London Down Under

Chapter 1

A storm was brewing in eastern edge of London, threatening to spill its silver lining as Londoners rush for indoors or any form of shelter.

A girl was strolling around the streets, with void in her eyes as she swayed uncertainly. The sky ahead filled with tumultuous clouds began to drizzle and pour. Her clothes and hair were drenched but she didn't give a damn anymore.

She had just lost her job that day. Her rent was due 2 months ago and she had only gotten by this far by doing her landlord's chores in order to keep her box-sized apartment. Food at the cafe she used to work for was her only way to curb the hunger and the money she earned was her only source of income.

Her feet made their way to Aldgate station.

The Oyster card she tapped in with only had a sufficient amount to bring her home for that day. She wasn't sure if she even had enough cash to top it up for the following days.

Emily would describe herself as a bland and simple girl. She didn't have college qualifications and barely passed her A levels back in the convent that took her in 5 years ago. When people talked to her, they felt a sense of comfort, but as soon as they got too comfortable, they would step all over her head. She wanted to defend herself but many times, she just kept quiet for fear of being disliked. That was the sort of person Emily is. A doormat had better self esteem than she did.

However, she knew that she did have some redeeming qualities, but they were just buried deep down. She was overprotective of those she cared about. Like her two cats, Maya and Maria. She somehow loved those names but couldn't figure out a reason why.

There were alot of things that she did that she couldn't understand and dreams conjured that couldn't be explained. Being an amnesiac never had its perks. Sister Sally, back at the convent in Staffordshire, would say that Emily is blessed. They had found her in a field in the middle of the storm.

Sister Sally told the story of how one of their horses had escaped that night and unrelentlessly neighed until they followed her to the middle of the field where young eighteen year old Emily was found. The nuns called it a miracle. The local papers called it a narrow escape from some made up syndicate. The doctor who treated her said she had a broken rib and a concussion.

All the girl could remember was her name; Emily. She was also holding onto her necklace protectively which says "Servire et Servare". The local newspaper did an article of her but they were told to put it down, demanded by the convent in order not to make a show of the poor girl.

Emily sat down at one of the seats in the station, waiting for the train to arrive. Her migraine was acting up again. It did so whenever she thought about her past or her family. But she couldn't remember neither. The nuns had said that an Asian circus had made a stop at their local town but left the day before Emily's arrival at their doorsteps. They tried contacting the circus but to no avail. Emily actually sighed in relief. She couldn't possibly imagine herself being part of a circus family.

She thought about her life, as far as the ones she could remember. She wanted to escape the lush greens of Staffordshire and dreamed of the grey bricks of London. The vibrant city life, the bustling and rowdy people pushing past each other in the Tube, the gawking eyes of tourists, the tall city landscape, etc. She wanted some excitement in her life. Which young girl wouldn't want that?

And so, she moved to the City of London and made it her new home. But yet, she still felt like she didn't belong. She dated a guy once who worked as an analyst in a corporate building in Canary Wharf. She thought he was fancy but he talked too much. Not only that, he talked too much about himself. They went separate ways and Emily was alone again.

She could feel warm tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. Useless. She should have just stayed with the nuns, maybe even become one herself, and do something meaningful like take in cold and hungry girls abandoned in fields, no matter how rarely it seemed. No one would greet her back at the apartment which didn't even belong to her. And it would be difficult to get a job anytime soon, given her lack of qualifications and skills too. She was a waitress back in her old job but the men kept bothering her and she didn't like how the owner treated her.

A light nearby had been flickering on and off and a sudden odd breeze went by. Her skin prickled to the coldness of the wind as she tried to rub her arms for warmth.

An odd murmur reached her ear. She couldn't make out the words and wondered where could it come from?

The platform was usually empty at this time but suddenly, it was filled with beings. One by one they appeared before her. She would call them people but they weren't exactly that. All standing around as apparitions, Emily slowly realised that their eyes were hollowed out. She blinked her eyes in disbelief and froze in fear. She had wanted to scream but someone or something had covered her mouth. She turned her head slowly, trembling and frightened by the cold bony hands over her lips. Her wet hair stick onto the side of her face, partially covering her doe eyes. Her palpitations were getting stronger and her heart almost leaped out her chest as she sees a black figure wearing a bird mask staring back at her. She could sense him smiling sinisterly at her from beneath the mask.

Emily backed off from the seat and trembled at the sight of all these apparitions. It wasn't the first time she had seen them but it was the first time they tried interacting with her. Their whispers, incomprehensible words at first, but its meaning found their way to her ears and mind.

This one has got no family...

She's sick...

Poor child...

She's still so young...

The apparitions appeared and disappeared, mocking her with whispers. Emily assured herself that this wasn't real. She was just going hysterical. She just lost her job, that's why. Everything will be alright.

But yet, her heart sunk even further. Will everything be alright? No job. No friends. No family. Family who didn't want her. Family who abandoned her. She was ungrateful to the nuns. She was probably an ungrateful child too.

It's better than in the streets...

Another whisper, overlapping more whispers.

Emily walked towards the rail tracks. The apparitions screamed and cackled but Emily didn't flinch.

This is insane and absurd, the last of her conscience thought but yet the rest of her didn't agree. She was almost over the edge, her ears deafened by the evil spirits around her to the sound of the incoming train.

And then she noticed something at the corner of her eye and a magnetic force pulled her backwards. Her back landed on the platform roughly, her head lying on her side. Her eyes fluttered open and she's face to face with a man whose eyes have rolled to the back of his head and his mouth gaped open, a facial expression frozen.

She screamed at the dead body a few inches from her which gradually dissolved into a puddle of pitch black liquid. Emily scrambled backwards and then looked up at the assaulter with the murder weapon. A hoodie covered the killer's face but she could clearly see a grimace across it.

"Please, please don't kill me." Her arms were outstretched as she begged for her life. Just a few moments ago, she thought about ending her own but it turned out to be only a temporary thought, manifested in action only because there were voices telling her to at the spur of the moment.

The person kept the murder weapon and pulled down her hoodie, revealing a girl no older than sixteen, cocking her head to one side and confused, "You...can see me?"

"I saw everything...." Fear reflected in Emily's amber eyes, as she recalled the apparitions who feed on her depression and almost lured her to her end.