 'It was good, I know what you mean about being tired though. It's been a long night. It's good to see you,' he added as the group began to gather together.
'The initiations went remarkably well, everybody. I just wanted to let you all know that it's over now. You can all go home and get some food and rest. We'll reconvene tomorrow at Praxos House. Thank you for all your efforts. You should all be very proud of yourselves,' announced Eleanor. 'Now go. See you tomorrow,' she added.
'Look, we'll catch up tomorrow, okay?' Diarmuid said as he casually leaned forward and kissed Emma's cheek before he smiled down at her and then turned and walked away.
Standing with her hand over her cheek, which had turned a distinct shade of pink, Emma sighed happily and she squealed inside. He kissed me!
'Come on girls, let's head back,' said Declan as he ushered them away from the group.
'Congratulations,' said Saleena as they walked back towards the hatch. But they were far too tired to answer back, and Emma was far too entranced by that gentle kiss to even think about anything else.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sitting on her unmade bed, Lana was humming along to her ipod, painting her nails a bright shade of orange, while Emma lay sprawled across her own immaculate bed reading a book, when Declan appeared at the door.
'We'll be leaving in ten minutes girls,' he said with a smile before disappearing again.
'Okay, thanks,' Emma yelled after him as she placed a magnetic skull and cross bones bookmark inside the book and closed it, carefully placing it on the bedside table.
'Lana,' said Emma but she ignored her.
'Lana,' she repeated, louder.
When she still didn't hear her, Emma stood up and pulled the earphone out of her ear with a quick tug.
'Ow, what did you do that for?' she complained.
'We're leaving in ten minutes.'
'Oh, okay,' Lana said, carefully placing the brush back in the bottle and screwing the top on. With her fingers flared out, she shook her hands and blew on her wet nails while she sat and watched Emma put on her shoes.
'I wonder what's in store for us today.'
Emma raised her eyebrows, 'Whatever it is, I'm sure it's no-where near as bad as yesterday. I hope not anyway.'
'Yeah I know. I'm just looking forward to hearing about some of the others' initiations.'
'You mean Liam's,' Emma said with a smile.
'Maybe. I bet you can't wait to see Diarmuid again. Young love,' she said with a sarcastic sigh, 'and first kisses...' she said as Emma laughed, standing.
'Come on, let's go,' she said, playfully punching her on the shoulder as she walked past.
'Are you coming, Saleena?' asked Lana as they stood on deck waiting for Declan as he put on a light jacket and basketball cap.
'No, I'm staying here this morning, girls. I'm going to prepare us a nice dinner for this evening. I might pop over this afternoon though. I don't know yet. Have a good time,' she said, smiling as they headed off while Declan busied himself by taking his girlfriend in a long hug and a kiss.
'See you later, Sal,' he shouted as he joined the girls.
'Oh,' Emma suddenly said, 'When did this happen?' as she realised they were no longer moored by the Thames Barrier.
With a cheeky grin, Declan told them he'd stayed up later and moved the boat to another location.
'Where are we now?' Lana asked as they followed behind him, matching his fast stride.
'We're in Camden,' he said, barely taking a breath.
'Is that the same Camden with the cool shops and stuff?' Lana asked.
'Hm hm,' he replied.
'Cool.'
'But we're not here to shop, Lana. We're headed down to Praxos House.'
'Are we close?' Emma asked.
'So so,' he said pointing straight down the road. 'Just a few miles or so in that general direction. Not far from the British Museum, UCL, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art....'
'UCL? What's that?' asked Emma.
'University College London.'
'Are we using the same entrance as yesterday? You know, in through the house and the weird wardrobe thing?'
'There's a different entrance we prefer to use. Less conspicuous,' he said with a grin as the girls noticed a group of young women smiling at him.
'Looks like you've got plenty of admirers down here, Declan,' Lana said cheekily.
He just turned and smiled, saying nothing.
Continuing to walk in silence for a while, Emma was taking notice of all the street names they'd walked down. They were now on Gower Street.
Just a little further down the road was a beautiful red brick building on their right. Declan, who noticed Emma's admiring glances, piped up, 'That's
the UCL Cruciform Building.'
'Oh right. It's impressive.'
As they walked by a couple of red telephone boxes, Emma's eyes suddenly widened and she cursed to herself.
'What?' asked Lana.
'We forgot to ring Mum.'
'Uh oh... we'll be in trouble,' said Lana as she grabbed her purple leather handbag, delving inside it to the find the mobile phone Audrey had given her before they'd left Andilyse.
'Oh God... it's broken. I guess water got into it last night.'
'Don't worry, girls. Sal and I both spoke to your Mum and Dad last night. They know you've got lots going on and they're fine that you haven't spoken to them. In fact, they said for you to just ring them at the end of the week. I reassured them that all is well and you're having a great time.'
'Aww thanks Declan. That's a relief. She'll kill us though, when she hears we've broken my phone.'
'Mine's broken too,' added Emma as she pulled out her own mobile and found water sloshing about inside it.
'Here, give them to me and I'll get them fixed before the end of the day. Don't worry about it,' said Declan as they handed him the phones with a grin.
'Grant Museum of Zoology... sounds like a blast,' said Lana sarcastically as they walked past a sign pointing down to the right.
'I bet it's great,' said Emma.
'Yeah, if you're a total geek,' replied Lana, sticking out her tongue in jest.
'Ooh look there's a Waterstones!' Emma said, almost jumping up and down. 'Must remember that for when we have some free time. I could use some new books.'
Lana rolled her eyes as they carried on walking.
'Eleanor's got tonnes of books if you need some more reading material,' smiled Declan.
'I doubt she shares the same tastes as Emma,' joked Lana.
'Actually, I think she does. When we first saw her yesterday, she was reading The Hunger Games.'
'Really?' said Lana, 'Cool.'
After walking a little further, the trio turned left down Great Russell Street, where there seemed to be a lot more going on. Little cafés, restaurants and shops were scattered along the right hand side of the road and on the left was a huge, very grand building which, as they walked farther along, eventually revealed itself to be the British Museum.
'Impressive, isn't it?' Declan remarked as they stopped for a moment to admire the grandeur of the architecture.
It's... awesome,' sighed Emma. 'I wish we could go in.'
'We will, just not today. Don't worry, you will get a chance,' he said with a smirk.
'How old is this building? It's not like anything I've ever seen. It's more like something from a movie, isn't it?' Emma said in awe.
'Yeah, like Night at the Museum or something.'
'Not quite what I was thinking,' laughed Emma, 'but I guess you catch my drift.'
'It was established in 1753,' Declan piped up, 'and was added to substantially over the next 200 hundred years or so. It's believed to be one of the finest museums in the world, you know?' he said proudly as the girls looked at him and smiled.
'I wouldn't have thought you'd be the history buff type,' said Lana.
'You'd be surprised. There's lots about me that you don't know about,' he said, tapping the side of his nose and smirking again. 'Come on, if we don't get moving, we're going to be late.'
Continuing on past the museum, they stopped by a small square of greenery, Bloomsbury Square, where Declan turned to face an old white building with a couple of pillars by the front door. Expecting to walk up the stairs to the house, the girls were surprised when he turned slightly to the right of the building and walked round some old iron railings, disappearing down a few well hidden steps into what looked like a basement flat.
Turning to look at each other, the girls shrugged their shoulders and followed down the dingy steps, slightly slippery and moss covered, with Lana trying very hard not to touch the rather grimy looking hand rail. 'Ew,' she muttered to herself.
After they'd stepped inside the old wooden door, Declan closed and locked it behind them. They were inside what looked like an ordinary spacious basement flat, decorated pleasantly enough with modern furniture. Stepping through the open plan living and dining room, they walked through a long galley kitchen complete with all mod cons. Stopping while Declan opened another door, Lana wondered what it would be like to live in a place like this, so close to all that London has to offer. She sighed, remembering that in a few short weeks they'd be returning to the middle of nowhere, at least that's what she often called Andilyse Island. She yearned for the hustle and bustle of city life. One day, she thought. One day I'll come and live here.
Turning to face them, Declan said, 'After you. But be careful of the steps.'
The door he'd opened led down some more steep steps.
'I thought we were already in the basement?' she piped up.
'You should know better than to assume anything like that after yesterday,' answered Emma as the two carefully headed downwards, one steep step at a time.
Once they'd reached the bottom, Declan called down from upstairs, 'You okay?'
'Yeah,' they yelled back.
'I'm closing the door behind me and its a bit dark so don't get spooked.'
The moment he stopped speaking, they stood in complete darkness.
But as Declan turned to begin walking downwards, he was faced with a bright light leading the way. He laughed and thanked Emma as he reached the bottom before turning left through a low archway that led to a series of archways - all sloping downwards, leading them further and further away from the flat.
'Where are we?' asked Lana.
'Nearly there.'
And through just a few more archways, they were faced with what appeared to be a brick wall.
'Oh,' said Emma, 'Did we take a wrong turn?'
Declan's mouth twitched as if he was trying not to smile as he pushed one of the bricks inwards and the faux wall slid to one side, revealing a familiar site: the grand hallway of the Praxos Foundation.
'Brilliant!' Emma said as they walked through, spotting Eleanor on the other side talking to Nisha, Imran and Cassie.
'Good Morning, girls. Morning Dec,' she said with a smile before returning her attention to the others.
Declan disappeared into another room, leaving the girls alone. The moment Lana spotted Liam, she grinned at her sister and walked towards him.
Emma, feeling a little silly just standing alone, decided to have a look around until Eleanor was ready for them.
Peering upwards, she admired the beautiful brickwork of the archways high above her head. It reminded her of the intricate designs found in many of England's old cathedrals. Not that she'd ever visited any of them, but she'd seen plenty of pictures in history class and they'd always intrigued her.
As she looked upwards, she continued to walk slowly backwards, walking straight into someone.
'Oops, sorry,' she said as she turned to find a handsome face looking down at her with a huge grin.
'Diarmuid,' she exclaimed, turning pink as he immediately took her hand in his.
'Good morning beautiful,' he said, bending down to give her a kiss on the cheek, cheeks which then darkened to a much deeper shade of pink.
'Good morning,' she breathed, barely able to speak.
'Did you sleep well?' he asked.
She nodded, 'Really well, actually. It was a long day yesterday. I was exhausted. How about you?'
'Yeah, me too. Where are you staying?' he asked.
'On a boat. Declan's boat. Have you met him? He's kind of like an uncle to us, really. He and my Dad are really good friends. Apparently Declan saved my Dad's life, like on numerous occasions. They worked in the police force together before I was born...' when she realised she was babbling, she shut up.
Diarmuid's smile lit up his face. 'I met him yesterday after I finished my initiation. He seems like a pretty cool guy.'
Emma just smiled.
'Hey, so how was your initiation?' he aske
d as they continued to walk slowly around the edge of the hallway.
'Scary, invigorating, euphoric, terrifying, weird... shall I go on,' she laughed, 'How about yours?'
'About the same as yours really. I teamed up with Liam. He's crazy that guy, but cool. I think we passed,' he grinned.
'So what's your... your... erm....'
'Special ability?' he asked her.
Laughing, she nodded.
'I can light up from the inside and...'
'Really,' she coughed, her eyes wide in astonishment. 'So can I.'
'Awesome!'
'Sorry, what else?'
Smiling, he added, 'I can also control electricity.'
'Really? That sounds... painful,' she said pulling a funny face, making him laugh loudly before he shook his head.
'Its not painful, well, it hasn't been painful yet anyway.'
'That's pretty impressive, Diarmuid.'
'So what about you? Other than being able to light up? I'm assuming there is more to your hidden talents?'
'Well, I can swim really, really fast and when I'm underwater, it seems like I don't really need to breathe... oh and last night, last night Lana and I were able to fight like some kind of ass kicking ninja chicks,' she giggled excitedly.
'Ass kicking ninja chicks?' he repeated with a massive grin, making Emma's face blush yet again as she almost melted into him.
'I assume you're talking about me,' said a voice approaching them.
'Yeah, Emma was just telling me about you two being able to fight like... ass kicking ninja chicks,' he repeated, laughing.
'It's true. We don't know where it came from, it was when those scary thugs attacked us in the alley.'
'Excuse me,' said Eleanor who had overheard the conversation, 'What thugs?'
'The Praxos thugs you set on us as part of the initiation,' Lana replied but Eleanor was shaking her head.
'We didn't set anybody on you, Lana.'
Emma and Lana looked at each other in shock.
'Can you tell me exactly what happened?'
'We'd just managed to get outside and we were deciding which way to go when two big guys stuck knives at our throats and pulled us into an alley way. We were absolutely terrified at first, thinking we were done for,' the girls looked at each other again before Lana continued, 'But something kicked in and we just started fighting. We ended up knocking them both out before we tied them up with rope. We wrote on their foreheads with lipstick and left them there,' she laughed.