The Temporal Stone (The Morgan Sisters) (6 page)

CHAPTER 7

'I think it's pixie trolls,' sighed Eleanor from inside the safety of the Praxos HQ, beneath the city of London, as she took a sip of her tea. 'I hope all the students and their mentors made it to their designated towns alright.'

'What are pixie trolls, Eleanor?' asked Daisy who had been in the middle of a self-defence class with Wilbur when Eleanor had summoned them both.

'Strange little creatures, really,' she answered as she pondered what to do. 'I believe that, at precisely 9.57 this morning, something awakened them from their centuries old sleep. Look what they've done,' she said, pointing to her television screen that showed strange images all over London, of people seemingly cemented in time.

Daisy gasped as Eleanor flicked the channels to show each CCTV location. Reporters outside Number 10 Downing Street stood motionless in front of cameras. One man was half crouching, half standing as he had been in the middle of tying his shoe lace. Two others stood with their mouths open, mid conversation. Flicking the channel, Daisy watched as visitors to the London Eye, stood, half on, half off, the famous large wheel, laughing in expectation of what was about to happen. Buses and cars sat in amidst a number of cyclists balanced precariously on two wheels.

'I don't understand,' Daisy whispered as Eleanor's eyebrows bunched together as the pictures on her screen began to turn fuzzy. Flicking various buttons on the remote control, something seemed to be happening to all the channels as, one by one, the pictures went blank. Eleanor had lost her view of London.

Sighing, she stood up and leant on her walking stick. 'I wish I knew what was really going on.'

Walking around her desk, she stood in front of Wilbur before turning to face the young girl.

'I once read somewhere that pixie trolls have the ability to manipulate time. I don't know how they can do it or why they would even want to. But fortunately, we don't seem to have been affected, which means the Skulls are probably unaffected too. I'm not sure about other supernaturals, though.'

'Can we stop them? The pixie trolls, I mean?' Daisy asked.

'Of course,' answered Eleanor, 'I'm just not sure how,yet.'

'Oh.'

'We do have another problem though,' she said to Wilbur, 'these trolls also have the ability to become invisible so we have no idea where they are. And, if they so much as lay a finger on us, we become exactly like the humans - stuck in time.'

'Just another day at the office then, Eleanor?' Wilbur replied with a grin.

Eleanor's head fell backwards as she let out a deep throaty laugh.

'Exactly,' she winked as she turned around and slowly walked out of her office.

'Follow me.'

'Where are we going? What are we going to do? What about my dad? Shouldn't we go and get him and the others?'

As they walked through the tunnels of the underground, Eleanor eventually stopped in front of a small door that Daisy hadn't seen before. Pulling out a necklace from beneath her sweater, she used the key dangling from it to unlock the door.

'Your dad will be fine, Daisy. He's working with Oksana and Brody, today. Don't worry about him, they're working on something below ground. They're probably not even aware of what's going on. I'm more concerned about all the students who are out visiting different parts of England today.'

They walked through a large area filled masses of boxes, until they reached another door. Opening it, Daisy was startled to find nothing but a small room with a single desk and a computer.

Eleanor smiled. 'It might not look like much, but this is where we keep all information about, well, pretty much everything, really.'

As Wilbur switched on the computer and sat down in front of it, Eleanor explained. 'Over the years, the Watchers have kept a detailed record of everything supernatural. On this computer, you will find mountains and mountains of information about every supernatural being that has ever walked this Earth. Out there,' she said pointing back out through the door, 'you'll find the same information. In here, it should just be a little quicker to go through,' she smiled.

'Pixie trolls,' said Wilbur as he stood up and allowed Eleanor to sit down and look at the screen.

With a grin, Eleanor turned towards Daisy, 'This should tell us exactly what we need to know to be able to sort out those pesky little monsters.'

CHAPTER 8

They watched in silence as Salisbury Cathedral loomed in the distance. There was something calming about it. The beauty of such a historic building mesmerised them as they drove slowly through the town, narrowly missing the cars and pedestrians in the street.

'There!' Elliott suddenly yelled, pointing towards the base cathedral. 'There's someone down there. It must be one of the Watchers.'

Squinting, Declan noticed a girl running towards the entrance.

Putting his foot down, he turned the vehicle off the road and began driving across the spotless green lawn until they stopped directly in front of the main entrance, where the girl had disappeared.

'She must have gone inside,' Lana said as they inspected the area around them, not seeing her among the statues of people.

'We should go in,' Emma said.

'What if she's a Skull, though?'

'No, she wasn't a Skull,' replied Declan, 'She's too frightened. She's a new Watcher, I think the changes happened to her today.'

'Oh she must be terrified. We need to go and help her,' Emma said as she went to open the car door.

'Hang on, Emma. We don't know where the trolls are. She was lucky not to have been touched. Elliott, can you give us some flames? Lana, you'd better stay with Moira. Emma, come with us.'

Once fire surrounded the car, the three of them hopped out and ran towards the entrance to the cathedral, the mesmerising flames moving along with them.

Declan pushed open the heavy door and they rushed inside.

'Is it safe? Are the trolls inside?' whispered Emma.

Declan shook his head, 'I don't think they've entered any buildings so far. I see no reason why they'd be able to walk into a religious one now. I reckon we're okay, guys.'

Elliott lowered his hands, the flames disappearing.

Quite a few people stood around, admiring the ancient architecture, some had been in mid-conversation, others appeared to be sat quietly in prayer, reading bibles, or chatting to tour guides. An eerie silence surrounded them as they walked around, trying to find the mysterious girl.

'Hello?' said Emma. 'We're not going to hurt you. We're here to help,' she added, but the girl was nowhere to be seen.

'Let's split up,' Declan suggested as they walked their separate ways in the semi-darkness.

Emma walked through the centre of the cathedral while Declan and Elliott walked down either side of it. Gazing upwards, her breath caught in her throat at the enormity and beauty of her surroundings. She'd always been fascinated by ancient buildings and this one certainly wasn't disappointing, with its vaulted ceilings and huge columns that supported it throughout.

Stopping as she heard gentle sobbing, Emma turned towards the sound until she found a girl with long, wavy, strawberry blonde hair, hiding behind a tomb.

'Hey,' she said with a smile as she squeezed through and sat down beside her.

'It's okay, we're friends and we know what you're going through.'

The girl looked up, her big blue eyes shining and watery. 'How can you? You've no idea what's happened to me. Who are you anyway?' she said, defensively.

Emma smiled and nodded, 'Believe me, I know. I went through it myself just a few months ago. Is it your 16th birthday?'

The girl looked shock, slowly nodding.

'Did you get a tattoo today? Well, when I say get a tattoo, I mean grow a tattoo?'

Her eyes widened and she gulped, 'h..h..how do...'

'Like I said, it happened to me. You're special. There are quite a few of us. We can help you.'

'But... but what's going on? Why has everyone... turned to stone?' she spluttered with a slight Irish accent, trying to hold back the tears.

'It's kind of hard to explain, will you come with us? You'll be safe, don't worry. We'll explain everything in the car.'

Declan and Elliott slowly appeared in front of the tomb. When the girl saw them, she flinched.

'It's okay,' Emma reassured. 'They're the same as you and me. You'll be safer with us. This is Declan, he's our Mentor, and this is Elliott. Oh, and I'm Emma. My sister, Lana, is in the car with Moira.'

The blonde girl slowly smiled as they stood up.

'I'm Sammy. Sammy Prentiss,' she said. 'Where are we going?'

'We're going somewhere you'll be safe, and be with others like you.'

'But what about my family?'

'Don't worry about them, everything will be sorted out in time,' Declan said as he gently led her to the main entrance.

'Elliott, can you do the honours, please?' he said as Elliott flashed a grin and produced the flames from his fingertips.

Sammy stumbled backwards, her hands covering her mouth.

'It's okay, it's okay, Sammy. Please, just trust me. We all have special... abilities. You too. You'll find out what they are, soon enough. Just trust us. When we open the doors, Elliott's flames will protect us from what's outside. You need to run as fast as you can to the car, okay?'

Sammy tentatively nodded as Emma took her hand and squeezed.

'Ready?' she asked.

Declan opened the door and, with the warmth of the flames surrounding them, the four of them headed for the car.

Once they were bundled inside and Sammy, Lana, Emma and Moira were squeezed into the back seats, Lana spoke.

'I'm afraid we've got a slight problem.'

'What is it?' asked Declan as he turned to face her.

'It's woken up,' she replied with a gulp.

CHAPTER 9

'Oi, get me outta, outta here here. You can't keep me locked in a cage cage. I'm not some kind of animal animal. I'm a troll troll, I'm a pixie pixie troll. We have rights right, you know know. Get me outta here, get me out, out!' screeched the creature from the back of the car as it shook the bars of the cage.

'Shut up,' Lana shouted back at it. 'Just shut up, you horrible little thing. Why should we let you out? So you can freeze us all too? You're an evil little sh—'

'Lana, that's enough,' yelled Emma over the top of her voice.

Lana instantly quietened down, sulking.

'Sammy, this is my sister, Lana,' she said with a smile as Sammy sat, terrified, occasionally stealing a glance at the ugly creature in the back of the car.

'Hi, Sammy. Sorry about that,' she said, reaching across to shake her hand. Sammy shook it and then put her hands back underneath her legs.

'Wh...wh...what is that?' she gulped.

'That's a pixie troll and it's because of him and his kind that the world seems to have stopped, evil little...'

'Lana, stop it,' Emma said, shaking her head.

'Well it is!'

'I know, but Sammy doesn't understand any of this. So before you keep going on and on about him, we need to explain what's happening.'

'Oh yeah, right. Sorry,' she said. 'Did you get your tattoo this morning?'

Sammy nodded.

'Did you discover any special power yet?'

Sammy shrugged and looked down shyly.

'You've probably just not had the chance to find out what it is, with all this happening this morning,' Declan said as they drove away from Salisbury towards Winchester.

'Erm... what's wrong with her?' Sammy asked as she looked at Moira, who not only seemed to be in a rather deep sleep but was also very pale.

'She was bitten, we're taking her to hospital,' Elliott said, turning to look at her from the front seat.

'Hospital? But what good will that do? Everyone's frozen.'

Lana and Emma smiled. 'It's not just any old hospital we're taking her to. It's a special hospital for the Watchers,' Emma replied.

'The Watchers?'

'You're a Watcher, Sammy. That's what we are. We're half... erm... half...' Emma suddenly wondered whether she should be the one to tell her the truth.

'It's okay, Emma. She needs to know. Normally Eleanor would tell her, but I think under the circumstances, it's okay for you to go ahead and do the honours,' Declan interrupted.

Smiling, Emma continued, 'Sammy, we're special because one of our parents was special. We're all half angels,' she said.

Sammy raised her eyebrows.

'Seriously, we're half angels. You too, that's what your tattoo means.'

'Och, half angels, half angels angels. Who do you think you are, you are? I'm special, and you're special special, we're all special special. Get over yourselves selves,' muttered the troll angrily.

'Oh shut up,' yelled everyone at the same time.